Pretty soon the PCs in the campaign will be asked to slow down an army. Every hour/day they can gain will help the kingdom marshal their forces and get into a better position. The party consists of a Rogue Assassin, A Wizard (Transmuter) and a Blood Hunter. They should be around level 11 at this point. The Rogue is starting to work with poisons a lot, so that is an obvious approach - poison some food/water. Another approach might be to try to assassinate the commander of the army and other officers.
Any other suggestions? I would like to start subtly nudging them towards skills/items that might help. They are in Forgotten Realms, in the Moonshaes, and the opposing army will be mostly goblins, hobgoblins, some fomorians, some lycanthropes, and assorted fey. The defending army is mostly humans, with some dwarves, and pack of their own lycanthropes, with druids for magical support. The PCs will not be able to have much druidic support on their attempts to slow down the army, unfortunately.
Choke points. Is there a mountain pass? Fill it with rubble. A bridge? Blow it up. A desert with oasis? Destroy the water at an oasis.
Supply disruption. Armies travel on their stomach, attack their supply lines. Remove their food, horses, carts, etc. Or you can poison their food/water.
Assassinate the leaders. Works best with poor chains of command, or if the 2nd in command is incompetent/bribed.
Political trouble. Is the army traveling through country owed by their allies? Disrupt the relationship they have with their allies.
Disrupt their sleep. Night attacks can make them tired.
A series of hit and run attacks while they are marching can force them to scout more, slowing them down. Especially if you can get them to chase after your retreating forces.
There are some big illusion spells that could really throw off the approach. Suddenly there's a crevasse between the army and their destination. They could possibly also spread rumors about dissent, spies, or traps. Geas key officials to work against their own interests. Manipulate weather to cut visibility for ambushes, cause floods, or require more water consumption, possibly exhausting the enemy. Go out and preemptively kill off wildlife to keep the enemy from hunting?
Look at what just happened in Ukraine. If there’s no supply lines, the army stops. Don’t attack the well armed large groups of trained soldiers. Stop the caravan behind them bringing in the food, fuel (food for the horses) ammunition, clothes, etc. Force the soldiers to spend time foraging for food, repairing their equipment, etc. The Will slow them down tremendously.
I have to ask why the Druids aren't much help to you, because my "go-to" spell for slowing down large groups of creatures moving overland is Plant Growth. It covers a 200' area (100' radius), it lowers movement to 1/4 normal, and it's permanent.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Behind every successful Warlock, there's an angry mob.
I have to ask why the Druids aren't much help to you, because my "go-to" spell for slowing down large groups of creatures moving overland is Plant Growth. It covers a 200' area (100' radius), it lowers movement to 1/4 normal, and it's permanent.
They said they didn't HAVE much Druidic support, because I (and apparently OP) recognize a Druid can do all KINDS of stuff to make moving an army a pain in the ass. Wizard can likely do some good things, too to terrain and such, as mentioned, taking out a bridge, causing a landslide. The poison idea is good, as it can really disrupt an army, under the theory that poisoning 1 might tie up 2-3 total, as he/she poisoned may need to be tended.
The group makeup, as you gave, isn't ideal for the task, but as a DM, I would be pretty generous, especially for outside the box ideas, maybe pushing spells and effects to the very edge of RaW (and a tad beyond for great ideas) to help make it happen. Make them look through abilities, items, spells and more for motivation. Maybe there's some hostile creatures in the area could be lured in to harass the procession? If the Rogue recognizes certain poisonous plants, leaving them along the trail where they will be disturbed by the procession, or even eaten by the horses to induce illness there, it can really tie things up well.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I would tend to think of this as 'not the DMs problem': you introduced the problem, they can come up with solutions (or not). Instead, you should be prepared to answer questions about probable ways the PCs might do things. Is there a convenient choke point, or perhaps a bridge to destroy? How do their supply lines work? What sort of scouts do they have, and how can they be ambushed? Also, what countermeasures are they already taking (for example, hallucinatory terrain can be very dangerous if not properly scouted, or sending in invisible saboteurs).
Look at what just happened in Ukraine. If there’s no supply lines, the army stops. Don’t attack the well armed large groups of trained soldiers. Stop the caravan behind them bringing in the food, fuel (food for the horses) ammunition, clothes, etc. Force the soldiers to spend time foraging for food, repairing their equipment, etc. The Will slow them down tremendously.
I was thinking this as well. Poison the food and the animal fodder. Kill the animals pulling the wagons. Try night attacks so they cannot get a long rest.
I have to ask why the Druids aren't much help to you, because my "go-to" spell for slowing down large groups of creatures moving overland is Plant Growth. It covers a 200' area (100' radius), it lowers movement to 1/4 normal, and it's permanent.
I have to ask why the Druids aren't much help to you, because my "go-to" spell for slowing down large groups of creatures moving overland is Plant Growth. It covers a 200' area (100' radius), it lowers movement to 1/4 normal, and it's permanent.
Most of the druids will be preparing for the main battle, knowing this is an all or nothing situation. And, TBH, I really want the players to come up with some cool solutions on their own... Once this gets over, their next big quest will be the BBEG of the whole campaign, which saw them start at 0 level and go up to 12-13.
This will cause them to lose officers, stop and chase the snipers. At night it will cause unrest because of fear and lost sleep.
Take out an important bridge. Cover the bridge with archers so they can't easily rebuild it.
Mess up their supply trains.
Crater roads. Kill pack animals. Terrorize the lighter troops with the food and gear. Unleash a monster on them. Make bad omens the rear area troops fear like the stereotypical idol in the jungle.
Cause unrest and distrust among the smaller units. Make it appear one group is stealing food from another.
Frighten the animals with smells they fear. Kill some game near the road and let it rot. Start fires where the smoke will fill their lungs. Find predators of the animals and release them near the camp at night.
Lots of great ideas in this thread. History is full of many more real examples, so you can look to history for inspiration.
For example, I was just listening to a podcast about Harald Haddrassa’s failed conquest of England (right before the Norman Conquest in 1066). One of the key advantages of the English army was that the Vikings were preoccupied with managing their newly obtained plunder in the form of livestock. They were unarmored and unprepared for the English, and didn’t have time to send for reinforcements before the battle.
The Greek army under Alexander the Great was stopped in their conquest by Indian war elephants. The elephants caused fear in the troops and horses.
The Aztecs were severely weakened by a deadly disease that swept through their capital before Cortez and his native allies attacked. Probably typhus, if I remember correctly.
Could your party cause other distractions or break the attackers’ health or morale before the battle? Probably.
Lure big, dangerous monsters down from the hills to attack the army! They could do this through social interaction - perhaps persuade some Hill Giants that the army are stealing what's theirs, or they could lure a Gorgon from its cave and have it chase them until they lead it right into the army.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Pretty soon the PCs in the campaign will be asked to slow down an army. Every hour/day they can gain will help the kingdom marshal their forces and get into a better position. The party consists of a Rogue Assassin, A Wizard (Transmuter) and a Blood Hunter. They should be around level 11 at this point. The Rogue is starting to work with poisons a lot, so that is an obvious approach - poison some food/water. Another approach might be to try to assassinate the commander of the army and other officers.
Any other suggestions? I would like to start subtly nudging them towards skills/items that might help. They are in Forgotten Realms, in the Moonshaes, and the opposing army will be mostly goblins, hobgoblins, some fomorians, some lycanthropes, and assorted fey. The defending army is mostly humans, with some dwarves, and pack of their own lycanthropes, with druids for magical support. The PCs will not be able to have much druidic support on their attempts to slow down the army, unfortunately.
Typical ways the real world slows down armies is:
There are some big illusion spells that could really throw off the approach. Suddenly there's a crevasse between the army and their destination. They could possibly also spread rumors about dissent, spies, or traps. Geas key officials to work against their own interests. Manipulate weather to cut visibility for ambushes, cause floods, or require more water consumption, possibly exhausting the enemy. Go out and preemptively kill off wildlife to keep the enemy from hunting?
Look at what just happened in Ukraine. If there’s no supply lines, the army stops. Don’t attack the well armed large groups of trained soldiers. Stop the caravan behind them bringing in the food, fuel (food for the horses) ammunition, clothes, etc. Force the soldiers to spend time foraging for food, repairing their equipment, etc. The Will slow them down tremendously.
I have to ask why the Druids aren't much help to you, because my "go-to" spell for slowing down large groups of creatures moving overland is Plant Growth. It covers a 200' area (100' radius), it lowers movement to 1/4 normal, and it's permanent.
Behind every successful Warlock, there's an angry mob.
They said they didn't HAVE much Druidic support, because I (and apparently OP) recognize a Druid can do all KINDS of stuff to make moving an army a pain in the ass. Wizard can likely do some good things, too to terrain and such, as mentioned, taking out a bridge, causing a landslide. The poison idea is good, as it can really disrupt an army, under the theory that poisoning 1 might tie up 2-3 total, as he/she poisoned may need to be tended.
The group makeup, as you gave, isn't ideal for the task, but as a DM, I would be pretty generous, especially for outside the box ideas, maybe pushing spells and effects to the very edge of RaW (and a tad beyond for great ideas) to help make it happen. Make them look through abilities, items, spells and more for motivation. Maybe there's some hostile creatures in the area could be lured in to harass the procession? If the Rogue recognizes certain poisonous plants, leaving them along the trail where they will be disturbed by the procession, or even eaten by the horses to induce illness there, it can really tie things up well.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I would tend to think of this as 'not the DMs problem': you introduced the problem, they can come up with solutions (or not). Instead, you should be prepared to answer questions about probable ways the PCs might do things. Is there a convenient choke point, or perhaps a bridge to destroy? How do their supply lines work? What sort of scouts do they have, and how can they be ambushed? Also, what countermeasures are they already taking (for example, hallucinatory terrain can be very dangerous if not properly scouted, or sending in invisible saboteurs).
I was thinking this as well. Poison the food and the animal fodder. Kill the animals pulling the wagons. Try night attacks so they cannot get a long rest.
Most of the druids will be preparing for the main battle, knowing this is an all or nothing situation. And, TBH, I really want the players to come up with some cool solutions on their own... Once this gets over, their next big quest will be the BBEG of the whole campaign, which saw them start at 0 level and go up to 12-13.
Snipe the enemy.
This will cause them to lose officers, stop and chase the snipers. At night it will cause unrest because of fear and lost sleep.
Take out an important bridge. Cover the bridge with archers so they can't easily rebuild it.
Mess up their supply trains.
Crater roads. Kill pack animals. Terrorize the lighter troops with the food and gear. Unleash a monster on them. Make bad omens the rear area troops fear like the stereotypical idol in the jungle.
Cause unrest and distrust among the smaller units. Make it appear one group is stealing food from another.
Frighten the animals with smells they fear. Kill some game near the road and let it rot. Start fires where the smoke will fill their lungs. Find predators of the animals and release them near the camp at night.
Use illusions at night to frighten the troops.
Lots of great ideas in this thread. History is full of many more real examples, so you can look to history for inspiration.
For example, I was just listening to a podcast about Harald Haddrassa’s failed conquest of England (right before the Norman Conquest in 1066). One of the key advantages of the English army was that the Vikings were preoccupied with managing their newly obtained plunder in the form of livestock. They were unarmored and unprepared for the English, and didn’t have time to send for reinforcements before the battle.
The Greek army under Alexander the Great was stopped in their conquest by Indian war elephants. The elephants caused fear in the troops and horses.
The Aztecs were severely weakened by a deadly disease that swept through their capital before Cortez and his native allies attacked. Probably typhus, if I remember correctly.
Could your party cause other distractions or break the attackers’ health or morale before the battle? Probably.
Lure big, dangerous monsters down from the hills to attack the army! They could do this through social interaction - perhaps persuade some Hill Giants that the army are stealing what's theirs, or they could lure a Gorgon from its cave and have it chase them until they lead it right into the army.