The Seven P.C.s

[Kid Jake]

Two of my favorite movies have always been The Seven Samurai because of its epic scope and intense battles and the Magnificent Seven because same thing except, you know, cowboys.

I think it'd be a blast to run a similar game where the P.C.s are tasked with helping a village defend itself from grossly superior opponents, but I'm not really sure how to fill the time leading up to the bandits with interesting opportunities without it becoming an extended training montage.

I figured I could throw in little quest hooks that could make their life easier down the road (like wiping out a den of ghouls so they won't be drawn to the village after the blood starts shedding) or gathering supplies (sure wooden spears are ok for training, but steal some real weapons from local orcs before the fighting starts) but I'm not sure where to go from there.

Anybody have ideas or tips for making a siege focused campaign? How to give it a real sense of urgency and the like?

[Shred-Bot]

First off I think this is a great choice, I always enjoy roleplaying siege type scenarios.

You could throw in a quest to convince a tribe of <whatever> that lives nearby to assist in the town's defense, have them undertake a recon mission against the invaders (and/or a tactical strike of some kind to reduce their siege capabilities or slow down their advance), find and neutralize spies or traitors within the town itself... there's a lot of good stuff you can do. You can even have some otherwise unrelated villains kidnap someone important to a party member. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0337.html)

Actually, Red Hand of Doom has a lot of stuff like this. (Also it is a great campaign in general, you may have noticed several campaign diaries for it in this very forum.)

[SciChronic]

This sounds like a timed campaign, so add quests that will buy time. i.e.: the bandits need to cross a river, so you take out the bridges forcing them to find a new spot to cross. Or if this is more like a military squad, you can sneak behind enemy lines and knock out supply caravans or slip in poisoned grains to kill their horses (the bandits no longer have cavalry as a result).

and as you said, things that would increase the defense of the town. such as raising funds to hire mercenaries, setting up barricades, teaching the villagers guerrilla tactics, and how to quickly move rooftop to rooftop to prevent being followed while they plink at the invaders with bows.

Diplomacy quests to seek aid from near by towns.

the more i type the more i want it to be an invading army against a kingdom, as you could introduce politics into the game which would provide very interesting RP opportunities. You could also go much larger is scale.

[Slipperychicken]

Perhaps a generic escort mission? The elders manage to buy some needed supplies (weapons, spell components, traps), but the PCs need to help the arms merchant move his wares through bandit/crazed animal/ghost/-infested wilderness.

There might be a group of druidic nature spirits (or regular good or neutral-aligned clerics/druids) who will grant aid in exchange for taking down some insane cultists who desecrate the area. They would love to help fight the evil empire, of course, but their hands are tied dealing with the cultists.

I like the idea that the PCs can hit enemy supply lines to buy themselves a little more time, which they will want to shore up defenses, get people trained, and accomplish more side-quests. Of course, they can only buy so much time with such tactics.

Perhaps they could also make a surprise guerilla raid on the enemy camp(s) to kill some of them before the fight even starts. Of course, this is highly dangerous, but could potentially make their lives easier once the battle starts.

[Kid Jake]

Thanks for your suggestions, definitely some stuff I can use here. I like the idea of fighting for every extra day of planning/preparation they can get and launching skirmishes and ambushes before the battle starts.

Although I'd prefer to keep outside assistance to a minimum to maintain the 'back against the wall, the only reason you're still here is because you're desperate' feel of the source material.