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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
188 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 00:52:22
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Well, not quite SM, but the areas surrounding it. Say a large drow army (separated into groups) was making their way west from the Nether Mountains to Mithril Hall. They know people are following them and have stopped in Silverymoon. What would said drow send up to march on the surrounding areas of Silverymoon (say in a 30 mile radius) to stop a group of 10 level 2-3 adventurers?
They've been fighting orcs, goblins and stirges for a long time and the fights have been few and far between. I'd like to pit them against a SMALL army tonight, lead by some sort of big monster or two.
THOUGHTS? Thanks :)
PS: I need to figure something out within the next two or three hours haha.
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Edited by - Ozreth on 29 Jan 2013 00:53:08
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7970 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 00:53:54
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| Time to bring in the ogres, I'd say. Expect casualties. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
188 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 01:12:50
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Ogres work! Do you think they are something Drow would be in control of? Plus, what about the small troops. What makes sense that isnt an orc, goblin, or kobold?
Also, I'm having trouble on the balance side for 10 friggin players. Thoughts on how many critters would prove a threat but still be possible to beat? It's ok if a player or two dies :p |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7970 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 01:51:28
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Variable stats and items (especially any which affect damage and HPs) have multiplied impact on low level characters, so it can be tricky to balance encounters. I know nothing about your party's race/class mix, what sorts of spells and stuff they can access, how aggressive or cautious your players are.
If you want practice at balancing encounters then do it now before they've invested great amounts of time and attachment to their characters - their HPs are broken up across individuals rather than pooled on a few, so some will die. Yet you also don't want to kill off 1d4 PCs in every encounter. Kindly ensure every character has a few minor healing items at hand.
Keep a "pet" NPC or two handy so you can let dead players have something to play in the middle of combat; but don't play favourites and let these guys take the deathblow if a PC needs to be saved. Let the players create a few spares and handwave your usual roleplaying/backstory requirements a little (just park these auxiliaries in the nearest generic tavern or something) so the party can recruit them back into the game and get back onto the adventure with minimum delay.
I would encourage issuing roleplaying and skill challenges, puzzles, riddles, traps, stuff which encourages party cooperation and cleverness ... basically XP opportunities which aren't quite as lethal. Until your PCs have enough levels and gear to survive the real dangers. If you prefer hack-n-slash then stick with the classic wimpy creatures (which you've done) and be cautious when deploying the heavies ... say, put a pair of ogres on the road who demand some kind of toll, if the party totally dominates them then next time it can be 5 ogres, but if the party gets pwned then just take some gold (not even a lot, if you play the ogres as mathematical idiots) and let them go towards their next (and wimpier) encounter. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 03:44:11
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Ogres are good for the big things, are are gnolls and/or bugbears. For the smaller stuff, well, you just ruled out the three I would have suggested: orcs, goblins, and kobolds. They're the three most common goblinoids, and well represented in the slave ranks.
Other ideas: quaggoths. I don't know if they got a 3e write-up, but they were a favorite of 2e drow. Alternately, the drow could be working with some duergar mercenaries and they send the dwarves up first. But really the drow are equal opportunity enslavers; you could throw just about anything you want at your players. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Lord Bane
Senior Scribe
Germany
479 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 09:50:33
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| Depending what time you have the sacking of the Marches, how about the trolls in the Evermoors who sacked Nesmé? |
The driving force in the multiverse is evil, for it forces good to act. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11701 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 15:14:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha
Ogres are good for the big things, are are gnolls and/or bugbears. For the smaller stuff, well, you just ruled out the three I would have suggested: orcs, goblins, and kobolds. They're the three most common goblinoids, and well represented in the slave ranks.
Other ideas: quaggoths. I don't know if they got a 3e write-up, but they were a favorite of 2e drow. Alternately, the drow could be working with some duergar mercenaries and they send the dwarves up first. But really the drow are equal opportunity enslavers; you could throw just about anything you want at your players.
I was thinking Quaggoths too if drow are involved. In 3e, they were in the Monstrous Compendium - Monsters of Faerun. They're 3d8+6 (19hp) with AC: 14 and use clubs at +7 (1d6+6 dmg). Powerful enough that they're definitely a challenge for lvl 2-3 adventurers. If you've got 10 PC's of lvl 2-3, I'd recommend keeping those orcs still as like scouts and camp guards (and to serve as fodder), with maybe a single drow leading a small contingent of say 5 Quaggoths. If you want it more dangerous, arm those Quaggoths with something better than clubs (greataxes or two handed swords maybe recovered from surface folk). I'd recommend against throwing shields and one-handed weapons on them since they're supposed to be more bestial.
The drow would be best if she/he were some kind of maybe spellcaster since they party will have so many melee persons. A low level priestess/wizard/binder/warlock could be interesting. Another option, a drow archer or rogue who snipes and flees.
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11701 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2013 : 15:26:25
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| Oh, and if you use a drow priestess, perhaps they're 5th lvl and thus can animate dead. Then, you could concievably replace the aforementioned orcs with skeletal or zombie orcs. Since they're 5th lvl, they could control 20 skeletons. These creatures could even be the orcs previously slain by the adventurers or the humans that the adventurers were too late to save if you'd like some drama. If you do this, keep those clubs on the quaggoths, so that if the party doesn't have a bludgeoning weapon, they CAN kill one, pick up their club and start wailing away. Also, if you do this with having so many skeletons, I'd recommend reducing the number of Quaggoths, but keeping them as personal guards for the priestess. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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TBeholder
Great Reader
2388 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2013 : 11:23:12
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If you want a drow priestess raising undead and engaging with extreme prejudice tough targets without any visible reason... why not start with a Yathrinshee (with a churchful of apprentices and cronies)? They are already versed in using walking corpses and finding real or imagined wrongs to avenge.  |
People never wonder How the world goes round -Helloween
And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense -R.W.Wood
It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo. -Ed Whitchurch |
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Quick! Need an army to try and sack Silverymoon!
