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View Full Version : Let's look at the armies, shall we?



Jon_Dahl
2010-02-19, 03:42 AM
Here are organisations of three evil creatures, all based on CR½ creatures:



HOBGOBLIN
band (10-100 plus 50% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 20 adults and 1 leader of 4th-6th level)



ORC
band (30-100 plus 150% noncombatants plus
1 3rd-level sergeant per 10 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and
3 7th-level captains)



KOBOLD
band (10-100 plus 100% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 20 adults and 1 leader of 4th-6th level)

And now three goody-two-shoes, also CR½:


HALFLING
band (30-100 plus 100% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 20 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, 3 7th-level captains, 6-10 dogs, and 2-5 riding dogs)



DWARF
clan (30-100 plus 30% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 10 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and 3 7th-level captains)



ELF
band (30-100 plus 20% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 10 adults, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and 3 7th-level captains)

So as you can see, if we take armies of hundreds this is what happens:

Or, Elf and Dwarf draw the first place. They all have equal amount of everything, except maybe orcs win since the non-combatants could do something - possibly.

Halflings take the second place. They don't have so many sergeants, but they have extra fighting dogs.

Kobold and hobgoblin armies are the least intimidating since they have very, very little officers. Their armies would squashed by any above mentioned army. Hobgoblins and kobols have no fighting chance against halfling, not to even mention dwarves or elves.

But what about humans? How they would fit in to this since they have no given organisation?

absolmorph
2010-02-19, 03:45 AM
Wherever they damn well please.
They vary from setting to setting.

a typical hero
2010-02-19, 06:37 AM
IIRC in the books "Champions of Valor" and/or "Champions of Ruin" are army-organisation charts for several factions.

There are even different charts for a rich/big human kingdom and a small one.

I'm away from my books so I can't give you an estimidate of numbers until evening.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-02-19, 07:07 AM
Your comparison doesn't make much sense, because these are encounter numbers, not army numbers. This is what you'll find if you stumble upon a community of these creatures. A village of orcs isn't going to encounter a village of elves or dwarves all at once. Even if a given tribe was nomadic and traveling all together, they would have scouts running ahead to ensure that they would have prior warning of a potentially hostile settlement and simply avoid a confrontation. If they wanted to start trouble, they would send out a warband or squad to keep the noncombatants (children) out of harm's way. Besides, only the Halflings would stand a chance against the Kobolds or Goblins if in their lair, none of the medium-size races would fit well enough to use anything but light weapons. Kobolds are the best considering their Slight Build (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060420a), even the Halflings would have a hard time with them.

Hobgoblin:
tribe (30-300 plus 50% noncombatants plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 20 adults, 1 or 2 lieutenants of 4th or 5th level, 1 leader of 6th-8th level, 2-4 dire wolves, and 1-4 ogres or 1-2 trolls)

Gnoll (2 HD):
tribe (20-200 plus 1 3rd-level sergeant per 20 adults, 1 or 2 lieutenants of 4th or 5th level, 1 leader of 6th-8th level, and 7-12 hyenas; underground lairs also have 1-3 trolls)

Centaur (4 HD, Large size, 50 ft. land speed, composite longbow +5 ranged, 2d6+4/×3):
tribe (20-150 plus 30% noncombatants plus 10 3rd-level sergeants, 5 5th-level lieutenants, and 1 leader of 5th-9th level)

bosssmiley
2010-02-19, 07:14 AM
<trim>

But what about humans? How they would fit in to this since they have no given organisation?

See the AD&D MM (from whence 3E copypasta'ed its #Enc. figures).

Humans hang around in berserker warbands, bandit gangs, pilgrim convoys, merchant caravans, tribal hordes, pirate fleets, and/or adventuring parties. These vary in number but top out at about 30-300 plus leaders galore IIRC.

Of course, 'progress' removed encounter info for humans, coz humans are boring, mundane and unfun. :smallamused: