Need a good forest-y encounter for a level 6 party

In my next gaming session coming up at the end of the month (postponed a few weeks so two of my group can take their honeymoon. Imagine stopping gaming for that...) the party will be heading out to a large forest inhabited by wood elves, who moved there about a century ago when troubles threatened their old forest region.

The wood elves are not hostile to outsiders, but will be suspicious of any non-elves (meaning, 5 out of 6 in my group of players) and probably not too helpful at first. However, one of the humans is a cleric of a goddess that is very commonly worshippped among these wood elves, and our one party elf is a wood elf himself and a follower of another deity popular among the elves. So, the party has a good chance of at least getting some aid from them.

The group is six players, about level 6 or 7: a dwarven tank of a fighter, a human rogue, a human cleric, a halfling psion, a human sorcerer and an elven fighter/paladin. The elf, dwarf and rogue are all pretty tough to hit. Everybody except the halfling psion has physical weapons that can hit most creatures.

I was hoping to have one good encounter for the PCs that will get the wood elves in a friendlier mood, so they can help speed the PCs along their way.

There are mountain ranges to the east of this forest that are the home to some orc tribes - but, the PCs have already fought & defeated orcs in several of the more recent sessions, so they're probably a bit "orc'd" out. They've also fought lycanthropes, human slavers and the evil clerics of the deity of slavery & tyranny.

I was thinking of some sort of recent evil presence has surfaced in the forest, and the initial scouting party sent to find out more information was due back several days ago...and the worst is suspected.

But - what could the evil presence be? Undead? Green dragon? A Devil? I was planning on introducing some devils in the near future and this could be the place? But, why a forest for a devil? Maybe something besides orcs out of the mountains?

Thanks

How about a charred horror and some flamebrother salamanders? Should be doable if the party gets support from the elves, but would be beyond the abilities of either alone. (Well, the party probably COULD do it, but they'd risk losing someone.)

Cheers, -- N

Nifft said:

How about a charred horror and some flamebrother salamanders? Should be doable if the party gets support from the elves, but would be beyond the abilities of either alone. (Well, the party probably COULD do it, but they'd risk losing someone.)

Cheers, -- N

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Not a bad idea - the charred horror alone might be a decent challenge for the party at CR9 and would fit in with my idea of the evil presence.

Maybe an advanced (14 hit dice maybe, making it Huge) shambling mound has been lurking about the forest and devouring lots of local animals, and perhaps an elven forager (or some elven children?).

Or a colony of 6 aranea, one advanced as a sorcerer 4 (roughly CR 10, and with caster level 7, for 3rd-level spells, since aranea already have 3 innate levels of sorcerer spellcasting ability) have recently moved into the forest to claim a chunk of it as their new territory, capturing elves and animals through guile and sorcery, then webbing them up to eat later.

Wyverns are a good forest encounter. They can hide in the treetops and dive across clearings, or fly above the canopy, swooping down unexpectedly. This is an especially good encounter if only a few of the PCs can fly.

Save the Elves Hook?

How about a situation where they are nearby when a group of the wood elves come under attack? They are near enough to respond and make the difference in the elves not getting wiped out.

Perhaps make the threat challenging enough that neither group (players or the elves) would be able to withstand it alone.

Two different ideas come to mind.

Trolls - Camping near a forest stream or river. Trolls attack an elven party on the other side, downstream, etc. Attack occurs at night so whomever has the watch has to notice, wake up the party and so on.

Drow - Not sure if you have drow in your campaign. You mentioned mountains and orcs nearby. If you've read Salatore's Drizzt books, I'm envisioning something akin to the surface raid they embarked upon. If you haven't, I'll recap - A group of drow leaves the Underdark with the express purpose of finding and kiling their surface brethren. They come upon a group of elves and slaughter them. Only this time, the players are there to turn the tide.

Ettercaps and large spiders are my favorite forest encounter. Vermin with an intelligent agent can be a nasty surprise.

How about a satyr who has enchanted a wood elf to be his queen. He's got some pixie friends that help him out as well. The wood elf would attack as well, causing a situation where the characters would have to avoid damaging her but take on the tricksy fey until their music was forever silenced.

Rescuing her would definitely ingratiate her family/tribe to the PCs, as they had no idea what happened to her.

Monkey Goblins Attack!
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/rpgSuperstar/round5/monkeyGoblinsAttack

And you think your players are tired of orcs? How about Orcs on toboggans with a side helping of flying flaming orc?
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/rpgSuperstar/round5/chaseOnCharredGround

How about a seemingly abandoned shrine.

For about a mile, the forest is dark and sickly. All of the plants have thorns. The shadows are darker than they ought to be and the patches of sunlight are dimmer. If there are any songbirds, they are silent though the occasional slither or hiss can be heard from the canopy or the bushes.

In the center of this, there is a small clearing. There are cracked and split flagstones with sickly deep green--almost black--grass growing between the flags. Several tumbled pillars and a moss covered pile of stones that might have once been the ruins of a wall remain. In the center, however, stands an altar made of basalt with horns and chains of rusted iron. The top of the altar is stained a dark red.

This altar is dedicated to Asmodeus and is the haunt of Bitter Root, an Imp Sorceror 8 (CR 9 using sorceror as non-associated for the imp, alternate form: constrictor snake (medium), feats include natural spell and brew potion, spells include ventriloquism at first level). Bitter Root was bound to the altar long ago by cultist of Asmodeus who bound him there and performed sacrifices to Asmodeus (and sometimes to Bitter Root) in return for answers to their questions (through the Imp's Commune ability). Since the ancestors of the current elves destroyed the cult several hundred years ago, the place has been taboo to them, but every now and then, an elf who is at the end of his rope or someone from the surrounding villages will venture secretly to this forbidden grove and perform the rites required in return for hidden knowledge.

When the party first approaches, Bitter Root is, as is his wont, lurking invisible in the thorn bushes behind the altar. Assuming them to be supplicants seeking the favor of the devil of the forbidden grove, he will use a ventriloquism spell to make it sound as though his voice comes from above the altar and will demand that the party present their sacrifices for the knowledge of the Ancient One.

Terrain effects: The altar is the center of an unhallow spell. The spells that were tied to it have long since worn off, but the unhallow has outlived the building it was cast for and has stained the terrain forever with evil. Practically, this gives Bitter Root the effect of a magic circle against good spell. The altar itself has been tainted by the blood of many sacrifices over the years and it, and the paving stones around it count as blood rock.