Domains at War - Update on Our Approach

Days! Woot. That should be in time for our big showdown on Sept. 7-8. Many thanks!

How do you plan to spread the word on the kickstarter? I missed the one for the Player’s Companion, and I definitely want to back a hex-based D&D wargame thing. It’s right in my wheelhouse.

I don’t have a wheelhouse, but I definitely want to be informed about the DaW Kickstarter. I’m kicking myself for missing the Players Companion Kickstarter as it is.

I’ve missed all the kickstarters, due to ignorance of this system up to a few weeks ago. But I’ll backing this, I tell ya what.

Hey, any update on this? Has the kickstarter already happened, or is it still in the works? (Also any news on that free version?)

The Kickstarter hasn't happened yet. We wanted to get at least the complete Player's Companion PDF into everyone's hands before starting another Kickstarter.

Domains at War is 99% done, though, save for art.

Ah, OK. Thanks for the update!

Is there any chance there’s a mailer or something I can get on to get notified when the kickstarter for this spins up and you guys have future projects/product plans?

I honestly don’t check these forums much at all(and I’m not running an ACKs campaign at the moment), but would absolutely be interested in being a part of the KS for this.

To me ACKS is an important part of the rpg community.

Dracones, there's no mailing list, no, though that's not a bad idea. We'll do our best to spread the word when we start the Kickstarter. Tavis usually hits RPG.net, TheRPGSite, EnWorld, and the other major hubs, and the OSR blogs...

 

So I want ACKS rules for quickly resolving mass combat, without moving counters around on a map, and for otherwise resolving large scale things like barbarian raids on villages or other military-like enounters much like the rules to resolve hi-jinx. So, yeah, military hijinx.

I’m not interested in a wargame with PC’s as heroes and tracking ranks and wheeling and otherwise playing Warhammer.

So the book I’m looking for is DaW: Campaigns, right?

Also, just so you know, I think hijinx systems (like those of the thief and assassin) are an excellent way of combining the ACKS “bottom up” approach with a “top down” approach seen in things like An Echo Resounding. I’d happily pay for a book full of them. Thiefly hijinx, military hijinx, magical hijinx, priestly hijinx. Well, maybe not a book of just those, but they would certainly be a welcome addition.

I am not sure if there is a practical way to get hijinks for other classes as they dont get any additional skills one could roll for.

I would love to have a system like that though.

It sounds like what you'd want is Domains at War: Campaigns, yes. 

The system in Domains at War Campaigns doesn't use hijinks, but it's very simple. The rules assign a "Battle Rating" to each body  of troops. For example, 10 goblin wolf riders have a Battle Rating of 1. You then resolve the fight between the opposing sides with rolls of d20s based on the sum of the battle ratings involved.

PCs can intervene in the fight by doing a "heroic foray" where they commit to personally defeating a certain value of Battle Rating. The Judge selects enemies equal to the chosen BR. You then roll on some tables that tell you how far away the enemies start and what's going on at the point on the battlefield where the PCs join the fight. If they win, the enemy's BR is reduced, letting the PCs have an impact on the overall course of the fight.

Here's some examples of random battlefield conditions:

 

Blood and Mud: The battlefield here is soaked in blood and mud. Due to the wet, slippery conditions, creatures that roll a natural 1 on attack or saving throws fall prone.

 

Piles of Dead: Huge piles of dead troops lay in heaps on the ground. Movement rates are halved because of the carrion obstacles, and no charging or running is permitted. The corpses may be animated by necromancers. Thieves and others skilled in hiding will find ample cover available to make use of their abilities (+2 bonus to proficiency throws). All creatures suffer a -2 penalty to morale rolls due to the awful carnage.

 

Volley of Arrows: Arrows fill the skies, striking friend and foe. 1d4 rounds after the foray begins, make an attack throw with a target value of 15+ (modified by AC) against each creature in the foray. A hit deals 1d6 points of damage to the creature struck.

Domains at War: Campaigns also adds a bunch of new hijinks to the game, including:

  1. Disinformation - A perpetrator can spread lies and rumors through an enemy's camp.

  2. Subversion - A perpetrator can subvert a subvert stronghold's defenses by unlocking doors, opening gates, etc.

  3. Sabotage - A perpetrator can attempt to destroy the supplies of the opposing army. 

 

 

I eagerly scrolled down looking to see if an update to the D@W thread meant an impending Kickstarter announcement. Alas, :sigh:

Any word, wise Autarchs, when we can expect an announcement? I really love how this is taking the quick and abstract top-down of the old war machine style approach to compliment a detailed battle system - best of both worlds.

Tavis is going to post the backer levels this week, and the Kickstarter will start within the month!

 

 

Great news. Been waiting on this one for a while!

Great news!

Will there be a way to back you through PayPal? In my current financial situation I prefer not to use my international credit card too much.

can’t speak for the crew, but in the past i have backed the CR and PG via paypal and it went smooth.

Any news on the Kickstarter front? :slight_smile:

It shouldn't be much longer. I've assembled the pricing info and written some of the KS page text, hope to put the rest of it together tomorrow.