Good vs Evil: D&D Wargaming

[Fieari]

The Forces of Good

This is the Good Only thread for D&D Wargaming. If you are Evil, please leave now on your honor.








The Kingdom of Gracia, a wonderful land. Beautiful beyond measure. It's cities gleam and sparkle in the dawn's light. The rivers are like flowin diamonds. The fields like shimmering silk. The bounty of the earth brings forth GREAT fruits, enough that none need go hungry. Men of great wisdom and intellect have come forth and provided wonders for the common man... technology is advancing, and for betterment of all. Oppression is unknown. Justice reigns. Good prevails. And the heavens look down upon the land with a smile and a blessing.

A lone rider approaches the Dawn City, capital and largest city of the Kingdom. He had ridden all night, and likely all the day before. His horse collapsed from exhaustion at the gate, and he might have as well... but his message was too important. He gathered up every last speck of life in him that was left, and ran down the Great Boulevard to the gates of the King himself. He was bloody and his clothes were in shambles. He demanded to see the King, demanded to be let in so that his message might be heard. His request was granted.

"My King!" he cried. "The North! The Darkness of the North comes! Rally your men! Rally them all! Send out the cry! They come! They come! And they come to kill, steal, and destroy this land!"

And then he died.

The court was a flutter. A priest verified the man spoke true. The King ordered that messangers be dispatched immediately, and prayers be wrought up to the heavenlies. A day of prayer and fasting was called forth in the city, and riders were sent to every city in the land with a call to arms, a call to defense.

And so it was that the first two cities to know the foe was comming was the Lowgate of the Mountains, and the Shining City of the Spire. Prayers to the Shining City were heard, and a man on a horse came to the city.

Further messangers will reach other cities eventually.

The message calls men to arms, and gives orders for the defense of the cities, and the driving back of the enemy. It is mentioned that the enemy's position must be discovered, intellegence must be gathered, and plans must be made.

Nameless and Tyreus: Actions Please

 

[Tyreus]

Zan sends a message to the commander of the Spire forces, "I will be waiting for you to get here, we should move out together; strength in numbers."

Fieari- Am I able to use greater scrying to veiw any areas or commanders of the evil army?

 

[nameless]

"I have long known this day would come," said Axorius, speaking to the Seraphim of the Shining City. "Once more, evil comes to blanket the world in darkness, and once again, I will be proud to wield the sword that sunders that darkness. As soon as the Skylance [ooc: the name of the airship. Also, how long do supplies on a big ship last without restocking? If it's less than a month, I'll invest in magical food and water creators with my leftover money.] is supplied, I will storm the fronts of war with the mortal kings of good."

Axirous dispatches teleporting Lantern Archon messengers to the 50 largest cities on the continent. They are instructed to speak with the leader of the city, find what they know, find what they have seen, and see what support they can hope to offer for the war effort, and to inform those who have heard nothing of what is coming. (but not to follow or engage any enemy that they might find.) "Within hours, we may know exactly what we are fighting."

(to the the King of Gracia)
The musical voice of the glowing ball of celestial light fills the King's chamber. "Your prayer has been heard on the Shining City of the Spire. The Heavenly Host lead by Axorius will be departing shortly. The nations of good men will not have to banish the darkness alone."

(to the ruler of Lowgate)
"I am a messenger from Axorius, who as we speak is departing the Shining City with the Skylance of the celestials. What preparations have you made for the war that will soon come to our lands?"

As soon as the messengers return and the ship is supplied, Axorius sets his helm for the rivers to the north.

 

[Fieari]

Fieari- Am I able to use greater scrying to veiw any areas or commanders of the evil army?

Target needs to save vs: 10 + 4(spell level) + 11(cha mod) = 25
Target rolls: 4(rolled) + 5(second hand knowledge of target) + ???(target's will save modifier) = Saving Throw Fails

The commander you have found using scry is a fearsome, yet young, red dragon. He wears rings on his claws and even tail, and a massive mound of gold is seen behind him. He is staring into a pool of water... he is staring into a pool of water which is showing you, watching him. There is a "Hall of Mirrors" in the scry, and the Dragon looks startled. He attempts to counterspell your scry, but fails... it is evident to you that he is using a plain Scry, not Greater Scry.

It looks like you aren't the only one interested in your foe.

Nameless: According to my PHB, food is 1lb per day per person, water skins are 4lbs when full, and for convenience sake I'll say that'll last a day (it probably lasts longer, but let's throw in alchohol which is traditional on a ship). Galleys hold "250 soldiers or 150 tons of cargo". It, unfortunately, DOESN'T say how that mixes up, but I can do some math.

1 metric ton is 2204.6 pounds, and I'll say that a soldier himself weighs about 200 pounds on average, arms and armor included. 250 soldiers would thus be 50,000 pounds, or 22 tons. My goodness, that leaves PLENTY for supplies... of course, soliders also take up more SPACE than cargo, but a month of food would only be 22 tons, and water would be 13 tons. Double that and two months is 65 tons (food and water). I think that'd be a good limit though, give the poor men space. You can't stack them like sacks of flour, after all. So I'll go for 2 months in the air with food and water.

Of course, you may be able to find food along the way... hunting game or buying at towns (good towns, at least... evil towns are kinda lacking in the excess of food department).

 

[Tyreus]

"Well, I have located one of the enemy commanders through scrying, a young red dragon. I have the means to teleport there and attack the dragon while he's alone. I believe my brother and I are capable of disposing of the creature. As for preperations, I have a sizable force, roughly 650 troops. My fortress is well defended. I will inform your master of further developments."

(ooc: For ease of communication, Zan is considered the commander.)

 

[nameless]

[ooc: I imagine that you took it into account, but if I am being scried on at any point, I have pretty good SR in addition to my save (and probably conditional bonuses to that, also). Thanks for the info on supplies. I'll use mundane ones for the forseeable future.]

Receiving the message from the archon, Axorius has an immediate response. "If you are confident of success, my master recommends to do so. Be cautious, however. There are many traps magical and mundane that might be sprung on you if you act hastily."

The Archon pauses. "Is it safe to speak of confidential tactical matters now?" [if so, continue, if uncertain, or no, Axorius will send a coded written message containing the same information.]

"Axorius would be willing to accompany you as well, but he does not possess an innate talent for teleportation as we Archons do. He would prefer that you postpone your incursion until his imminent arrival; you could utilize that time to muster your army and continue to scry on the enemy. It will take less than a week for his arrival at the head of an army; in that time the forces of evil may make their intentions clearer."

 

[Tyreus]

Zan will cast Mages Mansion, inviting the archon in. "We should be safe in here." He will also cast an Alarm spell where the portal opens, in case someone attempts to set up an ambush. Dan will wait invisably in a corner, also surrounded by an alarm spell or two.

Afterwards, Zan will scry again, searching for more genarals. He will wait for Axorius to arrive before acting. All of my troops will be in the cavern, ready to leave immidiatly or to defend against a seige. A group of ten archers will keep watch from various parts of the mountain, rotating every hour or so.

EDIT: Are you sure about waiting a week for you? I'm afriad he might put up protections in his cave to prevent me from teleporting in or scrying. Also, I will be scrying on him and anyone else I might find everyday, to keep track of their positions.

 

[nameless]

First of all, dragons who are that young can't usually cast scrying, especially as a druid does. Second, it's not out of the question for what you saw to be an illusion. Third, it's very possible that his cave already has significant protections, and there could be a number of other enemies (maybe even an entire army) in the cave. Regular scrying isn't good for long information gathering, though, since it lasts a short time and can't be cast at a moment's notice. With Greater Scrying, you can watch for much longer and probably see what's really going on. If you two were killed or captured, it would be a pretty serious blow.

As the ship leaves, the three Bralani will keep watch in the air near the ship, in whirlwind form, with Lantern Archons rotating watches and casting Aid spells on everyone above baseline continuously. It will fly at about a mile in altitude, full tilt towards Lowgate, keeping rotating Archon messengers teleporting to the good fortresses and the likely paths of incursion [Knowledge (Geography) roll if necessary]through the borderlands.

 

[Tyreus]

Note: This is just an example.

Dan and Zan teleport in.

Surprise round: 2 finger of deaths on dragon. Rod of quicken- both teleport out.

See nameless? No harm done.

 

[nameless]

I don't see any obvious flaws in the plan, but it doesn't account for the enemy's contingency plans. What if the dragon had, say, a ring of Spell Turning? What if it's not a dragon at all?

[ooc: You've figured out your capabilities better than I have, so if you think it's a good risk, then do it. But Axorius is a beating on a stick and could as easily tear the dragon to shreds with his bare hands as take it down with spell-like abilities. =] Plus, as I said before, he has a bit of a superiority complex over mortals. No sense in doing something if you're just gonna screw it up and make more work for him, in his mind. If you could teleport to Axorius and have a chat with him (giving a description of the area), perhaps you could bring him along for the ride, and be accompanied by 50 teleporting lantern archons shooting light rays at the dragon (and he'll probably fail at least a few saves against the aura of menace). That's a couple hundred damage right there before the generals are in any sort of danger.]