OOPs thats not going to go well.

[zozotroll]

My players have just secured an abandoned Abbey, and have holed up for the night. They know that in the morning a small army (about 35) is going to attack them. They do realize that they are peasants, but there are a lot of them.

I, and the peasants, expected them to chage into the group and try to cut thier way through, led by the barbarian. Nope, the thief had a different idea. They are going to fort up in the top of the Abbey, and let the Bossonian archer thin them out a bit.

I have worked it out. They are going to get 10 rounds of fire into the peasants before they get there. Then they are going to have to fight at the head of two stairways. When the peasants lose 12 guys, they break and run.

I dont thing the peasants can even get to the abbey. If it was just the Archer, then perhaps, but the Barb and the Soldier both have bows as well. Any hit by the Archer is going to kill a peasant. Not sure about the others.

The thing is, I dont alter encounters. I set thing up as far in advance as I can. If they are in an area where there is a 3rd level bandit gang, then thats what is there if the party is 1st level or 15th.

The good part I supose is the Archer is going to be a real hero on this one.

 

[Bygoneyrs]

Well you could always add in some 'other' creature/monster that uses the place as a lair and it comes out to see what is making all that noise.

Penn

 

[zozotroll]

There was a monster there, they had to beat it first. And a great fight it was to. At one point half the party was down and the others down to 3-4 HPs each. But they pulled it out and then cleared the rest of the abbey, and got the small amount of loot that was there.

They are expecting another harsh fight. I dont think they are going to be disapointed because they get an easy one. They want a day or two to heal up, but are suddenly in a border crossing raid. So they are going to hit 2-3 of these bands on the way back.

The only thing that will keep them from doing this to all of them is lack of arrows.

 

[Scorpion13]

Screw with them. Hanging out in a building hiding from peasants and picking them off one by one in a methodical, non-exciting way is not Conan. (Like when Nathan Explosion says something isnt METAL or BRUTAL enough)

Adamant Games put out a supplement for their great Thrilling Tales d20 Modern pulp stuff about shaking up the routine. A man burst through the door with a gun, a sniper kills an informant, etc. Its to keep things exciting and break routines that make the game rote and decidedly un-pulp. I though it was excellent.

Maybe set the abbey on fire, or maybe have some soldiers from the local nobility ride by and attack, or maybe the villagers (who, remember, can be really, really sneaky, lowdown bastards) poison the water supply under cover of darkness.

But thats just if you want to keep things moving. I dont even know if youre asking advice on this. I myself would mess with them. Kick them out of there and on out to more adventure.

 

[Saeros]

I agree with Scorpion. After a few peasants get arrows in the forehead, they are going to smarten up and take cover. Perhaps surround the place and wait the party out, or set fire to it to drive them out. They all can't be the village idiot...

 

[Supplement Four]

I say let them have their victory. If they play well and execute a good idea, they'll all feel like a sense of accomplishment. Pat 'em on the back and let the plan work (unless the dice go against them--that can happen).

It will buy you loads of "trust" with the players. They won't feel like they're damned if they do/damned if they don't, and feel like they really are in control of their own destinies (when you and I know they're not--you are).

But, it will build up a sense of accomplishment. It will probably be good for your group.

Just my two pieces of silver.

 

[zozotroll]

I have an idea of what I want to do, but it helps to read what others would do. Generaly, i just let things go as they go. If the party wins, great. If its a TPK, well they will be more careful next time. Of course I suppose that in Conan it is a Total party LFD.

 

[Clovenhoof]

As much as I often do not, I agree with Supplement Four here -- if the PCs outsmart your NPCs, good for them! Don't suddenly add in totally different stuff just to screw them over. Granted, picking off peasants from a tower isn't very Conan, but killing peasants in melee isn't Conan either. So that is a moot point.

Besides, I gather that the PCs are still quite shaken and low on HP, so charging headlong into a mob would be probably a very stupid thing for them to do.

Of course, when the peasants realize they're getting slaughtered without a chance to get back at the party, they'll probably shake a leg - nothing wrong with that. What happens after that is a different story.

We once had a comparable situation in our game, where we were about to loot a crypt that was guarded by four animated statues.
So my Barbarian tied up a rope into a lariat, caught one of the statues with it and dragged it out into the hallway -- originally to be able to gang up on it, but then we discovered that these statues would crumble to dust upon leaving the crypt room. So of course we repeated that to get rid of a second statue.

Then the GM said: "The remaining two statues now retreat to the far end of the crypt, and seem to be trying to figure out what to do now."
Me: "They better think fast, cuz I'm going to catch the next one now."
GM: "Then let's save the trouble." *flicks the remaining two statue markers off the board*

 

[David St-Michel]

Well, you have tons of options.

I think that the peasants won't necessarily just keep charging the abbey door like lemmings. If they're even averagely intelligent, they'll see they have a few options.

- Pick up some leftover wood and build a makeshift cover and battering ram.
- poison water supply (as suggested earlier)
- set the place on fire (as suggested earlier)
- wait until nightfall and climb the windows/ledges
- set up a "siege" and wait for them
- set up traps for when they'll eventually come out

The list goes on.

I will admit that I do not have a general idea of what my game will look like. I have some thoughts of particular plots, but besides that I just see where the players go and roll with it. No script, no railroading. It's a big world out there, I let the lovable little scamps have their fun with it.

I provide opportunities, they provide the fun.

 

[Ichabod]

Why is the "army" attacking them?

I don't believe in combat for combat's sake. If the party can easily win, use the rules from the Warrior's Companion on resolving trivial encounters*, or if you don't have it, make up some "encounter resolution" rules or narrate what happens.

* By far the most commonly used mechanic out of the WC for us. It's kind of sketchy in terms of whether it makes any difference to lose a few hit points, but it does resolve situations that would logically occur without the tedium of playing them out.

IMO, combat is only worth playing out when it matters to the plot or when the party can lose. What is the plot relevance of this battle? If there isn't any, could come up with some.

The only encounters/obstacles the party should have to play out are ones that are challenging and/or interesting.

 

[Paladin]

-Would it help to have peasants come from multiple angles to minimize the number that can get shot or is it a bell tower with free vision of all angles?
-Give them a wagon to push in front of them to give them some cover/hide behind.
-camels/horses to close on the abbey faster?
-I also like the idea of fire on the abbey and possibly escaping underground some how or finding a passage to a crypt that may lead to another adventure. Perhaps they notice the smoke shifting in an odd pattern near a secret passage.

 

[B_Steele]

Never forget the ultimate equaliser - the WEATHER.

What will that archer do when the sky turns grey, the first thunder peals and the winds start to blow hard with driving rain? Give him the shots, just impose a hell of a penalty for the situation and soon your tower will be crawling with peasant attackers!

Not to mention what it adds to the narrative atmosphere...

-Bry

 

[Scorpion13]

Why is the "army" attacking them?

Well...theyre criminals and thieves, holed up in a castle after killing a bunch of peasants...so I dont see how soldiery could find a better reason to fight them. Outside of someone outright attacking the country, these guys are the kind of guys soldiers are paid to kill.

And you cant even go with the corrupt soldier defense. The villagers wouldnt need to pay or bribe them, they would probably jump at the chance to do someting like this to break up the boredom of soldiering, and its not nearly as dangerous as outright battle.

Im just saying.

 

[zozotroll]

OK, a couple of background points. First it is an old abandoned ruined abbey. Much of the wood has been scavanged for fires so not much left to burn. Not only is the front door gone, so is the entire back wall. No water suppy to poison.

The PCs are there with a lay priest who is of the same church. They are there to find the hiding place of the last abbots diary. this they diod find. Now they just want to get home, get uncursed, and sell the few small trinkets they picked up with the Diary.

They are near the Argos/Zingara boarder. One of the Zingaran boarder lords has staged a raid across the frontier with a cheap army of peasants. Right now the whole countryside is crawling with peasants. The party is just trying to get home.

I am going to let the peasants just surge up. One, none of them have a better idea, and no leadership at this time. Plus, it is not often that an Archer gets a chance to shine. So this is likely to be his day.

We play out every combat. that way, the party does not know which is important, and which is not. So they have to be careful about burning themselves out on small encounters.

 

[PrinceYyrkoon]

I say let them have their victory. If they play well and execute a good idea, they'll all feel like a sense of accomplishment. Pat 'em on the back and let the plan work (unless the dice go against them--that can happen).

It will buy you loads of "trust" with the players. They won't feel like they're damned if they do/damned if they don't, and feel like they really are in control of their own destinies (when you and I know they're not--you are).

But, it will build up a sense of accomplishment. It will probably be good for your group.

Just my two pieces of silver.

Im with Clovenhoof when he says he doesnt often agree with Supplement Four! (All in good fun though SF!). I have to agree with him here, what a fantastic amount of sense Supplement Four spoke, and seemed to be in the minority.

What a great plan your players formulated. Its easy, I suppose, to resent their simple soution, but its the art of the GM to give up control, not forcing it on your players. I disagree that its somehow, not 'Conan' for your players to do this. Conan wasnt an idiot, neither are your players.

 

[Supplement Four]

Of course, when the peasants realize they're getting slaughtered without a chance to get back at the party, they'll probably shake a leg - nothing wrong with that. What happens after that is a different story.

Yeah, you could have the peasants "get smart" about it.

After enough of them die, they retreat to a perimiter just out of bowshot.

And...they starve the PCs out?

Or..., "Hey, what's that? Smoke?" Suddenly the old farmhouse is a blazing tomb if the PC's don't get out of it. And, if they get out of it, they lose their advantage with the bowman on the roof. Now, you're back to your original scenario--the PCs vs. the crowd of peasants.

 

[zozotroll]

After the fight at the abbey, it will likely be a running fight all the way back. None of the peasants are likely to hurt them badly, but there will certainly be a wearing away of HP and bandages.

At the end, I hope they come away with a dislike of Zingarans in general, and one partiicular baron a focus of hate.

 

[centerfire]

Put me down for what Supplement Four and Clovenhoof have said. There's very little that builds GM credibility quicker than allowing the players to reap the rewards of clever play, and very little that destroys GM credibility quicker than arbitrarily dropping complications on players to satisfy an abstract sense that they haven't "earned the win".

If they shrewdly figure out a way past, through, or around the central challenge of a given encounter, let 'em enjoy it.

Of course, as others have mentioned, the peasants here don't necessarily have to offer themselves up as cannon fodder in a frontal assault, either. Maybe the peasants, as elements of the Zingaran lord's "cheap army", would offer to look the other way as the party escaped (rather than summon endless reinforcements) in return for a proper bribe?

 

[Bygoneyrs]

May I ask why the "peasants" are attacking the players, if the players killed a monster that was using the place as a lair? One would think they would be happy the monster was killed?

Penn

 

[thelevitator]

I was kind of wondering the same thing. If the PC's killed a monster that was living in the abbey, couldn't they use the carcass to either win over the peasants by showing that they vanquished the beast, or at least scare them into realizing just how fearsome the PC's are?