I am about to run Fort Rannick with my group. My players have very strong stats and builds and they are accompanied by Shalelu and the 3 Black Arrows. I would like to hear from you guys ( I know it has been already discussed) advices of how should I run this fort. One of my player's background story is connected with the Black Arrow order so I don't want it to be an easy quest for them, retaking it. What worked out well in your case? Thanks in advance!
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Hi! I can weigh in here.
I had 6 20pt buy character run through Rannick; they had all 3 Black Arrows and Shale as well.
Almost all of the players were either extremely skilled or had very solid character builds.
With just a little smart thinking and party coordination, they utterly massacred the Ogres. It was /bad/. I don't think they took more than 40 damage collectively before the final boss(es).
It will just depend on your characters; my group had an extremely potent archer (she's the DPS of doom of the group), a high-AC Magus, and a Barbarian; combined with the Black Arrows and Shale, they were always able to funnel their enemies so that the ranged characters could shoot and fireball at their whim.
I'll break it down:
They sent out an illusion to lure some of the Ogres out of the Fort and sent them running into the hills.
They then swept in, and lit the barracks on fire, burning those ogres to death. They then easily cleaned up the few ogres remaining in the courtyard.
They then managed to close the battered gates, so that when the ogres came back, they were able to gleefully slaughter them from the walls with minimal threat.
They then moved into the cramped fort, and again managed to sneak up and coordiante attacks on the ogres in the tiny hallways. Tanks in front, everyone else in back pelting them with pain.
Boss fights actually went as planned and were actually fights.
All of that to say: take a moment to decide what kind of feel you want this chapter to have. It can be "Heroes carefully and strategically sneak their way through complex, take out leadership, and scatter the main force", it can be "PCs take Ogre compelx head-on in one massive open battle, slaguthering them all but taking heavy losses in the process" or it can be "Heroes and vengeful Black Arrows unleash their targeted wrath upon stupid ogres, systematically slaughtering them like the Big Damn Heroes they are".
Think carefully about what your group would respond best to, and what they may be expecting. Ran exactly-as-written, my group annihilated the fort. And if a stomp-fest is exactly what your group needs, then go for it; however, if you want it to be a challenge, don't let them easily corner and massacre large numbers of them, and always manage to give the Ogres a heads-up on any remotely heads-on assaults. As-written many won't be encountered til the PCs stumble into the room, but if you feel they're stomping too much and need/want a challenge, feel free to have one get an alarm off and send a LOT of them pouring into the open areas to do battle. Or even give them a few intelligent commanders who keep them from bottlenecking, and instead retreat/regroup/surround the PCs.
Hope that helps!