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Hi, i really need a lot of ideas for inbetween campsite events. Both combat and moodsetting events that make travelling come to life.
Examples:
#1 The adventures camp at a hay loft in a small barn. During night they are awoken as the barn door crashes open revealing two hill giants entering to steal cattle.
#2 During the night dark clouds gather and heavy rain starts to fall. Everything gets soaked and cold and each pc must make a survival check or be sickened for 1d4 days.
#3 One of the watchers notice a small fire through the woods. If the Pcs go to investigate they find a small band of outlaws who will share their meat and mead if the Pcs act civilized
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#4. The ingredients in the night's stew turn everyone temporarily bioluminscent.
#5 The party settles in, in the morning, they discover they're inexplicably twenty miles closer to their destination then they thought.
#6 Another traveller spots the camp fire and comes in to keep warm. He's as suspicious of the party as they probably are of him.
#7 Music is heard about three hours before dawn, no source can be located.
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#8 The watcher notices a campfire in the distance and as he approaches he appears on the other side of the campsite.
#9 The party's campsite is on top of some ancient ruin. If their combined weight gets to or surpasses a certain limit they fall through the roof. They could climb out, but the kobolds inside have a prophecy that their gods will fall from the sky. The party will be treated like royalty, but hopefully learn that the kobolds prophecy involves consuming their god as well.
#10 A dancing bear! It will be black and brown and covered in hair. If there is a female in the party, he will smell honey and try to lick it from her hair.
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#11 The party wakes in the morning to find tiny sized humanoid footprints crisscrossing the camp, evidently leading to all the bunks, mounts, and packs...
... as far as they can tell nothing is missing or has been tampered with
#12 In the night sky over a distant mountain range, the peaks light up as if some great battle of wizards and dragons is raging at the mountaintop, creating a light show that can be seen for a hundred miles in any direction....
... this has nothing to do with the plot that the PCs are working on
#13 The camp is completely besot by a swarm of crickets, they eat nothing and do no damage, but the noise makes sleep utterly impossible. No rest is gain and spells do not replenish.
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#14 Around midnight, whoever is on watch makes a Perception check to notice the sound of several small creatures attempting to sneak up on the camp. If not noticed, several 8 to 10 year-old kids from a nearby settlement charge the party with toy wooden swords to "test the group's mettle" (-2 BAB, d2 non-lethal).
It's possible they have mistaken the party for the cause of a more serious problem and are trying to deal with it themselves, and have bitten off more than they could chew.
Perhaps they are being stalked themselves by the wandering encounter.
#15 Just after the party sets up camp, an old man a few apples shy of a bushel approaches the camp rambling about the horrors he has seen in a war that ended over a hundred years ago. To the first character that addresses him directly, he pulls out an amulet, looks directly at them and hands it over while saying: "Good King Barised, as a token of our greatest appreciation for acts of kindness in the recent conflict with our most despicable enemies, please accept this meager gift that our nations may forever be allies."
He is in fact just the local beggar and crazy, but the amulet radiates a magic aura. The amulet is of high quality and valuable with an inscription on the back to a neighboring noble. It's also contains a magic trap with a rare and exotic poison for the first person to put it on.
#16 Instead of just a standard wandering encounter, there are two of them. They meet just in listening range of the party (or even at the camp) and start to fight it out. Tyrannosaurus vs. displacer beasts, goblins vs. kobolds, ettins vs. wyverns, or something CR appropriate. It's up to the party to decide when or if they wish to attack. How often do PCs get into 3-way battles?
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17 raccoon picks your pocket looking for lunch
18 some hunters show up and offer to sell the PCs some fresh dinner rather than their trail rations
19 Tent blows away in the wind
20 Some forest creature sends an injured animal towards the party, and uses their treatment of it to decide how it will treat the party
21 Dryad one night stand (of trees)
22 A flock of different type of owls stop on the branches and stare at the PCs
23A crow does a fairly good imitation of a dog from some nearby branches.
24 A druid shows up and points out that there is a much better camp site 500 feet thataway, with a mossy forest floor and a nice thick briar tangle to keep the wind/rain down. Its actually more comfortable and bug free than a cheap inn.
This thread has potential for awesomeness.
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34. A creature stampedes into camp to stomp out the fire.
35. Gyllivickle, a gnomish tinker, has spotted their camp. He has 1d20 mundane items for sale as well as 1d3 minor magic items. He craves news of the area and will repay it with streams of dirty limericks which get worse by the rhyme.
36. Obscured in a hollow near the campsite are 3 massive, leathery eggs, all cracked and empty but recently laid. In the distance the sound of shattering trees draws the party's attention.
37. A small pool of clean water is found, fed by a spring burbling out of stone. The water is sweet with a tinny aftertaste. Drinking provokes a DC 14 Fort save; failure indicates 1d2 days of the Sickened condition while success grants the PC 30' Low Light vision for 1d2 days. If the PC already has Low Light vision it increases by 30'.
38. A great tangle of trees, brambles and nettles appears to have worked stone concealed amidst it. Working hard for 1hr to clear this brush reveals the ruined remains of a fieldstone cottage; in one corner is an oven similarly overgrown and within it's hoary depths is a charred, female skeleton.
39. a quickling darts back and forth through camp, showing off. He can either be attacked, flattered, or challenged to a foot race to drive him away. If ignored, he makes for any loose gear he thinks he can swipe and get away with.
40. As the party slumbers a weird fog of descends on the camp. The brume is pink and purple, smelling of vinegar and brine. It does nothing to the party and has no obvious effect, until breakfast the next morning. All food rations, stores of water or potable liquids and any other mundane foodstuffs have been soured and putrefied. That's when the giant carrion beetles arrive...
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41. A badger decides your backpack is his new home.
42. A spider or scorpion decides to crawl into your boot.
43. Mischievous fey play some practical jokes on the group. For example, they Awaken the group's pack donkey, and now the donkey is very sassy and won't stop prattling on about various minutia.
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44. A ruin along the road contains runes pertaining to a ritualized form of Endure Elements; succeeding in a skill challenge to enact the right grants the participants the benefit of the spell for 24 hours; failure results in the participants being Fatigued for 24 hours.
45. A tangle of vines sing and sway. They can be attacked but they are 3 assassin vines. Otherwise if they are harmonized with for a few rounds (Perform: sing DC 20) they sway apart revealing a hidden cache of loot.
46. a beautiful song is heard in the distance, from amid a knot of trees; it is too far away for the party to make it out very well but it sounds very alluring. Moments later there's a squawk and crashing tree limbs. This fracas culminates in a blast of flames. Should the party investigate they find the smouldering corpse of a woman with taloned limbs and crow's wings.
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This thread has potential for awesomeness.
Indeed. Dotted for interest.
50. The party tries to make camp during a particularly miserable, stormy night. As they struggle to set things up the weather seems to tapper off. They then notice the trees around their camp seem to have moved, providing them with shelter from the storm.
51. The characters set up camp atop a clear hillock. As they settle in, the night sky is suddenly light by cascades of falling stars. Seen by thousands, it becomes the focal event for numerous prophesies and omens, as well as bringing a hoard of treasure seekers looking for lodes of meteoric iron.
49. One misty night, sinister bestial shapes are seen moving out in the fog. On closer inspection (or after the PCs start blazing away), they are revealed to be sheep.
And then, when the party lets their guard down, it turns out the sheep are actually evil were-sheep.
Dotting. Pretty good so far
56.) Several deer run past the camp, followed shortly by a bear. All the animals ignore the camp (assuming the camp ignores the animals). (This happened to my cousin while on a trip to Alaska.)
57. The party awakes to find the campsite covered in butterflies. Treat as a swarm of butterflies that deal no damage but provide concealment to anyone more than 5ft away.
58. At some point in the night kobolds/goblins or other minor monster sneak in and try to steal the party's horses. They flee if confronted.
59. The party discovers that the clearing they choose to camp in is a fairy circle and transports the party to the first world for the night where they encounter various friendly and unfriendly fey. Needless to say they get no sleep.
60. The party camps on the site of a long forgotten centuries old battlefield. During the night the bones of the chicken/rabbit they had for dinner animate as a skeleton.
Dot!
Been mentioned, but letting loose a couple raccoons into the party camp can be extremely fun! Bonus points for Dire Raccoons. Should have seen their faces!
so im writing down the first 100 of these that way i can jsut roll a 1d100 whenever I want something interesting to happen
DOTTED
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dotting
also:
63) to avoid sinking into the marshy ground, your party sets up hammocks in some nearby trees--they awake to find that the trees have wandered 1d4 miles through the swamp in a random direction, possibly away form each other.
possibly they camped in a sleeping treant, or fairies/druids playing tricks.
64) the party wakes to find themselves in the eye of a surprisingly large sandstorm. if they wait it out they find the wind has shifted some of the dust about, revealing a crate of supplies (likely lost by a caravan at some point), if they decide to brave the storm they continue as normal with no ill effects, other than having to dig out their campsite from the sand a bit.
65) an old hermit approaches and ask if he can use their fire to make dinner for himself. if the party accepts, he shares useful information about the surrounding area, granting a minor competence bonus to survival/knowledge (nature). if they decline, he leaves peacefully, not wanting to impose.
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66) In the middle of the night, a pack of wolves howl at the moon a few hundred feet from camp. The party sentries certainly hear them, and they could awaken sleepers. The wolves don't bother the party unless provoked.
67) The campsite the party chose had clearly been used a few days earlier (stone fire ring with ashes, etc). Half an hour after the party sets up camp, another group of travelers arrives from the opposite direction, obviously annoyed that the party has "stolen their site." (This actually happened to me once while backwoods camping!)
68) In the middle of the night, a CR-appropriate burrowing monster erupts from the ground in the middle of the campsite and attacks. (e.g. Giant badger, ankheg, umber hulk, etc)
69) The ghost of a person murdered on the site manifests. It asks the party to give its bones a proper burial so it can rest. If the party complies, it shows them the location of a magic item lost nearby. If they refuse, it attacks.
(sorry for sniping your numbers haladir)
(sorry for sniping your numbers haladir)
No prob. Fixed.
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Dot!
43. Mischievous fey play some practical jokes on the group. For example, they Awaken the group's pack donkey, and now the donkey is very sassy and won't stop prattling on about various minutia.
Hehe. My GM would have so much fun with this one.
49. One misty night, sinister bestial shapes are seen moving out in the fog. On closer inspection (or after the PCs start blazing away), they are revealed to be sheep.And then, when the party lets their guard down, it turns out the sheep are actually evil were-sheep.
Yessssss.
Demontroll, you're winning this one so far.
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70) The party beds down only to find that no one can get comfy. Sharp stones and lumpy ground prevent any restful sleep. When someone finally tries to "fix" the ground (by removing the rocks, smoothing the dirt, etc. ) they find that they have in fact camped on a mass grave. The "sharp rocks" are dull weapon points and the "lumps" are bits of armor or decaying corpse.
71) (On the theme of mischievious Pixies and Faries) In the middle of the night, any sound the party makes is suddenly accompanied by a visual representation of the sound, as if they were in a comic book. Sleeping members have Z's float from their head, all speech appears in bubbles over the party's heads (even though the party can still hear perfectly), and even the crunch of leaves under their feet is illustrated on boldly colored, appropriately styled text. A short search reveals a tribe of diminutive and infinitely mischievous humanoids has set their sights on the party. The beings are nigh uncatchable, but will leave the party alone in exchange for news of an even more entertaining target (and a few shiny trinkets (oh, and maybe some bread for the journey (And maybe, possibly, some wine to wash it down?))).
72- The PC on watch makes a simple INT 5 check to notice that the stars are positioned completely differently.
73- The PCs awake in the morning to discover a huge cow-like footstep near their camp.
74- A strange howling wind makes everybody unreast. Everybody roll a WILL save DC 10 against fear, or no rest is possible that night. In the morning, the PCs find that some large trees have vicious claw-like branches and twisted faces.
75- During full moon, an object covers 1/4 of the lunar surface for half an hour.
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83. While hunting up firewood for camp one of the PCs stumbles across a pit in the ground; a boar's carcass a few day's old rots here. Returning to camp several other, natural traps have been triggered recently before the arrival of the party. There are spiked branches, swinging logs and a stone that was dropped from the canopy. Some of these are coated with a weird, greenish blood that glows. Searching the area with a DC 20 Perception check reveals a strange alien-shaped helmet which keeps whispering the phrase "anytime" and then laughing loudly in a deep, throaty voice.
84. Several of the surrounding trees have lover's symbols carved into them. If the PCs seek out more or show interest in them, the next one contains Sepia Snake Sigil, Explosive Runes, or another writing-based trap.
85. While searching for a campsite PCs find a skeleton in a cold-iron cage, hanging from a dead tree.
86. A pond near camp is surrounded by cattails; each of the stalks has a golden ribbon tied to it save one.
87. An old runestone scorched by lightning can be seen. It radiates no magic yet, as the sun sets across its face, blood-colored "tears" channel through the sigil into the wet ground.
88. Several crows feast on the corpse of an old man in robes with several items usually associated with wizards (a wand, spell components, a spellbook). If the scene is investigated the crows circle, forming a Murder of Crows (swarm) and attack. If they are left to their own devices however, upon finishing their hoary feast they circle into the form of the man's face in the air; the fluttering visage warns of a coming plague.
89. A traveling circus happens by. They entertain the party for money. If they are well treated and tipped they smile and move on; if not they set up an ambush to rob the PCs.
90. The logs the party burns turn the fire crimson and violet. Any who inhale the fumes must save against a mild poison. Close inspection of the wood reveals a rare fungus that is highly toxic and worth a good deal of money in the black market.
91. A sudden flash flood has carried for miles to arrive at the party's campsite at this very moment; unless specifically protected against all of the party and their gear is waterlogged.
92. the person on watch/the sleeping party see a bolt of lighting hit tree a few yards away the tree is on fire and there is a war hammer lodged in the tree anyoen touching the hammer takes 1d4 fire damage, the hammer cannot be lifted except by a dc 35 strength check.
95. While the party is sitting around the campfire, a feral-looking canine sprints from the bushes on one side of camp, leaps over the fire-pit, and dashes off into the woods opposite whence it came. A moment later a lithe humanoid dressed in dark earth-tones and carrying a glowing bow leaps from the same bush and fires in the direction of the canine. He scoffs, "Damn," (apparently missing)and sprints after the beast, ignoring the party.
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96. The party finds the long-cold old campsite of a group of clerics of Lamashtu. There are stick figures and effigies hanging from the trees, but it's a well-hidden site. If the party rests there, their tents become animated and start wandering around the landscape making hyena noises. The bedrolls become animated and start making rattling noises, like rattlesnakes.
97. A nearby tree turns out to be a powerful and grumpy treant shedding his acorns. He will not let the party sleep unless they tell him a good story near the campfire.
98. The party watch sees a lone man, jogging at night across the road. He wears a rabbit mask and explains that he's in training. Something feels vaguely uncomfortable about him. If a party member with the endurance feat runs with him for a spell, and can keep up, the Jogging Man hands over his rabbit mask, which operates as Boots of Springing and Stepping but in the headband slot.
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99. The party comes across a large stack of wood perfectly prepared to create a roaring inferno of a fire. There are asiatic lanterns hung in the trees. A DC30 perception check reveals ritual lines carved in the rocks nearby, they are very ancient. If the PCs are foolish enough to light the ritual bonfire to use as a campfire, it summons a Fire Oni that proceeds to march towards the nearest settlement in order to burn the place to the ground. Despite all contrary evidence, the Fire Oni believes the PCs are ancient and powerful evil fire shamans. Despite this, he won't listen to any orders from them.
100. The PCs have a restful night's sleep.
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100. The PCs have a restful night's sleep.
but that's heresy onii-chan
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107. The PC on watch spots a pair of leaves falling from a nearby tree. There is also an audible fluttering but nothing obvious to the senses. A Perception (DC 15) reveals a sprite merily dancing with the leaves on their way down. When they hit the grass he lands gracefuly, bows then disappears into the underbrush.
108. A randy member of the oppisite gender to an Animal Companion, Familiar or Mount of the party has decided that the time is right to "Make their move."
109. Scouting for a campsite the PCs notice stones piled atop one another in a clearing. Soon they see another such pile. They also begin to notice wicker figures and chimes of bones tied to tree limbs. Finally, near a body of running water, they find a huge, flat rock at the water's edge showing old blood stains and a pair of rusty manacle housings.
110. A young girl with a fanciful swallow on her shoulder asks to join the party's camp one evening. She seems a fine enough companion and she offers some of the liquor in the gourd at her side. She claims to be Biddle, a simple woodland girl. If the party allows her to stay nothing untowards seems to happen and she even tells some stories about the area to make their travels easier (+1 Competence bonus for the next day's Survival checks). In the morning, regardless of PC watches she's gone w/out a trace. Moments after camp is packed up an inquisition arrives hunting a dangerous witch wanted for the disemboweling of 3 townsfolk. She apparently makes wine with the offal and imbibes it from a gourd to aid her powers. The Inquisitor's description matches that of Biddle.
Great idea! This kind of 'incidental can be used to give the party info.
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An old cowboy movie meme stand-by:
115. After a quiet night spent under the stars, one of the PCs is awakened by something wriggling under their legs as they stir. A venomous snake, spider or other creepy-crawly has decided that the warmth of the PCs bedroll makes a nice retreat from the cold night air.
I love fey pranksters:
116. During the night, the local fey play mischievous but harmless pranks, such as sewing someone up in their bedroll, painting everyone's face blue with berry juice, or dropping dead mice down the back of whoever is awake and on watch. The constant annoyance prevents anyone getting a full night's rest.
I tried to skim through the list above; apologies if I've repeated an event.
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Magical:
117. PCs find a rope, seemingly hanging from mid-air. It is an active rope trick spell and will last another 11 hours after the PCs find it. There is nothing inside.
118. PCs accidentally trigger a waiting magic mouth, which states in the voice of a harried-sounding old man. “My friend, if you are hearing this, it is likely too late for me and the daemons have found me. The command word is “veris atunkeh”. Raise a glass in my honor on Midsummer’s Eve and know that I go to my grave knowing that you will carry on.” The magic then fades away forever.
119. PCs are in the wrong place at the right time and receive a sending spell. “Our agreement is in jeopardy. The Red Mantis will visit your family if you don’t tell me right NOW what I want to know.”
Mundane:
120. PCs are approached by a young boy in some panic and disrepair. His sister has been bitten by a poisonous snake and sent him to get help. She is 1d4+1 hours away by the boy’s pace, but if the PCs have someone with swift tracking or the ability to get to her magically she is only an hour away via direct route or by magical flight. She is taking 1d3 con damage/ hour and has 1d6+2 con remaining when the boy finds the PCs.
121. PCs notice a glint in the firelight of the campfire. It appears that a metal chest containing 15 silver pieces in ancient silver coin was buried in their fire pit. Inside is a weather-worn scroll that reads “As agreed, half now, and half upon delivery of the oracle” in a very old script. The box has apparently been there for years.
122. A local pet sees the camp and comes to investigate. It is friendly and will eagerly accept any food it is given. If the PCs return it to the owner, a nearby hermit, he will be so appreciative of the return of his only friend he will give them a masterwork tool or 1st level scroll that they may find useful. If they leave without seeking out the owner, the animal will follow them for 3d4 miles before falling behind and perhaps becoming lost for good.
-TimD
