Baltimore by Night Battalion Combat Rules (BETA)

Effective: 2019-04-03
Last Revised: 2026-01-29
Change Log
Updates (March 8, 2025)
  • Melee is now an additional modifier for a Cohort's Melee Attack Power (oops...).
2: Updates (March 7, 2025)
  • Cleaning up formatting
  • Clarified some verbiage for Cohort Tracker
  • Obtenebration (and related Combination Disciplines) are now additional modifiers for a Cohort's Ranged Attack Power.
  • Melpominee is now an additional modifier for a Cohort's Control pool
  • Dominate (and related Combination Disciplines) are now additional modifiers for a Cohort's Resolve
  • Added rules for Support Cohorts
  • Clarified how Heal Task works for Support Cohorts
  • Clarified Actions economy with States
  • Updated how Analyze Task works
  • Clarified how Knocked Out states are delivered/determined
3: Updates (March 2, 2025)
  • Clarified that Movement Rate is only the highest level of the Discipline's listed. Combination Disciplines do not modify this
  • Path of Weather Control is now an additional modifier for a Cohort's Control pool
  • Obfuscate (and related Combination Disciplines) are now additional modifiers for a Cohort's Defense Rating
  • Quietus (and related Combination Disciplines) are now additional modifiers for a Cohort's Melee Attack Power
Basic Setup
In general, combat in Mind's Eye Theater is meant to be one character attacking another. This can create an incredible clash of power between two foes, but the system does not scale well to larger encounters. While there are mass-combat rules, these go beyond that to encompass scenarios where battalions of soldiers are fighting on both sides. Below is an attempt to utilize the same sheets used by characters in these larger scale engagements.

Note: the rules are in an extreme state of beta testing and will likely experience heavy growth as they are used more.
1: Cohort

Instead of working individually, characters operate in groups called a Cohort. A Cohort, while composed of multiple characters, functions as a single unit during the battalion-scale combat situation. A Cohort consists of 3-5 characters.

Each Cohort should have a designated Sergeant (both an IC and OOC one), Tracker, and Reporter (the latter two are purely OOC roles).

Enemies will also be defined as Cohorts, though there is more flexibility to how they operate as they are NPCs controlled by the Storytellers.

1.1: Sergeant
A Cohort Sergeant is an out-of-character position (possibly in-character if the roleplay aligns that way) that makes determinations of what the Cohort does and attacks during each round. Typically, the Cohort Sergeant will confer with the other members of their Cohort, but ultimately, all members agree to follow the Cohort Sergeant.
1.2: Tracker
A Cohort Tracker is a purely out-of-character role. They are responsible for managing the resources of the Cohort, such as health levels and gathering the details together of what the Cohort's sheet looks like.
1.3: Reporter
The Cohort Reporter is another purely out-of-character role. They are responsible for tracking the tale of what the Cohort did. They should gather a detailed accounting of what their Cohort *actually* did and report it back for the Cohort's deeds to be acknowledged. Think of them almost as the Cohort's Galliard (if you are familiar with the Werewolf: The Apocalypse role).
2: Support Cohort

In addition to the standard Cohort, there is also a special type of Cohort called a Support Cohort. They have some unique rules that only apply to them.

A Support Cohort is the only Cohort that can assist other Cohorts. For the most part, due to the fog of war and chaos of battle, Cohorts are unable to see what each other is doing. A Support Cohort forgoes the ability to engage in combat and instead monitors the field as a whole. This allows them to perform the following Tasks for the aid of another Cohort: Analyze, Heal, and Rescue.

A Support Cohort may only assist one other Cohort per Phase unless they use a Hero Moment (see below in the Hero Moment section).

Additionally, a Support Cohort may use their Hero Moments only to aid or help another, not for combat.

While limited to only taking support actions, they are also unable to engage in combat against enemy Cohorts.

Cohort Sheet
While each character has their own individual character sheet that does not change, the details of those character sheets come together to form the Cohort Sheet. In essence, it is an amalgamation of their sheets' overall power but in a simplified form for ease of Legion-level combat.The Cohort Sheet contains a number of categories. Below is the description of each as well as how it is determined.
1: Example Cohort Sheet
An image displaying a spreadsheet-like information sheet as an example of how the organization of a cohort should be maintained.
Modifiers
When looking at each category below, several of them will have Modifiers. These can either be Abilities, Merits, Disciplines, or Combination Disciplines. If a character in a Cohort possesses one of the Modifiers and wishes to contribute it, they add a set number of points to that Pool's point total. Each character may only count the benefits for a Modifier once, but if multiple characters have the same power, they each get the benefit added. For instance, if two characters both have Fortitude, they may both add their totals to the Pool.
  • Listed Abilities offer a one (1) point boost to the pool for every 5 the Cohort possess in totality (rounded down).
  • Listed Merits offer a one (1) point boost to the pool.
  • Listed Disciplines offer a one (1) point boost per level to the pool. Example: if two characters in a Cohort both have Fortitude 4, the Cohort has a bonus 8 points to the relevant pool.
  • If a character has a Combination Discipline that contains one of the listed Disciplines, they add three (3) points to the pool.
1: Attributes
1.1: Health Pool
Rather than track the health of each individual character during play, the entire Cohort has a single Health Pool. When the Cohort is attacked, the damage is assumed spread out across all the characters in that Cohort. This is represented by a collective Health Pool for the whole Cohort.
1.1.1: Determining Health Pool
  • The Cohort has a Health Pool equal to the number of members times 5 (example: a full Cohort would have a base Health Pool of 25 points)
  • Modifying Powers:
    Merits
    • Huge Size
    • Rugged
    Disciplines / Combination Disciplines
    • Fortitude
    • Visceratika
1.2: Attack Power
The ability to hit and how hard that hit lands is tied up in the Attack Power.
1.2.1: Determining Attack Power
There are three different types of attacks available and each has its own Attack Power.
1.2.1.1: Melee Attack Power
All characters can contribute to the Melee Attack Power. Each character adds 2 Melee Attack Power to their Cohort.
1.2.1.2: Ranged Attack Power
Any characters can contribute to the Ranged Attack Power so long as they have a means of delivering a ranged attack. This could include a bow, a gun, or a Blood Magic power. Each character with a ranged form of attack adds 2 Ranged Attack Power to their Cohort.
1.2.1.3: Mystical Attack Power
The only way to add Mystical Attack Power is through the appropriate Modifying Powers. If a Cohort does not have any Modifying Powers that would affect their Mystical Attack Power, their score here is 0.
1.2.2: Modifying Powers
1.2.2.1: Melee Attack Power
Abilities
  • Brawl
  • Rending
  • Melee
Disciplines
  • Shape Changing Discipline (Protean, Vicissitude, or Serpentis) - Only one can be used per Character
  • Potence
  • Quietus
1.2.2.2: Ranged Attack Power
Abilities
  • Firearms
  • Archery
Disciplines
  • Auspex
  • Obtenebration
1.2.2.3: Mystical Attack Power
Abilities
  • Occult
  • Thanatology
Disciplines
  • Any Blood Magic Path that has an offensive capability
  • No more than 3 Paths can be chosen per Character, thus the maximum a Character can contribute is 15.
1.3: Defense Rating
Some Cohorts are going to be harder to hit than others.
1.3.1: Determining Defense Rating
5 per member of the Cohort.
1.3.2: Modifying Powers
Abilities
  • Dodge
  • Survival
Disciplines
  • Celerity
  • Obfuscate
  • Thaumaturgy: Path of Mars
1.4: Temper Pool
In order to take Tasks during their Actions, characters must tap their Temper Pool. This represents the characters of the Cohort having limited resources to utilize during large scale engagements.
1.4.1: Determining Temper Pool

When building the Cohort sheet, each character makes a determination about how much of a resource/temper they will contribute to a fight. For Vampires, this is Blood. For Werewolves, this is Rage. In one on one combat, there are ways to regain these resources mid-fight, but for a simplified larger scale fight, there is no enhancing this number mid-fight. Once the starting number of Temper Pool points is determined at the beginning of the combat, it cannot be increased during the fight (except for a Hero Moment).

A character may designate any amount to the Temper Pool at the beginning of the fight. They may choose to hold some of it back however, if they do, they cannot utilize it again until after the fight. But at the end of the fight, they may still need some of their tempers to keep them going. For instance, if a Vampire is worried about getting betrayed and attacked afterwards, they may choose to hold back some of their reserves.

1.4.2: Modifying Powers
Disciplines
  • Celerity
  • Temporis
  • Thaumaturgy: Path of Blood
1.4.3: Maximums
As a maximum, characters without Blood Magic in-clan can provide no more than 30 blood to this pool. Characters with Blood Magic in-clan can provide no more than 50 blood to this pool.
1.5: Movement Rate
For the most part, the Cohort will move at the same speed. While individual characters may move at different rates, the goal of the Cohort is to stay together. Therefore, the Cohort's Movement Rate is determined by their slowest member.
1.5.1: Determining Movement Rate

Starting with a base of 1, the Cohort will then go through the Disciplines listed below in Modifying Powers. Each character will choose which Discipline from the list will contribute to their Movement Rate (if a character has multiple, it is typically advised to take the one that has the highest score as they can only use one). Then, all members of the Cohort compare their scores and whichever is the lowest is the bonus to the Movement Rate that the Cohort receives.

Example: The Cohort has 3 members. All of the members have Celerity but 1 of them only has Swiftness (Celerity 2) and the others have Celerity 5. The modifier is 2 added to the base of 1.

Note: Unlike other powers, Movement rate is purely chosen from the Disciplines, Combination Disciplines do not make you

1.5.2: Modifying Powers
Disciplines
  • Celerity
  • Temporis
  • Movement of the Mind
  • Flight (the Discipline, not the Merit)
1.6: Resolve
Characters only have so much will to fight and resist enemy ploys and powers. The Resolve represents that pluck in combat.
1.6.1: Determining Resolve
The initial Resolve is determined by the amount of Willpower the Cohort expends at the beginning of the fight. Whatever your character chooses to spend is expended as per standard Willpower rules. For every 3 Willpower spent, the Cohort gains one point of Resolve.
1.6.2: Modifying Powers
Abilities
  • Alertness
  • Awareness
Merit
  • Iron Will
  • Natural Leader or Enchanting Voice (one or the other)
Disciplines
  • Dementation
  • Presence
  • Dominate
  • Thaumaturgy: Path of Mars
1.7: Control
How much tactical insight and battlefield sway does the Cohort and its Sergeant have? This is a representation of it.
1.7.1: Determining Control
The initial Control starts at zero (0) is only adjusted with the below modifiers.
1.7.2: Modifying Powers
Abilities
  • Tactics
Disciplines
  • Melpominee
  • Thaumaturgy: Weather Control
Hero Moments

Everyone wants and deserves their chance to shine. Critical Role made this famous with the "How Do You Want To Do This" killing blow moment, but instead of being a reward for the killing blow, the Hero Moment is something each character can invoke. Once per combat. Period. When they do, they do something truly incredible that changes the tide of the battle. The use of a Hero Moment is not decided upon by the Cohort Sergeant, but rather by the individual character. Their Hero Moment should not be wasted and should come with a description of something truly epic that they do (so long as it is something feasibly capable for the person to accomplish. A basic Caitiff with minimal Disciplines cannot hurl a flaming lightning bolt for example).

Hero Moments are absolutely moments of notice. Using a Hero Moment to save another character from death is seen by all and done at great risk to the defending hero. While each character is limited to one Hero Moment per overall scene, a Cohort may not have more than three (3) Hero Moments happen in a single Phase.

1: Mechanical Hero Moment Actions
The below list represents an idea of what mechanical benefits can come from different types of Hero Moments. Thematically how these mechanics are achieved is solely up to the character taking a Hero Moment action. This is also meant to be some examples to give an idea of scope. The player can use their Hero Moment to accomplish one of the below or they can suggest an alternate idea. These are some guidelines of what Hero Moments can do. If you have a creative idea, ask the Storyteller and they'll likely provide some alternate mechanical outcome for a clever idea.
1.1: Save an Ally
A character that has died in the last round can be saved from the brink of death! An ally in the Cohort in the Dead state is moved to the Stabilized state immediately. They can then be Healed in the same Round and brought to the Active state.
1.2: Push Forward
The character bolsters the Cohort and they surge forward. The Cohort may move an additional 5 Units this round.
1.3: Kill 'Em All!
The Cohort's next hit within the same Round hits automatically. There is a 5 point damage bonus for the Cohort's attack and all enemy characters are put in the Scared state.
1.4: Boost a Pool
The Cohort surges with energy and determination. The character may pick one Attribute on the Cohort sheet and add a 10 point bonus to it that lasts for this Phase only.
1.5: Split the Party
Members of a Support Cohort are the only ones that can use this Hero Moment. A member of a Support Cohort splits off from their Cohort and is able to take one free action to offer a Heal or Rescue to a different Cohort then the one being aided by the Support Cohort.
The Battle
1: Basics
A Battle encompasses the entirety of the scene. From the beginning to the end. The Battle is further broken down into Phases. In single character combat, a Phase would be equivalent to the round. However, a Phase in Battalion combat is not a quick 3 seconds, rather it represents an indeterminate amount of time in which the Cohort acts.
2: Movement
Rather than track individual distance measurements in feet/meters, the Storyteller will let the Cohort know how far away an enemy Cohort is in Units. A Cohort is able to move up to their Movement Rate in Units as a Task. Moving as a Task does not use any Temper Pool Points.
3: Ranges
Each action will list the type of Range. This indicates the amount of space between the two Cohorts fighting.
Personal
Within touching distance of each other. Close enough to use melee weapons or unarmed attacks
Distanced
Not within physical range of someone but still within a few hundred feet.
In-Sight
Beyond a few hundred feet but able to see the other Cohort.
Blinded
For whatever reason, one Cohort cannot see the other. Typically, this means the Blind cohort cannot take actions against their foe.
4: Actions
Each Phase is further broken down into Actions. A Cohort may take a number of Actions in a Phase up to the number of Active members. As long as a Cohort character is not in the Stabilized, Knocked Out, or Dead state, they are considered Active. A character in the Scared state is also able to contribute an Action. For each Action, a Cohort may take one of the below Tasks. The decision is up to the Cohort Sergeant on what Tasks the Cohort will take but they should work that out with their full Cohort and their Tracker (to make sure they aren't burning through their Temper Pool too fast).
5: Tasks
5.1: Moving (Physical)
The Cohort is moving at the rate of their slowest member.
Cost
None
Range
N/A
Pool Used
Movement Rate
Effect
Cohort moves a number of Units equal to their Movement Rate
5.2: Attacking - Melee (Physical)
The Cohort is in close physical proximity and swinging claws, fists, swords, etc.
Cost
1 Temper Pool point
Range
Personal
Pool Used
Melee Attack Power
Effect
Enemy cohort takes damage equal to the Melee Attack Power Damage plus a 5 point damage bonus.
5.3: Attacking - Ranged (Physical)
The Cohort is further out and is likely shooting guns or crossbows.
Cost
1 Temper Pool point
Range
Distance
Pool Used
Ranged Attack Power
Effect
Enemy cohort takes damage equal to the Ranged Attack Power Damage
5.4: Attacking - Mystical (Physical)
The Cohort slings arcane powers at their foes.
Cost
3 Temper Pool points
Range
Personal, Distanced, or In-Sight
Pool Used
Mystical Attack Power
Effect
Enemy cohort takes damage equal to the Mystical Attack Power Damage plus a 2 point damage bonus.
5.5: Inspire (Social)
The Cohort issues a rallying cry or does something to get the troops fired up.
Cost
2 Temper Pool points
Range
Distanced from friendly Cohort
Pool Used
Resolve
Effect
The Inspiring Cohort rolls d10 plus their Resolve against the Defense Rating of an enemy that is threatening a friendly Cohort. On a successful roll, the friendly Cohort picks one of the following benefits to bestow on themselves or another nearby friendly Cohort:
  • Receives a reroll of one die roll in the next Phase.
  • They may remove the Scared state from all characters in their Cohort.
  • For the remainder of the Phase, the Cohort gets a +5 bonus to their Resolve.
5.6: Intimidate (Social)
Screaming a war cry or doing something particularly brutal, the Cohort shows the enemy that they are something to be feared.
Cost
1 Temper Pool point
Range
Personal
Pool Used
Resolve
Effect
The Intimidating Cohort rolls a d10 plus their Resolve comparing it to the enemies Defense Rating. For every 5 points they win by, that number of enemy members is given the Scared state for the remainder of the round. Intimidate can only be used once per round.
5.7: Rescue (Social)
The Cohort issues a rallying cry to their allies.
Cost
2 Temper Pool points
Range
Personal (assuming the Cohort is staying together, this is rarely an issue but if it is decided that someone is left behind for some reason, they can only benefit if in Personal range).
Pool Used
N/A
Effect

A character in either the Stabilized or Knocked Out State is moved up one category. If they are Knocked Out, they go to Stabilized. If they are Stabilized, they go to Active.

Part of being Stabilized is the member is moved to a safe location (maybe behind some debris or carried on the back of an Active character). Due to this implied safety, the Stabilized character may no longer receive damage when distributed among the Cohort unless all other members are Stabilized, Knocked Out, or Dead.

A Cohort can take the Rescue task twice in the same round to move a character from Knocked Out to Stabilized to Active. However, they can only take two Rescue tasks per Phase.

Additionally, if the Cohort Sergeant does NOT allocate one Action to a Rescue task when there is a member of their Cohort in the Knocked Out phase (not Stabilized), they are knowingly sacrificing a member of their party. While there is a chance they might not take damage during the next Phase, it is a huge gamble with people's lives. As such, doing so will cause the Sergeant to suffer an automatic loss of Path/Humanity rating.

5.8: Analyze (Mental)
The Cohort takes a tactical pause to assess their enemy for strength and weaknesses.
Cost
1 Temper Pool point
Range
In-Sight
Pool Used
Resolve
Effect
The Cohort compares their Resolve and the result of a d10 roll to the enemies Defense Rating. One a tie, the analyzing Cohort wins. On a win, the Cohort learns narrative details about the enemy Cohort such as how they look like they are doing or any update about the enemy Cohort that might not be quickly apparent (i.e. they have incoming reinforcements or they are preparing something big).
5.9: Heal (Mental)
The Cohort takes a minute to heal up.
Cost
1 to 10 Temper Pool points
Range
Personal
Pool Used
Temper Pool points
Effect
For each Temper Pool point spent, the Cohort regains 3 Health Pool points. A maximum of 10 Temper Pool points can be spent in this fashion to regain 30 Health Points.
Special
Support Cohorts have the unique ability to Heal other Cohorts.
5.10: Hero Moment (Mental)
The character that enacts this does something truly amazing.
Cost
0 Action Pool points
Range
Depends on the Hero Moment being taken.
Pool Used
N/A
Effect

Depends on the Hero Moment being taken.

See Hero Moment section above for more details.

5.11: Attacking
When attacking, the Cohort declares either a Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, or Mystical Attack Task is being taken. The attack uses the associated Attack Power statistic. The Storyteller also needs to determine the range between the attacking Cohort and the enemy Cohort. This information will typically be communicated as the Phase progresses and the two Cohorts engage. However, the Storyteller should verify that the attacking Cohort has the appropriate range to attack. Once confirmed, the attacking Cohort's Sergeant rolls a d10 and adds their Attack Power. This number is compared to the Defense Rating of the enemy Cohort. Whichever is higher, wins. In the case of a tie, the attacking Cohort wins.
5.11.1: Determining Damage
Once a Cohort lands a successful attack, the damage determined is simply 2 points of damage per Cohort member. Melee and Mystical attacks have bonuses to damage. Example: A Cohort of 4 characters attacking with Melee Attack Power would do 13 damage on a successful hit (4 characters, 2 damage each, plus 5 bonus damage).
5.11.2: Taking Damage

When a Cohort takes damage, it is not divided among each character, rather, the Cohort's Health Pool is used. The damage is simply deducted from the Health Pool.

When the Health Pool reaches zero, the danger becomes very real. For every 10 points of damage (rounded down) the Cohort takes after hitting zero, one member (chosen randomly by dice roll. This cannot be the Sergeant) is moved into the Knocked Out state. For mortals, this can represent unconsciousness, for Vampires this represents Torpor, etc. While in the Knocked Out state, the Cohort sees their available maximum actions reduced by 1. If multiple characters are in the Knocked Out state, then there are multiple reductions to the available actions.

When distributing the damage below zero, the Sergeant is chosen last. They cannot be targeted unless all other Cohort members are Stabilized, Knocked Out, or Dead. This is one of the benefits of being the Cohort Sergeant.

If the Cohort takes damage again on the next round, the Knocked Out characters are targeted first when determining outcomes. If the Cohort is still at or below 0 and they take another 10 damage, the Knocked Out characters must be chosen first. The damage moves them from the Knocked Out state to the Dead state and the character has met death (or Final Death in the case of a vampire).

If a character is Rescued they move from the Knocked Out state to the Stabilized state. They still may not contribute to the maximum available Actions, but they are no longer able to be targeted by damage distribution unless everyone else in their Cohort is either Knocked Out or Stabilized.

5.12: States
Active
The character may fully contribute to their Cohort
Scared
The character is at a reduced capacity. The enemy has them scared. The Cohort loses one Action in the Phase per scared character. Scared characters may still make Hero Moments.
Knocked Out
The Cohort loses one Action per Knocked Out character. All damage is applied to Knocked Out characters first. If they take 10 damage, damage can no longer be applied to them and they are moved to the Dead state.
Stabilized
The Cohort loses one Action per Stabilized character. The character may not receive any damage unless the rest of their Cohort is either Stabilized or Knocked Out or Dead.
Dead
The Cohort loses one Action per Dead character.
5.13: Battlefield Control / Tactical Task
Characters have a measure of battlefield Control represented by their Control statistic. Each Phase, a Cohort may spend a point of Control to gain a Tactical Task. A Tactical Task is an additional Task that can be taken in a Phase and does not consume one of the Cohort's actions. A Tactical task allows the Sergeant to determine one aspect of the battlefield that changes. Maybe they find cover or knock down a building or something similar. As such, the Storyteller will evaluate the outcome of the Tactical task and give the Cohort a mechanical advantage.
Battle Aftermath

Once the Storyteller declares the Battalion fight over, characters need to transition from their Cohort sheet back to their standard sheet (in case one on one/character vs. character combat commences). Whatever damage they took is divided equally (rounded up) among the characters that are not in the Dead state. For every 3 damage they take, they are at one aggravated damage. Anything extra converts to lethal damage. Example: A Cohort of 5 takes 76 damage, each member takes 16 damage (78/5=15.6=16). This means each character ultimately takes 5 Aggravated and 1 Lethal damage. If the character did not die in combat but the post-combat calculated damage would take them past the point where they die, they are reduced to Torpor. Under no circumstance can this damage make the character dead. If they were not already in the Dead state, the worst that can happen is they are in Torpor.

Once the Aftermath damage is determined, a character may burn up to 3 Aegis. Each Aegis burn reduces the damage they suffered by half (rounded up). For example, if a character took 40 damage at the end of the combat, that turns into 8 Aggravated Damage. Then they spend 1 Aegis to reduce it to 4 Aggravated Damage. A second Aegis reduces this down to 2 Damage. A third and final Aegis reduces this to 1 Aggravated Damage. There is no way to completely shed all damage from such a brutal scale of fighting.

For every 25 damage a character is determined to take in the Aftermath, before factoring in Aegis burns, they suffer a lasting effect as determined below. The Storyteller will work with the player to come up with something appropriate

25 Points of Damage: Roll a d10
Result 1-9: Up to 2 pts. in Flaws
Result 10: No drawback
50 Points of Damage: Roll a d10
Result 1-5: Up to 4pts. in Flaws
Result 6-9: Derangement and up to 2 pts. in Flaws
Result 10: No drawback
75 Points of Damage: Roll a d10
Result 1: Loss of a Conscience/Conviction point and a point of Path/Humanity Rating
Result 2-3: Loss of a point of Path/Humanity Rating
Result 4-6: Up to 6pts. in Flaws
Result 7-9: Derangement and up to 4 pts. in Flaws
Result 10: No drawback

Any character that ends the Battalion battle in the Dead state ends the combat dead. Their character is removed from play.

Any Tempers that were not allocated at the beginning to the Temper Pool are retained by the character. Additionally, the remaining Temper Pool is evenly split up among the Cohort characters (rounding down).