RHoD Addendum: The Battlecry of Brindol!

RHoD Masterpost

Hey folks!

Paizo's newest rulebook Battlecry! recently released, and it's pretty cool! It has skirmish rules that essentially let PCs (and NPCs) take command of Troops of soldiers and streamlines some of how they interact to help simulate a larger battle! It's not a full-scale Battle in the sense of the Battle of Brindol (I tend to use the word the way Strongholds & Followers does), but it can work really well to zoom in on one specific front of that Battle. Since 

Prompted by others on the RHoD discord (no idea how long that link will stay live), here's my attempt to integrate the Battlecry! rules into Part 4: Enemy at the Gates (doc here). I'm going to broadly use the structure on p169 under "Quick Skirmish Groups."

Let's jump in!

Initial Wall Assault

If the PCs decide to take on the Initial Wall Assault themselves, they get to take command of the nearby defenders to hold the walls! Note: I personally am using this map with ladders where the troops will be climbing up (they are Off-Guard and have -2 to Reflex while climbing, but otherwise can fight normally) - it'll be a little crowded, but honestly I think that feels right!

Threat Moderate (80 XP + 50 XP)

PC Troops 2 line infantry (15 XP each, 30 total), 2 city guard squadrons (10 XP each, 20 total); If the PCs chose to have the Clerics throughout the battlefield, they also have 1 Priest ally who mostly heals!

Enemy Commanders 6 hobgoblin bladebearers (7.5 XP each, 45 total) ; Enemy Troops 6 hobgoblin battalions (15 XP each, 90 total))

Streets of Blood

If the PCs successfully defended the walls (defeating both sets of giants and the Initial Wall Assault between them and their recruited units), then this fight takes place on the same map, but this time they bring siege towers (4x4 blocks that 1 Troop can occupy, probably 4 towers total). If the PCs destroy a tower, the Troops within/below must use ladders instead as per the Initial Wall Assault.

If the walls have fallen for any reason, the fight takes place on this map (there's also a no barricade version). It's a bit narrow again, so Troops can occupy buildings (granting them standard cover and letting them take cover for a +4 total bonus) and might go down alleys (this counts as Difficult Terrain, but they can just move through individual PCs). In addition, Troops scatter when defeated! When a Troop's 3rd segment is defeated, it is replaced with 5 ordinary soldiers that try to rush through to get past the PCs. (see "Tower Defense" for how this works and exceptions).

Morale DC 25!

Tower Defense

Each round starts 5 rounds after the previous one begins. Keep the PCs in initiative, and roll to add the new combatants (who start on the left edge of the map) at the start of the round. This means that it is possible for waves to overlap, and even if they don't, the PCs are likely to not have that long in between fights!

To bring out the tower defense feel of this sequence, enemy soldiers will try to break past the PCs! If they defeat all the waves, they get 4 VP, but for every 10 soldiers that get past them, they lose 1 of those (Large Creatures, including each remaining Segment of a Troop, count as 5). This represents the soldiers trying to break through to loot the city and get to more vulnerable targets.

Enemy soldiers can leave through the Right side of the map if they are in the last square adjacent to it. Troops just need one segment adjacent to it in order for the rest of the Troop to move on.

On the other hand, if a Troop Routs, they flee the battlefield!

If a Troop is defeated without Routing, then it makes 1 last Morale Check as it is defeated. On a Failure, it is defeated as normal. On a Success, the 4th segment breaks up into 5 low level soldiers that will spend all their remaining actions to flee to the Right of the map, hoping to break through. On a Critical Success, they immediately get to Stride in that direction as a Free Action!

The PCs Forces

PC Starting Troops 2 city guard squadrons (10 XP each, 20 total)

If the PCs chose to have the Clerics throughout the battlefield, they also have 1 Priest ally who hides in the back and heals when needed

Reinforcements 1 bandit gang (20 XP) joins the PCs at the start of Wave 3 ("Lady Kaal sends her regards!" - some of Rillor Paln's men)

The PCs can call in their allied units for help, granting them additional forces with which to withstand the Streets of Blood! If they allocated their telepathic bond well, they can even do so mid-battle, in which case the called allies arrive 2 rounds later. Note: this is instead of them removing waves as I originally wrote)

• The Hellriders show up as a hellknight cavalry brigade, with an extra horse for whoever wants to lead them!
• The Tiri Kitor show up as woodland scouts with a 60 foot fly speed and a spare owl for whoever wants to lead them (they also gain the mounted unit ability), plus Killiar leading them*
• The Dwarves show up as 2 dwarf battalions! The Shining Axes have Gwyn Silversteel leading one unit*

*I'm gonna just allow there to be 2 leaders of a given Troop if the PCs want, with the PC leader counting as the leader for rules purposes and the NPC leader always getting 2 Actions instead of 3 while otherwise moving alongside the Troop.

Wave 1

Threat Low-Severe (60 XP to 120 XP, plus 20 XP)

Enemy Commanders 2 Elite hobgoblin bladebearers* (10 XP each, 20 total; Enemy Troops 2 hobgoblin battalions (15 XP each, 30 total), 1 hell hound pack (30 XP)

*Or weak hobgoblin generals if it's too hard for you to make the Bladebearer stat block elite, e.g. if playing in person

The hobgoblin battalions break up into 5 hobgoblin soldiers if they hold morale when defeated, and the hell hound pack breaks into 5 hell hounds

If the PCs failed any of the previous crisis points, this might be tougher:

• Failing the Initial Wall Assault adds 2 more hobgoblin battalions with hobgoblin bladebearers (I'd probably have all 4 battalions now be led by normal, non-elite bladebearers for consistency and to keep the XP in line)
• Failing Flight of the Manticores adds 2 manticores as per usual, who spend 2 actions flying right and 1 action shooting spines each round (thus likely leaving fairly quickly - remember, Large creatures count as 5 each!)
• Failing to Save the Walls sees long range rock throws from surviving giants at a -6 from range (1 if they defeated 1 unit, 2 if they defeated neither)

Wave 2

Threat Low (60 XP + 20 XP)

Enemy Commanders 3 elite bugbear tormentors (7.5 XP each, 22 total); Enemy Troops 2 wolf packs (15 XP each, 30 total), 3x orc raiding parties (10 XP each, 30 total)*

*Replace the Orc trait and Orcish language with the Bugbear trait and Goblin language

The raiding parties break up into 5 bugbear tormentors if they hold morale when defeated, and the wolf pack breaks into 5 wargs

Wave 3

Threat Moderate (80 XP + 40 XP, as bandit reinforcements arrive!)

Enemy Commanders elite hobgoblin general (20 XP); Enemy Troops hobgoblin veteran regiment (40 XP); Enemy Monsters 4 bluespawn thunderlizards (15 XP each, 60 total)

Note: the Thunderlizards attack first, trying to sow chaos as the regiment advances!

The hobgoblin veteran regiment breaks into 5 hobgoblin spellbreakers if they hold morale when defeated.

Wave 4

Threat Severe (120 XP + 40 XP)

Enemy Commanders 2 kulkor zhul mindbenders (20 XP each, 40 total); Enemy Troops 2 hobgoblin battalions (15 XP each, 30 total); Enemy Monsters 3 greenspawn razorfiends (30 xp each, 90 total)

Wave 5

Threat Severe (120 XP + 40 XP)

Enemy Commanders 2 ghost dire lions (20 XP each, 40 total); Enemy Troops 2 skeleton mobs (15 XP each, 30 total), 2 ghostly mobs* (30 XP each, 60 total)

*Reflavor this as Lions, their "Ghostly Hands" becomes biting at nearby foes, and the "Frightful Chorus" is the lion's howl/battlecry instead of cries of anguish. They can just float through the defenders, so they spend 2 actions moving and 1 attacking each round as they make their way east.

Undead never break! So when defeated, the skeleton mobs become 5 skeletal soldiers, and the ghostly mob becomes 2 ghost lion brutes (note: these only count as 2 Soldiers each if they flee east)

The Final Battle

If you like, you can replace Kharn's allies with Troops as follows:

Threat Severe (120 XP)

Enemy Commanders Wyrmlord Kharn (60 XP); Enemy Troops hobgoblin veteran regiment (40 XP); Enemy Monsters 1 hill giant (20 XP) OR 4 ogre warriors (not both)

If you do this, then allied Troops that the PCs call in once again fight alongside them, rather than removing enemy combatants. I don't think I'm inclined to give the PCs any Troops to begin with here, as I like the idea of this last fight being just down to them!

I'm probably going to play this one by ear and see how much the PCs enjoy the Skirmish rules, and either make this change if they do or leave it alone if they don't!

Other Battles

If you want, you can allow the PCs to fight alongside allied troops in other battles as well (such as the wood elves against Abithriax). That being said, in many cases (such as Brindol in flames or whenever taking on a fight solo), I recommend just letting them have the listed effect.

You can similarly just let Immerstal or 2 wood giants just join the PCs for a given fight, or you can instead let them have the effect as written (esp. for the giants vs. Abithriax, which bloody him before the fight begins).

That's all for now folks! I'm going to test this out in my next few sessions and see how it goes (assuming Foundry gets the updated stat blocks in time). Should be interesting!