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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 5121976" data-attributes="member: 63">Also, bear in mind that the tactic is less effective since PCs are supposed to be (sorta) evenly matched with their opponents. A real trap door spider, on the other hand, only attacks things that it can easily kill.So if you want to really emulate the tactic, you'd have a monster 8 levels higher than the party, which pops out, drags the PC in, and munches away with relative impunity. Of course, that's not fun for most folks.How do you envision the combat playing out? Do the PCs walk through the woods, and suddenly the last guy in the group is snatched from behind and dragged into a pit? What happens then? Do the other PCs hear and rush to their buddy's aid, or are they also grabbed and dragged into their own pits? How does this idea sound? There are four bugbears -- two trapdoor lurkers, one druid controller, and one elite skirmisher.The bugbear family has dug out a tiny tunnel system, with five exits around the battlefield. There's a central burrow chamber underground, about 20 x 30 ft., and several 5-ft. tunnels connect the exits with each other and with the central burrow. Each exit has a trap door that the bugbears can easily open as a minor action from underground, but which has a simple locking latch. Opening it from above requires either a Strength or Thievery check (DC medium) as a move action.Spotting a trap door should be a high Perception DC.The druid has a pet raven or something that caws when people draw near, and the contour of the land plus thick brush funnel travelers so they have to pass over the trap door area. When they hear the signal, the trap door bugbears each move to a trap door and prepare to attack. The skirmisher hides at another exit; his purpose is to lure the PCs near to the exits where his fellow bugbears hide. The druid waits in the central burrow to assist. The skirmisher bugbear has attacks that deal damage, and then slide the target 2 squares through the snow and knock them prone. His tactic is to hit someone and slide them next to the pit. As a secondary attack he has three stink bombs he can throw; they create a burst 1 of poison gas, doing 5 damage a round until the end of the encounter. (This encourages PCs not to stand in one place.)The trapdoor bugbears have a rechargeable attack: shift 2 squares (can freely climb out of pit), make a grab attack, shift 2 more squares. If the grab attack succeeds, the bugbear has to make a secondary attack vs. Fort to pull the target with him when he shifts away. Give him a high attack bonus, and with the combat advantage (from the PC being prone), he should probably hit.The trapdoor bugbear has to spend a minor action to open the trap door, and a second one to close it before and after his attack. On following turns, the bugbear tries to drag his prey into the central burrow, where the bugbear druid waits. The druid can create an area burst 1 thick tangles of thorns as a standard action. It counts as difficult terrain and deals 5 damage for each square you pass through, but he can only have two thornbushes at a time. (He should also have some simple melee attack that doesn't deal too much damage.)So the way fight goes is, the skirmisher pops up, whomps a PC, and knocks him (prone) next to a trap door. Maybe he action points and knocks another PC near a different pit. Then the bugbears in the tunnels, who have been delaying their turns, pop out, grab the PCs, and hopefully drags at least one PC away.If the plan works, the skirmisher stays up top to harass the PCs, while the trapdoormen drag their victims into the central chamber. The druid seals off the tunnel so the PC's allies have a harder time coming to rescue him. When the PCs try to open the trap doors, the skirmisher tries to knock them away, or toss a stink bomb over the pit so they're encouraged to find another way in.Hopefully you end up with the PCs finding one of the other doors, opening it, and flanking the bugbears underground. Of course, if the initial ambush attempt fails, the trapdoormen try to flee underground and pop up from a different direction. They no longer have the element of surprise, though, and the PCs could, if they want, just run away and bypass the encounter.Hm. If you're willing to be a little railroady, you could have the druid have an encounter power to conjure thornbushes to seal off the trail leading into and out of the kill zone; the PCs could still run away, but it would be an extra nudge to get them to fight.</blockquote>

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