Morale

[rgrove0172]

How many of you GMs use a morale system of some sort in your game?

In one of our first games the PCs were attacked by a gang of cutthroats. They were outnumbered 3 to 1 but in the first two rounds of combat the bad guys lost their leader and two others. Suddenly the previously easy prey looked a bit more menacing. On a whim I had them back off. It was dramatic and seemed to make sense but I was wishing I had a system to handle it rather than just my opinion. A simple casualty percentage threshold seems a bit simplistic, so what do you guys use?

 

[VincentDarlage]

I use my whim. If there were more mathematics involved, I would never actually use them, so I am against an actual system. Basically, I try to make my NPCs react as I think they should. I don't think there is a system that can react to the vagaries of situation, motivation and need as well as the human brain can.

 

[urdinaran]

The way D20 is written, yeah, it's up to the GM. A morale check would be nice, but how do you go about figuring out the DC? I guess you would use Wisdom for the check. But like Vincent said, it would be easier to implement GM fiat.

 

[rgrove0172]

Cool, Ill stick with a GM interpretation. Thanks!

 

[Kargush]

There is a system for it in a DnD sourcebook, Heroes of Battle. Worth taking a look at.

I myself use only my whim. It reinforces the fact that as DM, I am Crom and That Which Must Not Be Named all rolled into one. And it also means that the game becomes a tad more unpredictable, which just adds to the fun IMO.

 

[argo]

I also just use GM fiat and simply try to play my NPC's as though they are not suicidal/mindless drones .... unless they actually do happen to be suicidal or mindless :wink:

If the players want to actively try to affect enemy "morale" then they have the intimidate skill.

Later.

 

[Bjorn the Barbarian]

I also tend to play it by ear and allow the players to use the intimidate skill, to which I apply modifiers depending on the circumstances. :shock:

 

[Azgulor]

There's also a PDF product called "Shock-and-Awe" that reintroduces morale into D20 games. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it seems like decent mechanics.

I picked it up at RPGnow but I suspect most RPG-PDF vendors carry it.

Azgulor

 

[rgrove0172]

"Shock and Awe" looks cool but once you get a grasp of the system you realize just what a pain in the backside it would be to implement. Having seperate Morale Hit Points from normal Hit Points and attributing damage accordingly would be tedious if not downright wearisome. I considered it for about 10 minutes then tried to imagine actually using the the thing and decided otherwise. Maybe there are some guys out there that have figured a way to integrate it though, it does look cool.

 

[bjorntfh]

In our campaign we tend to have morale fluxuate for non-PCs based on the circumstances (we've had both enemies and allies bolt on us.)

Our GM does give free intimidate checks against enemies if we manage to do something impressive and terrifying. For example my assassin managed to drop onto a group of 3 mooks from above (40' above actually) and did over 50 points of damage to one, and 70 to another. Our GM then gave me a free intimidate check on teh last guy based on the fact that I dropped out of nowhere and drove two guys heads into their pelvises.

We use morale absed on GM fiat, but it works out pretty well.

 

[Clovenhoof]

GM fiat is the best solution. Take into account the circumstances, like own side's strength, enemy's strength, home ground advantage, and so on. Consider precedents from history and fiction as well.

- In the wonderful movie "300", a handful of Spartans stand against hundreds of thousands of Persians, and have no problems with their morale whatsoever. So even overwhelming odds don't have to reduce your morale if you have enough confidence. They even thought they could win.
In the ending scene, the Greek army was even spurred with the assessment "They only outnumber us three to one, they don't have a chance".

- In "Return of the King", the Rohirrim charge with the greatest vigor even though they expect not to be able to breach Mordor's ranks. And the Orc army is quickly routed after the Riders plough through their ranks despite their ongoing numerical superiority.

- a historic case, in the year 955, German King Otto defeated a Hungarian force about 5 times bigger than his own. In the key point of the battle, a German detachment killed a relatively small part of the Hungarian forces without casualties of their own -- this routed the Hungarian army even though they could have crushed the Germans if they had stood their ground.
There is a Wiki article, but it's not very detailed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lechfeld

The latter example is the most impressive, I think, especially because it's actual history. =) It's also the proof that you can't write a mathematical rule for morale. If the Hungarians had done the math, they wouldn't have fled.