Undead Invasion!!!

[pennywit]

Long story, there's an undead kingdom not far from my players borders (it ties in with my customization of VV), but my players haven't really moved to destroy it, instead building up their own kingdom with an eye toward manufacturing some siege engines. But in Soviet Kingmaker, if you don't attack undead, the undead will attack YOU!!

I'm planning to run the majority of the scenario with the mass combat rules, with some ad-hoc use of the Troop subtype to give my players the opportunity to tear through some enemies and feel like heroes. (The wizard player especially likes rolling a lot of damage dice. I am thinking about getting him some counseling).

The General Plan:

My players have constructed a couple watchtowers out toward their borders, so they're going to have some advance warning that the undead are on the way.

I'm planning for the undead to attack three locations: a watchtower, the capital, and an outlying settlement. There will be a different set of baddies attacking each location, with the strongest force going after the capital. I won't detail all of it. But suffice it to say that the day-side invasion will include hordes of lower-level undead along with a few notable leaders, with vampire spawn doing a surprise attack at night.

If anybody has them, I'd appreciate a few ideas for creative encounters for the battle in the capital (although some of these could be moved elsewhere, if needed). My players have two sets of characters -- their mythic kingdom rulers (level 7-8/mythic tier 3) and their low-level characters (level 5-6). I'd like to concoct a few encounters that involve either set of heroes. Some ideas I had:

Assault the Giants!! The enemy forces will include a group of hill giant zombies who lob rocks at the players' city, acting as undead siege engines. The players can try to take out these giant siege engines before they destroy the players' defensive fortifications.

Defend the Sanctuary!! A group of ghouls tries to assault one of the city's temples, where citizens have taken sanctuary. The lower-level characters (one of them is a cleric who works/lives at the temple) must defend the structure while priests heal and console those inside.

A Faerie's Plea. As the undead armies are marching toward the city, a Melianse, the fairy with the pool, sends word that undead are polluting her grove and she requests help. Do the players send assistance? Kingdom guards/soldiers? Go themselves and leave their capital without protectors?

Honest John's Undead Charms. As word of the undead grows, a street hawker is selling amulets that he says will protect the wearers from undead. He's a fraud selling amulets with a low-level illusion cast on them.

If you guys have other ideas, I'm open too them. I'd like stuff that goes beyond "protect the innocents at place X" and "attack the other side's commanders/special troops," if possible. I also want my players to feel like they're in command of an actual kingdom AND that they have to make some hard decisions.

[tonyz]

An Evil High Priest (LE of Abadar, or Asmodeus, or maybe Zon-Kuthon or Urgathoa) offers to deal with part of the invasion -- for a price. This might work best if the PCs are feeling desperate, such as after they've failed to protect a settlement, or are wondering how they can possibly cover all the different things that need to be done.

The PCs will need to make a DC 30 Diplomacy check to reduce the EHP's terms -- at 30, and every 5 points thereafter, he'll do one additional thing, or settle for one less level of payment. Otherwise the PCs can meet his terms or not -- if they don't, he'll just leave. If the PCs particularly insult or denigrate him, he may join the invading force and raise additional undead.

(a) the Evil High Priest settles for the PCs building a temple to his god in their capital city (naturally, with him as high priest). In this case, he handles one of the branches of the invasion, but then the PCs have to deal with the consequences of having an openly evil temple later on. DM is encouraged to be creative as a roleplaying opportunity

(b) the bargain also makes him High Priest of the kingdom. In this case, he calls on his fellows to handle one branch of the invasion, and a company of Hellknights show up and build a fort in the path of one of the others -- a free watchtower for the PCs, and substantial help against a second branch of the invasion, but +1 Unrest per turn unless the kingdom alignment includes either Lawful or Evil, as the locals don't really like Hellknights).

(c) the Evil High Priest insists on all the above, plus changing their kingdom alignment to LE as they dedicate it to the cleric's deity. +5 Unrest, -2 Loyalty, +2 Economy (slave labor and punishment of runaway serfs becomes commonplace). But the invasion is -- handled. (The EHP conjures a few servitors of his deity to deal with most of it. Some of them freelance a bit during the process. A couple of the Hellknights are riding nightmares instead of common horses.)

Bribing the Evil High Priest (at least 15K worth of magic items he'd find attractive), or offering him a consort and position in the nobility of the kingdom, would provide substantial bonuses to the Diplomacy check. Of course, that has consequences also.

The EHP isn't going to stiff the PCs; he's in this for the long run, and will do as he agrees. However... the undead he defeats will not be destroyed; he'll take control of them and hide them in a vault under his temple, ready to be used later for any particular evil plan that comes to mind. Some of them might be obviously on display in front of his temple, as a reminder to people.

Also, breaking a signed pact with an EHP is likely to ... displease ... the EHP's deity (especially if said deity is living at the bottom of the Nine Hells), so the PCs will have ... consequences ... if they try and stiff the EHP on his terms afterwards.

If the PCs think to investigate, why, no, the EHP doesn't have anything to do with the invasion -- he just heard about it from (unknown evil sources) and wants to take advantage of the situation. Of course, he might be able to find out where the BBEG has his lair, and help the PCs assualt it ... for an additional price.

[Philip Knowsley]

Pennywit,
Re your 'Defend the Sanctuary!!' piece.
You say that only 1 of the PCs lives there, that means that the others will
have to come from somewhere to help... :)

Why not have them come across other 'obstacles' at which point they have to make
hard choices. You can either have them all in 1 group, or if you wanna get
creative, singly or in pairs...

You're racing to the temple & you have possibly 10(?) rounds to get there before
the undead overrun the defences.
But wait, that building there is on fire & there are people on the top floor,
oh & look...just around the street corner there is a small group of skeletons
setting fire to those shops...oh look - that child is fleeing in the midst of
the chaos...etc etc etc.

:) Have fun.