TEXT: ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller • 1
  DROPS IN A POND:  
  MASS CONFLICT OPTIONS
  Written by Leonard Balsera • Edited by John Adamus • Layout by Fred Hicks
  The following is an official Fate Core rules supplement, created for Jeffrey Fuller 
  as part of a Fate Core Kickstarter commission.
  By default, Fate Core tends to concentrate on the actions of individual characters 
  pursuing goals. However, you might find yourself in a position where the PCs are 
  integrated into large armies, either as commanders or as elite members of the rank 
  and file. 
  Here are some ways to handle that.
  ARMIES AS BACKGROUND
  The simplest method is to focus only on the smaller moments that the PCs have in 
  the overall battle, such as a fight with a nemesis or a key moment where they can turn 
  the tide. This doesn’t require anything more than creative narration on your part and 
  the use of the standard conflict rules, perhaps with some flavorful situation aspects if 
  the armies do something that could affect the PCs’ immediate environment, such as 
  Mortar Fire or the like. Do this when the armies are more window dressing than 
  anything else and you want to keep the spotlight consistent.
  ARMIES AS CHARACTERS
  If you want to take the bird’s eye view, you can also make the army units them-
  selves into characters, adapting some of the rules from the Extras chapter. Give the 
  unit aspects reflecting key features or personnel, skills broadly abstracted to represent 
  the capabilities of the fighting force (so a platoon armed with rifles gets a Shoot skill, 
  a very mobile platoon gets an Athletics skill, etc.), and stunts to represent any special 
  training or other advantages they may have (a cavalry unit might get +2 to Fight from 
  horseback). 
  Each unit for a side should be one character. One army vs. one army is kind of 
  boring, and that gives you the option for different players to control different units.
  Then, give the players control over the units on their side (or on whichever side 
  they want to support if the PCs are sitting this out) and use the normal conflict 
  system, but with everything “zoomed out”. Zones become whole regions of the bat-
  tlefield, like the North Bridge or the opponent’s camp site. Situation aspects reflect 
  developing elements of the tactical situation, like Barricade Line or Surrounded 
  Units. If their PCs are fighting in the unit, apply teamwork bonuses to the relevant 
  skills. (That seems like a pretty big influence, I know, but your PCs are the stars of 
  this show! It’s all right to play a little loose with the realism factor there.)
  Do this when you want to give the PCs a sense of a larger world operating around 
  them and quickly resolve large-scale events.
  
  2 • ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller
  DROPS IN A POND
  For huge set-piece battles that you want to make a really dynamic part of your 
  game, you’re going to have to integrate these two approaches, zooming in and out 
  of focus at different points throughout the battle. You want to have the spotlight on 
  the PCs at times for critical moments, followed by zooming out to show how those 
  moments influence the larger progress of the battle as a whole. 
  This is the de facto way that war movies handle that one big battle in the second 
  or third act. If you’ve seen Braveheart or The Two Towers, you know what I mean. (If 
  you haven’t, stop reading this and go watch them.)
  SETTING UP THE CONFLICT
  To start, set up the scene the same way you would an “Armies As Characters” 
  scene. Make stats for your units and lay out the zones on the battlefield, place your 
  initial situation aspects, and get the sides situated.
  Then, think about what moments might make good instances to zoom in on the 
  PCs and give them the spotlight. We’ll call these flashpoints. You want to have a list 
  of two or three flashpoints when you start the battle, though it’s probable you’ll have 
  several more when you actually hit the ground running. 
  Good ideas for flashpoints are:
  • Confrontations with any named rival NPCs, if they’re on the opposing side, 
  especially if one of your PCs has an aspect pertaining to that rivalry.
  • Critical situational turning points for the battle, like capturing a certain objec-
  tive or resource. 
  • Smaller goals orthogonal to the outcome of the battle.
  
  ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller • 3
  RUNNING THE CONFLICT
  Decide if you want to start with one of your flashpoints or with the broader clash 
  between armies. Think like a movie director. Do you want the sweeping, establish-
  ing shot of the battle before you zoom in, or do you want to start with your stars in 
  medias res and then pull back to show the magnitude of what’s at stake?
  Either way, at the end of every exchange, think about whether it’s a good idea to 
  transition. If it makes sense that the next thing to do is trigger a flashpoint, do so, 
  and run exchanges with the PCs until that flashpoint is resolved. If you’re at the end 
  of a flashpoint, pull back to the main armies and show how the events within the 
  flashpoint change the overall battle, or just use the opportunity to advance the story 
  of the fight.
  Likewise, if a player announces a goal that seems like it could trigger a flashpoint 
  according to the guidelines above, go immediately to that in the next exchange! A 
  really good time to switch is if a player announces an conflict action on behalf of an 
  army that primarily involves independent action on the part of the character. (“I want 
  to take that ballista so I can attack the folks coming over the ridge.” “Okay, that’d be 
  like creating an advantage for the lead unit, so that sounds like a good flashpoint.”)
  So basically, each flashpoint resolves as a mini-conflict within the larger conflict, 
  where the results of the flashpoint spill out into the larger battle. Check out the exam-
  ple battle below for a sense of how this plays out.
  HOW SMALL AFFECTS LARGE
  The key to making this work is making sure that the flashpoints have a tangible 
  effect on what the armies do. Otherwise, you’re basically just playing out two separate 
  conflicts and not getting a lot of mileage out of the time you’re spending.
  The best way to look at it is this: A resolved flashpoint is the equivalent of one 
  exchange for an army, except with a predetermined outcome.
  Also, because it’s the PCs, a resolved flashpoint provides maximum value for the army 
  that benefits, or terrible consequences for the army that suffers. Look to “success with 
  style” results or stunt effects as an example of how to handle this.
  Let’s break it down by action type.
  
  4 • ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller
  ATTACK FLASHPOINTS
  To qualify as an attack flashpoint, the overall goal has to be direct damage to the 
  unit, or the flashpoint has to result in direct damage to a unit as a matter of logical 
  consequence. Some ways to accomplish this are:
  • Taking out a named NPC or set of NPCs associated with that unit.
  • Setting off some kind of boobytrap or siege device.
  • Personally taking out a large number of unnamed NPC mobs.
  • Gaining control of a significant piece of armament or artillery.
  Succeeding at this flashpoint should inflict a max value hit on the targeted unit. 
  Take the highest relevant PC skill and call it a +4, and then take the targeted unit’s 
  defense skill and call it a -4. Apply stress or consequences as usual.
  ADVANTAGE FLASHPOINTS
  To qualify as an advantage flashpoint, the overall goal has to be a situational 
  change that gives one unit an advantage over another, or that has to be the most 
  logical result of the flashpoint. Some (and I mean some here, because the possibilities 
  are nearly endless) ways to accomplish this are:
  • Restricting the movement of a unit by setting something in the environment 
  on fire.
  • Destroying or sabotaging a key resource of the targeted unit.
  • Inflicting a loss of morale with crazy, epic heroics.
  • Setting off a boobytrap or siege device. (You know how it is. Some boobytraps 
  blind and confuse. Some shred and tear.)
  Succeeding at this flashpoint sticks an advantage for the victors onto the targeted 
  unit with two free invocations attached.
  OVERCOME FLASHPOINTS
  These are the broadest of all the flashpoints, basically a catch-all for whatever goals 
  don’t clearly fall in the attack or advantage category. Most of the time, an overcome 
  flashpoint will be a bid to establish a narrative detail that changes the bigger battle 
  somehow, but can’t really be qualified as granting an advantage or causing damage.
  The most common example of this is when you’ve established some sort of insur-
  mountable barrier or circumstance that keeps a unit on your side from even trying to 
  accomplish a goal, which you have to remove before you can proceed. The turbolaser 
  towers guarding the Death Star trench in Star Wars are a great example of such an 
  obstacle, because the trench attack simply couldn’t proceed until those had been 
  whittled down.
  
  ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller • 5
  You also use overcome flashpoints to clear the way for the movement of a particu-
  lar unit, eliminating barriers on the battlefield. Basically, any situation aspect on the 
  battle that you want to change or remove requires one, if you want that change to 
  affect whole units.
  Succeeding at this flashpoint removes the obstacle or otherwise lets you narrate 
  whatever detail you want into the larger battle. If it’s appropriate for some boost to be 
  assigned to any unit on your side, you get that too.
  HOW LARGE AFFECTS SMALL
  A PC cannot act as an individual against a whole unit outside of a flashpoint. If 
  PCs have to face a unit alone, with no unit to support them, either they have to jus-
  tify a flashpoint or automatically concede.
  RUNNING A FLASHPOINT
  Each flashpoint is a full conflict, challenge, or contest scene of its own, set up 
  independently of the larger one. So, zoom in and set up the situation like you would 
  a normal scene for your PCs, taking into account what opposition is in their way, 
  what environmental factors are affecting the PCs, and what the immediate area of the 
  battlefield around them looks like. 
  If the PCs beat the opposition, allot them the effect listed above for the type of 
  flashpoint. If they are taken out or concede, assign the opposite of that effect to them 
  or their allied units. So, if they fail to finish an attack flashpoint, their unit takes a 
  max value hit. 
  UNITS AND CONCESSION
  GMs, you should consider the units you control in a larger battle to be like NPCs, 
  in terms of how long they’ll stay in a fight. You shouldn’t require every unit to keep 
  pressing until it’s taken out unless you want the fight to go a long time.
  The units you should keep in action the longest are the ones that have the most 
  aspects and interesting stuff going on, especially if that includes an aspected relation-
  ship with a PC (something like Landon Is Our Battlefield Role Model or As Long 
  As Zird’s Okay, We’re Okay). Non-aspected troops or troops that only have a high 
  concept are made for the meat grinder, like nameless NPCs are, so concede for them 
  as soon as their stress tracks run out or they take one consequence.
  Players, if you’re controlling a unit, the GM still retains final say over how long 
  they’ll keep in the fight. Though, certainly, an overcome flashpoint to rally the troops 
  might be appropriate at a critical moment. (GMs, if a PC has been taken out or 
  forced to concede in a fight, go ahead and let ‘em run their unit into the ground.)
  
  6 • ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller
  EXAMPLE CONFLICT: THE ASSAULT  
  ON THE RED EMPEROR’S FORTRESS
  Landon, Cynere, and Zird have been hired by the King of Vorenal to lead forces 
  against a rogue warlord called the Red Emperor, who has been marching forces across 
  the outskirts of Vorenal and conquering every town and village in his path. 
  The PCs have discovered the location of the Red Emperor’s main fortress, a swamp 
  ruin restored to glory by conscripted labor. 
  Landon and his friends decide to sabotage as much of the defenses as they can 
  before the morning assault.
  PC UNITS
  The PCs have the following allies:
  UNIT: GENERAL EPHON’S COMMANDOS
  Aspects: Nimble, Elite Fighting Force, Few In Number
  Skills: 
   
  Great (+4) Fight
   
  Good(+3) Athletics, Endurance, and Notice
   
  Fair (+2) Stealth
  Stunts: 
   
  Nimble Positioning: +2 to Stealth to move undetected through an enormous 
  battle 
  Stress: 4
  UNIT: INFANTRY
  Aspects: none
  Skills:
   
  Fair (+2) Athletics, Endurance, Fight, and Notice
  Stunts: none
  Stress: 3
  
  ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller • 7
  ENEMY UNITS
  The Red Emperor has the following allies:
  UNIT: TOWER GUARDS
  Aspects: Loyal Unto Death, Seriously Armed and Armored
  Skills:
   
  Great (+4) Fight, Notice
   
  Good (+3) Endurance, Athletics
  Stunts:
   
  Siege Artists: May use Fight to fire the tower ballistas and attack other units at 
  range.
  Stress: 4
  UNIT: THE SORCERER CORPS
  Aspects: Magical Might
  Skills:
   
  Good (+3) Lore
   
  Fair (+2) Endurance, Will
   
  Average (+1) Fight, Notice, Athletics
  Stunts:
   
  Boom: +2 to Lore to cast hostile magic as a ranged attack
   
  Big Badda Boom: Once per conflict, may check off any stress box to attack all 
  enemy units in a single zone.
  Stress: Physical 3, Mental 3
  UNIT: RED TROOPS
  Aspects: none
  Skills:
   
  Fair (+2) Athletics, Endurance, Fight, and Notice
  Stunts: none
  Stress: 3 
  
  8 • ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller
  THE SITUATION
  The fortress is buried in swampland, and the PCs’ allies are camped at its edge. 
  Amanda decides that a simple Swampy Terrain aspect will suffice as a barrier to 
  movement, and placed two zones of open land between the camp and the fortress.
  In addition, the walls of the fortress itself are Fortified Against Intrusion and 
  lined with Siege Towers with ballistae on them. The fortress is also two zones, one 
  for the courtyard and one for the keep itself. The keep itself is Riddled with Traps. 
  The PCs have snuck into the castle under the cover of darkness to try and sabotage 
  the defenses. The other forces are positioned at their camp when the battle starts. 
  FLASHPOINTS
  Amanda decides that the keep is all but impossible to reach unless the ballistae 
  are sabotaged so that they can’t fire on the advancing armies, so she calls that an 
  overcome flashpoint.
  The Red Emperor’s personal vizier, a terrible necromancer named Kraag, is accom-
  panying the sorcerers, and Amanda decides that taking her out would result in a 
  serious blow to that force. That’s an attack flashpoint.
  Finally, the battle with the Red Emperor in the keep is an overcome flashpoint 
  that will signal the end of the battle OR the total decimation of Vorendal’s troops.
  THE BATTLE SEQUENCE
  FLASHPOINT: SIEGE TOWER
  This battle begins with the siege tower flashpoint, as the PCs try to clear the way 
  for the approach of the troops. Amanda calls for a contest of Stealth between the 
  PCs and the tower guards to determine if the PCs can get in position without being 
  spotted.
  The PCs lose! She immediately calls for a conflict with the tower guards. (She 
  just takes the unit stats and runs guard groups as individual mobs for the PCs.) She 
  sketches out quick zones in the tower they got caught in, and runs a normal conflict 
  between the PCs and the guards.
  It ends with a mixed bag - Cynere is forced to concede, but a bloodied Landon 
  and Zird carry the day. They decide that they do sabotage the ballistae, but Cynere is 
  taken captive by the guards and rushed to the keep’s dungeon.
  
  ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller • 9
  BATTLE EXCHANGE 1
  Now Amanda flashes out to the battle, and gives the PCs command over the 
  troops. Lily takes over Ephon’s commandos and Lenny takes over the infantry. 
  Amanda moves the sorcerers onto the field in this exchange and has them burn 
  their stunt early, which damages the commandos and forces the infantry to take 
  consequences. Lenny responds by sending the infantry to attack the sorcerers, but 
  they don’t do any significant damage. Lily makes an overcome action to sneak the 
  commandos over to the keep wall so she can start throwing up ladders and succeeds.
  Zird decides that he needs to engage Kraag in single combat and asks for a flash-
  point, using his turn to move Zird out into the battlefield.
  FLASHPOINT 2: WIZARD’S DUEL
  The battle between Zird and Kraag takes four exchanges to play out, but ends with 
  Zird victorious. 
  This allows Zird to inflict damage to the sorcerers. His Lore +4 is a Legendary 
  (+8), and the sorcerers’ Lore -4 is a Poor (-1). Zird wallops them with a 9-point hit, 
  enough to force them into taking two consequences. 
  BATTLE EXCHANGE 2
  The infantry, along with teamwork bonuses from Zird’s presence, take out the last 
  of the sorcerers with a quick attack. 
  Amanda moves the Red Troops out and they engage the infantry. Even with Zird’s 
  help, they end up taking more stress than they can absorb and are taken out. 
  Lily creates an advantage of Ladders so that the commandos can breach the for-
  tress walls, but fails, and decides to succeed with a cost. Amanda suggests that the 
  commandos are going to find themselves pincered between the Red Troops in the 
  field and the Tower Guards along the walls, and are basically stuck there. 
  Lenny asks if Landon and Zird can hold the infantry off and kite them away 
  from the commandos to take the pressure off. Amanda looks incredulous, until Ryan 
  explains that he wants to use magic to create the illusion of reinforcements from 
  within the swamp.
  She decides to call that an advantage flashpoint.
  
  10 • ©2013 Evil Hat Productions, LLC and Jeffrey Fuller
  FLASHPOINT 3: SWORDS AND ILLUSIONS
  Amanda decides to resolve the actual flashpoint as a challenge, and assigns three 
  orthogonal tasks: distracting the troops with the illusion, causing violent mayhem, 
  and drawing them away from the walls. Zird takes up the first and last with Lore, and 
  Landon takes up the middle task with Fight.
  The actions resolve as follows: Zird succeeds; Landon fails and chooses to suc-
  ceed with cost, Zird ties. They narrate the outcome that the illusion happens and is 
  effective, Landon ends up getting cornered and split off from Zird, and Zird doesn’t 
  manage to draw them away but does keep them occupied where they stand.
  Amanda also decides that’s good enough to give the advantage bonus to Zird, so 
  the Phantom Army Unit with two free invokes appears for the PCs to use, attached 
  to the Red Troops.
  BATTLE EXCHANGE 3
  The commandos engage the Tower Guard and mutually exchange hits.
  Zird and Landon would normally be overrun by the infantry, but Ryan points out 
  that phantom army unit would allow them to get out of there. Amanda says she’ll 
  let Ryan declare that if he spends one of his free invokes on it, and he does. Zird and 
  Landon retreat back toward the keep to reinforce the commandos.
  BATTLE EXCHANGE 4
  The commandos, with teamwork bonuses from all the PCs, do heavy damage to 
  the Tower Guards. 
  Zird invokes his last free aspect to keep the Red Troops occupied.
  BATTLE EXCHANGE 5
  Amanda decides that now, the Red Troops can use an action to overcome Zird’s 
  illusion. Zird doesn’t have a relevant unit supporting him, so there’s not really any-
  thing he can do about that, and the phantoms go away. 
  The commandos and the Tower Guards clash again, and as the result of terrible 
  rolls, the commandos are forced to drop out of the fight.
  This leaves the two remaining PCs stuck between the Tower Guards and the Red 
  Troops. Lenny and Ryan suggest maybe they can fight an elite leader in a flashpoint, 
  but Amanda notes that they probably wouldn’t fall for that again after they saw Zird 
  take down Kraag.
  Reluctantly, the two are forced to concede and join Cynere in the keep dungeon.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/FATE (fudge) [multi]/1 Fate System Rules/Drops-in-a-Pond.pdf