New rules for the D&D® game make new
things possible. One of the great things
about the BATTLESYSTEM Fantasy
Combat Supplement is that it changes some
ideas about how the D&D game can be
played. A new D&D Expert Set campaign
module, designated X10 and titled Red
Arrow, Black Shield, explores one of these
new ideas: how to build a world at war.

I?m especially fond of this adventure, not
just because it's the first module I?ve written
by myself, but also because it does
something that has never been done before
in the D&D game system ? it is a combination
of strategic wargame, tactical wargame,
and role-playing adventure. You can adapt
the techniques in this module to your own
campaign world, and I think you?ll have a
much more lively campaign if you do.

In X10, the Master of the Desert Nomads
(last seen in the X4/X5 Desert Nomads
saga) returns to menace the civilized
lands of the D&D Expert Set game world.
But this time, instead of being scouts for the
defending army, the PCs become diplomats
and generals directly involved in fighting
the war. This wasn?t possible before the
publication of the BATTLESYSTEM Supplement
(which works for the D&D game as
well as for the AD&D® game) and the War
Machine from the D&D Companion Rules
Set. The BATTLESYSTEM rules handle
the tactical battles, and the War Machine
(specially modified with rules for counter
movement on a hex grid for this adventure)
handles the strategic war. These new rules
create a new excitement in managing a
large campaign. (The adventure also contains
a lot of new information about the
nations of the D&D Expert world.)

While the PCs are engaged on the roleplaying
or tactical level, the strategic game
keeps track of the whole war, week by week.
Like a novel that changes point of view
from the individual to the omniscient, the
adventure constantly flows from one level of
play to another.

This ability to change scale dynamically
opens up important new horizons in roleplaying.
In the past, it has been nearly
impossible to get individual adventurers
involved in the great sweep of the geopolitical
campaign. Traditional role-playing rules
focus on the individual, but in the strategic
scale the individual tends to fade out and
vanish into the common herd of humanity.
PCs in a normal role-playing campaign do
not have the perspective that allows them to
see strategic movement. It is a case of not
being able to see the forest for the trees.

This three-level technique (role-playing,
BATTLESYSTEM, and War Machine)
allows you to design a campaign world
much as you would design NPCs or monsters,
and to run each country as a game
entity while still keeping an individual-scale
role-playing campaign running smoothly. To
do this, you must (1) lay out the campaign
world, (2) identify the various nations, (3)
create national identities, (4) define the
relationships among the nations, and (5)
design the armies.

To put this system into practice, you need
the following items: the D&D Companion
Set, the BATTLESYSTEM Supplement,
and (ahem) module X10 for the War Machine
variant rules. You also need a few
hundred blank half-inch wargame counters
and large mapsheets with a 16 mm hex
grid. (The back sides of the counters and
the large map in X10 are left blank for just
this purpose.)

First, you have to map out the basic
campaign world. (In X10, I didn?t have to
do this, because I already had the D&D
campaign world from the Expert Set to
draw upon. This illustrates the importance
of creative borrowing in game design.)
Don?t get too ambitious at first; you can
always add more continents as you need
them. Figure out the basic continental
outline and geography, place major mountains,
rivers, and other features on the map,
and decide on national borders. To make
the job easier, do some research first. Study
how the WORLD OF GREYHAWK
Fantasy Game Setting and the D&D campaign
world are put together. Various articles
that have appeared in DRAGON®
Magazine (recently in issues #87, 90, 93,
97/98, for example) contain useful
ideas for world construction. Above all,
consult your local library for books on the
medieval world, geography, cartography,
etc. Prepare a large map of your world
using a scale of 24 miles to a 1-inch hex.

Next, design each of the nations in your
world. Make up a name for each country,
and decide what form of government it has.
Create the rulers and any really important
citizens as NPCs. (You can add additional
important personages as your campaign
develops.) Decide on some basic information,
such as population, racial composition
(humans, demi-humans, etc.), wealth, and
degree of civilization. Place the capital and
other major towns and cities on the map.
Draw in some roads, and decide where the
major trade routes are located. Finally,
write a short sentence or paragraph to deline
each nation?s national purpose, such as,
?The Empire of Nefaria wants world domination,
and will provoke war with any
neighbor weaker than it is,? or ?The Republic
of Fealty is interested in expanding
trade, and will do anything it must to avoid
war.? Decide how each nation feels about
each of its neighbors. Use the Dominion
rules in the Companion Set to determine
resources, income, expenses, and Confidence
Level. As the campaign world evolves
during play, make Confidence Checks and
determine Dominion Events as required.

The last step is to design armies for each
nation. The strength of the standing army
should depend on population, wealth, and
national objectives. Decide on makeup of
the forces and how many divisions make up
the army. Also, design reserve forces for
each nation. These are additional divisions
that could be activated in case of war, usually
by drafting the peasants. Reserve units
are normally ill-trained, poorly equipped,
and have low morale. For each unit, use the
War Machine rules to calculate a Battle
Rating (BR). On the half-inch counters,
write the name of the country, the unit
name (14th Division, XXI Legion, etc.),
the basic BR, and the movement rate
(MV). On a scale of 1 hex = 24 miles. 1
turn = 1 week, I arbitrarily assigned each
infantry unit an MV of 4 and each cavalry
unit an MV of 6. Individuals or small
groups on horseback have an MV of 10.

Now you have a complete campaign
world ready for play ? and in record time!

As you run adventures in your campaign
world, you can easily keep track of what?s
going on in the strategic game by moving
army counters and calculating Dominion
Events using the War Machine and Dominion
rules from the Companion set.

When war breaks out, as it inevitably
will, the effects on the PCs are major. What
if the dungeon they are about to explore is
located in a war zone? What if the PCs are
press-ganged into the army? What if the
PCs respond to an advertisement for mercenaries?
When the PCs get involved in the
action, pull out your BATTLESYSTEM
supplement and have at it. Characters earn
experience points for leadership and battlefield
heroics, and it?s a natural way for PCs
to grow in reputation, and eventually to
become great generals, great lords, or even
rulers of their own kingdoms.

Module X10 is the place to start, but you
can build and develop a D&D game world
of your own -- packed with excitement,
life, and involvement for your characters.
 

DECEMBER 1985