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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dreaded_beast" data-source="post: 1764858" data-attributes="member: 11185">Here's the scenario. In the Forgotten Realms, my PCs have decided to clear out a badlands area in Cormyr known as the Stonelands in order to gain a barony there. To that end, they have hired a group of mercenaries known as the Red Ravens. They have hired 110 Red Raven mercenaries to patrol the area around their stronghold in the Stonelands and expect them to clear out the area around it, spreading out every couple of miles.The thing is, the Stonelands are notorious for all sorts of monsters, bandits, goblinoids, etc. Cormyr has spent literally decades trying to police and clear out the area using a combination of the Red Ravens and their own military/police force called the Purple Dragons. That being said, I have told my players during the past couple of game weeks, that the Red Ravens they have hired have been relatively unsuccessful in clearing out the area except for a small area around their stronghold.Now, my PCs are asking why. They figure that with such a large and well armed force, the Red Ravens should be able to tackle a large amount of the monsters and bandits out there. In truth, I don't see anything wrong with their thinking and the only reasons I can think off for not letting the mercenary plan work is that I would rather the PCs take care off something this large and not just hire mercenaries to do the work for them. In addition, these same mercenaries, along with the military, have been largely unsuccessful in their task. It wouldn't make sense to me if the Red Ravens all of a sudden became "really successful" in clearing out the area just because the PCs hired them.On the other hand, I can understand the player's frustration at why a decent plan doesn't work. So far, I've been dancing around the issue and coming up with on-the-fly answers like "it's harder than it seems", "these could take many months", "there are too many monsters for the mercenaries to handle", etc. Even then, then players still wonder why at least a small area hasn't been cleared.Any ides on how to handle this?I want the mercenaries to be useful, but not take the place of actual adventuring.</blockquote>

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