War Table

Overview

Within the Realm of Liminalis stands a curious artifact that appears as little more than an ordinary table. This otherwise unassuming piece of furniture is in fact Zetar's War Table, her gift to the Twiceborn in their efforts to reverse the Cataclysm. The Strife-Maiden imbued this table with magic to show the lands of Tellus as they currently are and the forces that vie for its fate.

The War Table is where the strategic actions for the continent of Tellus take place. There are the Enclave military units, the Faction-specific military units, and the forces of evil, which can include hordes of Bloodless, monsters, and other threats. While Twiceborn characters do not directly have control over these units, it is highly encouraged for them to give advice and inform the mortal world of threats.

Sequence of the War Table

  1. During a Convergence, skirmishes and battles are fought and rituals are cast that may influence the state of affairs on the War Table.

  2. Within a month of a Convergence players should submit their suggested course of action for the military units of their faction and other military units they may have created as the result of rituals or other Downtime actions. The Wardens will convey these portents and signs to the relevant commanders.

  3. World affects are applied to the War Table.

  4. Downtime actions and suggested actions are processed and results calculated.

  5. Enemy actions on the War Table are processed and results calculated.*

  6. The results and narrative are published as part of the usual Downtime updates ahead of the next Convergence.

*This timing is important as it means mortal and Twiceborn forces technically act before an enemy entities on the War Table. This does give a slight advantage to the players in terms of initiative, but it is an advantage they will need...

Enclave military units:

Even after the fall of Erden, glimmers of its military traditions still shine in the darkness in the form of garrisons and guards. These are units specifically dedicated to the defense of the Enclaves. Each Enclave has one and it is more of a small standing militia of commoners than anything else. Characters can bolster these units by a number of different ways but cannot send them out to do anything and they can only take the Defend action.

Faction-specific military units:

Such is the devoted following of the great Factions that they are able to field companies of their own trained adventurers and combatants to pursue their goals for the common good. These are Faction-specific military units who can do a multitude of actions but are particularly adept at certain specific actions, as they are usually purpose built. Examples include:

  • Arcana Obscura Inquisitor unit: Specializes in investigating strange and unusual magics. This unit would be particularly good at the Investigation action.

  • Oathsworn Vanguard unit: Specializes in forward force actions to hold back large Bloodless hordes. This unit would be particularly good at the Attack action.

  • Runewright Delver unit: Specializes in searching for useful resources and information. This unit would be particularly good at the Delve action.

  • Lanternward Striders Scout unit: Specializes in finding safe paths to travel between Enclaves. This unit would be particularly good at the Reconnaissance action.

  • Bloomguard Circle of Thorns unit: Specializes in recovering fallen Enclaves and restoring them. This unit would be particularly useful for the Reclaim action.

Faction specific units are not restricted to any specific actions and can do any miliary action available (with one particular exception - Reclaim), however they are much better at certain actions. These units are also not under the players control but rather take their recommendations under heavy advisement. And as such, if players request a specific unit to do something that does not make much logical sense without explanation, that unit may not abide by that recommendation.

War Table Actions

There are a number of War Table actions that a military unit can take. While in general, the leaders of the Faction in the mortal plane make the decisions on what to do with their forces, the Twiceborn players can (and should) advise them on what actions should be taken and where. Each unit available can take up to 2 actions at a base, but this can be increased by Faith.

Here is a list of the available actions:

Move: A military unit can move two regions in any direction. Every region with the [Difficult Terrain] Terrain Feature counts as two regions for the purposes of this movement. Multiple units can move into or through the same region, but too many units in the same region may have adverse effects on the area or the forces stationed there.

NOTE: it is best to only move into regions that have been revealed. If a unit moves into an unrevealed region, they could get ambushed by enemy forces.

Defend: A military unit can stand firm and defend against a threat. Doing so increases their Defense score should an enemy force attack them. If they they are in a region with an Enclave, this action increases the Defense of that Enclave. This bonus to Defense lasts until the ordered unit performs another Action.

Additionally, units that take the Defend action as their last action of the current round can recover 10% of their missing Health at the end of the current round of Downtime as they tend to their wounded and take the time to rest and resupply. These benefits last until another order is given to the unit.

NOTE: Units will only recover Health if the Defend action is the last action they perform during the current round of Downtime. If the Defend action is followed by another action, the ordered unit will lose both the Defense bonus and the the resupply, as friendly forces strike camp and leave their prepared positions.

Reconnaissance: A military unit can scout an adjacent region without moving its entire force into that area, revealing what possible enemy units or other dangers that are in that region. This will also reveal any Terrain features and Traits, such as anomalies, ruins, or dungeons. This action is the most efficient way to reveal as much information about a region as may be possible; however, it comes at the opportunity cost of not being able to perform the other actions and may still result in minor casualties for the force performing it.

Units performing a Reconnaissance action on a region will suffer 10 casualties if the region has the Perilous terrain feature, and 5 casualties for each enemy unit in the region.

Attack: A military unit can attack an enemy that resides in its region. A series of battles will ensue as one side attempts to overcome the other. While most monsters and bloodless will fight to the death, mortal units are more discerning and will likely disengage before being completely destroyed.

While Bloodless will fight to the last with no concern for their safety, mortals are far more discerning and more likely to disengage, if able, before getting overwhelmed. As such, battles are only fought over "one round" of calculations and not to the bitter end. It is common for both sides to survive an attack under normal circumstances.

Delve: A military unit can delve a Dungeon for resources. Note: when this is done, the Twiceborn members of the faction will receive a portion of those resources in the next game as the mortal adventurers offer up a portion of their spoils as offerings to the heroic spirits that inspired their endeavors. Ruins offer fewer and different rewards than Dungeons, but Dungeons may result in casualties for the delving unit if they are not properly prepared.

Investigation: A military unit can investigate an Anomaly. An anomaly is anything that is unusual or out of place in a region. Examples include: A nefarious tower, a profane ritual site, an ancient, crumbling library, etc. The results of this investigation will vary depending on the anomaly and the unit investigating, but such actions usually yield some amount of information, opportunities for questing, or rare finds to make use of. Units that specialize in investigation will gain more useful and/or actionable information than those who do not specialize.

Reclaim: A military unit can assist in reclaiming the land from the Shroud, restoring a lost Enclave, or bolstering an existing Enclave. To take the Reclaim action, the location needs to have been already inspected with the Reconnaissance action to find threats and any threats in the space need to have been removed prior to the start of the Reclaim action. At the end of the round of Downtime in which this action was performed, the region targeted loses the [Shroudland] terrain feature. If an [Enclave] region was targeted by this action, it recovers 20 Stability and loses the [Fallen] trait. This action is currently the only means to raise a Region's Stability (see below) from 0.

NOTE: The Reclaim action is restricted specifically to Bloomguard units only.

Unit Stats and Traits

Each military unit will have an Attack stat, a Defense stat, and a Health stat. These can be buffed or debuffed based on what rituals have been cast on them, if they are in Perilous terrain, what traits they have, etc. Each faction-specific unit will also have a specialization that will give them a buff when doing certain actions. For example: a unit which doesn't have any specialization into delving may get 5 resources when they take the Delve action but a unit with a specialization in Delving may get 8 resources with that same Delve action.

Health

Health represents a unit's effective fighting strength and, in most cases, roughly corresponds to the number of warriors in that force or the number of Bloodless in the horde. The starting Health of most ordinary units is usually 100. When a unit's Health reaches 0, it is destroyed as the last of its warriors fall or scatter. A destroyed unit is removed from the War Table.

Since it is a measure of a unit's fighting strength, Health has the added function of being the basis of how power and casualties are determined in clashes between forces. When two opposing forces engage in a battle, their respective fighting strengths with all their relevant bonuses or penalties applied are compared and the highest total is considered the victor (if there can be such a thing as "victory" after the Cataclysm). Each side inflicts casualties on the opposing side of the battle based on its fighting strength and other modifiers.

Attack

Attack represents a unit's skill in combat, their aggressive ardor, their bloodthirstiness, and their offensive capabilities. It accounts for factors like the weaponry they are equipped with, their tactics, their experience, and other such aspects.

In gameplay terms, Attack is a positive modifier to the number of casualties one unit can inflict on another. The higher a unit's Attack, the more casualties it can deal to an opposing force.

Defense

Defense represents a unit's resilience; it's ability to protect itself and resist or avoid harm. It factors in not just the skill of the unit's fighters but also things like the quality of their armor, their evasiveness, any protective wards or enchantments, and other such aspects.

In gameplay terms, Defense reduces the number of casualties a unit suffers in battle. The higher a unit's Defense, the fewer casualties it suffers.

Unit Traits

Units on the War Table will have one or more traits (at least one but no more than three total except in certain, special circumstances). These traits represent the particular specialization or nature of a military unit and may reflect its history, origins, or intended role. Enemy units will also have traits, but they are noticeably different from those of mortal or Twiceborn forces.

At a minimum, every unit will have a [Type] trait. Whether it is an [Enclave] militia, an [Oathsworn] vanguard, or a [Bloodless] horde, every unit on the War Table falls into one broad category that determines its core nature and capabilities. These traits are mutually exclusive. A unit cannot have more than one [Type] trait.

Unit Marks and Curses

Just like characters, units on the War Table can be affected by Marks and Curses. These can be applied by various means, the most common of which is typically through rituals. Like characters, units can only be affected by one [Mark] at a time. If a second [Mark] is applied to a unit, the new effect will replace the existing one. Conversely, a unit can be affected by as many Curses as are applied to them.

Stability

Each Enclave will have a stability score, which is a number that determines the likelihood of developing or attracting threats. The lower the stability, the more likely a nearby Bloodless horde or monster will attack the Enclave. The lower the stability, the more susceptible the populace will become to corruption. If an Enclave's stability score ever reaches zero, that Enclave immediately becomes [Fallen]. The only way to restore a [Fallen] Enclave is to take the Reclaim action (see above). Stability scores range from 0-100.

Regions, Terrain Features, and Traits

The Grand Campaign map of Tellus will be broken up into regions, small sections of the map which a military unit can explore or occupy. Each region may have one or more Terrain Features and/or Traits. When a military unit enters a region, the Terrain Features and Traits are revealed. There are other ways to reveal these attributes prior to moving into a region, like the Reconnaissance action or Reflections in the World Well divination ritual.

Terrain Features

Terrain features include if the region is Perilous or not (which will determine if a military unit will take damage by just being there), and/or or if the region is Difficult Terrain, which can reduce military unit movement.

Traits

Traits include if there is a Dungeon, an Anomaly, Ruins, or other interactive features within that region. These traits can determine if a specific military unit can take certain actions there, such as Delving a Dungeon or Investigating an Anomaly.