Stolen Lands: A tougher Temple of the Elk! [SPOILERS!]

[The Fox]

I decided that the Temple of the Elk was such a fantastic location that I could not run it as is for my players. Below are some changes I made to the encounter and links to my photos of the set up.

Changes to the encounter:

• I changed the bear to a dire bear with 75 hp. With the sickened condition this works out to CR 5 (compare to dire lion).
  
• I added 6 run of the mill goblins with shortbows and dogslicers.
  
• I added an ogre with the young template, leather armor, ogre hook (CR 2)
  
• I added a goblin fighter 2 with a composite longbow. This turned out to be too much and almost resulted in serious PC carnage. I would omit this addition.
  

Monster Tactics:

The PCs arrive just as the goblins are (foolishly) trying to ambush the bear.

• When the bear sees the goblins, he should maul them (as long as his attack roll is 5 or higher, he will kill a goblin with each attack). Once he sees the PCs, however, he will become enraged, break off his attack with the goblins, and rush the PCs.

• The bear will not pursue people who leave the area (beyond the pillars in the courtyard).

• At this point, I had the goblins trying to run away from the bear, and conveniently ended the bear's movement next to a goblin each round on its way toward the PCs, then taking attacks of opportunity against the fleeing goblins.

• Any goblins not shredded by the bear will turn their ranged attacks on the PCs, trying to attack stragglers.

• The young ogre doesn't know what to do. He was brought along by the goblins to help them bring down the bear. Now that these cursed humans are here, he thinks maybe he is supposed to attack them too. He will sometimes attack PCs, and sometimes attack the bear.
  

Warnings to GMs:

With the above changes, this becomes a very tough encounter (CR 7). PC death or even TPK are very much possible. Here are some suggestions:

• Have goblins running around generally get in the way of the bear.
  
• If the PCs are mopping the floor with this encounter, the young ogre should mostly be attacking them; otherwise he should be mostly attacking the bear. He was designed to be the unlikely ally.
  
• Treat the sections of broken tile in the courtyard as difficult terrain.
  
• If a PC wishes to play dead, let them. Bluff DC 11 (based on the bear having Wis 12).
  
• If someone in your group has a reach weapon, it might be worth pointing out that withdrawing from the bear each round is tactically sound. They will get an AoO when the bear closes, and the bear is prevented from full attacking with both claws.
  
• On single attacks, have the bear bite (preventing the grab).
  
• If the PCs are really having a hard time, the grig and fairy dragon can come offer assistance. A well placed grease spell can slow the bear down long enough for them to stage a retreat.
  

Photos of the encounter set up:

Photos of the encounter set up
In the photos, you might notice two extra figures. Those are statues. I enjoy having statues in ruins for some reason.

For point of reference, my group has five players, level 2, 18-Point Buy, nothing off the wall or crazy powerful. They all survived but only just barely.

Have fun! We sure did.

[MJinthePitt]

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll definitely add some of these concepts to my campaign when it gets around to running the temple. I'm running the AP with five players and there are three animal companions in tow - 2 wolves and a bear.

Let's just say, the first encounter at Oleg's was a slaughter!

[Michael Cummings]

I also decided to use a dire bear to up the power level slightly. Another addition was 2 graven guardians of Erastil, powered down slightly from the Bestiary 3 version:

lesser graven guardian CR 3
XP 800
N medium construct

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60ft, low-light vision; Perception +1

Defense

AC 15 (+3 natural, +2 dex); touch 12, flat-footed 13
hp 50 (4d10+20), DR 5/slashing
Fort +1 Ref +3 Will +2
Immune: construct traits
Weaknesses: faith bound, vulnerable to fire

Offense

Sp 40ft
Melee: slam (atk +7 dmg 1d6+4 crit 20/x2)
Ranged: +1 seeking longbow (atk +7 dmg 1d8+1 plus 1d6 vs chaotic incr 100ft crit 20/x3)
SA: magic weapon, lawful weapon
Spell-like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +4)
3/day - entangle (DC 12)

Statistics

Abilities: S:16(+3) D:15(+2) Co:-- I:-- W:12(+1) Ch:1(-5)
Base Atk +4; CMB +7; CMD 19
SQ: guardian domains (Law, Plant)

Special Abilities

Faith Bound (Su): A graven guardian cannot attack any creature that openly wears or displays the holy or unholy symbol of the deity to which the graven guardian is dedicated unless that creature first attacks the graven guardian.

Magic Weapon (Su): A graven guardian that carries its deity's favored weapon treats that weapon as a +1 weapon as long as it is wielded by the guardian. If it is a ranged weapon, it gains the seeking weapon special ability, and generates new ammunition with each attack (this ammunition is destroyed whether or not it hits).

Lawful Weapon (Su): The graven guardian's weapons and slam attacks are treated as lawful-aligned. Its magic weapon deals +1d6 points of damage to chaotic targets.