You have had a week to prepare, not enough. The people of the mountains have moved what forces they could raise and have spread them thin between the eight passes.

All that stands between the Vasik and the west are the eight passes and you.

You know the main assault will come at Owl Roost and Wrens Crossing and that is where the bulk of your armies and heroes have gone. Leaving you and your Militia to guard Crow's Bridge.

Crow's Bridge. Home. Farthest away, least important, little old Crow's Bridge.

You prayed you'd be forgotten in the storm.

Then you heard the drums, and saw the smoke of their fires and knew they would come.

All you have to do is hold the bridge.

Quiet.

They come.

This scenario is kept as generic in nature as possible so you can adapt it to your own world. The basic premise is this: The Bad Guys are on one side of the mountains and are trying to get to the rich, fertile lands on the other side.

In order to do this the Bad Guys must cross the mountains at any one of the eight passes. Each pass has been assigned as large a force as possible to deal with the threat. Those in charge of the defense of the mountains have deduced that the Bad Guys will most likely cross at either Owl's Roost or Wren's Crossing and thus have dispatched the major portion of the forces to guard those two passes.

That's not to say that the Bad Guys might not try to cross at other places. For all they know they may try to cross at all the passes. There's that many of them.

The adventure takes place at Crow's Bridge (Yes, I stole the name from Myth #1). Crow's Bridge is the smallest and least important of the passes and it is the farthest away from the main offense, therefore it has the smallest standing Militia.

Other then the Player Characters there should be no more then five NPCs standing with them when the first wave comes, and those NPCs should not be very competent. (No archers)

The whole point of this scenario is to show the horror and futility of war. You want to beat into your players' heads the fact that there is no way they can defend the bridge and they should just run.

Of course, if they do run, the Bad Guys will cross it and ravage their homelands.

If the PCs stay, they will (most likely) die, but they may slow the horde down. It is from that determination and willingness to sacrifice oneself that true Heroes are born.

This scenario should be run fast and savage. The Bad Guys should be vicious but not indestructible (I used barbarians when I ran it). I highly recommend you get a copy of the Soundtrack to Conan on CD and play the first track while running the scenario.

Beat One:

The First Wave

It is early morning and the air is brisk. Frost covers the ground and your muscles are tired and tight. Your stomachs grumble from not having a good enough breakfast. Your meager weapons feel heavy and cumbersome in your cold hands.

Your eyes scan the horizon and see the smoke of their fires. You can hear the echoes of their screams off the unforgiving mountains. You can feel the drum beat of their marching in your legs. You look at the bridge and ready yourself.

As the first wave hits the bridge, you smell the bodies of the invaders and see their crazed blood-red eyes.

"Hold the bridge!" your captain yells as the first swing hits.

It begins.

The first charge will consist of twenty trying to run across the bridge. They will come hard and fast and attempt to just rush the Militia. The Bad Guys are armed with clubs and axes. One out of every five has a broadsword. None of them have bows and their armor is nothing more than wolf furs and skins.

The Bad Guys will just attempt to pound on the Militia. They will use full smotes and power swings to hit them hard and then run over them when they are knocked down, leaving them for the dogs.

In the wake of the Bad Guys will be eight war hounds. Vicious, feral dogs bred to attack any downed opponent of the Bad Guys (remember the first battle scene in Conan ?).

The Bad Guys will not use anything resembling tactics. They are that assured of their victory. They fight with a warped sense of honor and will not expect the Militia to do otherwise.

Give the PCs a few moments to come up with plans before the first wave but remember they have only had a few hours to prepare their defenses, so shoot down any battle plan or idea that would have taken them longer then a day to prepare.

When running the first wave keep it fast and hard. Constantly remind the players of the hopelessness of the situation but also remind them that if they fail, the Bad Guys will reach their homes and do bad things to their families.

Beat Two:

If the players somehow stop, kill or chase away all twenty of the Bad Guys, they have earned a well-deserved break.

They have exactly three hours before the next wave comes to prepare their defenses.

By now it should be obvious to the players that they cannot hold the bridge. There are just too many of the Bad Guys.

Their options are --

1: Move the village and let the Bad Guys cross the bridge.

There are plenty of caves and hidden valleys in the mountains where the villagers could hide and remain safe from the Second Wave. True, their homes and all their possessions will be destroyed, but at least they have their lives.

Of course the Bad Guys will move past your village to the rich, fertile lands beyond and rape and pillage the towns they find there, but at least your village is safe and that is for the greater good.

Isn't it?

If the players choose this option, keep them on their toes. They only have three hours to move an entire village and some will not want to go. You cannot bring everything with you either. This is a forced march. Things will get left behind, like beloved pets, cherished heirlooms, food.

If the players can move the villagers to the safety of the caves, they have avoided the horde and are safe (of course if you're an evil GM like me, there is a Troll in the cave).

The scenario is for all purposes over. Now comes the guilt of letting the players know that thanks to them the Bad Guys are now loose in their lands and can attack the other towns with freedom. Make them feel that, yes they saved their village, but perhaps by doing so they doomed the rest of the land.

2: Stand and Fight.

The players may chose to do the impossible, stand and fight. If they make this choice they have three hours to prepare their defenses and lick their wounds before the second wave comes.

To even the odds a bit take this time to let them know that a merchant's wagon containing a shipment of short bows and arrows is just an hour away. When the wagon shows up (with news of how poorly the other passes are holding up) they will have ten short bows, two hundred arrows and two long swords. (You can use this shipment as an excuse to introduce NPCs to replace any dead Militia members or replacement PCs)

This should even the odds a bit. Go to beat three.

3: Destroy the bridge.

The most obvious choice is to destroy the bridge. Unfortunately there isn't enough time to cut it down and it is to cold and wet to burn, so how to destroy it?

A: Cause an avalanche. In the snow covered mountains it should be pretty easy to get a few enterprising PCs to climb up there, find a good boulder and push.

Of course aiming an avalanche is a fine art and one wrong move (or a bad die roll) could cause the avalanche to destroy the very village you are trying to save or wash out the bridge or even kill the PCs up there.

The thing to do would be to get the avalanche to fill the pass. The invaders would see their path blocked and turn around and go another way. Let someone else worry about them.

Now a clever PC could figure out a way to time the avalanche to fall just as the Horde hits the bridge, washing them and the bridge away. Rack up those EP, boys.

It will take at least forty-five minutes to reach a good place in the mountains to start an avalanche.

To make life more fun an evil GM could throw in a few wandering mountain lions (or even a Troll), some ice sink holes or other dangers.

B: Blow it up. The bridge is too wet and snow-logged to burn, but you could strap every flammable and explosive thing you could find in the village and try to blow it up. Crow's Bridge is a mining town. They are going to have oil and blasting powder.

A talented siege artist could jury-rig the bridge to blow, cutting off the invaders' way in. They would have to turn around and go the other way (let someone else worry about them).

It's up to the GM if any of the PCs have the proper skills, you could let them blow up the bridge or you could let them think they did a good job but then have something go wrong.

Most explosives are unstable. The types of explosive available to people at the typical Fantasy RPG tech level are VERY unstable. Something could go very wrong and the PCs might end up blowing themselves up as well.

Beat Three:

The Second Wave

Time passes and whatever defenses the Party is going to get up in three hours are up, or they are not.

Make sure you impart to the players the hopelessness of the situation. There are hundreds of them coming. Nothing they do (unless they destroyed the bridge or managed to fill the pass with the avalanche) will stop the horde.

It's the Alamo and they are the Texans. They may be able to kill a few, but the Bad Guys have sheer numbers. Crank up Track one on the Conan CD and start rolling dice.

If the party was smart they set up a kill zone with the archers and can pick off a few before they reach the village, but no matter what unless they found a way to fill the pass or destroy the bridge the horde JUST KEEPS COMING.

No matter what, no matter how many the archers kill. They just keep coming! It's a F***** Pez Dispenser of Bad Guys. They will overwhelm you.

Now is the time to decide if the characters are HEROES or just men. A man would run and there is no shame in that. A hero would stay even though it means his death.

Beat Four:

Unlooked-for Help

Make sure you make the second wave seem hopeless. Kill a few NPCs and if you can, go ahead and kill a PC. This is a DROP, it's supposed to be deadly.

War is a horror, this is a hopeless situation. Play on your audience's emotions. Make them feel the hopelessness and the terror of war.

Eventually it gets down to hand-to-hand and there is no way the Players can win this one. They should run, but knowing PCs they will stay and fight because that's what they do.

What no one else but you the GM knows is that the Dwarves of the Mountain are aware of what's going on and have been rushing to the aid of the armies of the west. A small force of Dwarves was sent by the King to each pass to help. The party of Dwarves sent to Crow's Bridge were to late to help with the first wave (they were distracted by some Orcs) but they arrive at the

last second just as the final fight starts.

When all looks black, cry out at the top of your lungs "KAZAD!!!!!!" and have the Dwarves just appear out of nowhere and start to kill the Bad Guys.

Don't use this as a Party Out, let them still do most of the work. It is still the players' show and if you let the Dwarves just mop everything up the players will feel let down. Let them kill the Bad Guy leader, let them kill the Shaman, let them kill the Troll. Hell, let a few of the Dwarves get killed also. The Dwarves are there to bail them out and to keep the story consistent, but they should NOT outshine the PCs

Final:

As the sun sets the tide of battle shifts. Many friends have died but you held the bridge.

The threat is not over. They will come again, someday. Many of the Vasik got through and ran past you. In the fog of war you lost them, and now they are moving in to the west.

News comes from the other passes. Hawks Pass fell and hundreds of the Vasik made it in. On the plus side, the snows have started and the Vasik will be stuck in the mountains until the pass clears.

As you build a funeral pyre for your dead and toss the Vasik dead off the side, the Kazad begin to sing for their fallen. You have no time for tears now, but they will come.

Somewhere a Troll yells its anger, another thing you will deal with. Another day.

For now you tend your wounds and thank your god. You held the bridge and your names will go down in history.

Side Trips:

There is an Ice Troll in the caves near the city. Right now it is hibernating but the noise and the smell of all the death could awaken it and cause it to investigate. What will the party do if they have to deal with eight hundred pounds of Troll? (in my game Trolls have about 110 hit points and do 3d10 with their claws). Will the Bad Guys join in the fight against the troll or will they just wait to see what the Troll does?
An extremely rare snow flower grows in the peaks of these mountains. A lucky PC could find it while exploring (perhaps while looking for a way to start an avalanche). This flower, if prepared properly can be used to make a poultice or tea that will heal ALL the wounds of anyone it is applied to. Think of it as a Potion of Extra Healing.

Designer Notes:

When I ran this scenario, the party tried the avalanche approach, but they messed it up and only filled half the pass (and lost two NPCs in the process). The party leader fell into an ice hole and was eaten by the Troll.

One of the players made a makeshift megaphone and began to play on the Barbarians' superstitions. He kept laughing at them and saying he was Loki come to claim their souls. This caused the barbarians to make a moral check, and fail it miserably. 99% turned back the way they came, afraid for their very lives and souls that Loki would claim them and they would not go to Valhalla.

The remaining Barbarians ran the gauntlet and were peppered by the Archers. When it finally came down to hand-to-hand, it was 4 PCs and 3 NPCs vs. 15 Barbarians. Then the Ice Troll came running in to the melee attracted by the smell of all the death.

The Barbarians and the party ended up having to join forces against the greater threat, the Troll. And still 90% of the Barbarians and two of the PCs were slaughtered by the Troll. Then at the last second the Dwarves showed up and finished things off in a heroic final stand.

Everyone was laughing and cheering and yelling, the people next door came over and asked us to keep it quiet. It was one of my best games -- even though everyone lost at least one character -- why?

Because they cared. They cared about the village, they respected and feared the enemy and they loved their characters. The drama of the situation made it all that more powerful to my players. And that, dear reader, is why we do what we do and why we love this hobby so much.

Enjoy.

Recommended Viewing for this Scenario:

Conan
Gladiator
Brave Heart

Recommended Sound Tracks for this Scenario:

Conan. Track One
Kull. Track One and Two
Last of the Mohicans. Track Eight

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