And this is why it is so very important for the vaishineph to succeed in war. Vaishineph glory is a stumbling block to the logic of the royal cults. When a vaishineph, who spits on the face of the dalaihal, stands triumphant on the fields of battle, they declare louder than any choir or trumpet could sound, that the world is not as the royal cults say it is. When the crucible of war reveals vaishineph gold, the color blinds the royal cults and their theology of war. The commonfolk see that divine favor and victory on the field are not always conjoined. And if they are not always conjoined, then the position of High Prince can be questioned, and if the position of High Prince can be questioned, then the judgement of the royal cults can be questioned, and if the judgement of the royal cults can be questioned, then the dalaihal themselves can be questioned. One battle, thousands of lives, all of it spent to put a question in the minds of the common folk. In the end, the question is sharper than any sword.
Introduction
As discussed on the Resolving Actions page, there are eight action labels in The Way of the Earth, and six have been detailed so far: major and minor, simple and contested, attack and defense. The final two action labels are personal and command actions.
Personal Actions vs. Command Actions
Personal actions are any action undertaken by a single individual. When a player character attempts to do something, it is a personal action. All of the actions heretofore discussed have been personal actions: personal major and minor actions, personal simple and contested actions, and personal attack and defense actions. Command actions are actions undertaken by large groups of characters, like an army legion, or an entire seafaring vessel. These larger scale entities are called epic units, and conflicts between them are called epic conflicts. They are thus named because they take and inflict damage of the epic type. Each epic unit has a command character who issues command actions on behalf on the entire unit. In conflicts, a command character's call and action is to undertake an action for the epic unit. While command actions are essential for resolving conflicts on a larger scale than personal actions, personal actions still have an important role to play in epic conflicts, as discussed in more detail below.
Command actions can be actions of any of the other labels: major or minor, simple or contested, attack or defense. Moreover, epic units follow all of the rules associated with resolving these types of actions; taking one major action and a few minor actions per call, making tests and saves if a player character is involved, having a power number if non-player character controlled, gaining guilt and innocence, taking on risk and conditions, imposing takes, marks, and checks on other epic units, etc. Epic units and command actions differ from personal actions in three ways, however.
- Epic units are immune to risk from non-epic characters under normal conditions. When an epic unit does take risk, they take it all together, much like a non-player character mob. Instead of resolve and willpower, epic unit have morale, which represents the strength of their fighting members and the structure and balance of their vehicle or vessel. Morale plays the same role as resolve and willpower, allowing an epic unit to ignore risk in epic conflicts. An epic unit's morale is equal to either its commanding character's resolve (in the case of an army unit) or its commanding character's willpower (in the case of a chariot, ship, or siege engine).
- Epic units are normally immune to attack actions of any damage type other than epic, and cannot take conditions or risk from those attack actions. Epic units also have their own conditions, unique to their general class. So army legions have their own conditions, chariots have their own conditions, etc, etc. Imposing a check on an epic unit does not necessarily mean that every member of the epic unit is killed, driven off, or defeated, but it does mean that the epic unit, as a unit, is defeated. Surviving individuals may attempt to reform new epic units or engage in conflicts as smaller groups of individuals if they are able and willing.
- Player characters can either command an epic unit (if its appropriate in the narrative), in which case their call and action becomes a command action for the entire epic unit, or be attached to an epic unit, in which case their call and action is a personal action in support of the epic character. In an epic conflict, command actions and personal actions both use the normal Round of Calls rules on the Time and Space page, but, there are different sets of consequences for their rolls. Epic units can attack one another in ways appropriate to their weapons or armaments, and they can impose risk, takes, marks, and checks on one another as normal. Guilt results in the call moving to the opposing side, epic or attached, and innocence results in the call moving to a nearby ally, epic or attached. Attached player characters, however, cannot directly impose risk, takes, marks, or checks on either opposing epic units or attached character. Instead, their actions have different effects.
Glories
If a attached player character gets a guilty failure, guilty success, or an innocent failure on their attack, the call is passed as normal. If an attached player character gets an innocent success, a situation called a glory, unique to large-scale conflicts like wars and naval engagements, takes effect. Glories are spotlight moments in a sea of conflict where individual player characters using personal actions can have a dramatic and sweeping effect on a large scale conflict. There are two kinds of glories that the player character may choose to undertake: Rampages and Duels.
If the attached player character chooses the rampage glory, they then choose an epic condition appropriate to a nearby epic unit and test against the unit's power number. A success imposes the chosen condition on the epic unit with a scene stealing act of cunning and skill. A failure causes the character to suffer two bashing conditions as they fail in the attempt. Guilty and innocent rolls pass the call as normal.
The attached player character can only choose the duel glory if the target epic unit has already suffered at least two epic conditions. If the attached player character chooses the duel glory, they get the length of three calls, beginning with them, to fight the commanding character of the epic unit. Guilts pass the call to the opposing commander and innocence keeps it for the attached character. If the commanding character is killed, the epic unit is destroyed just as if an epic check was imposed upon them.
War Conflicts
Large scale wars are the building blocks of Chaesharin's politics, culture, and religious life. War is the default state of every person in the Shadow Crescent and the food that feeds that royal cults and their ambitions. Attack and defense command actions in wars represent entire legions of soldiers clashing in the field, maneuvering against one another, skirmishing, flanking, and charging into one another with blades and arrows whirling through the air. Takes and marks become larger and grander in wars, representing the collapse of entire lines and columns, representing dozens of soldiers knocked down or scattered, representing sudden charges and reckless encircling tactics. Checks represent an army smashed to pieces and either overrun and cut down or forced to flee the field Morale is the primary attribute for both war attacks and defenses.
War Boons are very similar to martial boons and grant bonuses that are applicable to both a player character commander (bonuses to tests and saves) and non-player commanders (bonuses to power number). Although mount is not its own category of boon for war units, war units can still be mounted as part of their arsenal, though this does not directly grant any flat bonus to attack as it does for individuals. Although, as can be seen on the Gear and Garb page, mounted war units tend to be more powerful than foot-soldiers.
Arsenal are the primary offensive boon for war units and represent the weapons and offensive equipment that a war unit can quickly bring to bear in a conflict. Unlike individuals, who can only hold a single set of weapons at a time, a war unit's arsenal can be slightly more diverse. Arsenals grant edges like personal weapons do. Arsenals are all of the epic damage type, but do not have handedness or quality. Arsenals can have multiple ranges with different edges attached to them, though ranges are more common. As with melee and ranged personal weapons (and with raw and refined scripts in social conflicts), arsenal ranges determine what kinds of takes and marks can be imposed on attacked targets (melee: all, ranged: disarm, weaken, hide, and strike) and under what conditions a war unit can counter attack (melee: can counter melee, ranged: cannot counter melee). A unique feature of arsenals is that they can also provide defensive edges, a property that no other boon can provide.
Examples:
- Desert Skirmishers: Damage - Epic / Range - Melee & Near / Melee Edge: +1 vs. targets on rough ground / Ranged Edge: +1 vs. melee only units
- Mounted Archers: Damage - Epic / Range - Far / Edges: +1 vs. melee only units / +1 vs. unmounted targets
- Phalanx: Damage - Epic / Range - Melee / Edges: +1 while holding ground / +1 to defense
Formation represents the choice of how tightly knit to deploy soldiers of a war unit and is represented by two broad classes, called light formations and heavy formations. In a light formation, soldiers are spread out, maneuverable, and capable of attacking from multiple angles. In a heavy formation, soldiers are close together, slower moving, and focused on protecting one another and maintaining order. Formations function as the primary defensive boon for war units. A light formation has no benefits or penalty. A heavy formation grants two resistance to morale for epic conflicts but imposes a -1AP attack penalty on the war unit. An army unit can change formations with a minor action, as maneuvering.
Numbers is a secondary offensive boon for war conflicts and grants a flat +1AP bonus to attack actions if an epic unit possesses a significant numbers advantage over a target. The gamemaster has final say in whether or not a numbers advantage is significant enough or relevant enough to claim a numbers advantage over another.
Army Conditions
Army conditions expose an epic unit to specific vulnerabilities that opponents can capitalize on. Each of the conditions below has a specific form, "the next time X take or mark is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition." And, "this condition falls off is Y action is successful." Because of the way army conditions work, checks between epic units of this kind tend to be the product of accumulating conditions, as multiple conditions quickly build up, upgrade, and result in a check. Army conditions also encourage epic units suffering conditions to respond in certain ways, by taking actions that cause the conditions to fall off, much like with flush conditions for individual characters.
1) Broken Lines: The front most lines of the army buckle and break, allowing enemies to pour in between the cracks and strike at vulnerable positions amid the chaos. Lines only take a moment to reform, but moments are expensive things in the tide of battle. The next time the block mark is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Broken Lines falls off on the unit's next action.
2) Folding Corners: The army's outer corners begin to weaken and give ground, making the entire unit vulnerable to being surrounded and cut down from the sides. The next time the chase mark is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Folding Corners falls off if the unit succeeds on an attack action.
3) Pierced Center: The center columns of the unit are completely overwhelmed and enemies rush in to cleave the unit in two. The next time the entangle take is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Pierced Center falls off if the unit succeeds on a defense action.
4) Spread Thin: The army struggles to maintain its cohesion as it is forced to break regular lines and spread out to avoid being run down. The next time the weaken take is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Spread Thin falls off if the unit imposes a mark on an opponent.
5) Tread Under Foot: The army begins to panic as its front lines are shattered, and those in back and trampled under foot as those nearest the fighting retreat in haste or turn to flee. The next time the unit is attacked, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Tread Under Foot falls off if the unit performs a Hold Ground action, or if a nearby ally performs a Hold Ground action nearby.
6) Leadership Down: Key captains in charge of relaying messages and commands are struck down on the field and the unit experiences a moment of complete disarray as new soldiers attempt to fill in the gaps in the chain of command. The next time the unit is attacked, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Leadership Down falls off if a nearby ally performs a Take the Lead action.
Chariotry Conditions
When massed in groups of hundreds or thousands, chariots are considered an epic unit and behave just like epic units in conflicts. Individual chariots, however, have some characteristics of epic units and some characteristics of personal units. When in conflict with other individual characters, one or a few chariots act like normal (albeit powerful) characters in conflict, using personal actions, gaining risk from individuals, having takes and marks applied to them, etc. Individual chariots differ from standard personal characters and conflicts in two ways, however. First, chariots are immune to directly imposed checks that result from 5+ degrees of success/failure on a roll. They simply do not go down that easily. Second, chariots have their own conditions, like an epic unit, described in detail below. Destroying a chariot involves imposing a check through multiple conditions, such that the conditions are upgraded to the point where the chariot would take a check, as described on the Risk and Conditions page.
Individual chariot conditions are half like bashing conditions, in that they apply action power penalties to certain actions and half unique, in that they allow pieces of the chariot to be attacked directly, and have takes, marks, and checks imposed directly, as if it was a non-epic unit. Mass chariotry conditions are exactly the same as the army conditions only with different names.
Individual Chariots
1) Stalled: The chariot has been stalled in motion and struggles to regain a proper fighting speed. The chariot has a -2AP penalty applied to its attack actions. Succeeding in an attack action causes this condition to fall off.
2) Worn Armor: The chariot's protected sideboards have been slashed and pierced and the chariot must maneuver into a better position in order to avoid taking shots on its damaged side. The chariot has a -2AP penalty applied to its defensive actions. Succeeding in a defense action causes this condition to fall off.
3) Broken Yoke: Some of the material binding the mount's yokes together has been shredded or torn, causing the animals to run or hobble along at differing, irregular speeds. The chariot's mounts can have takes, marks, and checks imposed on them by ranged attacks.
4) Frightened Mounts: The mounts have been wounded enough to spook them and cause them lose confidence in the driver's control. Instead of thundering down opponents at the driver's command they now try to circle around or avoid opponents, exposing their flanks to more attacks. The chariot's mounts can have takes, marks, and checks imposed on them by melee attacks.
5) Smashed Carriage: The chariot's carriage has been laid open by damage, exposing the driver and any passengers to enemy fire. The chariot's drivers can have takes, marks, and checks imposed on them by ranged attacks.
6) Wounded Driver: The drive of the chariot has taken a grazing blow, and now they hang over the edge of the chariot desperately trying to maintain control of their mounts. The chariot's driver and passengers can have takes, marks, and checks imposed on them by melee attacks.
Chariotry in Mass
1) Slowed Turn: The chariotry are caught in in a poorly executed turn and their exposed flanks make them susceptible to being boxed in and set upon. The chariots can pull out of the failed turn, but it will take time. The next time the block mark is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Slowed Turn falls off on the unit's next action.
2) Wounded Mounts: The chariotry's leading mounts have been grievously wounded by enemy attacks, making it difficult to maneuver with them at the head, and putting the entire unit in danger of being seized. The next time the chase mark is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Wounded Mounts falls off if the unit succeeds on an attack action.
3) Cracked Spokes: Chariotry require constant, precise movement to be effective, but several of the leading chariots wheels have been severely damaged. The entire unit must reshuffle its lines of attack and hold out against enemy attack until it can reform and regain speed. The next time the entangle take is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Cracked Spokes falls off if the unit succeeds on a defense action.
4) Disordered Lines: The last of the chariotry's passes has left their lines compromised and their charging order scrambled. Without a major tactical maneuver, the lines will break if strained any further. The next time the weaken take is imposed on the unit, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Disordered Lines falls off if the unit imposes a mark on an opponent.
5) Halted Advance: The chariotry has been forced to halt in its tracks and the rear chariots crash into the front chariots in a tumultuous heap. The next time the unit is attacked, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Halted Advance falls off if the unit performs a Hold Ground action, or if a nearby ally performs a Hold Ground action nearby.
6) Slayed Drivers: Too many of the chariotry's drivers have been hit by stray fire or pulled from their chariots and killed. The other drivers scramble to maintain control of their chariots while still contributing to the fight. The next time the unit is attacked, the unit suffers an additional army condition. Slayed Drivers falls off if a nearby ally performs a Take the Lead action.
Siege Engine Conditions
As described in more detail on the Gear and Garb page, siege engines come in both individual and massed varieties, with different characteristics, the latter being much more potent on the battlefield. Either variant acts as an epic unit in war conflicts though. Some are simply more likely to be used alone, while others are routinely deployed in large groups. Individual siege engines may be operated by another epic unit, but they are not considered attached like player characters can be, and can still be targeted separately from the epic unit operating it.
Siege engines come in a variety of forms with a variety of uses and component parts. Because of their diversity, siege engines in The Way of the Earth have only a single condition if they are alone, called damaged, and which imposes a -2AP penalty to anything they attempt to do. If a second condition would be imposed on a single siege engine, it is checked and destroyed. Massed siege engines have two conditions. They always have damaged applied first, again imposing a -2AP penalty to anything they attempt to do, and then ruined is applied second, which prevents the siege engines from moving. If a third condition would be imposed on massed siege engines, they are checked and destroyed.
Naval Conflicts
Travel and trade by the sea of Tai is important for every economy in Chaesharin, and therefore, a hotly contested arena of naval warfare. Attack and defense command actions in naval conflicts represent the actions of entire ships in the water, maneuvering, positioning, dodging, and skirting within range of missile fire. The mighty ram is the most common and most powerful weapon that naval ships have at their disposal, capable of cutting enemy vessels in half with a single pass, and marines proficient in melee combat use grappling hooks and siege ladders to board enemy vessels for the up close kill. Takes and marks in naval conflicts represent the ships grazing, scarring, and riddling one another full of holes, while checks represent the blow that finally sends a ship beneath the waves. Morale is the primary attribute for both war attacks and defenses.
Naval Booms are very much like war boons and martial boons, granting bonuses that are applicable to both a player character commander (bonuses to tests and saves) and non-player commanders (bonuses to power number).
Armaments, like arsenals, scripts, and weapons before them, are the primary offensive boon in naval conflicts, and represent the weapons and warfaring equipment on board or attached to a seafaring vessel. Like with arsenals armaments can be diverse, providing edges against targets at multiple ranges, and naval armaments follow the same pattern of permitted takes and marks (melee: all, ranged: disarm, weaken, hide, and strike). Melee armaments, however, can never counter attack. Only ranged armaments can, and they can counter attack at any range.
Masts represent the vessel's ratio between speed and maneuverability by increasing the amount of wind the masts are taking in and the amount of steering provided by a ship's guiding oars. Closed masts represent a highly agile ship, better able to angle in for attacks but at slightly less than top speed, while open masts represent a full speed push, ideal for escaping attacks but not for offensive positioning. Masts are the primary defensive boon in naval conflicts. Closed masts provides no benefits or penalty. Open masts provide two resistance to morale for epic conflicts but imposes a -1AP attack penalty on the naval unit. A naval unit can change masts with a minor action, as maneuvering.
Measure represents the absolute size and weight of a naval vessel. On the seas of Tai, the larger vessels almost always have an advantage, able to use more oars, more marines, and more armaments, as well as able to rebuff ramming attacks with sheer mass. Measure is a secondary offensive boon for naval conflicts and grants a flat +1AP bonus to attack actions if an naval unit possesses a significant size advantage over a target. The gamemaster has final say in whether or not a measure advantage is significant enough or relevant enough to claim a size advantage over another.
Naval Conditions
Naval conditions most readily parallel the lethal personal conditions, denying a vessel access to certain actions, takes, and marks, and representing the slow, ruinous falling to pieces of a ship on the water.
1) Shaken Crew: A shocking blow or near catastrophic hit has shaken the resolve of the ship's crew and turned the blood in their veins to ice. The fires of morale take a moment to rekindle, but in that moment, the ship is vulnerable. The ship's next attack cannot inflict a mark, regardless of degree of success, but after the next action the shaken crew condition falls off.
2) Torn Mast: The ship's mast or rigging is violently torn and lies flagging, unable to perform its task. Some of the damage can be jury-rigged at the hands of a skilled crew to preserve the ship, but precise maneuvers become that much more difficult. The ship can no longer use the disarm or force takes.
3) Damaged Deck: The uppermost decks of the ship have suffered damage, making it difficult to safely traverse. Marines and sailors alike cannot position themselves defensibly any longer, and must make do with a lack of protection and good footing. The ship can no longer use the hold ground simple action or the block mark.
4) Sailors Overboard: Something has thrown many of the ship's sailors overboard and into the waters below, and now the ship is under-powered in the event of a melee encounter. The ship can no longer use the entangle take, and if entangled, is unable to break free until it checks the entangling enemy.
5) Clipped Oars: A near miss has shaved a dozen oars off one side of the ship, making steering difficult and top speeds all but impossible. The ship's movement is reduced to a slow speed, it can no longer maneuver as a minor action, or use the move to position simple action, or use the chase or hide marks.
6) Hull Breech: The hull has been gouged by damage and water is flooding into the ship's lower compartments. All hands available work laboriously to cast the sea back out. A ship with a hull breech only earns innocence on a Truth roll of 6. Player characters earn innocence with Truth rolls of 2+ against a ship with a hull breech.
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