somehow my players (5 players - lvl3) allied with kobolds(sootscale) and a worg gang(once a random encounter).
for backround: my sweet party afraid of staglord and his bandits to death. after their first defence at oleg's they killed all in thorn camp. so they thought this powerful man want revenge.
and staglords bandits attack oleg's(this was not in the book but he had to : ). partys priority was staglord but he sits and waits to be butcheredin his castle). they defend the outpost second time. and now they decided to go offensive because they believe they can't stand a third attack.
now they'll attack the fort with their new friends. worgs and kobolds agreed to involve when party open the Staglord Fort(SLF) gates.
3 worgs(with 10 wolfs?) and kobold tribe(20 kobolds? or more?) behind them they'll be much strong than staglord & his crew...
i have to power up staglord. and whole combat. (after 2 defeats at oleg's he could call all bandits to a final attack).
i don't know mass combat rules. and i'm not sure if it's going to be a 'real' mass combat.
what you think? if it's a mass combat, how many bandits balance staglord's forces?
or any other suggestions?
Maybe the worgs have their own plans and turn on the PCs... And most of the kobolds could die in a fireball...
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You could also add an arbitrary amount of bandits and just run as an encounter between the Stag Lord with a few lieutenants and the party. The rest of the bandits are occupied in a pitched battle with the worgs and kobolds which can be kept at descriptions instead of actually rolling all the attacks. This should set the scene for the fight well.
The number of combatants you are thinking about is really too small for the mass combat rules to work as written and increasing these numbers to the point where they would work would be unrealistic (100+ bandits and about 200 kobolds, to makes the roles makes sense). That being said you could still choose to go the mass combat route if you used the third party rules made by Legendary Games in their Ultimate War book. These are more viable for small units. (If I wasn't allowed to post third party resources I'm sorry and will remove this)
Hope this helps!
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Worgs are NE magical beasts - why would they keep any bargains or alliances? Their core philosophy is ...
"They are fundamentally interested only in themselves and their own dark desires and tastes. Other people are insects, tools, toys, or simply objects in their way."
... according to http://www.d20pfsrd.com/alignment-description/additional-rules. While they aren't the most intelligent creatures, they aren't stupid and they have enough wisdom to be cunning. Personally, I would have the Worgs scheming to take over the Staglord's fort for themselves. Maybe even with the intention of keeping a couple of the PCs as slaves, and food for later. :)
I would have the Worgs hang back initially until the fight between the bandits and the PCs has started - then have the Worgs attack the Kobolds - who I assume will be sneaking around looking for advantage, rather than being involved in a full on toe-to-toe combat. As Bennyzoid says: keep the Kobold/Worg combat as description rather than dice rolls and keep the PCs concentrating on their combats. Then all these extra NPCs work in your favour. If Staggy is beating your PCs, have a few of the Kobolds survive and come to the rescue (and expect a good reward). If the PCs hammer the bandits - let them have a Worg to play with as dessert ....
It might also discourage your party to be more selective in their allegiance, and not try to ally with every single monster / encounter they come across.
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thanks friends.
i think i'll do as Bennyzoid said in fort combat. worgs+kobolds vs bandits fight in backround. party deals with staglord and lieutenants...
and JohnB, for cunning and evil worgs motivation for an alliance... you're right. but i think i'll deal with that later. they can be useful if i use DM_aka_Dudemeister's Hargulka's Monster Kingdom...