Encounter hazards in a rich guy rec room?

[Parvum]

So I made a house-dungeon for some players, and set the concepts for all the encounters. But there was one encounter that I'm having trouble with now that it's time to decide what goes in. I suppose I could just put in more guards with weapons, but I wanted something different.

A few guards have snuck away to fool around with all of the rich guy's toys during the night watch. They're caught with their pants down and without proper backup, so they turn the rich guy's nice things into hazards and weapons. Problem is, I'm having trouble imagining what exorbitantly expensive things could be used. So far I've thought of a shooting range with a fixed weapon that could be fired on the PCs (or the NPCs...), and a mechanical bull that knocks people over. And that's all.

I want something that clever (small) unarmed guards could use to even the odds a bit, but also that the PCs could turn back on them if they had the inclination. Something interesting, and a little on the lighter side. Could I get some suggestions? We're running pathfinder, if that helps, and it's a little bit powder-punk so weird carnie gizmos are A-OK.

[hemming]

Maybe some really expensive high-proof booze they turn into improvised Molotov's (treat as alchemist fire)

Or barrels of olive oil that you treat as a grease effect

Use a piece of clothing as an improvised sling and huck billiard balls at the players - shatter glass figurines/vases etc. and treat as caltrops

There is also the good old cut the chandelier from the ceiling move (maybe the chandelier does dam, shatters and acts as a caltrop effect)

A boiling hot pot of fondu they toss in the PCs faces? Fondu skewers act as improvised daggers/throwing weapons

What about animal heads mounted on the wall (preferably with sharp horns or antlers)?

Use the covers of large serving dishes as improvised shields - flip the pool table for cover

[HammeredWharf]

What's the rich guy like? Is he a magician? A collector of Antique Evil Artifacts That Eat Your Soul And Shouldn't Be Kept in a Rec Room?

[Palanan]

Some sort of mechanical fencing partner, maybe--anything from an animated-but-stationary quintain to a mobile, autonomous fencing clank.

If it can be given simple commands by pressing a few switches, the guards could set it to guard a particular area, maybe a chokepoint between two other fixed items, and then pepper the PCs from range while the fencing automaton engages them up close.

[Slipperychicken]

Take a rotating fountain, turn its temperature up to boiling, and make it spray the PCs with insanely hot liquid?

Make animated silverware try to cut the PCs into bite-sized chunks? Same goes for animated brooms and such.

An automatic door might slam in the PCs' faces.

[Vhaidara]

An automatic door might slam on the PCs' faces.

Fixed that one for you :smalltongue:

[Parvum]

I like the molotovs- it really sends the message of desperate guards improvising. Oil barrels are nice, too, since they don't really require a lot of work to implement.


What's the rich guy like? Is he a magician? A collector of Antique Evil Artifacts That Eat Your Soul And Shouldn't Be Kept in a Rec Room?

Nah, he's a dwarf ex-paladin. He's not moustache twirling evil but he's not good enough to stay holy. His power is mostly in his money and some lingering connections. He buries himself in decadence nowadays.

[yougi]

Another interesting aspect would be to have them fight with fragile valuables (throwing ancient Min vases and crystal bottles of expensive wines). It would change the objective of the encounter from "kill" to "kill before they destroy the Lootz".