Compelling Encounters!

[mmadsen]

D&D, by conventions, presents encounters in a "Red Queen" fashion; the encounters always just keep up with the heroes' power level. For a "compelling" change of pace, try:

• An unstoppable monster, like the Balrog/Balor released by delving dwarves. The heroes can only hope to escape it -- and, perhaps, rescue some hapless allies.
• A true horde of monsters. For all the talk of wading through hordes of Goblins and Orcs, when was the last time your party fought more than a dozen of anything at once? Try 50 Goblins.

 

[mmadsen]

Well, there was one battle in a swamp in my campaign, a while ago. It was pretty interesting, and resulted in a character death, too, when an insane nobleman cut the dwarf in half, and the zombie horde prevented them from retrieving the bits.

That's always an amusing D&Dism. His allies need to recover the corpse -- not out of any sense of propriety, but because they know they can have him raised.

 

[mmadsen]

As the Bonus Tip points out, one of the keys to a compelling encounter is mixing and matching what could have been two or more encounters. An unstoppable monster or a horde of lesser monsters is interesting. When it drives the party back into the trapped corridor, it's much more interesting.

 

[madriel]

Why do I see the trash compactor scene from Star Wars as I read this?

Actually, I was remembering a novel I read 4 or 5 years ago. In D&D terms, it had a two rangers and a druid rescuing aristocrats from an evil warlord. At one point they lead the teenagers through a swamp with local fighters chasing them. It had some floating islands big enough for people to stand on, but when they were too far apart, the characters had to wade or swim.

As for the bit about the fire elementals, sometimes DMs want to turn up the pressure. Having to worry about the effect of the battle on the surroundings affects party tactics. Some battles can have long term consequences. IMC, we're currently in a heavily forested area. I cast flame strike during one fight and nearly ruined our alliance with the local druids.

 

[Storminator]

I ran an intro adventure for a solo thief in my PBeM. He was supposed to steal a blessed craftsman's tool. It was a dare, as the tool was recently granted by the priests and there was a big fanfare.

It was guarded by two Glyphs of Warding, one triggered to release Doom and the other to release Spirit Weapon. So the thief naturally sets off both glyphs, gets Doomed and the magic sword starts hacking at him.

You can't fight a Spirit Weapon, so he ran. He had snuck thru the craftsman's villa to the workshop, so the guards and the dogs and the magic sword chased him out the window, and over the wall. The whistles start blowing and the town guard comes running. He breaks into an abandoned building and runs up the stairs to the roof and starts leaping rooftop to rooftop. The duration on the Spirit Weapon expired by the third roof, and he lost the guards before that, so he got away.

So he had people chasing him, dogs tracking him, arrows fired at him, a magic sword after him, long leaps to make, bad footing, a Doom, a turned ankle (flubbed a Jump check to get out of the first window), and an item he couldn't drop or set down.

Pretty good stuff!

PS

 

[WSmith]

Wow, SHARK, that was just plain awesome.

Ryan, that has to be one of the best adventures I never paid for. Consider it stolen.

I just took Musketeer back to Blockbuster. So, here are a few ideas:

*Hanging by a rope while fighting. This could either be fixed to a tower, a cliffface or even more scary, an airship!

*On the decks of airborne craft such as dridgables and zeppelins, or magically flying ships. Imagine how dangerous repelling boarders would be if getting tossed overboard meant falling 1000 feet? Even a magic carpet would do. Hehe, up the stakes, have the dueling pair on their own magic carpets flying through the twists and turns of the Caliph's Jeweled City marketplance and even the palace!

*On the tops of logs flowing toward a mill down a sweeping river.

*on the back of a wild herd of (insert animals). Try fighting a foe while clinging for your life to the stampeding rhino and his accompaning herd.

*Inside the head of a giant dead god that floats around the astral plane. (Thanks Piratecat)

*Sea of Sands. I created this years ago. When spying it from the overlooking cliffs, it appears a normal sandy desert that its dunes seem to b blowing around in the wind. Upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that the sand is moving on its own, ad waves in the ocean. When trying to walk on the sand, the creature sinks as if in water. There are "islands" of plateau in the Sea were the settlements exist. The sea has its own dangers and native creatures. Travel on it is possible by specially crafted ships.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

Along a similar line as Wsmith, moving objects make great places to have combats. Wagons make ideal platforms. Have the party fighting off enemies trying to board the wagon. Require balance checks DC 5 + damage dealt to stay standing after being hit, failure by more then 5 results in falling off the wagon (no pun intendant).

Alaxk

 

[WSmith]

This may be a little cheezy, but remember the D&D cartoon? There was one episode, Pandora's Box I think it was called, that still to this day sticks in my mind.

There was this treasure chest that when placed in certain locations, opened up to an extra-dimensional space. Well, the one location I thought was cool was the stairs that lead to a checkerboard pattern floor. This giant clock chimed and certain tiles disappeared. The group then fell below into what appeared as a bottemless pit surrounded by some honeycombed type ladder. They were able to latch on to the ladder thing, as a cartoon character would, and were then attacked by giant wasps.

I don't know what it was about that episode, but I still remember it today.

 

[mmadsen]

The group then fell below into what appeared as a bottemless pit surrounded by some honeycombed type ladder. They were able to latch on to the ladder thing, as a cartoon character would, and were then attacked by giant wasps.

A giant honeycomb with giant wasps? So obvious, and yet I never thought of it...

Some similar, but more obvious, ideas: underground "dungeon" that's just a giant badger den, beaver dam with -- OK, that one's pretty silly -- um, giant eagle's nest high on the mountain, quasi-African watering hole surrounded by all sorts of (giant) animals, etc.

 

[Storminator]

A giant honeycomb with giant wasps? So obvious, and yet I thought of it...

Some similar, but more obvious, ideas: underground "dungeon" that's just a giant badger den, beaver dam with -- OK, that one's pretty silly -- um,

<SNIP!>

Replace the beavers with lizardmen, and you've got a winner! Lizardmen dam the river and build a cave in the lake with the only access from underwater.

Crocodiles, graspy water plants, lizardmen and their pet pike... Sounds good to me!

PS