Need an idea for an encounter at sea for a Level 10 party

[NewJeffCT]

The party is going to be at sea for about two weeks in game, so I wanted to give them a good challenging encounter to take place at sea. The players will be on a sloop-style ship and going through some deep waters.

The party is level 10 and good-aligned. This is a 3.5E game.

Human Rogue 9/Fighter 1
Elf Fighter 2/Paladin of Freedom6/Elven Champion 2
Human Cleric 10
Dwarf Fighter 10
Halfling Psion 10

The party also has an elf Scout 3/Ranger 2 tagging along as well.

The boat also has 16 sailors, but most are Expert 1s. They will fight, if needed, but most will try to avoid combat unless hard-pressed.

I was thinking maybe Sahuagin, led by a powerful Baron with levels in Ranger or similar, plus maybe a shaman/adept or two.

Any other ideas outside of vampire pirates? (That may be a future encounter)

Or maybe Sahuagin followed by vampire pirates?

Thanks

 

[the Jester]

A classic encounter would be two giant octopuses, and I fancy it.

Depends on what books you have, too- if you're into tweaking and advancing monsters, I might even go the "weird templated giant octopus" route. Hmm- perhaps half-fiend, half-elemental, umbral, etc... lots of possibilities. But yeah, a buff, mean octopus.

 

[NewJeffCT]

A classic encounter would be two giant octopuses, and I fancy it.

Depends on what books you have, too- if you're into tweaking and advancing monsters, I might even go the "weird templated giant octopus" route. Hmm- perhaps half-fiend, half-elemental, umbral, etc... lots of possibilities. But yeah, a buff, mean octopus.

Thanks - sounds interesting.

 

[Herobizkit]

Harpies. Have them live in a nest on some random tiny, ridiculously high peak out in the middle of the ocean. The fact that there is a nest will make players want to go explore it.

Water Elementals. Or heck, how about encountering a God/dess of Oceans who doesn't want people trespassing on his/her "land" for fear of discovering his/her Divine Spark nearby? (The players don't need to know that, of course)

Or the traditional Nereid menace. "Hey sailor, what's your pleasure?" Glub, glub, glub.

 

[Jhaelen]

I assume you don't have access to Stormwrack?

It has the Caller from the Deep which would make for a nice encounter with all those low-level npcs around...

 

[NewJeffCT]

I assume you don't have access to Stormwrack?

It has the Caller from the Deep which would make for a nice encounter with all those low-level npcs around...

I actually think I have it somewhere, but forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Dragonwriter]

To go along with the Stormwrack suggestion...

I know the Scyllan is CR 13, and you've got 5 10th levels, but perhaps it would be a good idea. How optimized is your party?

Other than that, classic pirates are always good. Water Elementals are fun. The sea wolves (forget what book... might be Stormwrack, and I'm away from my books) could be interesting.

One I always wanted to try was using the Azihuotl (sp?) out of FF. They climb over the rails of the ship, charge and bull rush people off and into the water, grapple and try to drown them. If they can't threaten your party, they can at least threaten the poor sailors.

 

[Vayden]

Hmm - I'm planning some naval adventures too coming up. Mine's 4e, but assuming you're looking more for ideas than specific lists of monsters, here's a couple of the ideas I'm bouncing around -

1) The party is being pursued by mercenaries hired to stop them. They see the lights of another ship following them in the distance at night. If they turn about and attempt to lay a trap for/attack the pursuers, then you get a full on naval battle. Otherwise the mercenaries hang back, using summoning magic to conjure up monsters which they send ahead to attack the PC's ship. You can use a series of almost any monster you want to launch attacks - drop a few clues that the monsters are magically summoned and not native to the waters, but don't make it obvious. This gives you a diverse option of attacks you can launch, while also challenging the players as well as the characters - can they put the pieces together and take their attackers out at the source?

2) The Saragossa Sea - stole this idea from a Hellboy comic - the ship enters an unnatural fog and becomes becalmed for several days - eventually they drift into a giant floating mass of wrecked ships, flotsam, and seaweed - in order to free the ship and escape, the party must leave the ship and cross the network of wreckage to deal with the ancient (insert monster here - aboleth, hag, undead of some sort all seem good) monster that sleeps in the center like a spider in its web. Throw in a little Lovecraft vibe for extra fun.

3) An unnatural storm - hit them with a crazy storm - purple lightning, waves twice as tall as the ship, and water and wind elementals raging through the storm - the elementals aren't particularly hunting the ship, but they flow over and around it, making attacks as they pass. Basically an endurance test - alternate version, have the party wizard realize that the storm is the result of a spell (either sent by the party's enemies or just a weather spell gone wrong and building out of control), and set him up to attempt a multi-turn skill challenge (easily adaptable to 3.x from 4e) to unravel it while the rest of the party protects him.

Of course, Sahuagin and giant Kraken are classics for a reason.

 

[WereSteve]

Hmm ... a nice Kraken or perhaps a Colussus ala Jason and the Argonauts would prove a challenge.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Hmm - I'm planning some naval adventures too coming up. Mine's 4e, but assuming you're looking more for ideas than specific lists of monsters, here's a couple of the ideas I'm bouncing around -

1) The party is being pursued by mercenaries hired to stop them. They see the lights of another ship following them in the distance at night. If they turn about and attempt to lay a trap for/attack the pursuers, then you get a full on naval battle. Otherwise the mercenaries hang back, using summoning magic to conjure up monsters which they send ahead to attack the PC's ship. You can use a series of almost any monster you want to launch attacks - drop a few clues that the monsters are magically summoned and not native to the waters, but don't make it obvious. This gives you a diverse option of attacks you can launch, while also challenging the players as well as the characters - can they put the pieces together and take their attackers out at the source?

2) The Saragossa Sea - stole this idea from a Hellboy comic - the ship enters an unnatural fog and becomes becalmed for several days - eventually they drift into a giant floating mass of wrecked ships, flotsam, and seaweed - in order to free the ship and escape, the party must leave the ship and cross the network of wreckage to deal with the ancient (insert monster here - aboleth, hag, undead of some sort all seem good) monster that sleeps in the center like a spider in its web. Throw in a little Lovecraft vibe for extra fun.

3) An unnatural storm - hit them with a crazy storm - purple lightning, waves twice as tall as the ship, and water and wind elementals raging through the storm - the elementals aren't particularly hunting the ship, but they flow over and around it, making attacks as they pass. Basically an endurance test - alternate version, have the party wizard realize that the storm is the result of a spell (either sent by the party's enemies or just a weather spell gone wrong and building out of control), and set him up to attempt a multi-turn skill challenge (easily adaptable to 3.x from 4e) to unravel it while the rest of the party protects him.

Of course, Sahuagin and giant Kraken are classics for a reason.

Thanks - some good ideas there.