PDA

View Full Version : [4E] Encounter Ideas needed



Hzurr
2010-06-21, 11:20 AM
So I'm stuck with a moment of DM writer's block for a PbP game I'm running on a the forums, so I thought I'd ask the very intelligent, kind, and attractive people here on these forums for suggestions.

Party Rundown:
Lvl 3
Eladrin Swordmage
Half-Elf Paladin
Gnome Wizard
Half-Elf Bard MC Ranger
Goliath Monk


Also, if any of my players are reading this, I'd prefer that you didn't, but I strongly doubt I'll do anything that's suggested here exactly as written/suggested, so I doubt it'll be all that useful.


Current Situation:
The characters have been adventuring in the city of Fallcrest, investigating an alchemical smuggling ring. The characters went to the house of a woman they believed was involved with some of the smuggling, and after hearing someone inside, they broke into the house, only to discover it was empty. A bit of searching later, they make their way down to the basement, where they find an alter, and remains of arcane and divine reagents used for a necromantic ritual. A few checks later, and they discover that a dragonborn (possibly one they killed earlier, and who had nearly killed them) has been brought back as some type of undead.

A bit more searching, and they find a secret passage leading down to some tunnels that run below the city. They're navigating their way through the tunnel, trying to track the people that were in the house before them (they just succeeded on the skill challenge to track them), and.... that's where I'm stuck. I need an encounter of some kind.

The catacombs were known to be used as crypts at one point, so it's easily justifiable that there's some undead. The woman they're trying to track is an elf, but I want to save the undead Dragonborn for a later fight. Other than that, any standard race is good (humans, halflings, whatever). There needs to be a necromancer (this can be the elf woman), but other than that, I'm open to whatever. I'd like the encounter to include some interesting terrain features or a trap or something, just because the last encounter was in an open field, so I'd like to change it up a bit.

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

TL;DR The party is in some tunnels and I need an encounter. Possibly some undead. An elf woman, and a necromancer of some type. The encounter should have an interesting feature.


Also, if anyone gets very bored, and feels like reading a PbP game, here's the link (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141355)

TricksyAndFalse
2010-06-21, 12:34 PM
Since they're closing in on the alchemy ring, how about some alchemists?

1 necomancer (controller, leader)
2 alchemists (artillery)
2 zombies (brutes)
pad with undead minions

Have the zombie brutes be juiced by some sort of alchemical device strapped to their backs that makes them really scary. Maybe extras actions, or stupid high resist-all damage (especially radiant resistance), or both. Either targetted damage or skill checks is needed to disarm the juice packs so that the zombies are more manageable.

LibraryOgre
2010-06-21, 12:56 PM
Undead halflings, in tight quarters. The halflings are fine, but anyone bigger has to worry about squeezing and limited movement.

Meta
2010-06-21, 02:36 PM
A half orc death mage is lvl 6 and flavorful given your environment. Pair it with a lvl 5 half orc hunter (maybe 2) as hired guns or some other bodyguard and throw in some kissing maiden traps from DMG 2. It would probably end up being a level +2 encounter but your players are running fairly optimal characters so should be good. Plus it seems like exactly the kind of trap a half orc necromancer would use