Our kingdom in Kingmaker has some sawmills. This got me thinking that it might be fun (for the DM if not the PCs) to have a fight in a running sawmill. If the Kingmaker DM doesn't go with this idea I think I'll have to add it to some future adventure myself.
We had a gristmill fight in one game where the DM ruled that you couldn't use fire or lightning spells without the risk of an explosion. I guess there could be similar concerns at a sawmill. What's more interesting to me is the idea of saws, log splitters, conveyor belts, etc. I'm thinking that folks might need to make various Acrobatics checks and Reflex saves to avoid getting chopped up, hit with logs and boards, etc.
Any ideas on hazards and checks to use in such a combat would be appreciated. I'm especially wondering what kind of damage the circular saws should do. I guess there might be a wood chipper type device where the scraps go to get turned into mulch. In case higher level PCs are present it also might be nice to have machinery which might affect flying creatures so they can join the fun. I suppose that some of this stuff could be magical, animated, or operated by enemies in some fashion.
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I'd just give the sawmill it's own initiative and have it's various machines work like traps. So the circular saw would be 2d8+2 (modeled after a really big ripsaw flavor) a swinging log might make a trip or bullish attempt depending on height. Large amounts of sawdust could make difficult terrain. A tipped over woodchipper could do a 2d4 cone as shards of wood fly. Conveyer belts move at 10ft a turn requiring a DC 15 REF save or fall prone.
I think Book 2 of Rise of the Runelords has some rules on that. Handily even has a map.
The conveyor belts seem like a must. Maybe there could be an Acrobatics check to move separately from the belt's movement or to stand up once you're prone. This would be dangerous both for heavily armored characters and casters, which seems like a nice cross section. Rogues and Monks would have fun with the belts, but there would still be swinging logs and various saws to ruin their days.
I like the idea of bull rushing logs. Maybe various machines could make other sorts of CMB checks against whatever's in their affected area. I guess that might work even better in some kind of automated factory. It strikes me that a lot of stuff like this could be used in other hazardous/exciting terrain such as foundries, grist mills, magic carriage factories, coal mines, etc. The idea of dynamic battlegrounds seems interesting. I've often found that areas with different elevations can challenge parties. Moving terrain and PCs getting pushed into unexpected spots seems even better.
I was thinking of much bigger damage for the big saws and wood chipper though I guess what's appropriate might vary with level. I noticed a "sawblade glaive" for gnomes with a spinning blade which does 1d6 damage plus 2 if you spin it by using the cord on the handle. I guess a Colossal version might do 6d6+2. Maybe the bonus could be a little higher since a sawmill would presumably spin a blade faster than a gnome with a string, perhaps 6d6+6 would work. Obviously that could be pretty lethal at lower levels, but I'd probably give lower level PCs a number of chances to escape from the machinery before suffering such a terrible fate.
@Jaatu - Thanks, I'll check that out.