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Heroes of Battle might be just what a DM needs to play D&D on the battlefield. This book is intended to allow the players to be key players in enormous conflicts without resorting to filling a table with miniatures and taking four hours to play a half-hour skirmish.
Chapter One: The War Campaign
The first thing a DM needs to wrap his head around is the difference between a dungeon and a battlefield. This chapter helps with that, by addressing both the differences and the similarities. Both involve people swinging weapons, for instance.
An abundance of advice on running battlefield adventures can be found here, from pacing and scale to treasure and experience. The chapter also discusses how to give characters down time to memorize spells and heal up, and a few quick guidelines on military organization.
Chapter Two: Building Adventures
Battlefield adventures have a few similarities to dungeons, but there are some huge differences. For instance, players can go just about anywhere when there are no 10 X 10 rooms. A DM cannot know for certain that players will ever hit his planned encounters unless he makes sure they do.
This chapter presents a new way to construct an adventure, using a timeline and flow chart instead of graph paper and map key. By outlining possible outcomes for the battle, with places where the PCs can make a difference, a DM can be much more flexible in running the game. If the orc chieftain is supposed to come over the hill to battle the heroes, but the heroes never go near the hill, the DM can fudge a few things and have the chieftain appear from a different point.
The chapter also presents a wide variety of terrain features that could make a battlefield more interesting, like hedgerows and streams, piled bodies and pools of acid. A cool map key is provided so that DMs can make their own maps, as are two sample adventure flow charts that illustrate how to create a battlefield adventure.
The end of this chapter covers rewards. Experience is the most obvious award, followed closely by treasure, but Heroes of Battle also introduces victory points, which can help a DM decide if the actions of the PCs can turn the tide of the battle.
Chapter Three: Battlefield Encounters
This exceptionally useful chapter is essentially a series of short encounters that could be strung together to make a whole adventure, or even campaign. There are small maps with each, descriptions of events, and ideas for scaling or modifying each encounter. Examples include cutting supply lines or assaulting siege engines.
The end of the chapter details several specific units. These are all fantasy, all the time, and include an army of centaurs and giant eagles, an army of undead lead by a necromancer, an army of goblinoids, and a human army.
Chapter Four: Rules of War
A change of venue as extreme as moving to the battlefield from the dungeon requires some custom rules. Siege engines are examined in depth, as is aerial bombardment and the volley of arrows. Strategic advantages such as planning, bardic knowledge and scouting are detailed, and there are concise rules for morale checks.
Commander auras are new to the battlefield, as until now, most characters will not have had troops of men behind them. Commanders can use their auras to help their followers be more defensive, opportunistic, or maneuverable. These auras are lifted from the D&D miniatures game, so they may be familiar to some readers.
An essay on victory points, and specific scenarios in which they could be earned, will prove useful to adapting players to the battlefield. Recognition points, another addition to D&D, allow PCs to gain battlefield renown and use it to gain promotions, rally their troops, or intimidate foes.
Chapter Five: The Military Character
The chapter begins with new uses for skills and a few new feats. The new feats are interesting, like expert siege engineer or shield wall, but they are not particularly awe-inspiring. The main feature of this chapter is the list of prestige classes.
The combat medic is a particularly skilled healer who focuses on keeping her soldiers alive. Sure, she can throw down when the rubber hits the road, but she is really a support unit.
The dread commando is a frightening foe capable of conducting lightning raids and ruthless attacks, often behind enemy lines. This has potential to be a very exciting class, since players would routinely be hip-deep in enemies without hope for reinforcements.
The legendary leader is a great role for an accomplished character, leading his troops fearlessly and winning time after time. Great warriors and even greater leaders, these fearless generals can be inspiring and fantastic fun to play.
The war weaver is a combat mage, but not one you are used to seeing. By weaving a web between the troops she supports, she can imbue groups of allies with helpful spells. This makes the war weaver a powerful asset, even if she is not loaded down with fireball spells and chain lightning scrolls.
The chapter finishes with a short essay on the benefits of teamwork, and a few assets that a team can train into their repertoire. By having everyone in a squad know when to act, teams that train together can become frightfully effective. It is always nice to see discipline and training become a factor in a battlefield game beyond simply adding bonuses to attack and morale rolls.
Chapter Six: Magic of War
This chapter details new spells and magic items, and includes spells for the healer and hexblade, both presented in different supplements. The spells are interesting, like drums of war or consecrate battlefield, but they are not the focus of the book, and are a little brief.
The magic items are likewise underdeveloped. While a few cool ideas can be found here – including a disc that acts like a land mine – they are not really the focus of the book. Magic siege engines are interesting, but a little over the top for my tastes. Of course, nothing says D&D like a trebuchet that fires balls of flaming acid, but that does tend to feel a little silly to me.
Appendices
There are two appendices to Heroes of Battlefield, one providing several small armies and the other giving details on a few battlefield steeds. The tusked behemoth and luna moth sound like really cool steeds, but I would have appreciated a picture. These animals felt like they needed their own chapter, not an appendix.
Presentation
If you are the least bit familiar with books from Wizards of the Coast, you know that the art is full-color and the best money can buy. Every page makes you want to buy the book just because it is great eye candy.
Happily, the writing supports the eye candy fairly well. It is not the best I have read from Wizards, but it is a long ways from the worst. It is quite readable and enjoyable.
Summary
If I had one complaint about the book, it would not be about what is here, but what is not here. The book is only 157 pages, and for thirty bucks, I would have appreciated a lot more book. Other books from Wizards have been considerably longer for the same price. Considering the fact that the bestiary got relegated to an appendix, I can even tell you where they could find another ten to fifteen pages. Some additional magic might have helped, too.
Overall, Heroes of Battle is a great supplement. The rules and information here will allow DMs to make vibrant and exciting battlefield campaigns that do not feel like an outdoors dungeon. If you are considering taking your players into a full-blown war effort, this book can help.
Style: 5 – It’s from Wizards, so it’s gorgeous, and the writing is also very good.
Substance: 4 – I don’t really have gripes about the content, but for $30, I want more of it.
