Mook Warfare

Benkei at the Battle of Gojo Bridge

Brigands and  Pirates.  Swarms of goblins.  Armies of kobolds.  And you - wading into them, slicing them apart like wheat before a scythe.  Good times. 

Sometimes the story calls for a war, with the Adventurers at the center of the action. Back in the day this was a chance to bust out the minis and take it back to the wargame roots. Over the years as we leaned more into the tabletop aspect and less into the cardboard chit /  Grenadier minis, it become less than awesome to sit there and roll for my mighty army of Mooks while the players sat there and watched.

I tried to make this particular mini-game system agnostic, so modify to suit your game of choice. This is a very Pink Mohawk approach to things, assuming severe badassitude on the part of the Adventurers.

 

OK, on with the show:
 

1. Mooks have Moxie: Joke, Pissant, and Chump.
   
   
2. Mooks have Reach: Close, Nearby, or Both.
   
   
3. Mooks have Guts:  Chickenshit, Bellicose, or Suicidal.
   
   
4. Mooks will form Mobs: 5 Mooks = 1 Mob.  No fractions.
   
   
5. Mooks attack last.
   
   
6. Mooks roll a d20 to attack, and hit on a 16+.
   

		Moxie Mooks have a Moxie rating that reflects how tough they are. The bonus is used in a few rolls below.
		Bonus Examples Jokes 0 Kobolds, Rats Pissants 1 Goblins, Skeletons Chumps 2 Pirates, Zombies

 

Reach

The area around themselves that these Mooks can inflict pain. Close is melee only, Nearby is throwing or shooting stuff, Mixed is both.
 

Guts

Roll a d6. If you roll a 1 or a 2, the Mooks take off, beat a fighting retreat, negotiate surrender, etc. Roll the d6 according to the rules below.  An Adventurer doing something awesome might prompt a roll as well.

	I’m Gonna Make a Break For It!
Chickenshit	If the Mooks have formed a Mob, roll whenever a Mob is wiped out;  if not, when the first Mook dies.  Roll when half the Mooks are down.   Roll when something leading the Mooks is slain.
Bellicose	Roll when half the Mooks are down.  Roll when all their leaders are dead.
Suicidal	These Mooks never run ...

 

Mob

Every 5 Mooks forms a Mob. No fractions i.e.  4 Mooks doesn’t count for anything.

 

Battle of Stamford Bridge, 1870, by Peter Nicolai Arbo

When Mooks Attack!

 Each Adventurer should calculate their Mook Defense:

	Then you add ...
Using a Shield	1
Wearing Chain	1
Wearing Banded	2
Wearing Plate	3

You can give additional bonuses based on Dex or Luck or whatever works for your system.

Add this total to the Adventurer's level.  That's their Mook Defense.

----

Mooks essentially swarm the Adventurers, but they only roll one attack against everyone within their Reach.  

Roll a d20. Add the number of Mobs the Mooks make, and the Mooks' Moxie to the total. If the total is 16 or better, the Mooks manage to harm the Adventurer.

Mook Attack: d20 + [# Mobs] + [Mook Moxie]  Mook Damage: d20 + [Mook Moxie] - [Mook Defense]

 

If you get hit by the Mooks, roll a d20. Add the Mooks Moxie to the total. Subtract the Adventurer's Mook Defense, then consult the table below. 

d16
0	No effect. You recover at the last instant.
1	Rivulets of sweat and blood sting your eyes. -1d on your next Mook Butchery.  No crit is possible.
2	Your weapon comes loose in your hand. You quickly grab it, but your grip is  disrupted. You take a -2d penalty on your next Mook Butchery.   No crit is possible.
3	Misjudged the swing. Take [Moxie] + 1 damage
4	Jabbed in the side. Take [Moxie] +2 damage
5	Slash to torso. Take [Moxie] +4 damage plus Save or take an additional +d3
6	You slip in the blood and gore and pull a groin muscle. You go last for the  rest of the battle.
7	Your shield is damaged! The shield can be repaired with 10 minutes of work but  is useless for the remainder of the battle. No shield? Affects your weapon.
8	A Mook tackles you, clinging to your torso. You are treated as Prone and must  make a Strength roll to break free.
9	You stumble among the bodies but may recover with a Save; otherwise, you are  struck by the nearest Mook for [Moxie] +8 damage
10	You and your foe lock weapons. Strength check to twist your weapon free.
11	Disarmed! Your weapon flies away. Spend next turn drawing a weapon and getting  your shit together.
12	Your shield is shattered. No shield? It’s your weapon. Magic weapons get a Save.
13	d3+1 Mooks surge against you, trying to bear you to the ground. Make a Strength  check. Each Mook after the first makes the roll 25% harder. If you fail, you  are tackled to the ground next round. (See next result.)
14	d3+1 Mooks tackle you and bear you to the ground. Make a Strength check. Each  Mook after the first makes the roll 25% harder. As long as you’re pinned each  Mook atop you automatically hits each round for [Moxie] +2 damage.
15	You are stunned by a blow to the head! Attempt a Save every round - in the  meantime, you're Stunned.
16+	You got knocked the FUCK OUT!  Make an appropriate Save, Luck check , etc.  If  you succeed, your foes mistake you for dead and you awaken d4 hours after the  battle. If youfail, your foes continue to attack your body until you are dead or they get distracted, automatically hitting each round for [Moxie] +8 damage.

 

Mook Butchery

Roll one of the following, depending on your level:

d4 (level 1) ↔ d6 (level 2) ↔ d8 (level 3) ↔ d10 (level 4) ↔  d12 (level 5) ↔ d20 (level 6+)

If you roll a 1, something bad happened.  Roll on the Mook Attack! table as if you’ve been hit. Otherwise:

• If you're a "Fighting Man", you kill [your Level x 2] Mooks
  
  
• If you're a "Cleric", you kill [your Level] Mooks. If you were casting a damaging spell instead of fighting, you kill [Spell Damage / 10] Mooks
  
  
• If you're a "Magic-User", you kill [½ your Level] Mooks. If you were casting a damaging spell instead of fighting, you kill [Spell Damage / 5] Mooks
  
  
• Otherwise, you kill [your Level] Mooks.
  

Subtract the Mook’s Moxie from the number of dead Mooks (they’re tougher, after all). When dividing, round up.  If you’ve got a magic weapon, add its bonus to the number of Mooks killed. 

 

Mook on Mook Action

Sometimes, you’re leading a group of Mooks against a group of other Mooks.   The higher the Mook Moxie, the more dead Mooks:

Moxie	Multiplier
0	1
1	d3
2	d6

Roll Side A’s multiplier times their Mob, and subtract that number from B.  Do the same thing for Side B. Both attacks happens at the same time.
 

Examples

Mook on Mook Action

30 kobolds (Close Chickenshit Jokes[0]) meet up with 15 Zombies (Close Suicidal Chumps[2]).  The Kobolds form 6 Mobs (30 divided by 5), while the Zombies form 3 Mobs.

The Kobolds have a Moxie of 0, so their Multiplier is 1.  We multiply that by the size of their Mob (6) and subtract 6 Zombies. Only 9 left!

The Zombs roll a d6 - they get a 5, multiplied by their 3 Mobs equals 15.  15 Kobolds die and 15 remain.

Next round we adjust the number of Mobs for the Kobolds to 3.  The Zombies Mob is 1 (we only count full groups of 5).  The Kobolds take out 3 more Zombies!  6 left.  Zombies roll a d6, get a 3 - they take out 3 more Kobolds, only 12 left.

Adventurers may be able to swing this one way or another at your discretion.

Mook on Player Action

Carl is a level 2 Warrior in someone's system.  He is carrying a Shield and wearing Chain; for the sake of argument lets say the system also has a Luck stat, which gives him an additional +1 bonus.  Carl is beset by 15 Goblins (Close Cowardly Pissants[1]) and calculates his Mook Defense at  5 (Chain (1) + Shield (1) + Luck (1) + Level (2)); he wades into combat, swinging wildly with his +1 sword.

He rolls a d6 for his level, and gets a 3.  Nothing bad happens so he's able to cut down 5 (his level x 2 because he's a warrior, plus his sword bonus).  Since they are a Cowardly lot, the Mooks roll Guts (since their first member died).  They get a 4 and keep fighting.

The 9 Mooks form 1 Mob and rush Carl.  They roll a d20 and add +1 for the number of Mobs they've formed, +1 for their Moxie. They roll an 11; bad luck for them as Carl continues his symphony of mayhem.