a tough nut to crack

[big teej]

Steven, if you're reading this. stop. NOW. no seriously, get out of this thread. you've been warned.

-ahem-
greetings playgrounders, I am working on my adventure for tomorrow's session, and I've decided to give them a completely open scenario...

their goal is to subdue/detain or kill a single individual.

sounds easy right?

well, slight problem.

this individual is an influential character and has far greater resources than the party at hand.

The Party

all are 7th or 8th level
1 Human Cleric of Wee Jas
- 1 Bone Template Human Ranger Minion - ranged support
- 1 bone Template Half-Elf Knight Minion - bodyguard
- 1 Corpse Template Half-Orc Knight Minion - speed bump
1 Dwarf Rogue
1 wildcard (player hasn't solidifed a choice)
1 Orc Paragon/barbarian
1 Orc Barbarian
1 Halfling Bard - player expects to be absent
1 Elf? Duskblade - race may be incorrect


Allied Forces

Loron - Human Cleric - 7th level
Glax - Human Sorcerer who has focused on disease-type spells - 6th level
4 Human Barbarians - identical builds
4 Human Fighters - Identical builds
4 Human rogues - Identical builds
all of the "identicals" are level 2nd level


The Opposing Forces according to the information the party will have access too via the cult

The Templar - 8th level Knight
apprentice knight - 8th level fighter
knights herald - 8th level bard
advisor of matters magical - 8th level wizard
spiritual advisor - 8th level cleric
guide - 8th level ranger



in addition to the Templar's immediete entourage, they have 15 or so followers, mostly fighters, rogues, and rangers. ranging from 3rd - 5th level


the place
the Mayor's house, a 2 story affair that has very sturdy doors, the layout is unknown, however, there are 6, 7 man patrols wandering the grounds. there is a main entrance at the front of the house, as well as a larder entrance in the back, and a servant's entrance in the back right corner of the house.

now, the above is the information the party will have access via the cult. the following information reflects the ACTUAL statistics of the opposing forces. (this is merely for purposes of discussion, when making your plans, please act upon the information above.)

given the above information, how would you try to crack this nut open?

The Real Enemy

The Templar - 8th level
his apprentice - 8th level
knights herald - 8th level bard
advisor of matters magical - 8th level wizard
spiritual advisor - 8th level cleric
guide - 8th level ranger

the templar and Co actually have 30 followers, 10 each of 3rd, 4th, and 5th level
they consist of fighters, rogues, and wilderness/urban rangers.

in addition there are actually 8 militia patrols.

furthermore, there are roughly 15 servants wandering the house itself... doing their jobs.



and how does this information (found out during the adventure) affect your plans?

EDIT: and since I'm a moron and forgot to say.
they're trying to kill the Templar

[DarkestKnight]

First of all how is the party arriving at this goal? is this individual suspected of heresy? I ask because if the party is backed by the local constabulary then they may not become too worried if this turns into a ruckus. Also which of the enemy sortie is the target? the specifics would change whether or not we are targeting a mage or a meat-shield. Since the Templar is listed first I'll assume for now that he is the main target, but should i be wrong I'll fix as appropriate.

Onto the information given, i would play the party so that those with sneaking abilities do some quick recon in through the larder to enable an entrance that isn't in the middle of the location (use rogue allies here). I'll assume the building is a largish manor, but im not sure how big a place they are dealing with. Seeing as the party will one way or another quickly encounter others, be they servants or patrols in or around the house, I'd likely try to stay quiet but when battle starts assume the barbarian method. Break Everything. The party is heavy on the martial side, so will try to bust things quick. use barbarian and fighter allies to support against the patrols/henchmen and finish things quickly.

At this point i think the players are going to realize this is quickly turning into a gong show. but like any party with two orc barbarians they are going to go for it. Skipping ahead to the main confrontation, I think the party will likely try and target the individual then leg it. the clerics. bard if present, and duskblade will likely be prepared to use hampering abilities to either aid a retreat or to gank the target. Depending on how aware your party is, i think they will likely retreat from the other party (assuming the templars entourage is always together, and will not be encountered on an individual basis, which would be what the players would likely hope for). now depending on the alignment of the party, they might do an villain retreat (if retreating, set it on fire).

this is how I'd play a party for this scenario. however i have a few questions for you. is this party being made knowing this is their first adventure? can i assume that these are all sort of generic characters of their class, as in the cleric is just regularly cleric-y and not optimized for a certain purpose? Is this a one off gathering? will there be no lasting repercussions for these characters? Can this ranger minion assemble a small host of wee rabid beasties and set them loose in the house?

Anyways, theres my take on it. hope this helps!

[big teej]

First of all how is the party arriving at this goal? is this individual suspected of heresy? I ask because if the party is backed by the local constabulary then they may not become too worried if this turns into a ruckus. Also which of the enemy sortie is the target? the specifics would change whether or not we are targeting a mage or a meat-shield. Since the Templar is listed first I'll assume for now that he is the main target, but should i be wrong I'll fix as appropriate.

Onto the information given, i would play the party so that those with sneaking abilities do some quick recon in through the larder to enable an entrance that isn't in the middle of the location (use rogue allies here). I'll assume the building is a largish manor, but im not sure how big a place they are dealing with. Seeing as the party will one way or another quickly encounter others, be they servants or patrols in or around the house, I'd likely try to stay quiet but when battle starts assume the barbarian method. Break Everything. The party is heavy on the martial side, so will try to bust things quick. use barbarian and fighter allies to support against the patrols/henchmen and finish things quickly.

At this point i think the players are going to realize this is quickly turning into a gong show. but like any party with two orc barbarians they are going to go for it. Skipping ahead to the main confrontation, I think the party will likely try and target the individual then leg it. the clerics. bard if present, and duskblade will likely be prepared to use hampering abilities to either aid a retreat or to gank the target. Depending on how aware your party is, i think they will likely retreat from the other party (assuming the templars entourage is always together, and will not be encountered on an individual basis, which would be what the players would likely hope for). now depending on the alignment of the party, they might do an villain retreat (if retreating, set it on fire).

this is how I'd play a party for this scenario. however i have a few questions for you. is this party being made knowing this is their first adventure? can i assume that these are all sort of generic characters of their class, as in the cleric is just regularly cleric-y and not optimized for a certain purpose? Is this a one off gathering? will there be no lasting repercussions for these characters? Can this ranger minion assemble a small host of wee rabid beasties and set them loose in the house?

Anyways, theres my take on it. hope this helps!

the party's patron daemonic entity is going to assign them this "quest" before we move onto the main campaign arc of "collect the macguffins"

it's an evil party. and the Templar has been to effective by far in burning out the daemon's cultists.

-before I forget-
for the record, for the purposes of this discussion, I'm using the term "demon" loosely, in the sense that I keep forgetting to type "Fiend" instead.

I digress.

indeed, unless the party manages to draw the majority of the enemy forces away from the templar and his party, it will indeed (most likely) be a matter of time until the alarm is raised and it all comes crashing down on them.

as for your questions

this is not the party's first adventure... it is merely the first adventure in the new plot arc.

we started at level 4, the party is now a mixture of level 7 and 8 (due to a combination of re-rolls and character deaths)

it depends on who you refer to with the "generic" comment.
the party (and their opponents) are low op'd
however, Loron (the cleric) will have prepared his spells knowing that he is assisting the party in attacking the manor. so many combat and stealth spells.

Glax, the sorcerer, as mentioned, is very disease focused, and is going to have as many sickening things as possible. and fall back on evocation.

the cultists are very standard fair, the fighters and barbarians are both going to be power attackers, as these are cultists with little formal training

as for one off gathering...

sorta?
I have no pre-planned intention for them to continually interact with this cult or the templar's band.

however, I do not plan a session until the one preceding it is over.
(I.E. I won't plan next session until after tomorrow's session)

as for lasting reprecussions
yes, slaying the templar opens the gateway for the players to greater gifts from their patron. it also allows the cult to flourish and -background stuff- which may or may not crop up in the future.

the rangers are only level 2, so they don't have access to the spellpower required to unleash the fury of furry on the manor.


-hopes he didn't miss any questions-

EDIT:
as for the constabulary
they are represented by the roving militiamen

[DarkestKnight]

...unleash the fury of furry on the manor...
good sir you have no idea, how much i chuckled at that.

Having read your answers, i think there is little i would do different. i would likely try to plague the household, even with the opposing cleric, just to either put some ability damage on residents, or to drain spell slots from the cleric. other than that, i think my approach is the same. the only other tactics i could think of would include other sabotage, firebombing, framing murders on the templar, using dream magic to get the templar getting a little odd in the head, and other small things, all of which would still result in letting the barbarians do their things. When this goes down, let me know the result. i want to know how long it takes for the pc's plan to get broken sideways.

[big teej]

good sir you have no idea, how much i chuckled at that.


-bows-
I do what I can. :smallcool:


i want to know how long it takes for the pc's plan to get broken sideways.

I would imagine "as soon as it makes contact with the enemy"

but I've also had a party's plan go off without a HITCH!
well, except from a few broken crossbows and bowstrings.

then again, those were goblins... and unorganized ones at that.


anywhos,
I will most certainly update this thread with a play.... er..
round-by-round account of how this debacle plays out.

hopefully I won't be reporting my first TPK...

[Acanous]

I'd barricade the doors and windows, and set the house on fire.
Use the disease sorc to stop the constable patrols from forming a line or carting in water, and have the lv 2 numpties all help with setting the house ablaze, and calling the PCs if any barricade looks like it's about to break.

that much alchemist's fire might be rough to sneak in, but you have a lot of bodies with which to do it, and it's pretty guerunteed that the templar will be getting a little taste of hell.

Even 8th level, with the bard, cleric and wizard to help him, dude's going to lose all but a few followers and be hard pressed when he comes out the door surrounded by the party.

This DOES kill the element of surprise pretty dead, but hey, stinking cloud, Fireball, amirite?

[big teej]

I'd barricade the doors and windows, and set the house on fire.
Use the disease sorc to stop the constable patrols from forming a line or carting in water, and have the lv 2 numpties all help with setting the house ablaze, and calling the PCs if any barricade looks like it's about to break.

that much alchemist's fire might be rough to sneak in, but you have a lot of bodies with which to do it, and it's pretty guerunteed that the templar will be getting a little taste of hell.

Even 8th level, with the bard, cleric and wizard to help him, dude's going to lose all but a few followers and be hard pressed when he comes out the door surrounded by the party.

This DOES kill the element of surprise pretty dead, but hey, stinking cloud, Fireball, amirite?

You're plan certainly lacks...... sublty. :belkar: :thog:

I approve.

I'm not sure what this says about my players.... but I find an interesting dichotomy here.

my summer group (the group facing this tomorrow/today) I full expect to, sooner or later, (betting on sooner) go with the "set it it on fire" approach.

my school group (who will likely face an inverted version of this encounter) strike me as opting for the sneaky approach, and praying to all the pantheon that it doesn't come down to fisticuffs.

that said, I approve of your plan, it follows one of the golden maxims of adventuring philosophy

[big teej]

well, it's 9:30 and we're taking a food break...

they've finished bargaining with the demon and were teleported to the town where the target was.


so far.....

they have acertained the nature and purpose of their foe.

they have killed the mayor in an attempt to draw the knight out into the open to assassinate them.
(the cleric did this on their own, without consulting the party, this lead to the sorcerer stepping in to slay the mayor)
where did I go wrong?
the barbarian is now resisting arrest and we just rolled intiative.
where did I go wrong?
more to come later.
where did I go wrong?!
where did I go wrong!?
where did I go wrong!?!?

[big teej]

well... sessions over.
group is on hiatus until thanksgiving break...

the outcome was....

a debacle...

I'll try and reconstruct what happened.... but I'm still not entirely sure what exactly happened.

session started, and the bargaining began.

The Rogue bargained for
a payment plan for a + 10 sword
his 2 scythes merging into 1 uniquly powerful weapon
to be personally responsible for the death of a background person-baddie
ghost touch armor - to be advanced to ethereal later

in addition to services rendered, the rogue owed the daemon a number of souls to be specified at a later date

the cleric bargained for
"being pretty" - she traded 3 souls for a + 8 charisma bonus
"being tougher" - for services rendered, a + 2 con bonus
"be in power" - after seeking clarification, she essentially sought the sluttiest spy network ever. which would also be granted for services rendered, and a number of souls, essentially a 1:1 for her employees and clients
she also wanted to be in charge of several temples. provided her converts were damned to belong to the daemon.

anywhos, after this. the daemon essentially layed out the above quest.
and teleported them to the town.

the party made contact with Loron (the cleric) via a phrase-counterphrase

the rogue and the orc barbarian went back into the tap room to make nice.

the cleric showed up late and tried to gain entry, she failed and vocally considered kicking in the door.

after the party congregate at the tavern, the sources available were made known to them, as well as the information on the opposing forces.

also, the mayor was upstairs

cue the cleric (who was rapidly falling into the worship of slaanesh with enthusiasim) attempting to seduce the mayor, and promptly failing. failing so spectcularly in her advances that the mayor in turn left the tavern and tipped off the templar about the coming attack and whatnots.

anywho, cue the cleric, without consulting the party, attempting to MURDER the mayor.

the party is in the main room, along with the barkeep, when from upstairs they hear a scream
TREACHERY!!!

cue the constabulary being called in, as well as a few of the higher level followers of the templars.

the orc barbarian then in turn began resist arrest!

1 horrid combat later, and the cleric and the orc are under arrest.

the cleric narcs on the NPC cleric and NPC sorcerer immidietly, I'm surprised she didn't narc on the whole party.

so, cue "the plan" to assasinate the templar whilst he and his entourage burn the orc at the stake.

the plan... fails horribly.

the rogue's attempt to gank the templar in the surprise round were foiled due to moderate fortification, leading to the entire party bolting from the battle field.

the templar's guide, who was watching over the captured cleric (who was contained with antimagic manacles) turned and -ahem- "blended" her unto ribbons.

and..... the session ended, with much laughter and hilarity had by all.

[BoutsofInsanity]

This will go down in the books as the most hilarious session ive ever had. I loled myself silly.

I was the only character not mentioned, because I didnt contribute to the madness. Lol, it was fantastic.