War!

So I recently went to see Battle: Los Angeles and, naturally, my thoughts on it turn to DMing. Because I'm a geek like that.

Mainly when I see a warfare film of any sort I always think how I can apply those elements that I enjoy to DnD somehow. And this movie has some elements in common from other sources that I've longed to somehow incorporate into DnD without (and this is the tricky bit) losing a fundamental relatively low-magic feeling that I like in my campaigns.

First of all let's dial this back a bit to, say, World War I. That's probably as far as I'd ever want to take "technology" in DnD as far as how it applies to warfare. Specifically, the things I wanted to find solutions for were these classic early 20th century warfare elements were communication, firepower, and transportation.

Communication:
Pigeons would allow the PCs to communicate with their superiors back at base though it would allow no communication back to them. Flags or lamps would allow for non-secure visual communication. Cystal balls could be used for long distance instant communication akin to radio.

Though it's important that these are few and far between and wouldn't be in the PCs possession for long as they would be more crucial for directing large amounts of low-level troops. Having these items be only good for a few uses might work too to limit their power. Mainly they should be used for advancing plot and as an objective, perhaps, for a single short mission from time to time.

Firepower:
Howitzers, 50 cals, tanks, you name it it all adds up to a place where the enemy can dish out more damage to the good guys. Capturing a gun embankment, taking out a tank, having to deal with superior firepower are all staple goals for the warfare movie or adventure.

The main reason I want this is because it presents an obvious and tangible small objective for the PCs. Taking out this force will help out lower level forces and the PCs are the right people for the jobs. In the frenzy of war the PCs will have limited intel on what lies ahead for them as far as dangers so having small objectives like these will be something they have to constantly prepare for and overcome in one manner or another.

As a DM, leaving two small vulnerabilities for these forces allows the PCs to assess the situation and take a course of action that they choose. Player choice is always important and this is why you never give them simply one course of action. And you don't spoon feed them the viable solutions either.

Anyway, the real trick here is coming up with a "big gun" in terms of a lower-magic DnD world. Siege engines come to mind, but those have been a bit overdone in my opinion, and, really, should only appear in a seige situation as they are big and slow and pose more of a threat to structures than to individuals, really. A mage or construct might fit the bill I suppose. Though I think I prefer...

Huge fire belching creatures that can blast from a distance. They grow to be very large thus having varying sizes of the beasts which determines the beast's strength. They are key to military campaigns and act as tanks and small artillery. These creatures have to be of animal intelligence and, further, domesticated. Think of a PC hopping atop a dead enemy's horse and riding off with it. Whichever side has a person or creature riding this creature is "at the controls" and can use the beast to inflict damage on the other side. The creature could have at-will powers as well as encounter and daily powers.

The real trick to the campaign isn't inventing these creatures, it's trying to figure out how their presence on one side or another would affect game balance and encounter difficulty.

Transportation:
Larger creatures in the DnD universe would be an obvious place to start here. And placing a "big gun" atop one of them gets you your tank. This was accomplished in The Return of the King movie with a huge structure of archers atop the oliphants. And, of course, taking these engines of destruction down became an important objective to turn the tide of war.

Fast riding creatures act as mounts. Horses are the obvious choice but you can set the tone by changing the creature up a bit to match with your setting.  Horses would be the standard transport with maybe a wagon or something representing a troop transport.

As for air transport, large docile flying creatures could act as troop transports, perhaps. The odd flying carpet could be used to feather fall PCs into enemy territory simulating paratroopers, I suppose. Though it's important that the PCs themselves do not retain control of the carpet as it might unbalance things and make certain types of objectives too easy for the PCs to pull off (think of the classic "Ride the Eagles to Mt. Doom" situation and avoid that at all costs). The real key is to take the power to control such creatures out the hands of PCs if at all possible. Perhaps this might even need to be explained outright to groups with particularly players. Use your discretion.