D&D 5E Two vs. thousands

[merwins]

High level magic has no real counter from low level mooks. And with thousands orcs they likely wouldn't have any high level caster (It really isn't a large group when compared to say even a small town wouldn't have a chance of a high level wizard).

Agreed on all counts. I'm trying to be "economical" in my approach in NPC involvement. And "thousands" is not necessarily just 2000 orcs. I'm imagining ogres and ogre-mages tagging along, and overall, the orcs have access to higher level magics and allies.

There's a *ton* of great ideas so far. Thank you all, and more are welcome. I was sorta stuck in the beginning because I wanted to experiment with a conjurer, and I was thinking about a barbarian as a noise-maker while the PCs did the "heavy lifting" of stealth and prisoner rescue. But, as has been pointed out, there are many other viable options, including several for direct solutions to the problem.

 

[Otterscrubber]

It really depends on the terrain surely. Is it an open plain with the orcs between the PCs and hostages or are the options? Without more details on the setup it seems hard to say?

Agreed, are they in an open plain with the hostages tied up near a big bonfire in the middle? Or are they in a castle the orcs overran? If the goal is just to get the hostages, I'd think that some illusions, etherealness and teleport would help them get in, get the hostages and get out quickly. If it's a group out in the open then yeah, as one other poster mentioned, Meteor Swarm is gonna take a lot of wind out of their sails with a quickness.

But if they must fight a horde of orcs as part of the conditions.....may i say a fiend warlock with spell sniper, decent armor skills and shillelagh would do well. Every time the warlock drops a low level orc, gets 18+Cha temp hp and some battle field spells like wall of fire wouldn't hurt either. Fantastic against lots of low level mobs, but less effective against larger foes with more HP. Mass suggestions on larger enemies, hopefully with crappy Will saves might help even the odds a bit. Do these orcs have any cave trolls?

Reminds me of on of my favorite adventures in a 4e campaign, basically had to kill 1000 zombies minions (1 hp each) that were attacking an abandoned pirate town we had discovered. Was fun using the buildings for cover and slowly over the course of a few hours taking them all out. Group was about lvl 8 i think. Very memorable game session. Hope you have as much fun in yours!

 

[Oofta]

Just FYI, this wouldn't work without a Simulacrum.

Spells with casting times of more than 1 Action (Teleportation Circle) require Concentration to cast during that time, which would drop the Wall of Force. Better off using Demiplane or Mords Mag Mansion then work from there.

Do you have a reference for that? I don't remember seeing it anywhere and we've never enforced that as a rule.

 

[thethain]

Do you have a reference for that? I don't remember seeing it anywhere and we've never enforced that as a rule.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/spellcasting#CastingTime

Longer Casting Times
Certain spells (including spells cast as rituals) require more time to cast: minutes or even hours. When you cast a spell with a casting time longer than a single action or reaction, you must spend your action each turn casting the spell, and you must maintain your concentration while you do so. If your concentration is broken, the spell fails, but you don't expend a spell slot. If you want to try casting the spell again, you must start over.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

[video=youtube;5zDM8XakVpU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zDM8XakVpU[/video]

I'll have Conan. 'All that matters is that two stood against many...'

Although this was pretty good evidence of Conans poor math skills.

There were actually three of them at that battle.

Dang, I was going to post this.

And the "wizard" didn't really count. His magic was crap.

 

[Oofta]

https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/spellcasting#CastingTime

Thanks!

 

[Derren]

Thanks!

That only changes that instead of Teleportation Circle you use Demiplane.

 

[Flamestrike]

Dang, I was going to post this.

And the "wizard" didn't really count. His magic was crap.

He cast raise dead. That wasnt a bad effort for a a wizard.

 

[Oofta]

I think the remaining big question is - what is the goal? Set up a scenario where a pair of spellcasters infiltrate an orc encampment? Done, several good ideas.

But what if the orcs were smart enough to see this coming and cast Hallow with Extradimensional Interference?

Well, now we have a different question. Getting to the captives and getting back out is going to be more difficult - at the very least you're going to have to get outside the influence of the Hallow to teleport/dimensional travel out.

So I'd say that the wizard/cleric helping out cause a distraction while the PCs infiltrate the camp. I'd probably do something silly like use an illusion to create a giant head of Grummsh to berate his followers while a control weather spell causes heavy storms/hail showing the wrath of the orchish god. Maybe a meteor storm, wall of fire on the edges of the encampment. The goal being not necessarily kill all orcs (although that doesn't hurt) but to cause as much chaos and distraction as possible.

The PCs then infiltrate the camp ... there are many, many possibilities there, not knowing the party or what they have access to, not sure what the best option would be. But the point would be that the PCs aren't just sitting idly by while the NPCs do all the work. If they have access to invisibility potions or hats of disguise and then some portable holes (or any number of extra-dimensional spaces) to get the captives out.

I would try to give the PCs tools, but let them figure out the how.

Because you can always just say "Elminister saves the day", but that can be kind of boring.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

He cast raise dead. That wasnt a bad effort for a a wizard.

True. But he should have picked up fireball along the way.