Angrith
2020-06-18, 12:45 PM
I'm the DM for a pathfinder group in a homemade campaign. I've given my party the task of defending a city from an invading army until help arrives in several days. Once that occurs, they'll be free to go hunt the enemy general and end the war. My problem is that I don't want to run combat for each 2HD mook, but also want the party to feel as if they are influencing the battle as a whole, and not just a set of encounters with an army as a backdrop.
I've had a few ideas. each day I can roll to see what the enemy does, and allow the party to respond. This would be like a breach in the walls that the party must respond to, the forest begins attacking the city a'la Isengard, or disease ridden corpses are being flung at the general populace. I also think that the enemy lieutenants will lead highly successful attacks that only the party can stop to provide mini-bosses before the big-bad. But I'm turning to the playground for advice to make sure this goes well. The party is as follows:
All level eight:
Bladebound magus who not only uses the standard shocking grasp, but spells like grease and glue to great effect even at mid-levels. he is quite clever and responsible for most of my "huh?" moments.
Two weapon fighting rogue who is a new player but learning quickly. She focuses primarily on flanking and sneak attack.
Sorcerer who prefers blasting, but also has some utility in spells like silent image.
Cleric who focuses on front line melee (AC near 29 when fully buffed) and channeling. His channeling is house-ruled so that positive energy heals the living and hurts the undead simultaneously (and vice-versa).
A slayer focusing on ranged attacks but dreadfully optimized. Even at level 8, she does not have a magic bow and only took precise shot at level 7 after much encouragement.
A barbarian who may or may not show up to the game. Covid threw him for a loop.
Historically, the magus and cleric are responsible for ending encounters with the sorcerer occasionally being useful. She tends to fall back on magic missile for the guaranteed hit instead of chancing saves. The rogue and slayer mostly provide support via damage, and the barbarian's presence is questionable but highly impactful.
The enemy general is a level 11 magus, who I plan to play as a simple buff -> spellstrike routine with some other options such as fly and fireball. Her lieutenants are a level 9 fighter optimized for acrobatics so he can leap straight into the party's backlines even in full plate (Yes he's ridiculous; yes I love him.) and a level 8 druid who focuses on debuffing and battlefield control while his ents handle the frontline work. The druid is the one responsible for the attacking forest.
TL;DR, I would like to run a siege scenario that gives the party some flexibility to be clever and impacts the larger fight, but doesn't require actually fighting 9000 soldiers. It would only last a few days before help arrives, and the party is free to go on the offensive.
I've had a few ideas. each day I can roll to see what the enemy does, and allow the party to respond. This would be like a breach in the walls that the party must respond to, the forest begins attacking the city a'la Isengard, or disease ridden corpses are being flung at the general populace. I also think that the enemy lieutenants will lead highly successful attacks that only the party can stop to provide mini-bosses before the big-bad. But I'm turning to the playground for advice to make sure this goes well. The party is as follows:
All level eight:
Bladebound magus who not only uses the standard shocking grasp, but spells like grease and glue to great effect even at mid-levels. he is quite clever and responsible for most of my "huh?" moments.
Two weapon fighting rogue who is a new player but learning quickly. She focuses primarily on flanking and sneak attack.
Sorcerer who prefers blasting, but also has some utility in spells like silent image.
Cleric who focuses on front line melee (AC near 29 when fully buffed) and channeling. His channeling is house-ruled so that positive energy heals the living and hurts the undead simultaneously (and vice-versa).
A slayer focusing on ranged attacks but dreadfully optimized. Even at level 8, she does not have a magic bow and only took precise shot at level 7 after much encouragement.
A barbarian who may or may not show up to the game. Covid threw him for a loop.
Historically, the magus and cleric are responsible for ending encounters with the sorcerer occasionally being useful. She tends to fall back on magic missile for the guaranteed hit instead of chancing saves. The rogue and slayer mostly provide support via damage, and the barbarian's presence is questionable but highly impactful.
The enemy general is a level 11 magus, who I plan to play as a simple buff -> spellstrike routine with some other options such as fly and fireball. Her lieutenants are a level 9 fighter optimized for acrobatics so he can leap straight into the party's backlines even in full plate (Yes he's ridiculous; yes I love him.) and a level 8 druid who focuses on debuffing and battlefield control while his ents handle the frontline work. The druid is the one responsible for the attacking forest.
TL;DR, I would like to run a siege scenario that gives the party some flexibility to be clever and impacts the larger fight, but doesn't require actually fighting 9000 soldiers. It would only last a few days before help arrives, and the party is free to go on the offensive.