Battle Orders

These rules try to streamline play-by-email combat, which is one of a play-by-email GM's toughest challenges.

This may look like a daunting amount of text, but the goal is that if we go through it once and do it well, we'll save ourselves a lot of work in the long run and make the game move more quickly.

If one of the players isn't available, even the leader, we'll still have his orders from the last battle, so we can conduct the battle without him.

There are examples below listed after the rules.

In a nutshell, the actions taken in battle are governed by three things, all determined in advance:

The leader's "flowchart" of battle orders
Each character's instructions on how they'll carry out those orders
Each character's overrides (if any) that indicate whether, when, and how the character will not follow the leader's battle orders

Choosing the Leader

The party leader is selected automatically, from those party members who are able to convey orders to the rest of the party, as follows:

The character with the highest Military Scientist Rank; if there's a tie...
The character with the highest Willpower; if there's a tie...
The character with the highest Perception; if there's a tie...
No leader (every character is his own leader for the moment)

Stunned, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated characters, or those who are cut off from the rest of the party, can't give orders.

If the current leader becomes unable to lead (by being rendered unconscious for example), the next eligible leader in succession becomes the new leader.

Orders and Actions

When it's time to handle the party's non-engaged actions, the GM will carry out the following steps:

Determine who the party leader is at the moment.
Walk through the leader's list of instructions for giving orders. The first order that matches current conditions will be the order given by the leader.
Characters then carry out the current orders according to their individual instructions.

Given that each round of action represents 5 seconds of time, this sequence means the leader can give new orders every 5 seconds. Orders given in this round will apply until the party's next opportunity for non-engaged actions.

Individual characters always follow their own instructions when it's their time to act (engaged or non-engaged), according to the current orders and the circumstances at that moment.

Standard Formation

Lay out a diagram on hexagons (5 feet per hex), or an equivalent description, of the standard formation for the characters. This serves two purposes. At the beginning of a battle, this is the formation of the characters if they were on the move. During the battle, this is the formation the characters will assume under orders to rally.

In addition, assign each character to one of the following groups to indicate the character's initial role in combat:

Foot: characters who'll fight the enemy in melee on foot
Mounted: characters who'll fight the enemy in melee while mounted
Missile: characters who'll fight the enemy with ranged weapons
Magic: characters who'll fight the enemy with spells
Guard: characters who don't advance toward the enemy, but instead stand guard over a person, place, or thing and fight off attackers
Followers: characters who try to avoid combat, and instead stay in the rear to hold horses or aid party members that must fall back from combat

The leader doesn't have to use all of these groups. The leader could make up his own groups, as long as each group is assigned one of the above roles, such as a "vanguard" group that will start out as foot troops, and a "rearguard" group that will start out as missile troops.

Basically, the reason to create separate groups is so they can have different sets of orders. If one set of orders will cover the entire party, there's no need split the party into groups.

Some orders move characters from one group to another, like having your missile troops become foot troops.

At the Start of the Battle

The party is normally in one of three states when combat begins:

On the move: Characters with mounts are riding them. All characters are unarmed, in formation, and probably in armor.
At rest: The characters are all dismounted, unarmed, probably in armor, and in somewhat random formation. Most of them are probably sitting.
At camp: The characters are all dismounted. Some characters are asleep, unarmed, and unarmored. Others are on watch, armed and in armor, arrayed around the sleepers. The mounts are tied or hobbled and asleep.

Exceptions are possible according to circumstances.

The party always needs to know its rendezvous point in case of an order to retreat.

The leader can always name a particular rendezvous point.
Otherwise, the rendezvous point is wherever the Guard group is (if there is one).
Otherwise, the rendezvous point is wherever the Followers group is (if there is one).
Otherwise, the rendezvous point is wherever the party started the combat (unless they're already there when ordered to retreat).
Otherwise, the rendezvous point is wherever the party was 30 minutes before they reached the current location.

As soon as battle begins, each group has certain automatic actions:

Foot: Dismount if mounted, draw melee weapons, and get into formation.
Mounted: Untie and mount horses if unmounted, draw melee weapons, and get into formation.
Missile: Dismount if Horsemanship rank is less than 5, prepare missile weapons, and get into formation.
Magic: Dismount if Horsemanship rank is less than 5, and get into formation.
Guard: Draw melee weapons and get into formation around the guarded object.
Followers: Take cover.

Battle Orders

The tables that follow list the orders a leader might give.

The leader needs to spell out his decision rules for battle orders. For each order the leader might give, list the "triggers" that would make the leader give that order.

Given that each character could wind up being the leader at some point, each character could have an independent set of instructions he'd use as leader. For example, one might prefer to emphasize ranged combat, while another prefers to engage the enemy immediately. Different leaders might have a higher or lower tolerance for casualties before withdrawing. However, fewer sets of instructions would be simpler.

Triggers

For each group of characters (foot, missile, etc.), the leader lists the trigger events (or circumstances) that would make him give each particular order to that particular group.

The triggers should be as specific and reusable as possible. If they have to be redone for every fight, that's somewhat defeating the purpose of streamlining combat.

The conditions should also depend as little as possible on making the GM guess whether the conditions have been met, or on things the party might not be able to tell in battle. Also, don't give the GM extra book-keeping tasks.

Here are some examples of good triggers:

When conscious enemies outnumber conscious party members by at least 2 to 1
As soon as the first party member is killed
If any caster's spell backfires
When we transition from one leader to another
When the nearest enemy is within x to y feet
If there's nobody left standing from our Foot group

Here are some examples of bad triggers because they're not specific, concrete, or observable by the characters, or they'd require extra book-keeping by the GM:

When there are more enemies than we can handle
If we're getting badly hurt
If the enemy party is in the service of X (instead, use something like "If we're fighting Orcs that wear the White Hand symbol")
If we haven't had a successful attack in 3 rounds (instead, use something like "If no more than x% of the opponents have been injured by our attacks")

Orders for Any Group

If the leader doesn't specify a particular group, any orders from this table cover the entire party.

Order	Description	DragonQuest Actions	Character Choices
"Halt!"	Characters that are under movement orders (forward, charge, retreat, etc.) halt immediately. Characters already engaged in melee continue to fight.	Pass (includes a range of quick non-combat activities), or Prepare and Cast Spell (on self or party members)	Prioritized list of conditions and actions
"Melee Weapons!"	Characters arm themselves with melee weapons or close combat weapons. Characters with no hand-to-hand weapons use Unarmed Combat. If this order is given to the Missile, Magic, or Follower groups, it puts them into the Foot group.	Pass to put any current weapons away, then Pass to prepare melee weapons, then same as Halt	Prioritized list of conditions and weapons
"Mount Up!"	Characters halt then mount their riding beasts. Those who have no mounts or who are engaged with the enemy ignore this order. This puts the characters into the Mounted group.	Pass to unsecure the horse (if necessary), Pass to mount, then same as Halt	Prioritized list of conditions and mounts
"No Quarter!"	This doesn't call for immediate action for any character. It tells the characters to take no prisoners and to kill any enemy who may try to surrender.	No actions
"Quarter!"	All characters immediately drop their weapons, stop fighting, and surrender. The call for quarter is a plea for merciful treatment from a victorious enemy.	No actions
"Rally!"	The leader remains in place. All other characters return to the standard formation in relation to the leader, with the formation generally facing toward the enemy.	Defensive Withdrawal or Offensive Withdrawal if required, then Move full TMR	Preference or conditions for Defensive vs. Offensive Withdrawal
"Ranged Weapons!"	Characters arm themselves with ranged weapons. Characters with no ranged weapons and characters engaged in melee ignore this order. If this order is given to the Foot, Magic, or Follower groups, it puts them into the Missile group.	Pass to put any current weapons away, then Pass to prepare ranged weapons, then same as Halt	Prioritized list of conditions and weapons
"Rescue!"	Characters are ordered to rescue a given individual or item (the rescuee). The rescue order is really just a shorthand for the following orders: If engaged with an opponent who's not adjacent to the rescuee: retreat (toward the rescuee). If not engaged in combat: charge (toward any opponent engaged with the rescue). If the rescuee has been reached and there are no enemies engaged with rescuers or rescuee: retreat (with the rescuee, to the rendezvous point).	Same as corresponding orders	Same as corresponding orders
"Retreat!"	Characters move at the speed of the slowest character to the rendezvous. If they're dismounted and their mounts are ready to hand, they'll remount.	Defensive Withdrawal or Offensive Withdrawal if required, then Move at party TMR	Preference or conditions for Defensive vs. Offensive Withdrawal
"Run Away!"	Every man for himself and devil take the hindmost. Most characters will immediately turn and flee at full speed directly away from the enemy. Characters who are engaged in melee turn their backs and run. Leadership is abandoned, unless someone successfully uses Military Scientist skill to rally the party and thereby regain leadership.	Any	Any
"Stand Guard!"	The guards stand near the person, place, or thing to be guarded and fight off all attackers. This puts the characters into the Guard group, if they're not there already.

Orders for the Foot Group

Order	Description	DragonQuest Actions	Character Choices
"Cease Fighting!"	All characters immediately stop attacking. They'll still defend themselves if attacked.	Same as Halt. Any prepared items remain in hand.
"Cease Tracking!"	Characters who have been applying their tracking skills stop.	Same as Halt	Same as Halt
"Charge!"	Non-engaged characters stand up (if they're not already standing), then move as fast as possible toward the enemy and attack as soon as they're able.	Pass to stand up (if required), then Move full TMR until within one move of the enemy, then Charge with Pole Weapon at full TMR, or Charge with Non-Pole Weapon at half TMR	Prioritized list of targets
"Cover!"	Non-engaged characters take the nearest available cover from missile weapons. Subsequent orders might make the characters break cover.	Move up to full TMR to cover, then same as Halt
"Drop!"	Non-engaged characters halt and fall prone.	Pass
"Forward!"	Non-engaged characters stand up (if they're not already standing), then move as a group toward the enemy, in formation at the speed of the slowest.	Pass to stand up (if required), then Move at party TMR until within one move of enemy, then Charge with Pole Weapon at individual TMR or Charge with Non-Pole Weapon at half individual TMR	Prioritized list of targets
"Forward, Serpentine!"	This is the same as the Forward order, except the characters zig-zag to avoid missile fire.	Pass to stand up (if required), then Evade at half party TMR, moving toward enemy until within one move of enemy, then Charge with Pole Weapon at individual TMR or Charge with Non-Pole Weapon at half individual TMR	Same as Forward
"Trackers!"	Non-engaged characters with the Ranger skill begin tracking the enemy.
"Up!"	This undoes a previous Drop order by telling the characters to stand. This order isn't necessary for characters who may have fallen in the course of combat; they'll get up anyway.	Pass to stand up, then same as Halt

Orders for the Mounted Group

Some of these orders are also applicable to the Foot group. If the leader calls out a Charge order, Foot and Mounted both charge unless the leader names a particular group.

Order	Description	DragonQuest Actions	Character Choices
"Charge!"	Non-engaged characters move as fast as possible toward the enemy and attack as soon as they're able.	Move full TMR until within one move of the enemy, then Charge with Pole Weapon at full TMR or Charge with Non-Pole Weapon at half TMR	Prioritized list of targets
"Dismount!"	Non-engaged characters halt, dismount, and tie or hobble their horses (or leave them with someone who'll hold them during the fighting). This puts the Mounted group into the Foot group.	Pass to dismount, Pass to secure the horse, then same as Halt
"Forward!"	Non-engaged characters move as a group toward the enemy, in formation at the speed of the slowest.	Move at party TMR until within one move of the enemy, then Charge with Pole Weapon at party TMR or Charge with Non-Pole Weapon at half party TMR	Prioritized list of targets

Orders for the Missile Group

Order	Description	DragonQuest Actions	Character Choices
"Cease Fire!"	The characters stop firing, but keep their missile weapons in hand.	Same as Halt
"Fire!"	Characters halt if they're on the move, then load and fire at the enemy until ordered to do otherwise.	Pass (to load weapon), Fire	Prioritized list of targets
"Forward!"	Non-engaged characters move as a group toward the enemy, at the speed of the slowest, in formation. A Fire order is expected when the Missile group is at a better range.	Move at party TMR
"Kneel!"	Non-engaged characters drop to one knee to prepare for firing.	Pass to kneel, then wait for orders
"Up!"	Kneeling characters stand up.	Pass to stand up, then same as Halt

Orders for the Magic Group

Order	Description	DragonQuest Actions	Character Choices
"Attack!"	Casters halt if they're moving, then begin casting their attack spells on the enemy.	Prepare and Cast Spell	Prioritized list of conditions and spells
"Cast!"	Casters use any spells and magical talents they have. This is a more general-purpose order than the other spell-casting orders (attack, detect, or protect).	Prepare and Cast Spell	Prioritized list of conditions and spells
"Cease Casting!"	The characters stop casting.	Same as Halt
"Detect!"	Casters use detection spells and magical talents that will reveal or identify the enemy.	Prepare and Cast Spell	Prioritized list of conditions and spells
"Forward!"	Non-engaged characters move as a group toward the enemy, at the speed of the slowest, in formation. A Cast order is expected when the Magic group is at a better range.	Move at party TMR
"Protect!"	Casters use spells and magical talents that will heal or protect party members.	Prepare and Cast Spell	Prioritized list of conditions and spells

Orders for the Guard Group

Guards operate under the "Stand Guard" order listed earlier, until ordered to do otherwise.

Orders for the Followers Group

Camp followers are normally under Halt orders for the duration of the combat.

Character Instructions

Characters must spell out particulars about how they'll carry out various orders.

Like the leader's battle orders, individual character instructions should be concrete, and as reusable as possible from one battle to the next.

Individual instructions shouldn't require extra book-keeping for the GM.

For spells, players usually don't want to keep repeating a spell that's not working. To minimize the book-keeping, the easiest approach might be to provide a list of spells for the character to keep attempting, in rotation (Blending, Walking Unseen, Tracking). Particular spells might have conditions on them (like "only if I'm entitled to the night-time casting bonus"). The player could also indicate whether the spell should be taken out of the rotation in the event of success, failure, and/or backfire.

Character Overrides

Is there anything that would make a particular character disregard certain orders?

For example, a spell caster might have certain urgent spells he'd cast to help a party member in distress, regardless of the current battle orders.

Each character might have his own thresholds for deciding to retreat or to run away, even if the leader hasn't given the order.

Each character might have certain steps he'll go through if a party member is taken out of action (unconscious or killed).

Example Orders

Example Leader's Instructions

Characters with no weapon better than rank 1 will go into the Followers group. Havari and Dorstel will be in the Foot group. Odo and Fordor will be in the Missile group. Alacar will be in the Magic group. Gleostred will stand guard over any followers, mounts, and valuables. Any others will be assigned alternately to the Foot or Missile groups, according to the highest melee or missile rank (highest melee rank goes to Foot, then highest missile rank goes to Missile, then highest remaining melee rank goes to Foot, etc.).
Our standard formation will go, from front to rear, the Foot group, the Magic group, the followers, the Guard group, then the Missile group. Havari and Dorstel will take the extreme left and right positions of the Foot group, and Odo and Forder will take the extreme left and right of the Missile group. We'll use a 10' spacing.
The "No Quarter" order will be given if we're facing any type of orc.
The Foot, Missile, and Magic groups will be ordered to retreat if at least half of them are down to 50% or less of their Endurance. They'll retreat to the Guard group's position.
If everyone has already retreated to the Guard position, and at least half the overall party is down to 50% or less of their Endurance, the whole party will be ordered to retreat in a line directly away from the enemy.
The "Quarter" order will be given if 75% of the party has been incapacitated and we're outnumbered.
The "Run Away" order will be given if quarter has been asked and refused.
The Foot group will be given the orders Forward if they haven't undergone missile fire from the enemy, or Forward Serpentine if they have.
The Missile group will be given the Forward order if the nearest enemy is beyond 50 hexes (250 feet). If the nearest enemy is from 30 to 50 hexes, they'll be ordered to kneel and then to fire. If the nearest enemy is from 10 to 29 hexes, they'll be told to fire (without kneeling first). If the nearest enemy is less than 10 hexes away, they'll be ordered to switch to melee weapons.
The Guard group will stand guard until the orders Retreat, Quarter, or Run Away overrule that.

Example Character Instructions

My preferred order of melee weapons is..., and I'll use whatever shield I'm carrying.
I won't use any ranged weapons in battle.
I'll use Defensive Withdrawal when ordered to rally or retreat.
When attacking the enemy, I'll go first toward any engaged party member who's engaged by multiple enemies. Otherwise, I'll go toward the closest enemy. If I'm below 10 EN and I'm engaged with an uninjured opponent, I'll use Defensive Withdrawal to break off the engagement.