I had a thought for a Pathfinder Day-like event at my local hobby store that would, basically, be the defense of Helm's Deep using the castle from the movies as I don't think a book version was ever published.
I haven't thought much beyond simply the idea of defending Helm's Deep, but the fun of the event is that, because it's a one-off, it's a chance to bring one of those uber-power builds that people may have lieing around. I'm looking for ideas/advice on a number of things that either myself, or someone else that may wish to run the event, can use.
Things I'm not sure on:
Class level: Every PC would be the same level, but I'm not sure at what level this should take place. I would use level 6 at the minimum, so the main spell casters can have 3rd level spells, and 12 at the max for 6th level spells.
Number of Players: What should be the minimum, what should be the max? Part of me says the minimum is three (Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli) but it should be around 5. As for the maximum number, part of me wants there to be no maximum number, and maybe have multiple GMs that run different sections of the castle. The other part says maybe a max of 7 players, with different GMs each running the event separately. One idea, that occurred to me after I typed the whole thing, is that there could be different tables for different levels. Say Table 1 is 6th level, Table 2 is 9th level, and Table 3 is 12th level. Don't know how that would work, and it may involve drawing lots after I set out a sign up sheet so that the table players are random and there would be no fighting over who is at which table.
Uruk-Hai: I know the Uruk-Hai are a mix of Orc and Men (implying Half-Orc) but they are supposed to be larger and stronger than normal Orcs. My initial thought is a new race of my own design that would be somewhat similar to Hobgoblins in feel, in that Hobgoblins are a larger and more powerful version of Goblins. The other thought is to simply use the Black Orc race from Frog God Games, and give them the Ferocity ability to make them slightly different.
Uruk-Hai Levels: This depends largely on the levels of the PCs but I would like to maintain a fairly large (like 4 or 5) level discrepancy between the Uruk-Hai and the PCs with the PCs being the higher level. So if the minimum level is 6, the Uruk-Hai level would be 1 or 2. I figure, there would be, mostly, two different versions, one that is a fighter (for the vast majority of the the Uruk-Hai) and one that is a Barbarian (for the berserker Uruak-Hai we see in the movies).
How to run the fights: The best I've come up with is simply a seemingly never-ending press of enemies, maybe with a fixed number (say, 10,000) that can be dwindled away by the PCs. Each round, d% number of Uruk-Hai are killed by the NPCs stationed on the battlements. I don't need to worry about ranged attacks as, except for one instance in the movies, the only Uruk-Hai that used a ranged attack was sort-of a BBEG.
Timed Events: I was thinking that after so many rounds, certain things happen. Like after 10 rounds, a group of shielded Uruk-Hai make a move on the castle doors to ram them open and the PCs should respond to the event to buy time. Or after 20 rounds, a number of Uruk-Hai make the suicide run to blow the wall. The other thought is to tie these events and the number of kills together (see above). So at say, 500 kills, the Uruk-Hai march on the door, at 1,000, they blow the wall.
Equipment and Gear: I'm not sure what to set for this. From reading the books and watching the movies, it seems fairly obvious to me that it's a low magic world, so the PCs wouldn't really have access to any. On the other hand, it could be describe as a non-obviously magical world, so limited to things like +2 weapons, but no +1 Flaming weapons. The only real exception to this seems to be Sting, Glamdring and a few of the other named elven swords that glow in the presence of orc/goblin enemies. It could even be that the Elven weapons are orc/goblin bane weapons (I read somewhere that Tolkien viewed the words orc and goblin as interchangeable and that they both referred to the same race). So one could imagine Aragorn wielding a +2 bastard sword, with Gimli and Legolas using +1 Orc/Goblin Bane weapons, as their races fight Orcs and Goblins more than any other race.
This could put a real limit on some classes, since 'overtly magical' would nix things like wands, potions, scrolls etc. I might simply make it so that in order to have any overtly magical effects, a player would have to make the item them self, limiting the characters by sacrificing feats to make their item. This would make martial-type characters limited to a small selection of magical equipment, while the casters could create their wands of fireball, or other such items. I might impose a limited number of days they can use for item creation though. Say 30 days of creation is their max, and let them create, within reason, anything they wish.
=~=~=~
That's all the concerns I have at the moment, so any ideas or advice on how to handle the concerns would be helpful. Over all, keep in mind, the goal is to have a lot of fun with a lot of different people as they create characters that can fight in one of the battles in a world that D&D/Pathfinder drew a lot of their inspiration from in the first place.
I once started trying to simulate this battle using the Mass Combat rules in Kingmaker. It started getting pretty crazy with 5 armies of 2,000 orcs.
This should help you and give you some of the numbers you need.
I had a thought for a Pathfinder Day-like event at my local hobby store that would, basically, be the defense of Helm's Deep using the castle from the movies as I don't think a book version was ever published.
I haven't thought much beyond simply the idea of defending Helm's Deep, but the fun of the event is that, because it's a one-off, it's a chance to bring one of those uber-power builds that people may have lieing around. I'm looking for ideas/advice on a number of things that either myself, or someone else that may wish to run the event, can use.
My take on this is:
Class level:
Don't go high-level, it's too complicated. I would set it at 7, just enough to start to shine, not so much you are wondering how to spend your next action.
Number of Players:
Let them be their own characters, rather than be characters from the books. Make cklear that swapping sides is not an option, too!
Uruk-Hai:
Orcs with the Advanced template.
Uruk-Hai Levels:
Rank-and-file: 1st.
Captains: 2nd.Elite (the ones the PCs will have to FIGHT): Party level -2
How to run the fights:
Set up key events that will hold the balance of the battle:
Attack on the gatesBlowing up the wall
Retreat to the caves
Attack at Dawn
These are areas where the PCs will have to do something that can sway the battle. Just describe the rest based on how the PC's do.
Timed Events:
Nice idea.
Equipment and Gear:
Let the players go nuts with WBL. This is for showing off uber-builds, is it not?
You're right that it is a low obvious magic build but there are a number of items the fellowship has by this point. Everything they get from Galadriel may not glow or burst into flame but it all is among the best in the world at that time. Leggos bow should be fantastic. All of them have cloaks that help them hide. In the book Aragorn already has Anduril.
I wouldn't use the characters from the book, I mentioned those three as they were the 'PCs' of the fight. Anyone would be able to play anything they so choose, though I may have to implement some sort of alternate magic system so casters aren't almost totally out of option after the first 10 rounds or so. Hmm, maybe a spell point system with a number of points equal to the total number of spell levels available to the caster. Prepared casters could regenerate points at a rate of 1d4 per round, with spontaneous casters regenerating at 1d8 a round maybe? This would offset the Prepared casters being able to choose any spell they can prepare, while Spontaneous casters can only choose what they know, so they regenerate faster and have a larger pool.
I like the Advanced Template Orcs, though I will remove the light-sensitivity as they are Uruk-Hai not Orcs. I think that one would work best for this situation.
It's not really for uber-builds, it's to have fun. I would like to keep it as close to LotR as possible, and I fully know that a lot of it will be tossed out the window. But I'd like to keep the theme of no overtly magical stuff, with the exception being casters. I think I'll keep the idea of the limited magical items and the limited time for crafting, it helps balance things out or I could see someone picking a caster and going nuts with wands of fireball.
I wouldn't use the characters from the book, I mentioned those three as they were the 'PCs' of the fight. Anyone would be able to play anything they so choose, though I may have to implement some sort of alternate magic system so casters aren't almost totally out of option after the first 10 rounds or so.
That shouldn't happen, as long as they know they need to husband their spells. Remember to arm the casters with wands to supply the majority of the spell effects they need, and they'll be laughing.
I like the Advanced Template Orcs, though I will remove the light-sensitivity as they are Uruk-Hai not Orcs. I think that one would work best for this situation.
Good idea!
It's not really for uber-builds, it's to have fun. I would like to keep it as close to LotR as possible, and I fully know that a lot of it will be tossed out the window. But I'd like to keep the theme of no overtly magical stuff, with the exception being casters. I think I'll keep the idea of the limited magical items and the limited time for crafting, it helps balance things out or I could see someone picking a caster and going nuts with wands of fireball.
How about this: supply each character with one weapon or wand, one protective or boosting item, one wondrous item apiece? the rest is mundane or masterwork at best. Set the values sufficient that they can have decent items. Although little of the Fellowship's gear was explicitly magical, I would rate it as such. I would sum them from the Fellowship as follows:
Gimli: +1 keen Orc-bane dwarven war-axe; +3 chainmail (no mail coat made by the men of Rohan could equal it); Cloak of Elven Kind.
Legolas: +1 seeking distance composite longbow; +4 belt of dexterity; Cloak of Elven Kind.
Aragorn: +1 holy bastard sword; amulet of natural armour +2; Cloak of Elven Kind.
I'm a little hesitant to assign people magic items as there are upwards of 20 people that play Pathfinder on a regular basis at my hobby store. If I were to assign them magical items, some of them may feel like their character is being gimped, or that I'm limiting them in playstyle to how I wish the characters were played. I would like to give them as much felxibility as possible, but limit the ridiculous from happening. I mean, a power-build is fine, but a power-build wouldn't really be a power-build if a large portion of it's power draws from abusing magical items.
I'm a little hesitant to assign people magic items as there are upwards of 20 people that play Pathfinder on a regular basis at my hobby store. If I were to assign them magical items, some of them may feel like their character is being gimped, or that I'm limiting them in playstyle to how I wish the characters were played. I would like to give them as much felxibility as possible, but limit the ridiculous from happening. I mean, a power-build is fine, but a power-build wouldn't really be a power-build if a large portion of it's power draws from abusing magical items.
Oh I didn't mean to assign the specifics - let them pick for example:
One weapon or wand up to 18K value
One suit of armour, protective item or stat booster to 9K value
One universal item to 4K value.
I'm a little hesitant to assign people magic items as there are upwards of 20 people that play Pathfinder on a regular basis at my hobby store. If I were to assign them magical items, some of them may feel like their character is being gimped, or that I'm limiting them in playstyle to how I wish the characters were played. I would like to give them as much felxibility as possible, but limit the ridiculous from happening. I mean, a power-build is fine, but a power-build wouldn't really be a power-build if a large portion of it's power draws from abusing magical items.
Well the items you have talked about using are great. If you are going to keep to your goal of non-overt magic items you will need to limit them at least to the options they can use to make items. As for assigning them items I think it depends on how you are handling the story. Are they part of the fellowship (extra travelers as opposed to the mains) in which case they went through Lothlorien and have been given something by Galadriel or if they are part of the defense of helms deep. Elves that arrive with Haladir (if you go with the movie version), humans that are from Rohan and so on. Unless you are simply going to put the characters who or whatever they are in the situation.
seems everything is under control here, just Uruk-hai would be Hobgoblins (when Tolkien wrote it first, it wrote actually hobgoblin, a mistake he corrected but D&D did not).
For the numbers you could perhaps have Sauron be a lvl 20 Sorcerer with leaderhip, his cohort Saruman with leadership and take it from there, or just go with 10'000.
Rollen d% to kill that many isn't really exciting, focus on the timed events where the heroes have to keep the wall from blowing up or something like that, let the footfolk handle the simple Uruk-hai and let the heroes finish crucial objectives.