Here they Come!
Overview:
In this encounter the PCs are defending a walled city against an attack. They will be on one section of the wall and need to be responsible for keeping it from getting overrun.
Initial Description:
You hear the marching of feet sounding like war drums. You see the massive army coming as though it were a low hanging cloud heralding the destruction of this city. FIRE! is shouted from behind and you watch as arrows rain from the sky. They sail landing on the amorphous mass of destruction before you. You make out a few going down, but not many. Then they begin to sprint in your direction. Roll for initiative.
Enemies:
Orc (Pg 246 of the Monster Manual)
Orog (Pg 247 of the Monster Manual)
Objectives:
Main:
Keep the Wall Clear: Prevent more than 20 Orcs on the wall.
Side Objectives:
Drop the Ladders: Prevent the ladders from staying up.
Map:
Overview:
The important feature of this map is the spacing between the ladders. It should be sixty feet (or whatever a full round of movement for a typical character is) between the ladder points on either end.
Key:
Grey Area - Wall section of the PCs
Red X - Where the ladders are placed
Blue Numbers - Roll areas for Barrage of Flame
Special Mechanics:
They are coming up the wall - The combat starts with all 10 ladders up. For each ladder that is up roll a 1d6. On a 1 nothing spawns, 2-4 a regular orc spawns, a 5 or 6 an orog spawns at that ladder. Players may attempt to push the ladders over with a DC 10 athletics check. Each ladder has a 50% chance to be put back up on the following turn. It cannot spawn any orcs until the turn after it has come back up. All ladders come back up after a rain of arrows or a barrage of flame.
Heavy Hits - Roll two d4 to use as timer dice. One represents the next time arrows will rain down on the wall. The other represents the next time a barrage of flame hits. These affect the orcs as well as the PCs. All ladders are put up after one of these attacks occurs.
Rain of Arrows- The rain of arrows is a DC 18 DEX save that covers the entire wall. It does 4d8 on a fail and half as much on a success.
Barrage of Flame - The barrage of flames hits in 2 of the four areas. Roll 2d4 to determine where it hits. It is a DC 12 DEX saving throw doing 5d10 on a failed save and half as much on a success.
Duck for Cover - Players can choose to spend an action ducking for cover. This takes their movement and action (they may still use a bonus action). This gives them extra protection from the Rain of Arrows and Barrage of Flame, taking only half damage on a failed saving thrown and no damage on a successful saving throw.
Extras:
Inspirations, Shoutouts, and Thanks - This was inspired by the two towers video game back on the PS2.
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