Need creative ideas for 15 Barbarian types

[Malum]

The pc's are to barge into a small lords keep basically a mead hall with an upstairs, the hall is snowed in. Within are 15 Barbarian viking/bezerker like bad guys all eating & drinking lots of hit points and a - to attacks for being drunk is perfect. Keep in mind Party is a stout 6th level group with 5 members. Im looking for the builds of these 15 including the leader. There is no escape once combat starts as its 10' deep of snow outside. Should be a very tough fight where the pc's stand a good chance on loosing.

Any help appreciated

Malum

 

[IcyCool]

Well, lets see. According to the CR system, a single 1st-level barbarian is a CR 1. Two of those is a CR 3, four of them is CR 5, 8 of them is CR 7 and 16 of them is CR 9. CR 9-10 is a very challenging encounter for a 6th level party. So, my suggestion (since you require it to be 15 barbarians (and assuming you want them to be the barbarian class):

14 1st level Barbarians armed with an assortment of two-handed weapons (no polearms and such, stick with longspears, great axes, great swords, and great clubs).
1 3rd level Barbarian as the leader, with similar kit.

 

[darthkilmor]

If there's no escape, how did the PC's get there in the first place? cant they just leave the way they came in ?

Aside from that, with 15 enemies, probably wouldnt want them more than, one or two levels of barbarian each? maybe the leader has 4 or 5.

http://www.d20srd.org/encounterCalculator.htm

rates 14 cr 1 and 1 cr 4 as "very difficult".

<edit: what IcyCool said. >

 

[IcyCool]

http://www.d20srd.org/encounterCalculator.htm

rates 14 cr 1 and 1 cr 4 as "very difficult".

Keep in mind that, depending on the group, this encounter might also be a cakewalk. I mean, if my party came upon our foes in a wooden structure with no escape, we'd verify the no escape part, and then set it on fire. Instant barbarian-que, and free xp.

 

[frankthedm]

A tough encounter... what splat material do you allow?

4 CR 1/2 warriors living the barbaric lifestyle.

4 CR1 Actual barbarians, young men in the 15 to 20 range.
5 CR2 Barbarian 1, warrior 2, with a fair amount of life experience.

1 CR3 Barbarian 2, warrior 2, Looks like the leader, weilding a Large bastard sword [requires bastard sword feat to weild 2 handed, still suffers -2 to hit]If you don't normally allow that, then just make the sword an obvoice object of art.

1 CR 5 Barbarian 4, warrior 2 Actual leader, no nonsence combat style. If he gets the chance he is going for the unarmored casters.

 

[KarinsDad]

Well, lets see. According to the CR system, a single 1st-level barbarian is a CR 1. Two of those is a CR 3, four of them is CR 5, 8 of them is CR 7 and 16 of them is CR 9. CR 9-10 is a very challenging encounter for a 6th level party. So, my suggestion (since you require it to be 15 barbarians (and assuming you want them to be the barbarian class):

14 1st level Barbarians armed with an assortment of two-handed weapons (no polearms and such, stick with longspears, great axes, great swords, and great clubs).
1 3rd level Barbarian as the leader, with similar kit.

The CR system totally falls apart for large numbers of wimpy opponents.

A few weeks back, I ran an encounter with 47 2HD Hobgoblins, a 3rd level Adept, a 6th level Adept and a Rogue 1/Fighter 4. Although a long fight (and the 50 Hobgoblins took 4 rounds for all of them to arrive), the PCs won easily (3 7th level, 3 6th level, 1 5th level NPC cohort and 1 4th level NPC cohort) and this was with Hobgoblins grappling known spell casters.

5 6th level PCs should mop up the floor with 14 1st Barbarians and 1 3rd Barbarian.


If the OP wants a tough fight, I would up Frank's example to:

4 CR1 Barbarian 1
4 CR2 Barbarian 1, warrior 2
4 CR3 Barbarian 2, warrior 2
2 CR4 Barbarian 3, warrior 2
1 CR5 Barbarian 4, warrior 2 leader

That's 3 opponents for each of the 5 PCs with an average CR of opponent under 3. Course, it depends on the PC mix. Most PCs in my game can cast spells of some sort (we have one fighter who cannot). Spells are the great equalizer, so if the PCs include 3 or more spell casting capable characters, then this should be a tough but not overwhelming fight. With fewer spell casters or with some inexperienced players, the CR should probably be lowered.

 

[Owen K.C. Stephens]

Even if the group of bad guys is barbaric, there's a good chance at least a few of them aren't members of the barbarian class. I heartily recommend at least one adept (to represent the shaman/skald/witch man) and at least one rogue (at least some people steal things in most cultures).

You'd need to determine the levels based on what you think your PCs can handle. If you want to up the danger a bit, but don't want to increase foe's hit points, consider making one or two of the war-leaders marshals (or at least having one level of marshal -- miniatures handbook). With that many foes, even a minor aura can be a big boost.

I suspect the best match is going to be a single foe of 4th or so level,
a few of 2nd or 3rd, and the rest 1st, but a lot depends on your group. A wizard with a wand of fireballs can make mincemeat out of low-level foes, which a group with no high-damage melee fighter may get overwhelmed.