Sewer monsters?

[gamecat]

Plotting for our game tonight,

What would be a good encounter table for slogging through sewers?

The party is at 2nd level.

 

[demiurge1138]

There's a really nice one in Pathfinder #7: Edge of Anarchy. I know that this helps you none at all. But in summary:

rats, in swarm and dire versions
wererats, perhaps accompanied by the former
ghouls and ghasts
otyughs, of course (perhaps struggling for sewer scavenger supremacy with carrion crawlers)
alligators, if it's in a tropical region or you're feeling facetious
ordinary humans, either beggars or criminals on the lam
giant spiders and centipedes

Unique to Golarion (the setting of Pathfinder) in its sewer association, but something I really like: derro. In the setting, derro are the little blue men (think aliens, not Smurfs). They abduct people at random, drag them underground, paralyze them, conduct horrible and inconceivable medical experiments, then return them hours or days later.

Demiurge out.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Plotting for our game tonight,

What would be a good encounter table for slogging through sewers?

The party is at 2nd level.

Are you looking for level-appropriate combat encounters only?

I had a 'wise oracle' in my city game, whom the PCs could occasionally consult. Marjory the Otyugh lived under the City Dump, and ran the local wererat guild; her two henchrats would vet prospective customers before admitting them to her presence.

(This all sprouted from noticing a single line in the Monster Manual: "Otyughs speak Common.")

But some other typical sewer denizens who shouldn't be too level-inappropriate:
Dire Rats
Wererats
Monstrous Vermin
Oozes
Otyugh
Ghouls
Zombies
Chokers
Slimes and Molds
Ooze Mephits
Skum
Rat Swarms
Centipede Swarms
Giant Crocodiles!

You could also go with some powered-down versions of some other creatures - baby purple worms, baby dragon turtles...

-Hyp.

 

[demiurge1138]

I had a 'wise oracle' in my city game, whom the PCs could occasionally consult. Marjory the Otyugh lived under the City Dump, and ran the local wererat guild; her two henchrats would vet prospective customers before admitting them to her presence.

(This all sprouted from noticing a single line in the Monster Manual: "Otyughs speak Common.")

-Hyp.

Well, that and "Fraggle Rock".

Demiurge out.

 

[gamecat]

Sheer genius with the crocodiles.

Thanks, gents.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Other things you might find in the sewers:

1) Demiurge mentioned criminals on the lam...what about criminals & other n'er do wells who headquarter in the sewers- they're a perfect second highway for slavers, smugglers and assassins.

The same logic could be applied to a Secret Society- perhaps your world's equivalent to the Illuminati.

2) Raiders from a subterranean race might wander the sewers a while before realizing they're not in the main thoroughfares of a city- but for the water, after all, they're probably used to looking at tunnels everywhere.

3) Adventurers or City Watch on patrol.

4) Your favorite aquatic/semiaquatic race of choice, especially in a city near a major body of water. There are lots: Lizard Men, Locathah, Sahuagin, Aquatic Elves, Aboleths, Grippli...

5) A wise, anthropomorphic rat and his students- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtl...Adolecent Drifting Monk Kappas

6) Recently hatched juvenile black dragons, to continue the croc/gator trope.

 

[hong]

A poo elemental.

Like this one.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The favorite prey of the Otyugh.

 

[blargney the second]

If you really want to freak out your players, slap the phrenic template on some crocodiles. "What do you mean, make a Will save?!?"

 

[Hypersmurf]

Well, that and "Fraggle Rock".

Well, yeah. But the otyugh line was the catalyst

-Hyp.