Cross posted on RPGnet:

I am running a WFRP3e demo and it involves running a siege in which the PCs defend a coaching inn from an attack. Here are my thoughts on how to run this. Thoughts appreciated.

The siege involves multiple NPCs. I wanted to use the progress tracker to manage the greater fight in an abstract manner, but in a way that gave the PC decisions transparent weight.

First, I turned the wall into a location with the following effects:

- Requires Athletics (Diff 1d) to move onto wall.
- Combatants on the wall get +1 Def against all opponents off the wall or on the wall for 1 round.
- All rolls get: 1 Chaos Star = Fall from wall and 1 Sigmar's Comet = knock target from wall.

Second, I printed off a map of the coaching inn and plan to use the standups to show the location of the various NPCs. WFRP3e's abstract positioning system allows this to be smoothly integrated with this larger scale map easily.

Beside the PCs and the opponents, there are 2 NPC groups and 2 NPCs that the PCs may have allied with. If they have then, the PCs gain their aid in the fight.

Third, I created a cross shaped progress tracker with I plan to place in the centre of the map, to show the progress of the attack at each wall. The event spaces actually allow the progress tracker to go in all 4 directions. Its not explicitly ever mentioned as a possibility but I like the visual image of the 4 progress tracks representing each wall and the tokens all slowly pressing in on the centre .

Each limb of the progress tracker is 3 long (4 with the middle event space). The rules are as follows:

1. Each turn the progress marker will move 1 space unless:
- a PC kills one or more opponents on that wall in that turn;
- if no PCs are present, an NPC group may defend the wall by rolling 1 fortune dice. A Success means the tracker doesn't move that turn. A Boon means that the tracker moves but the NPC group gets +1 fortune dice next round.
- the 2 NPCs can turn any Boon rolled by an NPC group into a Success.

2. The combat ends after 4 rounds (the first wave). At that stage, roll 1 challenge dice for each space the trackers moved + 1 misfortune dice for each tracker that reached the event space i.e. the wall was overrun) with the following results:
- 1 Failure = 2 lesser NPCs dead (there is around 20)
- 1 Critical Failure = 1 greater NPC dead (there are 4)
- 1 Negative Side Effect = a PC of the GM's choosing suffers 1 stress

The result should be a relative simple and straightforward WFRP3e combat for the PCs, but which allows for the earlier choices of the PCs (in terms of who they allied with) as well as the choices during the combat to have an impact on the larger situation.

This is a really neat mechanic. I have a question for you, though. When you run something like this, do you explain the mechanic to the players so that they know how you're making your decisions, or do you keep it all "transparent" and just tell them about the outcomes when they happen? I'd tend towards not revealing the mechanic, myself, but I think the players might feel more involved if they knew what the rolls meant.

Llanwyre said:

This one is designed to open so the PCs can feel the weight of their decisions and the pressure of the siege overall. However, the mechanics are quite light so it shouldn't be too intrusive.

If you wish to keep something "hidden" you could not reveal the consequences of each progress marker moving until at the end of combat when the dice rolled. Keep the PCs guessing at the bad stuff.

This is very cool. I've actually been wondering how to run a similar scenario for my own campaign. I hope you don't mind if I borrow this! =D

~Wintermancer~

Wintermancer said:

Feel free.