I recently watched King Kong again the other day and I was thinking about how awesome it would be to put some of the encounters from that movie into Here There Be Monsters (before they go through the Dark Mountain Pass and meet the terror that is Olangru).

Anyways, several of the scenes I want to put in are:

The Diplodocus Stampede

This could probably be a lead in from the velociraptors* chasing the baby diplodocus (maybe if any of them get through the PCs, they could reach the herd and trigger a stampede)
- How would you adjudicate the chase/stampede scene to make it believable and enjoyable for everybody?
- Specifically, what rules would you use from which sourcebook(s)?
* I have replaced the terror birds with velociraptors (advanced deinonychus) in my Savage Tide campaign.

The Giant Insect Chasm

A large chasm bisected by a makeshift bridge in the form of a rotting tree. The tree will break in the middle sending everyone on it hurtling down into the chasm. Relatively low reflex saves later, the PCs will probably hit several vines which would break their fall. Then, attracted by the scent of warm blood, the bugs will start appearing
- What other suggestions for monsters besides giant leeches, gian locusts (or an apocalypse locust swarm), giant maggots, and monstrous centipedes do you have in mind for this particular scene?
- What alternate mechanisms for the bridge's collapse can you suggest besides it simply rotting through?
- Anything else I missed?

These are all I can think of at the top of my head at the moment. If anyone has any other exciting jungle encounter ideas, please feel free to post them up. Thanks!

No answers yet (sleepy) but there are a few other threads - this one springs to mind - which may inspire you. I think it also links to a massive thread on enworld. If not I'll try and dig that up for you tomorrow - basically those guys statted up all the beasts from the WETA book. You don't have the WETA book about all those monsters on the Island? "World of Kong", it's called - it is amazing!
LINK

No answers yet (sleepy) but there are a few other threads - this one springs to mind - which may inspire you. I think it also links to a massive thread on enworld. If not I'll try and dig that up for you tomorrow - basically those guys statted up all the beasts from the WETA book. You don't have the WETA book about all those monsters on the Island? "World of Kong", it's called - it is amazing!

LINK

Hey thanks for the link.

World of Kong Thread

The above link was an amazing read. BTW, does anyone have all of Demiurge's writeups from the link in a word doc? My email is shinwonmoon@hotmail.com

Oh, and another encounter I am definitely going to try to put in my game: Piranhadon Attack - Deleted Scene

The OP made me think of Isle of the Ape from Greyhawk... You have made me want to slip that old fav into my new campaign again, and that can't be a bad thing :)

A little update:

I just ran the diplodicus stampede and the deep chasm encounter - it was a blast! In my campaign, several "redshirt" sailors managed to survive the wreck and their grisly ends at the claws of the Isle of Dread's denizens definitely highlighted the extremely dangerous nature of the island.

All the players managed to survive both encounters (with good thinking and good rolling), but in the instance of the stampede, one sailor: James Quimby, got squashed after he tripped over a gnarled tree root (failed his acrobatics check) under the feet of the massive dinosaurs.

The stampede encounter directly led to the chasm encounter as the only way to escape the fleeing diplodicuses was to cross a fallen log over a deep and mist-filled chasm to safety. I made sure to ask my players for the marching order, knowing full well that the last three to cross (the fighter/gunslinger, the healer with Tavey on her back, and another redshirt sailor: Tim) would have to contend with the middle of the fallen tree to rot through. Both players made their reflex saves and managed to avoid falling through, but Tim failed. They immediately tried to save the falling sailor by grabbing his hand before he fell, so I asked for a dexterity check which one of them made. Unfortunately, that player was unable to make the subsequent acrobatics check (with a high DC because she was supporting Tim's weight). The last one to cross, managed to catch the Tim and the falling player, but at that moment, the section she was leaning on rotted through and all four individuals were sent hurtling down into the chasm. Luckily, there were vines for them to break the fall and they managed to avoid taking so much damage due to the soft, marshy ground underneath.

At this point, I showed them a little clip from King Kong after describing the types of giant insects which had come out to feed. Tim happened to be near a fetid, murky pool of water and needless to say, was attacked by the giant leeches (or carnictuses if we are using the King Kong terminology for the creatures). He tried to fend them off, but eventually succumbed and was messily devoured in front of the players who were busy dealing with a weta-rex (locust) swarm and hungry deplectors (crab-spider hybrids). Their objective was to survive for 5 rounds (the amount of time it would take for the other players to come to their rescue with ropes and grappling hooks). Nevertheless, the whole encounter was a truly harrowing and traumatizing point in their adventuring careers and a good time was had by all.