Help Me Build An Adventure!

[JNAProductions]

So here's the start of the adventure-everyone is in their home village (or at least the village they currently call home) when a mixed monstrous force (Orcs, Ogres, other giants, maybe some chimeras or something) attack.

I want to stat out a good deal of the adventure ahead of time, so what are some of the responses I should plan for? (Note: Level 1 starting point adventure)

They get captured. It's a large invading force and this is a group of level 1 people.

The focus will be on freeing this one town, possibly to the detriment of the overall resistance.

They arrive in the mountains. Events?

They start on the road towards the capital. Events?

They enter the deep forests. Events?

Google Doc (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OM_tF2o2DKoNZrX-gR3aS_JjpurKWuVQi-n_sBRmA4M/edit?usp=sharing)

[AvatarVecna]

Are these enemies bandits and marauders, who wish to simply pillage and plunder, or are they conquerers, where enslavement and crushing resistance is the goal?

[JNAProductions]

Conquerors. The force and its leader are going to be the main goal of the adventure.

[AvatarVecna]

If they fight, and get captured, they can start learning about their captors from within, while trying to resist enough to inspire the other prisoners while not enough to get /punished/killed as an example to others.

If they're going to escape, you should have various allies in the directions they can head. The dwarves living in the northern mountains are the closest and have an emnity with these conquerers, but know their tactics (straightforward army vs army, focused on defense) isn't going to help them when they try to take a fortified position. The eastern capital could be further away, but they have a vested interest in fighting these forces. The southern elves are further than the dwarves, but closer than the capital; their magic and focus on hit-and-run tactics would be useful for fighting this enemy, but they don't wish to get involved for fear of leaving their home less defended from enemies of their own.

Returning With Help: Act One

The PCs must travel towards the nation of their choice for assistance; along the way, they encounter small bands of the same conquering force, various wild beasts and monsters, and little problems like a lack of shelter, food, and water to sustain them on their journey.

Returning With Help: Act Two

Having arrived at the nation of their choice, the PCs must convince the nation to lend aid in forcing out this menace. Once they've been convinced, the next issue is getting your new assistance to the invaders in a timely fashion without losing effectiveness; if you take the longer route, your force is stronger but so is the enemies, and the longer travel time can decrease morale unless you keep it up. The quicker route (via the McGuffin of Mass Teleportation) lets you bring even more people since there's less distance, and keeps morale from dropping along the journey, but the McGuffin has long been lost in the Labyrinth made centuries ago by a mad wizard.

Returning With Help: Act Three

At this point, the campaign is a war game; how it continues depends on which faction you chose, the forces available to both sides, and both sides morale.

[JNAProductions]

Okay, so starting invasion force:

40 Orcs
4 Orc Eyes of Gruumsh
4 Trolls
4 Orogs
4 Ogres
8 Half-Ogres
1 Oni

[Celcey]

Whoa, hold on a second there pal! You seem to be forgetting the number one rule of DMing: No plan EVER survives contact with the PCs.

In my experience, players (particularly new players) will rarely run away, but if they don't, your goal shouldn't automatically be to capture them. Say they decide to use guerrilla tactics, maybe get a few lucky shot, possibly take down the leader(s). Or they sneak in at night and slit their throats. Let them do it, and have the enemies make what would be the logical decision based on the circumstances.

[JNAProductions]

Whoa, hold on a second there pal! You seem to be forgetting the number one rule of DMing: No plan EVER survives contact with the PCs.

In my experience, players (particularly new players) will rarely run away, but if they don't, your goal shouldn't automatically be to capture them. Say they decide to use guerrilla tactics, maybe get a few lucky shot, possibly take down the leader(s). Or they sneak in at night and slit their throats. Let them do it, and have the enemies make what would be the logical decision based on the circumstances.

Which is exactly why I asked the forum. While guerrilla tactics would likely fail (there's just too many), they always might work. I'll add in another provision for that.

And as a note-the leaders are not here. The Oni is relatively high in the command chain, and the Orogs below him, but no one truly important is here.

[Celcey]

Which is exactly why I asked the forum. While guerrilla tactics would likely fail (there's just too many), they always might work. I'll add in another provision for that.

And as a note-the leaders are not here. The Oni is relatively high in the command chain, and the Orogs below him, but no one truly important is here.

Good thought. My point is though, while it's a good idea to have several ideas at the ready, it;s important to remember that literally anything might happen.

And while I agree it makes no sense for the actual leaders of the conquering army to come to some random town, isn't there a captain of some sort for this unit?

[JNAProductions]

The Oni.

Here's what I think would happen if the Oni and the Orogs were taken out-the orcs would still keep fighting (they know what to do, after all) but would be less coordinated. In addition, once the town was conquered, they'd have no more direction. Assuming the players can stop messengers from arriving, they'd eventually tear themselves apart and be easy pickings.

[JNAProductions]

I made a Google Doc for the adventure.

Here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OM_tF2o2DKoNZrX-gR3aS_JjpurKWuVQi-n_sBRmA4M/edit?usp=sharing)

[Temperjoke]

Trying to cover every possibility sounds familiar.... (http://img04.deviantart.net/e09b/i/2013/032/a/a/donnie_s_flow_chart_by_theraphael-d5thcus.jpg)

[JNAProductions]

I'd like to cover the big possibilities. I don't need to cover everything, but each cardinal direction and beating back (kinda) the invasion are all pretty likely.

[Celcey]

Another possibility is what you'll do if they escape. In your doc you've considered the possibility, but you may want to have a general idea of where they'd be sneaking too.

[JNAProductions]

Well, North, East, and South are all basically the same as from the town. It's not too far away from it, after all.

West is deeper into the enemy encampment.

[Alerad]

My advice is, don't prepare for what the party is going to do next. You'll most probably be surprised.

Instead, focus solely on your army. What are they doing? Why invading? Where do they camp? Where o they get food from? Do they have scouts, guards, secret passwords? Do they need prisoners and what for? Who is in command? Who's answering to whom? How much do the Orcs know? If they get charmed or interrogated, how much do they share?

Then whatever the party does, you can respond. If they run away, think about the army first. Do they chase down everybody? Do they even suspect the characters are a threat? Probably not in the beginning.