Attn Pkitty and other DMs of high-level games: encounters on the road at high-level?

[howandwhy99]

I agree with many above. At high levels, overland encounters are truly over land.

So, determine the main means of travel. Wind walk, teleport, plane shift, etc. And creating Wandering Encounter tables for 'em.

In truth, most high level characters are not going to be bumping into people. Unexpected Encounters will be enemies finding them. That should happen with some frequency unless they stay within a safe area without routinely leaving.

 

[llamatron2000]

T-rex on the plains. All I have to say. T-rexes on the plains.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

I would like to point out that if the party has gotten to high levels, they should enjoy the fruits of their labor, as it were.

If they want to bypass an encounter by use of Teleport, or want to get "to the dungeon/castle/town" and have a Teleport without Error handy, then let them.

Such relatively mundane means of travel will not help them much in the other-planar, alternate prime, and extra-dimensional realms they should be adventuring in at this point.

I second this. Even at low levels I generally haven't bothered with things like road encounters or wandering monsters. If there's going to be a fight, then either it has a place in the greater plot or it's something the PCs went looking for.

 

[Drowbane]

Our Planescape (Gestalt lvl 15) party has all but forgotten how to "walk" anywhere. portals, teleporting, d-door, flight, planeshift...


":confused voice:...Walking... walking... ahh yes!! Isn't that what my Legions of Undead must do to get to the enemy stronghold? What, me? No, no my good man, I would simply shatter the laws of physics with some psionic-teleportation." ~excerpt from an Interview with the Nosferatu, Maligant.

 

[ashockney]

Examples from recent high level dungeon I developed:

First, your adventure setting is probably a supernatural and fantastic location. In my instance, it is a keep, housed some two miles below the surface of the earth, with no apparent means to reach it through passages, etc. Travelling not only assumes the use of very potent magical abilities and super-skills, it demands it!

Given that we are now using such things, the "random" encountered villians have similiar tactics available to them. Examples include those that travel through the use of Burrowing or Earthglide, another example is a group of undead who "roam" ethereally around the outskirts of the buried keep and use their abilities to detect living in an effort to locate and attack the enemy.

Finally, many of the enemies have abilities of their own (teleportation, dimension door, etc.) that allows them to bring the fight to the party. In these instances, you have key locations (trapped/secret doors that are magically warded, and require passwords) that your opponents will use as a rallying point to ambush the party.

Sprinkle in liberal uses of Dimensional Lock, Proof from Teleportation, Zone of Non-Detection, Screen, and the like, to help "point" the party in the right direction.

Specific to "wind walking" to the end boss, you have to keep in mind that not everything can be accessed through windwalk. Further, it requires either 5 rounds to change form (a certain death sentence against a well-armed, knowledgeable opponent), unless the spell is dismissed, and no longer used.

 

[Rvdvelden]

I'm looking for suggestions on how to encourage encounters 'on the road' so to speak.

Make them regret they spent a spell slot on such a spell every encounter they have after arriving at the designated place. They'll learn to go around without using precious resources soon enough.

 

[pallandrome]

I had a badguy with contengency "If someone teleports into my throne room, baleful transposition on the Half-Fiend Rancor I keep in the pit under the throne room."

It was a hilarious fight too. The team is scrying the big bad, see him all alone is his throne room / laboratory. They buff up, and port in, and where the BBEG was standing, now they have about 40 tons of pissed off demonic muscle. Then the BBEG managed to win init and cast Dimensional Lock on the room, and left through a trap door. Since the walls and floor were all made of adamantium, it was several days before they managed to get out, and the evil wizard evacuated all of his personell and equipment before they did so. I had originally planned for the BBEG to knock the building down on them too, but forgot that I put them in an adamantium safe room, and that they wouldn't be seriously incommoded by a building falling on them. They ended up claiming the building for their own, and now they have a nice little HQ, the adoration of the nearby town for saving them from the wizard, and a deadly enemy wandering around screwing with them