Seeking adventure inspiration

[Greenfield]

Might not end up being Bugbears, though Bedouin Bugbears does flow trippingly off the tongue...

It will be something unexpected, to be sure.

 

[Greenfield]

Okay, just for fun, let's look at the SRD and start listing some fun critters to include in a "warm desert".

Baselisk is a "Warm Desert" creature.
Blue Dragon is a "Temperate Desert" creature. We might be able to stretch that one.
Brass Dragon is definitely a warm desert creature.
Janni are classic warm desert creatures, and may well substitute for Bugbears.
Lamia are "temperate desert" beasts.
So are Lamasu.
And who can forget our old friends the Sphinx family?
And while Hyena are no threat to the party, they'll play hell with the horses. I can see the party reacting to them with disdain, knowing that they can't hit PC armor classes, then realizing that their horses aren't as well armored.

Then we get to things like Monstrous Scorpion. The Colossal one has +15 to hit, and his poison is a DC23 Fort save or lose a D8 of Con. Though he's only a CR 10, he'd be a threat. Add in a few smaller ones, say the Huge ones, and you have an encounter.

Hmm. Ac 24 and 150 hit points will fall to the party fighter in two rounds. I'd better throw a couple of them.

And that's just from the SRD, which harly goes beyond MM I. Other MMs and the Sandstorm book will get me even more toys.

Yes, I think this will do nicely.

I think we have an adventure.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

 

[Greenfield]

Okay, from Sandstorm (the book):

Dunewinders: Cousins of the Purple Worm, these lack the Swallow Whole feature, but add a breath weapon.

Slip Sand: Probably related to the "dry quicksand" referred to in the SRD/DMG section on sandy deserts, this stuff's nasty. Caused by meteor impacts, it's sand that has been fused in smooth glass beads. It still looks like sand, but if you step into it you sink, like right now. No rules for getting out either, unless someone helps you. Just buried and suffocating.

There's also a spell of the same name that creates a temporary version of it.

My weakness, as a DM, has always been that my combat encounters are weak. I routinely soft-pedal them. And while things like slip sand and glass crusted dunes make the landscape treacherous, adventures that are predominantly trap based are little fun for the players.

So I could use some help/advice preparing some combat scenes. Again, any suggestions or advice for such encounters would be appreciated.