I'm designing an arena encounter for our Pathfinder game this weekend, and I'm a bit stumped on the best way to make this scenario enjoyable.
The players have worked their way through an enormous skeletal maze populated by a variety of undead creatures, forever trapped in the maze. The final room before escaping the maze is the arena, a coliseum built of the same bone materials. The arena champion is a Frankenstein monster composed of pieces of different creatures.
I can design challenging enemies for the encounter. THe players are all level 3, consisting of a rogue, a barbarian, and some crazy psionic shenanigans I'm not sure I can explain without looking at the character sheet. While I can stat out the enemies, I feel like there should be some environmental stuff going on as well, possibly some fun with terrain, but I don't really know how to go about it.
Any suggestions from the wonderful folk who frequent these forums would be greatly appreciated! Apologies for spelling/grammar.
This is a situation where I think a good backstory pays off. If you haven't already defined it, you can still throw out some lore with an abandoned journal or scrawlings in blood on some enormous and enigmatic bones, etc. The maze itself is actually the skeletal remnant of some immense and ancient beast that refuses to move into the world beyond. Its bones lie mouldering where it fell so long ago, but its spirit refuses to yield its grip on this world and has manifested as the merciless champion. This malevolent force has slain countless brave warriors that desecrated its physical body (by trespassing here) and spitefully bound their bodies and souls into eternal servitude, etc etc.
Functionally this would lead to a scene like this...
The arena is actually the maw of the beast. When the champion sustains damage the walls of the colliseum shudder and move. Boulder-sized chunks of sandstone rain down on parts of the battlefield and clouds of dust arise as enormous teeth spasm in response to the injury. As the battle wages on, the spasms become more pronounced. The terrain shifts rapidly, with portions rising up like walls or dropping away in fissures and sinkholes. All the while, as a dull and alien roar from deep beneath the earth drowns out much of the battlefield, movement can be seen on the perimeter as all the undead not previously slain flock toward their master. And ultimately the players must question whether they should fight or flee before the jaw closes upon them.
Mechanically, you can now include as many environmental effects as you wish, scale them to suit the mood of the encounter and dispel them just as quickly as they appeared. I would most likely execute these effects as follows. Each time the champion is struck a solid blow, more dust falls, most likely creating full concealment within 5' per blow of the arena wall. At the same time, call for a reflex (low DC) for half the party (chosen randomly) to avoid falling rocks (also low damage). Place a sinkhole under anyone that remains completely stationary for 2 rounds (1 if they're engaging in melee) and simply have it make them flat footed. The shifting terrain can be randomized by flipping coins onto the field. Heads up, a coin is an uplifted block (difficult terrain, partial cover). Heads down, it's a small fissure (pit). Flip the coins again when the champion takes more damage. Occasionally move the outer wall in a square as the mouth starts to close. Finally, at some point (maybe the half-way mark), make it loud enough that perception checks are required to communicate.
Mind you... I rather like environmental overkill. Every one of these can still be occurring and mean nothing at all mechanically if the encounter is already sufficiently challenging on both sides. But options are good and the image of fighting inside the mouth as it closes should be sufficiently memorable even if it doesn't actually change the tactics.
(You can obviously work the DCs and effects), could make the arena floor a layer of bones, 1' deep.
Animate bones grab at players (could be locations, could be a free action by the BBEG directed to a particular target), Ref DC 14 or minor distraction, -1 to attacks, concentration checks
Bone columns that exude the stench of the dead in 5' radius, Fort DC 14 or sickened, effect lasts 1 round after leaving.
Minions. Once per round, a weak skeleton rises from the bones, taking no action the round it emerges (flat-footed). Could be small or have low hit points (1-2). Could make these certain areas that can be destroyed (a bone cage with Hardness 5, 10 hit points), but wouldn't add more than one skeleton a round.
If bones, whole area should be difficult terrain, no 5' stepping. You may wish to give your BBEG a form of druid-like movement through the bones.
Biters, areas of bone where mandibles underneath try to bit anyone coming near, +2 attack, 1d4 damage. May develop how to destroy it given the mandible is buried (total cover?)
Thank you both for the suggestions, they're amazing! Was really having trouble articulating stuff like this previously. I've got a ton of backstory built around the encounter, but I got stumped after statting out the NPCs.
The environmental stuff you guys came up with is top notch, really appreciate the input! All really adds to the scene as well. Gonna go write some of this up!
Glad to help. I had one more thought to contribute. If you would like to have the encounter have a bit of impact even after the party has won, consider the sorts of maladies that might linger on in such an abattoir long after they were otherwise extinct in the outer world. Expose them to some wild disease, preferably one that dovetails nicely with the plot. Perhaps there's no one left that knows how to cure it except in Townsville, perhaps they hear a fireside tale in the tavern about how that same plague ravaged Citysburg, or perhaps a scholar of medicine (who talks about them like specimens) might reward them for live cultures (wouldn't that be an interesting bit of treasure?).
Diseases and such are another great idea, and one the players probably wouldn't expect from me. Ha! Gonna have some fun curve-balls to toss out next game. At work now, gonna come back and add this all to my notes later.
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