City Siege! - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

City Siege!

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
trd23
Oct 06, 2011 0:15:53 I am using King of the Trollhaunt Warren in an upcoming campaign - one of the centrepieces of the adventure is a full on attack of the main city in the area.

The module has some half decent encounters but I thought I would open it up to the forums for some ideas on how to make the battle more memorable.

I would also appreciate some ideas on how to get the party more involved with the people of the city when they first arrive - to make defending the city a little more personal and more meaningful.

The monsters attacking the city will be trolls, ogres, goliaths and giants - with some elementals and manticores for support.

There is a strong stone theme within the army so any thing that uses that would be great as well.

The party will spend a night or two in town before adventuring - part way through their adventure they will hear about the attack and will be able to make it back to town a couple hours prior to the attack - I thought this would make it fun as they could set up defences and traps.
#2
yellowdingo
Oct 06, 2011 8:39:58 Well I was working on an adventure where a small army of mercenaries wearing the Kings Tabbard besieged a town. At sunset just as the gates were being closed two scouts rode out of the dark demanding the guards on gate open in the name of the king. A hundred riders in tabbard rode out of the dark through an open gate and into the town. They rode down streets and alleys setting fire to the buildings drawing out troops from the Keep. The leader with a small elite team snuck into the nearby Keep in search of Coin Dies in the Baron's coin mint.
Only after setting fire to the pretty much vacated Keep they went back to town and were about to lead the Mercenaries in retreat when a Rival Mercenary band attacked the town so in the end three factions are fighting for control of the Town. The Civillians and PCs are caught in the Middle and because they dont know what the hell is going on fight to get civillians to the docks and down river to safety.

The Three way Siege drags on for a good twenty four hours. During that time the PCs must contend with being attacked by unidentifiable riders, rescue folks from burning buildings, avoid an assassin who is using the crisis to carry out an assassination, decide who the good guys are and go to their rescue.
#3
TheForgottenCommand
Oct 06, 2011 12:11:25 I am going to take a wild guess and say that the elementals are earth elementals,yes? Most earth elementals have earth walk or earth glide, so encounters that highlight this, such as rubble strewn streets, would help.

If the army's goal is to sack/destroy the city, they are probably thinking of making it into a sinkhole. Parts of the city could be collapsing into newly made caverns beneath it. The party could be forced to naviagte the unstable caverns to rescue NPC's or destroy the earth elementals on patrol for those who survive the fall.

This ones a bit of a stretch, but if the army can build primiative catapaults, they could send an elemental or two into a boulder, throw it past the city walls, and when it lands, a patrol of earth elementals emerge.

Having the party bond to the city on short notice can be difficult. But the easiest way for a party to love a town is for the town to love them first. Some suggestions: the city is hosting a tournament of some sort and the winners are envied by many of the normal citizens, the party stumbles upon grave robbers who are attempting to break into the local hero's tomb and when the town finds out about their heroism they throw them a party, or the part kills a famous highwaymen and his gang who have been leeching the life out of the city.

Hope this helps
#4
trd23
Oct 06, 2011 18:54:37 Great ideas guys - would love to hear some more.

I love the idea of the elementals being catapulted into the city - my players will love that.

I might just use a massive giant instead that is launching them across.

I also have a behir (repurposed to stone) attempting to break down the first wall - this also made me think about having troglodytes or similar perched upon its back raining down javelins.

#5
TheForgottenCommand
Oct 06, 2011 19:35:13 How wealthy is the city? If its upper-class, it probably has one or more gardens or terraces inside it. If the trolls are accompanied by troll vinespeakers (MM2), they could morph the gardens into masses of predatory vines serving as checkpoints or as a perimeter to makeshift bases as the army conquers the city.

Also, if the city is decorated with statues, ogre/goliath mages could imbue them with elemental life, and now the party has the side quest of destroying the larger statues in town before they become golems.

If you want to include more arial support, flocks of rocs could carry ogres into battle, or squadrons of gargoyles could be included.

Hope this helps
#6
trd23
Oct 07, 2011 21:56:05 More great ideas!

I love the idea of statues which will feed in with the stone/rock theme.

It will also work well because I can introduce the statues when the players first come to the city - which will make it a bit more interesting and exciting when they get attacked by them later in the adventure.

The aerial ideas are good - I am thinking of possibly having some manticores with troglodyte riders - but a couple gargoyles as well or similar would be cool.

That also got me thinking - there is a black dragon in the adventure which I was not too sure about using - but I could change it out for some massive stone gargoyle instead which would work - he could even be the mount for the leader of the army.

#7
trd23
Oct 07, 2011 23:02:02 There is also a small sea component to the siege where some undead will be attacking the city via the ports - if you have any ideas to throw out there more than welcome to hear them - along with any other ideas you have for the other parts of the city siege.

The campaign has a heavy nautical component so I might have an undead ship as well as some zombies and such coming out of the waters onto the docks.
#8
TheForgottenCommand
Oct 07, 2011 23:28:35 If this is a large city with multiple ports, then its sewer system probably connects and dumps watse into the sea. The invading undead horde could send some battalions through the sewers and spread rapidly. Alternatively, the party is sent into the city sewers to agitate the otyughs living there and send them topside so that they begin to "clean" up the streets.

Is the undead invasion going to be obvious and straightforward, as in the decaying ships rising out of the depths and invading, or more stealthy? If stealthy, the party could have the goal of escorting survivors to the ports to be taken away by the timely and much appreicahated ruler's fleet, or a fleet of fishing ships, or an allied country that normally patrols the waters. When the party has loaded a few ships, they then realize that the ships are in control of the undead, and they need to steal a vessel and sail out while the ships are close to save them.

Of course, the undead have thier own agenda, but perhaps the players witness they go to extra lengths to kill/capture ogres and bring them back to the desecrated temples by the waterfront, where they are transformed into zombie hulks.

If you really want to play with the marine theme, the undead could begin to flood the city, which provides great contrast between the stone and water elements of the battle as the party goes from one district to anouther.

Hope this helps

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 trd23 Oct 06, 2011 0:15:53	I am using King of the Trollhaunt Warren in an upcoming campaign - one of the centrepieces of the adventure is a full on attack of the main city in the area. The module has some half decent encounters but I thought I would open it up to the forums for some ideas on how to make the battle more memorable. I would also appreciate some ideas on how to get the party more involved with the people of the city when they first arrive - to make defending the city a little more personal and more meaningful. The monsters attacking the city will be trolls, ogres, goliaths and giants - with some elementals and manticores for support. There is a strong stone theme within the army so any thing that uses that would be great as well. The party will spend a night or two in town before adventuring - part way through their adventure they will hear about the attack and will be able to make it back to town a couple hours prior to the attack - I thought this would make it fun as they could set up defences and traps.
#2 yellowdingo Oct 06, 2011 8:39:58	Well I was working on an adventure where a small army of mercenaries wearing the Kings Tabbard besieged a town. At sunset just as the gates were being closed two scouts rode out of the dark demanding the guards on gate open in the name of the king. A hundred riders in tabbard rode out of the dark through an open gate and into the town. They rode down streets and alleys setting fire to the buildings drawing out troops from the Keep. The leader with a small elite team snuck into the nearby Keep in search of Coin Dies in the Baron's coin mint. Only after setting fire to the pretty much vacated Keep they went back to town and were about to lead the Mercenaries in retreat when a Rival Mercenary band attacked the town so in the end three factions are fighting for control of the Town. The Civillians and PCs are caught in the Middle and because they dont know what the hell is going on fight to get civillians to the docks and down river to safety. The Three way Siege drags on for a good twenty four hours. During that time the PCs must contend with being attacked by unidentifiable riders, rescue folks from burning buildings, avoid an assassin who is using the crisis to carry out an assassination, decide who the good guys are and go to their rescue.
#3 TheForgottenCommand Oct 06, 2011 12:11:25	I am going to take a wild guess and say that the elementals are earth elementals,yes? Most earth elementals have earth walk or earth glide, so encounters that highlight this, such as rubble strewn streets, would help. If the army's goal is to sack/destroy the city, they are probably thinking of making it into a sinkhole. Parts of the city could be collapsing into newly made caverns beneath it. The party could be forced to naviagte the unstable caverns to rescue NPC's or destroy the earth elementals on patrol for those who survive the fall. This ones a bit of a stretch, but if the army can build primiative catapaults, they could send an elemental or two into a boulder, throw it past the city walls, and when it lands, a patrol of earth elementals emerge. Having the party bond to the city on short notice can be difficult. But the easiest way for a party to love a town is for the town to love them first. Some suggestions: the city is hosting a tournament of some sort and the winners are envied by many of the normal citizens, the party stumbles upon grave robbers who are attempting to break into the local hero's tomb and when the town finds out about their heroism they throw them a party, or the part kills a famous highwaymen and his gang who have been leeching the life out of the city. Hope this helps
#4 trd23 Oct 06, 2011 18:54:37	Great ideas guys - would love to hear some more. I love the idea of the elementals being catapulted into the city - my players will love that. I might just use a massive giant instead that is launching them across. I also have a behir (repurposed to stone) attempting to break down the first wall - this also made me think about having troglodytes or similar perched upon its back raining down javelins.
#5 TheForgottenCommand Oct 06, 2011 19:35:13	How wealthy is the city? If its upper-class, it probably has one or more gardens or terraces inside it. If the trolls are accompanied by troll vinespeakers (MM2), they could morph the gardens into masses of predatory vines serving as checkpoints or as a perimeter to makeshift bases as the army conquers the city. Also, if the city is decorated with statues, ogre/goliath mages could imbue them with elemental life, and now the party has the side quest of destroying the larger statues in town before they become golems. If you want to include more arial support, flocks of rocs could carry ogres into battle, or squadrons of gargoyles could be included. Hope this helps
#6 trd23 Oct 07, 2011 21:56:05	More great ideas! I love the idea of statues which will feed in with the stone/rock theme. It will also work well because I can introduce the statues when the players first come to the city - which will make it a bit more interesting and exciting when they get attacked by them later in the adventure. The aerial ideas are good - I am thinking of possibly having some manticores with troglodyte riders - but a couple gargoyles as well or similar would be cool. That also got me thinking - there is a black dragon in the adventure which I was not too sure about using - but I could change it out for some massive stone gargoyle instead which would work - he could even be the mount for the leader of the army.
#7 trd23 Oct 07, 2011 23:02:02	There is also a small sea component to the siege where some undead will be attacking the city via the ports - if you have any ideas to throw out there more than welcome to hear them - along with any other ideas you have for the other parts of the city siege. The campaign has a heavy nautical component so I might have an undead ship as well as some zombies and such coming out of the waters onto the docks.
#8 TheForgottenCommand Oct 07, 2011 23:28:35	If this is a large city with multiple ports, then its sewer system probably connects and dumps watse into the sea. The invading undead horde could send some battalions through the sewers and spread rapidly. Alternatively, the party is sent into the city sewers to agitate the otyughs living there and send them topside so that they begin to "clean" up the streets. Is the undead invasion going to be obvious and straightforward, as in the decaying ships rising out of the depths and invading, or more stealthy? If stealthy, the party could have the goal of escorting survivors to the ports to be taken away by the timely and much appreicahated ruler's fleet, or a fleet of fishing ships, or an allied country that normally patrols the waters. When the party has loaded a few ships, they then realize that the ships are in control of the undead, and they need to steal a vessel and sail out while the ships are close to save them. Of course, the undead have thier own agenda, but perhaps the players witness they go to extra lengths to kill/capture ogres and bring them back to the desecrated temples by the waterfront, where they are transformed into zombie hulks. If you really want to play with the marine theme, the undead could begin to flood the city, which provides great contrast between the stone and water elements of the battle as the party goes from one district to anouther. Hope this helps