Help with a running battle/ seige

[LordOfBlah]

Hello,

I am gaming a group that has been stuck in the middle of a brewing war between a local town and a Red Dragon that is bent on taking the territory for his own. Long story short I am running the "climax" battle next gamming session (the PC's know its comming and have been helping the town as best they can). The question is what is the best way to run a seige so that the game flows nicely. I was trying to figure out a way for them to get hearded towards like the town hall or some place to make a last stand. But I don't want them to be mostly dead when they get to the final fight. Any help would be great.

Thanks

 

[Farland]

Try the mass combat program in my sig.

 

[Senior Bobo]

For a siege with a red dragon fire can be a good tool. If terrain permits (a nearby wooded area perhaps) the dragon can set fire to the trees in an attempt to draw out pc's who may try to put out the flames. Crops work well for that also since the PC's then have to decide whether or not to try to save the crops, which puts them at risk to direct assault by the dragon, or let the crops burn, which may cause the town tremendous problems even if they survive the battle.

Even if the outside terrain isn't suitable, the dragon can make several midnight flyby's of the town setting this tower or that roof on fire with a pass. This can lead to lots of work for the pc's and possibly a whittling down of their fire based defenses and some good morale questions. Do they use their protection from fire potions or spells to save the child trapped in the burning building or save it for the climactic final battle with the dragon? If needed you can offset the whittling down affect by the dragon by allowing the pc's to take shots at the passing dragon (assuming of course the pc's are paying attention).

Plus as the siege wears on the fires eventually start taking their toll on the available cover leading you to your "everyone hide in the town hall" approach. Possibly the town hall is the most fireproof building, or just the one the pc's are spending the most time protecting so it should be a natural haven for the frightened, and by this point exhausted and demoralized by days of firefighting, townsfolk.