Forgotten Realms War Campaign

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Tyneras

The various humanoids are easy enough to work with, but I have a question about the iconic dragon. Dragons (in D&D, at least) have a wide range of power across their life span, unlike most creatures which reach a single mature stage. Should the various points in the life of a dragon be modeled as a Giant Flying Monster with improving troop and gear quality? Or maybe each stage of life should be a steadily more powerful Giant Flying Monster, using troop and gear quality to represent experience and combat worthy treasures at the dragons disposal? I am leaning toward the second, but perhaps those with more experience have encountered problems that are less than obvious?

I'd go with the latter, as well. Adding a few more steps between Flying Beast and Giant Flying Beast shouldn't be too hard and won't break anything if done with a little care.

Originally Posted by Tyneras

The other question is how many fighters would be available for a town or city of arbitrary size. If a town or city suffered a surprise attack, what percentage could be counted on to stand and fight with any effectiveness? The few numbers I have seen seem to indicate that a city can raise approximately 10% of it's population as an army with time to prepare and plan, but if that impression is mistaken, I would love to have more accurate numbers.

I've heard similar numbers, but couldn't tell you whether that meant a city expected 10% of the population to be at least marginally equipped and trained for militia duty (if nothing else, own a spear and a helmet, and know which was which), or 10% of the population were men that met minimal physical and temperamental requirements (able-bodies and not an abject coward).