The Takgarn have forgotten the Old Ways and brought war to the People. The other tribes have sent emissaries to speak with the Garn and to demand justice.
Haaver, a hunter and whaler of the Chun-Arriq. Osha, Haaver's sister, a consummate tracker and wind-reader. Mara, a woman of orc-blood, a spirit-talker and a skinshifter of the Kuulyakon.
Our story begins with these three setting off for the Takgarn's main camp. They could travel across the sea ice (the fastest route on the most difficult terrain), make for the tundra (a slightly longer trip, but where food and shelter are more readily found), or into the forest (the longest, least difficult path).
Depending on how careful they are, the trio will attract the attention of a pack of dire wolves within the first few nights they spend on the ice.
The wolves will wait until the wind is favorable and night has fallen. The rise and fall of the drifts will create high ground, cover and obscure line of sight. The low places will have new fallen snow deep enough to count as difficult terrain but also offer shelter from the strong wind.
The wolves will attempt to demoralize their foes from a distance and feint while fighting defensively to the front, only attacking from behind, charging into a flanking position and targeting a shaken and flat-footed opponent, tripping/dragging/bull rushing/repositioning if possible. They'll retreat when 30% of their number are unconsciousness or 50% of them are seriously injured.
If the trio continues on the ice, they will eventually run into one of the Inuki-Unu, a Lost One (a sort of ice faerie/siren/banshee). It wants to hold them captivated with it's song until they die of exposure. The restless corpses of it's previous victims want to squeeze the warmth out of the living.
The snow is deeper here, the wind stronger and the cold much sharper. Some of the ice is extremely thin; it may hold one's weight, or it may plunge them into the freezing waters below.
The Lost One has no interest in attacking the travelers; it merely wants an attentive audience. It will only attack if provoked, and will flee if reduced to 30% of it's hp. The restless dead are mindless, seeking warmth until destroyed. A successful Knowledge Nature check (DC20) will reveal that such creatures can often be appeased with the simple offer of a place by the campfire. Getting a fire going in this blizzard, however, takes three successful Survival checks (DC27).
If they make for the tundra, they are coming closer to the dire wolve's den. They attack in greater numbers and are more determined than before, but less coordinated.
In the forest is a Black Boar, a modified dire boar with dangerous charge and a version of Awesome Blow it can use as an attack of opportunity.
If they are crafty, the trio can set a trap for the beast. The area offers difficult terrain, very difficult terrain, trees, massive trees, cover and high ground.
The boar is not subtle. It wants to gore and stamp and throw and tear.
At some point during their travels, the party notices a strange light in the distance, like a bobbing lantern or fireflies. If they are willing to add time to their trip, they can look into the phenomenon. Next a large carin are the remains of one of the niapuatin, pale raiders from a distance land. A DC20 Heal or DC25 Survival determines he died of exposure, but there are plenty of warm furs and provisions in his pack. His jawbone is a talisman (re-roll one d20 or divination 1/day), if they want to risk his vengeful ghost (magical trap, DC28, Bestow Curse-food turns to ashes in your mouth, DC16).
Before they reach the Takgarn's camp, they will encounter two of their hunters on the plain. The hunters are obviously not well; they are sunken-faced, sallow things with empty eyes. They attack with little warning, ferocious and savage, fighting to the death.
The area will be similar to that of the wolf encounters. This is the closest thing to a "typical" encounter: an all-out bloodbath.
--there we have it. The combat encounters of session 1. They each occur on different days, so they can each be extremely taxing for our lvl5 characters.
Just looking for ideas to add layers and make each encounter more dynamic, engaging and memorable.
Alright, I'll move on to the next, less clearly defined, and final encounter of the first session: the Council of Ivory.
The trio finds the Takgarn camp and call a meeting of the tribe's greatest members:
-Khornuq, the chieftain
-Merrin, the hunter
-Tongann, the elder
-Aeranac, the shaman
The general goals for this encounter will be to fund answers to the following questions:
-what happened?
-what will you do to make this right?
-what can we do to help?
Appealing to the tribe's honor, bringing gifts or speaking of the aflicted with respect or compassion will make getting information easier.
Base threats and overt deceit will make it harder.
Success will convince the Takgarn to send aid to the other tribes, be more open with what they know and send the PC's off with additional supplies.
Failure will give them the bare minimum of information and possibly lead to future conflict between the tribes (or maybe even conflict right now, if they really botch it up).
They learn that this was not a declaration of war, but a small few of the tribe's hunters who have fallen ill with a sort of spirit-sickness. Some of them have even attacked their own.
There is an ancient temple on an island to the north, along the coast. Tongann recalls a story of a white flower that grows on top of that temple, and how a tea brewed from its petals can cure any disease.
Not really set on DC's yet, but I think each member of the council will have their own, as well as effective/ineffective approaches and what they specifically can offer the PC's.
Alright, I think I've got it. As a super rough DC guideline, an effective approach will be set around 12, a neutral one around 18 and an ineffective one around 23; that's a pretty good spread for a lvl5 party.
As for a sort of scoreboard, the PC's will want a sum of +5 or more, or 0 in the negative:
-pride (don't feel like this is their fault) -1
-strength (don't want their tribe to appear weak) -2
-fear (want to keep it's people safe) -3
-peace (don't actually want open war) +2
-honor (want to save face) +1
-justice (want to do what's right) +1
Every successful Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate roll will reduce the related argument by 1 or increase the related incentive by 1. An especially bad roll could levy a penalty on future rolls or undo some progress they've made.
There could be some precedent for deflections and stuff (arguments that can't be countered but have no real substance) but that might be a bit much.