Suggestions for nature-themed battles/encounters

[GybeMark]

Long timer reader, first time poster...

I'm putting together the next adventure for my Pathfinder group. The last few adventures were underground/urban/etc so I'd like this one to have a real outdoorsy look-and-feel. Think "Green" from "Magic: The Gathering" or "This place has been touched by the Feywild" kind of feel.

I'm looking for for thematic ideas to help flesh out the setting. What has worked for you in the past?

A few ideas I've lifted off various forum posts:
- maybe the PCs have to fight (or otherwise deal with) a druid?
- vines that entangle the PCs (possibly at the command of an opponent)?
- satyrs?
- some kind of nature based difficult terrain (rope bridge across a ravine made of living sentient vines that are trying to shake the PCs off)

I'm aiming for 3 encounters (combat or otherwise). I'm also planning on littering the play area with underbrush, fallen trees, and rocky outcrops (twigs, cuttings from the front lawn, and gravel from the side of the road)

Again, what has (or has not) been interesting at your gaming table? What's really added to the "feel" in your games? Should I put on one of those "sounds of the rainforest" CDs in the background? What kind of monsters do YOU think best fit the scenario?

Thanks for any suggestions!

PS - The party consist of five 3rd level characters.

[Yora]

A lot depends on the story reasons the PCs are going into the area and what kind of destination they are heading to. Unless it's a basic "collect treasure" dungeon crawl.

If you want to do a lot with plants and animals, there should be at least some enemies or monsters that can cast entangle, which is both thematically fitting and can make quite a difference in a fight, especially if it's in an open space where it does not fill every point the characters could be standing.
Similar, look at the wall of thorns spell. That thing is actually quite nasty as a barrier.

I also recommend very much looking at the kami from Bestiary 3 and the SRD. I think that Kodama have almost exactly the stats and abilities for a spriggan (http://hydra-images.cursecdn.com/skyrim.gamepedia.com/thumb/6/6f/Spriggan.png/200px-Spriggan.png), which I think is the ultimate "hostile nature" spirit in western myth. Just make them large size and you're golden. If the characters are of a higher level, you can also increase their Hit Dice or give them levels in Oracle with the Nature mystery.
If the characters are high level, you can also have them deal with a toshigami (http://www.goddessfantasy.net/bbs/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=53048.0;attach=220 32;image), and if they are really high level, even a jinushigami (http://i.imgur.com/UR0srX7.png). They are all in the SRD under "Kami".

Linnorms are also cool nature monsters, but the smallest of them are CR 14 with most of them a lot more powerful.

[GybeMark]

Love it, Yora! The art for the spriggan captures exactly what I was going for.

The set up was originally a pretty typical fetch quest, but after reading about the toshigami I think I might try to work in the PCs visiting a friendly toshigami who tasks the PCs to rid the area of a spriggan infestation (or something along those lines). I totally agree that wall of thorns fits perfectly with the theme.

Many thanks!