what would be an appropriate military response to this threat

[Stake A Vamp]

so, here is what happened

in a small valley at the border of Cormyr and Sembia (yes this is set in Faerun) called serenity valley, a demon prince's forces have driven out the people (who lived due to the intervention of the players, i was not railroading the exile) they are erecting a gate through which the demon prince mula-taan's forces can enter the world. the sheer amount of demons, varying in strength from seas of simple dretches to squads of balors, would flood in and be able to strike out at the material world. the people have five days before he can come through in earnest, but many of his forces have already reinforced the goblins in the valley, so retaking it is not feasible with their current forces, but they have sent word to the neighboring nations of the threat, what would be a reasonable military response

[Slipperychicken]

It's unlikely that medieval armies could mobilize in time. Not like conventional soldiers would help much anyway. Also, if it opens, they're all dead.

First thought is to scramble every Cleric, Paladin, soldier, Wizard, Dragon, other spellcaster, Angel, other nonevil Outsiders, mercenary, and adventurer in range and stop it at all costs. They've only got five days, so they'd take whatever they've got and throw it at the portal in a last-ditch effort to stop it in time. Probably try to stage a distraction if they could afford it. They'd want to hit the portal fast and hard before it opens.

Call up every god they know (using Miracle and Wish if they are available) and try to make an intervention happen. Ideally, a deity would just "nope" the portal out of existence, or might send down some high-ranking angels and/or a holy superweapon to help.

Call in Devils to fight the Demons, especially if the gods flake out. Although such a deal is unlikely to end well, it'll at least buy some time.

It's in the interest of every entity on that plane to stop the Demons, so it's unlikely that anyone could refuse the call. It's hard to imagine someone saying "No thanks, I'd prefer to get chewed on by Demons for eternity. Good luck, though!"

[Stake A Vamp]

It's unlikely that medieval armies could mobilize in time. Not like conventional soldiers would help much anyway. Also, if it opens, they're all dead.

one entrance to the valley, a defensive dream ringed by mountains now swarming with demons, also, there is a metropolis four days leisurely ride away

First thought is to scramble every Cleric, Paladin, soldier, Wizard, Dragon, other spellcaster, Angel, other nonevil Outsiders, mercenary, and adventurer in range and stop it at all costs. They've only got five days, so they'd take whatever they've got and throw it at the portal in a last-ditch effort to stop it in time. Probably try to stage a distraction if they could afford it. They'd want to hit the portal fast and hard before it opens.

so, once you get through the portal, you need to fight your way through his citadel to destroy the transpossesion gem that allows the portal to exist and remain grounded to the material plain

Call up every god they know (using Miracle and Wish if they are available) and try to make an intervention happen. Ideally, a deity would just "nope" the portal out of existence, or might send down some high-ranking angels and/or a holy superweapon to help.

so, the gods sort of are useless because their powers cannot effect other gods, and the demon prince is using an artifact to maintain the portal, so he is sort of hands off, as for sendig in legions of celestials, that was part of thw question

Call in Devils to fight the Demons, especially if the gods flake out. Although such a deal is unlikely to end well, it'll at least buy some time.

ummm, there is a paladin in the party, also in control of the valley, perhaps this is not the best idea

It's in the interest of every entity on that plane to stop the Demons, so it's unlikely that anyone could refuse the call. It's hard to imagine someone saying "No thanks, I'd prefer to get chewed on by Demons for eternity. Good luck, though!"

well, what about those who think that they could whether the demons and capture the lands of those who could not? what abpout those who would rather pledge themselves to Mula-Taan

[Slipperychicken]

I guess they could try to assemble an elite strike team (*cough* PCs *cough*) to take out the artifact.

so, once you get through the portal, you need to fight your way through his citadel to destroy the transpossesion gem that allows the portal to exist and remain grounded to the material plain

I'll have to brush up on my Oblivion lore before I can make a suggestion here

[Kadzar]

You said they're in the process of building the gate? If that's the case, they don't need to retake the valley; at least not immediately. They just need to slow down construction of the gate somehow.

Now how that's accomplished will depend on what's need to construct the gate. If they need materials brought in, you can waylay their supply trains. If spellcasters need to cast spells and need a full night's sleep to do so, you can make some sort of racket at night to interrupt their sleep.

[Tvtyrant]

If it were me I would find out which demon lord is the nemesis of this one (they all have a "most hated" category) and planeshift to their plane in the abyss. If it were Orcus I would go talk to Demogorgon, if it were Demogorgon I would talk to Graz'zt, etc.

The invasion of the prime material (or anywhere else) would upset the balance in the abyss, so their rivals would fight to stop it from happening on the abyss side. I would also talk to either the LG or LE planes about it, trying to increase the response size to Pit Fiends and Solars.

[the_david]

Mula-taan... Do you mean Mu-Tahn Laa?

[Another_Poet]

Appropriate military responses of surrounding kingdoms:

1. Ally with the demons. OOC, you and I know Demons are chaotic and unlikely to follow any treaty, but not all in-game princes know or believe this. Since it seems that the demons are likely to succeed, it would make sense for one or more kingdoms to consider offering their support and joining the demons' side as an ally.

2. Entrench and fortify. I have a hard time imagining most kingdoms mobilizing an epic team in time to stop the gate, so they have to play defensive. This may involve sacrificing outlying borderlands to concentrate all defenses around a capital or other fortified location. This will also stall for time while they seek divine weaponry or wizards capable of turning the tide. Again, OOC you and I know this is likely a losing battle, but to an in-game prince it could seem like the best of several bad options.

3. 300 It. Probably the most likely-to-succeed response would be to assemble a small elite force tasked with destroying or delaying the gate at all costs. This is a suicide mission. It would be worth it to assign spellcasters as adjuncts to the force, but with orders to abandon the force and return home alive in the event of defeat; every caster should have a scroll of teleport or similar and take an oath to flee if the battle goes sour.

Note that although option #3 is the best bet (and nice opportunity for the PCs), it is far from the most intuitive choice from a ruler's point of view. But it is dramatic.

[Stake A Vamp]

ummm the players are sixth level.

[the_david]

Red Hand of Doom. The demons might invade soon, but that doesn't mean they are knocking on the gates at day 5. Just change whatever you think you should change.

[Zahhak]

Have the most powerful spell caster you can find launch a nuclear bomb into the location.

[Slipperychicken]

ummm the players are sixth level.

I guess they could try plowing through ~27 CR-appropriate encounters a day. Leveling twice a day for four days gets them to 14th level. Then they should be able to close the Oblivion gate demon gate.

[BWR]

*Greenwood* send in the Chosen to clean things up*/Greenwood*

More seriously, if we are talking politics, first you have to get word to the various nations. This takes time, even with magic. Getting the message there, having it filter through functionaries to get to the rulers, having it verified, deliberation about course of action, mustering the appropriate response etc.; probably takes a lot more than 5 days.

The best the people on site could do is send out a desperate call for any powerful adventurers and try to delay the grand opening. Interrupt the building, steal valuable supplies, try to take out an important caster etc.

[Water_Bear]

Take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

But seriously, Slippery is right about medieval armies; even if they were building the Gate within city limits, that place almost certainly doesn't have a standing army. And even if it did, putting together a serious force means hiring mercenaries, conscripting and training peasants, calling up lords and vassals and waiting for them to bring their forces in (which means they all have to call their lords and vassals), not to mention putting together enough food for all the men and horses to make the march without having to plunder their own lands on the way.

Of course that's fairly academic anyway; a mortal army isn't going to win against Demons without serious hardware/magic these guys likely don't have. Especially if the Demons can fly and/or teleport.

Best case, send the PCs in to take out the artifact and let the Gods rain destruction down on the valley. They don't need to kill a single Demon, just sneak in grab the thing and destroy it before dying. I'd say a smart 6th level party could probably do it with some luck and a few high-level / deific buffs.

[Waar]

so, here is what happened

the people have five days before he can come through in earnest
they have sent word to the neighboring nations of the threat, what would be a reasonable military response
there is a metropolis four days leisurely ride away

If "low" magic: recive message, realise the five Days are already/soon over, hope for best
If "high" magic: teleport, invisibillity, flight, grab/destroy the sigil stone transpossesion gem, gg wp

[Mastikator]

The cheesiest answer is that Elminister saves the day.

The second cheesiest is to just send the highest level NPCs to destroy the gate and assassinate the demon prince, there's plenty of epic level NPCs in Forgotten Realms that eat Balors for breakfast, after all.

Not much the PCs can do though. :/
The PCs can do some small things, like create a diversion for the cavalry to assault the less protected gate.

[Coidzor]

so, here is what happened

in a small valley at the border of Cormyr and Sembia (yes this is set in Faerun) called serenity valley, a demon prince's forces have driven out the people (who lived due to the intervention of the players, i was not railroading the exile) they are erecting a gate through which the demon prince mula-taan's forces can enter the world. the sheer amount of demons, varying in strength from seas of simple dretches to squads of balors, would flood in and be able to strike out at the material world. the people have five days before he can come through in earnest, but many of his forces have already reinforced the goblins in the valley, so retaking it is not feasible with their current forces, but they have sent word to the neighboring nations of the threat, what would be a reasonable military response

Rally your high level wizards and clerics and glass the entire territory.

Alternatively, Scry and Die the villains of note based upon the intel given to them by the PCs and refugees as to the movers and shakers of the cultists/whoever the hell it is that's building that gate.

So... overwhelming response. This is the Realms, after all. The only reason the smorgasbord of high level characters hadn't nipped it in the bud was that it wasn't serious yet and maybe the narrative force of the PCs.

ummm the players are sixth level.

...Why did you think this was appropriate for 6th level characters?

Alternatively, how did they manage to mess up the Red Hand of Doom so that they never leveled at all up to and through the Battle of Brindol?

Essentially you're at the point where you just say "Good Game guys, you lost. And hard. Here's how it effects the world as this version of Toril is dragged kicking and screaming into the Abyss until the epic NPCs realize what's going on and ROFLstomp things back into a semblance of order after countless peons and mooks are slaughtered and another magical wasteland which will last for thousands of years is formed in the general vicinity of the demon incursion."

well, what about those who think that they could whether the demons and capture the lands of those who could not? what abpout those who would rather pledge themselves to Mula-Taan

Unlikely, as that would require a particularly potent brand of stupidity and arrogance and ignorance. You don't really survive as a powerful person in the Realms like that. Mula-Taan is a name I don't recognize, so he's probably a bit of a scrub as far as Demon Princes go, so it seems less likely than a big namer like Orcus or Demogorgon or Graz'zt.

That said, these are your NPCs.

[Randel]

Stupid Evil plan:

Get a necromancer with the most powerful spawning undead available and have him turn a sizable percentage of the local NPCs into wraiths or something.

So long as the number of innocent people turned into virulent undead is fewer than the number who would be otherwise slaughtered by the demons, you could count it as a victory for the forces of good(ish).

Just "recruit" a bunch of people that nobody important likes (starting with goblins, orcs, criminals, etc) and you could cobble up an army to fight/distract the demons.


Otherwise... I dunno, are demons hurt by silver? If so then all the kingdoms could gather up all their silver coin/jewelry and melt it down to make crossbow bolts or to put on their blades. That could give a slight advantage to the conventional troopes.

Or you air-drop bombs containing brown mold and alchemists fire (and oil and stuff). The fire feeds the mold, causing it to grow explosively. Then the mold starts feeding on the demons body heat and so forth. Not sure if cold damage is especially harmful to demons, or if brown mold could form some sort of semi-permanant obstacle for them... but even if it only works at night or something (if sunlight kills brown mold) it could do something.

[Stake A Vamp]

So... overwhelming response. This is the Realms, after all. The only reason the smorgasbord of high level characters hadn't nipped it in the bud was that it wasn't serious yet and maybe the narrative force of the PCs.

here's how it is. there are a significant number of conflicts in toril that are dividing the attentions of the powerful (later the PC's will discover that these are Mula-Taans creations as well)

...Why did you think this was appropriate for 6th level characters?

Alternatively, how did they manage to mess up the Red Hand of Doom so that they never leveled at all up to and through the Battle of Brindol?

Essentially you're at the point where you just say "Good Game guys, you lost. And hard. Here's how it effects the world as this version of Toril is dragged kicking and screaming into the Abyss until the epic NPCs realize what's going on and ROFLstomp things back into a semblance of order after countless peons and mooks are slaughtered and another magical wasteland which will last for thousands of years is formed in the general vicinity of the demon incursion."

so, this was intended to be a skill challenge along with combat. they were intended to gather allies and amass a force to stave off the darkness. also, what is the hand of doom and the battle at brindol

Unlikely, as that would require a particularly potent brand of stupidity and arrogance and ignorance. You don't really survive as a powerful person in the Realms like that. Mula-Taan is a name I don't recognize, so he's probably a bit of a scrub as far as Demon Princes go, so it seems less likely than a big namer like Orcus or Demogorgon or Graz'zt.

That said, these are your NPCs.

Mula-Taan is a home-brew demon prince, my own invention, he is ambitions and greedy, even for a demon prince, he has planned this invasion for 40 years, and the PC's have seriously scuppered his plans. for 1, he didn't intend for the valleys residents to survive and spread the word, second he intended to use a pre-existing portal, which would take about an hour to set up. the PC's saved to people and mussed up the pre-existing gate something awful

[Marnath]

*Greenwood* send in the Chosen to clean things up*/Greenwood*

You might think you're joking, but they're basically the only ones who could do anything about such a big invasion on such short notice.

so, this was intended to be a skill challenge along with combat. they were intended to gather allies and amass a force to stave off the darkness.

The problem with that is that there aren't any forces in that region that could take down an army reinforced by squads of Balors. Just contacting the armies who could respond will take long enough that the situation will have gone beyond their ability to contain.

[TuggyNE]

Otherwise... I dunno, are demons hurt by silver? If so then all the kingdoms could gather up all their silver coin/jewelry and melt it down to make crossbow bolts or to put on their blades. That could give a slight advantage to the conventional troopes.

Sorry, cold iron or good only, sometimes both. Devils are the silver ones.

Of course, a few demons have no DR at all, but that's pretty rare and those are mostly the lamesauce ones.

[ngilop]

so the only miltary repsonse is to get a team/teams of adventures to go into the portal and take out the gem. thats pretty easy

but sicne the demons already 'swarming' an entire mountain valley then the onyl thing that cna stop this is the chosen so really elmisnter goe s' hey whats up with all these demons and crap' not in my house!' then blasts teh crap out fo everything for win


any nation sending amriesagiasnt teh whole of the abyss is beyond suicidal so I am pretty sure that most would just surrender immediatly, more than liley preempatively whilst sembia would get all greedy, and try to get in with the demon lord and help him out.

[Marnath]

so the only military response is to get a team/teams of adventures to go into the portal and take out the gem. that's pretty easy.

but since the demons already 'swarming' an entire mountain valley then the only thing that can stop this is the chosen so really Elminster goes hey whats up with all these demons and crap' not in my house!' then blasts the crap out of everything for the win.


Any nation sending armies against the whole of the abyss is beyond suicidal so I am pretty sure that most would just surrender immediately, more than likely preemptively whilst Sembia would get all greedy, and try to get in with the demon lord and help him out.

I had to put your post through a spellchecker before I understood what you were trying to say. >.>

Sorry, cold iron or good only, sometimes both. Devils are the silver ones.

Of course, a few demons have no DR at all, but that's pretty rare and those are mostly the lamesauce ones.

Even the dretch have DR/5 cold iron or good. That would be enough to be seriously inconvenient for the sorts of low level warriors/fighters making up a mundane army.

[TuggyNE]

I had to put your post through a spellchecker before I understood what you were trying to say. >.>

I couldn't understand "armies against" at all until your corrected version.

Even the dretch have DR/5 cold iron or good. That would be enough to be seriously inconvenient for the sorts of low level warriors/fighters making up a mundane army.

Hmm, yeah, I'd vaguely thought there was at least one low-level demon without DR, but hadn't looked it up.

[Mr Beer]

Are the neighbouring kingdoms convinced there is a problem? Are Kings prone to hit the panic button just because a bunch of 6th level plebs tell them breathlessly that this is a big problem?

Anyways yeah, as said above, you need probably need high level adventurers to get into them.

How about a super-duper high level cleric opening up a gate to the Seven Heavens or whatever? Then you send the PCs in to convince the solars to get involved. They can have a adventure to get help in. Maybe the PCs can follow up by doing a One Ring type mission while the Celestials battle it our with the demonic army.