GM seeking advice..

[Ethan the Red]

Hey all I have a big sessions planned soon in which the PC's 3-4 @ 6th level) will be dealing with a massive mass combat in a three way bout in the Pictish Wilderness along the border of Zingara,

I had some questions for ya'll on the thread; however, I know certain fellows in my gaming group lurk these threads; which generally is good because we use the advice on these forums to improve our game. However, I will end this post here asking players in my game to read no further (you know who are!) And give the details about what I need assistance with below...

 

[Ethan the Red]

Continuing on with business.. hopefully free of the prying eyes of my players-

The players (briefly)

6th level Aquilonian Solder/Noble (Free Companion)
6th level Hyrkanian Scholar/borderer (Free Companion)
6th level Kushite Barbarian
6th level Vanir Barbarian

The players are part of a a larger Free Company they have been palling around with. Two of the PC's are "Free Companions" which gives them rank in the company and control over a small part of the larger host. The Free Company is quite large and contains 900- 1,000 some odd warriors roughly as follows..

- 100 Kothic Knights
- 500 Gunderland Pikeman
- 300 Bossonian Archers
- 100 Irregular skirmishers mostly Shemites picked up from a previous adventure.

The scenario (briefly)

A scholar from the Scarlet Circle in the East who the PC's have been following is making his way to a ruined Archerion city on the top of a mountain on the border between Zingara and the Pictish Wilderness to find an artifact or perform some great ritual of dark magic... Some Zingaran settlements are nearby (copper mines mostly).

The session will be heavy on the Mass Combat rule system with a three way standoff between the following forces-

1) The Free Company and thus the PC's who are hired to protect copper mines against Pictish raids by a wealthy Zingaran Count.
2) The Eastern Sorcerer with a small number of guards, and some acolytes.
3) The Picts! ...and lots of them so as to give the mercenary company a run for their money... The Picts are particularly hostile due to the fact that the ruined city is one of their holy sites which they fear holds great evil. They will fight all parties and will have little mercy against any intruders...
3.5) A small group of Stygians (a priestess of Derketo, a tomb guardian, and a Kushite guard) who seek out the Eastern sorcerer because he has robbed some artifact of Derketo in order to pursue his ritual...


Here is where I need help and have been having writers block...

What exactly is the artifact the mysterious scholar seeks, and what does he plan to do with it?

My idea thus far (although I welcome comments)...

The Eastern Sorcerer Zaka has stolen three mummies representing a powerful witches coven...

One is an avatar of Derketo stolen from Stygia- Queen of Lust
One is an avatar of Derketa stolen from the Kushite Lands - Queen of Death
One is an avatar of (?) (All I could come up with is Derkerti Queen of Lies from Hypberboria?)

In any case Zaka hopes to raise all three back to life in order to do his bidding, using some artifact that can only be found within the ruins.

I like the idea of a "Witch's Coven" because three is more deadly than one.. (heheh); and it would be cool if they were linked somehow- as in had abilities and flaws due to their "group" status. It would be neat if each one's "theme" (Death, Lies, or Lust) also had some attached ability. This idea is preferred because it follows previous plot lines I need to tie up, but if anyone has any suggestions about what I might be able to do given the brief description above it would be welcomed.

Sorry for a post that was longer than I intended, but any advice would be appreciated!

 

[decker423]

I"m replying because you haven't gotten one. Sounds like you've everything already. Do your PCs actually HAVE TO KNOW what the artifact is?
Do they insist on the mass combat rules or do you not like merely narrating mass combat (focusing on the group while throwing out bits of info on what's going around them)?

 

[Aholibamah]

Decker's questions are apt but I'll add this: unless the players themselves enjoying running combat units then what works for me mostly is narrating the combat and giving them interesting situations in the midst of it.

(I did a combat like this recently in which a pc got involved in the midst of a battle with chasing down a particular opponent, a Stygian nobleman. I described events around such as flights of arrows, advancing spearmen, wounded groaning on the ground creating minor obstacles, clouds of dust, shouts, screams, drums and horns.)

I think that (if you haven't already started running this) that the artifact should be the necessary element to raise the coven. It should enable the summoner to control them or something like that. Here's a thought:

There's a magical receptacle that is meant to hold the canopic jar(s) holding the hearts of the mummies. It's reasonably big, and possibly normally held in a trunk that is also magical (kind of like the Ark of the Covenant). It needs to be in a place of power in order to put it to work successfully.

 

[decker423]

Decker's questions are apt but I'll add this: unless the players themselves enjoying running combat units then what works for me mostly is narrating the combat and giving them interesting situations in the midst of it.

(I did a combat like this recently in which a pc got involved in the midst of a battle with chasing down a particular opponent, a Stygian nobleman. I described events around such as flights of arrows, advancing spearmen, wounded groaning on the ground creating minor obstacles, clouds of dust, shouts, screams, drums and horns.).

That's exactly what I do too. I have a fixed idea of how the battle will go anyway. I let the PCs fight out the "major" scenes- shoring up the line, plugging a hole in the gate, stopping an enemy breakthrough, charging the enemy lines and taking out the standard bearer/CPT/General, etc.

It's MUCH easier for you, the GM that way and it doesn't take away from the PCs from "getting involved".

BTW, there's a great simple system for mass combat (that I've mostly described but with some obvious mech) in the 1st edition Legend of the Five Rings.