A Land Far Away

5 (with the argent legion, red knights and other assorted adventurers, rivermoot slowly readys itself for the coming conflict.)
7 (with the new gate, wooden barricade and killzone the walls are strong and ready to repel)
5 (Stakes, pits and rockfalls litter the approach to the river in fair numbers.)
6 (the forces arrayed against the defenders have been outlined and their camps uncovered.)
4 (rivermoot has supplys to keep itself going, but there will be a harsh winter ahead for all)
4 (time, worry and an impending sense of doom have engrained themselves in the people of rivermoot)

Theory: as building stuff, getting supplys and generaly preparing for an orc attack requires a DM, and DM time is limited; what we can add without them can exist in potential until the final showdown with the orcs.

Suggestion: post here what a PC or Group has done, found out, built; so it can be factored intp some sorta general readyness readout, plus having it all in once place.

Example: a larger supply bar = better equiped NPCs / a larger walls bar = more or bigger barricade placables used / a larger manpower bar = more NPCs gathered to aid (or possibly a good idea of how many PCs will be there)

Problems Avoided: traps and wall placables fading in and out with restarts and causing difficultys for players traversing the area.

Problems Caused: suppension of disbelief / players judging relivancy

Kert arranges several young women from rivermoiot to polish his armor extra shiny, so that the orcs will suffer a morale penalty with they see him.

Rathalan Whitsword has been heard saying that men are needed to claim the high ground in the hills near the village so as to prevent future attack by heavy weaponry or launched assault.

Men willing to scout the hills, form regular patrols, and if feasible, create a forward defensive station are needed.

Men willing to scout the hills, form regular patrols, and if feasible, create a forward defensive station are needed.

Whats the pay? guards and zealot helmites might work for free but merc's dont ya know

witch wrote:

Men willing to scout the hills, form regular patrols, and if feasible, create a forward defensive station are needed.

Whats the pay? guards and zealot helmites might work for free but merc's dont ya know

Negotiable.

Change the flat bridge of RM to a draw bridge.

dergon darkhelm wrote:Rathalan Whitsword has been heard saying that men are needed to claim the high ground in the hills near the village so as to prevent future attack by heavy weaponry or launched assault.

Men willing to scout the hills, form regular patrols, and if feasible, create a forward defensive station are needed.

We have one already, North Fort. Manning it with extra PCs though would be +1 to manpower and +1 to moral.

Mulu wrote:Grymbjorn spends 30 gold to purchase several empty barrels, fills them with water, and puts them by the bridge with a sign that says in common "In case of fire" for any future fire.

+1 supplys, +1 moral, editing

jmecha wrote:Today my PC was approached in game and asked by another PC to gather intelligence on the Orc Threat to Rivermoot. I am posting this to see when an interested DM would be available to run a recon mission against the Orcs.

+1 to info if thats confirmed? -1 to moral if the tribe is massive =f

dergon darkhelm wrote:Change the flat bridge of RM to a draw bridge.

change or changed? get dorfs to help you build. =F

To keep things clear and concrete:

Gold pieces/items donations need to be concrete, so DMs can deduce them IG.

For RP defences, you must log events and send the logs via PM. DMs can then apply a gp deduction if they see it fit.

Morale in Rivermoot is considerably low: orcs, undead and Banites in the open tend to make a village less... optimistic.

ThinkTank wrote:
change or changed? get dorfs to help you build. =F

as far as we have gotten so far is RPing a plan to talk to the dwarves

DD:

Change the flat bridge of RM to a draw bridge.

Hey! That was my IN-GAME suggestion! Hmmph. To be complete, however, I suggested that the wooden bridge be replaced with a stone, but equipped with a draw-bridge.

what good is a drawbridge over a 6ft wide puddle, leading up to a town protected by a shoddy wooden fence and built with thatched roofs?

EDIT: I think they could destroy RM by hurling small rocks from safely atop the mountain.

Amar

what good is a drawbridge over a 6ft wide puddle, leading up to a town protected by a shoddy wooden fence and built with thatched roofs?

Not much.


But fortunately Rivermoot is not surrounded by a "6ft wide puddle" - the narrowest channel between Rivermoot and land is at least 20-30' wide in game. And even a 10-15' drawbridge would ensure that anyone seeking to actually invade the island by force would have to find an alternate way to reach the island as the channel between the land and the island is not fordable by people in armor so far as I know. So, the attackers would have to (a) fly (b) build boats (c) build their own bridge or (d) something else amazing and potentially difficult/dangerous/costly to reach the island.

The lack of a good wall and the flammable construction of the houses is unfortunate, but does not mean that a draw-bridge is pointless. Granted, it would be great if Rivermoot had a better wall and stone-only buildings; suggestions were ALSO made that night to improve those features. But the fact that things aren't perfect doesn't mean that things should not be improved, even piece-meal. You do the best you can with what you have.

"As you know, you go to war with the Hamlet you have. They're not the Hamlet you might want or wish to have at a later time."

By the way - ages ago I ran the first orc siege of White-Chalk Hollow on Daggerdale. There was some build up, then the big siege and the fight and all that. It was fun for me as a DM, and fun for some of the PCs I think ...

But I never really knew what it felt like. Now, being on the other side - I see that it can be very scary. This has been very illuminating as to how the players see (or don't see) what the DMs do. Getting both sides of the picture is, well, great.