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  1. - Top - End - #31
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    SilverClawShift's Avatar

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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Quote Originally Posted by .... View Post
    Massive pits with spikes in them.
    I question our ability to dig giant pits and put spikes in them within a week. Also, there's the problem of this massive source of our energy relying on surprise, and only working, at most, a few times. We still need to be ready once the pits are being circled.

    Quote Originally Posted by .... View Post
    Booby-trapped buildings and doors. Other traps that you can set off.
    Agreed. We're thinking of ways to set up the old "Pull a rope, send a spiked log or 5 swinging down from between two buildings". Hard to setup, but not unreasonable that a team could set a few up. I'd try to save something like that for the slaymaster, personally.

    Quote Originally Posted by .... View Post
    One building filled to bursting with alchemist fire and oil/tar/alcohol/whatever else that burns.
    I'll bring it up, but i'm not sure if we can find that much flammable liquid in a secluded village on short notice :-\

    Quote Originally Posted by .... View Post
    even if you're clever as hell, you'll still probably go down
    I agree. :-\

    Quote Originally Posted by .... View Post
    Just remember that if things get hairy, you're more important than villagers. Even little crying babies.
    Tell that to our paladin. And our group in general is pretty noble and virtuous, if not pious. I don't think we can walk away from this until we literally have no other recourse.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dullyanna View Post
    And run from the slaymaster when it rears its head.
    We're going to play that part by ear, but I'm hoping we'll have a shot at tearing that sucker down. It's evil, so our paladin is going to try to save the Smites for it. Oh! we also have a heavy warhorse as the paladins mount, i'm going to make sure to remind them that it's on our side.

    Quote Originally Posted by Silkenfist View Post
    - Sit back and pray.
    I can hear our paladins reply right now. "No. No rest for the wicked."
    They're very hard on themselves (not hard on everyone else though, thankfully). Utterly convinced of their own failures and sins, and trying hard to be the majestic person everyone thinks they are.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ghal Marak View Post
    ...maybe... dig a tunnel between the two closest buildings, have everybody go into one building, then go underground to the other.
    While I'm sure we've got some leeway, i'm not sure our DM is going to let us dig a functional tunnel in a week, AND train everyone. :-\

  2. - Top - End - #32
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    I don't know if you saw the spells I mentioned earlier, but they're good to get one army on your side, or at least one army you can ignore entirely, and they'll go about attacking the Kython's on their own. Hide From Undead can be cast by a Cleric with ony 11 Wisdom, but Command Undead needs a Wizard 3/Sorcerer 4. Your Wizard and Archivist likely have it as spells, though, so you should get to crafting wands and giving it to Wizard/Sorc commoners - They can use them, since they're on their spell list - Provided they have a 12 mental stat.

    Hide from Undead is Definately a good spell to use, though.
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  3. - Top - End - #33
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Well then... at least you could partialy deconstruct the outer buildings and set up walkways among the inner building rooftops. So your archers could run to another building and kick away the walkway when that building is taken over.

  4. - Top - End - #34

    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Oh, I remembered a way to turn this battle to your side. Checkmate. Ask your DM if, instead of just sitting there waiting, you CAN try to find out the source of the plague, or even try to lure the Kython's leader out to scatter them. Otherwise, it's unwinnable. Flee, regroup, and go back to crush 'em.

  5. - Top - End - #35
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    This is pretty iffy, but maybe you can get one of the more ballsy PC's to lure the Slaymaster through a gauntlet of traps. I'd nominate the pally, since he has a horse and (Theoretically) enough divine guts to be willing to pull this off.
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  6. - Top - End - #36
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    train the villagers in hit and run guerilla tactics. concealed bowmen in trees and rooftops, build traps and stuff. one thing commoners do well is work and build stuff. small groups hit the enemy and fall back leading them into waiting ambushes. disorient and split up the enemy then have the pc's crush the disorganized enemy one at a time.
    Last edited by the_tick_rules; 2007-10-07 at 08:06 PM.
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  7. - Top - End - #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by dyslexicfaser View Post
    I would suggest turning several of them into neutral clerics of Wee Jas, the neutral goddess who has no problem with raising the dead as long as you're not all evil about it. In the weke before the big fight, have them go out and use liberal rebukes to round up as many undead as possible. Zombies and skeletons can be rebuked with pretty good regularity at level 1, each cleric will have 4-5 rebukes per day, and they will follow and obey the cleric who rebuked them until they die (again).

    You are going to use these undead as meat shields against the aliens.

    Whoever isn't a cleric should be rogue archers or slingers on the rooftops/walls with a sprinkling here and there of marshals, bards, or dragon speakers. I prefer bards, myself.

    Your clerics probably won't be able to rebuke the aliens when they die (too high HD, I'm assuming), so use them to rebuke any villagers who get the axe into fighting on your side, and send them into the melee. Besides that, have them bless the archers, use inflict spells to add what damage they can, and be ready to protect the archers as much as they are able if the aliens make it up the walls.
    Good advice. The highest-charisma villagers should probably be Marshals, Bards, and Dragon Shamans, but have a bunch as Clerics go out and collect undead servants in the days leading up to the battle. As said above, making the Kythons fight a lot of undead is your best chance. Have any Wizards you have use Control Undead, too. Put the biggest mob of mindless undead you can make around the town before the Kytons show up. No, bringing more undead into the picture isn't safe, and you should accompany the villagers on their undead-collecting trips to make sure they don't get killed, but you need more meat shields. I propose the following for defenses:
    First layer: lots of undead surrounding the town. If they're under your control, great. If not, they'll still fight the Kythons.
    Second layer: a wall tall enough that the undead can't get over it, if building one is at all possible. (important)
    Third layer: spike pits, for anything that gets over the wall. If you can pour Holy Water into them or light them on fire, so much the better.(optional)
    Fourth layer: a wall around the town itself, as high as you can make it. (very important)
    Fifth layer: more spike pits, directly behind the wall, so that anything that climbs over it falls in and gets impaled. Again, adding Holy Water of fire would be good if possible. (important, but less important than the walls)
    Sixth layer: Fill the streets with rubble, to create difficult terrain. If you can light lots of stuff in the street on fire, good. Even though the Kythons have fire resistance, it'll help (but, because they have fire resistance, don't take away resources from your other preparations just to make things burn because it won't help that much). (optional)
    Finally, put everyone on roofs and focus on ranged combat. If you can destroy the stairs in all the buildings and/or completely block their doors, good. That might not stop the Kythons from getting up, but it'll help. Have your Wizards cast Grease (and if you have Druids or Rangers who can cast it, have them cast Spike Growth) on the outside walls of all the buildings. Cast it on the outside of the external walls if you can make it permenant, and on the inside walls too if you can make it permenant there. Or, better yet, just cover the walls in actual grease. That doesn't take a spell, and a village should have some grease around. If I remember correctly, Kythons can climb walls; if I'm wrong, you can disregard that.

    As said before, it is critical that the Kythons fight as many undead as possible. You have a bit of a problem in that you don't want the Kythons to interpret you as a threat, but you want to kill them. Whatever you choose to do with the ranged-fighting villagers on the rooftops, have them attack the Kythons exclusively, ignoring the undead, and if possible have them focus fire on individual Kythons at a time, starting with the largest. However, if possible, you should only attack Kythons that are actively trying to attack your villagers. You don't want them to consider you a bigger threat than the undead.

    Does Confusion work on Kythons? If so, use it.

    If it's possible for your wizard or archivist to use a save-or-die spell or Dominate on the Slaymaster (with a scroll, perhaps), do it. The Slaymaster is the single biggest threat. You want it out of the picture if possible.
    Quote Originally Posted by Thespianus View Post
    I fail to see how "No, that guy is too fat to be hurt by your fire" would make sense.

  8. - Top - End - #38
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Quote Originally Posted by JackMage666 View Post
    I don't know if you saw the spells I mentioned earlier, but they're good to get one army on your side
    Oh, yeah, i saw them. I didn't think to comment on it, but mainly because it went without saying that you were absolutely right. Hide from undead will be darn good to have at the ready, in case we can make it work for us.

    But I'd worry about it not coming in handy without unrealistic events going down. The kythons aren't hunting the undead per se, they're just rampaging. They'll probably rip right through any of them in the way to get into the village. The broodlings will probably be tied up with them at least, though. The broodlings and zombies will have fair chances of killing each other.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ghal Marak View Post
    Well then... at least you could partialy deconstruct the outer buildings and set up walkways among the inner building rooftops.
    Worth a thought, but if the kythons get into a building, that building is probably just screwed.

    Quote Originally Posted by Azerian Kelimon View Post
    Oh, I remembered a way to turn this battle to your side. Checkmate. Ask your DM if, instead of just sitting there waiting, you CAN try to find out the source of the plague, or even try to lure the Kython's leader out to scatter them. Otherwise, it's unwinnable. Flee, regroup, and go back to crush 'em.
    We could go out looking for something. I think if we did, the village would be gone though. We'd be gambling with the villagers lives (plus the lives of everyone who comes after) on finding something that could help one way or another.
    We STILL have to set out searching after this, but I think we have a chance to do something good here, and save some people.

    I allready know where we're going. It doesn't even have to be said, but it horrifies me. We have to go into the kython caves once the village is safe.

    Quote Originally Posted by Dullyanna View Post
    This is pretty iffy, but maybe you can get one of the more ballsy PC's to lure the Slaymaster through a gauntlet of traps. I'd nominate the pally, since he has a horse and (Theoretically) enough divine guts to be willing to pull this off.
    That's part of the plan as it stands. Wether the traps are 'people with weapons' or 'spiked logs' or whatever else we can come up with.... The zombies and skeletons we can rip through if we're careful.

    The broodlings we can squish, same deal more or less. The juveniles will be a stumbling block, but we should come out ahead.

    ...the adults. the adults will be a fight. But at least a winneable fight.

    The slaymaster? we're boned. Utterly. Our DM has succeeded in horrifying us, at the bare minimum. But if enough of our army survives, if we use our 'aces' on the slaymaster... set some good traps, have some good tricks...

    Maybe.

    Awwww crap. They're venomous. I just remembered that. Gonna need some neutralize poisons prepared.

  9. - Top - End - #39
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    If you happen to have a scroll of Dominate Monster (though Unlikely as it is) or Charm Monster, put all your hope that it will fail the will save (though this is VERY unlikely).
    If there's a rule, there's someone out there trying to figure out how to get around it just to piss off his DM.

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  10. - Top - End - #40
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Also, I'd be more worried about the Adult Kythons than the Slaymaster - There's only 1 slaymaster, there is X adults - THe Adults can do alot more damage thanks to their numbers than the Single Slaymaster.
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  11. - Top - End - #41

    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    silverclaw, remember the erfworld comic I posted? How it talked about ender's game, a single brilliant stroke that will turn the odds of the battle in your favor? Going out and looking for it seems like your best bet.

    Meanwhile, get the villagers on constructing ships, as many as possible. Get them to board, and leave a ship for you. This way, if you don't find anything, you get to meet with them. You then train them, get them to be loaded with arrows, and get close to the village and pepper every Kython and undead on sight. And if the village is away from sea, get them close to sea and then try for Ender's game.

  12. - Top - End - #42
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Quote Originally Posted by SilverClawShift View Post
    Worth a thought, but if the kythons get into a building, that building is probably just screwed.
    You could destroy the stairs after they go up. It would be hard to get down from after the fight, but that may be thinking a little long term for now.

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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    @SilverClaw:Is this the same DM that pitted you against the tiny kobold lich with trap-filled tower? Not that you should ride on this or anything, but maybe the slaymaster is there scare you, for the most part. I don't think the DM will let you off easy, but if you plan and play as well as possible, maybe he'll show a little mercy. Or maybe not. I always second guess my hunches for a very good reason.
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Oh, and another thing to ask your DM. How many impalers are out there? They are the stepping stone between adults and slaymasters. If there are at least 1 of them, you're REALLY screwed, and ender's gaming is your only option. They are CR 8, so there's no way you can take on them. So yeah, Ender game, it's the only way.

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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Your best bet is to keep from melee. If you go to close quarters, your dead. Try flaming arrows. It may not do much more damage, but it may do enough. Enchanting bows is a definate bonus. Have lots of ranged rogues. level 2's. Have some healbots, at least 2 bards or marshals, a warlock for artillery, and at least a few tanks. Have each PC lead a squad of about 5 men. That should do it. Presuming a squarish wall, that leaves you with a reserve squad. You'd be surprised how much work can be done in a day by desperate people. try reading eldest in the inheritance trilogy.
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  16. - Top - End - #46
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Azerian:She specifically mentioned everything between broodlings and the slaymaster except for Impalers, so I don't think there are any (They would've been revealed by scrying, anyway). And the closest thing to Ender's Game they have is the whole predator shtick with the main baddy, and even that's iffy. As far as I can tell, the best they can do besides that is wear the kython's numbers down, lock the vulnerable villagers in a "secure" place, and turn tail when things get ugly(er).
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    That's why I suggested going to sea and returning a day or two later. And I don't know, maybe they DO have an ender's game alternative, and it's just that they don't know it.....


    Wait. Kythons are not immune to drowning. Get them into water, make 'em go berserk, and watch 'em drown. Might work, and if it does, it's VICTORY!

  18. - Top - End - #48
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    @SilverClaw:Forgot to mention this, but I wouldn't put npc's against the slaymaster. That's an exercise in futility... and cruelty. The poor sobs wouldn't stand 1% of a chance against him for more than a round, and they'd just piss him off if they peppered him with arrows. They'd be put to better use distracting the adults (Maybe using full defense while a PC and some archers do some damage to 'em).
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  19. - Top - End - #49
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Wizards would be a terrible idea, but what about sorcerers? They get plenty of spell slots, and as a bonus, you could give them all Versatile Spellcaster so they can blow all their 0-Level slots on 1st-Level spells!
    Last edited by UserClone; 2007-10-07 at 08:55 PM.

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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    @Azerian: Going out to sea's a nice idea... if you can get those stubborn farmers to move out of their homes, which they wouldn't do in the first place. Maybe the boats can be prepared anyway, in case some of 'em change their mind after seeing the xenomorphs .
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  21. - Top - End - #51
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Okay, here's my idea. You have 47 people. Make 3-4 of them Bards, the rest Marshals. Preferably the teens. Make the outstanding lady a swashbuckeler maybe? Okay, you have 39 people left. Divide them into 3's.

    13 of them spend the week developing stone and wood barricades with murderholes.

    Count the number of Bows you can get and have currently. Train that many into Binders, and teach them the system of bargaining, the sign, and the invocation of Leraje, the Herald of the Elves. They gain proficiency with bows of all types, Precise Shot, and the ability to shoot 2 undead at a time if said undead are adjacent. Oh, and Low-light vision. The Condition if they fail is not being able to hurt Elves, not a problem. The Sign is looking Sickly, also not a problem. Have the Archivist make Flaming Arrows for Undead, and Sonic/Force arrows if you can for the Xenomorphs.

    Train all that are left also as binders, but teach them the sign, bargaining, and invocation of Amon. Amon grants them horns, and more importantly Fire breath. This Fire Breath will do 1d6 damage in a 10 foot line. This will allow them to flame several undead a turn. Failing this will force them to not accept Spells from Clerics of Law, Sun, or Fire Domains the could be a problem.

    Place all the binders behind the barricades that your other guys built, to provide cover for them. The Commoners will be able to kill undead fairly well, but as for the demon things, Cleric casts Summon Monster III, Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Prayer, and Searing Light. Wizard Casts Summon Monster II, Web, Fog Cloud, Minor Image, the Buffs if needed, and Command Undead, which will force the undead to fight back against the Demon things.

    Finally, turn the area into WW I. The Barricades for the Binders become the edges of your area. Everything else is trapped with everything the Cleric, Archivist, and the Wizard can come up with in 1 Week. This becomes the No Man's land. It is near suicidal to venture into this area. This is good.

    Also, for solely coolness factor, have all of the 26 binders make their pacts in a circle around the city, forming this wall of Pacts. Maybe, the Vestiges will detect this, and give you some sort of bonus/help. Maybe.
    Last edited by TheLogman; 2007-10-07 at 09:15 PM.
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  22. - Top - End - #52
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    I agree that melee would be an exercize in futility, work on ranged moreso. Get rogues, fighters focused on bows, sorcerers, warmages, warlocks, whatever you find that will decimate them at a distance. Set everybody you can on top of buildings and build bridges. Set up defenses so nothing can climb, and if anything tries to get up (going into the building), move to another and pull back the bridge. Then break it. Put rubble in the streets, block all doorways, and give everyone melee weapons (with orders to only use them if they have no way of getting away) for final backup. If they drive you back to the schoolhouse, it's over, so just forget stratagy for the most part and just bottleneck them. Try to keep them trapped up at the entrance and gang up on them. If the slaymaster shows up then you are done for. You have no other options at that point.

    As an extra idea, see how many other villages you can get to join you here and see if you can train them up. Extra people are never a bad thing, and you ensure those villages aren't isolated.
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  23. - Top - End - #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by shaddy_24 View Post
    As an extra idea, see how many other villages you can get to join you here and see if you can train them up. Extra people are never a bad thing, and you ensure those villages aren't isolated.
    And then you move from village to village, bringing more and more villagers into the fold, until you have amassed an army of level 1 commoners, with yourselves at the head. An army of fanatical zealot commoners, loyal to you until death (and beyond, thank you rebuke)!

    Then go back and teach those xenomorph punks the meaning of fear.
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    I'll second Shaddy_24's strategy. If/when the big baddie pops up, that's when the paladin should chuck something sharp, pointy and holy to draw his attention, and head for the hills (Which are hopefully filled with traps).

    Edit:Commoners? Most likely, that'd just give the undead a good meal (And make more zombies).

    Double Edit:@Logman:Cool idea. I like it a lot. Only problem is convincing villagers to make blasphemous deals with wierd ass cthulian abominations.
    Last edited by Dullyanna; 2007-10-07 at 09:24 PM.
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Traps will help you here. Pits filled with undead spam attacking anything that gets bull rushed in (slaymaster and adult kythons) swinging log trap for a Bullrush.

    Then drop heavy stuff in the pits for crushing damage and pinning them to let psudeoghost eat them.


    Pacts with demons for Warlocks. Minimal Marshals. Clerics for Hide From Undead.

    Ranks in Tumble and Escape Artist are good for combat for physical combatants.

    Running could be an option, Barbarian could be good for that. Greatclubs will probably be the best you can do as well as scythes.



    Hexblades, what can they do for debuffing at low levels? I'm not familiar, you might want to look into it.

    If your enemies are going to be grouped together, a Flask of Curses or Dust of Choking and Sneezing would be handy if you have or can make one.

    Got a Bag of Holding? You could grapple or bullrush one or more of the adult or slaymaster kythons into it(maybe using it as part of a pit trap) and pop the bag.


    Take away the mobility of the kythons with deep mud, quicksand(pools of water with sand dumped in them, or whatever you can.


    Make the teens stay in back, them dying will be bad for morale. Your DM sounds evil enough to use that against you.



    Play dirty with Snare and Explosive Runes spells(disarming a rune pretty much just means poking it or smashing it, which if done with a trap trigger like a spiked swinging log will set it off) if you have access to them. Put spikes on anything that you might have a chance of bullrushing something bad into.


    Attract as many mook zombies as possible right before the battle and make a preemptive pass at the first wave of kythons and let the kythons deal with most of them. Let the rest follow you and fill trenches.

    Its gonna be brutal.
    Last edited by Machete; 2007-10-07 at 09:57 PM.
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  26. - Top - End - #56
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Is the village near a large body of water? If so, it may be possible to have the non-combatant commoners build several large rafts (shouldn't be too hard, I think) or other floating objects, and when the hoard comes get everyone on the raft and hide out at some place. If all goes well, the kythons may simply move on from your area. If the kythons attack, well...at least they'll be swimming.

  27. - Top - End - #57
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Quote Originally Posted by Machete View Post
    Got a Bag of Holding? You could grapple or bullrush one or more of the adult or slaymaster kythons into it(maybe using it as part of a pit trap) and pop the bag.
    Yes get the big bad in a bag of holding or better yet a bag of devouring.


    Take away the mobility of the kythons with deep mud, quicksand(pools of water with sand dumped in them, or whatever you can.
    And whatever battlefield control spells you got. Grease, Web, Entangle, anything.

    Another thing to do is to get the Lesser/greater Sonic Orb spell. No resistnace= lotsa damage to the Slaymaster. Then make ten-twelve sorcerers with that spell (or wands if possible) and have them blast away when the slaymaster shows up.

    Also if you want to play around with nature, see if you can toss all the other NPCs levels out the window to get one person to level 5. Then make him a kobald and level his ass up. Get 'em a snake familiar and complete Pun-Pun. You can now take out the entire army with no problems. Or use whatever shape changy type spells to make a level one leanerian commoner. or summon something really big.

  28. - Top - End - #58
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Just throwing this out there, 'cause I didn't see anyone else mentioning it. Have you put any thought into the Tyranid-esque mutations that the Kythons get? All Juveniles and Adults have a chance of having a random organic addon filled with bonus ownage (bownage?), such as Phase Organs that can make them incorporeal. What about the Acid Spitter and Bone Crossbow wielding Kythons?

    You're expecting them to simply charge in, and fall for the choke points, traps, and ambushes you have, but if they do, indeed, have ranged Kythons, and this Slaymaster has any form of patience at all to couple with his 18 mental stats, they could easily just sit back, surround you, wait for you to starve or get munched by zombies, and pick off anyone who comes out of hiding.

    Or, if they're just a mindless killing spree, consumed by reckless abandon, it's at least something to consider that melee isn't your only problem.

    Also, consider that the Kythons might attack at night, since they all have blindsight.

  29. - Top - End - #59
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeful View Post
    Yes get the big bad in a bag of holding or better yet a bag of devouring.



    And whatever battlefield control spells you got. Grease, Web, Entangle, anything.

    Another thing to do is to get the Lesser/greater Sonic Orb spell. No resistnace= lotsa damage to the Slaymaster. Then make ten-twelve sorcerers with that spell (or wands if possible) and have them blast away when the slaymaster shows up.

    Also if you want to play around with nature, see if you can toss all the other NPCs levels out the window to get one person to level 5. Then make him a kobald and level his ass up. Get 'em a snake familiar and complete Pun-Pun. You can now take out the entire army with no problems. Or use whatever shape changy type spells to make a level one leanerian commoner. or summon something really big.
    All the commoners are Humans
    I say sacrifice the weak and feeble to summon Cthulu, then you won't have to worry about the kythons anymore.
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  30. - Top - End - #60
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    Default Re: Build An Army of Commoners

    Hiding for the win is your best option, preferably on the water, like everyone else says. If you're dead-set on fighting, though...ah, village defense, one of my favorites. Only for the experienced party of gamers.

    The only real advice I have for you it to remember the basics. Use your environment and your logical minds, rather than cheese, as it seems like that's what your DM is more willing to respect here...and it's also more in line with what villagers could actually pull off.

    Unless zombies/Kythons count as "unusual" (a critical point subject to your DM's interpretation) than Caltrops are your best friends here. Seriously. A village blacksmith or two, functioning full-out, crafting simple twisted metal prongs? You could make BAGS of these things...and cutting down the Kythons' movement speed to 1/2 means you get twice as many shots at it before it eviscerates your mooks.

    There's lamp oil in that village. If your tie six flasks of it together and light enough fuses to be sure it goes off, then you've got a respectable bomb. If you were to fill up a wagon's bed with oil flasks and light 'em, send it rolling into the middle of a zombie-on-alien melee...

    Soak a hay bale in pitch and stick a torch in it...firebales you can roll off the wall. Works with flaming logs too.

    You've got cauldrons and water. You can boil it up and tip it off the walls for mass carnage at the proper junctures.

    Fishing nets? If you're near the water, and you've got some decent weighted nets to fling from the walls...heck, that'll keep 'em from climbing while you dump boiling water on them. Or arrows. Or demonic energy blasts. Whatever.

    You can't do it all with village supplies, of course. Your Wizard and Cleric need to be UTTERLY focused on battlefield control. I don't have that many suggestions for the cleric, but for the wizard...how can you neutralize the BBEG?

    Ray of Exhaustion springs to mind. Fly has great tactical applications as well. As for lesser spells...glitterdust and web have potential. Consider illusions and junk-level spells (dancing lights) for distractions. Illusions could have a lot of potential.

    If you do end up going the 300 round and can train the villagers to take cover (for the save boosts) upon command...consider strategically placed oil barrels +flaming arrows+pyrotechnics. If you smoke cloud the entrance to your gauntlet, you can weaken up the aliens before they come through. If you can get fire out into the swarm and use pyrotechnics...can you blind the undead? Keep in mind that blindSENSE is not blindSIGHT. Screwing up their eyes means you get +50% miss chance, sneak attack benefits, denial of dexterity bonus...you get the idea.

    As for killing the BBEG once you've webbed/blinded/exhausted it...just how committed is the paladin? Hee...you could always buff his Con (maybe even cast Rage on him too) hit him with Resist Energy and Protection from Energy, strap him all over with oil flasks, and have him grapple the slaymaster before being set off. (Fireball?) If it's immune to fire...eh, gg, right Paladin? Hee...mmm. Crazy thoughts.

    I don't really expect my spell ideas to be that useful, seeing as how the Kythons sound superbadass and I have no idea what their save modifiers are, but some of the more practical suggestions could help a lot, especially if you use some of them together. Really, though, all I'm trying to help you do is think out of the box. You'll never win relying on your PC's and NPC's to actually kill the baddies. You've got to confuse, obfuscate, fight dirty...and you've got to use your head to do it in such a fashion that you get the absolute most bang for your buck.
    Improbability drive activated. The clown has been engaged.

    And a huge thanks to Diabhan for the AWESOME avatar. Lizardfolk rogue FTW!

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