NSA: The Game

With wars between factions frequently occurring at NSA, I, Graham Shaw (first of his name, advisor to Lord Hudson Brott of the Hudson Fan Club, Duke of the Ducks, Grahama Wormtongue, “A mix of Jim Carrey, a Dungeon Master, and Smeagol,” and so on and so forth), have decided to create a formal war-gaming system made for the purpose of determining victors of war through everyone’s favorite means: tactics, statistics, and unfathomable violence.

COMPONENTS

NSA: the Game, is meant to be played on a board. This could be a paper with cover and similar things for soldiers to duck behind placed on it, or you could use a virtual board. The system this was originally designed to be used on is Roll20, though you could theoretically use any system, provided you’re willing to put in the effort of porting the rules over. Units are represented by paper or models that depict the specified unit. Dice, such as six-sided (called a d6), ten-sided (d10), or twenty-sided (d20) are used to determine damage, whether an attack hits, and whether certain abilities succeed.

GENERAL RULES

TROOPS AND CHARACTERS

Troops

Troops are the average soldier on the battlefield. They might have unique attacks or abilities based on what kind of troop they are, but they pale in comparison to characters. Characters are the personal unit of a player. They act as commanders of lesser troops, and have more abilities and power than the average soldier.

Manpower

In battle, both sides have a “Manpower” stat which is determined by the number of people in either side’s group. Manpower is used to show how many soldiers you can bring into battle, with different units costing different amounts of Manpower. A faction's Manpower is determined by the number of people in it multiplied by two. Manpower Values for different units are specified later. Characters do not cost Manpower.

Items

Units can be upgraded using Items. Units that are given Items cost extra Manpower, but are given new abilities by their newfound gadgets and weapons. Special Items, such as Artifacts, have to be found before they can be used. Once an Artifact is found, it can be used by the faction that owns it until it is taken from them when the Artifact’s wielder is slain in battle, or is traded away.

Abilities

Certain units or items have abilities, which can be activated to perform special actions, grant buffs, or inflict debuffs. Abilities can be selected to occur similarly to an attack, or can simply automatically happen when certain conditions are met. The activation conditions are specified in the ability’s card.

CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE

If a larger army loses a battle against a smaller army, or they suffer a pyrrhic victory (Where they are left with 15% of their original soldiers alive), they roll on the debuff table as their army is weakened by their failure. Simultaneously, the smaller army rolls on the buff table, as they benefit from their improbable victory. Debuffs and buffs remain until they are removed with an ability, the affected army wins a battle, or the war ends. Units with the Expendable trait do not count towards a pyrrhic victory when they are killed, but simultaneously do not benefit from buffs.

Debuff Table (Roll 1d6)

1-2: Army Demoralized: All units suffer a -2 to all RA and MA checks.

3-4: Equipment Damaged: All damage rolls suffer a -1 penalty.

5-6: Recruitment Slowed: The affected army has 10% less Manpower.

Buff Table (Roll 1d6)

1-2: Morale Boosted: All units gain a +2 to all RA and MA checks.

3-4: Stole Enemy Equipment: All damage rolls gain a +1 bonus.

5-6: Recruitment Inspired: The affected army has 10% more Manpower.

MAKING PEACE AND FORMING ALLIANCES

Peace can be made in a multitude of ways. It can be achieved by one side conquering all of their war objectives, one side surrendering, or by forming a peace treaty with certain terms and conditions for both sides (Think of the Treaty of Versailles, or something similar). Alliances can be made either by agreement between the leaders, a condition in a treaty, or similar diplomatic arrangements such as a political marriage. Alliances and treaties make for fun role playing scenarios, so be sure to try to implement that aspect if you and your enemies/allies like the idea of roleplaying a defeated leader begrudgingly signing a defeat treaty, or a disgruntled prince/princess suddenly discovering that they are to marry some random guy from a rival faction because their parent doesn't want war.

STATS AND THEIR PURPOSES

Different units have different statistics. However, they all collectively share some basic traits: Hit Points (Shortened to HP) which determines how much damage a unit can take before it dies, Ranged Ability (Shortened to RA) which determines how good a unit is with ranged weapons, Melee Ability (Shortened to MA) which determines how good a unit is with melee weapons, and Defense (Shortened to D) which determines how good a unit is by resisting damage. d20s are used when rolling checks that involve these stats.

Weapons also have their own statistics, though they are simpler than unit statistics. They are Range (R), Ranged Damage (RD), and Melee Damage (MD). Range shows the range of a weapon, shown in inches. A bow, for example, might have a range of 10, meaning it can only fire at enemies that are ten inches away or less. Melee weapons do not have a range, and can only attack enemies that their models are touching. Ranged Damage and Melee Damage both refer to the weapon’s damage in close and long range. Using the example of a bow, a bow might deal 1d6+2 Ranged Damage, meaning it does one 6 sided die of damage when landing a ranged attack. It might also deal 1d6-1 Melee Damage, meaning it deals one 6 sided die minus one damage when landing a melee attack.

As an example, say an Rifleman was to shoot his rifle at a nearby enemy Knight, making a Ranged Ability Check. If the Rifleman had an RA of 10, he would need to roll a twenty sided die (d20). If he received a roll of 10 or higher, the attack would hit. The Rifleman would then need to roll to see if the attack penetrated the Knight’s armor. If the Knight has a D of 14, the Rifleman would roll a d20. If the result was 14 or higher, the attack hits, and the Rifleman would then roll damage, subtracting the damage roll’s result from the enemy unit’s HP. Once a unit loses all of its HP, it is destroyed.

UNIT STATS

• RIFLEMEN: 3 Manpower, 20 FT movement, 10 HP 10 RA 14 MA 10 D,
• Rifle (Ranged Attack): 1d6+2 Damage and has 30 FT range
• Bayonet (Melee Attack): 1d6-1 Damage
• TRAITS: Infantry
• PIKEMEN: 3 Manpower, 20 FT movement, 12 HP, 15 RA 10 MA 12 D,
• Pike (Melee Attack): 1d6+2 Damage (+5 against units with the Mounted trait)
• TRAITS: Infantry

          CANNON FODDER: 1 Manpower, 20 FT movement, 5 HP, 15 RA 15 MA 7 D,

          Shoddy Sword (Melee Attack): 1d6-1 Damage

          Shoddy Bow (Ranged Attack): 1d6-1 Damage, 20 FT Range

          TRAITS: Infantry, Expendable

         KNIGHT: 4 Manpower, 40 FT movement, 15 HP, 15 RA 8 MA 14 D,

• Lance (Melee Attack): 1d10+3 Damage (+6 against units with the Tank trait)
• TRAITS: Mounted

LIGHT TANK: 6 Manpower, 15 FT Movement, 20 HP, 13 RA 16 MA 16 D, Cannon (Ranged Attack): 2d10 Damage and has 40 FT Range

Run Over (Melee Attack): 1d10 Damage

TRAITS: Vehicle

MEDIUM TANK: 8 Manpower, 15 FT Movement, 30 HP, 13 RA 16 MA 16 D, Cannon (Ranged Attack): 2d10+7 Damage and has 40 FT Range

Run Over (Melee Attack): 1d10+5 Damage

TRAITS: Vehicle

ARTILLERY: 6 Manpower, 0FT Movement (Can only be moved if a unit with the Vehicle trait uses its action to pull it rather than shoot or use a melee attack), 10 HP, 15 RA 17 MA 10 D,

Artillery Shell (Ranged Attack): 3d10 Damage and can fire at any point on the map, blast radius of 10 by 10 FT. However, if it misses, the attack lands 10 FT away in a randomly determined direction. Enemies behind cover or under a roof can still be targeted with this attack.

Crew Defenses (Melee Attack): 1d6-2 Damage

TRAITS: Artillery

BALLISTA: 3 Manpower, 0FT Movement (Can only be moved if a unit with the Vehicle trait uses its action to pull it rather than shoot or use a melee attack), 10 HP, 13 RA 17 MA 10 D,

Ballista Bolt (Ranged Attack): 1d10+3 Damage and has 40 FT Range

Crew Defenses (Melee Attack): 1d6-2 Damage

ITEM STATS

• BOW: 0.5 Manpower, Arrow (Ranged Attack): 1d6 damage and has 20 FT Range