Zodiac Encounter Help Request

[SwordChucks]

I am currently DMing a city based game of 3.5. I need help coming up with encounters
based on the signs of the zodiac and ranging from level 3 to level 10ish. Tall order I know.

The party is level 2 and contains: a human Sorc/Fighter, a human pathfinder Monk, a
half-elven ranger (twf style), a human whirling frenzy Barb/Druidic avenger, and a human
Hedge wizard (a third party caster that focuses on cantrips) that pretends to be a ranger most of the time.

With such a low Op party I'm having problems coming up with decent challenges for them.
The encounters would be the 12 leaders of a cabal, who are trying to summon their
god (Ophiuchus), either alone, paired, or supported by minions. My goal is to have these encounters be
difficult and on theme for their respective sign.

What I have so far:
Capricorn - Ibixian Warchief with Ibixian Barbarian minions

Gemini - Dvati Twin Gishes that can share buffs with each other

Virgo - A Healer (maybe a Paladin of Tyranny) riding a Nightmare

Pisces - An Assassin merfolk hiding in the cities canals

Scorpio - A spiked chain trip Fighter guarding a small room

Libra - A Cleric paired with Scorpio. Buffing Scorpio, debuffing the party, and summoning minions

Aries - Binder bound to Amon using a ring of the ram on the city's rooftops

Sagittarius - A centaur guerrilla archer in the city park with traps separating him from the party

Taurus - Good ol' minotaur in a maze

Cancer - Awakened TDC? Maybe in a room with chest high water.

Leo - A Zakya Rakshasa in a room with a bonfire that occasionally flares up, creating a blinding light

I'm not 100% sold on these so if you have a better suggestion let me know.

I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions you have for me.

[Snowbluff]

Scorpio should be stronger than that. Maybe a duskblade or warblade? At least something int based and capable of being conniving?

Side note: Drow have a scorpion version of the chain called the Drow Scorpion chain? You can give him Scorpion armor as well. Both are in the Races of Ebberon book. If you don't have it, Scorpion Armor sucks and the Scorpion Chain is 1 damage die down, slashing, and has twice the crit range (19-20) when compared to the Spiked Chain.

EDIT: Gemini can be Dvati, without the lousy HP penalty.

[SwordChucks]

Thanks!
I was going to just describe Scoripo's armor as being made of scorpion scales
and the chain as having the tip of a monstrous scorpion tail coated with contact poison. I might have to make it the scorpion chain now.

[Jeff the Green]

Sagittarius is obvious enough: a centaur archer using poisoned arrows. Consider a desert warblade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8887672&postcount=11).

[Snowbluff]

Sagittarius is obvious enough: a centaur archer using poisoned arrows. Consider a desert warblade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8887672&postcount=11).

The build has to be weak to whatever the scorpio is. Cuz. Ya know. Scorpions killed the hunter. :smalltongue:

[Jeff the Green]

The build has to be weak to whatever the scorpio is. Cuz. Ya know. Scorpions killed the hunter. :smalltongue:

Orion isn't the same as Sagittarius. Sagittarius is (in Greek mythology) associated with Chiron. In Babylonian it's associated with Nergal, and has wings and a scorpion tail in addition a horse's body.

[Snowbluff]

Orion isn't the same as Sagittarius. Sagittarius is (in Greek mythology) associated with Chiron. In Babylonian it's associated with Nergal, and has wings and a scorpion tail in addition a horse's body.

I never said it was. :smallwink:

Though it does make a case for giving more poisons to everyone...

[Jeff the Green]

I'm confused, then. Whence 'scorpions killed the hunter'?

[Snowbluff]

I'm confused, then. Whence 'scorpions killed the hunter'?
Bows and arrows, mostly.

[bookguy]

The Ibixians should be Capricorn, not Aires.

[SwordChucks]

I am having a hard time figuring out what to do with Capricorn. What encounter would get across a sea-goat feel, while preferably not being a hippocampus? Also if I swap the Ibixan, what should I use instead for Aries?

[Verditude]

Aries can be a tiefling or a binder binding Amon.

[Toy Killer]

Might I recommend changing the environment rather then the person they face?

I mean, by all means each place should have their own guardian, but I think a lot more personality is indulged by changes in the battle zone.

Scorpio could be a fight in the dark, Aries could be in a pit of chaotic fire, Leo in blistering sunlight (many ways around the dark, blinding light is more difficult) and Libra on a tilting floor based on weight of each member.

Aquarius could be under water, while Capricorn would be with surging knee deep water. Taurus with ledges and cliffs to make bull rushing applicable. Pieces with a disguise that randomly changes to other party members and a baleful Transposition kind of effect.

Cancer with narrow passages and something to build general frustration (Maze seems to be the first thing that comes to mind). Virgo being the only straight 20x20 fight. Sagittarius with something that makes spreading out valuable and ranged combat king.

I don't know, just my random thoughts on the matter.

[SwordChucks]

I like the binder suggestion. I'll throw in a ring of the ram and set him up as a lower level encounter.


Edit: Thank you Toy Killer, those are excellent suggestions and my main concern was making the fights feel like the sign they represent.

[Jeff the Green]

Aries can be a tiefling or a binder binding Amon.

Alternatively, a corrupted bariaur or cervidal (which should strictly speaking be a deer, but are a goat/sheep-like thing).

[blelliot]

Could use scorpionfolk for scorpio. Could still use a gish class with the spiked chain

[Baroknik]

My thoughts for basic encounters dealing with the zodiac:

1) Aries -- I like an Ibixian for Aries, though a Satyr wouldn't be out of the question if you are going for a goat-themed boss, especially if you are saving the Ibixians for Capricorn. That part is interchangeable. I like the ring of the bull on top of cities for it.

2) Taurus -- I agree with the concept of the minotaur, makes it pretty straightforward. Though I'd probably spice the maze up with plenty of traps that the bull-man knows how to avoid.

3) Gemini -- Dvati sound good, though I like the idea of building them differently (kind of a yin and a yang idea). Keeping both gishes is fine, but if it's not a high-op group you could go for a flavor combination too. Something like having one be a daggerspell mage and the other a daggerspell shaper could be fun... Or just make both swiftblades and watch the party cry about not getting any turns.

4) Cancer -- Fighter with Dragonscale Husk ACF. Make it some sort of Aquatic race and place him in an environment where it would be very difficult for the PC's to reach while wearing heavy armor, then fill the room with attack roll-based traps. Have him grappling if you want some crab flavor -- there are some claws in Sandstorm that he can use as his weapons that would simulate crab claws. Or bring back the Mancatcher.

5) Leo -- Most powerful lion-types are kind of good aligned, but that doesn't mean that it is impossible (in your world) for a corrupted Lional to exist. If you don't want to flavor a guardinal as evil, you could always just go with the three-headed standby -- the chimera.

6) Virgo -- Depends on how you want to play it. Could always play an anti-virgin and make it a succubus or even a human female bard with a incubus as a consort/cohort.

7) Libra -- I like the idea of Libra being just a challenge/puzzle personally, make the players give up something of great value (even if it is a MacGuffin you give them just for this purpose that is awesomely powerful for them to use... but they fail if they keep it) in order to balance out the scales. Alternatively, making it a powerful devil would be interesting -- they are all about making a deal, and if the players don't do well with their bargain, they find the scales tip poorly in their favor.
Actually, that makes me think that it could be fun to have it be a Riddler-esque devil...

8) Scorpio -- Scorpion Heritor from Sandstorm in a dusty chamber. Make it a room slowly filling with sand and make him a asherati to really make it suck.

9) Sagittarius -- Centaur archer, pretty straightforward one.

10) Capricorn -- Satyr fits here better than Ibixian in my opinion, as Capricorn is often associated with Pan. You can go with the Pan-like guy (bard/enchanter/beguiler) or you could go any other route. If you want to incorporate both the goat and the water maybe make it environmentally tied to water -- something like a waterfall and give the guy some form of slowfall/waterbreathing so he can try and make an escape or move the venue of the fight from a cliff down into the water.

11) Aquarius -- Sea hag, elemental savant (water), or a sea witch are the most thematic to me. You could also go with a green hag that has moved into the cities water supply and is fouling it all up (make her a blighter even if you want). She is the "water-bearer" but also the "water-keeper" as she sees fit.

12) Pisces -- Merfolk fits for race, as does Kuo-Toa, depending on how you want it to work. If you want any group fights sahuagin seem like a possibility to me, that blood frenzy iterative probability would mean that just one leveled one surrounded by a bunch of normal ones gets scary once they start foaming at the mouth...

[Jeff the Green]

My thoughts for basic encounters dealing with the zodiac:

1) Aries -- I like an Ibixian for Aries, though a Satyr wouldn't be out of the question if you are going for a goat-themed boss, especially if you are saving the Ibixians for Capricorn. That part is interchangeable. I like the ring of the bull on top of cities for it.

Note that Aries is the Ram, while Capricorn is the Goat. Hence the bariaur suggestion.

[supervillan]

I've run a dungeon with a zodiac theme before.

Here's the main theme encounters:

Aries: "Lord of Battle" - a fighter under the effect of Spell Resistance, with assorted lower level fighter mooks. The (high) Spell Resistance encourages the party to meet the foe "in battle". The Lord of Battle wears a horned helmet in the style of a ram and has a similar design on his shield.

Taurus: a couple of Gorgons with a sorceress debuffing and blasting the party.

Gemini: twin wind giants. Roughly the size and power of hill giants but with the ability to form a whirlwind like a large air elemental.

Cancer. Giant crab, in a sand filled room.

Leo: 4 fire resistant Griffons in a room with a blinding "sun" orb that puts out extreme heat.

Virgo: a high level druid with mooks trying to sacrifice a virgin offering to his dark god.

Libra: pivoting floor trap. Triggering the trap drops you into a room below, which has unpleasant and aggressive large monsters in it. I used a couple of dinosaurs.

Scorpio: giant scorpion (not too original, I know).

Sagittarius: centaur archers, naturally.

Capricorn: This was a potential end point for the dungeon. Taking the wrong course of action in this temple-room would summon Orcus.

Aquarius: trap room - fills with water.

Pisces: water filled room, 2 giant sharks.


I don't suppose you'd be wanting to summon Orcus. And your game isn't in a dungeon setting. But I thought I'd share. I've run this particular dungeon a couple of times. The first time it wiped the party. The second party to attempt it won through, but lost several party members along the way. I ran it at around level 7-8 both times, with large parties, and it's very scaleable. It's actually pretty difficult to find yourself summoning Orcus, it didn't happen in either playthrough, but recognising the possibility does give the players a fright :smallbiggrin:

[Telonius]

About halfway down this (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a) page should be your go-to for the Cancer sign. (Note that the Challenge Rating should be much higher than it is).

[Baroknik]

Note that Aries is the Ram, while Capricorn is the Goat. Hence the bariaur suggestion.

I actually had meant bariaur (in my head anyway) for Aries. Satyr I like better than Ibixian for Capricorn too, so those are my votes for both of them. I may actually make some builds just for funsies based on these ideas. (Though mainly I just want to make a scorpion heritor asherati that has a room with 5 feet of dust for him to swim in).

[SwordChucks]

I think I have Leo now. A Zakya Rakshasa (pg 297 ebcs) refluffed as a lion instead of a tiger.

[Baroknik]

I like using the refluffed rakshasa for Leo, though you may want to consider altering some of its abilities, as lions aren't generally tied to deception. Going with a higher STR bonus rather than CHA may make sense. Also consider dropping some of the sorcerer levels in favor of pounce, possibly (since it is a big part of lions).
A were-lion could always work too.

[Valwyn]

Standstorm has a few scorpion-themed items and feats in addition to the Scorpion Heritor class (mostly for rogues). Scorpion claws give +4 avoid being disarmed and to grapple checks and can deal slashing damage with a successful check. Scorpion tail whip isn't very good, though. Only deals lethal damage on a crit, even if you can deliver a dose of poison when it happens. Scorpion Caparace armor enhancement gives two feats for free: Scorpion's Resolve (+4 vs mind-affecting) and Scorpion's Sense (tremorsense out to 10 ft or 20 ft if the ground is covered in an inch of ash/dust/dirt/sand).

The feat Scorpion's Grasp lets you grapple your opponent if you successfully hit him with an unarmed strike or light weapon. I think it also works as Improved Grab. There's also Scorpion's Instincts, but I don't think it's what you're looking for. You get bonuses to Hide and reduce the distance at which you can be detected by Scent. I guess it could help if you want Scorpio to be sneaky, but other than that...