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4e: Improving the Line at Otharil Vale (spoilers)
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<blockquote data-quote="Truename" data-source="post: 5755342" data-attributes="member: 78255"><p>I think I have the first half of the opposing forces figured out. Again, my goal is to create the feeling of a big battle, with the players at the forefront, without bogging down or getting too abstract.</p><p></p><p>I'm going to conduct two waves. I want each wave to feel very different. For the first wave, I'm focused on creating the sense of a tough ground battle. In the second wave, I want to bring in more of the fantasy element and give the players a few "oh sh*t" moments before they carry the day. Throughout, I want the players to feel like they're part of a bigger picture, and although they're tough, there's even scarier things out there.</p><p></p><p>The players already created their battle plan and fortifications in the last battle. They have a nice layout with earthen ramparts leading to two choke points. I want them to feel like those make a difference, but I also want to provide some surprises.</p><p></p><p>My XP budget for the first wave is 12,800. The PCs are level 12:</p><p></p><p>Level 14 encounter: 5,000 xp</p><p>Allied pike squares and archers: 6,000 xp</p><p>Allied chaplains*: 1,000 xp</p><p>Terrain advantage: 800 xp</p><p></p><p>*The chaplains are level 12 minions, but they can trigger 4 healing surges between them, which I figure is equivalent to an extra allied unit.</p><p></p><p>Here's how I intend to spend that budget:</p><p></p><p>1 Heavy catapult (hazard): 800 xp</p><p>8 Infantry squares: 5,600 xp</p><p>2 Liondrakes: 1,400 xp</p><p>2 Dythan's Legion Dragoons (riding Liondrakes): 1,400 xp</p><p>3 Battle trolls: 2,100 xp</p><p>1 Ogre storm shaman: 600 xp</p><p>2 Ogre ironclad: 800 xp</p><p></p><p>The heavy catapult and infantry squares are custom (see attached stat blocks). I've increased the Liondrakes' damage to MM3 standards. The dragoons will be reflavored to be dwarves rather than dragonborn, and will lose their dragon breath power. The remaining monsters are used as-is from the Compendium. I'll scale the battle to the number of players by adding or subtracting battle trolls.</p><p></p><p>The infantry squares are designed to throw off lots of minions. This will give my barbarian player something to enjoy, as he gets 20 temp hp every time he kills something. I also want the sense of chaos and mounting piles of bodies that tons of fleeing and dead minions will engender.</p><p></p><p>Tactics:</p><p></p><p>The battle will start with the heavy catapult attacking before the armies close. I've playtested this and, while it does some damage to the allied forces, its real strength is in destroying fortifications.</p><p></p><p>After the first shot from the enemy catapult, one of Gallo's siege towers (off-screen) will return fire and the opposing army will advance. The catapult will get ten rounds (five shots) before the Gallo tower zeroes in. Starting with the sixth shot, I'll roll a d20 after every shot. A roll of 16-20 means the allied siege tower destroyed the catapult.</p><p></p><p>The opposing army will appear on the board in the ninth round and move at full speed toward the allied forces. The allies will get one free flight of arrows (two if they use readied actions) and then the armies will close in the tenth round. The infantry squares will be in front and will funnel into the choke points as well as taking advantage of any gaps in the defenses created by the heavy catapult. If the choke points are full, they'll dismantle fraises (1 square per standard action) in preparation for storming the earthen ramparts.</p><p></p><p>The trolls will wade in fearlessly and do as much damage as they can wherever they can. They're particularly devastating against pike squares, so that's what they'll focus on. They can overlap with infantry squares, so they'll get up close and personal.</p><p></p><p>The ogres ironclad will protect the ogre storm shaman by staying near the shaman and marking foes that try to attack it. The shaman will use its drenching rain and lightning to disable archers, then engage with a melee hero.</p><p></p><p>The liondrakes and their dragoon riders will follow the other troops, then fly over the allied lines and attack soft targets, such as archers and mages.</p><p></p><p>I imagine that the encounter will play out with enemy infantry and trolls fighting the allied pike squares. One of the heroes (probably the barbarian) will engage the ogres, and the rest will split their attention between protecting the soft targets from the liondrakes/dragoons and taking out the trolls.</p><p></p><p>Thoughts? Critiques?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Truename, post: 5755342, member: 78255"] I think I have the first half of the opposing forces figured out. Again, my goal is to create the feeling of a big battle, with the players at the forefront, without bogging down or getting too abstract. I'm going to conduct two waves. I want each wave to feel very different. For the first wave, I'm focused on creating the sense of a tough ground battle. In the second wave, I want to bring in more of the fantasy element and give the players a few "oh sh*t" moments before they carry the day. Throughout, I want the players to feel like they're part of a bigger picture, and although they're tough, there's even scarier things out there. The players already created their battle plan and fortifications in the last battle. They have a nice layout with earthen ramparts leading to two choke points. I want them to feel like those make a difference, but I also want to provide some surprises. My XP budget for the first wave is 12,800. The PCs are level 12: Level 14 encounter: 5,000 xp Allied pike squares and archers: 6,000 xp Allied chaplains*: 1,000 xp Terrain advantage: 800 xp *The chaplains are level 12 minions, but they can trigger 4 healing surges between them, which I figure is equivalent to an extra allied unit. Here's how I intend to spend that budget: 1 Heavy catapult (hazard): 800 xp 8 Infantry squares: 5,600 xp 2 Liondrakes: 1,400 xp 2 Dythan's Legion Dragoons (riding Liondrakes): 1,400 xp 3 Battle trolls: 2,100 xp 1 Ogre storm shaman: 600 xp 2 Ogre ironclad: 800 xp The heavy catapult and infantry squares are custom (see attached stat blocks). I've increased the Liondrakes' damage to MM3 standards. The dragoons will be reflavored to be dwarves rather than dragonborn, and will lose their dragon breath power. The remaining monsters are used as-is from the Compendium. I'll scale the battle to the number of players by adding or subtracting battle trolls. The infantry squares are designed to throw off lots of minions. This will give my barbarian player something to enjoy, as he gets 20 temp hp every time he kills something. I also want the sense of chaos and mounting piles of bodies that tons of fleeing and dead minions will engender. Tactics: The battle will start with the heavy catapult attacking before the armies close. I've playtested this and, while it does some damage to the allied forces, its real strength is in destroying fortifications. After the first shot from the enemy catapult, one of Gallo's siege towers (off-screen) will return fire and the opposing army will advance. The catapult will get ten rounds (five shots) before the Gallo tower zeroes in. Starting with the sixth shot, I'll roll a d20 after every shot. A roll of 16-20 means the allied siege tower destroyed the catapult. The opposing army will appear on the board in the ninth round and move at full speed toward the allied forces. The allies will get one free flight of arrows (two if they use readied actions) and then the armies will close in the tenth round. The infantry squares will be in front and will funnel into the choke points as well as taking advantage of any gaps in the defenses created by the heavy catapult. If the choke points are full, they'll dismantle fraises (1 square per standard action) in preparation for storming the earthen ramparts. The trolls will wade in fearlessly and do as much damage as they can wherever they can. They're particularly devastating against pike squares, so that's what they'll focus on. They can overlap with infantry squares, so they'll get up close and personal. The ogres ironclad will protect the ogre storm shaman by staying near the shaman and marking foes that try to attack it. The shaman will use its drenching rain and lightning to disable archers, then engage with a melee hero. The liondrakes and their dragoon riders will follow the other troops, then fly over the allied lines and attack soft targets, such as archers and mages. I imagine that the encounter will play out with enemy infantry and trolls fighting the allied pike squares. One of the heroes (probably the barbarian) will engage the ogres, and the rest will split their attention between protecting the soft targets from the liondrakes/dragoons and taking out the trolls. Thoughts? Critiques? [/QUOTE]
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