Jungle encounters

[Afrodactyl]

Hello Playground. I'm writing up a 'Road to El Dorado' style campaign, which unfortunately is going to include a rather lengthy jungle section as they go from point to point on a map. So far, as far as encounters go, I've got;

1. Night time hunting cat ambush (during the groups first long rest after washing ashore, using reskinned hyenas and lions, the noise of which attracts a giant crocodile)

2. The Hobbit/Mirkwood style getting lost/hallucinations/giant spiders encounter

3. An encounter with the natives who guard the way to the last map point (they will either guide the party, or attack them, depending on how well the party parlay with them)

4. A meeting with a young green dragon, who resides at the last map point, and is the only living creature who knows the actual location to the city of gold. He will tell the party how to get there, and then turn on them at the end of the campaign if they choose to take any gold of any kind (they definitely will).

I'm looking for another 3-4 encounters to fill out the jungle area. The party will be four level four characters for the jungle sections.

Can anybody lend any ideas?


***************
Edit with all the definites;

5. River crossing (acrobatics/athletics checks, if they fail they fall in and are attacked by 'leeches' which are swim speed stirges. If they fail to get out of the river, I'll draw up a behemoth toad non combat encounter for the lagoon they eventually wash up in)

6. King Kong/Giant Ape fighting a wyvern. Party can either parlay or attack the winner.

7. Loose footing on a narrow pass. Again, athletics or acrobatics checks, failure means you fall, failure to pull yourself up (or be pulled up) means the PC falls into the ravine and is beset by giant centipedes and other creepy crawlies.

The maybes include bullywug attacks, quicksand encounters and more wildlife attacking in the middle of the night.

All of the fluff/theme ideas will be included as best as I can include them.

Thanks everyone!

[Razuchee]

How about a King Kong-esque encounter? A Giant Ape is admittedly pretty strong with CR 7, But he could come out on top of another fight before encountering the Party. They could maybe also be able to persuade the Ape not to attack them.

Caverns full of Oozes are another idea, depending on how much you let them go astray.

[Contrast]

You natives could be bullywugs if you want to spice things up a bit.

Could have some will-o-wisps lure/attack them in some sort of difficult terrain (quicksand/swamp/river crossing).

A swarm of bats/giant bats could either attack while the party seeks refuge in a cave or emerge at night.

A grove of dryads could resent the intrusion or have a quest or request to complete.

[Afrodactyl]

Thanks for the feedback!

******
Edit, because I dropped my phone and it submitted it after it hit the floor.

Will definitely use the giant ape encounter, and I might do a will 'o wisp/shambling mind combo.

I'll be saving the oozes for the labyrinth section before the city of gold.

[hymer]

If you're interested in encounters that aren't combat, then plenty of options present themselves: Crossing a river (possibly swinging across Tarzan style for some). Leeches. Poisonous plant thorns. Heat and humidity rise to dangerous levels. A swarm of mosquitoes (possibly carrying disease). The damp gets into the food and it goes bad. A monkey tries to steal something from camp. A festering, swampy area, where the water is dangerous to drink. A cliff that must be traversed. Mud (Hollywood sucking style or mudslide). Clothes or equipment breaking, tearing or corroding.

[Afrodactyl]

If you're interested in encounters that aren't combat, then plenty of options present themselves: Crossing a river (possibly swinging across Tarzan style for some). Leeches. Poisonous plant thorns. Heat and humidity rise to dangerous levels. A swarm of mosquitoes (possibly carrying disease). The damp gets into the food and it goes bad. A monkey tries to steal something from camp. A festering, swampy area, where the water is dangerous to drink. A cliff that must be traversed. Mud (Hollywood sucking style or mudslide). Clothes or equipment breaking, tearing or corroding.

I'll use the river crossing (possibly using stirges with a swim speed to attack those who fall in), and might give the quicksand/mud scenario a go.

Thoughts on how to use heat related exhaustion as an ongoing thing without it being too crippling?

[N810]

Dinosaurs,
you need more dinosaurs.

[Afrodactyl]

Dinosaurs,
you need more dinosaurs.

I was debating dinosaurs. But I might save them for a Jurassic park style campaign. They're definitely on the cards though.

[JellyPooga]

Lizardfolk, Bugs, Troglodytes, Tiny Bugs, Pygmies (aka savage Halflings), Goblins, Big Bugs, Conquistad-Orcs also looking for the same city of gold, Giant Bugs, Yuan-ti, Enormous Bugs, Escaped Slaves trying to escape the jungle, Annoying Bugs, Giant Man-Eating Plants, Bugs in Your Hair, Small Boot-Eating Plants, Deadly Bugs, Miniscule Mind-altering Plants, Bugs in Your Bedroll, Recreational (but addictive) Plants, Ye Gods Not More Bugs, Mind-Flayers, Why Look Another Bug, Dwarf Settlers, Sigh...Bugs Again, a Frog(hemoth), Seriously What's With All The Bugs? Bugs at Night, Bugs in the Day, Bugs for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs, Lovely Buuuugs, Wonderful Buuuugs.....

[Logosloki]

A meeting with a group of five bards which consists of an orator, a percussionist, and three bard with stringed instruments that look similar but produce different sounds. They begin by composing a song to welcome the party to their little gathering.

[hymer]

Thoughts on how to use heat related exhaustion as an ongoing thing without it being too crippling?

Depends somewhat on what you want to accomplish and how intricate you want it to be. If you want, you can turn it into part of the resource management. If they have limited time or food, then letting them have no risk of exhaustion while resting could make it interesting. They can wait and rest, keeping the exhaustion from becoming too much, but they must also hurry, so there's some tension and a need to weigh one against the other.
And you can have areas of high altitude or with a relatively cool river that they can seek out or will encounter on the way. Maybe recovery from heat-related exhaustion is faster here.

[Afrodactyl]

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Buuuugs, Buuuugs.....

So.... bugs?

In all seriousness, I hadn't actually considered bugs for some reason. I might do a King Kong style bug-canyon.

I also love the conquistadorcs idea.


Depends somewhat on what you want to accomplish and how intricate you want it to be. If you want, you can turn it into part of the resource management. If they have limited time or food, then letting them have no risk of exhaustion while resting could make it interesting. They can wait and rest, keeping the exhaustion from becoming too much, but they must also hurry, so there's some tension and a need to weigh one against the other.
And you can have areas of high altitude or with a relatively cool river that they can seek out or will encounter on the way. Maybe recovery from heat-related exhaustion is faster here.

Thanks for the input. I might go with the exhaustion table, but modified to be a bit less debilitating, with things like removing modifiers to hit, fewer spell slots, etc.

[JellyPooga]

So.... bugs?

When I was in the Amazon earlier this year, it was bugs, bugs and more bugs, with the occasional bird, lizard, frog and monkey, but mostly bugs. Jungle = Bugs IMO. Even if you don't make an encounter of them, stress just how much the bugs infest everything in that environment; it's a good setting feature to describe because the players won't know which ones are supposed to be encounters and which are just set-dressing.

[Afrodactyl]

When I was in the Amazon earlier this year, it was bugs, bugs and more bugs, with the occasional bird, lizard, frog and monkey, but mostly bugs. Jungle = Bugs IMO. Even if you don't make an encounter of them, stress just how much the bugs infest everything in that environment; it's a good setting feature to describe because the players won't know which ones are supposed to be encounters and which are just set-dressing.

I'll definitely bear that in mind for fluffing up my environment, even if I don't use it for an encounter. Thanks!

[Sparkle_Lord]

3. An encounter with the natives who guard the way to the last map point (they will either guide the party, or attack them, depending on how well the party parlay with them)


I really like this one. It sounds memorable and plays heavily on player decisions.
Maybe you could add encounters leading up to this point that affect this decision?

Something like, they find a shrine adorned with a small amount of gold. Fresh fruit has been left as an offering, so it seems locals have been here recently.
If they loot it, nothing happens that is until they meet the natives....

[Afrodactyl]

I really like this one. It sounds memorable and plays heavily on player decisions.
Maybe you could add encounters leading up to this point that affect this decision?

Something like, they find a shrine adorned with a small amount of gold. Fresh fruit has been left as an offering, so it seems locals have been here recently.
If they loot it, nothing happens that is until they meet the natives....

I like the shrine/altar idea. I was going to have a load (like, 20+, way too many to properly fight) of tribal warriors and thugs led by a gladiator (with added pack tactics) confront them in the jungle. The tribals then attack if the party can't justify why they are trespassing on their land. This will of course be made harder because the tribals don't speak common, or any other phb language, and the PCs will have to use their body language to get their point across (or show them the map or say the name of the lost city, but I'm not telling them that).

I will definitely incorporate the shrine idea, even if only to lure them into the encounter.

[Razuchee]

A note on foreign climate: How about parasite infested water? Drink before cooking it, const save, bam parasites.

[Afrodactyl]

A note on foreign climate: How about parasite infested water? Drink before cooking it, const save, bam parasites.

I'll include this sort of thing if I decide to go resource management heavy with the rest of the campaign. Thanks!

[MrFahrenheit]

Aside from bugs and the like as mentioned by others, how hostile is the jungle? Is the party just dealing with NPC tribes and other sapient baddies because the party just so happens to be in their territory (think insular Amazon tribes), or is there an acknowledged foe throughout the area (think Viet Cong)?

If the former, then the party will do combat with appropriate monster types per tribe - perhaps one medium to difficult encounter each.

If the latter, thanks to bounded accuracy, you can have groups of goblins and similarly low-level enemies constantly engaging in hit-and-run attacks, with an expansive, well-trapped tunnel network underground for quick escapes.

[JellyPooga]

A note on foreign climate: How about parasite infested water? Drink before cooking it, const save, bam parasites.

Aka: microscopic bugs :smalltongue:

[Afrodactyl]

Aside from bugs and the like as mentioned by others, how hostile is the jungle? Is the party just dealing with NPC tribes and other sapient baddies because the party just so happens to be in their territory (think insular Amazon tribes), or is there an acknowledged foe throughout the area (think Viet Cong)?

If the former, then the party will do combat with appropriate monster types per tribe - perhaps one medium to difficult encounter each.

If the latter, thanks to bounded accuracy, you can have groups of goblins and similarly low-level enemies constantly engaging in hit-and-run attacks, with an expansive, well-trapped tunnel network underground for quick escapes.

The majority of the combat encounters for the jungle section are going to be the wildlife; packs of hunting cats, spiders, giant crocodiles, etc

The encounters with the locals are going to start as non combat, but with combat options should the party be hostile/screw up.

I do have plans for the natives to harass the group later on in the campaign if they become enemies though.

[Vogonjeltz]

The majority of the combat encounters for the jungle section are going to be the wildlife; packs of hunting cats, spiders, giant crocodiles, etc

The encounters with the locals are going to start as non combat, but with combat options should the party be hostile/screw up.

I do have plans for the natives to harass the group later on in the campaign if they become enemies though.

Seems like there would be giant poisonous or constrictor snakes, hippos or piranhas in the river, panthers at night, maybe a tiger, gorillas or other apes which may or may not take the party to be challengers for dominance or territory.

Existential threats would be getting hopelessly lost, disease from mosquitoes, dehydration or starvation from a lack of good supplies, quicksand.

[Razuchee]

Aka: microscopic bugs :smalltongue:

They are more than simple Bugs, they are a horror, specifically evolved to enter your body the nastiest way possible and let you suffer while they eat you inside out. Their number is legion and their name is death.

@Afrodactyl: What is the level range/progression you inted to play this campaign with? Because in my experience players get bored by too many beasts.

[MrFahrenheit]

What level is the party? At lower levels, food/drink (read: "hunting adventures!") is an issue. Not so much as they level and get those darn create spells. Of course, if there's a Druid in the party, goodberry will neuter this aspect, too.

[BW022]

I like non-combat encounters... or at least those which the characters might be able to avoid.

Ideas...

* River crossing with some type of creature (lizardmen, kobolts, nixie, etc.) who want to be paid for their boat.
* Heavy rain/flash flood.
* Swarm of fruit bats at sunset which just make a ton of noise, get all over the PCs, block vision, etc.
* The PCs step between a couple of giant elk who are rutting.
* Army ants (players need a lot of torches, fire, spells, to make it across their path)
* Treant who wants the PCs to climb up a tree and get rid of grubs/insects
* Druid (in animal form) pretending to be injured to see if the party would try to help animals. Leaves a reward in their camp.
* A night, have a pair of pheasants fighting outside the player's camp in the dark. Have the guard role for initiative, possibly wake everyone, etc. and then the pheasants just fly away.
* A series of old humanoid skulls hanging from vines on tree.
* A group of tiny monkeys who beg for food and steal things around camp.
* A dense area with no real landmarks and sun not visible above. Survival checks to keep their direction.

Add descriptions, vary the terrain, include weather, sounds, maybe some pictures, etc. and you can give a good sense of the trip over a couple of hours of game play. Combat encounters tend to take a lot of time. They can become counter-productive on trips and they tend not to advance plot and often take away from game play. When the players take the trip back... it really takes up time if you run the same number of (combat) encounters, and/or is really anti-climatic if nothing happens on the way back.

[Afrodactyl]

@Afrodactyl: What is the level range/progression you inted to play this campaign with? Because in my experience players get bored by too many beasts.

We're not doing a standard exp system, instead levels are story progression based. The party will hit level four as they wash up on the beach, and hit level six by the end of the jungle section.

To everyone else; thank you all so much for all of the ideas, you've all been a massive help.

OP edited to include all the definites :)

Thanks everyone

[MrFahrenheit]

We're not doing a standard exp system, instead levels are story progression based. The party will hit level four as they wash up on the beach, and hit level six by the end of the jungle section.

To everyone else; thank you all so much for all of the ideas, you've all been a massive help.

OP edited to include all the definites :)

Thanks everyone

Is there a Druid in the party? If yes, you don't have to worry about basic survival stuff. If no, then Create food and water comes online at level five...but it uses that latest (third level) slot. Which could've been used by a cleric to cast sprit guardians in combat. Purify food/drink would be most logical (since they're in a place teeming with life, and not the desert$. Purify is also level one. But in an area where swarming bugs crawl all over you, how restful are the PCs' rests in actuality?

[Afrodactyl]

Is there a Druid in the party? If yes, you don't have to worry about basic survival stuff. If no, then Create food and water comes online at level five...but it uses that latest (third level) slot. Which could've been used by a cleric to cast sprit guardians in combat. Purify food/drink would be most logical (since they're in a place teeming with life, and not the desert$. Purify is also level one. But in an area where swarming bugs crawl all over you, how restful are the PCs' rests in actuality?

There is a druid in the party, and an outlander ranger with a high survival skill, but my group doesn't generally take goodberry. But lll let them use survival and nature checks to determine what plants and fruits aren't going to poison them.

I'm going to include the bugs as part of the 'watch system' I've thrown together. So if the party rests for eight hours, the party divides the rest period evenly between them and each takes a stint on watch. Then there's perception checks to see if there's anything lurking in the dark (which I roll for separately, so I know when there is and isn't, and when they're going to attack/engage). I'll use the bugs as a 'you get a feeling in your gut that something is wrong, something's out there. Oh wait, it's just a huge woodlouse crawling up your back' kind of thing.

[The Shadowdove]

Tiger people protectors of ruins in the forest who don't speak common.
They wield strange magic in gems that they pass down reverently among themselves, using it to subdue intruders.
They kill those who would impede upon their secrets with selfish and malicious intent, but release those who have wandered unintentionally into their domain without discovering any of the secrets about thwir mysterious charge.

[wilhelmdubdub]

Hello Playground. I'm writing up a 'Road to El Dorado' style campaign, which unfortunately is going to include a rather lengthy jungle section as they go from point to point on a map. So far, as far as encounters go, I've got;

1. Night time hunting cat ambush (during the groups first long rest after washing ashore, using reskinned hyenas and lions, the noise of which attracts a giant crocodile)

2. The Hobbit/Mirkwood style getting lost/hallucinations/giant spiders encounter

3. An encounter with the natives who guard the way to the last map point (they will either guide the party, or attack them, depending on how well the party parlay with them)

4. A meeting with a young green dragon, who resides at the last map point, and is the only living creature who knows the actual location to the city of gold. He will tell the party how to get there, and then turn on them at the end of the campaign if they choose to take any gold of any kind (they definitely will).

I'm looking for another 3-4 encounters to fill out the jungle area. The party will be four level four characters for the jungle sections.

Can anybody lend any ideas?


***************
Edit with all the definites;

5. River crossing (acrobatics/athletics checks, if they fail they fall in and are attacked by 'leeches' which are swim speed stirges. If they fail to get out of the river, I'll draw up a behemoth toad non combat encounter for the lagoon they eventually wash up in)

6. King Kong/Giant Ape fighting a wyvern. Party can either parlay or attack the winner.

7. Loose footing on a narrow pass. Again, athletics or acrobatics checks, failure means you fall, failure to pull yourself up (or be pulled up) means the PC falls into the ravine and is beset by giant centipedes and other creepy crawlies.

The maybes include bullywug attacks, quicksand encounters and more wildlife attacking in the middle of the night.

All of the fluff/theme ideas will be included as best as I can include them.

Thanks everyone!

I thought next time for a jungle/forest I would have a valley section they they have to climb down a ravine, and it would be dangerous and become low light to dark during the day. At the bottom there are ambushers. I thought goblins but it depends on what is in your environment that would use that kind of advantage. They can be hiding in the dark or hurl down rocks.

[Scaleybob]

A few ideas - Giant Ape is always good - I had a sequence in the last campaign I ran set on the Isle of Dread, and ended up having a very memorable 3 way fight between the party, a Giant Ape and several Tyrannosaurus Rex. They were highish level, but it did allow me to have the Ape to pick up and throw T-Rexs at both members of the party, and other T-Rexs. I also had an Orcish Big Game Hunter taking pot shots at everything as well, until the PCs drove him off.

Giant, and Non Giant Snakes, and maybe Yuan-Ti.

A Moderate Sized River needing crossing. Without a Ferry there to help. Getting across a river without magic can be quite a challenge, and can produce some interesting ideas from players. If it's too swift to easily swim that can make it all the more interesting. Do a quick google about survival techniques to see how a group working together can make river crossing easyish.

Leaches. They get in everywhere. If you're really mean, those unpleasant micro fish that swim up into your private parts and lay eggs.

Lost Explorers. Give them Pith Helmets and English Accents.

If you really want to make the players life miserable, go watch Apocalypse Now, or read Heart of Darkness, and take inspiration from that. There was a very, very good Runequest adventure in the magazine Tales of the Reaching Moon called 'Hut of Darkness' that took very direct inspiration from both.

Cave People. Don't make them human. Have cave dwellers who are primitive dwarves, or elves or take a leaf from Dark Sun and use Halflings. On the Isle of Dread, I used Eladrin, who talked in classic 'oogaa, boogaa, BOOGAA!' type speach, that didn't respond to any type of communication magic. Eventually the PCs realised that the Eladrin were speaking nonsense, and eventually discovered that the Eladrin were in fact a group go-backs from Eladrin society, who talked like that in order to 'free communication from the tyranny of language'. It was a slightly odd campaign at times.:smalltongue: