This'll pretty much be my first post on these boards, so hi.
Anyhoo. I've recently begun gamemastering a group in Pathfinder, and we're having lot's of fun. In a recent game session my players ran into an encounter I had planned ahead for, and really wanted to see how they'd respond to it.
The encounter went pretty well, and the players told me they really enjoyed the encounter, so I thought I'd share it with you guys.
For this I used undeads and it was aimed at lv2 characters.
Zombie Ogre & Fence Room
So this'll make more sense here's a plan for the room.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j135/mr_norris/roomplan.jpg
The players enter from the smaller door, which locks behind them (in my adventure the dungeon was partially steampowered, but magic works just as well). The first thing they see is two rows of floor panels, three on each row. Adjust the amount of panels depending on the size of your party, there should be two rows and at one more panel than there are characters (my players had an npc following them). In a corner there's a barrel wbhich is full of thick flammable oil.
In the other end of the room there's a staircase which leads up to a large wooden door. It is however blocked by an iron portcullis. On each side of the stair there's a statue, each reaching out a hand. The statues have some text each, written in draconic. One reads "I am two", the other one "We are one".
The players first instinct is probably to investigate the panels. The panels doesn't react to only one weight at a time, they need to be pressed down by the combined weight of the characters and the barrel (each character standing on one panel and the barrel placed on the last one). When they do this a large iron portcullis falls down from the ceiling along the blue line on the picture, dividing the players. On the shorter side the wall begins to crumble revealing a space behind the wall where a skeleton champion and two skeletons where waiting in ambush (the skeleton champion also carries a cursed amulet)
The players on the other side will have trouble reaching through the holes in the portcullis and while they can attack through the holes, it's difficult unless they have a projectile weapon. Hopefully the players on the other side realize there's something about the statues and investigate them, which will show that the statues arms have a mechanism inside them. They will also need to be activated simultaneously. Here the players can either be on one side each and pull, or, use a rope with a grappling hook on each end which they should find long before entering the room (just enough a long time ago so they are still aware that they have it, but might overlook it)
When they pull these levers two more portcullises fall down along the green lines, further dividing them (if they didn't use the double grappling hook). This will also cause the portcullis blocking the large door to be lifted, but through the door a zombie ogre will burst through, completely obliterating the wooden door (for dramatic effect)
The ogre will have the ability to break through the portcullises (even if the rules states otherwise. this is to throw a bone to the players if they are completely divided).
What the players need to do is defeat the monsters (if they have an easy time with the skeletons, have the skeleton champion summon more skeletonsm, two at a time. i did this once) and push the statues arms back to the upright position. If they used the grappling hook solution (or something similar they thought of themselves) the grappling hook is stuck under the portcullis, but they can reach the statues arm through the holes in the portcullis and push it up with a moderate strength check.
Pushing one of them up lifts the portcullis on that side, and the second arm to be pushed up brings the first portcullis up as well. However, if the ogre ripped through/broke/smashed one, or more portcullises, those portcullises mechanisms are botched and the portcullises are stuck and can't be lifted again. However, the ogres breaking them will leave a hole in the portcullises that players can squeeze though, or walk through depending on how big you describe the hole.
The cursed amulet that the skeleton champion carries is still in play in my game so PM me if you want the specifics.
Hopefully your players will enjoy this encounter as much as mine did :)
