I agree that I would not roll Hide checks for the Picts in the warband either. Just take 10 and call it even. Yes that means that the Picts don't risk rolling a 1 but it also means they can't benefit from rolling a 20. Let the "luck factor" come into play when the PC's make their rolls. This speeds up play as well.
As for booby traps. Yes the booby traps will be posted mostly on paths. Moving through trackless jungle is hard unless you have a good borderer to guide you. If you players decide to move off the trail have them face slow movement rates, random encounters with jungle monsters, and environmental hazards. If they stay on the trail they risk occasional boobytraps and will likely pass by hidden Pict sentinels. Its the rock and a hard place my friend. Throwing hard decisions like that at your players is how you make them loath and fear Pictland.
Aside: not all the booby traps have to actually be set to get invaders. Snares set on a game trail to catch food are perfectly logical and plenty deadly to the PC's.
Look, the Picts fail to conquer the Aquilonians because they have inferior weapons, technology and trainning (that changes when they finally aquire the mystery of steel, as seen in the Hyborian age essay). This is reflected in their character stats. At the end of the day they may be savages but they are still only human. If you simply match their character stat block against the PC's character stat block they will usually loose. But, OTOH, the Aquilonians fail to conquer Pictland because the Picts fight with the home field advantage. Most of the advice on this thread boils down to us saying that if you want your Picts to be feared you have to give them that home field advantage, and that isn't represent in their stat block.
Remember, the Picts know their forest. They know, from experience, what direction and down what paths outsiders will come, where they will go for clean water, where they will sleep. They don't have to monitor hundreds of square miles of wilderness, only a few key points. The picts know where all the dangers of the jungle lurk, they can evade them while drawing the outsiders into them. The Picts know how long it will take the outsiders to move, they can wait and watch the invaders while sending runners down secret trails (or using talking drums) to summon reinforcments and/or set ambushes. The Picts are patient, they will wait until night to attack while people are sleeping (or maybe sneak in and knife just a few victims, or destroy/poision some supplies instead). They will engage just to gang up on, and kill, a single target quickly then run. They wittle down the strength of the group over time (long-term thinking). If worst comes to worst they can pack up and move the village and let the invaders wander around the woods, finding nothing, until they get exhausted and go home depressed. Home field advantage.
Hope that helps.
As for booby traps. Yes the booby traps will be posted mostly on paths. Moving through trackless jungle is hard unless you have a good borderer to guide you. If you players decide to move off the trail have them face slow movement rates, random encounters with jungle monsters, and environmental hazards. If they stay on the trail they risk occasional boobytraps and will likely pass by hidden Pict sentinels. Its the rock and a hard place my friend. Throwing hard decisions like that at your players is how you make them loath and fear Pictland.
Aside: not all the booby traps have to actually be set to get invaders. Snares set on a game trail to catch food are perfectly logical and plenty deadly to the PC's.
Look, the Picts fail to conquer the Aquilonians because they have inferior weapons, technology and trainning (that changes when they finally aquire the mystery of steel, as seen in the Hyborian age essay). This is reflected in their character stats. At the end of the day they may be savages but they are still only human. If you simply match their character stat block against the PC's character stat block they will usually loose. But, OTOH, the Aquilonians fail to conquer Pictland because the Picts fight with the home field advantage. Most of the advice on this thread boils down to us saying that if you want your Picts to be feared you have to give them that home field advantage, and that isn't represent in their stat block.
Remember, the Picts know their forest. They know, from experience, what direction and down what paths outsiders will come, where they will go for clean water, where they will sleep. They don't have to monitor hundreds of square miles of wilderness, only a few key points. The picts know where all the dangers of the jungle lurk, they can evade them while drawing the outsiders into them. The Picts know how long it will take the outsiders to move, they can wait and watch the invaders while sending runners down secret trails (or using talking drums) to summon reinforcments and/or set ambushes. The Picts are patient, they will wait until night to attack while people are sleeping (or maybe sneak in and knife just a few victims, or destroy/poision some supplies instead). They will engage just to gang up on, and kill, a single target quickly then run. They wittle down the strength of the group over time (long-term thinking). If worst comes to worst they can pack up and move the village and let the invaders wander around the woods, finding nothing, until they get exhausted and go home depressed. Home field advantage.
Hope that helps.