Would like some help with making adventure

[Zenos]

Hello, I am going to be having a little chain of adventures regarding an army of hobgoblins and elves (all the species in the setting are mostly evil, with the exception of some outsiders) invading a small but wealthy border town. The PCs will be a fighter4/bard1/barbarian1 and a Rogue3/paladin3, both humans. The place is a valley barely five kilometres across. There is patches of woodland and a few streams and small lakes around. There will be heavy snowfall in about a week and the gobbos wil arrive in three days.

Unfortunately we will only have access to core and SRD, I really want ToB:smallsigh:

The armies:

Town army:
PCs
An 8th level NPC wizard specialized in divination with evocation as his barred school.
85 1th level human warriors, can be "fixed" into becoming rogues or barbarians but nothing else.
A kobold adventuring party (yeah, they have a "friendly" relationship to this town) consisting of level three characters, namely:
1 ranger specialized in archery
1 rogue
1 sorcerer
1 cleric (I will need help with domains for the cleric)

Possible allies will be a small clan of thirty level four dwarf fighters and some fifty gnolls.

The invading army consists of:

300 lvl 1 hobgoblin warriors, can be turned into fighters and monks, if anyone has a good idea for an army of lvl 1 monks.
30 lvl 4 elven fighters
1 troll
40 level 1 goblin rangers
NEW ADDITIONS TO HOBOS:
3-5 level 5 clerics with scrolls of animate dead
X amount of zombies, depends on how many monsters and stuff the hobos meet on their way to the battlefield.

What I want is feedback on A) Balance, should I add something to either side and for what reason? B) How should i play the mage? I dont want him to overshadow the PCs but I want him to support them. C) The kobold clerics domains. D) Any adventure ideas? There will be gathering allies and the siege of the town, but what else could work?

The town is situated on a ridge with only two viable routes of attack. It has twelve foot high stone walls and the wizard's tower. Oh, and they have a small cannon I rule it as doing 4d6 damage to the first target it hits, and then going in a line, doing 3d6 damage to the next target, 2d6 and then finaly 1d6, after which it stops.

I would welcome constructive critisism. And yes, I have viewed other "have to defend town against large amount of attackers"-threads.

EDIT: And if you could guide me to some nice homebrew that would be appreciated.

[streakster]

B) An idea might be to have him have no battle experience - so while he is a great mage, and skilled with many spells, he knows only spells useful in a small town. The Div special/Evoc barred fits this perfectly. Mayhap he used stone shape to help build the town or such.

Also, he can buff the players instead of fighting, which will still make him cool, but make the players much happier as well. Enlarge Person, Greater Invisibility, Magic Weapon. Polymorph could be neat - choose a cool monster for him to turn one of your players into.

[Zenos]

B) An idea might be to have him have no battle experience - so while he is a great mage, and skilled with many spells, he knows only spells useful in a small town. The Div special/Evoc barred fits this perfectly. Mayhap he used stone shape to help build the town or such.

Also, he can buff the players instead of fighting, which will still make him cool, but make the players much happier as well. Enlarge Person, Greater Invisibility, Magic Weapon. Polymorph could be neat - choose a cool monster for him to turn one of your players into.

Thanks for the advice. I also remembered another factor, the bard has Leadership,and so has a lvl 4 straight orc fighter cohort of the greatsword/power attack type, but also armed with a glaive.
I had a funny idea for a name, although I haven't used it.
I planed to name him Ove Jurgen so I could say in a rhyme;

Orc Ove Jurgen
Drow Drizzt Do'Urden

[crimson77]

D) Any adventure ideas? There will be gathering allies and the siege of the town, but what else could work?

The town is situated on a ridge with only two viable routes of attack. It has twelve foot high stone walls and the wizard's tower.

1. Have the PCs do some reconnaissance work

2. Have the PCs take out the supply chain of the enemy army

3. The PCs could attempt to set a small ambush to take out some scouting parties

As far as the battle itself, i would have the PCs fight some small skirmishes while describing what is happening to the town. Allow the PCs to help sway the story but keep in mind what you plan on happening. Thus allow your PCs to be characters not generals. (I.e., you know that the make shift dirt defenses will fail and the PCs will have to retreat but they choose how).

[Zenos]

Sounds good, although the bard/fighter (he is a local "knight") is designed to bolster the defending warriors. That has also given me an idea for a way for the PC's to win, since winter is only a week away, and the hobgoblin army has nearly overstretched supply lines which will become impossible to maintain during the winter they have to take the town within the four days of them arriving+so long the supplies they do have last. And if the battle turns foul they could always make the hobos suffer by doing a "moscow" (IE; burning the town so they wont have any shelter).

I have improved the detail geographical lay of the land also and I will now present it:

The town is in the southern end of the valley, with a river runnign through the valley from north to south west of the town, at the beginning of the river lies the dwarves home. There is also a bridge over the river about one kilometre from the town which leads to gnoll territory and a large forest. To the north of the town lies a hill which could be used by the hobos for artillery (some catapults and maybe a cannon). On the southwestern part of the hill is a small forest.

I have also been thinking about giving the goblinoid forces longspears and tower shields for some phalanx fighting.

[Jerthanis]

What I want is feedback on A) Balance, should I add something to either side and for what reason?


Add zombies... zombies make everything better. Give the opposing force some generals who are midlevel Clerics or Wizards. Every time a Hobgoblin dies in battle, a Necromancer walks by and gets it moving again. This potentially doubles the number of attackers, but in a way where direct PC intervention and only direct PC intervention can help. The PCs can either sneak into the enemy encampment and steal the Necromancer's supply of those gems that serve as a material component for Animate Dead, or cut a bloody swath through the battlefield to get to the Necromancers and cut them down.



The town is situated on a ridge with only two viable routes of attack. It has twelve foot high stone walls and the wizard's tower. Oh, and they have a small cannon I rule it as doing 4d6 damage to the first target it hits, and then going in a line, doing 3d6 damage to the next target, 2d6 and then finaly 1d6, after which it stops.


I'd say to mix it up, make there be a secret tunnel that goes in and out of the city wall, and leading into the richest person in town who isn't the wizard's estate... an escape tunnel for just such an occurrence. Have the PCs find out that the Rich dude took a break for it, but got captured by hobgoblin scouts. They have just enough time to get to the mouth of the tunnel before Hobgoblins begin pouring out, and they've got to hold them off alone for six to ten rounds while the wizard gets there to stoneshape the entrance closed/collapse it on them.

[Zenos]

Add zombies... zombies make everything better. Give the opposing force some generals who are midlevel Clerics or Wizards. Every time a Hobgoblin dies in battle, a Necromancer walks by and gets it moving again. This potentially doubles the number of attackers, but in a way where direct PC intervention and only direct PC intervention can help. The PCs can either sneak into the enemy encampment and steal the Necromancer's supply of those gems that serve as a material component for Animate Dead, or cut a bloody swath through the battlefield to get to the Necromancers and cut them down.



I'd say to mix it up, make there be a secret tunnel that goes in and out of the city wall, and leading into the richest person in town who isn't the wizard's estate... an escape tunnel for just such an occurrence. Have the PCs find out that the Rich dude took a break for it, but got captured by hobgoblin scouts. They have just enough time to get to the mouth of the tunnel before Hobgoblins begin pouring out, and they've got to hold them off alone for six to ten rounds while the wizard gets there to stoneshape the entrance closed/collapse it on them.

The tunnel idea is good, and some clerics with death domain walking around with bags full of onyxes could be nice, and would be a good way to introduce treasure to the PC's. I am also wondering if the PC's could do a mission involving disabling the hobo artillery that will inevietably be placed on the hill to the north.

I am thinking of a progression in this way:

1. The PC's encounter a few goblin scouts on worgs.
2. They investigate and find some more goblin scouts.
3. They have to race against the goblins to find allies in the dwarves and the gnolls.
4. Whatever the outcome, they will then prepare the town for the battle/slow down the advancing army, maybe laying traps if they can.
5. Hobos come and there will be skirmishes outside the town.
6. The battle, players fight for a little while against hobos coming at them with ladders.
7. The secret tunnel is discovered.
And so on.

EDIT: Would it help you if I posted the most vital of the PC's stats?

[Zenos]

Back after a night of sleep. I think I'll be playing some of it today, but although I have little info on the rogue paladin I would like some of you to give some help regarding the fighter/barb/bard's feats, which are at current:
Power attack
Weapon focus(greatsword)
Dodge
Mobility
Spring attack
Leadership
Also, here's his scores, ability increases included:
STR 16
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 14
WIS 14
CHA 16

In advance, thanks for any advice :smallsmile:

[Lady Tialait]

i've ran three or four wars before in my time DMing...the PC have to be smart or they will die. Make sure they understand that no matter how powerful they are mass numbers can and will kill them. have them go after the Generals of the other side..I.E. the cleric, The sorcorer...after calaping the command have one final battle that decides the war...and invation on the township...if done right the players will be talking about this for years to come. the Zombie idea is good too. here is another suggestions..if the winter comes and the hobos are dieing like flies...send in the undead to deal witht he party..don't just have them sitting there either have the hobos sabitaiging the township. Trust me..the more the party hates the hobos the better.

[Zenos]

Hm, yeah, that gives me another potential plot hook for after the invasion, if the township wins, then there will still be several undead lurking about who need some good smiting from the paladin...

Keep up the pace!

[Zenos]

I've made myself a new base class, I think maybe I could insert it into this adventure. Here's the URL

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66048

[Zenos]

I wonder if the bard could use the homebrew base class I made, Heroic Warrior, if you want to know more about it, check the link below.