Bringing a wargamer brain to a role-playing party

[Leitz]

I've enjoyed playing historical miniature wargames for decades, and did some Avalon Hill board games before that. Many a Roman legion and Keltic warband horde has tramped to their doom under my leadership, while a few Spanish Tercios and Italian Condotterie have found victory under my banner. While I've played more D&D and Traveller, my wargame history is longer.

So you can imagine my twitterpation when Scarik proposed a Chainmail/BX mashup game here on USS. The rules are his own design; made for simplicity and ease of play, and I've gamed with Scarik for years. He's probably a better wargamer and DM that I am, but I'm okay with that. I said I enjoyed wargames and role-playing games, I didn't say I was any good at them.

In our first big encounter, two 1st level PCs were able to defeat a dozen 4+1 HD ogres in a stand up fight. Now, let's be honest; we've all seen DMs that will fudge the rolls in the DMs favor. Heck, for a good story I've done it myself! However, Scarik isn't one of those DMs. If the party makes a bunch of stupid choices, a TPK is in the offing. Rolling up new characters is easy.

So, how did two 1st level PCs beat a dozen ogres?

Now, I won't speak for the other player or their PC; let me focus on what I can talk about. The short answer is "by fully playing my character". Jing Ji-ho is a Korean Hwarang who has wandered into 12th-ish century Europe with the usual non-humans abounding. He reveres "The Great Ancestor" (TGA), Jing Li, "The Swift General", who was a character I played in Scarik's Three Kingdoms China game years ago. I loved the character concept and Scarik let me play someone similar to my old character. Ji-ho is crafted to be a Captain, a leader in war. While a Fighter in the game sense, he has the "Captain" skill that lets him train soldiers and get the best out of them. His only above average stat is Charisma, letting him have one extra henchmen. He also has the Leader Feat, allowing an extra Henchperson, and increasing their Loyalty and Morale by +1 each.

You can probably see the first big key to our victory here; there were two PCs and as many NPCs as Ji-ho could recruit. Ji-ho had six NPCs, five zero to first level fighters, and one zero level cleric. Because Ji-ho is a noble, respects his ancestors, and a leader, the Dwarven thane who hired him fully engaged himself and the few kin with him.

One key to the victory was using two oft glossed over aspects of D&D; Charisma and henchpersons. Ji-ho didn't buy himself the best of everything, but he spent all of his funds on hiring, equipping, and engaging others. That made the group more numerous and played within Ji-ho's character strengths.

The other key was thinking and acting tactially. A spear wall is a great thing, charging head first at a larger and meaner opponent isn't. Ji-ho and I are tacticians, we utilized the different party members' strengths and covered where they were not as strong. The group had missile superiority, and we used it. The group had a strong front line and we lured the ogres into it. When the second half of the ogre group was detected, we used their own dwelling entrance to channel them and reduce their Hit Dice numeric advantage.

One NPC died, Ji-ho and another NPC were laid out for a few weeks, but the party beat the ogres. We're now in the final stage of killing a bazillion spiders, and careful work has gotten us to the last two Aragog sized beasties left. I don't know how the fight will end up, but I know Ji-ho and I have done our best to seize victory while keeping as many of our people alive as possible.

That's the kind of game I love.