Help with an encounter vs. a rogue

[Teneb]

My 3 players are going to corner a local thug at the inn he's staying at. I'm a bit at a loss on how to make this battle interesting/exciting. The players are 1st level, so the rogue could go up to 5th potentially. This isn't meant to be a final battle, but I'd like it to be more than a speed bump. Any suggestions either on the rogue build or environmental things I can throw in to make it an exciting battle?

I appreciate the help!

 

[chronoplasm]

They are actually fighting inside the inn? Surely the keeper of the establishment isn't going to take kindly to a bunch of adventurers brawling in his place.
Plus, if any drunks see three people ganging up on one guy, maybe they might want to join the fray to even the odds?

I'm just saying that you might want to have more enemies in the fight to balance it out.

Somebody, at some point, has to get hit on the head with a beer bottle.
Somebody has to get hit with a stool.
The barkeep might pull a crossbow out from under the counter and start shooting.
A ghost may possess the jar of pickled eggs, causing it to levitate and shoot lasers?


What did this thug do to make the players want to beat the snot out of him?

 

[Teneb]

He's a known associate of the BBEG, and they're trying to get him to get to his boss. I like the idea of others joining in; he's actually staying at a "house of ill repute" - I could see some of the gals joining the fray to protect their client. Good idea!

 

[chronoplasm]

He's a known associate of the BBEG, and they're trying to get him to get to his boss. I like the idea of others joining in; he's actually staying at a "house of ill repute" - I could see some of the gals joining the fray to protect their client. Good idea!

In that case, somebody totally needs to get hit on the head with boobs.
You should still totally find some way to incorporate the haunted jar of pickled eggs in there somehow.


Anyway... what system are you using?
Assuming you are doing 4E, I wouldn't put any minions in the fight.
I'd go with four enemies each with a different role:

• The Thug as a Brute.
• Skirmisher gal who is very mobile, leaps around, and hits people with a whip or something. Whatever you do, if you have prostitutes joining a fight then you need to make one of them a dominatrix so she can have a leather suit that counts as leather armor and some kind of exotic weapon.
• Halfling Lurker gal who runs under the tables and jumps out to punch someone in the balls.
• Artillery gal who stands back and uh... maybe make her a fire breather? When you walk in she's doing an exotic dance with flaming batons, but when the fight starts she attacks you with some kind of modified version of the dragonborn breath attack except as an at-will power.

*edit*

Actually, heres another idea... make the thug a skirmisher, right? You can still have a brute in the fight though because one of the gals has a donkey. The donkey can be the brute.