how to do a "defend the castle" adventure?

[rossik]

we are playing the keep on the borderlands.

im planning in the future to have a defend the keep adventure.


what possible roles can i give to ple players?

something like generals?

in this kinda of adventures, what should i look for?
arent they going to act "not togheter "?(cant remember the word, sorry!)
if yeas, then im going to make 5 (as they are5 players) diferent adventures?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

There is an excellent CP2020 module, "Chrome Berets" that takes on this sort of setting.

My advice is to have the players be a part of planning the overall defense, then have them act as a 'reserve' unit to rush to troubled areas. The Tome of Battle has guidelines for treating a battle as a dungeon, stringing encounters together.

The key is to focus the characters efforts on the immediate problem {the Troll that got catapulted over the walls is killing all the horses..} while maintaining the players awareness of the overall chaotic battlefield. The encounters should range from a near breach of the walls to a surprise atttack in the 'safe' rear areas {using tunnels, magic, or thrown Trolls as a way to get beyond the front gates}

My second peice of advice... develop the attackers strategy and timeline in advance, that way you don't use the knowledge of the players plan to counter it. Into this plan, develop the encounters that the party can react to.

My third peice of advice.. consider how much magic is being tossed about. A single mid-level Mage can create a considerable advantage on either side. Nothing like a Stone to Mud to really ruin a good section of Castle wall {fortunately these are usually double or triple layers, so the spell can only take out the outer layer, but still.. a followup by catapult can more readily breach a weakened section.

Lastly, make sure your idea of a fun battle scene is also your players. Perhaps they like sitting in the War room, moving pieces on a sand table and getting word of success or failure.

 

[Nifft]

I'd make them the special forces who take on the insane yet vital task of finding and killing the enemy army's leadership, thus ending the siege.

Cheers, -- N

 

[jdrakeh]

First, have your PCs get "caught up" in the battle. That is, don't make them part of the castle's designated defense forces. Don't have them present to plan for a known forthcoming attack. Don't relegate them to some kind of support capacity. Don't tell them what to do and when to do it.

What I would recommend is have the PCs present at the castle in question on unrelated business of their choosing (perhaps petitioning before the local lord for thier own families or guilds, visiting a retired adventuring friend, etc). Then attack the castle while they just happen to be there -- this allows them to make their own choices. They can stand and protect the lord, flee for their lives, or join forces with the attackers. This opens the door to far more possibilities than simply telling the players that they must be guards and that they must fight to defend the castle.

In the scenario that I have proposed above, PCs get to make individual choices about how they deal with the action, unrestrained by some kind of narrow pre-constructed premise provided by the DM. Ideally, they would choose to defend the castle, though if the castle's Lord is a cruel or unpopular individual, joining with the invaders may well be an option. At any rate, the point is, with this kind of setup, the players (and you, as the DM) will have options.

That said, I'm with Primitive Screwhead on the second piece of advice. Kind of. Plan ahead for the attackers. Not for reasons that PS mentions but merely because it makes sense to do so and, ultimately, will alleviate much confusion when trying to run the actual seige scenario. Running a full-on assault on a fortress without any advance planning is hard and often prone to bring the game to a grinding halt.

 

[rossik]

i sure apreciate all the sugestions!

the players are suppose to like the Keep, as it is theyrs HQ.

the attack si coming, but they know about it.


i had the intention, and i guess they will like, to do something like lotr the two towers, so they need to help elaborate plans and stuff.

they are suppose to be the highest plp there (around 3 or 4 level), so they are not only soldiers.

the troll idea is good...a little hard for them, but maybe not so

 

[balterkn]

Inspirational Adventure Reading

I'm fond of the Victory Point accumulation method for two reason
1 - Enables results of mini-adventures before the battle to have some impact
2 - Enables most of the battle to be done "off screen" as accumulated advantages for the PC's whole side

I'd suggest the following adventures for inspiration:

"Tides of Dread" Adventure (Dungeon 143) - have various mini-adventures available that, if accomplished, give VPs or enable PCs to undertake other preparations (instead of getting tar to repair a ship, maybe getting a lumber camp secure to allow the building of catapults/trebuchets). Good for adventure minded players.

"Backdrop: Farshore" (Dungeon 143) - very light-weight upgrades to the community and defenses done as skill checks, adventures, and time investments by PCs. Better for logistics-minded players and those that tend to invest in those skills like knowledge(architecture/engineering). This backdrop is for the Tides of Dread adventure, so it also uses victory points.

"Siege of Kratys Freehold" (Dungeon 33) - definitely find and read this adventure, it is about defending the freehold against orcs - lots of different activities PCs can do during down-time between attacks to augment the defenses and defenders.

"Red Hand of Doom" (WotC DnD adventure) - Depending on how much game time before the attack, you can look at the various different chapters (Act I would be way out, the Act II material that focuses on evacuating the countryside in advance of the army may be good). This system also uses victory points.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

You've already got the bigest thing you need: keep it low level! Once the mid level or higher magic starts flying defending a castle becomes very problematic. If you have any books on castle sieges you might want to leave them out while the players are there. If they're smart they'll head to the library to read up on them. Tunnling and counter tunnling, knocking down sections of wall and building wooden palisades to block the breach, etc.

 

[haakon1]

I ran this exact scenario -- the Caves of Chaos attacking the Keep on the Borderlands -- and it was the most fun we ever had.

For preparation, here's what I did.
1) Drew my own map of the Keep. In particular, I plotted the interior of the Keep's dunjeon (main tower), and decided on escape tunnels.
2) Stat'd out every resident of the Keep. Since it was AD&D rules, this was pretty simple. With a population of 50 or so, it's doable (but harder) even in 3.5. At the very least, determine Class, Level, HP, and basic combat equipment for all combatants and potential combatants, and make detailed stats for leaders. Also, I stat'd a few people with unusual stats -- a 1st level paladin and a 1st level mage, who were teenagers whose abilities were not yet know to the Keep's rulers.
3) Determine what defensive supplies the Keep has. In particular, healing potions and Greek fire proved pivotal. Where extra arrows, shields, etc. are is also important.
4) Decide where the militia members and PC's are at the beginning of the fight. I had the assault start in the middle of the night, so the PC's were mostly asleep.
5) Divide up the attacking forces and give them various assignments.

After that, I just ran the whole thing as a huge combat. Every single round (something like 240 rounds) happened in simultaneous real time for everybody -- let the PC's run the good guy NPCs. It took a LONG time, but it was extremely fun.

I'm not sure if it's doable in 3e, but I suspect it is and would be fun.

In the end, the PC's and the survivors of the militia were in the Great Hall of the Keep's dunjeon, fighting off attacks on two different doors, using Greek fire over the tops of overturned tables. The won, just barely, with about a third of the militia killed.

For inspiration on castle battles, you might try Medieval II Total War. For inspiration on actual castles, read up on some of the great ones like Caernarfon, Edinburgh Castle, Krak de Chevaliers, and the Tower of London. Those are all much more impressive than the Keep should be, but they'll give you ideas about defenses like murder holes and cliffsides and so forth.

 

[rossik]

great ideas!

and what about the monsters?

did you just put them togheter (every monster for himself!), or you did something like "orcs commands goblins and kodolds, who commands some wolfes, etc"

 

[Whisper72]

Depends a bit on what you want the PC's to do. Some thoughts:

If you want the PC's to act as a sort of special ops squad, taking out enemy leaders and their own 'special forces', then there should be several worthy adversaries depending upon level, I am thinking levels 3/4 for the ideas:
- take out the lone hill giant 'artillery' before his boulders take down a wall
- take out the enemy shamen / witchdoctors whose spells could spell disaster for the defenders
- there is a troll among the enemy forces that needs special attention
- the attacking forces have a tame small dragon
- among the kobolds is a 'crack' team of archers whose continuous shooting is keeping the defenders from shooting back, the wall may be breeched unless this team is harassed quickly

Another way is for the PC's to be 'regular' defenders, but have special stuff happen near them (they ARE the heroes after all):
- the breech in the wall just happens to appear next to where the PC's are defending
- a tunnel opens up just below where the PC's are fighting
- some spell (something like sleep, stinking cloud or somesuch) is taking out the NPC defenders in the area where the PC's are, and they are now alone facing overwhelming odds. They must hold x rounds until reinforcements arrive

In these instances, the exact leadership structure of the enemies is not really all that relevant. Logically, the smarter/more wiley enemies command. Mayby the goblins are in overall command, having a few blues (psionics) or shamen (sorcerors) and several heroes (warrior or fighters of several levels) who lead the attack. A squad of ogres commanded by a ranger-goblin acts as elite force and the orcs, supported by a goblin hero (fighter 2) and goblin witchdoctor (sorc 3) are the 'shock troops'. Goblins are the 'main force' and the smaller kobolds act as cannon fodder and sappers.