How to defend the whole damn Forest!

[Tonguez]

So the Dark Druid (High level) and his band of rangers and wolves lives in the Dark Forest.

The central grove is his Base but the entire forest is his terrirtory and 'fortress'

So how should he defend it against attack when it doesn't have 'walls' and has multiple entry points?

 

[Nifft]

Make friends with forest spirits. Cast plant growth on distributed oak trees, and invite some Dryads to move in. Make your own friends with awaken, especially awakened trees and small flying animals.

Basically, make your forest a haven for good Fey, Dragons and Magical Beasts, and co-ordinate their communications so that you can move to defend them if they ask for help. This is both [good] and good practice. Since they're all [good], it's possible they'll become friends and help each other, too, which makes the whole woodland more secure.


Oh, wait, you said Dark Druid... is this an [evil] Druid?

Well, much of what I've written still applies, except the part about your minions -- er, guests -- helping defend each other. Instead, they're likely to attack intruders unprovoked because they're hungry / ornery / just plain evil.

Fill the woods with Assassin Vines, Harpies, Shambling Mounds, Green Dragons, etc. See if you can find some evil Fey, and invite them to hunt for humans in your woods.

-- N

 

[Dirigible]

The druid's walls are distance. A long enough trek through hostile, spirit infested, living terrain will erode any hostile force.

A key point will be detecting intruders. For this, there should be nonstop patrols by rangers, wovles, birds and anything else that comes to hand. Once attackers have been located, guerilla attacks can be launched. Identify and trap the easiest routes of entry to the forest.

 

[Greybar]

The druid's walls are distance. A long enough trek through hostile, spirit infested, living terrain will erode any hostile force.

Remember that natural features can be as good as walls.
Chasms, rough slopes, tighly packed bushes...

john

 

[Squire James]

Assuming the PC's are actually travelling through the woods, as opposed to some scry-buff-teleport method, you (the druid) can use Commune With Nature daily to determine where they enter the forest (detect for presence of "people" and don't use "people" as minions yourself). Then you can send forces from the "wrong side" of the woods over to intercept the PC's close to his lair. You can also employ various delaying tactics to give your other troops time to get there.

If the PC's attack on one side, retreat, then hit the other side, they will probably catch the druid off-guard. Good tactics like this deserves a reward, though!

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Assuming the PC's are actually travelling through the woods, as opposed to some scry-buff-teleport method, you (the druid) can use Commune With Nature daily to determine where they enter the forest (detect for presence of "people" and don't use "people" as minions yourself). Then you can send forces from the "wrong side" of the woods over to intercept the PC's close to his lair. You can also employ various delaying tactics to give your other troops time to get there.

Yep. To quote an old military aphorism, "He who defends everything, defends nothing." Trade space for time, gather intelligence, and then hit the intruders hard, fast, and mean with a massed strike force.

If the PC's attack on one side, retreat, then hit the other side, they will probably catch the druid off-guard. Good tactics like this deserves a reward, though!

Especially if you're marching all the way around the forest to make your incursions. That takes *ages*.

Brad

 

[Michael Tree]

You're wondering how to best protect a forested land? Have the Vietnam movies of the 80's and 90's taught you nothing??

 

[Cergorach]

How about instant transportation through the trees (tree walk i believe it's called)?

 

[Dakkareth]

Awaken large predators, use Liveoak to create guardians around the forest to serve as perimeter defense. Commune with Nature can tell you the exact location of all people within one mile per caster level, Tree Stride and Transport via Plants get you there. You could conceivably imbue animal companions with those spells and dispatch them to meet intruders at one point while you take care of them somewhere else.

 

[Henry]

You're wondering how to best protect a forested land? Have the Vietnam movies of the 80's and 90's taught you nothing??

He beat me to it!

The VC waged a very effective guerilla war campaign with many different hit-and-fade tactics, most of which involved hidden tunnels, boby traps, and spot ambushes. The secret is not to wall yourself up and wait for the enemy to come get you - the secret is to harry the enemy and damage them every step they take into the secured territory. You basically make it too painful to enter, and just as painful to leave so they'll never think about entering again.

With a bunch of druids and rangers with nature magic, it becomes even easier to do this. entangle spells, fire traps, tree shapes for spies, snare spells, plant growth, tree stride for being everywhere at once, Tunnels created with elementals, Elementals in hiding, awakened animal and plant spies, Walls of thorns, Liveoak spells, Shambler spells, and save the creeping dooms for when they get too close.