frigidmagi wrote:I'm trying to show a relatively "realistic" (Not necessarily modernistic), I frankly know almost nothing of command levels despite researching it in wikipedia (The fic takes place in Faerun).
Problem with this is on many levels. A realistic force using melee weapons in a fuedal enviroment is going to be sturctured differently then a modern force using rifles and other firearms.
Then how would it be structured? I'm not going into details, just enough consistancy to prevent SoD.
Also if it takes place on Fearun you should chose a region and a nation and use that structure, most of them have a rough one outlined somewhere.
I was thinking of Cormyr due to the strong population base & organized army & Warmage system as well as notable native elven population.
Ah, how many men in a platoon?
And what "rank" would lead a squad of 14 veteran men? (
I asked a military buff here and he said that a lieutenant could command a squad, but I fear he may not have been paying enough attention)
Roughly 40 to 60 depending on the armed force in question. The modern USMC builds a squad from 3, 4 man fireteams plus squad leader. This means 13 men in a squad. There are 3 squads. Add in 4 or 5 senior NCOs and one green as grass LT.
Er, but I did have a newly promoted 2d liutenant (With extensive experience compared to a human since he's an elf).
A mission like this is really more of a special forces kinda of affair. I wouldn't send a bunch of line infantry to get a dragon egg, their skills are all wrong for that. You would want veterans who have done alot of..."odd" jobs. The only reason they would be Pvts is they're hardcases who like to cause trouble.
I did build them up as having a high level of skills (slaughtering a chimaera on the way and not mutinying at the sight of the horde).
They also have 2 experts with them, the men are meant to be there for a high level of loyalty, obedience, skills and expertise at monster killing & dealing with magical beasts.
Cannon fodder true, but reliable high end ones.
(Its just that its hard for non epic characters to shine against a CR 31 Mature Adult Force Dragon without knowing about its existence, Force dragons are incredibly rare).
Those guys can be story gold sometimes.
Well I'm afraid that they aren't the story's focus, have you read the end yet? ;).
Additionally you may want to go back to the drawing board and research your story. You need to nail down the region and army in Fearun these guys belong to
True, I really need to bring a sourcebook here with me, though I still need a source on army organizations & structures in Faerun.
(Time to suck up to Nitram in other words)
as well as why they're psycho enough to attempt kidnapping a dragon child.
They thought it was an abandoned egg (They didn't know about the fact that "Mom" was still around due to daily invisibility usage and the low & infrequent levels of feeding by Epic dragons [Who can eat magic]).
The worst that they feared could happen was a hatched dragon wyrmling of a random breed, if metallic they'd have left it alone, if chromatic they'd have killed it [They were prepared for a "worst case" scenario of the beast hatching].
Also you need to decide what kind of dragon it is.
I have, its a Force Dragon. (Epic Dragon variant from the epic level handbook).
Thats the reason there were Force walls everywhere and the Explosion of Force (soundless, invisible) energy from the pearls didn't even scratch it. (Its also constantly "blurred" at that age and a Wyrm is constantly invisible, therefore the usage of invisibility spells is quite logical for one with such an affinity for that branch of arcana)
Good aligned meticallics as a rule don't eat people, they will kill an entire squad for attempting to steal their child but what would you expect?
Yup, Epic dragons tend towards neutrality but not strongly [compared to CE Reds for example].
The dragon would of course have turned them into something small & nasty if they had touched the egg (Which wasn't inhabited, the Dragon had hatched over a month ago, the "Egg" sequences were at a seperate chronological date).
As it was the Dragon decided merely to use them as "looting" practice, and when they annoyed her she ate one and sent the rest flying
(To make sure they'd spread the word and keep any army units away,
typical adventurer groups aren't going to bother a grown Force Dragon).
You may be better off moving this story off Fearun completely and ditching the DnD expections. Also you should listen to Tev.
Maybe, but I'm using the D&D elements as is, I may use another world but I don't have the time for worldbuilding & geo-politics as is.
And I will listen to Tev, know I need to find a proof reader to explain whats wrong with my grammar to me.