Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter Four:Special Rules and Systems (section)

==== Massive Battles: ====

Sometimes the collaborative will want to bring their full forces to bear. They spot a 50-strong Hollow Earth Nazi patrol in the deep desert. Etherites attack their underwater fortress. It's time for an epic confrontation with their Illuminated former mentor and her spider servants. Only a massive engagement, with dozens of minions (beholden and automata), makes sense. But who wants to roll dice for whole platoons? Even dicefiend players can grow bored, and Genius: The Transgression is not a tactical war game. In that case, a system for massive battles can help move the action along.

This system is not a realistic simulation of mass combat. It is intended to provide some color and running commentary while the PCs fight that is not entirely based on Storyteller fiat. To run this sort of battle, first divide the battle into two groups: the main battle, where the PCs will fight against a powerful group worthy of their abilities (usually from half to double their own number) and a secondary battle, where the collaborative's minions duke it out against enemy minions.

Handle the main battle normally. Every turn, after everyone has acted in the main battle, roll for the results of the secondary battle.

First, figure out the total numbers on each side, as follows:

{|
|+
|'''Number of Minions'''
|'''Number Rank'''
|-
|1
|1
|-
|2 to 5
|2
|-
|6 to 11
|3
|-
|12 to 29
|4
|-
|30-49
|5
|-
|50-99
|6
|-
|100+
|7
|}

Then, note the Prowess. For beholden, Prowess is equal to the Beholden Prowess dots each group has. For combat-capable automata, Prowess is equal to rank. (The Storyteller may need to determine equivalent Prowess for non-combat-oriented automata, but this is normally an all-or-nothing thing: either an automaton can fight well and has Prowess equal to rank, or it can't, and can't contribute anything useful to the fight.)

To conduct the secondary battle, roll a competing Number + Prowess check.

''Failure (equal number of successes):'' Stalemate. Neither side gains the edge in the battle.

''Success (one side gets more successes than the other):'' The tide shifts. The victorious side pushes their enemies back, and some break through the line. A number of minions equal to the winning side's Number or the number of successes (whichever is lower) push through and join the main battle. Roll initiative normally for these minions. (If there are already minions of the same type in the main battle, the Storyteller can instead give the new minion an initiative score equal to his similar allies.) 

''Exceptional Success (one side gets five or more successes over the other):'' Breakthrough/Collapse! The winning side scatters or vanquishes their enemies, forcing a total withdrawal of the losers. The secondary battle is basically over. All of the victorious minions join their genius allies in the main battle, perhaps leading to a total rout.