The Rally Check

Use this short cut only when you’re dealing with a large group and the fate of individual soldiers doesn’t matter, such as when the PCs are observing part of a battle but haven’t waded into melee themselves. If you feel it’s important to know how each individual soldier reacts, use the normal morale check rules instead. Since you probably aren’t keeping track of the hit points of the individuals in the group, make a morale check only when the unit has taken 50% casualties. For the purposes of a group morale check, the unit is the maneuver element of the enemy army (usually a squad or a platoon of soldiers numbering in the tens). Just because two thousand orcs marched onto the battlefield one morning doesn’t mean they don’t make morale checks until one thousand of them are dead or dying. For the purpose of making a group morale check, the unit’s Will save modifier is the average of the individual

Will save modifiers of each soldier. If the group consists of essentially identical creatures, this value is the same as any single creature’s Will save modifier. In groups of differing creatures, add together the Will save modifiers for all creatures in the group and divide the result by the number of creatures in the group. If you anticipate using this short cut, you should figure out this value before the gaming session begins, to save time at the table. Morale Check Effects

If the morale check succeeds, the creature can act normally. Each time a creature (or unit) fails a morale check, the morale condition of that creature (or the creatures of that unit) worsens by one category. Morale conditions are described in the accompanying sidebar. If a creature fails a morale check by 10 or more, the morale condition worsens by two categories. For example, a heartened soldier who fails a morale check by 10 is reduced from heartened to shaken. Panicked is normally the worst morale condition; panicked creatures can’t get any worse. However, strange things can happen on the battlefield when a soldier snaps.

If a creature rolls a natural 1 on a morale check that would make it panicked, it becomes crazed instead. THE RALLY CHECK

Once morale begins to degrade, the best course of action is for a charismatic character to rally the troops with a few stirring words. This is accomplished by making a rally check, which requires a move action by any creature that currently has a morale condition of normal or better. To make a rally check, a character rolls 1d20 and adds her Charisma modifier and her commander rating, if any (see page 75). A single check allows a character to try to rally any comrades within line of sight and earshot (see the description of the Listen skill, page 78 of the Player’s Handbook). This is a language-dependent effect. A creature can be subject to only one rally check attempt per round (measured from the beginning of that creature’s turn to the beginning of the creature’s next turn). Unsuccessful rally attempts make that target more difficult to rally (see Rally Check Modifiers, below). pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs

MORALE CONDITIONS

The following morale conditions are organized from highest morale to lowest morale, with the special morale condition of “crazed” listed at the bottom. Unless otherwise noted, all conditions last for the duration of the battle or until the character’s morale condition changes as the result of another morale check or a rally check.

Heartened: A heartened character has been encouraged and is confident of victory. Heartened characters gain a +1 morale bonus on Will saves against fear effects (including morale checks).

Normal: The typical state of a combatant at the beginning of battle.

Shaken: A shaken character takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws (including subsequent morale checks), skill checks, and ability checks (see page 301 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). This condition lasts for 10 minutes after the battle ends.

Frightened: As shaken, but a frightened character must try to flee as best it can. If unable to flee, it will fight (see page 301 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). A creature who becomes frightened due to a failed morale check improves to shaken 10 minutes after the battle ends (or 10 minutes after it has fled the battlefield) and returns to normal 10 minutes after that.

Panicked: As frightened, but a panicked creature drops everything and runs at top speed away from danger (see page 301 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). If cornered, a panicked creature cowers and does not attack. A panicked creature does not need to make additional morale checks. A creature that becomes panicked due to a failed morale check improves to frightened 10 minutes after the battle ends (or 10 minutes after it has fled the battlefield), becomes shaken 10 minutes after that, and returns to normal 10 minutes after that.

Crazed: If a creature rolls a 1 on a save that would make him panicked, he assumes one of the following conditions, determined randomly, instead of becoming panicked. This condition overrides the effects of the character’s normal morale condition. It remains for the duration of the battle plus one hour, or until the creature’s morale improves to shaken (or better). If a crazed creature’s condition is removed through some other effect, treat the creature as panicked. Crazed creatures count as panicked for the purpose of rally check DCs.

d% Crazed Effect 01–20 Berserk: the character makes a melee or ranged attack against the nearest living creature, or closes with that creature if he cannot attack (if two or more creatures are equidistant, choose the target randomly). 21–40 Cowering: frozen in fear, takes no actions, –2 penalty to AC, loses Dex bonus. 41–60 Dazed: takes no actions. 61–80 Deafened: cannot hear, –4 initiative, no Listen checks, 20% spell failure on spells with verbal component. 81–100 Nauseated: unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate, or take any action other than a single move action. pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs

Illus. by R. Marchesi

Use Table 4–4 to determine the effectiveness of a rally attempt. The numbers in the table indicate the rally check result required to achieve the new morale condition. In some situations, modifiers might apply to the rally check. For example, troops that are panicked can be made frightened with a successful DC 20 rally check. Those same troops can then be made heartened in a later round with a DC 30 rally check.

Table 4–4: Rally Attempts

Initial Morale New Morale Condition (DC to achieve)

Condition Frightened Shaken Normal Heartened

Panicked 20 25 30 40

Frightened — 20 25 30

Shaken — — 20 25

Normal* — — — 20 *Can only be attempted before the battle (see below). Rally Check Modifiers

Situation Modifier

At least one failed rally check within last minute –2

Rallying character is at half hit points or below –2

Enemy troops within line of sight are fleeing +2

Rallying character has 5 or more ranks in Diplomacy or Intimidate +2

No enemies within line of sight +5

Rallying Against Other Fear Effects: Characters can make rally checks to rally creatures that are shaken, frightened, or panicked due to effects such as a dragon’s frightful presence or spells such as fear. Because the morale effect has a magical origin, it’s much more persistent than garden-variety fear of dying on the battlefield. Rally attempts against magical fear only last for 1 round (measured from the beginning of the shaken, frightened, or panicked character’s turn), so the leader must repeat the rally check every round to keep nearby comrades in the battle.

The Prebattle Rally Check: Before the battle begins, the leader of a military unit can make a rally check to improve the troops’ morale condition. This is similar to a normal rally check but takes at least 1 minute to deliver. (The most stirring example of this is the “Band of Brothers” speech in Shakespeare’s Henry V.) This rally check affects everyone who can see and hear the leader. It cannot be retried, either by that leader or another character. In other words, a leader only gets one chance to inspire the troops with a speech. That’s why armies with charismatic generals try to get as many soldiers as possible to listen to a single speech.

Nothing like the appearance of a red dragon to ruin your day