jeckyllgeek
First Post
Last session the party took refuge in a walled city and was asked to help defend the city against an oncoming wave of zombies. I was wondering how to run the next session with the oncoming zombie horde.
D&D 5E Running a zombie seige
- Thread starter jeckyllgeek
- Start date
I'd setup a few defense areas. The party will be assigned to one with some guards, but after a while, you can have a runner ask them to help an area that's overrun.
The first area should be easy for the party, since they can drop ranged attacks (especially spells) before anyone is in danger. If you use the CR system, I'd make this a Deadly Encounter, since fortifications and range should allow the party to handle this pretty easily. I'd have the runner show up when less than a quarter of the zombies remain, so that they'll feel comfortable letting the guards handle it.
The second area should be much harder, since it should have the zombies inside the fortifications. I'd probably set this one up as a Hard Encounter with most of the guards dead (and possibly reanimated, depending on what created the horde
). If the party seems okay after holding this one off, you can have another runner arrive with news of another fallen area. If the party is having trouble, you can have reinforcements arrive instead.
Given the fact that you're using zombies, expect these to be long encounters, as zombies don't die easy. Very likely, this might take up your entire session...
The first area should be easy for the party, since they can drop ranged attacks (especially spells) before anyone is in danger. If you use the CR system, I'd make this a Deadly Encounter, since fortifications and range should allow the party to handle this pretty easily. I'd have the runner show up when less than a quarter of the zombies remain, so that they'll feel comfortable letting the guards handle it.
The second area should be much harder, since it should have the zombies inside the fortifications. I'd probably set this one up as a Hard Encounter with most of the guards dead (and possibly reanimated, depending on what created the horde
). If the party seems okay after holding this one off, you can have another runner arrive with news of another fallen area. If the party is having trouble, you can have reinforcements arrive instead.Given the fact that you're using zombies, expect these to be long encounters, as zombies don't die easy. Very likely, this might take up your entire session...
jeckyllgeek
First Post
One thing, to mix things up I was thinking of having some Nutured ones of Yurtus (from the volo's) guide to be mixed in with the zombies and reskinned as undead. That should speed things up a bit.
Helldritch
Hero
Only zombies? I would use the undead horde instead. Since the majority of the horde would be composed of zombies it would fit the theme and it would add variety.
As above but...
Depending on the level of your party, I would not go for deadly encounters but for a series of average to hard waves of undead. Ogres zombies with standard zombies and a few skeletons per wave. Go easy at first then add in the big beholder zombie that disentegrate part of the wall. Now the players must face them in hand to hand. They must manage their resources and be careful of surprises (a few wights coming for the party?). When the party have done about 6 to 8 waves (with one or two minutes between waves) they are asked (as above) for help in an area that was overran by a particularly strong wave. (Maybe a hard to deadly).
You can rinse and repeat as much as you want. I would add an automatic divine intervention if a cleric asks for one. It would could be the equivalent of a short rest for all players.
Naturaly, the attack should occur at night.
As above but...
Depending on the level of your party, I would not go for deadly encounters but for a series of average to hard waves of undead. Ogres zombies with standard zombies and a few skeletons per wave. Go easy at first then add in the big beholder zombie that disentegrate part of the wall. Now the players must face them in hand to hand. They must manage their resources and be careful of surprises (a few wights coming for the party?). When the party have done about 6 to 8 waves (with one or two minutes between waves) they are asked (as above) for help in an area that was overran by a particularly strong wave. (Maybe a hard to deadly).
You can rinse and repeat as much as you want. I would add an automatic divine intervention if a cleric asks for one. It would could be the equivalent of a short rest for all players.
Naturaly, the attack should occur at night.
aco175
Legend
I ran something like this a few weeks ago when the party was 8th level and the first half went ok. They ended leading a caravan in that was stuck out in the cold being attacked and needing rescuing. When they returned to the keep, it was already under attack. They flanked the main gates and help clear that area allowing the caravan to enter before being locked again. Another wave came at them there but they were behind walls and it was easy, even with ghouls climbing up the corner tower. They were called over to a section that had fallen and needed to help the guards and defend the breech so it could be patched again. The second wave left them outside after the guards patched themselves in.
Up until now things were mostly balanced mid to hard encounters, even though they were mostly skeletons and zombies. I used 12-20 monsters in each wave mixed with ogre zombies and ghouls. The fight was mostly over by this point but the cleric cast spirit guardians that damages 3d8 points for each undead that enters the 15ft circle around the cleric. After that, I hand-waved the party walking around the fort for 10 minutes killing everything that was left and allowed them to be celebrated as heroes.
Up until now things were mostly balanced mid to hard encounters, even though they were mostly skeletons and zombies. I used 12-20 monsters in each wave mixed with ogre zombies and ghouls. The fight was mostly over by this point but the cleric cast spirit guardians that damages 3d8 points for each undead that enters the 15ft circle around the cleric. After that, I hand-waved the party walking around the fort for 10 minutes killing everything that was left and allowed them to be celebrated as heroes.
It seems right for the first wave(s) to be coming from outside the walls and generally handled with ranged attacks/power/spells/etc.
Perhaps even let the PCs organize some defenses -- give them a fixed set of bows and magical attacks to distribute to townsfolk and then the PCs can just supervise the defense against first couple waves and jump in if/when they spot a more powerful attacker.
Then the arrows/spells/etc. soon run out and the waves just keep on coming... Suddenly instead of supervising the PCs have to plug large gaps in the defenses.
But it seems to me that it should progress fairly quickly to actual people being in danger. That is, not just wave after wave of "us killing the horde", but the PCs should have to rescue people. Either overconfident or overly self-sacrificing villagers who sally outside the walls and get cut off, or townsfolk inside the walls when the walls are penetrated. Whoever the PCs rescue might be added to their side to blast some additional low-level attackers on the next round, or may just disappear to safety, but I think the element of lives being in danger makes it much more compelling than just endless hack'n'slash. Especially if the dead ones are going to be raised to fight against the town.
Another option is for traitors inside the town to open a tunnel, so just as the PCs are celebrating crushing the Nth wave from the comfort of the wall, there's a zombie breakout inside the town they have to rush to control. It may even be that the breakout is organized to take out the town's leadership, so once the PCs plug the tunnel, they find that everyone's looking to them for EVERYTHING and they can't simultaneously go back to the walls to fight and keep the entire place from falling to pieces.
Hey, this is starting to sound like fun...
Perhaps even let the PCs organize some defenses -- give them a fixed set of bows and magical attacks to distribute to townsfolk and then the PCs can just supervise the defense against first couple waves and jump in if/when they spot a more powerful attacker.
Then the arrows/spells/etc. soon run out and the waves just keep on coming... Suddenly instead of supervising the PCs have to plug large gaps in the defenses.
But it seems to me that it should progress fairly quickly to actual people being in danger. That is, not just wave after wave of "us killing the horde", but the PCs should have to rescue people. Either overconfident or overly self-sacrificing villagers who sally outside the walls and get cut off, or townsfolk inside the walls when the walls are penetrated. Whoever the PCs rescue might be added to their side to blast some additional low-level attackers on the next round, or may just disappear to safety, but I think the element of lives being in danger makes it much more compelling than just endless hack'n'slash. Especially if the dead ones are going to be raised to fight against the town.
Another option is for traitors inside the town to open a tunnel, so just as the PCs are celebrating crushing the Nth wave from the comfort of the wall, there's a zombie breakout inside the town they have to rush to control. It may even be that the breakout is organized to take out the town's leadership, so once the PCs plug the tunnel, they find that everyone's looking to them for EVERYTHING and they can't simultaneously go back to the walls to fight and keep the entire place from falling to pieces.
Hey, this is starting to sound like fun...
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
I would agree with adding some variety in there with different undead. Were I planning such an adventure, I'd come up with some features of the town, with things they can take advantage of. I'd also add a list of complications that can occur, like some folks going mad inside the city, fire breaking out, one of the walls possibly being breached, and for the end some sort of boss battle.
Try to paint a good picture of the mayhem and badness going on so that the players don't feel like they are just in a pod fighting the zombies near them.
"As you fight, you catch a glimpse of a section of wall 30 yards away. Zombies appear to have enough bodies stacked outside that they are climbing up. One archer gets pulled over the side. Suddenly, the bald black smith leads a counter charge. You lose sight of the action as the zombies close in on you."
"As you fight, you catch a glimpse of a section of wall 30 yards away. Zombies appear to have enough bodies stacked outside that they are climbing up. One archer gets pulled over the side. Suddenly, the bald black smith leads a counter charge. You lose sight of the action as the zombies close in on you."
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