A Jarl and his retinue is a threat to a high level group

>A Jarl and his retinue is a threat to a high level group.
>Bigger threat than ogres, giants and other monsters

Would this bother you?

No.

Well, an ogre is 4+4 Hit Dice. I assume this guy is at least level 6 all on his own.

If they're strong enough to keep their hold in a land of ogres and trolls and monsters then they're bound to be tougher.

Not really, there's a reason he's the Jarl, and most retinues aren't going to be shitty either (or why would the Jarl want them)

The only things that stop a Jarl being a high-level adventurer are baggage and responsibility, but he gets to have nice home shit and a bigger group to hang about with

No, singular dumb monsters are not nearly as significant a threat as a group of multiple highly trained, intelligent warriors with political power.

Yes.
I would go full autismo. Flipping the table, screaming at the DM, ripping character sheets, the works.
I would literally shit in my hand and smear it on the walls in pure rage.

No, smart enemies are more dangerous than lone brutes

Why would it?

Having well equipped and trained human enemies that are just as smart as the party, doing smart shit past basic pack mentality and predictable banditry is always a welcome relief, because at least its fun and challenging without just being "this thing gets away with being tactically retarded because it stronk, dont get too close because its arms are made of flaming knives and do 1/3rd of your HP unless you can con save, but you're going to be taking 2d6 fire damage every turn anyway unless you use a move action to stop drop and roll, have fun"

Much more interesting to have like 7 guys break up into groups of 3, with the biggest remaining in front of the party while the other two flank and spread out around the party, then peppering the party with javelins or something before they even try moving in so that you all have to split up or try to break out of the circle, giving at least a few of the attackers your backs.

Might even get to be frustrating if they're allowed to ready actions to throw javelins at exposed party members backs if they all start running in one direction without announcing that someone is covering the rear, but I don't even think you could get away with readying an action on something that vague so it should just be fun and challenging

Not at all. If I'm playing in a campaign with "levels", then clearly this is a heroic setting, and the Jarl and his pals are heroes too. They've probably been on tons of wild adventures, have cool magical weapons (just like us), and eat ogres for breakfast.

No, a group of skilled soldiers accustomed to working together is gonna be a threat.

It'd only bother me if they were picked based on their social stature as opposed to capability.

How big is the retinue?

Not at all, it's meant to be this way. Though I'd appreciate it the most if it was only half due to their strength, organization and numbers, and half due to divine favor and support. Like, they would have probably been crushed by all those giants if the gods didn't tip the scales a little bit to their side.

I'd appreciate it if every time you rolled, after your roll was all finished you made a d% roll with the DC based on how in-line your characters action was with whatever god it worships, and rolling too low means that you essentially get a crit fail because your god said "fuck you"

If you haven't already been doing this all game you admit that the gods have no say in what you do and its all based on personal skill, in which case the Jarl is allowed to have PC-tier abilities and shit according to their level, but if this (or something similar where the outcome of a battle is based on a dice roll made to find out if you're in gods favor) is actually how you play, then go for it you weirdo

Not at all. Just because something is bigger, meaner, and stronger doesn't mean it's more formidable. I'd be a fuck of a lot more scared to know there's a group of men hunting me in the woods than learning a group of wolves is hunting me.

People are smart, and creative, and often cruel in ways that animals aren't.

No, because the Jarl is a high-level warrior, and is backed up with priests and wizards and other high-level warriors, and likely archers too.
And, frankly, if he's coming after you PERSONALLY, they're likely to be going all-out with consumables and are on their home turf with knowledge of it, and will pick a fight of their choosing. Probably when they're fresh and ready and the party is strung out after a series of encounters.
The Jarl and his group would harry the party for days or maybe even weeks, using their territory and standing army to their advantage. The party is barred from towns, cut off from any support they can't generate themselves, and their rest periods are constantly interrupted by roving cavalry and small battles. At the end of it, the Jarl and his personal retinue wait to finish the job personally, or die gloriously in battle to settle whatever the fuck the players did.
If you piss off authority figures that much, you deserve it.

Local authorities SHOULD be a threat to the group, if only to show why adventurers don't run the world and keep the players in line.
Also, random monsters should mostly be following the '20% of resources' guide to encounters. Authority figures, standing armies, and the like should be what's realistic for the setting, and a major threat to the players. If you've pissed off a major Jarl, you should be throwing away resources like crazy just to get away with your lives.

High ranking vikings fight monsters all the time in the sagas. How does this not make sense?

I figure my group is more likely to make it out alive facing one ogre than 15 guys lighting us up with arrows.

If Ogres, giants, and other monsters exist in this setting wouldn't the jarl want people who could fight off these things as bodyguards? And to control these bodyguards wouldn't he have to be fairly powerful himself?

>ITT Veeky Forums agrees on something.

This.

The focus of the story is outwitting the enemies of the campaign. If you end up fighting an authority figure, he should be just as dangerous as any warlord final boss, if not moreso since you're losing a safe haven and potential allies in doing so.

It's just a matter of if the DM can sell to me that they're a threat other than "they're a bunch of high-level dudes". There are circumstances in which is would feel implausible, and there are circumstances in which it would feel totally convincing.

what I immediately thought was a frost giant jarl, which would absolutely be stronger than those other things, especially if his retinue was also frost giants

>d appreciate it if every time you rolled, after your roll was all finished you made a d% roll with the DC based on how in-line your characters action was with whatever god it worships, and rolling too low means that you essentially get a crit fail because your god said "fuck you"
That's how I run it, except that you automatically suceed the roll by the virtue of being PCs. You either secretly have divine favor or are the luckiest motherfuckers around, because barely anybody survives the same ordeals as the party and you can count similarly leveled people on the fingers of one hand.

So yeah, I like settings in which divine right of king's is a thing. Why hasn't a level 25 wizard teleported behind the Jarl, mindraped him and taken over his assets? Because the heavens do not will it.

>Why would it?

There are a lot of people who think martials should be intrinsically inferior, and it bothers them to think that someone swinging anything around is in any way meaningful.