Need RP'ing Ideas for a 3.5 War Campaign

[theIrkin]

So I've temporarily taken the helm of my groups 3.5 Eberron campaign, and I have a lot of work put into designing the macro scale of my campaign module. The gist of it is as follows:

Breland has attacked Thrane with 2 divisions (of approximately 3k effective troops each, not counting hangers-on) of their army along the southern boarder of Thrane. Thrane was caught off guard and is initially defending with a reinforced division (3.5k) as well as 3 small boarder garrisons. Breland is hoping to take the Harrowcrowns, where a new type of psionically attuned crystals spontaneously generate. Breland's king is under the sway of conquest hungry nobles who are colluding with the former queen of Thrane.

The players are escorting a convoy led by a Breland noble who will be utilized in researching the new crystals. They are ostensibly traveling the Wroat, the capitol of Breland, but that's a plot devise to get them to Marketplace, where they will have to choose which way to go. They are so far railroaded, but there will be an assassination attempt on the noble before they arrive at Marketplace.

The major powers at play in the war are Breland, Thrane, and a warlord (haven't named him yet) who will be attempting to carve out his own power base in the middle of the conflict.

I have got a lot of combat oriented encounters sketched out, but am not sure what kind of RP/non-combat encounters to have ready. I'm a fairly fluid DM, which has its strengths (I'm good and winging encounters and going from there), and tend towards setting up in-depth combat scenarios (due to my military background).

I would love some suggestions for RP/non-combat encounters that I might throw into the path of the characters. The characters will probably be organized as a commando squad, as they're already more powerful than most low ranking noble and even some mid-ranked (they're currently level 6 and will hopefully be 8 or 9 when we're done).

Thanks,
Joe

[ikosaeder]

Here are some suggestions for non combat encounters:
The group learns from a captured messenger, that a big attack against their forces is planned. They need to decide whether to continue with their on objectives, or to relay this information to the endangered troops.

They encounter a large group of fugitives with lots of children but lack of food and basic supplies.

A group of enemy troops decide to change sides and surrender to the group (if they can be recognized as a regular military unit). This could be a trick, there could be one or two spies in that group.

The group has to fulfill some secret task and is short on supply. They could steal from enemy troops but that would have the risk of being discovered.

They find some reports in the pocket of an enemy messenger, that their own king/ ruler is a BBEG in disguise (could be true or false, depending on your campaign goal)

When the characters are within a larger group, play ten little Indians. (There is a spy among the soldiers killing one after the other.

[Emperor Tippy]

Some possibilities.

1) Environmental encounters: A storm has come through the area and taken out a critical bridge or pass and the PC's are sent to fix the problem.

2) The enemy is running a rumor campaign back in the PC's allies home city to get a skilled/important NPC military leader recalled/replaced/discredited. The PC's need to expose/resolve/fix the problem. Or the reverse with the PC's being the force doing the discrediting.

[Spuddles]

Corpses attract crows and more foul... creatures of carrion. Beware the necromancer. Behold a pale horse: and his name that sat upon him was Death. And Hell followed with him.

Bloodshed on unhallowed ground releases a greater evil.

A remote mountain garrison hasn't been heard from in weeks. When the PCs investigate, they find something terrible. Both sides are forced to fight together if they are to survive.

A tribe of monstrous humanoids are willing to serve on whichever side is willing to grant them greater autonomy.

An incredibly large influx of materiel shows up one side, or maybe a third side- a very wealthy patron has taken an interest in the conflict for reasons as of yet unknown.

Border fiefdoms, wanting to avoid the hardships of war, seek to make a clandestine arrangement with the other side.

Disciples of War and Death flock to the battlefield. The nations may seek a swift resolution to the conflict after posturing, but these belligerents yearn for the clash of steel, the din of the battlefield, for blood and iron. And they come from powerful martial traditions, supported politically and economically by transnational churches.

[Arc_knight25]

A great source book for war campaigns is Hero's of Battle.

Many different scenarios in there.

Sneaking behind enemy lines scouting out, troop strengths and weaknesses. Battlefield positioning, Sabatoging seige weapons, hindering terrain. Aiding in skirmishes, training soldiers.

All in the book. Also has interesting prestige classes and mechanics for large scale battles.

[Regitnui]

You could always have a mini-story; Like the players meet a Lyrandar heir on the road, the heir joins the caravan, but when they get to their destination, the Lyrandar heir joins up with the Stormcaller's guild and begins beating the Brelish forces back by weather alone.

[theIrkin]

oh man, you guys are awesome. sorry for not replying earlier (and thus applying a little three-o-mancy). these ideas are great!

i definitely like the use of a necromancer, i think my third party is going to take that role.

i had planned on having the king of breland being controlled somehow, but you guys have inspired me to find a way to work that into the war itself.

and the assassination of leadership at whichever camp they end in (assuming they pick a side) with ten little indians is another gem.

and as much as it smacks of railroading, if the players find a way of convincing one or both powers away from war, the war fervor will already be too great. after all, i can't have the players killing my campaign too early...