War for the background

Some worlds are in conflict, and sometimes figuring out what exactly the PCs should see when they come back to a place at the border of this conflict is difficult. The changing tides of battles besieging every location in the background is a lot to deal with (Especially if anyone else will only ever see the results of the battles). So I decided (After viewing the wonderful ROOT RPG) to make a more general ruleset for GMs looking to add the randomness of war raging in the background of a campaign.

Factions

The first step in war is to find out who you’re fighting. Create a list of your major factions. It will be helpful if your list can match to a die size. Number them from most powerful to least powerful. I would recommend having 2-6 major factions.

Give each of the factions a single tag from the ones listed below (or create your own tags, I don’t control you):

Sects - When they take control of a location controlled by the “populace” they gain a +1 to their next roll.

Wealthy - When they lose control of a resource they may roll 1d6, on a 5-6 they do not lose control of that resource.

Dangerous - When they take control of a location they may first remove fortifications from it.

Good PR - When they lose control of a location due to rolling a 6- they may roll a d6, on a 4-6 they do not lose control of that location.

Saboteurs - They gain an additional action to choose from when rolling.

The Faction chooses another faction. That faction takes a -1 to their next roll.

Navigators - Before rolling this faction rolls a d6. On a 6 this faction treats any locations they can reach through the wilds from a location they control as adjacent.

Scientists - When they gain a valuable or substantial resource, they create a new technology. It counts as a +2 to their next roll rather than a +1.

Battlefield

The second step in any war is to establish the battlefield, or battlefields. The battlefield could be a star system, a sector of space, a planet, a space station, or even a single building. In any case, there will be locations of strategic importance. Each location will be linked to other locations by paths. Any area enclosed by paths is called the wilds, although it could be some more heavily guarded hallways, an inefficient orbital maneuver, or uncharted jump space.

Take a blank sheet of paper (Or some other drawing surface or flowchart like creation program), then make a single circle near a corner of the drawing surface. This circle is your first location. Roll on the table below, or choose, the number of paths that will connect to this location.

2d6	Number of Paths
2	1
3-4	2
5-9	3
10-11	4
12	5

Draw a number of lies heading out of the location equal to the number of paths rolled. Draw a new circle, a new location, at the end of any of those paths. Roll, or choose, the number of paths connecting to this location, remember that the line it’s already connected to counts as a path towards the total.

Continue drawing new locations at the end of paths, connect existing paths where possible. Stop when you have about 10-18 locations. Any unfinished paths can be erased, or perhaps left there, reminders of failed locations or doomed attempts to create a new path.

The final step is to name all the locations. It’s always good to have a name to call something, makes it less terrifying.

Control

Now, look at that list of factions you made earlier. Do you want to rearrange them? Do so now. This is the final order of tiebreaking.

Choose a starting location for each faction, I’d recommend placing them in opposite “corners” of the battlefield. Now, one at a time, roll for each location on the following table to establish which faction controls that location.

1d6	Controlling Faction
1	The “populace” of that location. (This could mean they are independent, or the faction that was originally on the planet, building, or whatnot “controls” it. This gives the faction that originally controlled the battlefield an advantage)
2	The faction with the least neighboring controlled locations (In the case of a tie, the faction with the fewest overall controlled locations)
3	The faction with the most neighboring controlled factions (In the case of a tie, the faction with the fewer overall controlled locations)
4-6	The faction with the most neighboring controlled locations (In the case of a tie, the faction with the most overall controlled locations)

For any further ties read from top to bottom the list you made earlier.

War

War is a terrible thing, pushing its slimy tendrils into everything and everyone near it. To figure out how a location has been impacted by the war roll 2d6 + [each faction either controlling or neighboring the location].

2d6	Impact
2-7	Untouched This location has not been largely affected by the war. Yet...
8-10	Battle-Scarred This location shows clear signs of battle. Walls are burnt or damaged, doors are newer than the building around them, a non-important yet complex device is offline due to being hit.
11-12	Occupied This location is the sight of a recent battle, it is likely to be occupied by the controlling faction, or has recently been occupied by another faction. You can use the list you made earlier to figure out which one it is. Debris litter the area, the wreckage of capital ships is being slowly cleaned up and reforged, large sections of the area are shelters or patched with temporary fixes.
13+	Fortified This location has not only seen war, it is at the forefront of it. There is a large buildup of military activity and defenses, some of which have been recently assaulted and damaged heavily. Military patrols are common, most of the landing bays are taken by military ships, streets are blockaded, combat drills are a regular sight.

When time passes, this could happen during a jump, a long period of travel, a session, or even an hour going by. Whatever your interval, when time passes, the war continues. Roll for each faction, starting with the faction with the most controlled locations and working your way down (Remember that tiebreaker list you made).

Roll 2d6, with these modifications:

+1 if that faction doesn’t have control of the most locations.

+1 if that faction has been majorly helped by the actions of the players (Perhaps they discovered an advanced weapon and gave it to exclusively this faction).

-1 if that faction has been majorly hindered by the actions (or inactions) of the players (Perhaps they unleashed an alien menace upon their planets).

-1 if that faction has controlled the most locations for more than one time period in a row.

On a 10+, the faction has a major victory, choose 2. 

On a 7-9, the faction has a minor victory, choose 1. 

On a 6- the faction suffers a terrible defeat it loses control of one of its locations (Control returning to the “populace”, as above), loses a fortification, or loses control of a valuable resource (and takes a -1 on their next roll if they can’t regain control).

• The faction takes control of a location adjacent to one it already controls (If it controls none, one on the edge of the battlefield).
• The faction seizes an important figure from an enemy faction. Perhaps the PCs are hired to save them.
• The faction obtains a valuable or substantial resource (and takes +1 on their next roll if they retain control). What is it? What does it allow them to do that is better than the other factions?
• The faction fortifies itself (Mark a controlled location with fortifications. Next time a faction would take control of the fortified location they remove the fortifications instead).

Sometimes you want something more concrete and tactical, with visible armies or fleets moving from place to place. If that's what you want, this next part is for you.

Advanced War

Factions have 3 stats (Apply one number to each stat: 40, 50, 60):

Supremacy: How good their tech or tactics are. A faction with higher supremacy is better at battle.

Size: How many military units they can support. A faction with higher size has access to more supplies.

Logistics: How many military units they can command/produce in a round. A faction with higher logistics has a greater access to resources and communication.

When a faction attacks another faction roll an opposed Supremacy Check (Each rolling 1d100, if they roll below their Supremacy stat they succeed, otherwise they fail). Both failing means that the defender wins a pyrrhic victory (Both units are defeated). A tie means that the attacker has won a pyrrhic victory (Both units are defeated, but the attacker takes control of the location).

When a unit is defeated roll a d10 on the following table.

1d10	Result
1	The unit defects to the opposing faction. (The opposing faction (In the combat) gains control of this unit)
2	The unit surrenders to the opposing faction. (The opposing faction gains a 1d10 bonus to Supremacy when using the unit that defeated this one)
3-4	The unit is completely and utterly destroyed. (Remove the unit)
5-6	The unit is damaged beyond most repair. (Place it in an adjacent location that the faction controls and this faction takes a 1d10 penalty to Supremacy when using this unit)
7-8	The unit is damaged, but repairable. (Place it in an adjacent location that the faction controls, mark that this unit is damaged. This unit can not be used in combat until it has been repaired (By using a command to command it to repair))
9-10	The unit manages to retreat in an easily repairable condition. (Place it in an adjacent location that the faction controls)

A faction can support up to their size/10 military units. If the faction has more than that number at any point they must disband units down to that number.

Each round a faction can command/produce up to their logistics/10 military units. Commanding a military unit allows them to move it from one location to an adjacent location.

A round is one time that you go through the factions after time has passed.

Layers of Battlefields

Using layers of Battlefields can be useful for larger wars, such as having one be space, and the others be each individual planet.

When a faction controls the upper location they gain a +1 to rolls on the lower battlefield.