[PF] Scary Encounter Ideas

[Zeromage1]

For a campaign set in Ustalav. Maybe in the woods or a village

[Arutema]

What level will the PCs be?

[Zeromage1]

Level 2: Wizard, Witch, Cleric, Ranger, Ninja

[Sayt]

How about a Young Ghost Satyr? CR 5 means that it's appropriate for your party, it's nataure means that it's not likely to just TPK.

It floats inside trees, using it's spell-likes to divide the party, get them lost in the woods, sow paranoia, and lead off children into the woods, so that they can suffer the same fates as it did! [/Evil laugh]

[grarrrg]

For a campaign set in Ustalav. Maybe in the woods or a village

Scary encounter ideas?

"A witch appears out of the trees, you can feel the magic radiating off of her, she begins casting a spell, all of you are frozen with fear"
DM: Alright gang, reroll your characters, we'll be using straight up 3d6, keeping numbers down the line.
Players: NO!!!!!

[Tarlek Flamehai]

Scary, we might not can beat that or scary, creepy?

[Zeromage1]

Scary, we might not can beat that or scary, creepy?

creepy. maybe walking in on a cult ritual, a scarecrow following them, (maybe they keep seeing the same one in the field, etc.), some kind of ghost, i don't know. i basically need a couple of filler encounters before the party gets to the main quest.

[hemming]

A trail of bloody severed body parts in a misty wood on a full moon...

(or) the party comes into an isolated grove. Everywhere, there are rotting, fly ridden bodies hanging by nooses from the tree limbs. As the heroes approach for a closer look, the corpses begin to moan and struggle against their ropes.

(or) a sick villager meets the party on the road. He will pay them for help getting to his destination. The man is having horrible stomach pains and throwing up violently. Part way through the journey he lets out a massive howl of pain as a small green skinned creature bursts forth from his abdomen in a bloody spray

[FooBot]

Night time encounters can be very scary. The party is often not fighting fit. Whether it be because they aren't fully armored or because they haven't been able to rest and replenish spells night time encounters can be dangerous, and perhaps frightening to players.

As for creature choices, outsiders can be excellent choices.
If you party is level 2, even the lowly Dretch (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/demon/dretch) can put the party on edge, stinking cloud seperating them witht the risk of more dretch being spawned can make the fight seem hectic and rushed. As for the Dretch itself can be a shambling mound of demonic flesh if give the right description.

To me though demons hit their stride around CR 6-8, when you can pull in baddies like the Babau demon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/demon/babau) Stealthy assassins like this demon or the Nabasu Demon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/demon/nabasu) candrop darkness on the party, disorienting them and allowing these killers to pick their targets, or use their other impressive abilities to bring down party members. All of this with the ability to teleport away after cutting down a couple of players ,or if the fight is turning, can really make party members worried about what goes bump in the night.

Another decent way to surprise and perhaps make your party worry is by subverting the expected. I had a game once where the bookshelves in a library were mixed in with mimic bookshelves. By the end of the campaign the players were suspicious of just about everything. Villagers that are a group of shape changers, or damsels in distress that turn out to be a horrible trap can make members of your party very paranoid.

There is always the old fashioned undead. But zombies and ghouls have become the laughing stock of most of the horror universe so I think most corporeal undead just have a hard time making the party afraid. For the low CR encounter the Allip (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/allip) can be very frightening. The terror isn't only in the flavour either, not only is it the spectral remains of someone driven to suicide by madness, it also can lay down some wisdom damage. Stat damage in general can be frightening at the lower levels when restorative magic is at a premium. If you want to take it a step further the Shadow (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/shadow) can be very frightening to a party of adventurers. 1d6 of strength damage is nothing to scoff at, and if you bring a player down with it that player just becomes one and turns on his former friends. It is important to note that Incorporeal undead are very difficult to be rid of without magic, or magic weapons though.
These suggestions are perhaps more about frightening players who may be invested in their characters than the characters themselves, but in my experience horror style gaming rarely works well unless your players on edge. Negative energy effects, save or not have a very unique way of hurting characters and creating a level of uncertainty in a party.
"Can we go on?"
"will this night just be more of the grating attrition?"
" The fighter is down to 5 strength... do I even want to be near him?"
Generally speaking when a party is fully rested and prepared to go, it is hard for them to be afraid of anything, in my experience the best thing to do if you want to scare a party is to make it hard for them to be at 100%

[ace rooster]

Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

Goblins on a moonless night. It is dark (as in can't see your own hand dark), but they have darkvision (limited to 60ft) so don't use torches, stay in the dark, and they are very very quiet (+4 racial to move silently) :smalleek:. They will see your torches from a long way away, so the party can't use them, except as flares, but even then that will call more goblins. At dawn the goblin cleric (level 5, or some other way of making zombies) is going to cast fell animate inflict minor wounds on a VIP, so you have until then to track him down and rescue the VIP, or they will be raised as a zombie. To make matters worse, they have a level 1 ranger with a riding dog (scent and track, and a +4 racial to ride) hunting you down (give him a longbow and savvy, and make it clear to the players that if he catches up with them at night, TPK is a real possibility). Throw in an ex-NPC zombie as part of an encounter for spice, and to add to urgency.

Probably too high a level, but some ideas.

[TheGooser]

A lot of what makes a scene or situation creepy/scary is how you describe it. Players have a certain anticipation about going into dungeons, cave or forests. Mostly, I'd say it's a metasense that something is going to happen. Keep them guessing with everything. Throw a figure in the forest that shrinks behind rocks, ducks behind trees and can be heard breathing periodically. Show them their surroundings. Tell them how the air feels and tastes, how the ground feels beneath their feet. Between every decision they make, continue to add descriptors. And for the heck of it, never show them that figure. Keep it a mystery.

I've found that having an NPC accompany the party can be a great source of building tension. Have that character voice what he feels and thinks. Have him be afraid. Players often forget fear, thinking that the DM has met their CR perfectly. Keep surprising your players. 90% of D&D is the story you tell, not the amount of numbers and situational modifiers you can put in it.

Good luck, sir

[Karoht]

Hags. Witches out in the woods. Evil Druids. Lots of things usable in a woodsy setting to scare the heck out of you.


The Druid Midnight Kidnapper/s What Kidnaps At Midnight
-Druid animal companions are all ravens or hawks, used for scouting. Upon finding a camp of people in the woods, Druid also turns into a raven or hawk and flys out to investigate further.
-Upon witnessing ANYTHING anti-nature (even so much as a campfire) the Druid vows natures vengence upon the offenders.

Preparation:
Druid casts Pass Without Trace before doing any of this.
Keep Greensight on the spell list just in case.
Druid finds a bushy area near the camp (preferably 60-120ft from camp), potentially creating a pit about 10ft deep and 10ft wide using digging and Expeditious Excavation if needed. If there is a natural depression like a sinkhole, even better.
Druid also casts Spike Growth and creates a decently sized area around the pit or depression. 20ft/Level means that at level 5, thats a 100ft area, lots of ground can be covered with that. It also lasts for hours per level. It also takes Trapfinding to even detect the Spikes.

The Hit:
Druid stealths up in animal form, either hiding up in a tree or down at ground level in the form of something small. Waits until most of the camp is asleep. Round 1-The pickup. Uses Aqueous Orb, summoning it directly on a tent (anything 10ft by 10ft) and tries to pick up the inhabitants. Most things are going to fail this Reflex save, what with being unconscious, it's also a surprise round. The orb then moves 30ft away, if possible taking a path across the campfire, but in the direction of the prepared area. If this path crosses another tent, thats even better. This is likely to pick up some people, who were moments before asleep, and now are essentially in a washing machine tumbling around, heading in a direction while they have no bearing.
Round 2-Distraction time. Druid casts spark on another tent, while directing the Aqueous Orb towards the prepared area. The Orb inhabitants (formerly the tent inhabitants) take non-lethal damage during this time.
Round 3-Getaway time. Druid continues towards the prepared area, and withdraws from sight as well, hopefully while other party members wake up and do something about the tent that is on fire.
Round 4-Torture time. Druid deposits Orb in the middle of the ring of Spike Growth and remains out of sight. If possible, dismisses the Orb spell (it is a conjuration, I'm not sure they can). The pit/depression is now full of water, and two people who were moments ago asleep have now been jumbled about, and are in a secluded area. Even if they have darkvision it stops at 60ft normally, maybe 90ft, definitely not further than 120ft. Also, by this point the camp is unlikely to have a light source to pick out, and shouting a lot isn't likely to help much. If they try to leave the area they have to go through the Spike Growth (again, Trapfinding to even know where it is, and it's a high DC as well) and injure themselves.
Round 5-Watch and wait. Druid holds it's action to cast Entangle should the people from the camp start heading towards the captives. Druid watches the captives to see what they do, Animal Companion instructed to stay up in the trees and keep an eye on these guys as well. Druid does not actively try to prevent the captives from leaving, only tries to prevent help from arriving. The Druid's goal is for these people to cross the Spike Growth, hopefully headed the wrong direction from the camp, and stumble off into the woods, lost, and let nature deal with them, or have their friends find them. The idea is really here, to have them stumbling around the woods in the middle of the night where nature might take care of the lot of them. As a DM I do not advise an encounter the first night you do this.
Round 6-Druid gets bored. If the captives don't try to leave the area of Spike Growth, or if help is getting too close and Entangle isn't cutting it, use Soften Earth and Stone.

The next evening, the Druid does this again. The idea is to harass and disrupt, not to kill. However, if Nature catches up with these guys while lost and stumbling around in the woods at night, awesome.

If the Druid is discovered an encountered, the Druid should cast Summon Swarm, and retreat for the night.

The druid could even fly above the group stuck in the Spike Growth and cast Create Water on them. "It leaves the forest at dawn or else it gets the hose again."

Bonus points if you do this in a swamp.
And maybe follow up another day with an encounter VS an Aboleth, named Steve. Steve the Aboleth.
When the party is appropriate level that is.

Happy hunting.