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Interesting encounters in a City siege situation
- Thread starter Spibb
- Start date
Ryujin
Legend
Brigands, who want to pillage the city.
Guardsmen, who want to restore order.
A pocket necromancer, trying to increase his power.
The town ruler's political opponents, trying to usurp power.
Agents of a foreign government, trying to secretly take the place over.
The undead, doing what undead do ("More brains")
Hi,
Somee other random thoughts:
In medieval times there were two great threats that faced a seiging force:
1. A releiving force. When your encamped around a large city your lines are drawn thin. Your men are probably bored stiff to and so probably won't be watching their flanks to closesly. While streched thin across a wide front even a small, but strong concentrated force, can do significant damage to the encircling army.
Even small groups of partisans can cause significant damage.
Perhaps a small group of loyalists (undead or otherwise) could attack the encamped army spreading fear among the soilders ranks.
Perhaps targeting things of vital importance like say food and water supplies. Imagine the terror of such a group inflitrating their way to where the wounded and dying are kept and begin a massacre. Nothing lowers an armies resovle more than seeing their loved ones cut down and raised again as undead abominations.
Or perhaps its more than a small group something akin to a real releif force. Can your heroes hold the line. In running such an encounter I would run it as a skill challenge perhaps with the occassional fight thrown in. A bit like this
2. The other great fear was stavation. Beleive it or not keeping a large army encamped around a city for a long time is a very difficult task. The water supplies of the city might be enough to supply the army but their was always the risk of these being posioned or simply contaminated because the stream was never capable of supplying such a large force and saination in a camp so large is difficult.
The same is true with the crops. The area around the city has not been cultivated because the defenders are undead, and even if they weren't their stuck behind a stone wall and their crops, will just wither see water point above.
So the normal food sources of the natural eviroment are not there for the army which must instead rely on food brought in through supply lines. Which themselves must be protect. Perhaps some of the undead army could make an attempt to sever this link.
Fake Edit: After review the OP I notice you mention encounters within the city. So feel free to ignore.
On defending the city remember that zombies do not need homes, sleep, food, water or any of the things that a man would need.
And a clever necromancer will realise this, I see nothing wrong with the undead turning the city into an impenetratble fortress, Every building could be garrasoned or rigged to collapse (note killing PC in this way is lame. Killing minions and NPC like this is much more accepetable), every Water source poisoned, every food sources ruined.
Ambushes and traps around every corner will levae the assualtings armies moral plumenting. Only the bravest and most charsimatic hero can keep the advance. When doing these type of attack remeber the undead main advantage is not in fighting skill but in terror, Let them bring in some truely horrifing creatures. Undead trolls, drakes, wraiths, flesh golemn, Exploding minions, perhaps even some daemons. (though you may want to scale the levels to make them more apporate.
When that fails large scale destruction of the population (if this has not already happened). Don't call it genocide its merely a recruitment drive.
Buildings left as nothing but a ruined shell, leaving the attackers no place to rest. The undead need give the atttackers no quaters, they take not one step back. Force them to advance over schorched earth, they should deny the invaders every advantage possible.
Then once the city is in the players hands their army ruined but triumphant. The undead can launch their own operation uranus leaving them traped and desperate in little more than a ruin. With thousands of undead outside baying for their blood.
Matt,
Somee other random thoughts:
In medieval times there were two great threats that faced a seiging force:
1. A releiving force. When your encamped around a large city your lines are drawn thin. Your men are probably bored stiff to and so probably won't be watching their flanks to closesly. While streched thin across a wide front even a small, but strong concentrated force, can do significant damage to the encircling army.
Even small groups of partisans can cause significant damage.
Perhaps a small group of loyalists (undead or otherwise) could attack the encamped army spreading fear among the soilders ranks.
Perhaps targeting things of vital importance like say food and water supplies. Imagine the terror of such a group inflitrating their way to where the wounded and dying are kept and begin a massacre. Nothing lowers an armies resovle more than seeing their loved ones cut down and raised again as undead abominations.
Or perhaps its more than a small group something akin to a real releif force. Can your heroes hold the line. In running such an encounter I would run it as a skill challenge perhaps with the occassional fight thrown in. A bit like this
2. The other great fear was stavation. Beleive it or not keeping a large army encamped around a city for a long time is a very difficult task. The water supplies of the city might be enough to supply the army but their was always the risk of these being posioned or simply contaminated because the stream was never capable of supplying such a large force and saination in a camp so large is difficult.
The same is true with the crops. The area around the city has not been cultivated because the defenders are undead, and even if they weren't their stuck behind a stone wall and their crops, will just wither see water point above.
So the normal food sources of the natural eviroment are not there for the army which must instead rely on food brought in through supply lines. Which themselves must be protect. Perhaps some of the undead army could make an attempt to sever this link.
Fake Edit: After review the OP I notice you mention encounters within the city. So feel free to ignore.
On defending the city remember that zombies do not need homes, sleep, food, water or any of the things that a man would need.
And a clever necromancer will realise this, I see nothing wrong with the undead turning the city into an impenetratble fortress, Every building could be garrasoned or rigged to collapse (note killing PC in this way is lame. Killing minions and NPC like this is much more accepetable), every Water source poisoned, every food sources ruined.
Ambushes and traps around every corner will levae the assualtings armies moral plumenting. Only the bravest and most charsimatic hero can keep the advance. When doing these type of attack remeber the undead main advantage is not in fighting skill but in terror, Let them bring in some truely horrifing creatures. Undead trolls, drakes, wraiths, flesh golemn, Exploding minions, perhaps even some daemons. (though you may want to scale the levels to make them more apporate.
When that fails large scale destruction of the population (if this has not already happened). Don't call it genocide its merely a recruitment drive.
Buildings left as nothing but a ruined shell, leaving the attackers no place to rest. The undead need give the atttackers no quaters, they take not one step back. Force them to advance over schorched earth, they should deny the invaders every advantage possible.
Then once the city is in the players hands their army ruined but triumphant. The undead can launch their own operation uranus leaving them traped and desperate in little more than a ruin. With thousands of undead outside baying for their blood.
Matt,
Last edited:
Matt James
Game Developer
I have entire swaths of text in Soldiers of Fortune for such a campaign or storyarch. You should check it out!
Dr_Ruminahui
First Post
I can vouch for Soldier of Fortune - I picked it up and it was really well done. Lots of good stuff in there.
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