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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 6029596" data-attributes="member: 6669384">The party had a month and a half to prepare.  They spent the time harassing the approaching army, and training with their own forces.  One PC wrote some scrolls. They never even looked for potions or other consumables.  I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they presumed that all available supplies in the city were going to the main military force.They tried to recruit some help from local Elven communities almost as an afterthought, a plan that met a chilly response.  The two who went were an Asimar (Planetouched from the MM) and a Half Elf.  The Elven elder who met with them asked how long they had known that an invasion was imminent.  They admitted that it had been over a month.  He accused the Half Elf of forgetting his Elven heritage, and siding completely with the humans.  He said that he'd ask for volunteers to gather at Thermopylea, but made it clear that he would order no one.They also tried to recruit from the local Druidic community.  Similar reception for similar reasons.They timed their own arrival at Anopaea kind of close, relying purely on the scouting from the city's military to judge when to go.  As it was they had a day and a half.They did work to create some traps, but the people involved had no trap building skill or training.  While it takes more sweat than skill to prepare a rockslide type trap, skill is required to hide it, and they didn't.When they spotted the enemy advancing to a wider area below them, they waited and watched while the Persians made camp.  They took stock of what forces the enemy had at this camp, saw a Dunewinder worm (think Purple Worm, desert variety), a juvenile or young adult Dragon that appeared to be slate blue/gray in color (with rider) and a lot of human-ish troops.  Then they began to look at their resources and see what kind of trouble they could cause with a midnight raid.They took their time and argued quite a bit, and in the mean time the enemy had their Dragon and rider pull a midnight raid on their camp.  Using the Dragon's fear aura they scattered the horses and most of the troops, and then used a breath weapon to take out the command tent where the PCs were plotting their mischief.In short, they let the enemy take the initiative, and the enemy obliged.Now, regarding Bard Songs to counter-song each other:  I don't think you can actually do that.  Counter-song counters mind affecting effects that are sonic in nature, substituting the Bard's perform check for the victim's Save.  Countering another Bard's song this way presumes that the enemy wants your help, and that the enemy Bard's song gives its "victims" as Save.  As far as I know, it doesn't.So "Battle of the Bands" doesn't work too well.Now, could they have used Charm Monster to recruit some help?  Obviously the enemy did.  But the party never tried.  They never even questioned how the Persians managed to wrangle a Huge burrowing monster all the way from Persia to Greece, nor how they thought they could direct it in battle.The big danger in this tactic is obvious:  You Charm the big nasties to come and fight for your army, and then the enemy casts Dispel Magic or Break Enchantment, and suddenly the big nasty is turning on you and your troops, angry that you compelled it to risk its life for you.Historic note:  In real world battles of the period, elephants were often used as walking tanks, with archers riding in baskets or platforms on their backs.  At least that was the theory.  In practice, history shows us that which ever army had the most elephants in it was the one that lost.  Controlling them once battle was joined was almost impossible, and they'd panic and stampede.  They'd do more damage to your own troops than they did to the enemy.So if history is any teacher, Charm Monster as a recruitment strategy is questionable at best.Regarding buffing spells in general:  Remember that Dispel Magic is a common and fairly sound opening move for spellcasting opponents.</blockquote>

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