Preparing for a siege

[Falcar]

Hello all,
I am in a campaign that we will be under siege soon. We are in a fortress and I believe the attackers will be orcs. We are level 9 with a gestalt game. I was wondering what you could suggest spells, items, tactics.
Me: Wizard (Divination)/Alchemist
Magus/Wizard (Void)
Ranger/(Fighter (Maybe)
Rogue/Fighter (maybe)

The magus is more focused on fighting in melee rather than battle field control. I am a crafter with Wand, Wondrous, and scroll. I have Arcane builder in wondrous. Ratling familiar (alignment did not matter) so he can use scrolls if i want we also have ranks in UMD

Right now I plan to craft a wand of fireball to blanket the battle field in flames, that or a wand of Wall of fire (Samsuran race with the spells from another list as the summoner) we have about a week or more to prepare.

Thanks for any help in this.

[Kryptik]

What sort of capabilities do the orcs have? Rams? Ladders? Siege towers? Do they have archers or mages of their own?

How many gates in this fortress? i.e. how many entrances will you have to defend?

Do you have a week to prepare in-game, or out of game? Or both?

Once I know the answers to these (and once I get off work tomorrow) I can help advise you specifically in defending this keep.

:)

[Malcolm Bookchild]

Do you know the approximate size of the attacking force and do you have any defenders to assist the party?

[Falcar]

As far as I know (I know little about the orcs)
They will be decent HD so cloudkill will not be an instant win
I have a week in game maybe three days in real life
One gate that i know of
I would have to image they have archers, Knowing my DM there will be mages likely sorcerers
I do not know the siege weapons they will have but assume they have ladders, rams, catapults, and low chance of towers.

Right now my plan is walls of fire and fireballs for the crowds, I will make plenty of Waters of Maddening to lob at them as I can make 12 a day. perhaps a Symbol of sleep on the main entry set to Orcs would be helpful.
maybe use Lesser planar binding to call an outsider the day before, any suggestions on what type?

EDIT: we have a small force of human soldiers, I do not think there are any Mages with them so the main magic users will my our group. The King of the keep is mentioned as being quite strong but we don't want him to die. The opposing force is much larger but I can likely get better numbers on this tomorrow as I will be seeing the DM in a non gaming setting.

[Malcolm Bookchild]

I would say prepare something other than just fire for defense as they may have something(items/spells) that could counteract fire to some degree so I always say make your options as varied as possible. As an alchemist can you mix up some deadly acids or something(never had an alchemist in our group and the class doesn't really sound appealing to me)? Fire in that quantity is also risky because you could accidentally burn the fort. I'm hoping your rogue/ fighters are archers, otherwise I'd keep them inside the gate ready to stem the tide should the gate fall, maybe send the stealthier of the two out as a scout, possibly take out some enemy siege engines from behind lines. You'll want as many of those defenders on catapults/ballistae as possible and then hand out bows to the rest, you've got a week? that's enough for a crash course in archery (if they don't already know how to shoot). There's also the coward's option where you simply run. If any of you are high ranking officials I would recommend sending a request for aid to your organization(s). Aside from that its fairly simple really, bathe the battlefield in the most dangerous area effect spells you can manage.

[stuart haffenden]

Pit spells in front of the main door, failing that dig a large pit so acid/fire effects continue to effect those trying to enter, plus this makes rams difficult to use.
Telekinetic type effects on the ladders will help as will long poles to push them away.

[Firengineer]

What level Wizard are you? Wizard is one of the best classes for defending a fort, with huge area control and denial spell such as Create Pit, Wall of Fire, and Wind Wall

Where a Wizard becomes even more helpful is in the conjuration of illusions. If you use Images to show an approaching allied army, they may divert forces to deal with the "Threat". Show great burning pits in their path, modify your forces to be much much larger. Hell, make another fort beside yours so they aren't sure which one to attack.

[Malcolm Bookchild]

stuart haffenden wrote:

Pit spells in front of the main door, failing that dig a large pit so acid/fire effects continue to effect those trying to enter, plus this makes rams difficult to use.

Telekinetic type effects on the ladders will help as will long poles to push them away.

I always forget pit spells, those work too, as far as the mundane pit goes I'd say put that in front of the gate fill it with nasty spikes, preferably ,made from bamboo and filled with poison but that not really necessary.

[Hark]

I recommend the Alchemist rigs the whole place to blow up. You then abandon the fortress. Once the Orcs have occupied the fortress you detonate the whole thing.

[Falcar]

We are level 9 (I am a divination wizard)

I don't think illusions will be able to make a new castle due to the size of the illusion.

I like the pit idea on the siege machines, thats where my illusions could be useful cover the pit with a spell and then the orcs fall right through.

Hark, I like the idea but I think the goal is to protect the castle. Always good to have a back up plan though

Malcolm, The ranger is an archer but the rogue is melee I think. Though a high dexterity will mean he can use a bow fairly well.

I plan on having one fifth level spell be teleport so I can get out if need be.

My DM also hinted at the possibility of Defecting to the orcs (We hold no real ties to these humans)

[Malcolm Bookchild]

If siding with the orcs is a legitimate option and they have even a half decent reason (other than "we're orcs, its just what we do, we raid") then I say side with them, but sabotage the fort before you leave, just in case. The orcs seem to have the upper hand here.

[VRMH]

Traditionally, people preparing for a siege would:

• Stock up on supplies, especially fresh water.
• Burn whatever they could not defend.
• Send messages to all (potential) allies.
• Raise the walls with wooden fences on top.
• Dig the moat a bit deeper (if it's a dry moat).
• Dig wolf pits around the castle/fortress.
• Send the part of the population that could not fight away to a safer place.
• Work to raise morale.
• Perform last minute maintenance on arms and armour.
• Build (counter-)siege engines, if the expertise was available.

The purpose of a siege is to out-wait the other side. And Orcs aren't known for their patience, so it's likely you need to prepare for an assault rather than a full-blown siege.

[Sean O'Brien 794]

If there does happen to be a back door, grab a group of soldiers (preferably on horseback if you got em) and put them on standby for a sortie if you need one. If there's a chance of them breaking through the gate/wall, better to risk a handful of troops than the whole fort. A sortie can quickly take down rams and siege engines before they become a serious threat.

Moats filled with acid are lovely too. Moat full of waters of maddening (since that's something you aim to craft) can hold them back for a good long time.

Any battlefield control spells you have that can separate the orcs are also essential. Split a group off, surround and kill them.

If the rogue and ranger can safely scout out the enemy formations to get a picture of their numbers/gear before the assault, that intelligence will be invaluable regarding what to craft and build.