Long story short - the players forced the cult's hand in 'Eye for an Eye' by stealing the demon-summoning book (they don't know that, though). This resulted in Lord Whatshisname being gravely wounded and a lot of the innocent staff being killed. The players took down most of the cult, and those that tried to run away were (probably) taken by the beastmen - I actually had the Librarian and some of the evil servants leave the gates open, allowing for a group of beastmen to infiltrate (which the players took care of).

Now - two out of my three players are close to KO'd, Lord Whatshisnuts is stable but critical (and can't talk - cult leader cut out his tongue), they've rounded up the remaining guards (who were sleeping most of the time) and are ready to pack both coaches and head for the nearest village.

Since we didn't get to run the demon scene, I wanted to make the beastmen attack more dynamic/harrowing, especially since one of the players is still carrying the painting. So I ended last session with the players and the rest leaving the manor as multiple war horns sound out from the forest.

I want to run a 'flight-through-the-woods' type deal, since two players are trained in Ride and we haven't gotten to use that yet. So I was just wondering if others have cinematic (that is, quick-and-dirty) rules/tips for this type of scenario. I want to make it exciting enough that they feel like they've done something, but not so exciting that I run the very real risk of TPK.

I was thinking a progress track for the beastmen, to show how close they are to catching up/overwhelming the party, coupled with another tracker for the player's horses (stamina/health/whatever) - successful Ride checks widen the distance and don't tire the horses out as much. I don't really know, though.

Wow. That wasn't short at all. Thanks in advance.

-wunduhbear

Im looking to do something very similar tomorrow, onyl the docter has the painting and the pcs are going to be chasing him.

I need some ideas on how to run this aswell. Im thinking the doctor has some hiding cave to get to and the pcs need to get to him first or find him in the cave. Beastmen will of course be chasing, but why would they go after the pcs when the doctor has the painting? Have to make the doctor somehow in control of the beastmen.

ANy ideas help would be great.

Wow...amazing how this cool adventure could have very differents endings.

badgertheking said:

well this could be easly made whit a standard progress tracker and two tokens, one for your party and one for beastmen... let the party make "navigation/tracking" tests to follow the trails of the doctor, opposed to the beastmen ability to follow the scent of chaos and navigate the forest...so in the end those checks should be pretty hard for the party. Success make the pc token to advance, failures make the beastmen token advance. banes could be turned in party tension and chaos star in fatigue/wounds due to the harsh enviroment of the reikwald forest.

First event space (the one in the middle): if the party reach this first, they locate the cave and confront the doctor. If the beastmen reach it first, the party hears the screams of battle, and have to confront the beastmen to drive them off (for now) and get the painting. (maybe they will have a chance to save the doctor, posing some moral/pratical dilemma to them)

So now the PCs are supposed to have the painting whit them, and the roles are switched since more beastmen are coming for them, after a brief rally step! they have to make similar tests as above to escape the forest.

Second event space (the final one): if the party reach it first they are safe, and they reach some village or river crossing, where the beastmen can get to. If the beastmen won the race they set up a trap for them near the border of the forest...is a kill or be killed for the party!

As a general advice i tend to see this kind or track kind of boring for the numerous, similar, rolls involved, so imho is better to make the track very short (like one space for every pc involved) or to make the test compelling, involving unusual skills not directly related to nature lore so every player have a chance to help. Or maybe checks could be only related to natural surviving, but the difficulty rise up at every attempt, to build a sense of tension or great accomplishment if they succed...

I would definitely use some kind of tracker, with a few event spaces.

First event space, Beastmen foragers/scouts catch up and attack, aiming at the horses and/or throwing the riders to let the other beastmen catch up.

Maybe count the rounds and if this combat lasts more than 6 rounds, move the tracker one space for every 3 extra rounds or so. If the PCs take time to heal or whatnot after it's over, another space or two.

Second event space, main Beastman force is visible and warcries are herd. Difficulty to control horses gets one level harder, the horses want to flee, but too much, their panic could endanger the riders (thrown, scraped by branches etc... the horse goes where it can, irrespective of the rider's bulk).

Third event space, Fort Alamo ! a second, thougher wave of Beastmen hits the party...

Ride, Nature Lore (cover the tracks, ride against the wind, cross streams etc...), could be used to put distance between the PCs and the Beastmen. Beastmen would use Athletics and Nature Lore, or even Observation.

If the PCs have a cart or wagon, in no way can they beat the beastmen by pure speed. They would need to use the Riders as diversions to attract the Beastmen away from the Cart. Some heroes will be needed here !!