Hey all :)
I am looking for some overland encounter/quest ideas. The group is 6 level 5, currently at Carrion Hill. They will be traveling either to the east - Celwynvian or the south - Andoran. I am have been reading the general geographical information and have a few ideas of my own.
However I would like to hear other ideas for encounters or little quest they can do along the way. They do not have teleport so it will either be on foot or horse.
Thanks.
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Some kind of overland chase encounter might be fun.
Haunted forests are good. Will of the Wisps are perfect for that.
How about a non-combat encounter? A gypsy camp or a stopped caravan where the PCs can carouse, gamble, and otherwise get into trouble via social encounters.
Farmers beset by Ankhegs is an old favorite. Then the PCs can find the burrow and explore it like a dungeon, trying to wipe out the nest.
A PC observes that a bend in the road 300 yards up ahead would make an excellent place for an ambush. If PCs investigate near the road at that point they find several dead humanoid bandits, dead for less than a day. What killed the bandits? It was some campaign-specific threat that you want to build up as being very dangerous. Hints of this (tracks, distinctive wounds) are left around the scene.
Excellent ideas guys. I like the non-combat encounter's as the group likes to RP and not just hack and slash. The Wisp's are good also, possible something attacking the gypsy camp.
Exle, like the idea, especially giving the pc's a chance to use skills and find out information before hand. It would also fit in with the overall story.
thanks,
anyone else with an idea or maybe an encounter they had and liked?
One suggestion I'd tack on to the cool ideas mentioned above is to decide beforehand where the encounters will be located. Pick significant geography, nearby towns, notable regions...anything you can pick off of the map that has been described or illuminated in one of your available source books.
For short overland hops, it's usually enough to just randomly roll up an encounter or set piece and not get too hung up on "what mile marker are we at on the way to Strahd's castle?"
But for a lengthy overland journey, crossing a number of nations, I like knowing (when I GM) that we're going to have an encounter along the River Sellen, or in the foothills of the Five Kings Mountains, or the Storvall Plateau...it allows me to quickly dress up the encounter (even if it is drawn from a random list) with a bit of flavor, style and coloring from the greater world beyond the events of the adventure/campaign. So before I run the journey I stare at my maps and gazetteers and decide "ooh Ravenmoor would be a creepy cool town to stop through on the way to Brinewall." Then I jot it down, mark a page, or maybe even write up a pre-baked encounter/situation and then look for the next cool spot along the route of travel.
Most importantly, beyond the "make the journey interesting" factor, it allows me to make use of the hundreds upon hundreds of pages of history, setting and background material that I've absorbed on Golarion in the past few years :-) Non-teleportation journeys are a kick in the hoo-ha!
A few non combat encounters.
--Sighting of a large drake soaring on the horizon
--A ravine with sheer edges (maybe 20' deep) either forces a several mile detour or the PC's need to create a clever way across
--Vultures picking over a pair of bodies. The vultures make it hard to determine cause of death, but some other tracks can be found in the area. A thorough search might locate a coin purse full of coppers nearby or something else of value. Great for dropping a small RP reward in.
--Party runs crossing some remote unnamed hamlet of 20-30 people. There might be a problem there for the PCs to unravel. Perhaps it's all kitsunes (in human form) or tieflings and the PC's get a bad vibe. They could be in to demon worship. Lots of possibilities for this one.
I did a great chase battle the other day. baddies on horse back chasing the caravan, good guys fighting from the roof tops.
was pretty fun for the players and myself (GM)
I also like encounters where the players have moral choices. you say your players like to RP....
I had one encounter in which the players find a ferry crossing of a river.
the owners of the ferry demand high prices nothing to break the player bank but enough to make the players balk at the principal (like 200 gold or 50 gold per person or something)... the players can pay the price, but they will likley chose to negotiate.
this gives the GM lots of room to play with. if the players just pay they may get attacked as the ferry owners (and some time bandits think the PCs are push overs. they let them cross, follow them, and attack them later. (at some point explaining their reasoning)
if the players negotiate reasonably the encounter becomes a skill encounter using diplomacy, bluff, and sense motif after which (having made an encounter out of it) the PCs pay and go on their way
if the players are rude or just go on the attack they may find themselves in an unfavorable battle as the ferry owners get them to the middle of the river and then demand more money or simply start pelting with arrows.
Little critters filching the parties unwatched goods. Have them creep in at night and have stuff missing the next day.
Little critters filching the parties unwatched goods. Have them creep in at night and have stuff missing the next day.When the party investigates, it turns out to be a family of raccoons.
good call. So few encounters with regular critters.
If you really want to screw with a party of RPGers. Have them notice a flock of birds on a rail near the road. As they get closer the birds Take off.It means nothing but holy heck will your players read into it like crazy.
Have a lone cow with a bell on it's neck cross the road in front of them.
Have a traveling party set up for a picnic as the party crosses their path.
Unseasonal storm occurring. With the closest cover being a Farm.
Pack of wolves follows the party for a few hours to gauge if they should attack (and they should determine not to)
Crossroads with a dead criminal in a cage (or for more interest, a live one) How horrible they will feel if they let loose the worst serial killer in a decade on the local populace...
Some giant creature but it's happily munching on the carcass of it's latest kill.
a Waystone that tells following elves (or dwarfs, or clerics of XXX) that So and So passed this way recently and expects to meet at City Y in X days. Again.. nothing to do with the party and was left to direct some other group to the meeting.
Mod - thanks for moving the thread to the correct location.
Thanks all for the very cool ideas. I love the family of raccoons and the flock of birds. That would have them getting paranoid, since they already have demons and devils chasing them :)
Really good ideas.