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Rasilak
2007-10-25, 04:43 PM
Hi!
I'm facing the following situation in one of our gaming sessions:
(we're not playing any particular system, the DM just decides what's possible/plausible - so no rules lawyering in here, just common sense; however, I'll try to translate the circumstances in d20-terms to the best of my knowledge)

1. The World
We play in a low magic setting (in theory everyone can learn magic, but it takes lots of time to master and has - by D&D standards - only mediocre effects, so it's not very widespread, and probably no solution to the situation). We play at a tech level around 100 b.c. (think roman republic with some early medieval tech - like ok quality steel, or crossbows - mixed in) on an volcanic island about the size of Rhodos. The island has fertile soil, roughly mediterran climate - maybe a little more humid - and some parts are covered with thick, nearly jungle-like forest, others with grassy plains. The higher parts tend to be rockier, and with less vegetation (this part might be somewhat inaccurate, if it's important I can inquire the gamemaster on details.)

2. Our Position
We lead a group of roughly 1500 settlers (commoners, mostly) to build a new colony on this island. So far we found an uninhabitated, destroyed city, built a palisade around it, and repaired/reconstructed some of the houses. We found a quarry about 3 miles from the city and an abandoned iron mine. The city itself is about 1-2 miles in diameter, and surrounded by thick forest for at least half a dozen miles (except to the coastline, which is about one mile from the city). The city's underground is riddled with tunnels, some of them ending in the forest (we assume they were built for ventilation, but frankly we don't have a clue). A lot of these tunnels are collapsed.
We're going to clear a patch of the forest (about 10 square kilometers - or 2500 acres for the Americans) for farming. Since we'll need at least some kind of river, it will be some distance form the city and need a small village for the farmers. We're also going to reopen the mine and building a small castle at the outskirts of the city once we have taken care of the most basic things.
There are some other cities on the island, but we don't know much of them, and did not contact them by now. However, they seem to have sent some "diplomats" (spies?) to our city - they did not return yet, so we could still stop them if we feel like it.
Note, however, that to our knowing there is absolutely no tradition of warfare on this island (the people we lead don't know anything about it either). But that's not the matter anyway, our problem has another source.
And there are absolutely no large animals on the island (IIRC the biggest are goats, so no horses or cows)

3. The Problem
One member of the city council got expelled (mainly for constant trying to establish his personal tyranny in the city), taking with him the "blueprints" of some quite useful magical artifacts, which "coicidentally disappeared" afterwards (he did'nt take them - at least not all of them - with him, since he left by foot, so they're probably still somewhere in the city). The most important artifacts (I remember) are:
- a full plate that absorbs some of the impact energy and turns it into a blinding flash of light (imagine an adamantine full plate with the blinding effect on every hit)
- a helmet that slightly deflects strikes and projectiles headed in its direction (it's probably around +2 in d20-terms)
- a greataxe that is exceptionally easy to use, without actually reducing its mass (hard to tell, maybe around +3)
- a throwing dagger that is homing on the nearest target (not that useful, since it lacks IFF)
- a ring that constantly increases the wearers strength when worn (like some kind of magic steroids)
However, with the blueprints he is capable to reproduce these effects on pretty much any object, and can add some other nice tricks. (I know that he is able to protect artifacts from unauthorised use, so that some badass combat spells are set off when someone other than a person named during the artifacts creation picks them up).
And, as far as I know this guy, he is coming back. He is good friends with a king in an other world he could open a gate to, and I suppose that's where he'll go first. The other world is technologically more advanced (at least high-medieval standard, think 15th century, but without gunpowder of sufficient quality, or the ability to produce larger quantities of it - however the alchemists might know how to do it). In this world horses (and other large animals) are availible, and magic is more common (though still not by D&D standards).
He might be able to earn a lot of money by selling artifacts in this place, or he could even tip the king off that there are cheap extraplanar colonies to be conquered (however, I'd deem the latter rather unlikely, since that'd hamper his ambitions of total domination). Then he will be hiring mercenaries (if we're really unlucky even some battlemages, but that would be difficult since the local mage guilds don't like him very much), equipping them with the artifacts he made, and gate back to our world.
Due to the nature of his gate spells he won't be able to transport much more than 100 people in reasonable time (I'd deem 120 the maximum that's practicabe). Plus the gates are a quite dangerous thing, he might lose about 5% of his troops during the travel. Animals are even harder to transport - you have to keep your hands inside during the ride :) - so there he'd lose at least half of them. Probably too much hassle for him to try, warhorses are friggin expensive.
Due to these limits he is probably going to hire the best soldiers money can buy, an equip them with the maximum that's possible (and still reasonable to carry).
Though it's entirely speculative, I expect him to put the armors effects on large shields instead, use the helmets effect un both helmets and armor (probably a good full plate), completely forget about the dagger (just too frickin' dangerous), use the rings to train his guys to a bunch of bodybuilders Silvester Stallone would envy, use the effect on the greataxe for a weapon of choice (probably bastard sword or franziska, he loves these things), and put his anti-thief-trick on every item, just in case.
The artifacts are not strong enough to make his guys entierely invincible, but I highly doubt that anything we can train in reasonable time is able to stand a melee combat with these guys, unless we can isolate single guys and swarm them. So that basically leaves skirmishing, artillery, traps and fire (or something I did'nt think of yet).

4. Our Resources
I expect him to be back in about 2 years, give or take a few months. We have (as mentioned above) access to iron, stones and lots of wood.
The city has 1500 people who don't know jack about on which end to hold a sword, and 40-odd guys our hobby-dictator tried to train to his private army to pull off a coup. He didn't have much time though, and his guys had severe problems with discipline, so I doubt they'd be of much use. However, they know how to hold a pike and can (more or less) stay in formation, so that's at least better than nothing. Right now we have about 40 pikes, 20 (somewhat rusty) swords, 20 bows and a few crossbows. We could possibly find some guys who know how to hunt, but that doesn't make an army.
We're not expecting to get any help from the outside, so we'll have to stick with what we have and what we can produce.
As a wildcard, there is a "mini-god" who sometimes aids our city - he usually appears in the shape of a giant tiger - but I'd rather not rely on him, and he doesn't seem that awful dangerous either. The mercenaries are probably going to chop him up if he interferes, chances are, at minimal losses.

Dervag
2007-10-25, 05:35 PM
Can you interfere with his ability to bring troops to the theater of operations?

Shas aia Toriia
2007-10-25, 05:35 PM
I wouldn't disregard the tiger. If he is the kind described in the Epic Level Handbook, he may be about CR 20. That should not be taken lightly.

Jasdoif
2007-10-25, 05:45 PM
I'd say check out the tunnels, see if you can find some fortifiable positions there. Tunnels are wonderful for restricting the amount of opposition you can face at one time, and tends to make it hard to find individual people. If he's not stationed on the island, it might be difficult for him to maintain a search to "clean" the tunnels out.

Quellian-dyrae
2007-10-25, 05:48 PM
Is there any way to predict where his gates will appear? Divination-type spells, maybe, or can they only be opened in certain places? If so, and he can only get some 100 through at a time, train up as many people as you can so they can do something (I'd imagine that with two years of reasonably dedicated training they should be credible), gather them around the gate with missile weapons, and let fly. Your first bevvy of attacks doesn't even need to score many kills; just activate the flashy armor a lot. Hundreds of flash discharges may hamper your guys some, but since the enemy's all grouped up, it'll probably completely blind and disorient them. Then just go in with spears and the like and overwhelm them through force of numbers.

What sort of magic do you have access to? In some ways, magic can often be a more powerful tool in low-magic worlds, since there are fewer methods for defending against it and fewer people know how it works. In a world where people have hundreds of hit points, energy resistance is only slightly less common than breathable air, and any reasonably adept sneak thief can dodge explosions, a fireball isn't that much. In a world where giant monsters are scarce and armies march in tightly-packed orderly formations, a 20' radius blast of searing flame is a winner.

Alternately, if you can also open a gate to the high-tech world, you could head there and try to thwart his plans on that front.

Rogue 7
2007-10-25, 06:31 PM
Alliances would be useful, if for nothing else more meatshields. Swarming these guys with numbers along with the other people on the island would be a decent tactic if nothing else presents itself. You'll also gain the opportunity to get allies to hit their force from behind, etc.

Just Alex
2007-10-25, 06:46 PM
If he follows the expected timeline and numbers, you should have no problems at all. Even if you can only get 1/5th of your subjects into some kind of fighting shape, you'll outnumber him 3 to 1 under advantageous terrain. Two years is a lot of time to set up traps and prepare stockpiles in case of seige. Even with 100 soldiers armed with magic plate and shields, you can generate enough problems with sheer numbers. High ground, cover bonus, lots of crossbows, and a cleared death zone around the city creates issues for an attacking army. Also consider supplies. It's unlikely all those invading soldiers will be bringing a lot of food with them. If necessary, pull the Russian trick and burn the farms. You can rebuild, it's unlikely that those mercs will want to take up a plow.

WrstDmEvr
2007-10-25, 07:19 PM
Turn the land surrounding the city into a supersize kobold warren. Mine iron and create weapons/caltrops. Create rockfalls from the rocky terrain. Find out what creatures are in the surrounding waters, a moat filled with sharks can be a good deterrant. Make lots and lots of bows, together with arrows, and train as many commoners as can be spared in archery. Wait for them to come close to the city once it comes round to that, and them smash them with the bows and hope you win.

ronnyfire
2007-10-26, 12:48 AM
are you capable of making only one or two entrances to your city easily?

if so then doing so wouldn't be a bad idea.. makes trapping easier.. just the simple obvious stuff is generally the best you can do... if you have any tunnel systems under an area leading to your village, set them up to cave in if enough people try to cross it at once, or with explosives.

it was said before.... but moats are DAMN sexy in defending a city. even more so with low magic settings.

Idea Man
2007-10-26, 01:52 AM
With the primary problems being immediate support of your new community, warfare is going to have to be second priority for a whille.

Don't pass up opportunities to make things defensable, though. If you have a cliff or mountain next to your farmland, store foodstuffs next to them. Rocks fall, everybody dies.

Make friends. Bend over backwards to make your community indispensible as quickly as possible. If you can, listen to your neighbors' doors. Your enemy won't want friends crashing his party, and may turn them against you.

City defense is possible. If you have over a year, you can turn the bulk of the city into a death trap. Primary wall and an inner wall/keep. Redesign inner city to funnle troops along trapped roads. Use the tunnles as escape routes directly to the keep, and out, if need be.

Magic might render archers useless. Use rocks, boiling oil, ballistae, and diseased blankets. Well, not the last one, too risky.

If he has such a small force, he can't possibly siege you, he'll go for quick victory, maybe subtle. Don't leave anything to chance. Every missing person is important, for several reasons. The drills for city defense and rescue should discipline and organize your people, too.

Rasilak
2007-10-26, 01:53 AM
Ok, one after the other:
@ Dervag: I don't think he'll be bringing more than the first wave, and I know of no way to stop it (other than killing him outright, which is quite difficult now he's gone).

@ Shas'aia: The tiger IS quite strong, but definitely not near CR20. He might be a good support (if we get him to help, that is), but wont pose any existential threat to the invasion force. However, he might be good at picking off small, isolated groups of enemies (like scouts or people looking for water)

@ Jasdoif, ronnyfire: The tunnels have two ways leading outside the city, the entrances are concealed in the forest. However, he knows of both entrances, and might get the idea to use them when he faces to much resistance upside. So traps/ambushes in there might be a viable option - in fact, I really like the idea.

@ Quellian-dyrae: I'm expecting him to use a temple of a (probably dead) deity for his portal. But we'd have a hard time figuring out where it is, and it is still used by worshippers of this deity (he knows these guys, we don't). An outright assault on the temple might be a good way to stop him, but we won't make friends with some other cities on the island.
We don't have any AoE combat spells. The best one I can remember is some kind of "force-choke". And there is a dark mage somewhere around who can do a trick quite similar to the "sectumsempra" from Harry Potter. However, this guy is an unreliable ally. Using magic, we could perhaps pick off 4-5 guys per day, so no big deal. We also have a healer and some kind of telepath, but they won't be very useful in combat.

[Placeholder, i'll get to the rest of you when I'm back home]

Dervag
2007-10-26, 04:36 AM
Fabian strategy, nomad variant.

Cache stockpiles of food all over the place- make them small and well hidden, so that they are very hard for the enemy to find unless they know exactly where to look, and even if they do find one it won't give them food for long. If you can trap the caches so that only people who know how to bypass the trap can safely access it, even better.

Now, pick off any foraging parties the enemy sends out- use the tiger, or your own adventuring party which I assume exists. Force the enemy to bunch up or to take casualties.

Meanwhile, your population fades back into the hills and/or forests, living off the caches. The enemy has to stay camped, consuming several hundred pounds of food and a few tons of water a day. If you can make it hard for them to obtain those resources, they may eventually be forced to give up.

Fishy
2007-10-26, 06:21 AM
The problem with ambushes in the tunnel is that tunnel fighting is always one-on-one: Yes, you get the element of surprise, but one magitech warrior can essentially kill one shirtless nomad every five minutes without loss, if you let them. So, the rule of the game is *never* engage in a 'fair' fight.

The Big Win: change the destination of the enemy's teleport effect, so that his army jumps into high orbit/ocean floor/right over the an active volcano/etc. Failing that, get to know the defenders of the temple, and see if you can't diplomatize/bribe/cajole/pursuade-by-threat-of-violent-force them to bury the entrance point under as much rock as you can move in two years.

The Medium Win: The tunnels are still your friends. Spend a lot of time mapping them out- if possible find out which ones he knew about, and which ones he thinks you don't. Lure the soldiers in, block the ends, fill with boiling oil. Probably won't work more than once.

Agincourt: If you have two years and no manpower, don't bother training with swords. Teach your guys how to fire bows, slings, spears- rocks if that's what you have- and make a spirited attempt to blot out the sun. Unless his magic is strong enough to completely and totally negate ranged weapons, one in a hundered arrows will go through the eye-slit of someone's helmet, and you have more arrows than he has men. At the very least, it might be annoying enough to drive him to the tunnels.

Leave: Before we get excited about fighting, what are you fighting for? Do you care about the City? Do you need to protect the people? Does This Man Have To Be Stopped, Once And For All? Because if you don't have that much invested in it, if this guy wants to be lord and master of a pile of rocks, you can just not be there when he comes to conquer.

Arakune
2007-10-26, 06:38 AM
You don't fight, you run. Specially if the enemy have mary-sue knowledge like some players have. Try to fight THAT! :smallannoyed:

At least at the sacrifice of yours some people will stop to create tons of characters/armies/wizards with nigh-infinite resources, time and knowledge regardless of the place, time period and real access to said equipment.

Now, on the subject, if you have some time you can try to take some information about the enemies, try to make alliances or act as spies. If they are really superior equipped, they should have at least basic knowledge of what their tools can and can't accomplish (if they don't have that knowledge then you have some upper hand, but let's not take that for guaranteed).

Direct confrontation are not a good idea.

Citizen Joe
2007-10-26, 08:21 AM
That seems ridiculously easy to counter. Drop the guy in a well, cover it, don't open it up again until the guy has drowned.

Accersitus
2007-10-26, 08:36 AM
I would try and get to know the other communities, and try and convince them that if your city falls to the would be tyrant, he would most likely try and attack the other communities after he captured your city. It is always nice to have friends.

I would also try and find out why the city was deserted, since cities don't desert themselves.

TranquilRage
2007-10-26, 09:34 AM
Find ways of drowning them or dropping them deep pits. You could surround everything of value with a big trench and only allow shipments in and out via large cranes or retractable bridges.

Alternatively build a long sunken courtyard surrounded by high water tight walls. Have a set of water tight gates at either end and a dead fall fail safe stone gate as backup. The trap is finished with a lock gate that diverts a river into the sunken courtyard floor. Drown the lot of them. You can even keep the artefacts and arm your guys with them afterwards.

It works in Dwarf Fortress :)

WrstDmEvr
2007-10-26, 07:49 PM
Although it probably won't lead anywhere, interrogation of the 40 man private army could be helpful if he told them anything.

MrNexx
2007-10-26, 08:13 PM
Since you have a couple years, this is actually not bad.

1) Go about your business. Build your city, train your militia. Those half-trained people he left you? Make them the new sergeants of the city militia. Make them responsible for training everyone in the city in using weapons and armor... at least on par with a level of Expert, if not with a level of Warrior. Your best bets are going to be spears and leather armor... they're relatively cheap and easy to make, and to use.

2) Make friends. Trade with nearby cities. Hire some mercenaries to supplement your forces... you have the good resources to afford a few, or at least will in a year. Find out what the tiger in the hills wants, and make friends with it. If you're in a Romanesque milleu, do what the Romans did... propriate the local gods, and incorporate them into your pantheon. Your city may have a patron deity.

3) Make it hard for your enemy to make friends. Let people know that he's a ******* and not to be trusted. Make sure your friends know you'll pay to get him back... and pay them well.

4) Train yourselves. Think of this as "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego". You've got yourself a blank warrant... you're in charge of a city. You need to find yourself some loot that went missing (ADVENTURES!) and, incidentally, there's a crook on the loose. When he shows up, your party needs to be ready to bolster defenses.

Rasilak
2007-10-27, 05:08 AM
Hi!

Quite a nice lot of tips you got here, thx all!
However, we managed to resolve the problem another way (let's say, this guy won't pose a threat anymore...).
If you like to discuss the scenario, feel free to do so.
And again, thx for your help.

Kiero
2007-10-27, 05:43 AM
Poison their food/water.

Kill them in their sleep.

Give them a disease.