I am writing a 3 or 4-session campaign for my group. For one of my encounters, I would like to have a defensive quest (or defense quest) where they have to resist to some waves of minions and/or defend a position.
Since it will be the first time I'll be trying a defensive quest, I need/want to be 100% original (I just don't want to mess up). Do you have any recommendations or any small encounters already built that I could inspire myself.
Don't worry too much about originality, especially starting out. Remember; good DM's borrow, great DM's steal.
I'd start with something you like, be it a published adventure, tv show/movie, novel, whatever, take what you like from that and work it to fit the setting, maybe tack bits of other stuff you like onto it, maybe add some original ideas, and once your done you'll have a nice adventure that you're excited to run, that's different enough from all the things you borrowed from that it's essentially original.
For example, if I were to come up with a defensive quest on the spot, I'd take inspiration from Helm's Deep since I just watched the Two Towers like two days ago. So your characters are backed into a corner and outnumbered in a fortress, so I'd come up with a map of the fortress with some key defensible areas, (maybe some exploits for the enemies to take advantage of if the party's security is lax). I'd b scale the size down since mass combat in D&D is pretty messy, so instead of 300 v 10000, maybe we have the party and some low power npc allies vs an enemy mercenary band of 20-30 enemies. For fun, if anyone's characters are crafty or if the players have good imagination, you can add in some Home Alone style traps to aid in your defense (trap examples in DMG, or just see what improvised stuff your players come up with). In order to keep things moving, lets put a timer on this encounter and say the fortress isn't in a mountain, but is flying, and only has enough fuel left to fly for a few days, so the players are eventually going to have to fight their way out before the fortress plummets to the ground, so they'll wanna see if they can defeat all the enemies in the time they have left, OR defeat enough so that when they do have to fight their way out, the amount of enemies left will be manageable. Also if you want to give the players something TO defend, you could include a McGuffin or NPC which must not fall into enemy hands!
So there's my example. Started with a thing, added to the thing, thing looks completely different when you're done.
Well, the classic example of course is Thermopylae. A handful of people blocking a narrow passage against an overwhelming force. But we should also remember - those Spartans died. So, if you don't want to be rolling all new characters... maybe the goal isn't to fend off all the enemy, but just to hold the position until your reinforcements arrive. Even against an overwhelming force, there will be that hope that help is on the way, if you can just hold on long enough.
To add another dimension: maybe it's a retreat mission. Err... ahh... sorry... a "tactical redirection of forces". Basically running a gauntlet. The enemy is coming down the tunnel, you can't stop them, but if you can just slow them down enough to give the McGuffin time to escape or whatever. So it's more than just damage versus damage - it's about crowd control. Focus on knocking enemy prone, casting "Web", anything that creates difficult terrain. Suddenly "Move Earth" is a combat spell.
To add yet another dimension: rather than a simple contest of getting the McGuffin down the dungeon tunnel in one piece - try it in a city in broad daylight. So maybe the McGuffin is a person who is wanted by the authorities and you have to smuggle them out on your ship. But your ship is at the docks on the other side of the city. You can't possibly battle your way across the city and survive. So here's where the rogues and the illusionists really get to shine! Now, rather than an attrition of hit points, you're focusing on skill checks for disguises and deception and sleight of hand.
But if it's a single-location encounter - then maybe the players found the McGuffin in an old ruined keep. The enemy army is approaching, so the party has a certain amount of time (like maybe two hours) to prepare their defenses to hold off the enemy army until the Good Guy Army arrives to finish the battle.
It's a great idea for an adventure. And you've got a TON of historical inspiration from which to draw. Not just Thermopylae, but the Lost Battalion of the Argonne (the 77th Division), Stalingrad in 43, Task Force Taffy 3 at Samar, the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, Agincourt on Crispin's Day 1415...
And don't worry about trying to be original. Everything is inspired by something else. Just have fun!
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
if you want a time sensitive encounter, I did one with a tower, it had 3 floors + a roof with battlements, its an old wizards tower with 100ft of clear ground around it, which is then surrounded by a forest, the party (A warlock, a cleric, a bard and a multi-classed Fighter/Barbarian/Ranger) and an NPC were being pursued by a horde of zombies (its part of a zombie apocalypse story line), as the party enter the clearing the see hordes of zombies coming out of the tree line ahead of them, the tower is their only safe/defensible place.
The idea is that the NPC with the party can cast Teleportation Circle to get them all home but needs 1 minute to cast it so the party need to hold the zombie hordes off long enough for the casting to be complete.
When I ran it I had 300 minis on the table and as they killed them they were added to the back of the horde to represent a vast zombie army swarming out of the woods. It ended up being Walking Dead meets the Battle of Rorkes Drift.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
I was thinking a single encounter defensive quest could be arranged with a dungeon tunnel the branches left and right from a single open area of the right size for the party. The path out is the one behind the party. The branch to the right takes them to the treasure. The branch to the left takes them to (many) more enemies. The party posts a sentry or two in the open chamber while the others go down the right path. They find the treasure and begin to bring it out. When a significant treasure has been delivered to the open chamber the alert comes that the bad guys are on their way. The party now has to decide:
1) hold the open area until the full treasure is retrieved and then (2) - or -
2) delay and take what treasure you have out while holding the enemy at bay
This leads to a stage 3 encounter where the party has to deal with however many bad guys still survive and want their stuff back. It also makes the party have to make decisions about how much treasure is enough? Or, do they stay too long trying to obtain all the treasure?
Hello,
I am writing a 3 or 4-session campaign for my group. For one of my encounters, I would like to have a defensive quest (or defense quest) where they have to resist to some waves of minions and/or defend a position.
Since it will be the first time I'll be trying a defensive quest, I need/want to be 100% original (I just don't want to mess up). Do you have any recommendations or any small encounters already built that I could inspire myself.
Thanks for your answers !
Don't worry too much about originality, especially starting out. Remember; good DM's borrow, great DM's steal.
I'd start with something you like, be it a published adventure, tv show/movie, novel, whatever, take what you like from that and work it to fit the setting, maybe tack bits of other stuff you like onto it, maybe add some original ideas, and once your done you'll have a nice adventure that you're excited to run, that's different enough from all the things you borrowed from that it's essentially original.
For example, if I were to come up with a defensive quest on the spot, I'd take inspiration from Helm's Deep since I just watched the Two Towers like two days ago. So your characters are backed into a corner and outnumbered in a fortress, so I'd come up with a map of the fortress with some key defensible areas, (maybe some exploits for the enemies to take advantage of if the party's security is lax). I'd b scale the size down since mass combat in D&D is pretty messy, so instead of 300 v 10000, maybe we have the party and some low power npc allies vs an enemy mercenary band of 20-30 enemies. For fun, if anyone's characters are crafty or if the players have good imagination, you can add in some Home Alone style traps to aid in your defense (trap examples in DMG, or just see what improvised stuff your players come up with). In order to keep things moving, lets put a timer on this encounter and say the fortress isn't in a mountain, but is flying, and only has enough fuel left to fly for a few days, so the players are eventually going to have to fight their way out before the fortress plummets to the ground, so they'll wanna see if they can defeat all the enemies in the time they have left, OR defeat enough so that when they do have to fight their way out, the amount of enemies left will be manageable. Also if you want to give the players something TO defend, you could include a McGuffin or NPC which must not fall into enemy hands!
So there's my example. Started with a thing, added to the thing, thing looks completely different when you're done.
Well, the classic example of course is Thermopylae. A handful of people blocking a narrow passage against an overwhelming force. But we should also remember - those Spartans died. So, if you don't want to be rolling all new characters... maybe the goal isn't to fend off all the enemy, but just to hold the position until your reinforcements arrive. Even against an overwhelming force, there will be that hope that help is on the way, if you can just hold on long enough.
To add another dimension: maybe it's a retreat mission. Err... ahh... sorry... a "tactical redirection of forces". Basically running a gauntlet. The enemy is coming down the tunnel, you can't stop them, but if you can just slow them down enough to give the McGuffin time to escape or whatever. So it's more than just damage versus damage - it's about crowd control. Focus on knocking enemy prone, casting "Web", anything that creates difficult terrain. Suddenly "Move Earth" is a combat spell.
To add yet another dimension: rather than a simple contest of getting the McGuffin down the dungeon tunnel in one piece - try it in a city in broad daylight. So maybe the McGuffin is a person who is wanted by the authorities and you have to smuggle them out on your ship. But your ship is at the docks on the other side of the city. You can't possibly battle your way across the city and survive. So here's where the rogues and the illusionists really get to shine! Now, rather than an attrition of hit points, you're focusing on skill checks for disguises and deception and sleight of hand.
But if it's a single-location encounter - then maybe the players found the McGuffin in an old ruined keep. The enemy army is approaching, so the party has a certain amount of time (like maybe two hours) to prepare their defenses to hold off the enemy army until the Good Guy Army arrives to finish the battle.
It's a great idea for an adventure. And you've got a TON of historical inspiration from which to draw. Not just Thermopylae, but the Lost Battalion of the Argonne (the 77th Division), Stalingrad in 43, Task Force Taffy 3 at Samar, the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, Agincourt on Crispin's Day 1415...
And don't worry about trying to be original. Everything is inspired by something else. Just have fun!
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
You mean to say it isn't a combat spell? Hmmm I've been using it wrong lol
From Within Chaos Comes Order!
if you want a time sensitive encounter, I did one with a tower, it had 3 floors + a roof with battlements, its an old wizards tower with 100ft of clear ground around it, which is then surrounded by a forest, the party (A warlock, a cleric, a bard and a multi-classed Fighter/Barbarian/Ranger) and an NPC were being pursued by a horde of zombies (its part of a zombie apocalypse story line), as the party enter the clearing the see hordes of zombies coming out of the tree line ahead of them, the tower is their only safe/defensible place.
The idea is that the NPC with the party can cast Teleportation Circle to get them all home but needs 1 minute to cast it so the party need to hold the zombie hordes off long enough for the casting to be complete.
When I ran it I had 300 minis on the table and as they killed them they were added to the back of the horde to represent a vast zombie army swarming out of the woods. It ended up being Walking Dead meets the Battle of Rorkes Drift.
This is an example of defensive quest.
Link to full content: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SyZ_4eEyKE
- -
Defense of Farcross (Level 4)
Characters are sleeping at inn, eating at tavern or otherwise spending time in Farcross when Stone Axe Horde attacks Farcross during night.
First encounter, Combat
Environment: Town, marketplace
4 x Goblin, melee (Challenge 1/4, 50 XP)
2 x Goblin, ranged (Challenge 1/4, 50 XP)
= 300 XP
Challenge rating: 300 x 2 = 600
After battle two guards (Thug stats) ask characters to follow them to north gate of the town.
Second encounter, Combat
Environment: Town, wall, houses, gate
1 x Ogre (Challenge 2, 450 XP)
= 450 XP
Challenge rating: 450 x 1 = 450
Friendly NPCs:
1 x Thug, ranged (Challenge: 1/2, 100 XP)
1 x Thug, melee (Challenge: 1/2, 100 XP)
Ogre is trying to destroy wooden gate of town. Roll Athletics (Strength) check, DC 15. If check succeeds gate is destroyed.
Third encounter, Combat
Environment: Town, wall, houses, gate
4 x Orc, melee (Challenge 1/2, 100 XP)
= 400 XP
Challenge rating: 400 x 2 = 800
For third encounter use same environment and friendly NPCs as in second encounter.
After battle a guard tells characters monsters have break through from south-east gate of the town.
Fourth encounter, Combat
Environment: Town, houses, street
1 x Hobgoblin, melee (Challenge 1/2, 100 XP)
4 x Goblin, melee (Challenge 1/4, 50 XP)
= 300 XP
Challenge rating: 300 x 2 = 600
Fifth encounter, Combat
Environment: Town, houses, broken gate
1 x Ogre (Challenge 2, 450 XP)
= 450 XP
Challenge rating: 450 x 1 = 450
Sixth encounter, Combat
Environment: Town, houses, broken gate
2 x Orc, melee (Challenge 1/2, 100 XP)
2 x Goblin, ranged (Challenge 1/4, 50 XP)
= 300 XP
Challenge rating: 300 x 2 = 600
For sixth encounter use same environment as in fifth encounter.
After battle a guard asks players to see Gifford at barracks tomorrow.
Reward: 20 gp and 600 XP
If you want something over a few sessions here's a link to something I wrote for Halloween last year:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gbHMyjLiiFRA5bARVBn3WDzpPtmaDwPH
Supplemental bits here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13T9iZGF8J0VS6ebW_igEWJh4vkA_DI7D
and here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ea_-70bJXy4taQL24UKzuX9dEs07dFGB
I was thinking a single encounter defensive quest could be arranged with a dungeon tunnel the branches left and right from a single open area of the right size for the party. The path out is the one behind the party. The branch to the right takes them to the treasure. The branch to the left takes them to (many) more enemies. The party posts a sentry or two in the open chamber while the others go down the right path. They find the treasure and begin to bring it out. When a significant treasure has been delivered to the open chamber the alert comes that the bad guys are on their way. The party now has to decide:
1) hold the open area until the full treasure is retrieved and then (2) - or -
2) delay and take what treasure you have out while holding the enemy at bay
This leads to a stage 3 encounter where the party has to deal with however many bad guys still survive and want their stuff back. It also makes the party have to make decisions about how much treasure is enough? Or, do they stay too long trying to obtain all the treasure?
Thanks everybody! It is very appreciated !