Evil in the Desert

[Kaji]

I'd love some input on a desert adventure I have coming up. I've got all the major details outlined, but I'm looking for ideas on all the random encounters and side adventures I intend to have on the way. The desert is super hot, some limited scrub, and mostly uninhabited by civilization. the only folks living in it are the major focus of the quest, and they're a bunch of evil xenophobic halfling druid/fighters riding something. I haven't decided what I want them to ride yet, I was going to see if there's some sort of Dire Camel somewhere. Any ideas to help get the juices flowing are much appreciated.


BTW, undead are very welcome. It's a focus for our campaign. And yes, the obvious answer here is Mummy!!!! But maybe the new templates insteasd of the standard version. Or maybe Greater Mummy. Hmmm...Greater Mummy. I like that one.

 

[Chauzu]

Have the halflings ride lizards.

 

[Kaji]

Lizards

Have the halflings ride lizards.

I actually like the idea of halflings on lizards from a style and visual perspective, but I am laboring under the impression that they are too slow for what I'm going for. I'll have to look up the stats, I suppose.

 

[Chauzu]

Make a quicker version of the lizard, one that only lives in the desert.

 

[dglass]

I don't have my books with me so I can't look stuff up. Could they ride Dire Sidewinder snakes? That would be very evil. I don't see how you could put a saddle on one but perhaps just a rope or something in the snakes mouth and then go bareback. Maby you should make the halflings immune to poison.

 

[starwolf]

Not all lizards are the slow moving monitor or iguana types.
Have you ever seen how fast a frilled lizard moves?

Imagine the halflings wearing HUGE face masks charging on the backs of frilled, spitting lizards. Like the lizards the halflings would look intimidatingly large.

 

[arwink]

Something I'm planning on using in the future are goblin desert raiders riding axe-beaks. I'll probably end up converting the axe-beaks appearance into something lizardlike, however.

 

[Tonguez]

I'd say use Velociraptors and give them feathers (new fossils suggest the the Theropod Dinos had feathers and were in fact Prot-Avians. Also note the the Velociraptor is about the size of a Dog - the things on Jurassic Park were more likely Dienornychus))

Other Desert Encounters include Sand Storms (actual storms, elementals or other cause are all good), Sand worms (the Red Worm of the Gobi Desert 'Allghoi khorkhoi' comes to mind), mischevious djinn (gnomes with red skins and horns), Sand Sharks, Cats, Snakes, Scorpions and Desert Nomads

 

[blargney]

Could they ride Dire Sidewinder snakes? I don't see how you could put a saddle on one but perhaps just a rope or something in the snakes mouth and then go bareback.

Think Dune. (Worm-riding to be precise.)
-blargney

 

[Kaji]

Face Masks

I love the face mask idea, I think I'll use that one for sure. I'm now stuck between fast lizards and fiendish camels. I think the leader of this group is going to end up being possesed by a demon or devil, so I can bring in some Outsider stuff. I intend to use the rules in BoVD for the possesion. Thanks fo the ideas. I'll let you know how things progress.