Have not read the whole thread, but I would defiantly take a good viewing of the Seven Samurai (Or Magnificent Seven or The Battle for the Planets). Turn the villagers into an army, armed with a lot of simple weapons...
A party of 3rd level characters (Aasimar Paladin 3, Aasimar Sorcerer 3, [Custom Race] Warpriest 3, and a Half-Orc Sorcerer 1/Wizard 1/Magus 1) are in a large town in a world that had been decimated by necromantic phenomena. Scouts report to the town saying that an undead army is approaching and is roughly a week away. The town has large stone walls, but how else can the town prepare for the attack? What should the party do if the undead siege the town? What tactics are effective in fighting large numbers of undead in the field or in city streets?
Those that can should be hitting the undead horde already with ranged aoe attacks to thin their ranks. You'll have 7 days of hit and run tactics available to you.
The rest should be fortifying the city/training the populace and creating alchemical fire.
If the undead horde is unintelligent, alchemical fire is the best non-magical method for destroying undead.
Pull a Braveheart and lace the incoming fields with flamable tar and use flaming arrows to light them up and let the undead horde burn as they cross it.
If you have the landscape, you can create a burn tunnel that is the only way in for the horde that is essentially an inferno.
This sounds like something I came up with four years ago. Tell me, is your group based in the Pittsburgh area? And if so, has your GM ever been to Tekkoshokon?
Mobilize everyone that has Craft( Alchemy ) and have them begin making Alchemist's Fire. Have them work in shifts. Also, insist on having XP awarded after each combat. Being able to level up during the campaign will make subsequent battles easier.
^Things do seem to work this way in at least some Pathfinder campaigns, but back in my day (AD&D 1st Edition), even though some campaigns did this, the Rules As Written were that you needed 1 to 4 weeks of downtime to make use of Experience Points to gain a level.
And especially train them in the old Greek Phalanx formation. The city gates will act as a natural bottleneck for the corporeal undead. They will need as many polearms and spears as you can secure.
And especially train them in the old Greek Phalanx formation. The city gates will act as a natural bottleneck for the corporeal undead. They will need as many polearms and spears as you can secure.
Spears? why spears? Wouldn't you want B or S polearms?
And especially train them in the old Greek Phalanx formation. The city gates will act as a natural bottleneck for the corporeal undead. They will need as many polearms and spears as you can secure.
Spears? why spears? Wouldn't you want B or S polearms?
Spears, polearms, anything that is a reach weapon. The point is to keep the undead away from you while being able to injure them. And to be specific, the spears are to be treated like lances. Do not throw them. They are weapons, not ammo.
But seriously, knowing your foe is pretty critical here. The tactics listed are all well and good, but if the necromancer has a few shadows or wights the whole situation can very, very rapidly go to hell in a handbasket.
But seriously, knowing your foe is pretty critical here. The tactics listed are all well and good, but if the necromancer has a few shadows or wights the whole situation can very, very rapidly go to hell in a handbasket.
Keep a reserve force of trained warriors equipped with magic weapons to act as a "Reaction Force." Position them in strategic areas to respond quickly to any incursion of incorporeal undead.
But seriously, knowing your foe is pretty critical here. The tactics listed are all well and good, but if the necromancer has a few shadows or wights the whole situation can very, very rapidly go to hell in a handbasket.
Keep a reserve force of trained warriors equipped with magic weapons to act as a "Reaction Force." Position them in strategic areas to respond quickly to any incursion of incorporeal undead.
Easier said than done. Considering the party is level 3, I doubt they (or the town) exactly have a surplus of magical weapons just lying around. That and that's presuming they just attack head on. The absolute worst case scenario with Shadows is sneaking one into people's houses as they sleep and quietly multiplying out of control or alternatively ignoring the main body of fighters and instead eating the nom-coms alive.
I'd highly suggest evacuating the civilians immediately to help reduce the doom spiral odds if you can't verify the presence or lack thereof of multiplying undead.
Silver should work just as well. At least, against the Wights. And the GM should decide how many wands or scrolls of Magic Weapon there are. Spend a round or two casting the spell on the weapons before closing in on the Wights and other incorporeals.
I'd personally just stick with the party dealing with them if/when they pin their location down. No offense to the L1 warriors/commoners, but I'd rather not have them within 100ft of a wight or shadow since even if they can hurt it, odds are it's going to kill a few of them first which is what you really want to avoid. Having some means of rapid communication and teaching people how to ID these types of undead for the big guns to handle seems prudent
Well, it's 9:30. Time to get ready for work. Got some other things to do before that. Will offer more tactical advice when I get home. PFC John Napier, US Army Infantry, 1988 - 1990, signing off.
First, have the GM stat, by class and level, the entire town/city. If the population is large enough, there may even be PC classes greater in power than the party.
Second, when the sorcerer is able to get a new spell, make it one of the Summon spells. Creatures summoned are Outsiders. When Outsiders die on the PM, they return to their home planes. That means they won't become undead. Also, Fire Elementals are your new best friends.
*Sorcerer, to summoned Fire Elemental* "The enemy lies outside the City Walls. I have no command save this: Have fun."
First, have the GM stat, by class and level, the entire town/city. If the population is large enough, there may even be PC classes greater in power than the party.
Second, when the sorcerer is able to get a new spell, make it one of the Summon spells. Creatures summoned are Outsiders. When Outsiders die on the PM, they return to their home planes. That means they won't become undead. Also, Fire Elementals are your new best friends.
*Sorcerer, to summoned Fire Elemental* "The enemy lies outside the City Walls. I have no command save this: Have fun."
I think my best choice is to rally the group to go scout and skirmish with the incoming force before returning to the city to cooperate with the city's established defense forces.
Does making a moat of holy water sound like a viable solution?
It'll cost 25 gp of silver dust for every pint of holy water. I'm not sure how many pints to a moat, but you have to figure a lot. And if the town has that much wealth, I'm tempted to sack it myself...
If you have a lot of Clerics in town, consider casting a lot of Hide from Undead.This is incredibly useful for scouting, but is also a great way to protect people who need to retreat or escape from enemies. Even intelligent undead have a chance to fail.
Is there any possibility of Divine Intervention? The sight of an Angelic Host having a smite-fest should be awe inspiring.
Given our level, angelic summons and planar allies are out of the question. Since the entire setting is affected by an Unhallow effect, "All creatures within the area gain the effects of a protection from good spell, and good summoned creatures cannot enter the area either." So, even if we had the levels, we can't summon angels. It would take a direct deific intervention to make that scene happen. However, why would a deity do so for us when they haven't for the rest of the setting. If they did, it would seem to Deus Ex Machina for me and leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
shadowkras wrote:
Those scouts surely are terrible if they couldn't even estimate the numbers in said horde.
I believe the GM's intent for the scene is for it to be a sudden siege, though that seems far-fetched, considering how long the town has had to defend itself through these horrors. However, if that is his intent, we can work with it and come up with some way this might have happened. Perhaps the scouts were drawn to a decoy army or burrowing undead created a series of tunnels to allow them to infiltrate close to the city. Though I would question why they stopped outside the city in that case.
John Napier 698 wrote:
Kai_G,
This sounds like something I came up with four years ago. Tell me, is your group based in the Pittsburgh area? And if so, has your GM ever been to Tekkoshokon?
No, we are in the Pacific Northwest. The GM is picking up a setting that I created in 2009 at the end of the last campaign I ran for him.
Tarik Blackhands wrote:
But seriously, knowing your foe is pretty critical here. The tactics listed are all well and good, but if the necromancer has a few shadows or wights the whole situation can very, very rapidly go to hell in a handbasket.
I agree. A few intelligent, multiplying undead will essentially ruin any defense we could reasonably come up with, considering the large scale and limited resources available to us. The appearance of such creatures could easily demonstrate the GM's intent for the outcome of the battle. Trying to spot wights among a zombie horde would seem very difficult from a distance and spotting shadows would seem nigh impossible since they avoid light and otherwise blend into the surrounding darkness. I couldn't and wouldn't blame the scouts for their failure if such creatures were present and went unnoticed.
Tarik Blackhands wrote:
I'd personally just stick with the party dealing with them if/when they pin their location down. No offense to the L1 warriors/commoners, but I'd rather not have them within 100ft of a wight or shadow since even if they can hurt it, odds are it's going to kill a few of them first which is what you really want to avoid. Having some means of rapid communication and teaching people how to ID these types of undead for the big guns to handle seems prudent
Do you have any suggestions for rapid communication in this kind of setting? Signal fires, flags, and the town bell is all I can think of.
John Napier 698 wrote:
Well, it's 9:30. Time to get ready for work. Got some other things to do before that. Will offer more tactical advice when I get home. PFC John Napier, US Army Infantry, 1988 - 1990, signing off.
SGT Felton, US Marine Corps 2004-2011.
John Napier 698 wrote:
A couple final thoughts before I leave.
First, have the GM stat, by class and level, the entire town/city. If the population is large enough, there may even be PC classes greater in power than the party.
Second, when the sorcerer is able to get a new spell, make it one of the Summon spells. Creatures summoned are Outsiders. When Outsiders die on the PM, they return to their home planes. That means they won't become undead. Also, Fire Elementals are your new best friends.
*Sorcerer, to summoned Fire Elemental* "The enemy lies outside the City Walls. I have no command save this: Have fun."
As a 3rd level party with limited 2nd level spells, I don't think summoning a couple small fire elementals is much going to help. haha
The Sideromancer wrote:
John Napier 698 wrote:
A couple final thoughts before I leave.
First, have the GM stat, by class and level, the entire town/city. If the population is large enough, there may even be PC classes greater in power than the party.
Second, when the sorcerer is able to get a new spell, make it one of the Summon spells. Creatures summoned are Outsiders. When Outsiders die on the PM, they return to their home planes. That means they won't become undead. Also, Fire Elementals are your new best friends.
*Sorcerer, to summoned Fire Elemental* "The enemy lies outside the City Walls. I have no command save this: Have fun."
Also, plenty of other elementals would be fine with wading into a pile of skeletons.
Can you tell me where the rules are for Summoned Outsiders reforming? I've never heard this before and would love to be able to make that argument in the future.
Rerednaw wrote:
Kai_G wrote:
...
I think my best choice is to rally the group to go scout and skirmish with the incoming force before returning to the city to cooperate with the city's established defense forces.
Curious to see how the sessions went.
The next game is this Saturday. I'll let you all know how it goes and thanks for all the questions, suggestions, and feedback in general on the topic.
Will you guys be using the mass combat rules, or any variation of it, such as the extended rules from legendary games?
If so, estimating the numbers of an army on the open on the same hex is a DC 15 Perception check.
EDIT
Nope, i was writing from memory. The DC is much lower than that. And if the creatures have no stealth score, it is pretty much auto-success on adjacent hexes.
Quote:
Can you tell me where the rules are for Summoned Outsiders reforming? I've never heard this before and would love to be able to make that argument in the future.
Summons in Golarion are magical creations, they are not real creatures that got summoned to you, they are beings created by magic.
In the pathfinder system, what are summoned creatures is left at GM's discretion, it is not defined on purpose, so each table will have their own answer for that.
Called creatures on the other hand, are actual creatures, with names, emotions, friends and enemies, so if you mistreat a called creature, it can seek revenge against you later.
Quote:
Given our level, angelic summons and planar allies are out of the question.
That only means angels are out, you still have a good amount of evil and neutral outsiders available, specially psychopomps that hate the undead. If you could manage to make a pact with a Vanth, you would be set.
Will you guys be using the mass combat rules, or any variation of it, such as the extended rules from legendary games?
If so, estimating the numbers of an army on the open on the same hex is a DC 15 Perception check.
EDIT
Nope, i was writing from memory. The DC is much lower than that. And if the creatures have no stealth score, it is pretty much auto-success on adjacent hexes.
I seriously doubt we'll be using the mass combat system, as our table tends to prefer more personal stories, even if that's against the backdrop of war.
An army in the open would probably have a Perception DC of 0 or lower after distance penalties and size bonuses for the perceivers, but there is forest surrounding the city about a mile out in any given direction. So, if a primarily zombie army left the forest, heading as fast as they could for us, it would take them at least 17.6 minutes to reach the city walls. Assuming the guards spotted them immediately enough, I'd estimate about 20-30 minutes for the town to get into defensive positions.
shadowkras wrote:
In the pathfinder system, what are summoned creatures is left at GM's discretion, it is not defined on purpose, so each table will have their own answer for that.
Called creatures on the other hand, are actual creatures, with names, emotions, friends and enemies, so if you mistreat a called creature, it can seek revenge against you later.
Can you tell me where the rules are for that in the Inner Seas setting. I imagine the GM would prefer to use that as a reference, since he used to play PFS and I don't think there are any other references to summons reforming.
shadowkras wrote:
That only means angels are out, you still have a good amount of evil and neutral outsiders available, specially psychopomps that hate the undead. If you could manage to make a pact with a Vanth, you would be set.
We have a Paladin in the group, so using evil summons may be iffy in the GM's eyes as an acceptable tactic. At early levels, there aren't many neutral summons available without the Summon Neutral Monster feat or Summon Nature's Ally. Since the casters are blasters, they don't have feats to spare on Summon Neutral Monster, and Summon Nature's Ally is a druid 1/ranger 1/shaman 1 spell. So, we don't have access to it outside of scrolls and Use Magic Device.
In my mind, the best way to signal certain types of undead would be something like shuttered lanterns/torches. You can do something like tie various differently colored Light enhanced rocks (I doubt the GM will argue about having Light produce different colors) to a stick and covering them with cloth. If a specific undead is spotted, hoist it up and take off the cloth. Green for wight, white for shadow, etc etc, the system should obviously be worked out beforehand.
If you can't get different color lights, you can probably easily whip up some ye olde fantasy bat signals around town to signify the dead.
Given our level, angelic summons and planar allies are out of the question. Since the entire setting is affected by an Unhallow effect, "All creatures within the area gain the effects of a protection from good spell, and good summoned creatures cannot enter the area either." So, even if we had the levels, we can't summon angels. It would take a direct deific intervention to make that scene happen. However, why would a deity do so for us when they haven't for the rest of the setting. If they did, it would seem to Deus Ex Machina for me and leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Well, so much for that idea. How about rigging several FAEs using oil-filled leather bladders compressed by a spring-driven piston, then ignited by a hammer striking a potion of Alchemist's Fire?
Kai_G wrote:
I believe the GM's intent for the scene is for it to be a sudden siege, though that seems far-fetched, considering how long the town has had to defend itself through these horrors. However, if that is his intent, we can work with it and come up with some way this might have happened. Perhaps the scouts were drawn to a decoy army or burrowing undead created a series of tunnels to allow them to infiltrate close to the city. Though I would question why they stopped outside the city in that case.
Damn, that's rough. Skipping the frying pan and going straight into the fire, eh?
Kai_G wrote:
No, we are in the Pacific Northwest. The GM is picking up a setting that I created in 2009 at the end of the last campaign I ran for him.
The idea that I came up with has the party as part of an army tasked with cleansing a ruined city from undead, which were created during a necromantic cataclysm of apocalyptic proportions. It was the similarities that struck me. Ah well, twisted minds think alike, right?
Kai_G wrote:
Do you have any suggestions for rapid communication in this kind of setting? Signal fires, flags, and the town bell is all I can think of.
How about Semaphores using shuttered lanterns?
Kai_G wrote:
SGT Felton, US Marine Corps 2004-2011.
A pleasure to meet you.
Kai_G wrote:
As a 3rd level party with limited 2nd level spells, I don't think summoning a couple small fire elementals is much going to help. haha
Oh, well. So much for that idea. Can't be faulted for trying.
Can you tell me where the rules are for that in the Inner Seas setting. I imagine the GM would prefer to use that as a reference, since he used to play PFS and I don't think there are any other references to summons reforming.
It can be found on the CRB actually, but James Jacobs has stated somewhere that this is the case for Golarion (sources).
An army in the open would probably have a Perception DC of 0 or lower after distance penalties and size bonuses for the perceivers, but there is forest surrounding the city about a mile out in any given direction.
An Army of 100 has a modifier of +0, an army of 200 has a modifier of -2, an army of 500 has a modifier of -5 and an army of 1000 has a modifier of -10.
But the check is only required if one army is moving at half speed to remain hidden. Otherwise it is automatically noticed when they enter an adjacent hex (watchtowers are awesome for that).
Then, we have visibility modifiers that is applied to the "Scouting" check, bright light adds +2, dim light and light smoke are -2, darkness and heavy smoke are -4.
Forests and the like (heavy undergrowth) are considered rough terrain and cause a -1 penalty on this check.
And finally, weather modifiers. Fog counts as heavy smoke, thus applies a -4 modifier, high altitude (towers or hills) adds +1, rain is -1, mist/rainstorm/snow are -2, snowstorm/sandstorm are -4.
Does making a moat of holy water sound like a viable solution?
It'll cost 25 gp of silver dust for every pint of holy water. I'm not sure how many pints to a moat, but you have to figure a lot. And if the town has that much wealth, I'm tempted to sack it myself...
Bad! Bad me! No sacking town!
Maybe just a little bit...
NO!
We're just experiencing a temporary boom in silver prices, for a silver mining town with a small refinery that pays its public servants in silver.
In a couple years its wealth will be worth less than half of what it is now [far less if this undead horde has its way with them.]
An Army of 100 has a modifier of +0, an army of 200 has a modifier of -2, an army of 500 has a modifier of -5 and an army of 1000 has a modifier of -10.
But the check is only required if one army is moving at half speed to remain hidden. Otherwise it is automatically noticed when they enter an adjacent hex (watchtowers are awesome for that).
Then, we have visibility modifiers that is applied to the "Scouting" check, bright light adds +2, dim light and light smoke are -2, darkness and heavy smoke are -4.
Forests and the like (heavy undergrowth) are considered rough terrain and cause a -1 penalty on this check.
And finally, weather modifiers. Fog counts as heavy smoke, thus applies a -4 modifier, high altitude (towers or hills) adds +1, rain is -1, mist/rainstorm/snow are -2, snowstorm/sandstorm are -4.
The Perception DC to notice a visible creature in normal light and without cover or concealment is 0. The DC is increased by 1 for every 10 ft. away the creature is. However, the Survival skill gives a guideline of -1 for every three creatures in the group being tracked, which scales roughly the same as the size penalties for tracking a single creature that takes up the same amount of space. I think it's fair to say that an army of 200 would probably be about as easy to spot and identify at 660 ft. as a single man within 10 ft. As would an army of 1,600 that is a mile out. However, we don't need to be able to identify it, just notice the large mass approaching the city.
On the bright side, normal human undead can't get through a stone wall. If you can kill the really big ones, crazy crawling or flying ones, and the wizards you are good to go. Oh and the ghost ones. If it is just zombies and skeletons you are pretty safe in a walled city.
Hmmm... the Warpriest is a walking holy bomb... funnel as many undead as you can into a pit and have the warpriest spam channel energy, see if the arcane casters can make scrolls of AoE spells, have the paladin intercept the army and see if it's smart. if not they might follow the aura of good away. soak nets in oil and catch the dead in flaming nets. Craft alchemy some shrapnel grenades and alchemists fire make spiked barricades. have blades for zombies and clubs for skeletons. Craft alchemy barrels of gunpowder, make a moat, if the river is dry put spikes in the moat. get the wizard to prepare summon monster in as many forms as possible (spells, scrolls, potions, runes) hire mercenaries and use livestock as meat shields...
Hmmm... the Warpriest is a walking holy bomb... funnel as many undead as you can into a pit and have the warpriest spam channel energy, see if the arcane casters can make scrolls of AoE spells, have the paladin intercept the army and see if it's smart. if not they might follow the aura of good away. soak nets in oil and catch the dead in flaming nets. Craft alchemy some shrapnel grenades and alchemists fire make spiked barricades. have blades for zombies and clubs for skeletons. Craft alchemy barrels of gunpowder, make a moat, if the river is dry put spikes in the moat. get the wizard to prepare summon monster in as many forms as possible (spells, scrolls, potions, runes) hire mercenaries and use livestock as meat shields...
The warpriest is not high enough level to channel energy, and even if he was he uses up two uses of Fervor to do so. If he were 4th level he would get 2 maybe 3 channel energy a day. The arcane spell casters on the other hand can spam disrupt undead all day, as it is a cantrip. Sadly the warpriest does not have access to disrupt undead.
People seem to be forgetting or not realizing that the party is actually pretty low level. Many of the strategies being suggested will not work because they of the low level of the party.
Paladins don't get spells until 4th level. And at 25 gp a pop for a flask of holy water, that's an expensive proposition for the Warpriest. Any ideas on how to work around that cost?
The town you're defending should be willing to foot the bill for their own survival... who has Diplomacy?
Paladins don't get spells until 4th level. And at 25 gp a pop for a flask of holy water, that's an expensive proposition for the Warpriest. Any ideas on how to work around that cost?
The town you're defending should be willing to foot the bill for their own survival... who has Diplomacy?
Although you could run into a shortage of silver, and it will disproportionately affect certain people over others. Mostly people who will demand and possess the power to demand reparations afterwards - alchemists, silversmiths, wealthy families with silverware, and churches of the undead. Although you might get lucky with nonevil churches and particularly charitable families.
A party of 3rd level characters (Aasimar Paladin 3, Aasimar Sorcerer 3, [Custom Race] Warpriest 3, and a Half-Orc Sorcerer 1/Wizard 1/Magus 1) are in a large town in a world that had been decimated by necromantic phenomena. Scouts report to the town saying that an undead army is approaching and is roughly a week away. The town has large stone walls, but how else can the town prepare for the attack? What should the party do if the undead siege the town? What tactics are effective in fighting large numbers of undead in the field or in city streets?
The best tactic is not to fight at all, and find some method to avoid fighting, especially in a populated city.
But regarding your situation:
I'd suggest some Knowledge checks and ask questions about how the GM will role play undead in their campaign. You need to know how the GM interprets the undead lack of intelligence. If I were the GM, I'd have the mindless undead make stupid choices all the time, like choosing the quicker path, not the safer path. I'm not the only GM, as some give them more intelligence and instead choose the more tactically sound approach. Neither of these disadvantage the players, but knowing how the GM will RP the mindless undead is very important to your tactics.
Next I'd figure out the likely direction of attack. As in, which side of the town will the undead attack first. If they are definitely coming from a predetermined direction, you defenses become much more managable.
As for the Realistic first level defenses, there are a few options:
-Holy Water and the Battle Aspergilum. Holy Water is spendy and requires dextrous characters to become effective. The Battle Aspergilum (AVP) is a light simple weapon which can be filled with Holy Water and then does a bonus 1pt of holy water damage for the next 5 melee hits. This is a good option if you don't think you can get the opponent to bunch up enough for the splash.
-Torches One Handed improvised weapon that deals d3 bludgeoning and 1 fire damage. Remember that as a one-handed weapon, it can be wielded in two hands for that 1.5x strength bonus (doesn't affect the fire damage), which should help with undead DR (if bludgeoning doesn't already deny it).
-and Tower Shields: Townsfolk need tower shields. They have a listed cost that's kinda high, but really they only require wood and nails to create, so get tower shields to your less combat-able townsfolk. They'll be untrained, so it's a nasty -10 on attack rolls, but they'll still hit on 20s and they are much more likely to survive melee with that nice +4 armor bonus. Personally, I'd suggest tower shields and torches for the townsfolk that don't look like they can handle themselves in combat. They'll only hit on criticals, but they'll probably survive. They also provide light....
-Pits and TrenchesBasically, just dig holes around the town. Time consuming, but very cheap. You can arrage the pits to funnel the opponent into choke points, or as a maze so their advance takes longer. Spikes are an option, but are probably wasted on undead (skeletons and zombies are both resistant to piercing attacks).
-Burning OilCheaper than alchemist's fire, pints of oil can be used to burn entire squares, dealing fire damage over multiple rounds. The danger here is that the town itself is also flamable, so you need to choose locations where flaming undead won't venture into a wooden house. I suggest using it in areas protected by dirt or stone walls.
-Drunk Traps Basically a line of rope or chain which is securely positioned horizontally or diagonally, about waist high. Intoxicated people will trip over them, that's where the name comes from. It would just be an easy acrobatics check to avoid in game, but it will still slow down enemies, either because they fail acrobactics or because they spend time removing the robe/chain. Chain is better if you think they'll have time to destroy it, as it's more durable. If you expect them to be more concerned with crossing, rope is just as good. A non-lethal trap, certainly, but one that is very easy to implement and very cheap.
-Stairs and Ladders Basically, create an entrance where the undead must funnel up a ladder or stairs. Takes time to get up (difficult terrain or a climb check), and during which, the undead are in a predesignated firing lane. Drop rocks on them, or have some archers pepper them. Remember that climbers are denied their dex to ac while climbing and that you can't charge through difficult terrain. So stairs and ladders are actually pretty solid defensive options.
-And don't forget Slings and Magic StoneCheap ranged weapon that just about anyone can use. Every townsfolk should have one and a dozen rocks (or sling bullets). Magic Stone, the Spell, is a pretty solid option for casters with access. Really nice spell for anti-undead and it lasts 30min, so unlike magic weapon, you can cast it before the battle starts. 2d6+2 damage against undead and a +1 enhancement on attack rolls. Each spell use creates three such stones, which can be passed around, given to multiple slingers prior to using.
-and Tower Shields: Townsfolk need tower shields. They have a listed cost that's kinda high, but really they only require wood and nails to create, so get tower shields to your less combat-able townsfolk. They'll be untrained, so it's a nasty -10 on attack rolls, but they'll still hit on 20s and they are much more likely to survive melee with that nice +4 armor bonus. Personally, I'd suggest tower shields and torches for the townsfolk that don't look like they can handle themselves in combat. They'll only hit on criticals, but they'll probably survive. They also provide light....
A better tactic is to arm one villager with a tower shield (or heavy shield) while using full defense, and another, behind him, with a spear two-handed. The one behind will suffer a cover penalty, but they will have much more chances of killing anything, and even more of surviving.
Slings are free. Stones are free. Slings are simple weapons with a 50 ft. range increment that apply your full Strength bonus to damage. Slings deal bludgeoning damage which bypasses skeleton DR.
Equipping an entire city with slings and unlimited ammunition costs 0gp.
If the GM allows you, have a look at the volley rules from the Heroes of Battle - they even allow indirect fire, so you can get thousands of slingers to rain stones over the battlefield without them needing to expose their heads above the wall.
If not:
Use types of damage the undead are not resistant to. Fire is your best friend here, and you want controlled sources.
*Give all archers two quivers: one blunt arrows, one standard or broadhead if your GM will let you deal slashing.
*Tar the road across the bridge.
*Build bunkers inside the gate.
*Open the gate.
*Set forge-fires inside the bunkers with 6-man turnstiles.
*Run large-link bladed chains through the forge fires, in a double line across the gateway. The chain should stretch across at a height of 1 foot and 5 feet. Easy enough for undead to step over, and duck under.
*Let the army with an average intelligence of 0 walk into the death area, one row at a time, being chewed to pieces by 1d6 slashing + 1d4 fire damage.
Remaining forces should be in mobile shield-wall formation with, as suggested, tower shields, but then use all martial characters with lucern hammers to crush the skeletons, which should be the only ones, weakened, making it through the line.
Save fireballs and the like for clearing the ground.
Make a similar setup where Old Fort Road meats Eastgate Way, and again across the plaza there where Southspur Street meets Eastgate Way.
Zombies do not avoid traps. Skeletons can duck and dodge, but they're literally as smart as a brick. Assume the 'order' they are under is 'kill everything living in that town', or that they are an army of undead simply following the undead motive of moving to and slaughtering whatever is alive in their path.
Once the army is destroyed, collect all the bone dust and spread it over the former forest. Burn the zombies out there, too.
Save fireballs and the like for clearing the ground.
I think you missed the part where the PCs are 3rd level.
This is a scenario where (were I GMing it) the PCs would be tasked with inspiring/organising the defence, then leaving the NPCs to deal with the army and focusing on killing the "PC worthy" intelligent undead in a series of encounters around the city and over the course of the siege.
Because against hundreds (or thousands) of undead, 3rd level PCs can't actually make a meaningful difference in terms of their character mechanics, when compared to several thousand militia. What the PCs can do is provide ideas, plans and training, then go off to fight the things the thousands of warrior 1's can't fight.
Disclaimer:
I've run a scenario for a PCs-as-rulers game where their lands got invaded by a goblinoid (mostly bugbears and goblins with enslaved monsters, such as wyverns, winter wolves, manticore, doombats, chimera, behirs etc) army just shy of 100,000 strong.
Yes. A hundred thousand. That wasn't a typo.
And they had less than a thousand defenders under arms, and were thus outnumbered by over a hundred to one. The PCs were 12th level at this point, but the most powerful spellcaster was a magus. They came out of it with slightly over a hundred casualties on their side, and miles of their lands strewn with the bodies of their fallen foes.
How?
1) Strong defensive position. A massive cliff and narrow mountain pass had to be crossed to enter their lands, and they deliberately destroyed the road up and built fortifications there, with siege engines and archers.
2) Underhanded tactics. This was a game set in Eberron and the army had to march for a couple of days through the Mournland to reach said pass. Before they entered the mournland, the magus (who had picked up contagion did some hit-and-runs and infected several of their patrols with bubonic plague. Healing spells, including remove disease and lesser restoration don't work in the Mournland.
3) Traps and Bombs The alchemist of the group cooked up some land mines (from a 3pp book somewhere), and promptly mass produced them in the time they had available and littered them through the pass. The others set up multiple deadfalls to create rockslides onto the enemy army.
4) Choke Points. In several locations the PCs erected towers and trebuchets loaded with shot ammo (Heroes of Battle), and after deliberately hunting and attacking their aerial scouts, bombed the heck out of them as they charged the tower, then retreated their troops by airship. Speaking of which.
5) Bombing runs. Airship + trebuchet shot ammo and troops to push it over the side = strafing lines of doom.
6) Targeted strikes. Using a mixture of teleportation and airship, ducking in for hit-and-run attacks on key assets, such as behir, siege owlbears, wyverns and other flying or particularly dangerous foes.
7) A macguffin. Admittedly, the final confrontation (between a "mere" 10,000 survivors and the PC defenders) was mostly a staging ground at a river cross for the PCs to face off against the two demon-possessed generals, who had tied their entire army through blood ritual to prepare them for a mass-sacrifice to free a demon lord. So in two locations the divided PC party faced off against the Nalfeshnee and the Marilith, and after killing them triggered the death pact on the remaining bugbears and goblins, rendering them into meaty chunks (but thankfully well away from the ritual site and thus not releasing the demon lord). the 85K plus casualties the goblinoids suffered getting to that point? That was the PCs, tactics and planning.
Oh. I forgot. I also had the goblinoids having commandeered a an armored, cannon-equipped landsled via a dominated and enslaved Orien heir. That was fun.
