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How would you defend your subterranean kingdom?
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<blockquote data-quote="Nifft" data-source="post: 320358" data-attributes="member: 6562"><p>I'll cop to the false advertising charge ... but even if I hadn't explicitly planned to make them nibble before they learned how to bite, I'd never let them just charge in. It's all about the intel.</p><p></p><p>The wilderness encounters are going to be more important for the first three-and-a-half chapters, so I honestly haven't fully fleshed out the lair, but here's what I've got so far.</p><p></p><p>It's an abandoned Dwarven mine (starts out sturdy), worked on by kobolds (gets trapped, destablized), and finally damaged by magical battle and partially caved in.</p><p></p><p>The Dwarves discovered two connected veins of silver (really one vein pinched by a broken strata-layer-thingy) running roughly 30 degrees from the vertical. Since we're talking unpowered excavation technology, they dug corkscrew tunnels with tracks for removing ore & debris, then tunnled upwards into the veins. The place where the first vein touched the second was unfortunately directly under the main large shaft -- the dwarves mined it out last, because in mining that area they knew they'd risk the stability of the main shaft.</p><p></p><p>The mine has 5 entry points: one main shaft / front door and four "airshafts" (halfling or goblin sized, a dwarf couldn't even stand up straight). The goblins know about 4 of these entry points.</p><p></p><p>The kobolds who came after set up a few murder holes (still useful), dug some pits (mechanics failed long ago, but could be otherwise disguised), some mechanical tripwire traps (totally useless) and, near the Evil Conjurer's Lab, a couple of magical traps (still working just fine).</p><p></p><p>In the great big magical battle, a large explosion caused a good portion of the destablized shafts caved in. Specifically, the end of the main shaft, the area under it (where the two veins met) and half of the tunnels above it (worked by the kobolds). There's now a rough cave there, mostly filled with rubble. (Near the base of the rubble, the PCs will find the Conjurer's remains, including a fully-expended Necklace of Missiles -- whoops!)</p><p></p><p>The goblins have standard goblin-tech: low-quality rope, grumbling slave labor, native stealth and darkvision.</p><p></p><p>They've made rope webbing leading up the sides of the caved-in cavern to reach the tunnels left up there. They haven't dug deep enough to reach the lower tunnels yet. The sleeping quarters are in an upper tunnel (unreachable except via the rope-web); that's where the non-combatents live and where the goblins will retreat.</p><p></p><p>Thier main defense, however, will happen in the caved-in room. They've got piles & piles of rubble -- perfect cover for sniping. They've got a number of routes through the rubble, and will try to keep it between them and the players while shooting them. Archers will also fire down from the upper tunnels. The goblins have also been feeding a small colony of dire rats -- these will be used to attack, but not until the PCs are out on the rubble.</p><p></p><p>If the goblins know that the PCs are coming, they'll cast a Silent Image over one of the open pit traps. If they have more than an hour's warning, they'll also put some guards in two of the kobold's old murder holes (in the main shaft, halfway to the caved-in room).</p><p></p><p>The PCs could reach some of the upper tunnels from the airshafts. If the goblins discover that they did, the goblins will hide in the rubble, burn the rope web and then leave by the main entry shaft to circle around and cover the airshafts.</p><p></p><p>Now, how many defenders?</p><p></p><p>59 Rogue2 + 22 Ranger2 + 7 "Sergeants" Fighter2 / Rogue1</p><p>24 Worgs</p><p></p><p>Break that into 7 "squads" -- one will be on duty at a time, guard changes every 6 hours.</p><p>8 Rogues, 3 Rangers, 1 Sergeant</p><p>"floaters" 3 Rogues, 1 Ranger</p><p></p><p>Each entry gets two Rogues. There's one "patrol" of two Rangers on worgs sniffing around the nearby hills. One Ranger sits with a worg on top of the hill and acts as a lookout. The Sergeant on duty either naps or goes around checking up on the guards (30% chance of nap).</p><p></p><p>The worgs hang out in the valley around the main entry shaft. They'll venture a short ways inside the main shaft during storms. Thier sense of smell makes them difficult to sneak past.</p><p></p><p>If any goblin guard detects "invaders", he will alert his partner, then both will run inside to wake the others. About 50% of whatever's left of the tribe at the time will be in the mine and able to fight with 5 minutes notice -- the rest are deeply sleeping, mating, badly hung over, out hunting helpless forrest creatures, or something.</p><p></p><p>There's a 20% chance that each "major" spellcaster (the level 4 Illusionist and/or the level 3 Cleric) will be in the main chamber, since that's where they make potions. (They couldn't convince anyone to drag their stolen alchemical equipment up the rope webs into the safe tunnels.)</p><p></p><p>There's a 30% chance each is rested and ready to fight (with 5 minutes notice). There's a 20% chance each is out gathering herbs for potions & other alchemical goodies, and a 30% chance each one is unprepared for a fight and hiding somewhere.</p><p></p><p>... and that's all I've got so far for the lair. Any suggestions?</p><p></p><p>Also, any suggestions on the upcoming ambush? (The PCs have been hired as extra guards by a caravan.)</p><p></p><p>Ambush forces will be 1 squad + 1 lieutenant, for a total of 8 Rogues, 3 Rangers, 1 Fighter/Rogue, 1 mid-level Ranger (or Fighter) and 13 worgs.</p><p></p><p> -- Nifft</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nifft, post: 320358, member: 6562"] I'll cop to the false advertising charge ... but even if I hadn't explicitly planned to make them nibble before they learned how to bite, I'd never let them just charge in. It's all about the intel. The wilderness encounters are going to be more important for the first three-and-a-half chapters, so I honestly haven't fully fleshed out the lair, but here's what I've got so far. It's an abandoned Dwarven mine (starts out sturdy), worked on by kobolds (gets trapped, destablized), and finally damaged by magical battle and partially caved in. The Dwarves discovered two connected veins of silver (really one vein pinched by a broken strata-layer-thingy) running roughly 30 degrees from the vertical. Since we're talking unpowered excavation technology, they dug corkscrew tunnels with tracks for removing ore & debris, then tunnled upwards into the veins. The place where the first vein touched the second was unfortunately directly under the main large shaft -- the dwarves mined it out last, because in mining that area they knew they'd risk the stability of the main shaft. The mine has 5 entry points: one main shaft / front door and four "airshafts" (halfling or goblin sized, a dwarf couldn't even stand up straight). The goblins know about 4 of these entry points. The kobolds who came after set up a few murder holes (still useful), dug some pits (mechanics failed long ago, but could be otherwise disguised), some mechanical tripwire traps (totally useless) and, near the Evil Conjurer's Lab, a couple of magical traps (still working just fine). In the great big magical battle, a large explosion caused a good portion of the destablized shafts caved in. Specifically, the end of the main shaft, the area under it (where the two veins met) and half of the tunnels above it (worked by the kobolds). There's now a rough cave there, mostly filled with rubble. (Near the base of the rubble, the PCs will find the Conjurer's remains, including a fully-expended Necklace of Missiles -- whoops!) The goblins have standard goblin-tech: low-quality rope, grumbling slave labor, native stealth and darkvision. They've made rope webbing leading up the sides of the caved-in cavern to reach the tunnels left up there. They haven't dug deep enough to reach the lower tunnels yet. The sleeping quarters are in an upper tunnel (unreachable except via the rope-web); that's where the non-combatents live and where the goblins will retreat. Thier main defense, however, will happen in the caved-in room. They've got piles & piles of rubble -- perfect cover for sniping. They've got a number of routes through the rubble, and will try to keep it between them and the players while shooting them. Archers will also fire down from the upper tunnels. The goblins have also been feeding a small colony of dire rats -- these will be used to attack, but not until the PCs are out on the rubble. If the goblins know that the PCs are coming, they'll cast a Silent Image over one of the open pit traps. If they have more than an hour's warning, they'll also put some guards in two of the kobold's old murder holes (in the main shaft, halfway to the caved-in room). The PCs could reach some of the upper tunnels from the airshafts. If the goblins discover that they did, the goblins will hide in the rubble, burn the rope web and then leave by the main entry shaft to circle around and cover the airshafts. Now, how many defenders? 59 Rogue2 + 22 Ranger2 + 7 "Sergeants" Fighter2 / Rogue1 24 Worgs Break that into 7 "squads" -- one will be on duty at a time, guard changes every 6 hours. 8 Rogues, 3 Rangers, 1 Sergeant "floaters" 3 Rogues, 1 Ranger Each entry gets two Rogues. There's one "patrol" of two Rangers on worgs sniffing around the nearby hills. One Ranger sits with a worg on top of the hill and acts as a lookout. The Sergeant on duty either naps or goes around checking up on the guards (30% chance of nap). The worgs hang out in the valley around the main entry shaft. They'll venture a short ways inside the main shaft during storms. Thier sense of smell makes them difficult to sneak past. If any goblin guard detects "invaders", he will alert his partner, then both will run inside to wake the others. About 50% of whatever's left of the tribe at the time will be in the mine and able to fight with 5 minutes notice -- the rest are deeply sleeping, mating, badly hung over, out hunting helpless forrest creatures, or something. There's a 20% chance that each "major" spellcaster (the level 4 Illusionist and/or the level 3 Cleric) will be in the main chamber, since that's where they make potions. (They couldn't convince anyone to drag their stolen alchemical equipment up the rope webs into the safe tunnels.) There's a 30% chance each is rested and ready to fight (with 5 minutes notice). There's a 20% chance each is out gathering herbs for potions & other alchemical goodies, and a 30% chance each one is unprepared for a fight and hiding somewhere. ... and that's all I've got so far for the lair. Any suggestions? Also, any suggestions on the upcoming ambush? (The PCs have been hired as extra guards by a caravan.) Ambush forces will be 1 squad + 1 lieutenant, for a total of 8 Rogues, 3 Rangers, 1 Fighter/Rogue, 1 mid-level Ranger (or Fighter) and 13 worgs. -- Nifft [/QUOTE]
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