Need advice, Red Hand of Doom

[Lord Zardoz]

I do not want to screw my players over, so sooner or later they will probably get their hands on the notes from Koth. The thing is that I have not really had much success so far in the campaign with any non-mook NPC combatants. Also, I have not really used any magic users against my players. I think I can have a great deal of fun with Koth, and have a great chance to throw my players a curve ball. They know what I can do with mooks. Now they get to see what I can do with a decent magic user.

I want Koth to be as effective as I can make him. Keeping him alive is easy. Having him make life suitably difficult for the players is much more difficult.

Right now, I would say the trickiest decision is how to best use the Worg riders. I really want to take advantage of the mobility and mounted archery, but I also do not think I can get the best use out of my attempt to drop the roof on the players if I do not keep them inside the Barracks. Also, the players have no idea that there are Worg riders nearby.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[KingCrab]

I agree with having him flee without the notes (because of the danger of the situation with the players). It is important to the story that the players find the notes around that point.

 

[Peni Griffin]

Don't fret - you'll have other opportunities to use worg riders. Covering the exits - which will not only include the hole in the wall and the door but the windows to the barracks and the war room - will require the mobility, since you only have two worg riders unless you beefed the castle. And if the PCs bust out of the barracks, the worg riders will want to avoid melee and use the combat archery.

Alas, those wimpy small bows do pitiful damage. I'm equipping troops later in the scenario with fancy ammo, like shock arrows, just to give the poor things a fighting chance against my fighter-heavy party.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

I am actually not too concerned about the hitting power of the Mounted Archers. They have a good attack bonus, so they can hit reasonably consistently. And with the mounts, none of my players have any real chance at easily killing them except the player with the mounted combat feats.

I intend to try playing some keep away, with the archers staying well away from one another and plinking the players to death.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Monkey Boy]

The golbins bows do woeful damage (d4?). Your better off having the wargs melee. I also like the idea of crashing through the roof. Have the wargs attack trhough the doors and your golden.

 

[mmu1]

While I like the roof idea, I just wanted to point out that Manticores are not, in fact, all that strong. (by D&D standards) They have a Str of 20, standard - you might very well have a PC in the party with a higher Str than that - so unless the roof is in really bad shape, it might be a stretch (by the rules) to have one easily rip off a large chunk of it.

 

[Peni Griffin]

The whole castle is in woeful shape. One wall of the barracks and one wall of the castle have big holes in them that were never repaired after the castle fell to giants years ago, and the roof of the room the manticore lairs in is already gone. Roofs typically consist of wooden decking over beams with a cover of another material to protect the joins between the planks of the decking from leaks. Clay or slate tiles or wooden shingles would be the most appropriate roofing materials for a castle. Modern shingle roofs are assumed to have a lifespan of 20 or 25 years, and unless he's modified the scenario considerably, the castle has been abandoned for longer than that. It shouldn't be too hard for a 20 STR Huge creature to tear a hole of sufficient size for it to fire spikes through.

How long it will take is the chief question, as it can't be done silently and the more rounds notice the PCs have the more time they'll have to bust out past the worg riders (but note that, from the vantage of the roof, Koth and the manticore will both have clear shots at them if they do) or take defensive measures against the roof attack. But there is no perfect battle plan, and this is part of the use of the distracting sounds from the tower. Since they can't actually see what's in any direction without exposing themselves to fire, the PCs should have a couple of rounds of feeling completely surrounded and overwhelmed, which is always good for that heroism-against-odds sensation that makes a good combat.

 

[klofft]

Also worth pointing out among all the ideas of Koth coming up with a strong tactical plan...he has an INT of 8...

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Koth does have a low Int. But he does have a reasonable Wisdom stat. The single smartest thing he can do is get out of there, have the Manticore shadow them from the air, and go get a raiding group and hunt down the players.

At a tactical sense, he is probably going to go for the most obvious plans, and go for the soft targets or the most direct threats, and probably end up deciding to run away when its just a bit too late and not a sure thing. And if he is caught, he will end up talking just a bit too easily.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Land Outcast]

Manticore doesn't need to be strong, just heavy

Dive, jump on the roof, resume flight.