Help with adventure idea - Assault on a city

[Madeiner]

Hello there.

I am preparing a 1-2 sessions adventure for my players.
Five 12-level PC's are to assault an high tech (steampunk) gnome city in a high-fantasy world.

I am trying to think of interesting encounters to present them. Here's what i thought up until now.

The PC's and their army know that the enemy has experimental high tech weaponry, and most of the populace is evil, changed by the influx of devils controlling the area.
The PC's kingdom hopes to take the city in a night, as they have a far superior force (Two airships, and magic items that make everyone third-fifth level casters, and about 500 footsoldiers (also equipped with those items)
The city has tech defenses the kingdom doesn't know about (invisible soldiers, undead army), but only about 500 soldiers in total (also equipped with items that make them fifth-level casters). What they don't know is, the city has a super-weapon that can potentially destroy the airships.

The adventure is staged like this, so far:

1. The pc's are parachuted from the airship down to a tower that is providing invisibility to enemy soldiers, to shut it down. They are to eliminate the guards and destroy the tower while the army does the main fighting, then get back on the airship.
2. Once the invisibility machine is destroyed, they are informed via radio that the team that was supposed to take the super-weapon bunker has been killed, so it is up to them now.
3. Bombardment starts; the tower they are on starts to collapse, and they have to reach the ground in time
4. Once on the ground, they see allied soldiers being swarmed by undead enemies, and about to die. They must either help them (and disobey the direct order they received), wasting precious time, or ignore them (there is also a paladin in the party)
5. They have to cross a plaza to reach the super-weapon bunker, but it is impossible to due bombardment. They receive radio commands to enter the sewers and try to reach it from there.
6. Once in the sewers, they lose radio contact. The sewers are filled with undead experiments that broke out from the bunker due to bombardment
7. Once they reach the bunker, they need to stop the main villain from activating the super weapon. Once done, the rest of the army can take the city without fear.


What do you think of this? Is it ok? Can you add something that will make the experience funnier? Especially a kind of roleplaying encounter that i feel is missing from the adventure.

Thanks

 

[Gilladian]

Sounds to me like they're going to need some help!

How about they meet people (a gnome who didn't get turned evil?) in the sewers who can help them heal up and get past the undead?

What about if on the way down the tower while under bombardment, they meet someone who needs rescuing but offers them some helpful knowledge or aid, like a shortcut into the sewers?

Maybe they can run into some clockwork defenses from an age-old (now mothballed) gnomish project that they can turn back on and "sic on" the undead?

 

[Madeiner]

Thanks

I really used the hint you put there and i must say, it sparked a great deal of imagination.

They will indeed find a half-undead turned gnome after the tower collapse and he will tell them about the sewers.

While in the sewers, they will meet a monster (Bloedzuiger - Witcher Wiki) that has the soul of a good gnome, but the body of a viscous monster, in an old room that was his prison.

He can't speak, so he will gesticulate and emit sounds like "BRGLRLLLL".
He will also hurt a PC while he tries to free him (i know they will), but then, a while later, he will try to say he's sorry.

Once a PC will eventually fail an acrobatics check while running from the hordes of monsters in the sewers, he will save him, even if it means hurting him to grab a hold of his arm.

I hope they will develop an attachment to him because later on, in another cellar, he will stop by a skeleton lying there, his flesh recently stripped. I will make clear that there was a structure collapse due to the war, that broke the cellar door and let other monsters kill that gnome. He will gesticulate madly and try to grab something from the skeleton's clothes, failing. If the PCs search it, they will find a faded photograph depicting two gnomes, a male and a female, and the monster will cry looking at it, in a moment of extreme sadness!

Then, the monster-gnome will hit the walls around in mad anger, and will spring a trap by mistake, and get heavily wounded, bleeding a strange liquid.
If the PCs try to heal him, he tries to tell them not to. If i'm lucky, they'll think he wants to die, and maybe will try to heal him anyway.

But being an undead, that heal is gonna destroy him forever...


I don't know, it must be i've been thinking about D&d for 3 days now, and i'm probably going insane, but i think this is gonna rock!

 

[Rhun]

I like it. Sounds fun and epic on the scale of a Gears of War game or similar. Good luck! It sounds like you have the details well in hand.