I'm going to be running a game in a few weeks, and when I DM, I like to to explore unorthodox battle ideas. So first off, forgive the absurd McGyver-ness of this idea.
I'm running a game for a fairly low-level party, and I want them to engage a pair of ogres. The ogres will get a surprise round on them and be attacking from a fair distance using a ballista. This would be easy, except I want to use zombies as the ammunition for it. One ogre uses his round to load a zombie into it, and the other uses his round to fire at the party.
My question is: what amount of damage should I do to the zombies? I'll add 3d8 (which is the ballista damage), but I feel like there ought to be falling damage. I've been testing the idea with Troglodyte Zombies and 3d8 + 5d6 worth of damage to them. With their 5/slashing DR, most survive on an average roll with 5 or so hit points left. Should I up the damage to them and use Zombie Bugbears? Or does that sound reasonable? Or at least as reasonable as a ballista set up to fire zombies can be...O_o
Isn't the ballista damage supposed to already take gravity and kinetics into account? Adding falling damage to that seems redundant.
I'm not sure. It's a difference between being shot and hitting something with your whole body. For example, being hit by a baseball going 90mph hurts a lot, but having your whole body hit something at 90mph is going to mess you up a lot more.
Isn't the ballista damage supposed to already take gravity and kinetics into account? Adding falling damage to that seems redundant.
I'm not sure. It's a difference between being shot and hitting something with your whole body. For example, being hit by a baseball going 90mph hurts a lot, but having your whole body hit something at 90mph is going to mess you up a lot more.
But if a device that can give a baseball a velocity of 90mph isn't necessarily going to shoot human-sized objects at the same velocity. Kinetic energy and all that.
But if a device that can give a baseball a velocity of 90mph isn't necessarily going to shoot human-sized objects at the same velocity. Kinetic energy and all that.
Oh man, I just had this idea of zombies with flasks of oil and alchemists fire strapped to them, having them engage the PCs in melee while the main evil wizard is invis, then drop a fireball on all of them from a safe distance away.
EDIT
Or you could strap the zombies full of flasks of oil and alchemist fire and THEN launch them out of the ballista, and say that the zombies are soaked in water or treated with something so that they are immune to fire.
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I'm not sure. It's a difference between being shot and hitting something with your whole body. For example, being hit by a baseball going 90mph hurts a lot, but having your whole body hit something at 90mph is going to mess you up a lot more.
But if a device that can give a baseball a velocity of 90mph isn't necessarily going to shoot human-sized objects at the same velocity. Kinetic energy and all that.
Touche, sir. I suppose that's a good point
Seeing those things smashing into the ground to reveal ravenous zombie hordes would rock.
Deal with it adventurers-- you're fucked.
Or maybe, paste the PCs with a couple of jarred ghouls (or worse, pudding or oozes,) to occupy them while the horde shuffles up.
Because its fucking awsome this way?
seriously
Drop pod zombies. You don't get much cooler.
Filled with Zombie Rats.
Which are also on fire.
Too much?
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
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Fixed.
No, now fixed.
Surely.
EDIT
Or you could strap the zombies full of flasks of oil and alchemist fire and THEN launch them out of the ballista, and say that the zombies are soaked in water or treated with something so that they are immune to fire.