As adventurers move from well-equipped parties to small armies to actual armies, how do folks handle the reactions of settlements? I’m thinking mostly of settlements in unsecured or loosely controlled domains. But even in civilized domains, adventurers marching about with a small army seems likely to generate some reaction.
My first thought was “This is one reason why banners exist.” If a detachment of cavalry approaches flying the king’s banner, peasants don’t expect to know why the cavalry is there, but neither do they run away. On the other hand, cavalry approaching flying the banner of the Dark Lord of Terror create another reaction. If the cavalry consists of undead on fiery steeds, that reaction is all but guaranteed.
This suggests some possible modifiers for a reaction roll for settlements approached by troops:
Friend or foe banners/identifiers
Troop Types
Scale
Exotic Creatures
Obvious spellcasters/spell effects
At some point, might armies on the march create or enhance D@W: C reconnaissance rolls in the form of messengers or fleeing peasants that alert more distant settlements?
Or maybe fools and the fools who follow them routinely march around settlements, on their way to some forgotten death, i.e. adventurers are ignored unless they formally take the reins of power, or do something else demanding attention.