Elves vs. Dwarves [Archive] - Wizards Community

Elves vs. Dwarves [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Narris
04-23-08, 02:19 AM The gray elves decided to build a new citadel which just happens to be right on top of a dwarven stronghold. The dwarves were allright with it at first until the elves started living up to their reputation of being arrogant and treated the dwarves as trespassers.

One ambushed dwarven work party later and it's on, big time.

Ok, the gray elves have the higher ground and have wizards. The dwarves are hopping mad and have their stronghold right beneath the gray elves citadel.

Who's going to win in this battle of "Get off our land!"
Etarnon
04-23-08, 07:59 AM The orcs who multiply faster.

When the slow to bear progeny elves and dwarves cut down their numbers by squabble, the orcs will roll in.
Sakon22
04-23-08, 06:15 PM Well, I could easily see the dwarves just undermining the entire citadel, plummeting the whole thing into the depths below, but destroying their own home in the process. Knowing dwarves, they'd view it as a necessary sacrifice/evil.
Space_Dragon
04-24-08, 03:31 AM First off, before they do anything else, the dwarves will start expanding their citadel with redundant rooms outside of the infastructure of the elf stronghold. That way, as a last resort, they can use Sakon's idea without destroying their own home completely.

In the meantime, though, the dwarves have plenty of other aces to play that don't involve relocating their entire population. Dwarves are good at melee combat. Elves are better at ranged. The fact that the elves are literally right on top of them is a huge advantage for the dwarves; they can just tunnel up through the floor and attack with their badass waraxes, without giving the elves room to use their fancy shmancy bows. If the dwarves have access to enough underground "wilderness," they might even round up some underground beasties and herd them through the breach ahead of time to make the elven spellcasters waste spells before the actual dwarven warriors invade.
Fonitrus
05-02-08, 09:22 AM The gray elves decided to build a new citadel which just happens to be right on top of a dwarven stronghold. The dwarves were allright with it at first until the elves started living up to their reputation of being arrogant and treated the dwarves as trespassers.

One ambushed dwarven work party later and it's on, big time.

Ok, the gray elves have the higher ground and have wizards. The dwarves are hopping mad and have their stronghold right beneath the gray elves citadel.

Who's going to win in this battle of "Get off our land!"

Is this coming from the GM or the Players in the game?
if from the players, then they may not have access to extra info that explain the ambush.
if from the GM then maybe more thought need to be put that just pure brutute force (read horse blinders) hatred responce to the ambush.

Plausible deniability comes to mind.
Why dont the dwarves investigate the incident. Sent an emissary party to the elven stronghold and demand some answers. This buys time to put PLAN A into action. Dig enough tunnels (say anywhere between 3-10 or more depends on progress and time bought) to be able to saturate the elven structure with dwarven warriors in a matter of minutes.
While plan A is under way get the dwarven 'propaganda system' to spew out rummors about a dark entity (basically an evil 3rd party) who is attempting to take control of the elves and turn them against the dwarves. Only to have them both kill each other and then when the defences are weak, move in and 'steal' both strongholds.

While these lies are being spread arround, mobilise the army recruiters. Send word to other dwarven settlements and start a recruitment drive in other areas. Have them believe it is to fight the 'dark entity' which will reinforce the propaganda campaign and make sure the elven spies and messangers make the elves believe the 'dark entity' is for real.

The neat thing is that the Elves that know about the anti-dwarf campaign run by the elven council will slowly wonder if the council has been corrupt.
The ones that dont will wonder if they need to do something about the council.

All while Plan A is gently progressing underground.

The fact that the elves ambushed may mean they are not ready for an all out onslaught or they may have attacked with a greater force. Work party is an easy pickings, and may be only to make people come out of the caves.
If you make it as if nothing has happened they will have to increase the harrassment all while their morale is going down because they start to wonder who is corrupt and who is not up the chain of command.

keep sending emissaries to discuss matters with the elves. give them treasures in exchange for goods. find something they want and focus your non essential and non military focused economy on gaining the trading edge.

Then organise parties to lockdown/harrass/ambush traders along the roads incoming to the elven stronghold. They will be forced to trade more with the dwarves. pump up the prices on these goodies.
more money out of elven pockets allows for greater military buildup on dwarven side in the long run.

deny them access to raw ores if you can. all while running the disinformation campaigns and digging under.

near the end. rally the dwarven allies from the other settlements against the dark entity. run a rummor that the elven council is in the process of summoning this dark lord or whatever you want to swing it as. once the 'auxilaries' march on the elven citadel the elves will have no choice but to set up their defences.
Keep pressing with the dimplomatic measures to have them kill their own councilmen to end the corruption and such.

Economic, Military, domestic pressure all add up to make the leaders start worring if the anti-dwarf campaign was maybe a mistake.
If they stop the campaign at any time. halt plan A immediately at depth just deep enough to not be heard (you dont want to restart the aggression).
Leave the tunnels ready for future actions.

If the leaders are stubborn then the pincer attack will have them crying for mercy. Let the 'auxilaries' grab big portion of the spoils of the war give them the elven citadel as an new 'colony'. now you have a massive citadel with above and bellow access.

oh what a great campaign that can be. regardless if the players are on the elf or Dwarf side, it can still turn into an epic game if the GM has the creativity needed to take these simple ideas into something massive. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Narris 04-23-08, 02:19 AM	The gray elves decided to build a new citadel which just happens to be right on top of a dwarven stronghold. The dwarves were allright with it at first until the elves started living up to their reputation of being arrogant and treated the dwarves as trespassers. One ambushed dwarven work party later and it's on, big time. Ok, the gray elves have the higher ground and have wizards. The dwarves are hopping mad and have their stronghold right beneath the gray elves citadel. Who's going to win in this battle of "Get off our land!"
Etarnon 04-23-08, 07:59 AM	The orcs who multiply faster. When the slow to bear progeny elves and dwarves cut down their numbers by squabble, the orcs will roll in.
Sakon22 04-23-08, 06:15 PM	Well, I could easily see the dwarves just undermining the entire citadel, plummeting the whole thing into the depths below, but destroying their own home in the process. Knowing dwarves, they'd view it as a necessary sacrifice/evil.
Space_Dragon 04-24-08, 03:31 AM	First off, before they do anything else, the dwarves will start expanding their citadel with redundant rooms outside of the infastructure of the elf stronghold. That way, as a last resort, they can use Sakon's idea without destroying their own home completely. In the meantime, though, the dwarves have plenty of other aces to play that don't involve relocating their entire population. Dwarves are good at melee combat. Elves are better at ranged. The fact that the elves are literally right on top of them is a huge advantage for the dwarves; they can just tunnel up through the floor and attack with their badass waraxes, without giving the elves room to use their fancy shmancy bows. If the dwarves have access to enough underground "wilderness," they might even round up some underground beasties and herd them through the breach ahead of time to make the elven spellcasters waste spells before the actual dwarven warriors invade.
Fonitrus 05-02-08, 09:22 AM	The gray elves decided to build a new citadel which just happens to be right on top of a dwarven stronghold. The dwarves were allright with it at first until the elves started living up to their reputation of being arrogant and treated the dwarves as trespassers. One ambushed dwarven work party later and it's on, big time. Ok, the gray elves have the higher ground and have wizards. The dwarves are hopping mad and have their stronghold right beneath the gray elves citadel. Who's going to win in this battle of "Get off our land!" Is this coming from the GM or the Players in the game? if from the players, then they may not have access to extra info that explain the ambush. if from the GM then maybe more thought need to be put that just pure brutute force (read horse blinders) hatred responce to the ambush. Plausible deniability comes to mind. Why dont the dwarves investigate the incident. Sent an emissary party to the elven stronghold and demand some answers. This buys time to put PLAN A into action. Dig enough tunnels (say anywhere between 3-10 or more depends on progress and time bought) to be able to saturate the elven structure with dwarven warriors in a matter of minutes. While plan A is under way get the dwarven 'propaganda system' to spew out rummors about a dark entity (basically an evil 3rd party) who is attempting to take control of the elves and turn them against the dwarves. Only to have them both kill each other and then when the defences are weak, move in and 'steal' both strongholds. While these lies are being spread arround, mobilise the army recruiters. Send word to other dwarven settlements and start a recruitment drive in other areas. Have them believe it is to fight the 'dark entity' which will reinforce the propaganda campaign and make sure the elven spies and messangers make the elves believe the 'dark entity' is for real. The neat thing is that the Elves that know about the anti-dwarf campaign run by the elven council will slowly wonder if the council has been corrupt. The ones that dont will wonder if they need to do something about the council. All while Plan A is gently progressing underground. The fact that the elves ambushed may mean they are not ready for an all out onslaught or they may have attacked with a greater force. Work party is an easy pickings, and may be only to make people come out of the caves. If you make it as if nothing has happened they will have to increase the harrassment all while their morale is going down because they start to wonder who is corrupt and who is not up the chain of command. keep sending emissaries to discuss matters with the elves. give them treasures in exchange for goods. find something they want and focus your non essential and non military focused economy on gaining the trading edge. Then organise parties to lockdown/harrass/ambush traders along the roads incoming to the elven stronghold. They will be forced to trade more with the dwarves. pump up the prices on these goodies. more money out of elven pockets allows for greater military buildup on dwarven side in the long run. deny them access to raw ores if you can. all while running the disinformation campaigns and digging under. near the end. rally the dwarven allies from the other settlements against the dark entity. run a rummor that the elven council is in the process of summoning this dark lord or whatever you want to swing it as. once the 'auxilaries' march on the elven citadel the elves will have no choice but to set up their defences. Keep pressing with the dimplomatic measures to have them kill their own councilmen to end the corruption and such. Economic, Military, domestic pressure all add up to make the leaders start worring if the anti-dwarf campaign was maybe a mistake. If they stop the campaign at any time. halt plan A immediately at depth just deep enough to not be heard (you dont want to restart the aggression). Leave the tunnels ready for future actions. If the leaders are stubborn then the pincer attack will have them crying for mercy. Let the 'auxilaries' grab big portion of the spoils of the war give them the elven citadel as an new 'colony'. now you have a massive citadel with above and bellow access. oh what a great campaign that can be. regardless if the players are on the elf or Dwarf side, it can still turn into an epic game if the GM has the creativity needed to take these simple ideas into something massive. :)