D&D General Conscripted to Faerun

[Umbran]

Volksgrenadiers got 6 weeks training in WW2.

Sure. But the Volksgrenadiers were late-WW2 units, created.. I won't say in a panic, but after significant losses. And they weren't tasked with taking the enemy on in melee combat, which is the basic norm of fighting in the FR where you've set this.

Unless you are setting up for Mary Gentle's book, Grunts, (which answers the question, "What if the orcs got M-16s and AK-47s?"), WWII analogies are not going to match the reality you're considering.

6 weeks of physical training can do a lot as long as someone isn't drastically unfit.

I don't think it a stretch to think that most of the middle-aged folks hanging around on D&D message boards haven't hiked 10+ miles a day multiple days in a row for, well, years.

 

[Zardnaar]

Sure. But the Volksgrenadiers were late-WW2 units, created.. I won't say in a panic, but after significant losses. And they weren't tasked with taking the enemy on in melee combat, which is the basic norm of fighting in the FR where you've set this.

Unless you are setting up for Mary Gentle's book, Grunts, (which answers the question, "What if the orcs got M-16s and AK-47s?"), WWII analogies are not going to match the reality you're considering.



I don't think it a stretch to think that most of the middle-aged folks hanging around on D&D message boards haven't hiked 10+ miles a day multiple days in a row for, well, years.

And they're probably not going to ve posting in this thread. And that's fine.

I am after all adking what one would personally do or be capable of doing.

Walking around Carrying 40 pounds leading a mule or two isn't that hard.


Vs hiking up a mountain Carrying that gear.

 

[Shiroiken]

Military boot camps don't turn middle-aged nerds into fit fighters. And they are training in weapons even easier to learn than crossbows - you don't become Inigo Montoya after 12 weeks.

The other thing to consider is that, as conscripts, we're not necessarily expected to survive engagement with an actual enemy. We're level 0 commoners, not heroes.

 

[ezo]

Maybe take studded leather so I can show everyone that it really exists.

Good one! That is hilarious!

Volksgrenadiers got 6 weeks training in WW2.

Some of us middle age needs have done military training, hike, camp and hike up mounta8ns.

6 weeks of physical training can do a lot as long as someone isn't drastically unfit.

Even more so when some of us middle aged nerds are already in good shape.

 

[Zardnaar]

Good one! That is hilarious!


Even more so when some of us middle aged nerds are already in good shape.

My shape foukd be better but comparatively I'm doing alright and losing weight.

20 pounds to go to my mid 90s weight.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

20 years ago I would fancy my chances but now, 9 months shy of 60, type 2 diabetes and blood pressure issues along with a sedentary lifestyle and poorish eyesight.
If I am going to fight then brigandine, shield, spear and sidesword but I reckon it will be the bugs that will get me.

 

[GrimCo]

Let's be honest. Unless we have cleric in party or some magical potions, we are all looking forward to some good old fashioned diarrhea and probably some sort of Fearunian type of common cold. Sure, Faerun doesn't have industry and it's rivers and creeks might be pristine clear and safe to drink for local populace, but we are not locals and our intestinal biome isn't adapted to local microbes. Yes, we could and should boil water for drinking. But it's enough to wash some fresh produce in local creek and it ruuun tooo theeee treees. Also, i just dawned on me. PHB doesn't have listed any of hygiene products.

 

[J-H]

We'll just have to get used to posca (vinegar in our water).

 

[overgeeked]

I’d contract some common FR disease from the locals and die but not before infecting them with some real-world disease and starting a pandemic that wipes out hundreds of thousands if not millions.

I love playing AD&D.

 

[ezo]

My shape foukd be better but comparatively I'm doing alright and losing weight.

20 pounds to go to my mid 90s weight.

At 50, I've gone from the lean 145 I was in high school to a burly 185. I am stronger now than I have ever been in my life. I'm not going to run a sub-6-minute mile now, but I can jog for 20 minutes and still run a sub 15-second 100 m sprint. Nothing compared to my teens and twenties, but still pretty good.

With weeks of dedicated training, I could handle the 90-lbs of gear I listed, provided we took regular breaks during our patrol. But I always assumed PCs rested about 10 minutes per hour while traveling.