So my player is making plans that may go against the group...

[Storyteller01]

He comes from games such as Warhammer, War Machine, Confrontation, etc, so tends to think on those lines. So far, he plans to create a mercenary army that will work for various chaotic factions. I think he's planning on just overwhelming my adventures with sheer numbers, but I can't be sure (not that I haven't got remedied for that ). It may also be that he attempted to create a front line combatant with a gestalt fell caller/totemist, and it isn't working.

Anyway, the campaign is more of a political adventure. The kingdom itself (of which one of the players is royalty) isn't all that stable to begin with. They've recently made contact with another empire, and negotiations are going badly. He generally doesn't join in on the story end of adventures (he wrestles sharks while others stretch diplomatic muscle), but plans to create an army to be a 'political force'. His plans don't include how he'll gain resources, how he'll maintain this army, or (most importantly) the gaming group at all.

He hasn't done anything wrong, so I can't ask him to change his plans. I can't really say that it will be effective, given how the campaign will go later on (massive battles at later levels are planned). He's not likely to change them at any rate.

What I'd like to ask you folks is, do you have any ideas as to adventures I can run that can incorporate this mind-set, or at least get it involved in the game?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I would talk to him and let him know that's not the intended flow of the game. He may believe it's more freeform than you're comfortable making it.

That said, if it's a political game, and he wants to lead mercenaries, there's a natural marriage possible there. And bad things can happen to mercenary captains in the halls of power ...

 

[Storyteller01]

I would talk to him and let him know that's not the intended flow of the game. He may believe it's more freeform than you're comfortable making it.

That said, if it's a political game, and he wants to lead mercenaries, there's a natural marriage possible there. And bad things can happen to mercenary captains in the halls of power ...

Already tried the first. He's the stubborn sort.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Then I would have everyone around him treat his force like an asset -- he's to be bribed, flattered, threatened, cajoled or even poisoned, like the Machiavellian types would do to anyone else.

Also, because he's a merc, it's always possible he'll end up on the losing side. This is especially bad news if his employer turns out to be someone other than he thought (illusions, disguises, changelings, etc.)

I'd dust off George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire and cast him as the Onion Knight or some other disposable leader of men. Fun for the whole family.

 

[Shining Dragon]

Suicide Missions for his Army are what is needed.

 

[Kurotowa]

So let him try, and see if he pulls it off or not. Don't give it to him easily, don't make it impossible from the start, just put realistic obstacles in his path. "You want to make a recruitment pitch? Okay, roll Diplomacy." "It's the end of the month, and everyone's asking for their wages." "The official asks if you have the permits to gather an armed force inside the city, as the squad of soldiers behind him stand at attention." Best case, he realises he needs the help of the other more politicaly connected PC to pull this off and becomes more of a team player. Worst case, he fails spectacularly and decides to try a different plan.

 

[painandgreed]

Between houseing, equipment and upkeep for any large military force of even low level, I dobut he'll succeed. Base troops are cheap but the prices in the core rules are for unequiped mercenaries. From there he'll have to buy all their equipment, provide them with houseing, keep them happy, deal with "owning" a large military force that will probably end up causing trouble in local civilian areas (soldiers never get into fights, rob locals, or kill people). Even if he does equip and pay for a decent sized force, the first wandering monster of substance will probably kill half his 0-level soldiers. All of this is only if his raising an army doesn't incur the wrath of those rulers who wonder why he might be raising an army. Plus, if things are going badly, then the current price of sodliers may be going up quite high as the local rulers are trying to raise their own armies.

if you don't want to mess with all that, just say there is a law agianst raising a military force without permission from the government and even if he tries to do so, nobody will join.

 

[Umbran]

If it were me, I'd go ahead and let him try. You'll have to make some decisions about how much a mercenary wants to get paid, and how many people in the area would consider joining his band. But, assuming they're around to hire, and he can find funds, there's no reason for him not to try.

Of course, if he has no business sense, and no social skills, he'll quickly get ousted as leader, and then the group will come back as his worst nemesis.

 

[joshuakanton]

I agree you should let him try and create the army, but force him to role-play in order to do it. Make the player talk, if he just wants to roll the dice apply a –10 penalty to the roll. If the player doesn’t talk, neither does the character. Conversely, if the negotiations go well, give the player a positive modifier to the social skill check. In short the army should not be a diplomacy roll and a cost in gold pieces, make him work for it.

The local political leader will know he is forming an army and will need to be reassured that the army will not threaten him.

In order to properly equip, house and feed the soldiers, the character will need someone else’s resources.

Spies could be located within the army itself and report on its activities.

A mercenary group could pledge their support to his cause, but they have a strict code about never crossing an employer.

If the character acts chaotic, there could be defections, coup attempts, or the army could just change its name and move away.

His soldiers get into a fight in town and get arrested. Along with the fines and court costs, the town sheriff is now considering banning the character and everyone in his army from the town.

All in all, the mercenary army will not take him out of politics; it will thrust him into the middle of them.

 

[helium3]

When my group discovered the leadership feat, we all played around with stuff like this for a time. There were two major problems, but neither of those necessarily means your player can't continue what he's attempting.

One is that maintaining an army is a lot of paper-work. Assuming that what the character is doing is even legal, he still needs to pay his mercs wages and buy their gear. Constantly tracking expenditures sucks up a lot of time. Still, if he's not participating in the stuff the other characters are doing then he's got the time.

The other problem is that large numbers of NPC character classes with a few PC classes sprinkled in aren't going to be able to deal with any of the types of opponents that a higher level character with the cash to raise an army is going to have to deal with. Basically, the first time he brings his "army" into combat he's going to see most of it get wiped out by a few well placed area affect spells.