Our group is in a town on the border of a coming conflict. There are sympathizers for the soon-to-be invading forces, including the local butcher, that is curing meat to supply the enemy. We have an objective to hinder this production to slow down enemy troops. Originally an NPC was working to spoil the meat, but our party is considering just burning the butcher shop down, including the warehouse of food and possibly any lackey sympathizers trapped inside.
Our PC's are 4th level, so our magical options to burn the place down are limited. What are some realistic ways to burn down the shop, knowing that we have to be discreet and take this out fast?
Hopefully you have Create Bonfire, Fire Bolt and Control Flame available to you. if you don't, the optional 3rd level Wizard feature Cantrip Formulas from Tasha's allows a Wizard to replace one cantrip after each long rest.
Create Bonfire is a cantrip that creates a 5' bonfire at a range of 60' that ignites flammable material. Control Flames is a cantrip that allows you to spread a 5' fire a further 5', also at a range of 60', assuming there is flammable material to spread the fire to. Assuming the buildings are made of wood, you should be able to get a good fire going quickly by creating a fire and then enlarging it, repeatedly. Fire Bolt will also ignite flammable objects, and has a range of 120', but at my table I rule that it must be a very flammable object, like curtains, paper or straw, not something less easily set alight, like a heavy wooden table or door.
Arranging to have a hay wagon beside the shop, with the hay soaked in oil, would certainly help.
Even without magic, dousing a wooden section of the building with oil (which could be done with a thrown flask of lantern oil) then lighting it on fire with a flaming arrow or lit torch should work.
Flaming buildings were very hard to control in pre-modern days. Most efforts were limited to fighting the spread of the flames to other structures only. Without magic like Create Water or Control Flames, the butcher will have to resort to a water brigade or shoveling sand on the fire, which may also wreck the supplies.
If your wanted a more covert approach, perhaps you could find some rotting meat, sneak it into the warehouse, and let the natural reproductive abilities of flies do the work for you. Although not every army would be deterred by rotten meat…
Not to spoil the fun because I love a good arson as much as the next D&D player, but wouldn’t you be better off stealing the cured meat and giving it to your side. Then the enemy doesn’t have food and you do. Win-win.
Alchemists Fire and Flasks of Oil are two great items that onestly don't get enough use in a game where magic is the solution to almost everything. Should be pretty fast.
Oil flasks are one silver for a pint of oil. For just a few gold, you could buy enough oil to insure that the shop goes up like a Salamander French-kissing a Roman Candle.
But I am curious as to why you can't just arrest the butcher for treason?
I'm going to take a mostly different approach. There's other things you can destroy or remove that will make the butcher and soldiers' lives difficult.
The first thing I'm considering is that there's an established supply of animals to butcher in the first place. If you were to, say, open the gates of the farm and herd the animals out, how much time would that take from the butcher to get them back or butcher them where they are? How many animals would be gone for good? And how adversely is that going to affect the people uninvolved in the conflict, or are on your side? Or rather than freeing the animals, you could poison their feed and troughs, making the meat inedible. The more I dwell on this the more cruel it becomes, but you could introduce their natural predators; put a fox amongst the chickens, so to speak, and have the slain animals be a waste because they can't be butchered properly.
The second thing I'm considering is the butcher themself. I presume they're the only one who knows how to butcher the meat properly, and even then, what does proper butchery affect? More effective transportation of meats, equal rations for the troops, raised morale for getting fine cuts? Do they have an apprentice who can do the same, but less efficiently? If so, do they need to be removed from the equation if the butcher is dealt with? Can the butcher be bribed or threatened to leave the soldiers to their own wetwork?
The third thing now is the shop. If the butcher's shop is burnt down, can he continue his work elsewhere? What in his shop is so valuable that the entire thing needs to be burnt down? Are his tools replaceable? Will burning down the shop drop enemy morale enough to make it worth the loss of morale if you're caught and fail? Even then we're only talking about the one element of fire, which creates smoke, a smell, and a crackling sound. What about flooding the place, spoiling the meat, making it smell, and risking no small amount of diseases (your butcher might be up for the chop if he has trenchfoot)? Or sinking it by tunnelling underneath? Can't burn down the butcher's shop if it's underground! If you can dress these up as ill omens caused by the gods or some other higher power, all the better.
The fourth thing I want to consider is the soldiers. If the meat's gone, and the butcher's gone, and the shop's gone, where's their next food source coming from? Vegetable farming is likely to be their next stop, and taking from the civilians may cause some uproar. Sieges live and die by the amount of food and drink available, and if the food runs out the troops will likely mobilize so they can end this sooner. Sun Tzu says, "When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food, and when the men do not hang their cooking-pots over the camp-fires, showing that they will not return to their tents, you may know that they are determined to fight to the death."
The fifth and final thing I want to consider is the non-combatants. Is there anyone left you can convince to distract people from the fleeing livestock, the assassinated butcher, the burning shop and the hungry soldiers? There's no point letting the livestock flee if the sheepdogs are ready to bring them back, or assassinating the butcher if there's eyes everywhere, or burning the shop if there's hands ready to bring buckets of water, and slowing the hungry soldiers march to the farms when they're already on foot.
I'm only suggesting all this because this butcher's shop business is putting all your eggs in one basket. It's going to be hard to set - and keep - it on fire if the opposition see it as a medium-high priority target in the current strategic overview. If you can keep as many people from as many buckets of water as possible, you stand a much better chance of burning it to a crisp. And there's a thought: what's to say there's any water to douse the fires?
While I wouldn't expect any or all of these ideas to happen, I hope that my perspective can shed some light on the matter. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
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Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
Burning down the shop and warehouse are easy. The problem is keeping the fire from spreading. That may be the trap the DM wants to set for you. But burning down the shops should be a few flasks of oil and a few torches.
Except for the direct action against the shop you noted, taking out the sympathizers sounds difficult because there are many and they don't exactly wear T-shirts that say, I'm with the other team. If you simply blocked entrance to the butcher from his shop, you would likely face an angry mob. If you beat up, abduct or kill the butcher, you will likely face an angry mob. And so on ...
How do you know the butcher is in league with the invaders? Is he being blackmailed? If you can get the town guard involved, would they arrest the butcher on the evidence you have? For that matter, how do you know you aren't being played? Is the butcher on the other team, or are you about to wipe out the town's food supply? Anyway, getting back to the Guards, if he is arrested, then it could be made public why he was arrested. Then you need to watch for residents that try to free the butcher. Grab them and throw them in jail too. You should want to get the whole stinking lot of traitors. When it is over, you could be merciful and just take them to the other kingdom and throw them out, or you could ... do something else.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
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Our group is in a town on the border of a coming conflict. There are sympathizers for the soon-to-be invading forces, including the local butcher, that is curing meat to supply the enemy. We have an objective to hinder this production to slow down enemy troops. Originally an NPC was working to spoil the meat, but our party is considering just burning the butcher shop down, including the warehouse of food and possibly any lackey sympathizers trapped inside.
Our PC's are 4th level, so our magical options to burn the place down are limited. What are some realistic ways to burn down the shop, knowing that we have to be discreet and take this out fast?
Hopefully you have Create Bonfire, Fire Bolt and Control Flame available to you. if you don't, the optional 3rd level Wizard feature Cantrip Formulas from Tasha's allows a Wizard to replace one cantrip after each long rest.
Create Bonfire is a cantrip that creates a 5' bonfire at a range of 60' that ignites flammable material. Control Flames is a cantrip that allows you to spread a 5' fire a further 5', also at a range of 60', assuming there is flammable material to spread the fire to. Assuming the buildings are made of wood, you should be able to get a good fire going quickly by creating a fire and then enlarging it, repeatedly. Fire Bolt will also ignite flammable objects, and has a range of 120', but at my table I rule that it must be a very flammable object, like curtains, paper or straw, not something less easily set alight, like a heavy wooden table or door.
Arranging to have a hay wagon beside the shop, with the hay soaked in oil, would certainly help.
See if the butcher has a place where they store the fat to be rendered. Grease fires are notoriously hard to put out.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Even without magic, dousing a wooden section of the building with oil (which could be done with a thrown flask of lantern oil) then lighting it on fire with a flaming arrow or lit torch should work.
Flaming buildings were very hard to control in pre-modern days. Most efforts were limited to fighting the spread of the flames to other structures only. Without magic like Create Water or Control Flames, the butcher will have to resort to a water brigade or shoveling sand on the fire, which may also wreck the supplies.
If your wanted a more covert approach, perhaps you could find some rotting meat, sneak it into the warehouse, and let the natural reproductive abilities of flies do the work for you. Although not every army would be deterred by rotten meat…
Not to spoil the fun because I love a good arson as much as the next D&D player, but wouldn’t you be better off stealing the cured meat and giving it to your side. Then the enemy doesn’t have food and you do. Win-win.
then you could burn down the butcher's to hide the theft :D
Alchemists Fire and Flasks of Oil are two great items that onestly don't get enough use in a game where magic is the solution to almost everything. Should be pretty fast.
Oil flasks are one silver for a pint of oil. For just a few gold, you could buy enough oil to insure that the shop goes up like a Salamander French-kissing a Roman Candle.
But I am curious as to why you can't just arrest the butcher for treason?
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I'm going to take a mostly different approach. There's other things you can destroy or remove that will make the butcher and soldiers' lives difficult.
The first thing I'm considering is that there's an established supply of animals to butcher in the first place. If you were to, say, open the gates of the farm and herd the animals out, how much time would that take from the butcher to get them back or butcher them where they are? How many animals would be gone for good? And how adversely is that going to affect the people uninvolved in the conflict, or are on your side? Or rather than freeing the animals, you could poison their feed and troughs, making the meat inedible. The more I dwell on this the more cruel it becomes, but you could introduce their natural predators; put a fox amongst the chickens, so to speak, and have the slain animals be a waste because they can't be butchered properly.
The second thing I'm considering is the butcher themself. I presume they're the only one who knows how to butcher the meat properly, and even then, what does proper butchery affect? More effective transportation of meats, equal rations for the troops, raised morale for getting fine cuts? Do they have an apprentice who can do the same, but less efficiently? If so, do they need to be removed from the equation if the butcher is dealt with? Can the butcher be bribed or threatened to leave the soldiers to their own wetwork?
The third thing now is the shop. If the butcher's shop is burnt down, can he continue his work elsewhere? What in his shop is so valuable that the entire thing needs to be burnt down? Are his tools replaceable? Will burning down the shop drop enemy morale enough to make it worth the loss of morale if you're caught and fail? Even then we're only talking about the one element of fire, which creates smoke, a smell, and a crackling sound. What about flooding the place, spoiling the meat, making it smell, and risking no small amount of diseases (your butcher might be up for the chop if he has trenchfoot)? Or sinking it by tunnelling underneath? Can't burn down the butcher's shop if it's underground! If you can dress these up as ill omens caused by the gods or some other higher power, all the better.
The fourth thing I want to consider is the soldiers. If the meat's gone, and the butcher's gone, and the shop's gone, where's their next food source coming from? Vegetable farming is likely to be their next stop, and taking from the civilians may cause some uproar. Sieges live and die by the amount of food and drink available, and if the food runs out the troops will likely mobilize so they can end this sooner. Sun Tzu says, "When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food, and when the men do not hang their cooking-pots over the camp-fires, showing that they will not return to their tents, you may know that they are determined to fight to the death."
The fifth and final thing I want to consider is the non-combatants. Is there anyone left you can convince to distract people from the fleeing livestock, the assassinated butcher, the burning shop and the hungry soldiers? There's no point letting the livestock flee if the sheepdogs are ready to bring them back, or assassinating the butcher if there's eyes everywhere, or burning the shop if there's hands ready to bring buckets of water, and slowing the hungry soldiers march to the farms when they're already on foot.
I'm only suggesting all this because this butcher's shop business is putting all your eggs in one basket. It's going to be hard to set - and keep - it on fire if the opposition see it as a medium-high priority target in the current strategic overview. If you can keep as many people from as many buckets of water as possible, you stand a much better chance of burning it to a crisp. And there's a thought: what's to say there's any water to douse the fires?
While I wouldn't expect any or all of these ideas to happen, I hope that my perspective can shed some light on the matter. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
Burning down the shop and warehouse are easy. The problem is keeping the fire from spreading. That may be the trap the DM wants to set for you. But burning down the shops should be a few flasks of oil and a few torches.
Except for the direct action against the shop you noted, taking out the sympathizers sounds difficult because there are many and they don't exactly wear T-shirts that say, I'm with the other team. If you simply blocked entrance to the butcher from his shop, you would likely face an angry mob. If you beat up, abduct or kill the butcher, you will likely face an angry mob. And so on ...
How do you know the butcher is in league with the invaders? Is he being blackmailed? If you can get the town guard involved, would they arrest the butcher on the evidence you have? For that matter, how do you know you aren't being played? Is the butcher on the other team, or are you about to wipe out the town's food supply? Anyway, getting back to the Guards, if he is arrested, then it could be made public why he was arrested. Then you need to watch for residents that try to free the butcher. Grab them and throw them in jail too. You should want to get the whole stinking lot of traitors. When it is over, you could be merciful and just take them to the other kingdom and throw them out, or you could ... do something else.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt