I would love to receive some help with my next session.
We play a rather urban focused campaign. The PCs are ambassadors sent to the huge capital of an important kingdom.
The encounters the last few sessions have been a bit too heavy on the "cramped dungeon" style, which suits the strengths of some PCs but works less well for others. So I'd like larger, more spacious encounters with opportunities to move and use ranged weapons extensively this time.
In the immediate vicinity of the capital lies a large swamp, or rather more of a marshy delta where a tributary flows in to the main river. Obviously this wetland is considered haunted, home to all sorts of evil. There's half-sunken ruins, a near-constant mist shrouding the area. You know, a good adventure environment.
So far, the swamp hasn't featured in the campaign, it has only been mentioned. Now I feel it's time the PCs went there (since it allows those spacious encounters I want).
What I need is a good reason for the PCs to venture in.
The PCs are lead by a paladin and none is especially greedy. Rumours of treasures to find aren't going to spur them to action as much as something threatening people. But I don't want a clear-cut rescue mission (because I've had one recently). I want grayscales and I need a sort-of plausible reason it's the PCs, and not the city watch or some other armed force who gets involved.
So I thought »what if up-to-no-good-people disturbed something even worse?«. Smugglers, grave robbers or other criminals make enemies with or releases some sort of monster(s). The smugglers wont go to the watch for help, and if the monsters (initially) only threaten the paupers and outcasts dwelling on the rim of the swamp few - other than the PCs - would care.
But I don't know what sort of monster I need. So I ask here. Appreciate all help.
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There's also always the time tested need to thwart an attack. Orcs, necromancer (would be fitting in a swamp), Why the city's military can't handle it, maybe they're busy dealing with another threat? Or if you go with the necromancer angle, maybe the guard is too busy dealing with waves of undead so the players have to try finding the source?
Maybe the PC's need to talk to someone or find someone, and going through the swamp is the only way to get to them due to a time crunch.
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Perhaps what you're looking for is the Boruta? The link describes them better, but they are swamp dwellers, intelligent, and are quite militant about people disturbing nature in their territory. Perhaps the PCs are the only ones who could possibly negotiate with them, since an incursion by the city watch would only be seen as open hostility as they are clearly agents of oppressive civilization?
It would also help partially explain why the swamp has a haunted reputation, since the Boruta look skeletal. In fact, the PCs might think they're up against undead, at first. And if you're looking for scales of gray, perhaps the Boruta are actually right in that something worse is theatening the swamp, even though their methods of attacking whoever comes close are wrong?
I hope I helped inspire you, at least!
How about a kidnaping with the villains fleeing into the swamp? Or the pc's discover the villains are headquartered in the swamp after investigating the kidnaping? It could be an isolated incident or lead to deeper plots if, for example, the villains were hired by someone. Is there an NPC who's important to their mission? Would it be worth it to someone to kidnap a relative of an important official in order to disrupt the pc's plans?
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Or mayhap the swamp holds some plant or other mcguffin the players need to find and retrieve/recover. A deadly magical plague sweeping the poor quarters, and a critical reagent needed for the cure is the mcguffin. Obviously, you'd replace "mcguffin" with the name of whatever object they're looking for. or perhaps it's a healer with experience dealing with this plague before who lives deep in the swamps.
Thanks for the answers so far!
Obviously, without knowing level range of the party it's hard to be more specific.
They're level 3 now. Which puts some restraints on what I can send against them, obviously. Should have included that in my first post.
Apart from necromancers, what monsters are there that create lesser monsters? Several undead have Create spawn abilities, as have the fungus queen.
I like the idea of something real powerful being behind monster incursions. I could pit the PCs against the spawns or minions and keep the master for a later showdown when they're higher level.