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View Full Version : Fun (for the DM) and Challenging Encounters!



SpikeFightwicky
2009-11-12, 10:17 AM
I was wondering if there are any encounters that the DMs of the forum have run using monsters that are slightly sub-par compared to the party, but take advantage of something that makes the encounter challenging in its own right. Here's an example I used once:

There's a long hallway in old ruins that leads to castle (sort of a hidden and well protected 'back door', since the castle itself was nigh impossible to access any other way (or at least, any way the PCs thought). The hallway leads to a set of stairs that eventually leads to the castle's basement, so there's way around it.


The hallway itself is 5ft. wide, is quite unremarkable and doesn't have any kind of traps of any kind.
For a section of the hallway (around a 40-50 ft. length), there are adjacent hallways that run parallel to the main hallway (seperated by a thin stone wall). Secret doors to access these small hallways are located at the far end.
Within these hallways are 2 Greater Shadows, one on either side. The walls are thin enough that anyone not moving silently down the hall will be heard as they pass by. When the shadows hear people coming, they use their spring attack to dart out into the hallway, attack the nearest character (specifically anyone who they can see wearing heavy armor), and then dart back into the hidden hallway on their turn.


Tactics: The shadows can cause chaos by attacking the first and last character in the hallway, blocking whoever's in the middle. The players will have to ready actions to do anything other an AoO (though this will be rare thanks to Spring Attack), since the Shadows are nowhere to be found on the PCs' turn. If you have the Tome of Undead (the 3.5 splat book for undead... forget the exact name), they have some cool tricks for incorporeal undead moving 'into' an occupied square to make counterattacking difficult. The simplest way to get out of the encounter is to run to the other end of the hallway (though the PCs won't know that for sure), as the shadows would lose their hidey holes and the 'guy in charge' just wants them to stay in that section.

The Results: My PCs ran to the other end of the hallway after 4 rounds of combat (and me missing 1/2 my touch attacks :smallbiggrin:). The cleric pooched his turn check and didn't hurt them in the least. When the elf ran by the secret doors, he found them, but the group was quite keen on getting out of the hallway ASAP, so they wanted to return at a later date (even though the secret doors just lead to the shadow halway). I think the group assumed I was using some kind of weird 'wall monster' I had made up, since they weren't sure what was going on, and no one had decent knowledge (religion) to figure out that they were just shadows. The PCs also felt safer the more complicated and trap filled a hallway was.

Anyone else have any out of the box scenarios?

Optimystik
2009-11-12, 10:21 AM
There's a long hallway in old ruins that leads to castle (sort of a hidden and well protected 'back door', since the castle itself was nigh impossible to access any other way (or at least, any way the PCs thought). The hallway leads to a set of stairs that eventually leads to the castle's basement, so there's way around it. The hallway itself is 5ft. wide, is quite unremarkable and doesn't have any kind of traps of any kind. However, for a section of the hallway (around a 40-50 ft. length), there are adjacent hallways that run parallel to the main hallway (seperated by a thin stone wall). Secret doors to access these small hallways are located at the far end. Within these hallways are 2 Greater Shadows, one on either side. The walls are thin enough that anyone not moving silently down the hall will be heard as they pass by. When the shadows hear people coming, they use their spring attack to dart out into the hallway, attack the nearest character (specifically anyone who they can see wearing heavy armor), and then dart back into the hidden hallway on their turn. They can cause chaos by attacking the first and last character in the hallway, blocking whoever's in the middle. The players will have to ready actions to do anything other an AoO (though this will be rare thanks to Spring Attack), since the Shadows are nowhere to be found on the PCs' turn. If you have the Tome of Undead (the 3.5 splat book for undead... forget the exact name), they have some cool tricks for incorporeal undead moving 'into' an occupied square to make counterattacking difficult. The simplest way to get out of the encounter is to run to the other end of the hallway (though the PCs won't know that for sure), as the shadows would lose their hidey holes. That's what my PCs did after 4 rounds of combat (and me missing 1/2 my touch attacks :smallbiggrin:). The cleric pooched his turn check and didn't hurt them in the least. When the elf ran by the secret doors, he found them, but the group was quite keen on getting out of the hallway ASAP, so they wanted to return at a later date (even though the secret doors just lead to the shadow halway). I think the group assumed I was using some kind of weird 'wall monster' I had made up, since they weren't sure what was going on, and no one had decent knowledge (religion) to figure out that they were just shadows.

This one time a wall of text fell on me, and I failed my fort save against massive damage.

SpikeFightwicky
2009-11-12, 10:37 AM
This one time a wall of text fell on me, and I failed my fort save against massive damage.

I couldn't figure out where to break up the text... I'll see what I can do.

EDIT: It should be easier on the eyes now. Maybe enough for a +10 to your fort save against massive damage.

jiriku
2009-11-12, 11:57 AM
Roadside Ambush (CR 7-ish)

Setting: a stretch of road running through a ravine between two buttes or eroded hilltops. The ravine is about 50' across and several hundred yards long, consisting of a broad, flat space in the middle of the ravine, steep, scree-covered slopes leading to the sides of the ravine, and bounded by cliffs 20-30' in height on the sides.

The force: four human bandits (ranger 1) armed with bows, hidden in the brush atop the cliffs, two on each side. Four orc skirmishers (barbarian 1, armed with falchions, tumble +5) and a half-orc leader (druid 3, with entangle, faerie fire, obscuring mist, soften earth and stone, warp wood). The skirmishers and leader are hidden among the boulders in the scree (Spot DC 15 + distance modifiers).

Tactics: The archers open fire, targeting flat-footed, lightly armored opponents during the surprise round and using rapid shot against foes not engaged in melee. The archers on each side of the ravine work together to focus fire on targets. The leader uses entangle and soften eath and stone to bog players down, casting faerie fire or warp wood against specific threats and reserving obscuring mist to cover a retreat. Skirmishers work in pairs, flanking foes who escape entanglement, attacking, then tumbling away when players team up against them. All combatants make strategic use of tumble, the entangled and softened zones, and the scree-covered slopes to deny players the opportunity to use full attacks and charges as much as possible.

With rapid shot granting additional attacks, this force can take up to 13 actions per round, and is able to concentrate fire pretty effectively. Further, the combination of defensive terrain, control magic, and mobile stactics makes it difficult for players to bring their full strength to bear against this group. This encounter can chop up a 4th or 5th level party, and should significantly drain the resources of a 6th or 7th level party.