Tactical Camp Placement

[Mr. Green]

I'm currently in a game where there is a lot of wilderness adventure time. As such there is a greater potential for random encounters while we are out in the wild.

My question is this, is there anyway via RAW to tactical set up camp so that a battle or a conflict is geared towards the party?

My thoughts in this process are as follow:
1. We make camp in a small cave in order to protect our selves better.
2. Make camp in the hallow of a big tree (I love the wizards first rule series).
3. We choose the best location for camp that gives us a good view of the surrounding area while limiting the ability of monsters to creep up on us with out notice.

I know that when camping in real life one picks the camp based on the lay of the land, and if one was in a conflict you pick a place that limits the ability of the aggressor to attack you with out notice.

How does a player reflect this in the game, is there any rules that would take this into consideration?

[kyrt-ryder]

First. High Five on being a Sword of Truth fan, epicly awesome series that.

As to your question, it varies a lot. The tree bit is decent, but it's awfully easy to get ambushed in them or blown up/burned down with the tree if something can find you in it (such as Scent.)

Furthermore, does your setting even have trees that work like Wayward Pines? I can't recall seeing a tree with such low hanging branches in the real world.

The BEST camp is an extended wand of rope trick (3rd level wand, lasts 10 hours)

[Lincoln Hills]

I'd ordinarily allow a Survival or Knowledge (architecture/engineering) check, player's choice, for them to pick out a decent campsite. Of course, picking a defensible campsite depends a lot on the terrain, but also on whether you expect melee attack (in which case high ground is good) or an assault from ranged weapons (in which case high ground makes you an easy target.)

That said, when I as the GM map out a campsite battle, I almost always assume a good-sized boulder, cliff or tree being used as a windbreak (the main exception being prairie and the harshest kind of rocky desert: even rolling plains usually have large scrub-brush). Whenever possible I try to include some sort of interesting terrain - natural ledges allowing access up or down a cliff, fallen logs, a grass-covered gully, a wide stretch of slippery mud, that sort of thing. Almost any such feature has some defensive utility as high ground, concealment, cover, a barrier, or a "trap" (with a low Perception DC). It fancies up the battlefield.

[nosig]

why do all the work yourself? turn your players loose on this one. have them sketch you several campsites and tell you how they are going to defend them. Be sure to have some of the bad guys stumble into their defenses - just because you know the defenses are there doesn't mean the bad guys do. And you can be sure at least one of your players will have fun laying this out is great detail.

[Bascaria]

nosig wrote:

why do all the work yourself? turn your players loose on this one. have them sketch you several campsites and tell you how they are going to defend them. Be sure to have some of the bad guys stumble into their defenses - just because you know the defenses are there doesn't mean the bad guys do. And you can be sure at least one of your players will have fun laying this out is great detail.

This is one of my favorite tools as a DM. If the party rolls particularly well on a survival check to find a campsite or ambush site, then I hand them the markers and tell them to draw it. I might tell them generally what sorts of things they are allowed to have, but they get to define their own battlefield.

If they have been scouting as well and know what is coming at them, it can be particularly gratifying.

As a player, there are a few things you can do mechanically, and a few things you can do non-mechanically.

Mechanically, you can roll survival and appropriate knowledge skills to find a safe campsite and learn what monsters might be in the area and how they track, then plan accordingly.

Non-mechanically, if you don't set a fire, then you are less likely to attract monsters. If you put yourself on top of an open hill, then you will be harder to surprise, but also much easier to spot. If you build your camp inside a huge tangle of vines and trees, then you will be much harder to spot, but also easier to sneak up on if you are spotted.

If you have enough darkvision characters to have at least one per watch, then do so. Keep any animals in the center of your camp so that brigands or carnivorous animals can't make off with them, bypassing your guards. A few hunting dogs can also make a great alarm system.

If you have access to magic, rope trick is a fantastic one. If you can afford it, sticking a stone of alarm to the end of the rope can help, but you risk running afoul of curious woodland critters if you have a particularly pranksterish GM or are anywhere near fey.

However, there are no hard and fast rules for random encounters, so there are also no hard and fast rules for how to reduce them. The best you can really do is talk to your GM, see what he recommends, and if he is hesitant, then roll some dice to justify getting the information.

[nosig]

we used to make something we called "GuardPosts" which were basicly a tent post with a magic mouth on it with instructions that if any creature larger than a house cat were to approach it from the "front" of the post while it is stuck in the ground the spell would shout "Sargent of the Guard, intruder at Post number (insert post number)". We'd set a number of these out at night and collect them in the morning. Our DM actually had one of the bad guys cast area effect spells on them, it was great fun.

If the players give you a detailed map of what the prefered camp sight would look like, and they roll and OK survival (or Kn: Nature or Profession Hunter etc.) to find it - change it around a little. perhaps key it on how detailed they are looking for and how good their roll is (better rolls less changes). This would get them to use skills they normally don't use, in ways they normally don't use them.

[BigNorseWolf]

My favorite trick, when all else fails, it to build two camps. Attackers will either have to get lucky and guesse who's where or split up their forces to cover both of them

[Troubleshooter]

Sigh. Almost all my players have Rings of Sustenance; all have max Perception; three creatures have Scent; and all have Low-Light Vision or Darkvision.

Night encounters aren't much fun.