A City to Conquer - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

A City to Conquer

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
goricexii
Apr 28, 2009 9:11:00 Part of the next phase of my campaign involves an Egyptian style port city being attacked by a force that the pcs partly lead. (It's based loosely on real life and the Conan D20 Stygia setting)

The city is ruled by a theocratic aristocracy which is subservient to a god-king who lives in the western part of the region.

To the south there are salt marshes; a great river runs just north of the city and the northern region is fields (rice, barley, papyrus) and then desert. I pictured that the main approaches to the city are guarded by forts, and that there are outlying peasant villages that fish or raise cattle and crops.

What I'd like are ideas on how to make a battle for the city interesting and drawn out enough to make it an adventure rather than an encounter.
#2
yellowdingo
Apr 28, 2009 9:42:07
Part of the next phase of my campaign involves an Egyptian style port city being attacked by a force that the pcs partly lead. (It's based loosely on real life and the Conan D20 Stygia setting)

The city is ruled by a theocratic aristocracy which is subservient to a god-king who lives in the western part of the region.

To the south there are salt marshes; a great river runs just north of the city and the northern region is fields (rice, barley, papyrus) and then desert. I pictured that the main approaches to the city are guarded by forts, and that there are outlying peasant villages that fish or raise cattle and crops.

What I'd like are ideas on how to make a battle for the city interesting and drawn out enough to make it an adventure rather than an encounter.

Conan in Stygia...sweet.

As to the Adventure build: Behold Oh Thoth Amon! I have planned the destruction of the city to the last detail.

Fires in the cereal crops right before harvest destroy the food reserves - PHOSPHOROUS wrapped in wet cloth can be dropped during the night and will dry out and ignite the dry cereal crop during the hottest part of the day...providing a 12-18 hour time delay between attacker and event.
Poison the Wells of the outlying villages and destroy their cattle using the RYE based fungus ERGOT (hallicinagenic in small quantities, causes Abortions of offspring -people and livestock- in larger scale quantities and death in serious doses)
Divert the River on which this Port is dependant so it flows away from the city to an alternate sea exit in the river delta. Next harvest the river will no longer flow, the port will dry up and become land locked, and The city will experience starvation through Drought.

What does this give you? A total conspiracy to destroy the city by targeting its support infrastructure. Your villains wont even need to go near the capital itself and can avoid the forts compleatly.
#3
goricexii
Apr 29, 2009 10:04:53 Hm..since it is the pcs who need to conquer the city I may just do this in reverse...the idea is tempting to have the Stygians simply withdraw while doing exactly what you said. This emphasizes their evil (taking only essential people, believing that most commoners can be replaced with other slaves) and also leaves the pcs' army without food, decent water etc unless considerable magic and effort is used to get it. Thoughts?
#4
ritreaude
Apr 29, 2009 11:37:44
Hm..since it is the pcs who need to conquer the city I may just do this in reverse...the idea is tempting to have the Stygians simply withdraw while doing exactly what you said. This emphasizes their evil (taking only essential people, believing that most commoners can be replaced with other slaves) and also leaves the pcs' army without food, decent water etc unless considerable magic and effort is used to get it. Thoughts?

I feel like the PC's would have to be coming with a pretty overwhelming force to justify these actions to the higher ups in the city, no matter how evil they are. Its not a question of not caring about the people its a question of utility, why do all of this and ruin a useful city unless you knew absolutely that you could not keep it.
#5
goricexii
Apr 29, 2009 12:53:40 I think you misunderstand...I'm talking about the ENEMIES doing this. So that the pcs' side arrives to find destroyed wells, fields, etc.
#6
ritreaude
Apr 29, 2009 13:30:51
I think you misunderstand...I'm talking about the ENEMIES doing this. So that the pcs' side arrives to find destroyed wells, fields, etc.

Ok, lets clarify some things then. Who currently controls the city? Is it under the rule of the Stygian's or did they just pillage the place. If they currently rule it, then it would make no sense for them to carry out these acts of sabotage unless they have no chance of defeating the PC's and their army. If it is under the control of another force, and the stygian's attacked it and destroyed/pillaged the place, then why were the PC's leading an army to attack this city?
#7
goricexii
Apr 29, 2009 13:33:49 Well that whole 'ruin the economy' idea is yellowdingos and I wanted to explore it as a possibility. This is the basic background:

The city is a Stygian city. It is an important coastal port city. The pcs' side will be attacking it. (the pcs' side is an army/fleet made up of various allies) What I am trying to brainstorm are ideas to make the battle for the city interesting and possibly the occupation after if they win.
#8
ritreaude
Apr 29, 2009 14:11:10 Ok, well all of the above posted Ideas are great, however the Stygian leadership would not likely implement them until it looked like they were going to loose and were going to have to abandon the city. Besides that, do not just have the Stygian's sit back and wait, have them be an active enemy. They could counter attack, launch raids on the PC's, have a death group of commando's teleport into the camp to try and assassinate the leadership. Booby trap the foundations of the forts so that if the group manages to catch capture one, it blows and takes out a large portion of the invading army. When there leaving have them scuttle a ship or two at the entrance to the port to make it unusable to the conquerors.
#9
julescarv
Apr 29, 2009 17:16:55 One question is: what did the city (or the larger Stygian polity ruled by the god-king of which the city is part) do to get this large alliance mobilized against it? Has it waged wars of conquest against its neighbors? Assassinated neighboring leaders? Infiltrated them with spies and sabateurs? Backed rebel groups?

Whatever the Stygians have done to draw the ire of so many other polities -- they could keep doing it, this time to the PCs and their alliance. What if a general in the PC's alliance gets word from back home that his queen has been killed in an apparent hunting accident, her three year-old son has been put on the throne, and her sinister brother has been made regent, and now the regent has recalled the general back home and cancelled his participation in the anti-Stygian alliance?
#10
goricexii
Apr 30, 2009 14:18:42 JULES: The Stygians did wage one war of conquest but more significantly have plotted to overthrow monarchs and replace them with puppets, and have also allowed licensed pirates to do slave raiding.

I do agree that they're plotters and schemers, and likely to try to remove an enemy altogether without battle. (in fact during an adventure I'm running right now a scheming Stygian priest is secretly creating a scandal to try to divide the pcs' side, before they've even got to the region)

Ritreaude: I like your ideas. I especially like the ideas of booby trapping the fort and other areas, using wrecks to block the harbour.

I was thinking of having the pc party, who are fairly high level, lead a raiding force to attack from a flanking position.

The pc party consists of:
a paladin/ranger
a warrior/priestess
a sorceror/undead slayer
an Imagist/Rogue
a v. young Blue Dragon
a ranger/bard

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 goricexii Apr 28, 2009 9:11:00	Part of the next phase of my campaign involves an Egyptian style port city being attacked by a force that the pcs partly lead. (It's based loosely on real life and the Conan D20 Stygia setting) The city is ruled by a theocratic aristocracy which is subservient to a god-king who lives in the western part of the region. To the south there are salt marshes; a great river runs just north of the city and the northern region is fields (rice, barley, papyrus) and then desert. I pictured that the main approaches to the city are guarded by forts, and that there are outlying peasant villages that fish or raise cattle and crops. What I'd like are ideas on how to make a battle for the city interesting and drawn out enough to make it an adventure rather than an encounter.
#2 yellowdingo Apr 28, 2009 9:42:07	Part of the next phase of my campaign involves an Egyptian style port city being attacked by a force that the pcs partly lead. (It's based loosely on real life and the Conan D20 Stygia setting) The city is ruled by a theocratic aristocracy which is subservient to a god-king who lives in the western part of the region. To the south there are salt marshes; a great river runs just north of the city and the northern region is fields (rice, barley, papyrus) and then desert. I pictured that the main approaches to the city are guarded by forts, and that there are outlying peasant villages that fish or raise cattle and crops. What I'd like are ideas on how to make a battle for the city interesting and drawn out enough to make it an adventure rather than an encounter. Conan in Stygia...sweet. As to the Adventure build: Behold Oh Thoth Amon! I have planned the destruction of the city to the last detail. Fires in the cereal crops right before harvest destroy the food reserves - PHOSPHOROUS wrapped in wet cloth can be dropped during the night and will dry out and ignite the dry cereal crop during the hottest part of the day...providing a 12-18 hour time delay between attacker and event. Poison the Wells of the outlying villages and destroy their cattle using the RYE based fungus ERGOT (hallicinagenic in small quantities, causes Abortions of offspring -people and livestock- in larger scale quantities and death in serious doses) Divert the River on which this Port is dependant so it flows away from the city to an alternate sea exit in the river delta. Next harvest the river will no longer flow, the port will dry up and become land locked, and The city will experience starvation through Drought. What does this give you? A total conspiracy to destroy the city by targeting its support infrastructure. Your villains wont even need to go near the capital itself and can avoid the forts compleatly.
#3 goricexii Apr 29, 2009 10:04:53	Hm..since it is the pcs who need to conquer the city I may just do this in reverse...the idea is tempting to have the Stygians simply withdraw while doing exactly what you said. This emphasizes their evil (taking only essential people, believing that most commoners can be replaced with other slaves) and also leaves the pcs' army without food, decent water etc unless considerable magic and effort is used to get it. Thoughts?
#4 ritreaude Apr 29, 2009 11:37:44	Hm..since it is the pcs who need to conquer the city I may just do this in reverse...the idea is tempting to have the Stygians simply withdraw while doing exactly what you said. This emphasizes their evil (taking only essential people, believing that most commoners can be replaced with other slaves) and also leaves the pcs' army without food, decent water etc unless considerable magic and effort is used to get it. Thoughts? I feel like the PC's would have to be coming with a pretty overwhelming force to justify these actions to the higher ups in the city, no matter how evil they are. Its not a question of not caring about the people its a question of utility, why do all of this and ruin a useful city unless you knew absolutely that you could not keep it.
#5 goricexii Apr 29, 2009 12:53:40	I think you misunderstand...I'm talking about the ENEMIES doing this. So that the pcs' side arrives to find destroyed wells, fields, etc.
#6 ritreaude Apr 29, 2009 13:30:51	I think you misunderstand...I'm talking about the ENEMIES doing this. So that the pcs' side arrives to find destroyed wells, fields, etc. Ok, lets clarify some things then. Who currently controls the city? Is it under the rule of the Stygian's or did they just pillage the place. If they currently rule it, then it would make no sense for them to carry out these acts of sabotage unless they have no chance of defeating the PC's and their army. If it is under the control of another force, and the stygian's attacked it and destroyed/pillaged the place, then why were the PC's leading an army to attack this city?
#7 goricexii Apr 29, 2009 13:33:49	Well that whole 'ruin the economy' idea is yellowdingos and I wanted to explore it as a possibility. This is the basic background: The city is a Stygian city. It is an important coastal port city. The pcs' side will be attacking it. (the pcs' side is an army/fleet made up of various allies) What I am trying to brainstorm are ideas to make the battle for the city interesting and possibly the occupation after if they win.
#8 ritreaude Apr 29, 2009 14:11:10	Ok, well all of the above posted Ideas are great, however the Stygian leadership would not likely implement them until it looked like they were going to loose and were going to have to abandon the city. Besides that, do not just have the Stygian's sit back and wait, have them be an active enemy. They could counter attack, launch raids on the PC's, have a death group of commando's teleport into the camp to try and assassinate the leadership. Booby trap the foundations of the forts so that if the group manages to catch capture one, it blows and takes out a large portion of the invading army. When there leaving have them scuttle a ship or two at the entrance to the port to make it unusable to the conquerors.
#9 julescarv Apr 29, 2009 17:16:55	One question is: what did the city (or the larger Stygian polity ruled by the god-king of which the city is part) do to get this large alliance mobilized against it? Has it waged wars of conquest against its neighbors? Assassinated neighboring leaders? Infiltrated them with spies and sabateurs? Backed rebel groups? Whatever the Stygians have done to draw the ire of so many other polities -- they could keep doing it, this time to the PCs and their alliance. What if a general in the PC's alliance gets word from back home that his queen has been killed in an apparent hunting accident, her three year-old son has been put on the throne, and her sinister brother has been made regent, and now the regent has recalled the general back home and cancelled his participation in the anti-Stygian alliance?
#10 goricexii Apr 30, 2009 14:18:42	JULES: The Stygians did wage one war of conquest but more significantly have plotted to overthrow monarchs and replace them with puppets, and have also allowed licensed pirates to do slave raiding. I do agree that they're plotters and schemers, and likely to try to remove an enemy altogether without battle. (in fact during an adventure I'm running right now a scheming Stygian priest is secretly creating a scandal to try to divide the pcs' side, before they've even got to the region) Ritreaude: I like your ideas. I especially like the ideas of booby trapping the fort and other areas, using wrecks to block the harbour. I was thinking of having the pc party, who are fairly high level, lead a raiding force to attack from a flanking position. The pc party consists of: a paladin/ranger a warrior/priestess a sorceror/undead slayer an Imagist/Rogue a v. young Blue Dragon a ranger/bard