How to transport an army of ogres discretely?

[Brendanicus]

Ok, so I'm going to be running my first non-module campaign next semester, but I need help figuring out some logistics.

The campaign is set on a large, semi-mountainous island nation. The BBEG is a Beholder who has secretly taken over the kingdom, having charmed the queen into being its puppet ruler.

The mind-controlled queen has been steadily raising taxes ever since the Beholder showed up, but it's gotten to the point where rebellion seems imminent. However, the Beholder has prepared for this eventuality, and is playing its trump-card: Calling in the forces of an allied Oni warlord and her ogre clan army from their home on the neighboring swamp continent. The Ogres will serve as the enforcers of the new order, as the island nation's pre-existing army is not strong or willing enough for the role.

Only problem is: How does one transport a large number of ogres over a channel? Having the navy do it seems rather unlikely, as they probably would refuse to carry out the mission that involves calling in an army of ogres to act as the new military. If the ogres already had enough boats to invade the island, they would have done so years ago.

Any suggestions?

EDIT: I'm just going to modify Shining Wrath's suggestion. Once protests start breaking out, the largest galleon in the navy will "mysteriously" shipwreck on the swamp continent. A week later, the galleon returns, crewed by select human loyalists, ogres, and the Oni. Repeat trips shall be made to acquire more ogres thereafter.

[Shining Wrath]

Given the resources of a kingdom and the cunning of a beholder?
One ship, crewed by loyalists. And enough bags of holding to hold 2x the planned number of ogres comfortably. Enough crew to ensure that every bag of holding is opened at least once every 3 minutes (AFB, but there are I think rules on how long the air in a Bag lasts).

The oni will probably want to remain unbagged along with his personal guard. That's fine. They can watch over the bags and help ensure every bag is opened in a timely manner.

If that doesn't work?

Logs. Have the ogres grab onto logs and start kicking their feet (I believe ogres are smart enough to do that much). Get some druid to cast weather magic so the prevailing winds will help the ogres cross the channel.

[Easy_Lee]

Using a bag of holding and a pair of catapults...I stayed up too late last night.

[Draken]

Beholders and Oni are both exceptionally magical creatures. You could have the two of them have worked together to setup a Teleportation Circle (it is a 5th level spell, well within the limits of both creatures if not within their default abilities) to move in the ogre army.

[Finieous]

If the ogres already had enough boats to invade the island, they would have done so years ago.


I don't understand this part. Maybe they didn't have enough boats and they're building them now. Maybe lumber is in short supply in the swamp, so they first had to wrap up their war with the forest elves and begin exploiting their resources. When the Ogre Armada is ready, they'll invade. Or maybe they had the ships but didn't invade because the oni hadn't yet made the alliance with the beholder, who hadn't yet implemented the conspiracy. I mean, it has to be a lot easier to invade a nation with a charmed queen being taxed to ruin and on the verge of rebellion as opposed to one that is strong, prosperous and relatively unified.

In short, I would look for good in-world reasons to support the nature and timing of your events, rather than putting an ogre army in bags of holding.

[Brendanicus]

In short, I would look for good in-world reasons to support the nature and timing of your events, rather than putting an ogre army in bags of holding.I already did. The only reason that an ogre army can be mustered in the first place is because the Oni united them all. It's just also safe to assume that this isn't the first time that a powerful leader has united them, only for the tribes to separate once said leader falls.

EDIT: Now that you mention it, there isn't THAT much motivation for the Oni to maintain her alliance with the Beholder, as opposed to betraying and taking the kingdom for her own. I might just set her up as the BBEG instead.

The Oni can be the one to have charmed the queen into weakness from behind the scenes. Once the kingdom is in ruins, an army of ogres just happens to show up on the big Elven galleon (Shipwrecked and astolen by the ogre's elf naeighbors). That's much more concise and makes for a better villain. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Draken]

I already did. The only reason that an ogre army can be mustered in the first place is because the Oni united them all. It's just also safe to assume that this isn't the first time that a powerful leader has united them, only for the tribes to separate once said leader falls.

EDIT: Now that you mention it, there isn't THAT much motivation for the Oni to maintain her alliance with the Beholder, as opposed to betraying and taking the kingdom for her own. I might just set her up as the BBEG instead.

The Oni can be the one to have charmed the queen into weakness from behind the scenes. Once the kingdom is in ruins, an army of ogres just happens to show up on the big, new galleon (built by the kingdom's shipwrights). That's much more concise and makes for a better villain. Thanks for the suggestion.

If you are going to replace the beholder with an oni, you might as well cut the middleman of the Charmed Queen and just have the oni Shapechange into her.

[Brendanicus]

If you are going to replace the beholder with an oni, you might as well cut the middleman of the Charmed Queen and just have the oni Shapechange into her.

Right. I forgot they can do that.

[VoxRationis]

One at a time, obviously. Ogres hate it when you transport them in infinitesimal pieces.

[Slipperychicken]

Only problem is: How does one transport a large number of ogres over a channel? Having the navy do it seems rather unlikely, as they probably would refuse to carry out the mission that involves calling in an army of ogres to act as the new military. If the ogres already had enough boats to invade the island, they would have done so years ago.


Maybe you can use teleportation circles? Permanent ones would be ideal, but you could make do casting it a bunch of times over the course of a month or so. If the BBEG has had a year or more to prepare, he can have established a pair of permanent teleportation circles between the island kingdom and somewhere convenient for the ogres to access.

[MustacheFart]

What about making that the first part of the campaign and have your players do it.

Have someone prominent (loyal to or controlled by the beholder) inform them that a neighboring swamp continent has become plagued by a ravenous disease. It threatens to kill all of the ogres and their leaders that live there.

Then if they show little concern, tell them that despite what they may have heard the ogres aren't evil. Tell them that a treaty has been struck with their leader. In exchange for a place to live the ogres will act as laborers to greatly boost the economy (which would be needed if taxes are high). If pushed on the issue state that some of the ogres will also be helping keep peace in the kingdom that is currently under a lot of stress.

Hell you could even have a supposed member of the new "resistance" hire them to set up a rescue for the ogres. They "save" the ogres and the ogres will act as the brute for the resistance needs to take back the kingdom.

In reality the party will be ushering in their own enemy army. It would make for a great plot I think.

Just an idea.

[Brendanicus]

What about making that the first part of the campaign and have your players do it.

Have someone prominent (loyal to or controlled by the beholder) inform them that a neighboring swamp continent has become plagued by a ravenous disease. It threatens to kill all of the ogres and their leaders that live there.

Then if they show little concern, tell them that despite what they may have heard the ogres aren't evil. Tell them that a treaty has been struck with their leader. In exchange for a place to live the ogres will act as laborers to greatly boost the economy (which would be needed if taxes are high). If pushed on the issue state that some of the ogres will also be helping keep peace in the kingdom that is currently under a lot of stress.

Hell you could even have a supposed member of the new "resistance" hire them to set up a rescue for the ogres. They "save" the ogres and the ogres will act as the brute for the resistance needs to take back the kingdom.

In reality the party will be ushering in their own enemy army. It would make for a great plot I think.

Just an idea.Brilliant! I like this idea a lot, and I thought of how to add to it:

Before the party was hired, the country's taxation was being justified by falsified reports of Merrow attacking naval vessels. Therefore, while he party goes to get the ogres, the navy is busy building a blockade against nothing on the other side of the island.

Ergo, the party's hiring is justified due to lack of soldiers to send on the ship. In reality, the party is hired so they can be scapegoats should something go wrong.

After the party transports the ogres to the mainland, the quest-giving noble will quickly escort them to another ship, under the pretense that the party will be paid double if they go with him to hunt down Merrow for a week.

One encounterless in-game week later, there are no Merrow to be found. It will be at that point that the noble will be Messaged to kill the party. The party finds out that they've been had, they will sail the ship back to the country, only to discover tthat he ogres have taken over, and that there is a resistance in place.

Therefore, Team Evil consists of:

The Beholder
The Charmed Queen
The Oni Chief
The Quest-Giving Spy Noble- Possible head assassin or goon squad chief should he survive long enough.
The Beholder's Necromancer
A Scared Noble for later in the campaign.

Lesser antagonists:

Ogres, of course
Human loyalists (Some of the highest-ranking military officials and elite troops are still loyal to the crown. Elite but few in number. Most of the military is anti-ogre. Includes Wizards and Battlemaster Fighters.)
Human pirates/thugs (The resistance controlled-areas still have a crime problem. Also, the Scared Noble's area has a lot of these).
Goblins/Their animal minions (Goblins are an ethnic minority who populate the archipelago to the south. They've long had problems with the humans, and the Beholder is recruiting goblins heavily. Those who serve gain tax deductions. Unlike normal goblins, who keepWorgs around, these tropical goblins get giant boar mounts. Stil get regular giant rat pets.)
Ogre Zombies (The Necromancer, who lives in the queen's castle, animates dead Ogres to use as elite cannon fodder of sorts to defend the castle. They get full-plate.)
The inevitable Evil Adventuring Party/Assassins hired to kill the players.
Random Monsters (Seeing as the kingdom has been thrown into anarchy, nobody is hunting or stopping monsters anymore).

[MustacheFart]

Glad you like the idea. It's a principle I've employed on a few different occasions: why go to such great lengths on your own to build a plot when you have free labor in the party lol! The end result is the same but it's fun for the DM, makes the party a part of the plot, and when the great reveal happens, it really sucks in the party into the story.

[Inevitability]

Maybe the beholder created a tunnel?

A beholder can fire three eye rays per six seconds. No more than one of those can be a disintegrate, however. All things considered, one should expect about one disintegration ray every twenty seconds. A single ray destroys a 10 ft. cube of matter.

Let's assume the island is sixty miles away from the coast (twice the distance of the channel tunnel). That means the beholder needs 31,680 disintegration rays to create a path. Assuming it is active twelve hours a day, it can dig the tunnel in a little over two weeks. Not too hard.

If the beholder enlarges the tunnel to allow the ogres to march two-by-two while also allowing for taller creatures to come through, he only needs two months.

If he wants to, he can enlarge the tunnel even more. Given a year, the tunnel could be big enough to allow for the tarrasque itself to crawl through.

It's a fairly simple solution for a being that has plenty of time.

[Easy_Lee]

Regarding the tunnel solution, FR has a massive series of interconnected underground caves called The Underdark running beneath the world's surface. Both it and teleportation circles would be lore-friendly ways to move an evil army in secret. Indeed, the Underdark is used in this way in several of RA Salvatore's novels, just to name one author.

[VoxRationis]

Wouldn't that be a logistical nightmare, running an army through a continent-sized labyrinth filled with monsters hostile to everyone? Also, would a labyrinthine cave network really run under the ocean without at least one hole opening up between the two?

[Shining Wrath]

Wouldn't that be a logistical nightmare, running an army through a continent-sized labyrinth filled with monsters hostile to everyone? Also, would a labyrinthine cave network really run under the ocean without at least one hole opening up between the two?

The Underdark isn't really part of the world - there are portals between the Prime Material and the Underdark, but you can't just start digging at any point and eventually reach the Underdark. It's magic, like the Feywild.

[Easy_Lee]

Wouldn't that be a logistical nightmare, running an army through a continent-sized labyrinth filled with monsters hostile to everyone? Also, would a labyrinthine cave network really run under the ocean without at least one hole opening up between the two?

To the former question, probably so though this could be hand waved with a solid chain of command (drow officers, for example). To the latter, I don't think I have any sources on that one. I assumed that the Underdark runs that deep, since it's deeper than at least some parts of the ocean as depicted in the novels. Why doesn't it fill with water over time? ICP said it best: magic everywhere in this...beach.

[VoxRationis]

The Underdark isn't really part of the world - there are portals between the Prime Material and the Underdark, but you can't just start digging at any point and eventually reach the Underdark. It's magic, like the Feywild.

Really? I've never heard that one before. So all those dwarf halls that get attacked from underground are just really unlucky, eh?

[Safety Sword]

A simple phrase keyed portal would do the trick.

Even better if the PCs have used a portal that connects to the place the ogres come in, just so they know there's a portal there ;)

[Hawkstar]

EDIT: Now that you mention it, there isn't THAT much motivation for the Oni to maintain her alliance with the Beholder, as opposed to betraying and taking the kingdom for her own. I might just set her up as the BBEG instead.Eh... I dunno. "I don't want to be just another topiary decoration in the beholder's lair" is pretty strong motivation. Oni are CR 7. Beholders are CR 13.

[1Forge]

You could say that orc shamans and seers knew of the beholder and its plans and prepared the boats and also prepared forces enough to take over by force.

[Envyus]

I would still keep the Oni around as I find them more interesting then just some Ogre Chief. Added on Oni are stated to have a habit of working for powerful monsters in exchange for power. They are also very smart so working for the Beholder does not seem like a bad idea for it, hell it may be a longtime servant of the Beholder who is actually loyal to it and united the Ogre's under the Beholders orders.

[Inevitability]

Regarding the tunnel solution, FR has a massive series of interconnected underground caves called The Underdark running beneath the world's surface. Both it and teleportation circles would be lore-friendly ways to move an evil army in secret. Indeed, the Underdark is used in this way in several of RA Salvatore's novels, just to name one author.

I thought about that before, but figured out that the multitude of ways to die, get lost, or become a psionic horror's slave down there would be enough to avoid that place.

[Easy_Lee]

I thought about that before, but figured out that the multitude of ways to die, get lost, or become a psionic horror's slave down there would be enough to avoid that place.

For a goodly creature with no darkvision, sure. But goblins, orcs, ogres, orgillons, bugbears, and so on use it pretty often in the lore.

[Inevitability]

For a goodly creature with no darkvision, sure. But goblins, orcs, ogres, orgillons, bugbears, and so on use it pretty often in the lore.

Fair enough. Still, it is easier to walk through a straight tunnel with perfectly smooth walls and floors than a series of twisted caves and tunnels that may or may not have been destroyed because a purple worm buried through last week. Also, if you want to keep your invasion a surprise, the underdark may not be the best idea. What if a drow city decides they don't like the idea of one giant nation and secretly send a messenger to warn the islanders?