[Adventure] The Paper Chase, Part 2 (Judge: renau1g)

[KarinsDad]

"A most interesting proposition. We'd need to look around the perimeter to see where to shore up your defenses and how best to assist. Morale is trickier though. Once a man loses the will to fight, it's real difficult to get backbone back in him. Maybe Orsik and Alexia can help there. People look up to large warriors and Alexia can probably liven up spirits with a tale or two."

[sblock=map]
renau1g, can we get a map of the encampment and surrounding area?
[/sblock]

 

[rb780nm]

kal'Tarron stands and walks to the doorway. He spends a few minutes studying the clouds and winds and birds. Just when everyone assumes he has forgotten about everyone he nods and turns back. "My masters say I should help you. I will remain here and kill the ones who threaten this site."

 

[MetaVoid]

"While I admire your will to uncover history, I cannot but wonder if this isn't something better left alone. There are things from past ages better left uncovered. And that Darguun left Dhakaani city in hands of humans is suspicious enough. I admit I'm new to your world, but I know that much. Your history is fascinating."

OOC: Yes, map would be great

 

[renau1g]

[sblock=ooc]
I'll need to put together a map, Anti hadn't included one. [/sblock]

 

[Voda Vosa]

The Map is here, anyone can edit it. Note that Mythra is away from the rest .

 

[renau1g]

[sblock=ooc]
Thanks VV for your help. The green is DT, tents are also, crates and barrels can be climbed over with DC 10 athletics and provide cover. Any other questions please let me know [/sblock]

 

[TwoHeadsBarking]

Alexia ponders the situation, "Yes, I could tell a tale, I suppose. Most of my repertoire isn't exactly, ah, suitable for increasing moral, but I could probably come up with something. I've defended positions before though, so I'm sure I could help with that." She pauses, then fidgets nervously, "Um, just to be clear, your attackers have killed some of you, yes? Or harmed you in some way?"

 

[renau1g]

Dreslin points to the pile of bodies stacked like cordwood. At least a dozen corpses are there.

 

[KarinsDad]

[sblock=ooc]
Thanks VV for your help. The green is DT, tents are also, crates and barrels can be climbed over with DC 10 athletics and provide cover. Any other questions please let me know [/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]
Sure, I have a question.

Could we have a real map?

Not to be critical about VV's effort, I think it's great that he put that effort in, but a 20x27 camp on a 39x46 map that we need to help protect is, quite frankly, extremely tough. The PCs will be spread so far out that they won't be able to do much of anything. Our group got burned once before and almost had a TPK with the PCs spread out. Anti had no clue how devastating the terrain in the last encounter was for the synergies of our particular group. For example, a runepriest is designed to be adjacent to allies.

If the PCs bunch up in an area, the NPCs will wipe out the villagers. If they don't bunch up, they cannot help each other.

As a DM who put a 21x42 map with just 3 foes (an N-2 encounter) for 5 PCs here on LEB where the PCs did not have to protect anything, but just attack in one direction, it was a 13+ round encounter of PCs running all over the place. 39x46 or even just the 20x27 of the camp itself will be a lot worse. Artillery and controllers can just pick us apart.

Please learn from my DMing mistake renau1g. If an N-2 encounter on a large map is 13 rounds, how many rounds will an N or tougher encounter be for a map that allows for more directions and potentially larger size?

Unless the encounter is super easy, we'll be at it on such a large map for 6+ months and a harder encounter will most likely be a TPK, or at least a TPK for the friendly NPCs. There is no way to protect such a large area from multiple directions. Unless there are only 5 or 6 weak foes, a handful of even minion artillery surrounding us will take multiple rounds per minion to get to and wipe out for non-ranged PCs. There are something like 10 openings in the village. We cannot defend from 10 directions and foes attacking from the outside have too many ways to shoot and hide.

PS. I couldn't find the wall on the map, so it'll be real tough to set up traps and funnel attacks over such a large area either.

Might I suggest any of the tent camps from:

page 43 of Dungeon 169
page 27 of Dungeon 166
page 7 of Dungeon 164

Put a partial wall and a few crates/barrels around them and you'd be done quickly renau1g. Anti liked using Dungeon maps, so it's possible that he was going to use one of these anyway.

Sorry VV, but I just see your map as fairly non-viable for PBP. It's just too darn big with too many wide open terrain features. For example, 3x3 area effects are totally useless in such a large area since I assume the foes won't be stupid enough to be that close to each other.
[/sblock]

 

[renau1g]

[sblock=ooc]
re: the map. I found one on Cartographer's Guild and VV helped me with it. I removed the wall as the camp doesn't have a formal wall around it. The camp is wide open and it is spread out a bit. You have what could easily be two mini-groups, with Muzdum and Orsik holding one side, Mythra providing support for them, and the mobile kal & Grys can take out either leaders/artillery/skirmishers on the enemy side together. Alexia could team with them also.

A few things on your side. 1) Time to prep before the night & 2) surprise

I used a larger map over in L4W in Night at the Four Seasons and it took two rounds for the groups to get engaged. You do have some time to help set choke points, but no the area is not an ideal location for a defensive stand, it's not a fort on a hill with a wide vision of the surrounding terrain. It's a camp, where they cleared enough to operate and a bit more in any direction, they were not planning to be in the area for a long enough time to erect full walls, they were counting on the Dargunnites for protection. The terrain doesn't play well with group synergies? That's tough, but it also forces new tactics. I think the runepriest can still maintain adjacency to his allies or enemies to benefit from his runestates, the area effect spellcasters can work to bunch foes up, or not use large AoE spells on one enemy. Again, the foes may not be expecting spellslingers and so they may also not have optimal tactics for countering enemy spellcasters right off the top of their head.

Now, if you're asking if walls can be erected in time, that's another story, they can possibly get something crude up, or at least in some of the area to help.

You can get halfway across the camp in one round with a double move.

Dreslin can tell you that these haven't been essentially overwhelming forces from all sides, it was more like skirmish tactics from some hit and runs.
[/sblock]