Evening all,
I'm running a level with a destroyed town soon, and thought I could collect some thoughts here. What I need is ideas to fill up encounters and situations in a very large (say, Tilverton) abandoned town. Characters are level four, nearing level five, and it's a party of six.
Here's the premise of the campaign, for flavor:
In a Steampunk Forgotten Realms, player's are heading inside a destroyed Tilverton, which has become a shadow-enclosed hub for an orc mercenary group. The town has been abandoned by humans for 100+ years, and was the site of a Shadow-mage war. The resident orcs have an enslaved sorcerer to help them with any magical needs (level 14), access to flying ships, muskets, etc.
Please help me fill up the map! I can easily make it 150+ encounters, depending on the player's route, as the city is so large. Thanks a bunch!
-Jhaosmire
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Rather than planning out 150 encounters you might want to think about using a random encounter table tailored to the city, with a few set piece fights thrown in.
Mimics are always fun.
I know I could do random encounters, but they always feel unimaginative. I figured a bunch of folk contributing would give it a fully flushed out, unique feel.
It would be awesome if anyone wanting to contribute could give me a paragraph of description, something to copy/paste maybe? Thanks again!
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Well, if the town is abandoned, one can assume that at least one section of it has been taken over by animals. They could have been affected by lingering magic and mutated in some way.
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By random encounters I mean you don't need to place them on the map. Add them as the players explore. As well as fixed. I feel the randomness will help the city feel "alive" rather than a bunch of fights in disjointed rooms, so long as you do it right.
Anyway, onto some encounters.
1.
For players (mostly):
Rounding the corner of a ruined building the players hear a scuffle taking place a few buildings down the street. There is shouting in what might be an actual language
followed by a Gunshot!
Peaking into the room they can smell the gunpowder. There is a small orc lying on the floor with a scorch mark next to his head, with a larger, bulkier orc towering over him with a pistol in hand.
Three more orcs sit around a table with bone dice strewn across it, laughing.
The crunch:
3 x Orc Barbarian 1 CR 1/2 200XP
1 x Orc URogue 3 CR 2 600XP
1 x Orc Barbarian (Savage Technologist) 5 CR 4 1200XP
Total = 2400 XP = CR 6 fight = APL + 1
Alternatives:
Have the one on the floor be the one who pulled the gun and actually shot the big orc standing over him. This lets you start with one of the orcs with lower health, and the gunslinger needing a reload.
3 x Orc Barbarian 1 CR 1/2 200XP
1 x Orc Gunslinger 5 CR 4 1200XP
1 x Orc Warpriest 4 CR 3 800XP less some for being damaged
Total = 2400 XP = CR 6 fight = APL + 1
This also has the benefits of throwing the party off slightly as to who to prioritise as they will assume the guy standing over the other is the more dangerous threat.
Awesome, very fitting! Think I'll go with the alternative encounter, feels like it has more history, like the characters aren't the catalyst for everything happening.
I see now what you meant by random encounters. Likely, that is how the level will be ran, some fixed locations, some they'll come across on their third "round" of exploration, as an example.
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That is exactly what I meant.
The only reason I threw the gunslinger in there is you mentioned firearms in the setting, this helps them feel like they are actually part of the world. They are used and present.
2. Next encounter:
This could be a follow up on the previous encounter.
For the Players:
As the fighting dies down a new sound can be heard closing distance rapidly. The thundering of a great beast, charging onwards.
A monstrous quadruped with a thick, wrinkled hide, curving horns, and shaggy hair that frames its leonine face, careens around a corner up the block and slams into the wall opposite as it fails to make it's turn.
Mounted on the beast is an orc that looks small by comparison, but certainly is not. He wields a wicked lance and battered plate. He has obviously been in many a fight, and won them all.
Both the beast and rider have crudely made and cruel looking masks, seemingly nailed to their faces.
Edited in below crunch
Crunch:
This is a potentially deadly encounter for the players. A few things can make it more bearable if they take advantage of them.
This fight is a:
Gorthek CR 7 3200XP
Orc Gorthek Rider Cavalier 7 CR 6 2400XP
They also have a pair of Gorthek Masks
Total XP = 5600
Due to terrain I would consider this a 4800 CR 8 fight, but award full XP.
This is APL + 3, an epic fight. It might be best to only throw this at them once they hit level 5.
The way I say treat this as CR8 is that you are in an area where there is lots of small cover, and difficult terrain, and you have a large mount.
This means the cavalier should have difficulties using his charges effectively.
If you decide the ruins have second floors it can get even better for the party.
You can do some restatting on the Gorthek to give it the ability to charge through walls. Use this as a base, and make it have to do a certain amount of damage to the wall with it's gore, which is removed from the damage it can do the player.
So you roll 1 set of damage dice for its gore against the wall and player, the wall always takes it, and if the attack actually hits the player it takes what is left over.
Alternative:
Wait a few levels before throwing this at the party, and throw a few Worg Riders along with it. This will allow the gorthek rider to make use of a few more of his class abilities and feats. If you want to you can swap his javelin for a musket.
Before I put more effort in if you give me feedback on this I can try make sure I am giving you what you want
No no no no no. RE tables are only uninspired if you don't use them right.
Let's say you roll a party of orcs. 5, to be precise.
First, what orcs are these? You could go with a group of the occupiers, but let's say it's a lieutenant who is breaking from the larger force.
Why and what do they want? The lieutenant would rather die than admit it, but after an encounter with shadows, he wants out. He told his men the higher ups admitted to being cowards, so he's leaving the town.
Where? The team is barricaded in a ruined building after being ambushed by (another random roll) 3 wererats. They have kept the wererats out, and the wererats are now cautious due to one of them wounded, but still eager to kill the orcs and take their guns.
How does this play out? They have the chance to discover the wererats hiding nearby. If not, the orcs will likely fire on them, thinking them more wererats. Add to this conflict that the lieutenant has lied to his men and may well be murdered by them if this comes out, and there are many ways it could go.
Sissyl raises very good points. Very good article on running a megadungeon with random monster tables
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In an apparently uninhabited neighbourhood with more intact buildings than most, a small orc is sneaking along a rooftop (Perception DC 18 to spot). She's actually stalking a cat (Perception DC 28 to spot) and doesn't care about the PCs. In a couple of rounds time though the shadows under the roof (spottable only with magic, at least from street level) will launch out and drain all the strength from her, after which the PCs are targets if they're still around. Remember that humanoids killed by shadows rise as shadows themselves in 1d4 rounds. If you want to introduce an informant the cat can be a cat sith hunting some treasure.
J4RH34D, those situations are exactly what I'm after. I think I may lower the level of the Cavalier, as this town excursion is a precursor to entering a large keep, which will end with an epic level fight (Fighter or Barbarian (maybe several), buffed by a very crippled 200 year old orc blackguard (anti-paladin)).
Also, these smaller encounters are very good, as, at the time of the player's entering, two other events are going on: One, the town is surrounded by Cormyrean Purple Dragons, ready to attack when the "shadow enclosure" goes down (the player's first quest), and: Two, an ancient Netherese wizard is re-creating himself in the body of a previous NPC (The player's original client and friend), which is causing blue lightning-like streaks to disrupt the shadow bubble.
avr, nice once, I think I'll keep the cat or cat sith idea as a random percentile chance, so if the players go for it, it may benefit them, may not.
Sissyl, I'm entirely there with you. I do spice up every encounter as much as possible, especially random encounters. More than anything, I don't want the player's knowing if I was doing random encounters. I've been playing through Tombs of Annihilation, and I HATE it, after three sessions it still feels like nothing but RE after RE (and the DM doesn't spice it up)
Keep 'em coming folks! Looking great so far. Any encounters work, also, combat, puzzle, trap, etc. Thanks a bunch!
Lunaramblings, I'll see about working that bridge in. Tilverton was pretty flat, but maybe some noble houses or towers could have some inter-connecting bridges outside.
Pizza Lord, instead of vines,maybe I'll bring out an Underdark citizen who's growing mushrooms, as the town is enshrouded with darkness currently. In fact, I think I'll use your idea as a basis of if the player's decide to head into the sewers.
This town seems like it could be a good place to have a few naturally occurring undead, risen due to the anguish suffered by those that could not escape what has happened to the town.
3. For the players:
As you make your way past a collapsed building you can hear a scratching, movement, thumping, beneath a small pile of rubble in the alley between this building and the next.
Clearing the rubble reveals a cellar door.
As the rubble is being clearing the door jolts a few times from within, but only for a moment.
As more is shifted off the doors a sudden powerful jolt shakes loose the remaining rubble and a grotesque creature emerges. The smell of death and decay rises out of the damp cellar. Within the now illuminated cellar you can see 3 more undead. One wears an apron, and the remaining two are both much smaller. One hold a rag-doll to its breast in a dirty pinafore, while the other wears a torn pair of trousers and holds the skull of a small canine.
The crunch:
2 x Cannibal Child CR 3 800XP
2 x Cannibal Child with Giant Template CR 4 1200XP
Total = 4000 XP = CR 7/8
Alternative:
Drop the giant template, keep the stats the same but make them medium, gives you 4x800xp for 3200Xp = CR7
You can also drop one of the kids, personally I would drop the boy.
You could also keep the two kids, and drop the parents, have each kid holding the skull of one of the parents.
That gives you option for a CR 6 or CR 5 respectively.
Note:
This is very dark. Depending on how far you wish to go with this it can be very disturbing and might not be suitable for your group.
Thelith, I'll add the sniper in to the bridge section of the level, so player's become forced to quickly rush up a teetering rope bridge while an orc soldier takes pop shots at them with a musket.
J4RH34D, I like it. I'll most likely go with the two children, as CR 7 is a bit much still. Nothing is too dark for this group. I generally keep it balanced between very light hearted and super dark. Prior to Pathfinder, my group had only ever played the Dread RPG, which is horror based, so nothing should be "toomuch" for them.
Thanks again all! Keep giving me these great ideas, I appreciate it!
-Jhaosmire
How about this, large groups of orcs (too many for the party to handle) go wander by from time to time. If the party gets into an all out fight the remaining occupying force is sure to answer within a few rounds. Best to pick your battles more carefully.
The party hears fighting in the distance. Gun fire, explosions, sword clashes and screaming... or whatever. Do they investigate? Do they find anything when they get there or is it an old battlefield from a fight fought 100 years ago?
Is there a resistance force operating in the area that the pc's are trying to join up with? Perhaps someone they are trying to rescue? Or a magic item they are trying to retrieve? But wait! The item is the only reason the survivors have made it this far. Such as a decanter of endless water which is the only source of water in the area, etc. If the pc's take it they are dooming the survivors to death.
Time slowed down in town, the survivors have no idea 100 years has past. Are they in fact dead themselves and don't realize it? Or just stuck out of time?
Trip wires and traps / bombs are set up in narrow alleyways. It does not have to be just dungeons where these things are! Combine with rogues and snipers on the roof to take pock shots at the party when in restricted areas. Oh gee...your walking knee deep in water? Too bad about the orc with that wand of lightning bolts that is up on the roof and about to light you up!
Really describe the state of the town. Is it blown up like something out of a post apocalypse setting (ala Fallout?) or just all creepy, spooky and abandoned with shadows darting past just out of the corner of your eye?
What about those trapped souls that fell to shadows but didn't full rise into undead status? Instead they are stuck in some twisted mid-way point? Mercy death? Undead turning attempt to release them? Etc. Do they come back the next day if not properly released?
Maybe go all silent hill. Part of the time the players encounter undead who crawl towards them begging to be released from their torment, the other times they are VERY aggressive and just wanna eat your brains and rip out your soul!!