A fort in the wilderness is surrounded by enemies on all sides. The players will need to marshal their allies and defend the fort from invasion.
This week’s encounter is also a demonstration of how to run a defend a fort encounter in 5e. We’re using capturing mechanics and zone defense to make the encounter more mechanically interesting, and we’ll adapt existing 5th edition monsters to make them more suited for a fort defense encounter.
Imagine a fort in the wilderness, manned by valiant defenders and important to the player characters. The forces of darkness have amassed outside the gates and are intent on bringing it down. When this encounter begins, the players will be thrown into a dramatic confrontation at the fort’s gates. Set the scene by describing the tension the defenders feel as the attackers draw closer, and let your players discuss how to best defend the fort.
How to Run a Defend the Fort Encounter in 5e
This encounter is all about the fort. There are two entrances, and they’ll be under attack simultaneously. The players will need to decide how to split their forces and deal with both threats at once. The fort is just big enough that it’s possible but inconvenient to run from one gate to the other, so the challenge of this encounter is deciding how to manage both objectives at once.
This is an objective-based encounter: at the end of each round during which there are no enemies in either gate zone (marked on the map with A and B), the players gain one point. Once the players have gained three points, the enemies lose heart and retreat.
This means that defeating the enemies is secondary to defending the gates, since it’s easier to win by keeping enemies out than it is to win by defeating them all.
If your fort has other defenders besides the party, make them a cinematic addition to the fight instead of a mechanical one. You can abstract their involvement by having them fight hordes of attackers and narrate how it’s going at the end of each round. On a round where the enemies do well, describe how the allies are being pushed back; if the players do well, describe how the allies are gaining ground. Look, we all know the outcome of the fort assault is dependent on how the players do, right? Let’s just all accept that and have the rest of the battle be narrative instead of mechanical.
Goals
Goals
The attackers of the fort are trying to take it over, but that might be for a few different reasons. Think about which faction in your game is trying to take the fort, and think about why they might want to do that.
To use it as a base of operations? To destroy it? To obtain the treasure gathered inside? Because they were paid to? Think about how that will affect how they behave when they’re close to winning, or when the players are having a hard time scoring points.
Regardless of why they want the fort, all the enemies in this encounter follow the same three-part goal:
- Destroy the gates on both sides of the fort
- Occupy zones A and B until the characters retreat or are defeated
- Rush in to fill the interior of the fort, claiming it
If the second goal is completed, the third one is, too, unless the players pull off something spectacular.
How to Use these Defend the Fort Encounters
Your player characters might have many reasons for defending this fort. If you’re reading this, you already know what that is, but think about how that might affect the mechanics of the fight and which encounter you should use.
- Are your players defending their own fort? Pit them against enemies that would smash and destroy what they love with Encounter A.
- Are your players defending the fort for political reasons, or because they’ve been asked (or hired) to by a government? Challenge them with well-organized hordes of kingdom-ending monsters with Encounter B.
- Are your players holding a point against an overwhelming force? Are they making a last stand? Are the odds truly stacked against them? Drown them in overwhelming foes with Encounter C.
Encounter A
A horde of orcs has spilled over the hills to surround the fort. They’ve brought dangerous sappers with explosive potential and hulking orogs to smash down the gates.
How to Set up this Defend the Fort Encounter
This version of the capture a fort encounter involves a disorganized horde of orcs and their allies. We’re using custom monster blocks that are scaled-up versions of orcs and ogres, but if your encounter has something other than orcs, you can still use these stat blocks. Just call them something else and describe them differently.
Whatever you call your orcs, set the scene by describing the chaos and the fury of the attack as the horde charges. They’ll surround the fort and begin scrabbling at the walls, trying to climb with nail and fang, and lobbing throwables and arrows over the walls.
Use the table to decide how many enemies you’ll need at each gate. This is the total number of enemies you’ll use in this encounter, but notice that they’re split into two groups. The second group arrives at the end of the third round of combat. This means that, mechanically, this is more like two encounters back-to-back than one.
Notice that Gate A has a large number of weaker enemies, while Gate B has a small number of more powerful enemies. If you think your players will have trouble with this encounter, point that out and help them strategize.
If your players have set up any defenses outside the walls, roll to see how effective they are. You can reduce the HP or number of enemies in the first round of combat by one-half if it goes well.
Orc Encounter Builder
| # Players | Avg.Lvl | Gate A | Gate B |
| 3-4 | 5 | 5 + 5 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 6 | 6 + 6 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 7 | 8 + 8 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 8 | 9 + 9 | 2 + 2 |
| 3-4 | 9 | 11 +11 | 2 + 2 |
| 3-4 | 10 | 12 + 12 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 5 | 6 + 6 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 6 | 9 + 9 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 7 | 11 + 11 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 8 | 14 + 14 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 9 | 16 + 16 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 10 | 18 + 18 | 2 + 2 |
Action!
When combat starts and initiative is rolled, the orc sappers rush forward in a horde and try to use their explosive charges (the “Blast ‘Em!” action) as soon as possible to blow the gate. Allow the characters to remove the explosive charges and throw them back as weapons… if they’re on the outside of the gate. Mage Hand isn’t strong enough to unstick the foul-smelling concoctions from the gate.
The orog wreckers, on the other hand, just run up to the gate and start smashing with their stone sledges. They’re great at destroying things, so they will demolish the gate very quickly if left unchallenged. Consider telegraphing this to your players by describing how the hammer the wreckers carry looks more like a construction tool than a weapon.
Iron Banded Gate
19 AC, 30 hp.
Can reinforced by characters holding it (add their STR bonus to its AC), but they take half of whatever damage the gate takes.
Players may be distracted by the other attackers and defenders fighting on the walls. If they’d like to participate in that cinematic combat for a turn or two, I usually allow it—the real threat is losing the gates, so if they get too distracted the gate will fall. Remind them of that.
The large number of enemies at Gate A can bog down combat if you don’t manage it carefully. They all move on the same initiative count, but have them move in groups of 3-4 enemies and use one attack roll for the entire group and average damage to keep things moving. Remember their “Mook Enemy” abilities, which allows PCs to cut through them quickly. This is how we’ll get the feeling of mowing down groups of weak foes on this side of the fort.
How to Resolve this Defend the Fort Encounter
No Place Like Home
After taking a long rest in this location, characters gain 1d10 + LVL temporary hp.
In this encounter, it’s more likely that the characters will give up or retreat than die outright. That means they’ll live to see the fort taken over by the attackers and twisted to their foul purposes! The orcs will smash, destroy, torch, and otherwise raze the things to the ground. Treasure inside? Gone. Any non-combatants? Slain in religious rituals, or carried away and used as laborers. Use these actions to tie in further plot hooks and objectives for your party.
On the other hand, if the party wins and the fort is defended, a great celebration is in order! Let the characters celebrate and relax, and reward them mechanically for having spilled their blood (and some orc blood) to defend their home.
Encounter B
A well-organized and well-armed hobgoblin army has marched miles out of their way to assault this fort with battering rams and siege captains.
Hobgoblin Encounter Builder
| # Players | Avg.Lvl | Gate A | Gate B |
| 3-4 | 5 | 5 + 5 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 6 | 6 + 6 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 7 | 8 + 8 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 8 | 9 + 9 | 2 + 2 |
| 3-4 | 9 | 11 +11 | 2 + 2 |
| 3-4 | 10 | 12 + 12 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 5 | 6 + 6 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 6 | 9 + 9 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 7 | 11 + 11 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 8 | 14 + 14 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 9 | 16 + 16 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 10 | 18 + 18 | 2 + 2 |
How to Set Up This Defend the Fort Encounter
This version of the capture a fort encounter involves a disciplined army of hobgoblins. We’re using custom monster blocks that are scaled-up versions of hobgoblins and hobgoblin captains, but if your encounter has something other than hobgoblins, you can still use these stat blocks. Just call them something else and describe them differently.
Whatever you call the sieging army, set the scene by describing the thunder of the marching footsteps and the coordinated ringing of blades on shields. Talk about the tension in the air as the defenders see the dark line of the army advancing in the distance.
Use the table to decide how many enemies you’ll need at each gate. This is the total number of enemies you’ll use in this encounter, but notice that they’re split into two groups. The second group arrives at the end of the third round of combat. This means that, mechanically, this is more like two encounters back-to-back than one.
Notice that Gate A has a large number of weaker enemies, while Gate B has a small number of more powerful enemies. If you think your players will have trouble with this encounter, point that out and help them strategize.
If your players have set up any defenses outside the walls, roll to see how effective they are. You can reduce the HP or number of enemies in the first round of combat by one-half if it goes well.
Action!
When combat starts and initiative is rolled, the hobgoblin ram operators march forward in organized blocks in a horde and try to use their Battering Ram action to knock down the gate. There’s enough room for more than one unit to fit, if there’s enough on the field for that. Remember that they can’t attack and operate the ram in the same turn, so the ram operators not working on a ram can defend their fellows.
The hobgoblin bulwarks aren’t good at knocking down the gate, but are extremely potent zone defenders due to their shield bash attack. Use this attack and the opportunity attacks that allow it to deny front-line fighters from entering the zone. They’ll have to knock the gate down first, though, which could take a few turns. This means the bulwarks will prioritize knocking down the gate over almost everything else, though they won’t hesitate to use their opportunity attack to push back a PC who gets too close, if possible.
Iron Banded Gate
19 AC, 30 hp.
Can reinforced by characters holding it (add their STR bonus to its AC), but they take half of whatever damage the gate takes.
Players may be distracted by the other attackers and defenders fighting on the walls. If they’d like to participate in that cinematic combat for a turn or two, I usually allow it—the real threat is losing the gates, so if they get too distracted the gate will fall. Remind them of that.
The large number of enemies at Gate A can bog down combat if you don’t manage it carefully. They all move on the same initiative count, but have them move in groups of 3-4 enemies and use one attack roll for the entire group and average damage to keep things moving. Remember their “Mook Enemy” abilities, which allows PCs to cut through them quickly. This is how we’ll get the feeling of mowing down groups of weak foes on this side of the fort.
How to Resolve This Defend the Fort Encounter
Owed a Favor
All characters who worked to defend this fort gain two temporary inspiration. These inspirations can only be used on Charisma skill checks made in conversation with the faction who asked the party to defend the fort.
In this encounter, it’s more likely that the characters will give up or retreat than die outright. That means they’ll live to see the fort taken over by the attackers and twisted to their foul purposes! The hobgoblins will work quickly to fill any gaps in the fort’s defenses with their own construction, and will heavily guard laborers who do so. They’ll want to use this fort as a forward base to supply their army and control the region. Use this fact to plan additional plot hooks and objectives for the characters.
On the other hand, if the party wins and the fort is defended, a great celebration is in order! Let the characters celebrate and relax, and reward them mechanically for having spilled their blood (and some hobgoblin) to defend the realm from the invading force.
Encounter C
A shambling horde of the undead walks the valley towards the fort, stinking of swamp gases and malice.
How to Set Up This Defend the Fort Encounter
This version of the capture a fort encounter involves a shambling horde of undead monsters. These custom stat blocks describe monsters that die in an explosive blast and another one that spits acidic venom that melts what it touches, which we think fits the idea of undead best. If you have another faction in your game you can adapt this to, by all means do that!
Whatever you call the horde, set the scene by describing the foul smell hanging in the air as the monsters approach. Talk about the mounting dread in the defenders (not the party, of course) and how the sky seems a little darker as they approach. If you want to telegraph the Explosive End ability to your players, describe how one of them sees a dark fireball go up in a puff of swamp gases in the back line, but can’t tell where it came from.
Use the table to decide how many enemies you’ll need at each gate. This is the total number of enemies you’ll use in this encounter, but notice that they’re split into two groups. The second group arrives at the end of the third round of combat. This means that, mechanically, this is more like two encounters back-to-back than one.
Notice that Gate A has a large number of weaker enemies, while Gate B has a small number of more powerful enemies. If you think your players will have trouble with this encounter, point that out and help them strategize.
If your players have set up any defenses outside the walls, roll to see how effective they are. You can reduce the HP or number of enemies in the first round of combat by one-half if it goes well.
Zombie Encounter Builder
| # Players | Avg.Lvl | Gate A | Gate B |
| 3-4 | 5 | 5 + 5 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 6 | 6 + 6 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 7 | 8 + 8 | 1 + 1 |
| 3-4 | 8 | 9 + 9 | 2 + 2 |
| 3-4 | 9 | 11 +11 | 2 + 2 |
| 3-4 | 10 | 12 + 12 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 5 | 6 + 6 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 6 | 9 + 9 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 7 | 11 + 11 | 1 + 1 |
| 5-6 | 8 | 14 + 14 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 9 | 16 + 16 | 2 + 2 |
| 5-6 | 10 | 18 + 18 | 2 + 2 |
Calculating Explosive End Damage
The unstable zombies have an ability that we need to scale alongside the party. To find how much damage Explosive End does, roll 3d6 – L, where L is the average level of your party. It’s a pain to roll this more than once, so we recommend rolling once at the end of the round and using that result for all Explosive End damage that round. If you don’t want to do that, Explosive End does an average of 11 – L damage, so you can just use that.
Action!
When combat starts and initiative is rolled, the unstable zombies shamble up and try to get close enough to the gate to use Explosive End. They can use it as an action, so they don’t need to wait to die to use it. If you’d rather keep the ability as a surprise, have them use their slam attack against the gate a few times, then have the first death set off a cascade of Explosive End actions.
The characters have until initiative count 0 to move the explosive corpse away from the gate, which you should let them attempt with a DC 14 STR check and a move action… but that means they’ll be caught in the blast!
The undead naga will use their venom to corrode the gate in just a few rounds if left unattended, so be sure to describe how the venom hisses as it seeps into the wood and iron of the gate, melting parts of it away. Once the gate is down, the naga is less useful, so it will prioritize attacking the gate over anything else (or maybe an intelligent force directing the undead from afar will make this decision?)
Iron Banded Gate
19 AC, 30 hp.
Can reinforced by characters holding it (add their STR bonus to its AC), but they take half of whatever damage the gate takes.
Players may be distracted by the other attackers and defenders fighting on the walls. If they’d like to participate in that cinematic combat for a turn or two, I usually allow it—the real threat is losing the gates, so if they get too distracted the gate will fall. Remind them of that.
The large number of enemies at Gate A can bog down combat if you don’t manage it carefully. They all move on the same initiative count, but have them move in groups of 3-4 enemies and use one attack roll for the entire group and average damage to keep things moving. Remember their “Mook Enemy” abilities, which allows PCs to cut through them quickly. This is how we’ll get the feeling of mowing down groups of weak foes on this side of the fort.
How to Resolve This Defend the Fort Encounter
Vigor of the Living
The next time the character would make a death saving throw, treat a failure as a success and a success as a natural 20. This effect expires after being used or after the character experiences a great disappointment.
In this encounter, it’s more likely that the characters will give up or retreat than die outright. That means they’ll live to see the fort taken over by the attackers swarmed by the armies of the living dead! Is there an intelligent force directing this horde? If so, then the remnants of this battle will make great fodder for its armies. Use this fact to plan additional plot hooks and objectives for the characters.
On the other hand, if the party wins and the fort is defended, a great celebration is in order! The forces of the living have prevailed! Let the characters celebrate and relax, and reward them mechanically for having worked so hard to defend the fort in this encounter.