Strongholds & Realms - a simple Saga campaign
FACTIONS AND REALMS
At the start of the campaign, each player chooses a faction for their army (it can be any from any of the historical books or Old Friends, New Enemies). If their faction has a further division, such as Baltic or Levantine Crusaders, they much choose that for the campaign, as well. Each turn, players are free to re-select their 6-point army list. They must follow the rules for Equipment options as normal, but they are not limited by their previous army builds.
The players must also choose for the campaign whether to allow mercenary or Legendary units. If a Legendary leader is slain in a game, they are no longer available for purchase in subsequent turns. The reverse is true of Legendary troops, such as the Moors “Black Guard.” Players may re-purchase that even if the unit is eliminated.
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PLAYERS REALMS
Each player begins the campaign controlling a Realm. Player realms are identical at the start of the campaign. Each player controls the same number of strongholds in three different tiers — Towers, Fortresses, and Castles. They start the campaign with three Tower strongholds, two Fortress strongholds, and one Castle stronghold. Over the course of the campaign, they may lose or take control of additional strongholds as a result of tabletop battles.
Smaller strongholds are on the outskirts of the realm and meant to protect the more valuable ones in the interior. A player must control fewer than three Towers before an enemy player can attack one of his (or her) Fortresses. Similarly, a player must control fewer than two Fortresses before a Castle can be attacked. Thus, if a player seizes a number of Towers from his enemies, the expanding realm will insulate its core strongholds (Fortresses and Castle) from attack.
The position of these strongholds is unimportant, and no map needs to be kept. It will suffice to keep track of how many of each type of stronghold a player controls - not which enemy player they seized them from. What’s more, the position of each realm is also abstracted. Players do not need to worry about who “borders” them, and they may launch an attack against any enemy realm participating in the campaign. Following each turn, a tally of each realm’s strongholds, victory points, and other information will be sent out to update the players.
GAINING OR LOSING STRONGHOLDS
Each turn, a player order will be determined. In player order, players may announce an attack upon a specified enemy realm or “pass.” There is no real advantage to “passing,” other than moving up in next turn’s player order (and automatically being the Defender in the tabletop battle).
If a player announces an attack, the player must also declare which size of stronghold they are attacking, if they have that option (the targeted realm having lost the required number of smaller strongholds). Once a player has been targeted with an attack this turn, no other players may attack that player. Similarly, the attacker may not be targeted by a later attack. Thus, each player will have to fight one battle at most per round.
The campaign can be further restricted by limiting the option to attack or be attacked only to the players who are actually present on the designated day to play out the current turn. Other players who are not present will have the opportunity to schedule a game against another absent player. If no game is scheduled, then the realms of missing players instead suffer a calamity, such as barbarian raid, famine, pestilence, or even civil war. These abstracted calamities (covered below) will affect their score, ensuring players who do not show up are less likely to outscore those who are present. A campaign strategy should not be to benefit from your absence!
DETERMINING PLAYER ORDERThe campaign begins by placing the players in a random, top to bottom order. From that point on in the campaign, the player order changes due to the actions of the players. At each meeting, the player currently at the top is given a choice to declare an attack against an enemy realm or to pass. The next player is given a similar choice, but may not attack players already matched up. This continues until all players are matched up in one-on-one battles. If there is an odd number of players present, the GM will step in and play to make an even number.
Players may pass only once per round. If multiple players choose to pass, it may necessitate a second time through the player order to ensure everyone present has an opponent. A player who chose to pass earlier in the order will be forced to declare an attack when it comes around to them again.
Once all players are matched up, the player order is reset for the next turn. Those who chose to attack another player are moved to the bottom of the player order. The player who made the last choice is moved just underneath the bottom player in the previous player order. The next-to-last player to choose is underneath that player, and so on. The first player to choose to attack another ends up at the very bottom of the player order. See the example below for a 6-player campaign:
Randomly chosen order to start campaign:- Purple Player
- Blue Player
- Green Player
- Yellow Player
- Orange Player
- Red Player
Actions:
1. Purple player chooses to attack Orange player
2. Blue player passes
3. Green player attacks Red player
4. Yellow player attacks Blue player
5. Actions stop as all players are matched up for one-on-one battles.
Resetting the player order for next turn:
- Blue Player (“passed,” so did not choose, remaining in place)
- Orange Player (was attacked by purple, so remains in place)
- Red Player (was attacked Green, so remains in place)
- Yellow Player (chose third)
- Green Player (chose second)
- Purple Player (chose first)
FIGHTING BATTLES
The player who announced the attack will be considered the Attacker in the upcoming battle. In Saga terms, that player will automatically become “Player 1,” while the Defender will be “Player 2”. Do NOT roll randomly for Player 1 or Player 2 in campaign battles! In addition, the Attacker will also have the option to choose which scenario the players will fight. The campaign GM will keep track of player choices of battles. A player is limited to selecting a certain scenario two times over the course of the campaign. After they have chosen that scenario twice, they MUST choose another eligible scenario.
This will have the effect not only of helping keep the campaign fresh with new opponents and new scenarios, it will also give players more experience in the various scenarios. Who knows? Playing in the campaign may help them in future tournaments!
At the end of the tabletop game, players must record the result (Win, Lose, Draw) and whether the loser’s Warlord was slain. Other losses and scenario victory points are unimportant (except Legendary warlords, which may not be chosen again after they die in a game). Of course, players are free to add this information to the account of the battles, but it is not needed to compile the results of the campaign turn.
STRATEGIC RESULTS OF BATTLES
If the Attacker wins the battle (not a Draw result or Loss), that player seizes control of the designated stronghold (Tower, Fortress, or Castle) from the loser. Note that the defender is not out of the campaign when he or she loses their Castle — they will remain in the campaign and able to launch their own attacks. Even if a player is reduced to 0 strongholds, they will continue participating in the campaign. Think of them as being reduced to a landless, migrating horde instead of a kingdom.
Players who have lost strongholds are NOT limited to attacking the players who they originally lost strongholds to — they may attack ANY player in the campaign. This should keep the games fresh and prevent them from degenerating into the same two players fighting each other turn after turn as might happen in more structured campaigns.
If the Defender wins the battle (not a draw or loss), they will benefit from plunder gained as the enemy flees the battlefield. They will receive a +1d6 roll to their Victory Points (VPs) this turn (see below).
In addition, if a player wins the battle and also slays an enemy warlord, they will receive an additional bonus +1d6 roll to their VPs. Both Attackers and Defenders are eligible for this bonus to their roll.
The campaign is meant to be abstracted for simplicity and to minimize bookkeeping. Players do not need to keep track of losses of figures or units. Each turn their forces will be “fresh” — representing that realms have many more troops than are present on the tabletop of any one battle.
VICTORY POINTS (VPs) AND “WHO’S WINNING?”
A player who wins battles and seizes control of other player’s strongholds will be rewarded by having a greater number of dice to roll for their VPs each turn. At the end of each campaign turn, players will roll for each realm’s VPs. They receive a number of d6 equal to the following total:
- +3d6 for each Castle in their Realm
- +2d6 for each Stronghold in their Realm
- +1d6 for Each Tower in their Realm
- +1d6 if they Won a tabletop battle as Defender
- +1d6 if they Won a tabletop battle and killed the enemy warlord as either Attack or Defender
Each player gathers up the allotted number of dice and rolls it. That sum is added to their existing campaign VPs. Just like in the game of Saga, a player who rolls a larger number of dice may not always score higher. This random element is part of the game and also this campaign.
If a new player joins the campaign, they will start with a base score equal to the player with the fewest VPs at the end of the previous turn. From this base score, they will subtract the roll of 2d6. The sum will be that realm’s beginning VPs. This will lessen the handicap of new players joining a campaign already underway, which should provide them incentive to play.
CALAMITIES FOR PLAYERS WHO ARE NOT PRESENT
Recognizing that it may seem odd if players who are not present (and thus not eligible to be attacked and lose strongholds) week after week are winning or finishing higher than players who are present and playing games. Thus, the dice rolled for realms controlled by absent players will be modified by one of the following calamities:
- Barbarian Raid: If the player was present the previous session, but missed this one, they suffer a barbarian raid. The realm rolls 1d6 less this turn for VPs.
- Famine: If the player has missed two sessions in a row now, they suffer Famine. They roll 2d6 less this turn for VPs.
- Pestilence: If the player has now missed three sessions in a row, they suffer Pestilence. The realm rolls 3d6 less this turn for VPs.
- Civil War: If the player has missed four or more sessions in a row, they suffer civil war. The realm will roll 4d6 less this turn for VPs.
Note that showing up “resets” the above progression. Let’s say a player who suffered a Pestilence for missing the three previous sessions in a row, shows up. They earn normal VPs. If they do not show up the following session, the progression resets and they suffer a Barbarian Raid.
KEEPING TRACK OF TURNS
The campaign is designed to limit the amount of bookkeeping and many features are abstracted.
It is suggested that a table be updated for each turn which details:
- Realm name (& player name)
- Current number of Towers, Fortresses, & Castles
- Current VPs
In addition, the table should have a section to detail the results of each turn, including:
- Strategic Action: Attacked or Defended vs. Realm (& player name)
- Result of battle: Win/Lose/Draw, Losing Warlord slain, Stronghold lost or gained
- Scenario chosen: Name of Scenario
- That turn’s VP roll
