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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 6583199" data-attributes="member: 6786839">I suggest this:Write three variations.Scenario A: the mages leading the army, and the mundane officers, are treating this like a walk in the park, and have minimal precautions so far. Maybe they send scouts ahead on horseback, maybe they make sure that there are some guards awake at night, but just the bare minimum of preparation. Because, history shows us again and again, there really are people who gain command of armies without being habitually careful or foresighted.Scenario B: the mages and the officers are taking reasonable basic precautions. They make sure that the supporting casters have a good mix of prepared spells; some with Counterspell, some with Dispel Magic, a few with Haste (with designated recipients, such as the highest-level fighters or rogues in the special forces). They do an Augury or two, daily.  They cast Alarm, at least around tents for the command group. They keep some missile weapon troops on high alert, whenever they're on the move, as in, walking with bows in hand and strings already taut and arrows nocked. (I dunno that Roman legions would have ever done so, in anything less than the most hostile territory.) The army sets up camp on a Roman basis; that is, they sacrifice an hour or two of daily marching time, to set up a camp with palisades, *every time they settle in for the night*. They're careful about their food and water sources.Scenario C: the army is VERY prepared. They have glitterdust, and they have people who are specifically tasked with contingency plans for when and where to use it. They're doing whatever they can to learn about the PCs and any other opposition. They have a rotation, in which casters burn Augury/Divination/etc. at planned intervals, for questions such as "are any hostile forces currently approaching our camp" or "are any hostile forces lurking in ambush along today's route". When they encamp, they put a ritual-cast Leomund's Tiny Hut on high ground as a guard tower, and they have sentries with telescopes peering out of the LTH, backed by the army's best sniper archers. If things go badly, they have contingency plans for withdrawing to their last relatively-safe encampment. Their forces might include Rangers trained in scouting and tracking, Druids or mages who Speak with Animals or otherwise learn what they can from local wildlife, and whatever other "dirty tricks" you can think of.In this kind of scenario, whoever thinks more thoroughly about their options, and about countermeasures and counter-countermeasures, has a huge advantage. The PCs have... as much attention and forethought as a handful of players will put into the situation. The invading army can have a LOT more, because you can do things such as crowdsource this question. But you also have an artistic decision to make: just because you CAN have the enemy leader be a methodical and creative tactical expert... is that the NPC which is actually leading this particular army?Keep in mind, historically, some armies have been lead by sloppy, lazy idiots. It happens.</blockquote>

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