Boulder Pass

[Two orcs]

The time for War is now!

The realms of Law and Chaos are separated by The Awls, a mountain range impenetrable except for the convoluted Boulder Pass. A Good King of Law has gathered an army to attack the Chaotic realm by surprise, but the fortresses of Boulder Pass are held by the forces of Chaos including several giants who will literally crush a passing army by throwing rocks from the safety of their fortresses. The Good King has asked a small band of heroes to clear the forts before Chaos has time to gather their forces on the other side of the pass.

Straight forward Commando action under time pressure.

Each fort is held by a unique array of forces and require special considerations when attacking. As the action will likely take several days the players and the enemy will get to know each other intimately and since the fortresses are arrayed in order the shattered remains of the earlier forces will retreat (if possible) to fortify those further back, escalating the challenge.

 

[Beoric]

Stupid Good King of Law. I would really want to do a thorough scouting mission first. Maybe engage in a little creative sabotage on the way. I imagine Transmute Water to Dust would do a number on their cisterns, if the Good King of Law didn't let me just poison them.

 

[Two orcs]

The Good King of Law has nothing against poison or any other sort of underhanded atrocity against the forces of Chaos, the problem is the fortresses communicate with each other with runners, smoke signals and homing bats so even the most insidious stratagem will be known to the others unless the victory is complete.

 

[Malrex]

And then there is the army of Neutrality...trying to make easy coin between the 2 armies...

 

[Beoric]

The Good King of Law has nothing against poison or any other sort of underhanded atrocity against the forces of Chaos, the problem is the fortresses communicate with each other with runners, smoke signals and homing bats so even the most insidious stratagem will be known to the others unless the victory is complete.

If the Good King of Law wants to mount an invasion without doing any recon, who am I to argue? Just the guy putting his ass on the line in a rushed assault, with no intelligence, on a series of fortified positions, all but the first of which will know we are coming.

I think the Good King of Law needs to sweeten the deal.

 

[Two orcs]

The layout of the fortresses are well known, as they were constructed by the forces of Law in the first place. The deal is sweet enough, 10,000gp per neutralized fortress and of course positions of command in the invasion force with all the loot and glory that entails, should the path be clear.

 

[DangerousPuhson]

The deal is sweet enough, 10,000gp per neutralized fortress

If I may offer up a suggestion - 10,000gp is a fairly cold, un-exciting reward. Something cool worth 10,000 gp, that's a different story.

I'm fond of art pieces, and in this case, I'd probably do something like "the golden torso from a reclaimed statue of a heretical Chaos god, worth 10,000 gp by weight", or something. It works as a thematic/setting tie-in, which is nice.

It's your game though, so ultimately your call.

 

[squeen]

Land and a title?

 

[DangerousPuhson]

Depends on the player. Not everyone is keen on realm-management. Gold is good; everyone wants gold - I'm just saying that gold can take a more interesting form than a big old pile of coins.

 

[Evard's Small Tentacle]

Depends on the player. Not everyone is keen on realm-management. Gold is good; everyone wants gold - I'm just saying that gold can take a more interesting form than a big old pile of coins.

Or the King of Law's Daughter/son in marriage, along w some Lewt, and some legacy magical stuff and tithes.

 

[Beoric]

The layout of the fortresses are well known, as they were constructed by the forces of Law in the first place. The deal is sweet enough, 10,000gp per neutralized fortress and of course positions of command in the invasion force with all the loot and glory that entails, should the path be clear.

Blueprints and an area map? Ok, I can get behind that. But there is still a reasonable chance I will figure out a tactical reason to do the fortresses out of order.

Land and a title?

That's what I was going for.

 

[Two orcs]

I was thinking an adventure for high level characters who are not into realm management, though it would be easy to have them raise part of the army and take part in the invasion. They could gain command of Boulder Pass and have a reverse of this adventure - the forces of Chaos trying to force the pass in a future counter-invasion. They get a stipend for keeping the Pass garrisoned, if they cheap out (like happened so many times historically) the pass might be overwhelmed before they even get there to lead the defense.

A table for alternate rewards would be interesting, substituting the cash for a magic item, a gilded bathtub made from mammoth ivory, a clerical title (and full pardon for all sins, good for now or later, metaphysically valid too), the best horse in the realm (or flying mount), a barony (and the eternal emnity of the displaced baron), a seat of honor at the post invasion triumph (risky as the invasion might be a failure despite a wlel handled pass) boosting your prestige, The Plum of Paradise (a large emerald), marriage to a minor princess (blood alliance with the royal family) etc. though the image of literal chestfuls of gold is nice too.

 

[DangerousPuhson]

You cold also gift them one of the fortresses they conquered.

 

[Beoric]

I was thinking an adventure for high level characters who are not into realm management

Sorry, I was reacting to this like I would if I was playing, and I am probably not a typical player. In this case, I have an aversion to Lair Assaults so immediately try to turn it into something else.

 

[squeen]

I have an aversion to Lair Assaults so immediately try to turn it into something else.

What did Lair Assaults ever do to you?

 

[Beoric]

What did Lair Assaults ever do to you?

Tell me how I have to to resolve them, i.e. by fighting. You note I immediately went to scouting/sabotage instead. I could be doing Two orcs a disservice, though; it is possible he has something else in mind.

 

[Two orcs]

There will definitely be stocks of water, food etc. that can be sabotaged (even the nice piles of boulders for the giants could possibly be rendered inoperable somehow, or chains of command to disrupt, hijack their signalling system to send false orders of retreat, cause morale rolls causing defenders to evacuate. The forts are in a string - but some are more like bunkers, others (or only one?) are where plans are laid and reinforcements sent from. Capture the tallest fort and destroy those adjacent with siege engines.

I think taking the rearmost fort first could cause a lot of worry as the others realize they are cut off from escape. Good or bad idea? They will fight harder but may attack to retake it, allowing the players the defensive position.

But yeah, this is assault under time pressure.

 

[gandalf_scion]

There will definitely be stocks of water, food etc. that can be sabotaged (even the nice piles of boulders for the giants could possibly be rendered inoperable somehow, or chains of command to disrupt, hijack their signalling system to send false orders of retreat, cause morale rolls causing defenders to evacuate. The forts are in a string - but some are more like bunkers, others (or only one?) are where plans are laid and reinforcements sent from. Capture the tallest fort and destroy those adjacent with siege engines.

I think taking the rearmost fort first could cause a lot of worry as the others realize they are cut off from escape. Good or bad idea? They will fight harder but may attack to retake it, allowing the players the defensive position.

But yeah, this is assault under time pressure.

When designing a “lair assault” like this be careful to avoid the common pitfall of setting the wrong ratio of modern-to-medieval. Some of the terms you use such as “bunker” and “cut off” indicate you might be courting too much modernism.

Our game is grounded in medieval technology, but merits some modernism given the impact of magic. Yet that magic is not so common as to recreate a modern world. So, striking the right balance is tough, but critical to suspending disbelief. For example, a fireball spell generates something resembling modern firepower, but requires a 5th level magic user, not too common. On the other hand, in the modern world, every 10-man squad (very common) can generate as much firepower as a fireball spell, and do it repeatedly.

It’s that firepower that necessitates fortifications like bunkers. So, if in your campaign, every 10-man group has a 5th level magic user then bunkers make sense, otherwise not so much. They are the wrong kind of fortification for a mostly medieval world.

Something similar applies for getting cut off. Supply lines are critical to modern armies because they consume so much fuel and ammunition to generate all that firepower. Medieval forces, on the other hand, have a lower burn rate, and are smaller. Indeed, medieval fortifications such as castles and keeps are meant to be “hedgehogs” that stand alone and persist without supply lines, for up to a year! Therefore, getting cut off is not so threatening to medieval fortifications. Along with that, having medieval defenders counter attack to retake a fallen fortification is highly implausible; that’s like running around in your own minefield.

So, relish the “disconnectedness” of our medieval world. The forts are stand alone; their garrisons don’t sortie to help each other. Getting cut off is not a cataclysm. But having someone pillage your storeroom is a real disaster. Therefore, your storeroom might be sealed behind devious traps.

 

[Two orcs]

Medieval fortresses are more like bunkers than what we typically imagine castles to be (fanciful wastes of money, built after they were obsolete). Being cut off is not about starving a fort out, there is no time for that, but to prevent them from reinforcing each other. Players will approach the game with a modern mindset, and there is nothing more boring to me than having modern minds beat up on pretend medieval minds. In a fantasy world, any force expecting high level opponents will be prepared for flight, invisibility and fireballs at a minimum. DMs can pull their punches both on a tactical and a strategic level and both cheapen the game.

 

[DangerousPuhson]

Let's not forget:

1) This is a fantasy game. If magic and gods are provably extant, the occasional anachronism is hardly going to break the veil of plausibility.

2) These are the forces of chaos. Our own reality-grounded logic doesn't exactly apply to them. By literal definition, you can't predict their behaviors or rationale.

3) If you want to put a "bunker-like fortress" in your game, then the easiest way to communicate that to the players is to just call it a bunker and leave it at that. Your players are probably not going to care a whiff if it doesn't align with the historical reasons that bunkers exist, or care enough to nitpick the differences between castles and bunkers.

4) There's probably still a reason why we'd see a modern bunker in a fantasy setting, even if the reasons for their real-world development are absent. In a world where a dragon could drop from the sky in a moment or someone could stroll into town with a magic exploding wand, it's not unrealistic that a bunker-style building would be invented.