Help designing mountain Orc ambushes

[Allegro]

The PCs in my campaign are venturing into orc controlled mountains while trailing some orc raiders. The orcs in the region have mastered polearm mountaineering and can jump down 20 foot cliffs or cross small ravines with impunity. If you are curious google “Salto del pastor” to get an idea what the orcs can do.
I’m looking for a variety of obstacles and ambushes the orcs could lay in front of the PCs.

 

[fba827]

* giant boulders - impassable terrain for PCs (or they can do an athletics check to climb it), however, the orcs can vault over the boulders. This, however, may or may not mean much depending on other terrain features around (i.e. for instances, the PCs might think they've cornered an orc, only to have him be able to escape. OR the PCs could think they have their back to the boulder for saftey and can't get surrounded only to have an orc vault up there and attack)

* the orcs should have a special power they can use when charing. Vault attack. +X vs. Reflex. Hit: X damage and push target one square and knock him prone (or something like that). Can cross through enemy squares as long as one square in the path is unoccupied (which is the square that the orc plants his pole, and is essentially leaping over the other squares). Special: This effect can be used in place of a charge.

* Loose small rocks to act as difficult terrain. A hinderance for both sides, though the orcs could vault over it a lot easier than the PCs to get better positioning

* Boulder roll. If the path the PCs take is the "obvious" / least-difficult path up the mountain, the orcs will undoubtably have that path with protections. So, at the top of said path is a boulder rigged to go. _If_ the orcs can get to it, they can release it (standard action) and the boulder rolls down anyone along a particular line (attack +X vs. Ref. Damage X and maybe dazed until end of next round). If you have a couple of these, the players will learn from the first one and will try and take down orcs before they can release the second/subsequent ones rather than focusing on the orcs immediately next to them.

* a mountain stream. have it somewhat shallow (so it can be walked across costing 3 squares to enter a square) and make it wide enough that no PC can fully cross in one round of double moves. Thus, as the PCs start to cross, ideally halfway across after a round, the orcs can come charging out and half can vault to the other side. Thus, the PCs are surrounded. and then ready actions to attack any pc that moves within reach range. thus, with those reach weapons, the orcs will be able to get an attack or two against the pcs before they can fully close for reach 1 weapons (or they have to change to ranged tactics -- and, if they do, the orcs can back to behind a boulder for protection)



(These are just off the top of my head... i know i'm kind of bad at this, but maybe one of these ideas will spark a better idea for you)

 

[Sporemine]

I dunno exactly how you plan for these encounters to take place. I'm also not exactly sure if these orcs are going to be intelligent.

Here's what i'd do:

Have several "Leaping" orcs jump on the pc's either riding mounts or accompanied by worgs.

if it's a slow moving encounter in a common ambush spot, have camoflouged ballistas or orc snipers on cliffs and in ravines.

Use fire. Lots of fire.

Kudos

-Sporemine

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

1) As a small force of Orcs overhead poles across a gap- all in one direction- the party will, of course, track their movement.

Then have the Orcs left behind on the opposite ledge roll boulders down on the party as they're facing the Orcs who crossed the gap.

2) As the party passes a bottleneck in a chasm, have the Orcs plug the gap with a deadfall of some kind, then let the attack go forth.

3) Have the Orcs herd dangerous predators into the Party's path- fore and/or aft- corralled by fire. The predator has only 1 way to escape: through the party.

 

[fba827]

another very short idea spawned by something someone else said above ...

imagine orcs (hidden from view) -> chasm -> pcs -> trail the pcs came up. PCs get to the chasm and can't cross it (or figuring out how to cross it). Orcs come out, vault across the chasm and pcs to the trail that the pcs just used, essentially sandwhiching the PCs between the orcs (now behind them) and the chasm.

 

[lotuseater]

what about a mountain terrain akin to the dakotan badlands. it is a maze like terrain of canyons in which it's easy to get lost. but the orcs are able to fault over the ravines and move about freely at the top. something like this, but the rock wall is two to three times the height of a normal human. it would be a dungeon adventure, but in the open air.

what is the reason the party is their? are the orcs just a random encounter through the mountains? do the orcs have something the party wants?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You might also want to incorporate Parkour/Free Running into the mix.

Parkour - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Freerunning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Plague]

Ok if it were me this is what I would do.

Obviously a tribe of orcs in a mountain range can pose a problem to two kinds of people.. group a = the PC's and group B = The Local mountain giant...easiest way to solve the problem with the mountain giant is to make them allies

I'd use your polearm hurtling Orcs as the distraction. Like some of the other folks on the forums mentioned..Have them leap over obstacles into the PC's path. While they are fighting the orcs what the dont know is the Mountain giant is hurling huge spears/balista bolts/Boulders down at them. This does two things to the fight. It distracts the PC's with two targets...the immediate threat and now the giant half way up the moutain. So the group is either going to send a couple to break contact and flank the Giant or they are going to swarm the orcs and charge the giant in unison... Now with those two tactics in mind I like to be a jerk..

This is where you have camoflauged Orcs waiting for them with spears should they charge the do what you would do to charging calvary plant the spears into the ground and hold your ground and react as needed.

Or if they are flanking wait untill they pass the orcs and then ambush them pinning them between the Giant and the orcs.

This is just my Idea so hopefully it helps bud

 

[Allegro]

Thank you all for responding; the PCs are going to experience a richer variety of encounters then what I normally think up. I’m going to incorporate the ideas of using stampeding animals and pincer movements where the orcs use their superior mobility to surround PCs. I also really like the badland weathered maze idea and will think up some some way to include it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Just an update for the OP- G4 just advertised a Freerunning championship thing that they'll be airing sometime this year. You might want to take a look-see!