Encounter ideas?

[Zelda Themelin]

I could use the vampire idea, thanks.

But what kind of random encounters? Something that can kill the party, something for them to kill will superior laught.

This game is going to take characters to about 16th level, so I can use a lot of encounters, if not next friday, some other game day. Or might give inspiration to some other dm out there.

 

[Ferox4]

Okay, let's plan encounters around some sort of theme monster.

A possible encounter: Spiders (Huge, Trapdoor) w/ Improved Grab;
More spiders and their enemies

PCs are traveling through a dense, trackless wood. Their path takes them by a well concealed earthen "door" in the forest floor - Spot check (DC23). Any PC coming within 15' of the door is suddenly attacked by a huge, furry, brown spider that shoots out of the trapdoor and attempts to grab them in a surprise round. If the grab fails and/or the spider takes more than 50% damage before it can move back into its "door", it will drop its victim and retreat. Note: These spiders never move entiirely out of their "doors." They push the earth up as the take a 5' step forward and attempt to grab their prey. If the spider does get hold of a victim and does not meet too much resistance it takes its prey back down into its lair as the heavy earthen "door" slams shut with a loud crash. The spider will use its poison once safely inside its lair. Note: The lair can be as simple or intricate as you wish - I usually connect them with a few different "doors." Strength check (DC 22) to lift "door."

Eventually the forest becomes dense with webs. Clearly there are more spiders here. However there are also enemies of the spiders here. Creatures that hunt the spiders for their poison. (I'll leave the race to you) have managed to capture and maintain a few Spider Eaters for mounts. At least one of the riders is a 5th level sorcerer.

PCs may encounter these hunters in the midst of slaying the spiders and mistake them for friends. I'll let you fill in the blanks.

Sorta mundane, but the PCs won't expect spiders coming out of the ground.....

 

[Jolly Giant]

Pirate Cat, great plot, dood! Consider it swiped!

Zelda, have you seen this thread: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?t=75094?

It's not exactly what you were asking for, but there's bound to be something there you could use.

 

[Zelda Themelin]

Spider encounter sounds good, not so typical, not too special either. Thanks for little trap, I make them too nasty myself (and too magical).

I don't want encounters slow main-plot too much, I want them to give it feel of life and adventure and dangers of travelling.

Beetle idea, mmh, have to twist that one a little. But I like the thing with stone, hehe, I imagine beatles having feast with party's travel rations, when they first discover their newfound attraction to bugs after night's rest.

If you are curious about the world, well...

Halflings or race similar to them are known as in this world Khesta.
Only 12 gods. From Maker to Unmaker.
There are also 12 Passions, that reflect the gods' and mortals' shared passions, goals, desires. There are also demons (mixture of all evil alignments), elemental spirits and the Ishru. Elemental cosmology, no divane planes.

((Setting is kind of mixture of things built on that said Twin Crowns setting, most of the stuff is from there but not all)).

 

[Zelda Themelin]

Pirate Cat, great plot, dood! Consider it swiped!

Zelda, have you seen this thread: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?t=75094?

It's not exactly what you were asking for, but there's bound to be something there you could use.

Yes, I have. Some fun stuff, but not what I seek. I need specific creatures, and place they are encountered. Basicly random encounters with some inner logic, and perhaps plothook from there to lead to someplace interesting on a way. Or just encounters for challenge without any more to them.
I do need party gain some experience, before I sent in my "end-chapter critters".

Any ideas for Far Realm type aberrations? I can always skim through monster books, but if I get some good pointers, it helps. I have too many of them, it's so hard to choose. Oh, the pain.

 

[Jolly Giant]

As you might have guessed from my vampire post above, I enjoy scaring my metagame-thinking players from time to time, by making them think an encounter is gonna be a whole lot harder than it actually is. Can't do it too often, or the trick will loose it's effectiveness and encounters shouldn't be an anti-climax every time, but it's fun to teach them the errors of their meta-gaming ways once in a while!

Twice I've scared them with dragons that they knew were too big for them to take on. Once the "dragon" turned out to be wyvern, the other one was a chimera. I figur that to the average commoner anything big, scaly and flying has to be a dragon, right?

Assuming the PCs are good-guys, let them meet up with a starving, desperate family in the wilderness; with lots of kids and preferably carrying at least one crying baby. They've fled their small, isolated farm because of this great, terrible dragon that keeps eating all their sheep/cows/goats/whatever, and they fear one of the children might get eaten one day.

Make sure to portray the family's situation as as hopeless as can be. The dragon ate their only horse and they've only got what little they can carry with them (including one baby!). Their clothes are dirty and ragged and all the children look really skinny.

Of course, they'll beg and plead the PCs to go kill the dragon, offering them everything they have as a reward. "Everything they have" being a handful of coppers, grandma's wedding ring and their oldest daughter's hand in marriage. If you're feeling really nasty (and your players are mature enough!), make sure to describe the girl as worty, crosseyed, buck toothed and twelve years old.

They'd have to have hearts of stone to refuse these people their help. And hearts of ice to accept the "reward" afterwards, naturally... If they suggest escorting the farmers to the nearest town to get some more able help, let the farmers tell them there isn't enough time for that. "If you hurry over there and kill that nasty dragon right now, there might still be enough left of the place for us to start over. If you don't, we're heading for a carreer as beggars..." Then have the oldest girl say "Mom say I'm gonna have to be a prostitute, but I'd much rather marry one of you handsome men!"

If they don't go dragon-hunting by then, find some new players! Of course, the "dragon" won't be as tough as your PCs will think. Use either a wyvern or a chimera (or maybe even a half-dragon kobold!).

If they wanna marry the girl or not, is of course entirely up to them!

 

[Zelda Themelin]

Jolly Giant, that's really cute plot. I like it, how could any self-respecting noble-man refuse such blight. Girl's hand in marriage could be another story.

I can imagine:
"Oh, your daughter is such young beauty, but I am bound to vows to marry girl from our home city" etc...

Yes, I forget to mention, party is aligned; N, GC, CN, and NG.
My players don't do meta-gaming, and aren't good at memorizing monsters anyhow. We handle those things with Knowledge skill checks (what can that critter do, what is it immune to etc.), or base attack check/sense motive check (how powerful it seems, how strong in melee etc). We've all been dm:s to each other at one time, other. Our gaming issues are elsewhere.

 

[Jolly Giant]

Glad you liked it, Zelda!

If you want an encore to the story, have the PCs find the chimera/wyverns nest after they've killed it. In it they discover 1D4 tiny, adorable baby wyverns/chimeras, screaming hungrily for their mommy...

If they want to bring the babies with them to sell or train as mounts, make them roll a DC 20 Handle Animal-check every day to get the babies to eat.

 

[Jolly Giant]

My players don't do meta-gaming, and aren't good at memorizing monsters anyhow. We handle those things with Knowledge skill checks

I need some new players! The once I've got know the monsters (and all the rules!) way to well!

I suggest you tell them the farmers hasn't seen the "dragon" very clearly, it only attacks at night, but they've got a pretty good idea of how big it is. Have the PCs roll knowledge: dragons checks and try to scare them as much as possible! Give them an estimate of how powerful a dragon that size would be, see if they don't start sweating...

 

[Zelda Themelin]

Glad you liked it, Zelda!

If they want to bring the babies with them to sell or train as mounts, make them roll a DC 20 Handle Animal-check every day to get the babies to eat.

Hey, good idea, why I haven't thought it. Ranger's player is going to love such opportunity.

Of course wyvers would be a bit problematic when they grow up. How hard you'd say young wyvern would be to take to longish sea-trip?

My one pc took two scythe falcons as to raise, to horror of group (they have sort of vorpal-wings type thing). "But they are so cute, We can't just kill them, poor little things, we killed their mother for self-protection." "You must be kidding. That thing flew through my sword cutting it in twain. Where are you going to carry those deadly things" "Hey, we that bucket, don't we?"

It was on mountain peak, our ship has crashed, half party's property had ended to bottom of water you really don't want dive to, and long walk home.