City encounters help - skype players stay out!

[WarKitty]

Ok my players, get out of here.

For the rest of you - I'm trying to figure out some interesting random encounters for my group. My players have a rogue, summoner, and oracle. They are accompanied by a DMPC ranger. All are level 1. 2 of the 3 players are brand new to D&D. They are travelling out of the city and into the desert. I'd like at least one encounter, possibly 2. I'm trying to avoid the traditional boring thieves or bandits. Any ideas on interesting encounters?

[Flickerdart]

What is their motivation for going into the desert?

[WarKitty]

What is their motivation for going into the desert?

Chasing down a runaway teen.

[Coidzor]

They in the kind of place where encountering a magical beast breaking free would be on the table? What about a rogue construct?

You thinking just combat encounters or social ones or a mix or some other type like pursuit/evasion?

[BowStreetRunner]

The area around a city near the desert is often going to be teeming with travellers. There may be caravans, military units, travelling nobles, religious pilgrims, road maintenance work gangs, travelling merchants, roadside beggars, all going to and from the city any of which might be the source of a random encounter. There are certainly environmental concerns as well such as earthquake, locust swarms, dust storms & sandstorms, and so forth.

For example...while travelling from the city, the PCs experience a couple of ground tremors. After a day or two they find themselves waiting in line at a place where the road cuts through a high ridge and a work gang of prison laborers are working under guard to remove rubble from the road ahead. Traffic on the road is congested due to a large number of religious pilgrims heading one way and a caravan going the other. While the PCs wait, a large earthquake hits. A bunch of the prisoners escape as do some of the caravan animals. In the middle of all the chaos, it appears that shifting sands from the earthquake unearthed an ancient structure nearby. As night falls and everyone is trying to restore order and dig out the road, something emerges from the unearthed structure...

The arrival of some undead into an already confused situation should make for a fun time for all!

[WarKitty]

They in the kind of place where encountering a magical beast breaking free would be on the table? What about a rogue construct?

You thinking just combat encounters or social ones or a mix or some other type like pursuit/evasion?

Would be possible but I might be worried about hardiness. Remember you've got a bunch of level 1 squishies, half of which are being played by people who have never played anything before 4e before. I'm looking both to have a bit of combat and a chance to show them the ropes.

The *actual* quest is going to be exploring a magic treasure cave, but they don't know that yet. I suppose once on the road some kidnappers might be in order - that was my justification for needing an armed party to begin with.

[Coidzor]

Well, a Calzone golem is something that first level characters could run into. Animated Objects up to Large could potentially be used as well. I think caryatid columns are about CR 3 as well and would fit in with the treasure cave angle.