Planning some desert encounters...

[Greenfield]

My group is level 13 through 15, and a bit on the soft side, combat wise.

I'm trying to plan some challenging encounters for an excursion to the desert.

While I have nothing against undead, the whole mummy things is far too predictable.

I was thinking about a small colony of Huge Monstrous Scorpion as a warm up, with maybe a Collossal one as the finisher.

I was considering also a Nightwing with perhaps a Mummy Lord as his rider. I suspect that that will be overkill.

It's not that I can't find monsters of the right CR who could be in a desert, by the way. Anyone can do that. I'm looking for combos and team ups I can use that will make them think, not just worry about DPS.

Any suggestions you nice people might come up with are appreciated.

 

[Sunseeker]

Snakes are surprisingly common in the desert, as are swarms of insects. The possibility of an oasis also brings up the possibility of interesting monsters that might not be exactly "deserty". Elementals are a good choice, earth/sand, air. Constructs are a good choice if there's a possibility of an "ancient empire buried in the sands". Pretty sure there are some desert-dwelling dragon types too.

Beetlejuice-esque sandwurms anyone?

Also keep in mind that as much as your party is fighting monsters, they're also fighting the desert itsself. Burn the party's resources with exhaustion, dehydration, and a lower-CR monster won't be so bad. A fighter in heavy armor is going to fry under the desert sun. Anyone without a hat is going to get heatstroke within an hour.

BTW: why is your party in the desert? It might help give better backing to your choice of foes.

 

[Greenfield]

Good ideas.

But in D&D the environment just doesn't hold the same challenges it does in the real world. Endure Elements pretty much negates the heat factor, and there really aren't any rules in the game for armor tiring you out or causing heat issues. Create Water is so common that thirst isn't really a factor.

But let's think about this particular desert: The sun hasn't come out of the clouds in 5 years. The desert isn't hot, it's cold, and it gets colder at night. Without direct sunlight there are a lot of things that come into play, things that normally hate open, exposed terrain because of the sunlight.

With no landmarks, no stars and only a generally bright spot in the sky to mark the sun, it would be very easy to get lost. I'll have to look up the "Intuit Direction" rules and see if they can come into play.

Sand is, by definition, "rough terrain", in that you get half normal movement in it. No 5 foot steps in combat or out. I could readily house rule a level of fatigue based on that alone. Nothing is ever easy when it comes to moving out there.

There is a sand worm described in the SandStorm book. No Swallow Whole, but it does have a breath weapon, and it explodes when you kill it. I think it's called a DuneWinder.

Now consider a large insect, like the scorpion or spider, and a patch of dangerous terrain, say one with Slipsand. The monster can maneuver around or just plain step over these spots because of his sheer size, but PCs won't have that option. That adds a tactical aspect to the scene, even when there are no walls or other obvious barriers to constrain the battle.

Still hoping for some neat monster combos, but I'm starting to think about it the right way. Thanks.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

From Sandstorm...

The Asherati might make for an interesting encounter. Perhaps a group that's defensively territorial tries to chase the party out of their section of desert. Hard to fight enemies that can dive under the sand. After a conflict with them, perhaps it can be some sort of misunderstanding and they decide to offer you some assistance, if only to get you out of the desert faster.

There are a number of supernatural waste hazards in there, make the most of 'um.

Ohh.. Giant Termites.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Read Dark Sun. Then steal monsters!

I was thinking about a small colony of Huge Monstrous Scorpion as a warm up, with maybe a Collossal one as the finisher.

There is one problem with this encounter... none of the monsters have intelligence. Any halfway decent tactics used by the PCs will steamroll the scorpions. So I recommend tossing in a vermin druid. (By RAW, there's no way a druid can control that many Hit Dice of scorpions, but you don't actually need rules for that!)

 

[Razjah]

You could use any humanoid race to function as Fremen from Dune. Purple Worms could act as their sandworms, but I think borrowing Death Worms from Pathfinder would be better.

I'm a fan of Bulettes too, their ability to leap out of the sand and the burrow again could make for a nice running battle. You'd need to advance them a bit, but the idea could be cool.

If your desert is never has the sun, perhaps drow or orcs have created cities where there are rocks or oases.

 

[MarkB]

Ohh.. Giant Termites.

That reminds me - I once put a colony of Formians into a desert setting in an Eberron campaign, in a Manifest Zone to a Lawful Neutral plane. They'd built a city there that resembled an anthill the same way New York resembles a collection of mud huts - massive, dizzyingly-complex structures all laid out in geometric precision, all housing a single colony.

 

[Empirate]

Where Undead are concerned, I used an advanced Dust Wight (MM III) to great effect. It headed a troupe of non-advanced ones. Watch out for the petrification if you don't want your group to encounter that kind of thing.

An Earth Necromental (Libris Mortis) or four might also work fine, since they can dodge in an out of the sand/stone the party is standing upon, and just retreat when they've taken some damage, letting your PCs worry "will they be back"?

Blackwings (MM V) have fear-based powers that work better and better the more there are of them, and they're flying creatures as a plus. These guys can harry PCs for a long time, and if the surrounding terrain is in any way hazardous (quicksand, hidden traps in ancient oasis ruins, magical desert features like Black Sand), becoming panicked is really dangerous.

Living Spells (MM III) based on negative energy using spells (Inflict Critical Wounds, to keep it simple; Harm, if you want overkill) are great fodder and support for these monsters, and those living spells' existence in that area could be the reason why there are intelligent undead nearby in the first place: hello, sensual healin' and unholy chubby feelin'!

Most of these are in the CR 7-9 range iirc, so probably best used in advanced versions and/or accompanying a single powerful and versatile foe, a necromancy-themed human full caster maybe, or a Lich or Vampire caster, or even a demon of some sorts, who can direct the monsters to do their bidding.


If you don't want Undead, the Sunwyrm (Fiend Folio) is probably one of my favorite monsters by concept. CR 14, so if you advance it a little bit or give it a few class levels, it can make for an interesting boss fight.

 

[Herobizkit]

How about a bunch of good old-fashioned Locust Swarms... Or Hellfire Wasps if you're feeling particularly evil and extraplanar?

And the good ol' Ankheg, fishers of the Sands. Bump up his size for that easy grapple and foomp! One less PC to deal with.

Yuan-Ti. Yes, they're copyrighted but they're definitely underused post-2e and they come in lots of flavours. Maybe there's a roving band of them that worship the Ankheg and feed it regularly by baiting prey into its area of effect.

And your desert gets cold? Ice Elementals. Heck, even Air Elementals get real interesting in cold weather.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

My group is level 13 through 15, and a bit on the soft side, combat wise.

Do they have skills? I assume so

You can really put that Survival skill to work. Monsters that use ranged attacks or spells and Hide/Stealth could hide near sinkholes or silt pockets in the desert (said features covered by a layer of sand). PCs will probably spot the monsters and attack, and any monsters will likely get under cover and shoot back. PCs who get close will have to run an obstacle course of these terrain features, and could get trapped. PCs may waste precious time because they need to rescue friends (while getting shot at). The Survival skill might help PCs avoid these features.