Hi, I need a bit of help determining the EL of an encounter I am designing. Now according to the CR Equivalencies table on p. 398 of CRB four deinonychus dinosaurs would be a CR 7 encounter, but I am not sure how/if all the specific options and the "time constraint" I have built into the encounter significantly alters this. Feedback is appreciated.
A1: Terror at the Market (EL ?)
As you stroll through one of the many colorful open-air markets of Merab, wondrous sights, sounds and smells entice your sense. The desert sun shines from a cobalt blue sky warming your skin, while the fragrant scents of spices, herbs and incense fill your nose. Hundreds of stalls offer goods from every land in the known world: golden jewelry, fine silks, ancient Varisian idols, illuminated books and a thousand different curios fill the tables of the stalls. And the sea of people here is just as diverse. As you move through the crowd you see tall dark Mwangi, pale Chels, Kellid savages clad in leather and bone and Nexian sorcerers in shimmering silks.
Then sudden the loud sound of breaking wood, followed by a bestial cry cut through the din. For a moment the crowd goes eerily silent as everyone tries to figure out what is happening. Then a man scream and an arc of crimson blood leap across the sky. The crowd surges back. Fear turns to terror turns to panic. More sound of breaking wood as stall tables are overturned by the fleeing crowd. And then the crowd thins and you see what is responsible for the panic: Before you, among several mutilated bodies stand a trio of bipedal wing-less, but birdlike, creatures. Each is easily as large as a grown man. Their short stubby arms and long powerful legs both end in wicked long claws and their elongated heads jaws open to reveal rows of razor sharp teeth.
The creatures are a pack of four deinoncychus dinosaurs that were being kept in a cage. They somehow managed to shatter the cage and went on a rampage, first slaughtering their owner and then four nearby shoppers. Famished, they then stopped to feed on the corpses, allowing the crowd to flee. By now they have sated the worst of their hunger and have become aware of the PCs, which they view as a threat.
As pack animals they will try to gang up on a single prey, flank it and tear it to shreds before moving on to the next. They will also make good use of their high speed and pounce, striking at isolated weak-looking opponents.
Enemies: Deinonychus x4 (26 hp, 30 hp, 34 hp, 44 hp)
Terrain: The encounter takes place in a section of the South Bazaar 200 feet (40 squares) long and 40 feet (8 squares) wide. The first ten feet along either side of the “corridor” is filled with market stalls, tables and rugs covered with wares and are considered difficult terrain. At either “end” of the corridor the panicked crowd is packed in tightly. The crowd considers all other characters “enemies” and thus completely blocks movement, unless a character uses combat maneuvers to move them out of the way.
The actual “walls” of the corridor is the front of the buildings which line the bazaar street. No doors open up onto the street, but 15 feet off the ground various windows and balconies do offer a possible avenue of escape. The DC to climb the walls is 20.
While most of the shoppers and merchants have managed to escape, five innocent bystanders were knocked down and injured in the initial stamped. They have all been immobilized by their wounds or trapped under collapsed stalls. Frightened and hurt, they are currently crying out in pain. At the start of each round (including the first round), if a dinosaur is not currently engaged with an enemy which is fighting back, there is a 25% chance that it will move to one of the wounded civilians and use a standard action to finish him or her off.
Resources: If a PC stand in or next to a market stall, the PC may spend a move action to search the stall for a useful item to help fight the dinosaurs. Included in this action is retrieving and readying the item. The player makes a Perception check DC 12 and if successful roll on the table below.
d8 Effect
1: Improvised Weapon (Dmg d6)
2: Bag of Caltrops
3: Handful of Marbles
4: Flask of Oil
5: Vial of Acid
6: Haunch of Meat*
7: Handful of Pepper*
8: Fireworks*
*: A haunch of meat can be used to distract a deinoncychus. To do so the character must be adjacent to the dinosaur and must then spend a move action waving the meat in front of the beast and a swift action dropping or throwing it. The character makes a Bluff or Handle Animal check DC 11. If the character succeeds the dinosaur rendered flat-footed for 1 round.
A handful of pepper can be thrown into the eyes of a dinosaur as a melee touch attack. If the attack succeeds the sickened for 1d6+2 rounds. A successful fortitude save DC 22 reduce this to 2 rounds.
Fireworks can be lit as a swift action if the characters has a ready source of fire or otherwise as a movement action as he stops to light it on the coals in a nearby food stall or some other convenient source of fire. They can then be thrown as a ranged touch attack targeting a square (Range 15 feet. No increments). Anyone in a square when fireworks go off suffers 1d4 point of fire damage. If used against one of the dinosaurs it becomes frightened for 1d6 rounds, unless it makes a Will save DC 15. Firework automatically ignites a square or creature covered in oil. Such a creature suffers 1d6 points of fire damage each turn. Extinguishing the fire requires a full-round action and a successful Reflex save DC 14.
Development: The commotion has drawn the attention of the guards who patrol the bazaar, but the closely packed crowd is making it difficult for them to get to the scene. Six rounds after the fight breaks out 1d6+1 guards arrive and begin to fire their heavy crossbows at any still fighting dinosaurs. Three rounds after that, an additional 4 guards arrive and join the fight, also initially by firing heavy crossbows.
Resolution: If the PCs manage to kill or subdue the dinosaurs before the guards arrive, the local merchants hail them as heroes and offer them a 100 gp each as reward for their courage, plus an additional 25 gp each for each of the innocent bystanders caught in the skirmish, who survive. If the PCs require the guards help to finish the beasts off, the merchants are decidedly less impressed and only offer the PCs a flat 50 gp per character reward. In either case, a successful Appraise, Diplomacy or Profession (Merchant) skill check DC 16 increase the total reward by 10%.
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CR 7 is fine. The market stuffs do help them a bit but well usually someone would prefer to actually just kill the dinosaur instead of spending a move action to look for an item in the stall. Martial classes will usually just go toward the Deinonychus so they can full attack and beat them up. Potentially only kind of party members who will look through the stalls would be skill monkeys (rogue) or caster since they don't usually need to waste a move action.
Do you think this logic changes if the party is comparatively low-level, but more numerous - say five to seven level 2 characters?
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Oh they are much lower, yeah then, they will use the items in the stall but heh still wouldn't change the encounter CR. The biggest thing that I would worry about, is to make sure that the terrain is considered difficult terrain. A charging Deinonychus, is still a charging deinonychus, so pounce, full attack will kill any 2nd level PC easily.
What I am trying to do is to create an encounter which requires them to make intelligent use of the terrain and the special options – especially movement restrictions like difficult terrain, the caltrops and marbles or climbing up to high group to get out of reach of the dinosaurs. Of course the plan is to tell the players this from the outset – the idea is to try and get them in the habit of not simply “tank-and-spank” every encounter, but instead try to get more creative. Also, and this might be relevant, the characters are 20 pts. characters and they start with 4, instead of 2 traits.
Maybe I should replace the Vial of Acid with Tanglefoot Bags, just to make movement-impairment even easier to get by looting the stalls?