Help me defend a pass. (My players go away!)

[alsih2o]

In my campaign the players have recently passed between 2 large lakes with a strip of land 1/4 mile wide between them. This strip of land rises on both sides of the lakes and is about 2 miles long.

When they try to come back they will find that and orc lieutenant and his 49 orc warriors have been left to dig in and defend this pass. They have the services of 1 troll and 2 ogres.

The orc lieutenant is smart (int 16) and has 9 ranks in siege engineer/sapper. He has had 6 days to dig in and make sure noone comes from the other side of the lakes.

Any ideas?

 

[diaglo]

it would've been easier if the strip of land was diked in between the two lakes. then you could just flood it. and have the orcs on boats to defend the area.


the big problem i see is flying PCs, even in your case.


hamper crossing with rubble/unsafe ground for slow movement of mounts.

cover for the orcs with trenches, boulders, and camoflague.

ranged attacks and then fall back to the next trench.

pit traps with spiked bottoms, makeshift claymores... alchemist fire traps, and other traps

edit: the first PC trips the wire but the guy 20ft back gets a hot foot.

artillery. give the ogres and trolls Large sized ranged weapons.

 

[diaglo]

smoke sticks... to help cover the fallback

tanglefoot bags.. to hamper the PCs advance

thunderstones... as an attack item to disrupt spellcasters and possibly ruin their spellcasting ability forever... and also as a signal device to the reserves/artillery

acid, alchemist fire, or just plain flasks of lit oil... for the grenadiers. toss then have another orc set spears for charge.

wave a false flag of truce. to gauge the enemy (PCs). send a runner also to the orc leader's base of command.

 

[Ryltar]

What party level are we talking here?
Is there a supply of wood nearby (for a reasonable amount of fortification), or a quarry?

 

[alsih2o]

What party level are we talking here?
Is there a supply of wood nearby (for a reasonable amount of fortification), or a quarry?

7th druid/7th wilderness rogue/6th mounted fighter/6th barbarian

The position they are defending is less than 300 yards from a dense, mature forest. (Dense at the edge).

There is very little available stone, but the wood is plentiful.

One last thing- Trolls in my world are vicious and rabid. They no longer occur naturally. They are bred in special place by evil people who wish to use them. Trolls are referred to by the orcs who manage them as "Wyrmbiters" because of their general ferocity and stupidity. They will attack anything, including their handlers.

 

[Ryltar]

Allright, then. Some suggestions:

6 days is more than enough wood for a palisade. Have them build one, but one with a clearly accessible gate in it (which will be locked, of course). What I'm thinking of is something like this: (yeah, time for l33t ascii stuff)


X |0 | X
X | 0| X
X |0 | X
X | 0 | X
X |0 | X
---===--------------

y y y y y y y y y y y y y y y

with Xes being the defenders, == being the gate and - being the palisade, 0 being trenches or holes in the ground, y being wooden stakes to prevent mounted characters or big animals from charging.

They will, naturally, try to break down the door. Have the enemy throw up some weak resistance while they do, but have the majority of their strength holed up behind the door, archers manning the "inside of the palisade" along the way, and have the troll hide in one of the holes for a nasty surprise. Have one ogre seal the far end of this "tunnel", and have the other one hidden nearby so he can assault the party from behind (coming from the broken-down door). Stir. Enjoy .

 

[Nareau]

I probably don't need to point this out, as you seem to have plenty of DMing experience...but if it were *my* group, they'd say "Screw this" and find another way to traverse the 2 miles.

Is there anything forcing them to take the heavily guarded and easily defended route? What's to stop them from going over/around?

I'm thinking that between the druid and the rogue, they'll be able to scout the enemy defenses pretty thoroughly.

Spider

 

[diaglo]

sap the central path. it is 1/4 mile wide? make a break way so the thing will be destroyed when a party of potential trouble comes (the PCs). they look big and bad. and armed to the teeth. they are trouble.

it will flood and drown the heavy armor guy and his steed

the druid will have little trouble crossing via wildshape. thus identifying his threat as a spellcaster. concentrate ranged attacks on him.

the barbarian will charge. meet him with the heavy melee troops. the troll and ogres.

the rogue will try to help with ranged attacks. or by assisting the barbarian. hit him with the reserves. a rush of orcs led by the lt.

 

[alsih2o]

I probably don't need to point this out, as you seem to have plenty of DMing experience...but if it were *my* group, they'd say "Screw this" and find another way to traverse the 2 miles.

Is there anything forcing them to take the heavily guarded and easily defended route? What's to stop them from going over/around?

I'm thinking that between the druid and the rogue, they'll be able to scout the enemy defenses pretty thoroughly.

Spider

The lakes. These are the my world version of north Americas great lakes. There is very little water travel where they are form and none here. Going around may take weeks if they pick the right direction, months if they pick the wrong one.

They COULD go around, but I am more worried about my experienced players findign a way past.

 

[BSF]

They might swim it. Or just walk it through the lake. The Druid has access to Water Breathing. At this point you are counting on them to forget that. Even if they have to hang out and wait a day so the Druid can prepare the proper spells, it is quite possible that they will choose that rather than assault a heavily fortified position. You might be able to dissuade them if the environment of the lake is hostile enough.