[Urbis] Stopping Adventurers and other Public Menaces

[Jürgen Hubert]

Here is something I'm currently working on for Urbis: An elite unit of guardsmen who are trained to take down especially tough enemies - monsters and high-level characters:


Special Tactical Branch

The local Special Tactical Branch is called into action when some problem breaks out into the open. Their mission is to stop the threat as fast as possible, with minimum damage to innocent bystanders and the property of citizens. They constantly train to act and think as a unit, and their superior tactics often enables them to take down foes who are individually much more powerful than they are.

Lineman

The rank and file of the Special Tactical Branch, the job of the linemen is to both the secure the area surrounding the threat and to pin down foes with their overwhelming numbers and their reach weapons. If they encounter an especially dangerous foe, enough linemen will use the Aid Another action to defend their comrades or to make their enemy easier to hit (which is often followed up with a trip attack). They are trained to act in concert to such a degree that they have little problem in bringing down all but the most powerful opponents.
Linemen are usually deployed in squads of ten men. These will be split up into two half-squads of five linemen each if the situation requires.

Human Ftr 4; CR 4; Medium humanoid; HD 4d10+8; hp 34; Init +1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 17 (+1 Dex, +6 breastplate +1), touch 11, flat-footed 16; Base Atk +4; Grp +7; Atk +9 melee (2d4+7/x3, guisarme) or +7 melee (1d8+3/19-20, longsword); Full Atk +9 melee (2d4+7/x3, guisarme) or +7 melee (1d8+3/19-20, longsword);; SA trip attack; SQ -; AL LN; SV Fort +6 (+8), Ref +2 (+4), Will +2 (+4); Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
Skills and Feats: Climb +1, Heal +2, Intimidate +6, Jump +0, Listen +2, Spot +4; Dodge, Mobility, Improved Sunder, Run, Weapon Focus (guisarme), Weapon Specialization (guisarme).
Possessions: +1 breastplate (bloodstone bond with lineman), one-shot cloak of protection +1, +1 guisarme (bloodstone bond with all lineman in the same squad), longsword, potion of cure moderate wounds.

Notes: "Bloodstone bond" is essentially a protection against theft - people who aren't bound to the item cannot use its enchantments. "One-shot" means that the item will only work once and then cease to work. For more details on both, look here.


So, how do you think would these guys fare against a typical mid-to-high level fighter? Or some of the tougher monsters? Can you make suggestions for optimizing them further for such encounters, without altering level, basic attribute values (I've used the "Standard Array), or approximate equipment value? (Their equipment costs about 3400 gp without the bloodstone bond - a bit more than the "standard equipment value for NPCs" of 3100 gp, but it would probably be worth it for the city...)?

And do you have any other suggestions to make for such a unit? Just think of your typical mid-to-high-level party of adventurers - what would such a unit have to look like to throughly squash them?

 

[the Jester]

Improved Disarm?

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Improved Disarm?

That would require Int 13 and Combat Expertise - and bumbing Int to 13 would severly hamper the other attributes, in my opinion.

What would you suggest for attributes and feats? You've got the Standard Distribution (15,14,13,12,10,8 and +1 for one attribute thanks to the 4th level) and six feats to play with (three of which must be Fighter feats)...

 

[Ryltar]

Hmm. Seriously? If you want them to go up against PCs, just roll up their stats as you would do with the player's . They can still be generic watchmen in that they use one shared set of stats, but they shouldn't be far behind the PCs power level, or you will have to use 15 watchmen per PC at mid to higher levels.

You might consider outfitting them with nets (very nice against wizards and the like); also, go for Disarm or Sunder rather than Trip - there's only so much you can do with it .

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Hmm. Seriously? If you want them to go up against PCs, just roll up their stats as you would do with the player's .

I really want to stick to the standard array for aesthetic reasons - they form a "base line" of attributes for NPCs with PC classes, and the power of monsters and other NPCs is measured against these attributes.

Also note that I am not designing them for my own campaign - I am designing them for a setting I eventually want to publish, and I hope these NPC stats will be one of its selling points. Thus I don't want to be too arbitrary with them...

They can still be generic watchmen in that they use one shared set of stats, but they shouldn't be far behind the PCs power level, or you will have to use 15 watchmen per PC at mid to higher levels.

I really ought to try out a "test combat" against more powerful PC-types...

You might consider outfitting them with nets (very nice against wizards and the like); also, go for Disarm or Sunder rather than Trip - there's only so much you can do with it .

There are more specialized members of such units who are trained for taking out wizards, who I will detail later. Monks are really nice for this...

 

[Ace]

Here is something I'm currently working on for Urbis: An elite unit of guardsmen who are trained to take down especially tough enemies - monsters and high-level characters:


Special Tactical Branch

The local Special Tactical Branch is called into action when some problem breaks out into the open. Their mission is to stop the threat as fast as possible, with minimum damage to innocent bystanders and the property of citizens. They constantly train to act and think as a unit, and their superior tactics often enables them to take down foes who are individually much more powerful than they are.

Lineman

The rank and file of the Special Tactical Branch, the job of the linemen is to both the secure the area surrounding the threat and to pin down foes with their overwhelming numbers and their reach weapons. If they encounter an especially dangerous foe, enough linemen will use the Aid Another action to defend their comrades or to make their enemy easier to hit (which is often followed up with a trip attack). They are trained to act in concert to such a degree that they have little problem in bringing down all but the most powerful opponents.
Linemen are usually deployed in squads of ten men. These will be split up into two half-squads of five linemen each if the situation requires.

Human Ftr 4; CR 4; Medium humanoid; HD 4d10+8; hp 34; Init +1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 17 (+1 Dex, +6 breastplate +1), touch 11, flat-footed 16; Base Atk +4; Grp +7; Atk +9 melee (2d4+7/x3, guisarme) or +7 melee (1d8+3/19-20, longsword); Full Atk +9 melee (2d4+7/x3, guisarme) or +7 melee (1d8+3/19-20, longsword);; SA trip attack; SQ -; AL LN; SV Fort +6 (+8), Ref +2 (+4), Will +2 (+4); Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
Skills and Feats: Climb +1, Heal +2, Intimidate +6, Jump +0, Listen +2, Spot +4; Dodge, Mobility, Improved Sunder, Run, Weapon Focus (guisarme), Weapon Specialization (guisarme).
Possessions: +1 breastplate (bloodstone bond with lineman), one-shot cloak of protection +1, +1 guisarme (bloodstone bond with all lineman in the same squad), longsword, potion of cure moderate wounds.

Notes: "Bloodstone bond" is essentially a protection against theft - people who aren't bound to the item cannot use its enchantments. "One-shot" means that the item will only work once and then cease to work. For more details on both, look here.


So, how do you think would these guys fare against a typical mid-to-high level fighter? Or some of the tougher monsters? Can you make suggestions for optimizing them further for such encounters, without altering level, basic attribute values (I've used the "Standard Array), or approximate equipment value? (Their equipment costs about 3400 gp without the bloodstone bond - a bit more than the "standard equipment value for NPCs" of 3100 gp, but it would probably be worth it for the city...)?

And do you have any other suggestions to make for such a unit? Just think of your typical mid-to-high-level party of adventurers - what would such a unit have to look like to throughly squash them?

I would recomend against the whole "bloodstone bond" think -- no loot means a real chance to irritate the players -- its like the old "disolving" drow gear -- its seems like a crock to hurt players. Not good It also grossly unbalances the treasure and loot ratios --

Also with all that sundering any GM who uses them will likely lose players -- These guys are basically anti fighter PC hose jobs -- not fun at all -- IME and YMMV anything that smack of GM hammer requires very carefull handling and the right group -- I have seen many players leave the table because of it

As far as gear I think they should have a couple of tanglefoot bags to stop escapes and hinder mobility fighters but beyond that -- hmm well I might change a feat and drop Run for Improved Buckler Defense -- that feat will allow them to have a buckler on the arm for an extra point of AC without a penalty.

Now stats wise they could stop a single high level fighter or a "fighter centric" group who aren't well equipped -- They have a fairly low AC gauranteeing they will take a hit or two every round -- heck a well equippped L10 Fighter with a Spike Chain can take all of em down with a whirlwind trip -- but they have a decent set of tactics and played cleverly they could do well

OTOH f the fighters toss a couple of necklace of fireball missiles or are more clever they will take casulties

Also they would be dead in numbers against a typical PC party -- flying invisible wizards, quick clerical healing and the like will make chopmeat out of them

Keep in mind that messing with high level types (over 8 say) is pretty risky business -- using the standard ratios there aren't that may l4 fighters in a city -- something like 80-90% of everyone is L1 Commoner. This makes recruting replacements hard even in one of the BIG cities in Urbis

In addition to the gear costs to the city these guys are pretty fragile -- 1 crit with a greataxe or greatsword will drop them and PC's can sunder too costing the city major cash

Unless there are no characters above about 10th these guys won't be used that much except against the occasional hard target up to about L18 or 9 and without a lot of magic

Also if you read the Complete Divine splatbook it mentions that regular folks won't allow themselves to be raised unless there is a lot of unfinished business -- realisticlly "being with your squaddies" is not reason enough to forgo heaven -- so these guys won't be coming back and that will color the way they act.


High level types can extract unimaginable vengence and (again IMO) evil or chaotic neutral PC frequently do and will escalate to atrocity almost immeditely

You won't have this problem with a rational group but with a rational group you won't need these guys either

I think these guys can basically handle a few fighters of up to twice there level with a bit of luck and a possible casulty or two which may be good enough for what you need

 

[VirgilCaine]

Also with all that sundering any GM who uses them will likely lose players -- These guys are basically anti fighter PC hose jobs -- not fun at all -- IME and YMMV anything that smack of GM hammer requires very carefull handling and the right group -- I have seen many players leave the table because of it

If a player goes up against one of these and complains about his weapon being sundered, I think the campaign can stand to lose them.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Also if you read the Complete Divine splatbook it mentions that regular folks won't allow themselves to be raised unless there is a lot of unfinished business -- realisticlly "being with your squaddies" is not reason enough to forgo heaven -- so these guys won't be coming back and that will color the way they act.

The "Complete Divine" book does not exist in my world.

Seriously, I'm planning to base Urbis on the Core Rule books, and nothing else - and since I want to release it as a d20 book, I also must ignore the material in "Complete Divine" (and all the other "Complete" books, for that matter.

Thanks for the other comments. I will think about them and see what else I can come up with...

 

[Storminator]

Something else you might consider: give the squad a slightly different build for a sergeant. Frex, give the sarge a Ranseur, and let the main grunts Aid Other for the Sarge using his Improved Disarm.

PS

 

[Ryltar]

I really want to stick to the standard array for aesthetic reasons - they form a "base line" of attributes for NPCs with PC classes, and the power of monsters and other NPCs is measured against these attributes.

Also note that I am not designing them for my own campaign - I am designing them for a setting I eventually want to publish, and I hope these NPC stats will be one of its selling points. Thus I don't want to be too arbitrary with them...

Yes, I am familiar with Urbis to a certain degree (read: checked out your website). In the end, it's a design decision - while I tend to eliminate the concept of NPCs from my campaigns / settings entirely, I can certainly see why you'd want to keep it, especially if you want to publish the setting which then needs to work with all the other existing d20 material. No argument there.

[But this leads to another interesting question: I wasn't aware of any german publishers save for maybe Feder & Schwert - what are your plans concerning the publishing process?]

There are more specialized members of such units who are trained for taking out wizards, who I will detail later. Monks are really nice for this...

Alright, so you are looking for anti-melee types ? Then you might up the watchmen's equipment a little. Maybe some enchanted weapons or bolts of slowing, an enervation or entanglement effect, or (if you want to keep magic levels low) enchanted with a daze spell? Anything that keeps fighters et al. from using their superior combat abilities on the poor soldiers .