I'm prepping the Stag Lord's fort (6-player version) for my players for tomorrow. Once combat starts (whether from an all-out assault, or from being detected as infiltraters) how do you keep them from having to fight off all the bandits at once? Or are they supposed to all gang up on the PCs?
As a suggeston of one who has run said adventure?
Look at the lay out of the ruins. While the building could be a great force multiplier for the defenders/NPC's, the place really isn't set up to allow the bad guys the chances to do so.
There's lots of reasons, such as the probably regularly shifting rubble due to rats, for the NPC's to not realize initially that the players are there/coming for them. Once the alarm has been raised, the lay out is still pretty awe-full for the NPC's to actually get at them and gang up on them.
I just spread the NPC's out and even when the alarm was raised, had them more bunker in to defend themselves and NOT rush off to help attack the players.
Hope those thoughts/comments help.
*Bows*
That'd certainly solve the issue. How well did it work out? Did the party handle each fight with no trouble, or were they challenging? I certainly don't want to go the other direction and make it a cakewalk either, and six-on-one fights (like Auchs would be) tend to be that.
I would just advise your party that this is meant to be a difficult encounter and that they need to be tactically smart and have a plan to have the best chance of succeeding. Then let the chips fall where they may. If they choose to launch a frontal assault in broad daylight without scouting or intelligence-gathering, well, it's their funeral.
In other words, it is their job to come up with a plan that allows them to succeed by preventing the bandits from concentrating their forces against them. Your job is just to play the NPCs logically and consistent with their descriptions. The one big ace you have up your sleeve is Akiros. How and when (and even if) he takes the actions described in the AP are totally up to you, and can have a huge impact on how this encounter turns out, making it either much easier or much, much more difficult.
My group first launched an abortive night assault (disrupted by unexpected and noisy interference from other denizens of the hill), then settled in for a series of probes and feints from both sides, which inflicted a few casualties on the defenders, before launching another night assault that proved successful. Lots of very different ways this can go, though, limited only by the imagination of your players and yourself.
|
In my game, the PCs themselves kept the bandits from overwhelming them. They bluffed their way in, then when they attacked at dawn, they stealthed in to Akiros'room, and secured his assistance with crazy-awesome Diplomacy checks. Dovan noticed something was amiss and started rousing the others. The ranger dueled the Stag Lord, the alchemist AC buffed and held the door, the oracle ran back and forth healing. The real game-changer was the sorc's judicious application of the Web spell. The group turned overwhelming odds into a manageable choke point. I kept it challenging by Ayles and Dovan burning the webs to clear the battlefield (you know those two aren't gonna weep if a few bandits burn up in the process), and having Dovan drag Nugrah out of his hidey-hole to join the fight.
Anyway, there are stealthy ways and tactical ways of dealing with the sitiation. Splitting them up, either by leading them away or controlling the battlefield like my group did. There are also a lot of ways you can turn the odds in your PCs' favor if they get in over their heads. The Stag Lord can spend a round retching or clutching at his head. Akiros can join the heroes at a suitably dramatic moment. Dovan, Akiros, and the other bandits have beef with each other beyond the PCs' interactioms with them. Maybe Jeb decides he's sick of that lousy snitch Jex. There's plenty you can extrapolate from the module to scale up or down the difficulty on the fly. Hope this is of some help to you, and have fun!
Anyway, there are stealthy ways and tactical ways of dealing with the sitiation. Splitting them up, either by leading them away or controlling the battlefield like my group did. There are also a lot of ways you can turn the odds in your PCs' favor if they get in over their heads. The Stag Lord can spend a round retching or clutching at his head. Akiros can join the heroes at a suitably dramatic moment. Dovan, Akiros, and the other bandits have beef with each other beyond the PCs' interactioms with them. Maybe Jeb decides he's sick of that lousy snitch Jex. There's plenty you can extrapolate from the module to scale up or down the difficulty on the fly. Hope this is of some help to you, and have fun!
Ooh, good list. I'll make sure to prepare a few of these (in addition to Akiros), in case of overwhelming odds, and otherwise let the chips fall where they may.