Just 1 player with a BaB of at least 1, and proficiency in light crossbows, is required for the 10-person archery unit. There can be no more than 1 unit of this type.
You may make a DC 15 Craft (bows) check at the end of the day; success indicates that the archers took their fletching lessons well and successfully produced enough bolts to earn the village an additional 1 Defense Point.
Up to 4 10-person units can be trained by players with a BaB of at least 1. The presence of 1 player per unit is required.
You may make a DC 15 Intimidate check to act like a drill-sergeant and make the villagers work harder.
Time Requirements: A group of 30 villagers takes 6 days to complete the barricade.
Villager Requirements: Every additional 10 villagers assigned to this task reduces the days to completion by 2. Likewise, fewer villagers assigned increases the time by 2 days for every 10 villagers fewer than 30 working on it.
Player Requirements: You're not required to directly work on this defense, but doing so speeds construction. A DC 15 Knowledge (engineering) or Profession (woodcutter) check allows 10 villagers to be assigned elsewhere for that day with the same amount of work still being done on the barricade. (Only 10 workers per day may be reassigned in this fashion.) Additionally, if one of you oversees construction each day of work, you may make a single DC 15 Craft (traps) or Disable Device check when the barricade is completed. Success at this check represents traps incorporated into the barricade, such as digging concealed pits or sharpened timbers designed to impale attackers.
The villagers are constantly wary for the arrival of the bandits, and a Perception check will be made daily for the village. This Perception check has a modifier of +4, and important results will be shared with you. Though there's a way for you to increase the modifier, which is described below.
Villager Requirements: Villagers can be assigned as lookouts; for every 5 villagers keeping watch in a day, the village gets a +1 bonus on its Perception check. Also, a cumulative +1 bonus is added for each day previous that any villagers were assigned as scouts.
Player Requirements: You're not required to participate in scouting and can simply have villagers report back to you. If one of you has a high bonus on Perception checks, you can choose to spend a day scouting, using your Perception bonus in place of the village's base +4, while still adding bonuses to the check for extra villagers and cumulative days.
Day 4
Rolan re-continues archery training with his unit of villagers. The archers are now able to hit some of the moving human-sized targets at a range of 100 feet. There is, however, little progress on the crafting of crossbow bolts.
Negi and Mia continue their combat training with two new units and try to intimidate them into working harder. Negi's fairly successful in the intimidation, but Mia's less convincing. They figure any further intimidation in the days to come won't do any good anyway. Still, they're both able to get their respective units in better fighting shape.
Belinda's team is a little short-staffed, but with her supervision there's still some progress made on the barricades.
Theron doesn't notice any change in bandit activities. He still expects the bandits will arrive after a total of 9 days of preparations.
Day 5
On the fifth day of your preparations Rolan finishes the archery training for his unit. They're now able to hit several human-sized targets at a distance up to the reach of their light crossbows. During the crafting of more arrows, Rolan discovers there's little need to make any more.
Negi and Mia both aren't able to get their respective units to work any harder than they already are. What's more, they discover the extra effect their intimidation had has worn off.
Belinda continues to work on the barricade with 20 of the villagers, making some more progress.
Theron doesn't notice any change in bandit activities. He still expects the bandits will arrive after a total of 9 days of preparations.
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Barricades I think at the moment would be best. It sounds like we have a good feel on when the bandits are due to arrive. When the people are out scouting, can they set traps and such in the woods to help us at all? If so then it may be worthwhile having a few more out there.
Have we been rotating the milita folk through the barricades and training, or do we have twenty untrained and twenty semi-trained? If we rotated people through, we might be able to work the intimidate angle a bit more? I guess some of this depends on exactly how the defense point mechanic works.
@GM - do we have a feel for how much progress we have made on the barricade? With an expected four days more, does it look feasible to finish it?
Day 6
Negi and Mia continue to train the same units as they did yesterday, but notice no additional progress has been made by their respective units. Further training of these two units will not yield any results.
Belinda and Rolan work on the barricades with thirty of the villagers. the work progresses swiftly with the additional manpower and Rolan's knowledge of engineering. In just this day there's as much progress on the barricades as there was in the previous days combined.
Theron doesn't notice any change in bandit activities. He still expects the bandits will arrive after a total of 9 days of preparations.
Day 7
Negi and Mia rotate the units that have finished their combat training for two other units, but notice the same as they did with yesterday's unit. The villagers have learned all they can in this short amount of time to prepare, and further combat training won't yield any results.
Belinda and Rolan make more amazingly swift progress on the barricades. By the end of the day the work's done and Rolan's even installed a couple of traps in the barricades.
Day 8
With the aid of all fifty villagers it doesn't take Theron a lot of effort to figure out, with a hundred percent certainty, when the bandits will strike. The bandits will attack Nesting Swallow tomorrow!
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In mid, afternoon, after nearly all possible preparations have been made, Negi calls the people all together in the village square.
"As most of you should be aware by now, we expect the bandits to hit us tomorrow." He gives them a few seconds to let that sink in. "This is it, the moment we've been preparing for. Protect your lives, you loved ones, and your livelihood. You've done everything you can to prepare, so I want you to spend the rest of the day for yourselves. Remind yourselves why you're fighting."
Negi pauses, takes a deep breath, and lets out a long sigh. "Despite our best efforts, I'm afraid not everybody will make it back from this. So talk to your friends, your families. If there's something you've been wanting to say, somebody you need to reconnect with, but couldn't find the right time to approach them, that time is now. Swallow your pride. Clear the air with your neighbor. Make that long-overdue apology, forgive your old friends. Tell your family how much you love them. Go into battle tomorrow with a clear conscience and no regrets." He finishes with a smile. "Just some of you... don't take all night, okay? You know who you are. Dismissed!"
Negi's speech has a positive effect on the villagers, who go to visit their relatives, friends and even enemies afterward. Je Tsun approaches you and asks you to come to her house, where the other council members are also waiting.
Once you've all gathered inside Je Tsun addresses you. "I'd like to suggest you establish yourselves at the position where the barricades stretch across the largest road leading out of Nesting Swallow, to the north. We have reason to believe the bandits will attack there first, judging by previous attacks."
"I'd also like to use this opportunity to thank you for all the effort you've gone through thus far. Whatever the outcome of tomorrow's battle, we're indebted to you."
Day 9...
The day has been long and tense, as Nesting Swallow finds itself waiting for the sword to fall. Villagers spend shifts keeping watch over the hastily erected, crude bamboo walls surrounding their village, and constant reports of the enemy riders’ movements filter back and forth between the barricades. As the sun sinks below the western hills, the sharper-eyed among those manning the barricades report a number of riders forming into groups along the roads; these reports are soon proved true as the sound of hammering hooves comes out of the twilight, and the dusk erupts with tengu warriors riding toward the village. And so the battle begins.
While you stand near the northern barricade with and handful of spearmen and archers backing you up, most of the villagers you trained take positions at the other barricades.
Five tengu bandits start charging toward the northern barricade. They're currently 400 feet removed from the northern barricade.
Round 1:
Belinda
Mia
Negi
Rolan
Theron
Tengu bandits
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Belinda has Bertie the bear stand near the barriade.
As the others start to climb it she calls out.
"Don't go over it. You'll be helpless there!"
Unable to restrain herself, she also climbs up , and then in a fit of enthusiasm hurls a sling stone at long range at the bandits.
It is on target, but lacking any real force at that range.
Rolan moves atop the barricade, his bow in hand, and pulls an extract of shield from his belt.
Mia joins Rolan atop the barricade and goes into snapping turtle style.
Negi mounts Jon, who climbs deftly up the barricade. He nocks an arrow and prepares a shot for the first bandit to get within his reach.
Belinda has Bertie stand near the barricade and calls out a warning to the others. Unable to restrain herself she also climbs up the barricade, and in a fit of enthusiasm hurls a sling stone in the general direction of the bandits. The stone ends up on the road, fifty feet north of the barricade.
Round 1:
Belinda
Mia
Negi
Rolan
Theron
Tengu bandits
Theron joins the others and readies a shot for the first bandit to come into view.
The bandits continue to move toward the barricade and are now at a distance of 250 feet from the northern barricade.
Round 2:
Belinda
Mia
Negi (Attack readied)
Rolan
Theron (Attack readied)
Tengu bandits (250 ft. removed)
Rolan drinks his potion of shield and pulls a potion of reduce person from his belt.
Belinda tries her luck again, but in her excitement the stone goes flying backwards.
Mia readies for the enemy to come close enough for her to charge off the barricade, which causes Belinda to call out in horror.
Meanwhile Negi tells the archers to ready.
The tengu bandits continue their charge and enter the archers' reach. The archers let loose a volley of crossbow bolts, which take out one of the bandits and his horse. The bandit crashes into one of his allies, who falls off his horse and breaks his neck. One of the other bandits his horse steps into one of the ditches Theron was so eager to dig last evening. His horse trips and breaks a leg, causing the bandit to fall of. When the bandit gets up from the ground he's immediately pierced by crossbow bolts.
Two bandits on horseback remain, and both Negi and Theron release their readied shots at one of them. Theron's attack misses, but Negi hits the bandit in his shoulder.
Round 3:
Belinda
Mia
Negi
Rolan
Theron
Tengu bandit (100 ft. removed)
Tengu bandit -4HP (100 ft. removed)
Theron takes another shot and gives the injured tengu a small cut.
Rolan drinks his other potion and calmly watches the bandits approaching.
Belinda slings again and this time the sling tangles around her arm.
Negi shoots another arrow, but barely misses the injured bandit.
The horses run forward and the tengu and on top draw wakizashi. Once they're in front of the barricade, one bandit attacks Mia and the other attacks Rolan.
Mia's hit by the wakizashi of one of the bandits, but dodges his bite.
The wakizashi aimed at Rolan bounces off his invisible shield and Rolan dodges the bite.
Round 4:
Belinda
Mia (Snapping Turtle Style)
Negi
Rolan (+6 AC; +1 attack bonus; -2 Str)
Theron
Tengu bandit, blue
Tengu bandit, red -5HP