How to rescue NPCs in a battle?

[Crynus]

Hi everyone

got a question that I haven't been able to find a solid answer for, at least one that works for me. My players own a keep that will be getting ambushed, the idea I want to use is they will be attacked in the center, and have to decide where to go and who to rescue.

I've toyed around with having some random tables for groups of enemies to roll on when they enter a room. What I'm not sure of is how to go about a kind of time limit though, how long would a certain npc be able to hold out, what kind of damage per round would to be done to them, etc. I didn't exactly want to stat them all out, more like an hp pool or a resource management.

Been struggling with the idea for a bit now and thought it time to reach out.

How would you deal with this?
Thanks for any help in advance.

They are level 16-17 if you wanted to know
monk
barbarian
wizard
fighter

 

[Dioltach]

Regardless of any planning on my part as the DM, I'm pretty sure my players would solve this with two spells: Fireball and Raise Dead. And maybe not even the second one.

 

[Bawylie]

At the start of combat roll a d6 for each NPC in peril. Add 2. That’s how many rounds each NPC can hold out.

On average, a combat is 3 rounds. So adding 2 ensures decent survivability.

If you’re looking for something more perilous, add 1, or nothing.

 

[Crynus]

Regardless of any planning on my part as the DM, I'm pretty sure my players would solve this with two spells: Fireball and Raise Dead. And maybe not even the second one.

That's assuming there are no counter spells and the npcs not in range of the fireball blast, which both will be a factor. We don't play with raise dead in this game

 

[Imaculata]

Well, if you have a map of the keep, then you don't need random tables to determine which npc gets it. Presumably you know where each npc is. Give the players time to respond, and then escalate the situation as certain sides of the keep are neglected. If the npc is unimportant, kill him off, or use the "mass combat system" to determine how long the npc can hold the opponents off (I'll get into Mass Combat in a bit). Npc's that are beloved by the players, should perhaps be captured and used as hostages by the enemy.

So what is mass combat? Mass combat is a system that was developed for Pathfinder, to quickly resolve fights between armies. It shouldn't be hard to adapt it for 5th edition. Basically, the average level of a unit in an army is used to determine what the challenge rating of the entire army/platoon is (ACR), and their hp and defense. Each army/platoon has one hp pool, and once that hp pool drops below a certain point, the army flees or surrenders. It makes resolving these sorts of siege scenarios a lot faster.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Well, if you have a map of the keep, then you don't need random tables to determine which npc gets it. Presumably you know where each npc is. Give the players time to respond, and then escalate the situation as certain sides of the keep are neglected. If the npc is unimportant, kill him off, or use the mass "battle combat system" to determine how long the npc can hold the opponents off (I'll get into Mass Combat in a bit). Npc's that are beloved by the players, should perhaps be captured and used as hostages by the enemy.

So what is mass combat? Mass combat is a system that was developed for Pathfinder, to quickly resolve fights between armies. It shouldn't be hard to adapt it for 5th edition. Basically, the average level of a unit in an army is used to determine what the challenge rating of the entire army/platoon is (ACR), and their hp and defense. Each army/platoon has one hp pool, and once that hp pool drops below a certain point, the army flees or surrenders. It makes resolving these sorts of siege scenarios a lot faster.

Or consult Unearthed Arcana: Mass Combat