Mass combat with early 20th century technology?

lordhalcombe

Hi

I am playing a ad&d game, loosely based on the Masque of the Red Death campaign, with one group being based in the UK and another in Imperial Germany. I

igornappovich

A couple of things come to mind. Palladium games uses a pretty good system for massively destructive technology alongside swords/ axes/ magic. Basically, they use the concept of Mega Damage. In Palladium, hit points are called SDC (structural damage capacity). But high tech stuff has MDC (Mega Damage Capacity). 1 MD = 100 SDC.

However, SDC can't even scratch a MDC object or creature. How does this work? Well, imagine someone stabbing an orc or a polar bear with a basic dagger. It does 1-4 or maybe 1-6 damage (hit points, or SDC). Now imagine that same person stabbing a tank with the same dagger. The tank is not going to take any damage. Even if the person stabs away at the tank 500 times, hes not going to crack that armor. The tank is considered as having MDC, while the orc or polar bear (or human) is considered as having SDC.

Highly magical things can have the capacity to do MDC, depending on the GM. Forcefields, highly magical armor, maybe even some skills (for high level characters) can also absorb Mega Damage inflicted towards or on a player. A low level palladium MDC forcefield spell generally offers 1d6 x 10 Mega Damage of absorption before being dispelled (or, it can absorb one massive blow which exceeds that total). A tank shell will do Mega Damage, while a rifle will just do structural damage. Remember-- the rule of thumb is a tank's armor. If something could pierce that, it is considered MD, and if it cant, its considered SD.

How does this work in practice? Well, players need to pay a LOT of attention to armor, cover, forcefields, invisibility, etc-- everything to avoid taking massive amounts of damage over short periods of time. Depending on what game rules you use and what style your players enjoy, it leaves a lot of options open for a fantasy party in the midst of world war 1 type encounters. The party could compensate by constructing some sort of technomagic devices (bodysuits or armor or vehicles) to help protect them from bullets/ mortars, or they could concentrate on magic, or stealth, or just try to make sure they always get in the first shot.

Lastly-- there is a great set of novels set against a fantasy/ technology backdrop written by Michael Moorcock. "History of the RuneStaff":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granbretan . Its britain vs germany, with magic, tech, flying machines, massive weapons... great source for any DM looking to rip ideas for a campaign setting that has technowizardry.

lordhalcombe

Thanks for some good ideas. It should be possible to incorporate a system in ad&d 2nd edition rules that discriminates between two types of damage. I

igornappovich

LOL... yeah I just read one of the destroyerman books a few weeks ago! Entertaining, but you are right-- its just pulp fiction, not anything too world shatterring. But the M.Moorcock books I mentioned are crammed with hundreds of truly original technologies/ magics/ devices/ that work great for an RPG setting. Really crazy stuff, fun though. If you do read them, you will probably notice several dozen things that were later stolen by other fantasy authors over the years. I think he wrote those GranBretan (england) vs Germania books in the 1960s, but its a really good blending of tech and magic and also how a party can struggle against a continent encompassing army.