I’m writing a roleplaying scenario in a fantasy setting. The players get involved in a semipolitical power struggle. A wandering band of mercenary orcs is also in the area, but as of yet not involved in the conflict. When the players encounter them, I need to get them to understand that these are not your average swordfodder “kill 50 of them in an afternoon” orcs. They’re well-disciplined, well-trained, well-led, well-equipped, and the player group would have little to no chance against them in open combat. The players should also have an inkling that none of the factions in the conflict could defeat the orcs either, and should the conflict turn to violence, the side that has managed to secure the services of the orcs would in all probability win.
The problem is, I can’t think of a good way to show the players this without serving them the conclusion on a platter. I know we have much more experienced scenario writers than I on this board. Any ideas? The players probably first meet the orcs by visiting their temporary camp.
OOh! good idea – Maybe the players could encounter a battlefield with the orc / non-orc corpse ratio is much higher than normal. Not sure who the non-orcs should be though.
This is sounding good. I’d like to be able to do it without the orcs having been in battle in the area yet, though. Maybe they’ve brought prisoners with them, that are part of a powerful knightly order the players know of or something like that.
Show them a fight
If the party starts in a town, they could meet another party (mercenaries, bandits, whoever). If the NPC party comes across as sympathetic at first but then attacks the orcs unprovoked, your players may get to see the orcs in action – but they’ll definitely see the results. A square patch of undisturbed grass surrounded by a ring of horse-stomped earth and dead mercenaries suggests an effective, effortless phalanx. A ranger or anyone who’s been in the military would get the message pretty quickly. Be aware, though, that a natural conclusion would be “there’s an army traveling around here; therefore, they must be here to kill the orcs we saw.” This orc army, if they are disciplined and win decisively, would also bury their dead and scour the battlefield for orcish weapons.
Show them the enforced peace
If they encounter a sentry in good camouflage who clearly shouts “Halt!”, that will be their first sign that something’s awry. If they can’t see him, that’s an even bigger sign. And if he approaches from one side while a smaller guard force surrounds the party, they’ll get the idea really quickly.
Show them the leadership
I assume that the orcs think of themselves as superior to most orcs – because part of military training is being told that your unit is Special. Envision a scenario where an orc who thinks he (alone) is special, maybe gets a little ale in him, and decides he’s going to go to the human tavern (where our heroes are) to finish drinking the night away. Obviously he is not permitted to do so, and may start a brawl. When his lieutenant or captain shows up, show the contrast between the sloppy-drunk orc and his officer. The captain can offer to pay the damage; he should apologize to the bartender; and he should loudly and publicly chew out his drunkard soldier without laying a hand on him. Forcing the soldier to stand at attention would be interesting – in fact, perhaps the officer forces the soldier to apologize to the bartender. The soldier can respond however you like, but the officer is going to get his way. The next time the PCs encounter the orcs, they can find the drunkard on sentry duty – or if they come across the camp, they can encounter him digging latrines. They could even find a “series of several hundred identical four-foot-long trenches”, implying that the orc had been told to dig a punitively large number of latrines.
All good ideas, Jurph, but this is my absolute favourite. It works perfectly within the scenario, too (the idea is that the presence of the orcs isn’t known to everyone in the city yet, so the orcs can’t start showing up there).
Be sure, when they do encounter the Orcs, to emphasise the shininess and quality of their armour/weapons, the cleanliness of their uniform surcoats, the* precision* of their small-unit drill…
Yes, the orc should wear uniforms. Officers should have spiffier uniforms with more elaborate insignia. You may want to look at Roman legions for inspiration.
If they’re really smart, they’ll go with very little to distinguish rank. A small force (50 orcs) might only have three types of rank – grunt, sergeant, and officer. Sashes, shield markings, or weaponry types might be enough to distinguish rank at a glance (for them) while keeping the officers safe from war wizards and other precision weapons. It depends upon whether your setting has passed through the Napoleonic taboo against attacking officers, but I would posit that the existence of wizards and archers would make officers loath to call attention to themselves.
Good suggestions thus far, but how about having the players directly observe a battle but be unable to intervene?
However, orcs are generally assumed to be evil, so your players might think that most or all the factions would join together to defeat the ‘evil orcish threat’ if sufficiently large, or simply squashed if small. Cue discussions about racism… Or your players might decide to sting them and lead them into the lands of one of the factions, who will doubtless react with force, leaving them weakened - or possibly strengthened - for the ensuing civil war.
So make it a small human army: a noble exiled from his homeland, his retainers, and their families - think Eomund(?) from The Two Towers. Or possibly a populace in flight from a superior force: consider those peoples displaced by the Zulus.
My suggestion: your players come across a wounded Orc scout from this elite unit, out alone in the wilderness. Someone in the party (an NPC?) wants to kill it - it’s an Orc, after all! - but the players decide to help it/nurse it back to health. They talk with it and learn more about it, as it comes to trust them… which lays the groundwork for the entire Orc unit, out of gratitude/respect/blood obligation (perhaps the Orc was a top officer, who was doing a little personal recce when wounded?), to help the party in the broader political dispute mentioned in the OP.
If all else fails, throw in an NPC. Let them find a badly wounded soldier with a tale to tell, “My name is Johnnie Exposition. I’m the sole survivor of a group of mercenary fighters. We were patrolling this sector of the woods when we spotted a band of orcs. We were outnumbered but we figured we could always whoop on some orc butt. But these guys aren’t like your typical band of orcs. They’re well organized and know their business. They wiped out our unit, which now that I think about it, was pretty much the equivalent of your group in terms of manpower, weaponry, and skill levels. And now I feel myself dying. Tell Mother I loved her…”
