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From: Argrath@aol.com
Date: Wed 31 Aug 1994 - 04:09:02 EEST


Re: Morokanth tactical inferiority against missile-toting mounted enemies

     I ran an encounter this past weekend between a group of PCs and some Morokanth slavers. It was immediately obvious that the PCs had a tactical advantage because some of them had bows and all were mounted. It's a good thing for the Morokanth that the encounter was peaceful.

Question: how have the Morokanth managed to survive on the plain(e)s of Prax? Even the Bison and High Llama riders have some members with missile weapons. Against Zebra, Sable, or Impala riders, the Morokanth would seem to be so much toast. The mounted foes can keep their distance and prevent the Morokanth from escaping, meanwhile pincushioning our tapir-like friends.

     The Morokanth have no missile weapons except the herd-men's pathetic Thrown Rocks to return fire. The Morokanth have no reputation for magical superiority, and in any case the range of bows is greater than the range of spirit magic.

     Morokanth are not generally known for wearing great armor, nor do they carry shields. I'd allow as how they could stand against normal bow users if they generally had seven point armor, seeing as how many nomad bows would be self, rather than composite. But the Gloranthan Bestiary gives them 4 point skin and 2 point armor on vital locations. And in any case one out of five hits is a special and one out of 20 hits is a critical, so armor only gets you so far.

     If equal groups of Morokanth and Impala Riders meet, and the Impala Riders have laid by an adequate store of arrows, all other things being equal, my money is on the pygmies.

     My quick fix is to have the Morokanth carry great big shields, which they can arrange in a circle to protect themselves from missile fire. As a result, their enemies steal all their herds, but the Morokanth can track them down and steal the herds back at night, which leads to back and forth raiding--and the question becomes "who gets tired first?"

     Another possible fix is to have Morokanth groups be larger than any other tribe's, but that only gets you part of the way over their tactical inferiority.

     Anybody else have any bright ideas?

     --Martin

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