Here's the layout: MAP
Party of six (Druid, Fighter, Oracle, Alchemist, Ranger, Sorcerer) just hit level two and are leaving town to head up into the mountains on a quest to rescue a damsel in distress. I have that whole piece figured out but I want to add one on the road to the location. Rather than just do a typical roadside encounter I wanted to spice it up a bit!
The party will be traveling from the east side of the map to a river with a broken bridge then around to the large wooden bridge to the side with the broken red tower.
Anyone feeling particularly creative and insightful? :)
I have to think when the party sees this they are going to first be drawn to the bright red tower and want to get across that chasm ASAP. They are of course going to be super wary of the wooden bridge. I'm not sure if I should trap the bridge or use that a trap to distract them and ambush them with some goblins.
Thoughts?!
You could have a strange old wizard who requires the adventurers to each answer his "questions three" before crossing the bridge! :)
Two local (but small time) barons are arguing over who owns the bridge. They both want to collect the profitable tolls.
They aren't actually fighting right at this moment. But there are blood and bodies around to prove they have in the recent past. Each side is prohibiting the other from using the bridge. (They also don't want anyone to find another way across since that will cut into future profits.)
Each side is a force the party has a decent chance of beating. But not both one after the other.
They have to find a 'creative' solution. Diplomacy, blackmail, subterfuge, trickery, distraction, etc...
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Another thing that can be fun is playing on the party paranoia.
"It's misty down in the chasm, but you can see several large things (maybe 12' long) floating in the water down below the rickety looking bridge. And with your good perception roll, you can see a boot sticking out from under the bushes across the way."
After they blow a levitate, feather fall, throw some thunderstones, spend a bunch of time checking out the bridge for traps, try to rig up a backup rope safety harness, shoot a quiver full of arrows, etc...
They finally figure out that the boot is just a worn boot that someone discarded, it is just logs floating in the water, and the bridge just looks rickety because it is old and has moss growing on it from disuse.
"What? I never said there was an ambush, they were giant alligators, or that the bridge was going to collapse."
Kydeem, just award them some small XP for their learning time :)
That's reasonable.
Though I would say the real experience is learning to not treat every single thing mentioned as a fight to the death.
"What? I never said there was an ambush, they were giant alligators, or that the bridge was going to collapse."
Then what did I roll Knowledge(engineering) for ?
Non-evil adventurer's ghost hanging out on the bridge resentful that it could not stop a monster from attacking some innocents. Needs the monster to be slain to put at rest.
A huge spider has turned the bridge into part of its web trap, crossing the bridge could anger it.
An enterprising troll has trapped the bridge and waits below for travelers to fall.
The bridge was cursed by an angry wizard he has placed the illusion on it that makes it impossible to cross, similar to Guards and Wards.
The bridge is damaged and must be repaired before horses and such can cross. Or the bridge is broken and the party must find some way to fix it or go around.
An enterprising con artist bard has taken to charging a toll, he might be a liar, but he's a good one. He says he serves the local magistrate and that his good patron the blahblahblah of blahblah would look badly if they tried to escape his taxes.
The bridge is a mimic, or a mimic is sitting near the bridge.
Someone has cast animate object on the bridge and it tries to shake off anyone that crosses.
What ECL is the party? You mention goblins so I'm guessing pretty low.
The main tactical feature of a bridge is that it acts as a choke point, only letting one person fight at a time. Luckily for your party 5 out of 6 of them are ranged characters.
A clever goblin would weaken the ropes on the other side and wait until the party is half way across, then jump out and cut the ropes, cackling madly. That's not a great encounter for a low level party though, partly because it's boring and partly because it boils down to a party wide save or die.
Spot the goblin Y/N? Spot the frayed ropes Y/N? Reflex save to grab the bridge as it falls Y/N? If no to all 3 then tpk. Not fun.
Here's my encounter idea:
The PCs approach from the eastern road and get perception checks. On a pass they see someone struggling in the upper windows of the tower. As they get closer whoever is in the tower notice them and a high pitched feminine scream for help rings out (adventurers are suckers for damsels in distress).
As they rush across the bridge some goblins (or one big, meat shield-ey enemy) boils out of the tower and makes a beeline to the bridge to block the party's progress. At the same time two archer goblins hit the bridge with flaming arrows.
Tell the PCs they have 3ish rounds until the bridge burns through and breaks. Then they have a tense, kick ass combat on a rickety narrow bridge that's on fire where all the casters have to make concentration checks because of the swaying, flames, and smoke, and the figther toes it with some brute or other.
"What? I never said there was an ambush, they were giant alligators, or that the bridge was going to collapse."Then what did I roll Knowledge(engineering) for ?
If they got over 15 on the check, I would tell them that it appears well made, is probably safer than it looks, and should be ok if not too overloaded.
If they got over 20 on the check, I would tell them it just looks rickety from neglect and it should easily support you all at the same time (as long as it hasn't been sabotaged or trapped).Only once has anyone in our group, other than me, taken ranks in knowledge engineering. Oddly enough, that one time, everyone took ranks in it.
If you want another red herring, stick a crude statue of a troll under the bridge, possibly with Nyst... Uh I mean "Magic Aura" cast on it.
What about the 2 stone rings? They could be old tower ruins. What if one of them has several levels of dungeon below it? They go so deep that they reach beneath the river chasm. Turn a quick side adventure in a 12 level megadungeon.
If not, what if it's just a normal bridge and environs; nothing to see. But if they inspect the ruined towers they find...
1. Teleportation glyphs
2. Buried treasure
3. Hidden undead
4. A faerie circle
5. They are imbued with a consumable arcane or divine power
6. Vermin nests
7. A lamia
8. The remains of an ancient shrine to an evil god
Oh, and how did you make such an awesome map?