Adventure on the road? (without the ambush)...

[jbear]

I liked the added comment about the entertainers (they're good people though). Hahaha. Has this not been the case in your wider experience? Sorry, that tickled me as i'm an entertainer in real life.

Maybe the raucus party that the entertainers have as they camp for the night awakes the countryside itself, some gargantuan earth giant who is irked at being awoken after thousands of years of slumber. it begins with what seems like an earthquake, but the earth itself comes alive beneath their feet. Maybe you could even drop a few clues about the place they camp, stoney outcroppings that look like a giant ear, that happens to be easily protected and safe to make it attractive to camp in.

As he shakes himself from the earth, earth motes are thrown up around him and his hive of blind Stonecarvers race out from his tunnels, wrinkles and cracks to defend their master/home. Skill test leaping from the giants ear, across floating earth motes towards the ground with a horde of angry hive-minded creatures hastening their escape. A skill test to calm the irked giant and restore calm amongst the hive. And always the opportunity for an epic battle with a very exciting terrain and a very large hazard to avoid at all costs (and let's not forget entertainers to protect or even acrobats to help the less dextrous escape).

Before that occurs, nearby, as the sun slowly sets, they could hear a rather warbled singing from the copse of trees nearby. A wild, red haired man smeared with ash sits there chained by the leg to a semi burnt tree inside a cage made of thorns. He will stop the PCs if they attempt to free him, screaming madly that he will turn to ash!! He mutters and rambles madly. He then recites a poem over and over again looking into the distance with a glassy stare.

No door, no roof, his home aloof,
Mother sits in the house she knits
Children inside they all abide
They don't walk out, but noone's about
When winter comes.

If the pCs are clever they will notice he is staring towards the campsite (more specifically the giants nostrils). If the PC's solve the riddle of his poem and bring him his nest, stuck in the giant's nostril (protected by some nasty burrowing beast or one of the hive?) then he turns back in to his original form of a phoenix, bursting forth from the cave. He becomes sane and thankful. he could be a valuable ally in the encounter with the slumbering giant, maybe the phoenix's imprisoner?

Maybe he offer's transport somewhere avoiding the giant altogether, or a feather to each PC. If they keep it and are killed by fire they rise from the ashes a day later, the feather crumbling to ash. The Giant and his hive could use fire attacks. You could make the encounter totally lethal, destroying the party completely no holds barred, the giant in his fury burning them to ash with molten rock. Hearts in their throats... thinking they are dead, suddenly they are reborn amongst the ash. The Giant is asleep once again. There is no sign of the entertainers, except the gaping hole of the giants nostril that leads deep inside the earth, where a broken mandolin lies smashed outside the entrance to the cave...

This riddle is from Riddle Rooms 2 Wilderness Puzzles and Perils. I was thinking of including it somewhere in my own game so that if the PCs bother to solve it they can be rewarded by a phoenix flight to their next destination, and maybe in the future a very valuable ally. Searching through the insides of a massive living earth giant could be pretty awesome too.

The thorny bars of the cage are magical, dazing and confusing anyone who strikes them. A small amount of the madness inflicted upon the phoenix. The roots of the cage go very deeply to prevent him being dug out of the cave. Anything the players give the madman bursts into flames. The cage and the madman are immune to fire, the only noticeable effect being that it covers the man in even more ash. When the spell is broken the cage turns into a normal plant.

 

[weem]

I liked the added comment about the entertainers (they're good people though). Hahaha. Has this not been the case in your wider experience? Sorry, that tickled me as i'm an entertainer in real life.

Hehehe, sorry, no offense

I typed this out quickly at work (that's my first excuse).

Secondly, what I wanted to avoid was the "ohh, these entertainers are actually BAD GUYS and rob the PC's / eat the PC's / do something bad to the PC's" etc. It was a poor way of saying that these entertainers are not monsters, killers, thieves or wander gypsies etc which is some of the first things that come to mind when I think of traveling entertainers and D&D... that they can't be trusted (for any number of reasons). These are well know, well paid, well traveled, professional entertainers.

Of course they can be all those things and still have something... wrong with them... but these ones don't. So that is the long story


With that said, there are a ton of good ideas here, so thanks everyone. I am still putting some things together and there are ideas here (multiple) that I will barrow various ideas from I think.

I'm still open to hearing more ideas as well if anyone feels like sharing!

 

[Markn]

How about the PCs rushing to the defense of a dragon instead of the usual cliche of being attacked/attacking a dragon.

Perhaps there are 2 rival dragons in the area, one cunning and manipulative, the other a secluded hermit type. The maniipulative dragon has performed evil deeds leaving "clues" that the other dragon has performed the ghastly deeds. The local law enforcement or paladins have tracked down the dragon intent on killing it believing it to be responsible for the crimes. The PCs come upon the scene when the attack has happened. They can intervene to save the dragon or assist the law enforcement.

Obviously, making the dragon metallic might make the encounter more intriguing for the PCs.

Perhaps, no one, not even the "framed" dragon realizes another dragon is behind this, setting up some skill challenges for to prove that the crimes were committed by someone else. Very successful PCs could prove that another dragon is at work. Mildly successful prove that someone else is behind it, but not who and failure at the challenges could mean they do not succeed in changing the guards opinions.

Either way, they do not need to DEAL with the dragon. Next time through, they could run into the guard and the guard could explain who they found behind the crimes.

This gives a sense of versimilitude for travelling PCs.

It is Dungeons and Dragons afterall!

Edit - The manipulative dragon wants this territory for himself and is physically weaker than the known dragon and so needs help to remove him. Getting the local law to do his dirty work is in his best interest.

 

[SiderisAnon]

This is based on an adventure I wrote a while back:

They're travelling with entertainers; right? A local lord is having a celebration to honor his daughter and wants more entertainment. He orders the entertainers to his keep. The guards assume the PCs are part of the troupe and force them to come along -- if the PC's refuse, it's taken out on the entertainers for a portion of their troupe refusing to cooperate.

Once inside the keep, there is a robbery of the lady's jewels. (Or a murder if you to take it further.) The keep/castle is sealed and no one will be allowed to leave until the jewels are recovered. The PCs can run into all kinds of challenges trying to figure out who the thief is, and these are not things they can fight their way through.

 

[Oryan77]

1. Bad weather as an encounter is always a good mix. A bad hailstorm could hit and do damage to the wagon. If there is a tracker, he can scout ahead for shelter while the storm passes. They could use skill checks to repair the wagon. You could do the old cave scenario and as they take shelter in the gave you can have some resident of the cave attack.

2. A long bridge could be damaged. They'll need to repair the bridge or figure out another way to get the wagon across.

3. One of the entertainers is butt-ugly and has a crush on a PC. He/she keeps trying to romance the PC as a secret admirer for the first part of the trip. Then when he/she confronts the PC, he/she is very forward and makes advances in front of everyone else at inappropriate moments.

 

[Mentat55]

As I scrolled briefly through the previous posts, with ideas already in mind, I found said ideas quickly being crossed off the list. Guess that happens when you're late to the party

I like the ideas of encountering mischievous fey, and having a bridge problem -- something that the PCs could probably circumvent easily, but that the caravan they are with cannot. Re: the fey, perhaps they get shifted to the Feywild for a short period of time, so they have to deal with the challenges there. Or some fey kidnap a particularly cute child, and the PCs need to rescue the kid.

1. Are there towns in between the departure and arrival points? If so, they arrive at a town that is celebrating something in their town's history, a big local festival, and the entertainers decide to stop and perform. The celebration also includes all sorts of competitions, and the PCs can join in the fun. I've had two very memorable D&D experiences that involved competitions.

2. A troll guarding a bridge. C'mon, you know you wanna. But give the troll some personality, some intelligence, and no obvious desire to eat or kill anyone. Could be a good social skill challenge.

3. Get the PCs involved in a performance by the entertainers. Perhaps some of their regular performers fall sick. If the party has someone acrobatic, perhaps someone good at oration (Diplomacy), or perhaps a wizard with some sweet cantrips and illusion spells, it might represent a nice use of abilities outside combat.

 

[darjr]

Oooh... make it a rope bridge.

They have to dismantle the wagons and equipment and carry everything across it somehow. Then they have to rebuild the wagons and such on the other side.

 

[Janx]

the "journey adventure" is a time waster...exactly what you're looking to do.

somebody in the caravan is wanted, and the law is looking for him. It doesn't have to be a PC or one of the main NPCs, it can be hired help who isn't who he says he is. This person could be good, wanted by bad ( or vice versa). The bad might be the law, or it might be a real bad guy.

The village the road passes through has a sickness. The caravan gets infected, need to go back and find a cure.

The caravan comes upon another caravan that was waylaid a few days earlier. They need help and are looking to join yours.

A big monster attacks the part. Not an ambush, they see it coming. But the fight is huge as everybody must stop the monster while the caravan races for the protection of the forest.
This could be a rolling battle, or the PCs stop and hold it off while the caravan runs away.

 

[Jack7]

One of the entertainers is not who they appear to be. Maybe he was someone who joined the troupe at another location based upon reputation but he is really a spy. As a result odd things keep happening. But the spy is also a clever person, and a good actor in his own right, diverting attention form himself and onto others.

Also the party could encounter other travelers who are also not what they appear to be.

I like the plague idea, as well as more supernatural or magical disorders such as lycanthropy.

I also like the ghost idea but one of the entertainers could be a spirit, and along the road is disclosed the real events regarding their murder (which the ghost-entertainer acts out in improvisational scenes during rehearsals).

On the other hand one of the party could have been replaced by a doppelganger, and the real party member is back at the town having been abducted and held somewhere against their will. Perhaps a prisoner of the guild they supposedly bested. Just get one of the players to secretly agree to play the doppelganger instead of his own character to whatever aims the doppelganger has.

Animals encounters with intelligent or odd animals. Or magical creatures disguised as animals, wolves, stray dogs, a falcon, a cat. These creatures might even be familiars.

The discovery or clues or odd locations, artifacts, or shrines along the way. A buried and disguised relic hidden in an old roadside, or even hidden, shrine that is not what it appears to be.

A grove into which an impressive or magical stag disappears and if followed in the party discovers it is a maze, maybe even a time or distance altering maze.

A grotto in which the party takes shelter from a violent storm and that leads to strange visions, dreams, and hallucinations.

Discovering trees or plants that when looked at in the right light or at full moon reveal that they are covered in a strange, unknown, or perhaps encoded magical language - this might involve Druids, Witches, or even a magical creature like a unicorn, a shedu, a naga, or a lammasu.

You know the discovery of new and useful plants and animal and insect species is something some people like (me, for instance). As is finding the components for spells and rituals.

I'd also suggest rudding (not to be confused with the term with which it rhymes) which is the rural version of vadding.


A lot will depend of course upon exactly what kind of terrain is being traversed and what the landscape is like.
Good luck.

I like adventures in the field and when traveling.

 

[Quickleaf]

They will have just left a town where they disrupted the operations of the local thieves guild called "The Murkers" (though the guild is comprised mostly of amateurs and wannabe thugs - mostly young humans).

How about use this as the basis for the encounter, mixing it with the grateful dead scenario, troll bridge scenario, and fey scenario?

PCs are gathered around campfire as people start dropping off to sleep. One of the performers is playing a song to appease "Mag Morgause, Lady of the Birches", a ghost that supposedly haunts the crossroads they will approach tomorrow; the story goes a maid whose hand in marriage was promised to the local lord actually loved a village minstrel, and the cruel lord had her stretched between two birch trees until death for refusing him.

PC(s) on watch notice two thugs (they appear to be Murkers who ran away) digging up a wayside shrine. If PCs intervene, the men grovel for mercy and attempt to flee (if they're taken captive when PC returns to the group, PC is dragging two dead birch trees). The men were trying to dig up a box with a pendant with the image of a young woman's face trapped in amber; on the back it reads "forever loved". If PCs re-bury the pendant they notice a sudden wind kick up through the birch trees and they feel at ease. If they take the pendant, they feel like they are being closely watched by something lurking in the birch trees.

At the crossroads the next day, the PCs approach a bridge over a chasm/river, and they're intercepted by a large cloaked hunchback figure (seemingly a hag / troll witch) who demands one of the minstrels as a toll for crossing "Morgause's Bridge". Under the bridge PCs notice shadowy spirits wearing the clothes of Murkers (in fact the Murkers they ran across before were ghosts who helped kill the young woman hoping to get her jewels - the pendant - as a reward; the pendant became their fetter preventing them from moving on and binding them in service to Morgause).

Since she still pines for her loved minstrel, Morgause can be distracted with promises of reuniting them, playing the songs he used to play, etc. Likewise promising avenging her death can help PCs get by without paying her horrible toll.

The twist is Morgause was a fey (you choose the type) while alive, and the minstrel was the only one she couldn't win with her charms but who loved her for being her. The cruel lord was under her spell when he killed her.