Crossing the Great Wall of China??

[Matafuego]

Hello everybody!
I need some help, or more particularly, maybe my players need some help.

There's a Great Wall IMC which divides two nations, with troupes from one nation preventing anyone from crossing the wall: Archers, Clerics, Wizards, all along the wall.

Last time my players crossed it they were aiming at stealth but everything ended up in a fight with lots of fighters and magic-users. This time I want it to be different.
Fly spells don't work, so "fly high enough" is not an answer. Teleporting or DD isn't either (I figured the guys who built the wall also protected it against that kind of travel, otherwise, what good is a wall in a fantasy setting?)

Any help / advice?
Has this ever happened to you?

Thanks a lot!

 

[eric mcloins]

Just a thought:
The great wall has never actually seen real use or combat.
The only time that invaders wanted to pass the wall, they did it via bribery.

 

[Merkuri]

Could they try to go under it, maybe? Either via riding something that can burrow or using magic to tunnel under it?

Or maybe you could rule that there is a little-known maze of caverns already under the wall, and if the PCs could find the right path through it they could come out on the other side. The trick is that the caves aren't mapped and are full of dangrous critters. This trick turns your stealth adventure into a regular dungeon crawl, if you want it.

 

[The Lost Muse]

Perhaps Hadrian's wall is a better example - it was breached many times by the picts et al - do your players have the means to hire someone as a distraction? (Get them to sneak over the wall a couple miles away.)

 

[Tobold Hornblower]

The great wall of China worked against mongol cavalry, but wouldn't stop much else.

You need some kinda powerful magic dome of force.

 

[Agamon]

The great wall of China worked against mongol cavalry, but wouldn't stop much else.

You need some kinda powerful magic dome of force.

Agreed. The wall is meant to slow an army, not stop a small group of people. The man power it would take to watch every part of the wall 24/7 is huge. And the man power needed to stop a small group of individuals from climbing up any part of said wall 24/7 is pretty much impossible for any extended length of time.

 

[Shallown]

I wouldn't worry about magical transportation like Dim Door and teleport. the wall, as others have pointed out, is to stop the main force or army not individuals. That would entail other rapid response groups etc. and maybe some alarm system for detecting when people teleport/ dim door too close to the wall.

Not everything has a straight forward defense.

Later