[3.5] Low-level Desert Encounters

[Fynzmirs]

Just as in the title, give me your ideas for desert encounters (or very short story arcs) to fill the game while travelling/waiting for more important arcs to resolve.


Level 1-5.


Any feedback appreciated!

[Uncle Pine]

The inhabitants of a small oasis halfway between two villages have mysteriously disappeared and the remains of their tents now lie scattered and destroyed - while the suspects may fall on a band of thri-kreen marauders who have been increasingly active in the area, a rogue pile of awakened (black?) sand (CR 5ish) is to blame.

A band of thri-kreen marauders.

Any of the classic bandit situations, but they're all desert-dwelling halflings (or asherati if you don't like the idea). If the PCs decide to investigate their operations, they may end up dealing with their chief, a 6th-level barbarian/ranger/ashworm dragoon 1 with Mounted Fury (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031125a).

One of the ecology articles in one of the Dragon Magazines details an interesting khaki-coloured variant of rust monsters that turns metal into sand instead. A particularly exotic breeder or hunter may hire the party to locate and capture one.

[Malphegor]

A patch of dark sand, tainted by necromantic magics, surrounds a battered black obelisk, which has a necromantic aura near it. If visited at twilight, perhaps a minor necromancer with an assemblage of 3 zombies is in deep meditation near it, and will not be hostile unless attacked.

A mirage of a city made of gold in the distance appears, and if the players chase after it, they can traverse into the plane of Dream itself for a time, and enter the Gilded City, where they are given many wonders and treasures by the welcoming, if perhaps too jovial citizens. Attempting, even considering to leave will cause all things gained in the gilded city to disappear, and they will wake up in the desert, refreshed as if they had a good night’s rest with every amenity they require... And each have a gold coin with the words “thank you for your dreams
and aspirations” stamped on one side.

A strange contraption is found half buried in sand. Some sort of abandoned construct, roughly humanoid. It is holding a skull. If someone with craft construct tinkers with it, they will find an account scratched into its hollow innards of an ancient being who made a piloteable construct one could ride inside, but he was lost in the desert.

[Falontani]

Adventurers are roaming the desert and a sandstorm comes up on them. They enter into a building that was buried for refuge, only to find kobold skeletons and ashen husks guarding the area. The small 5 room dungeon culminates with a mummified swarm shifter kobold cleric who was attempting a dark ritual to create a dracolich out of a young adult sand Dragon. After completion the Dragon awards the party before digging straight out giving the party an easy exit. There should be a decent number of weak mechanical traps, the weak mobs are only there to deplete resources for the final boss fight which could create traps out of shape sand, and using swarm shifter, literally become sand for a little while. (Make all the sand that he uses become black sand while he's controlling it for added flavour and danger).

Mummified, swarm shifter: libris mortis
Mechanical traps: dmg, dungeonscape, stronghold builder's guide
Desert Kobold: unearthed arcana
The rest is from sandstorm

[Zaq]

Two druids (or small enclaves of druids) are in conflict with each other. One side has created and maintained an artificial oasis and a garden of things not normally found in the desert—things that provide welcome relief like shade trees, fruits and vegetables that are hard to come by, etc. The other side believes that bringing such things into the desert is an affront to the natural order of the desert, and they’re constantly trying to destroy this very welcome island of relief. You might even have the party encounter this second (anti-garden) side first and see if you can make them sympathetic.
An unfortunate member of a group of stealthy nomads has been cursed to become easy to track. He can’t seem to hide his trail no matter what he does, and even the winds blowing across the sand only seem to highlight rather than obscure the tracks he leaves behind. His group has expelled him for being a liability. How has he survived? You tell me. Maybe he’s had to become very aggressive and tried to build up an intimidating “don’t come find me or I’ll kill you without a thought” reputation, or maybe he’s a pathetic figure constantly on the run and fearful of everything, barely eking out a meager living. Still seems like something interesting for PCs. Maybe they need to break his curse, or maybe they need to kill him, or maybe they need to help him find a way of life where his curse isn’t such a danger (perhaps in an actual city, which he’d find really weird).
A large oasis previously relied upon by travelers has become haunted by a small ghost ship. (Yes, an oasis usually isn’t big enough for a ship. That’s part of the intrigue. It’s MEANT to be weird.) The ghostly captain still thinks she’s on the open ocean and can’t seem to perceive or understand that she’s in a very different environment, but she’s nonetheless terrorizing those who get too close. Maybe she’s a stereotypical pirate, or maybe she perceives everyone else as a threatening pirate who must be driven away on sight. How did she get there? Does she need to be defeated, released, or reasoned with? She can’t seem to leave the ship and the ship can’t leave the water, making her a local problem, but she’s still a problem.
A settlement relies on a life-giving river (obvious Nile analogue), but something’s gone weird this year, and now the people are divided about it. Half the population is ecstatic over the fact that the waters have been unusually pure and the floods have allowed nearly a double harvest of the usual crops: surely they must have earned the favor of the gods! The other half of the population is freaked the hell out over the fact that the river is now flowing backwards.

[Arcanist]

A mysteriously polite and friendly merchant and their bodyguards offers the party shelter from an equally mysterious sandstorm. The merchant offers the convenience of an oasis, food, water, and trade for items at competitive prices..

This merchant is in reality a Mirage Mullah (page 177 Sandstorm) attempting to get the party into sharing in their curse. Either by force of arms or simple misdirection, the Mirage Mullah seeks company of any kind. If the party can find a peaceful solution, the Mirage Mullah can serve as a contact for the party to buy, sell, and trade any of their merchandise they find while adventuring. Alternatively, if they choose to kill the Mirage Mullah and escape, they can steal their stuff.

[Troacctid]

Asherati bandits attack the party, bursting out from under the sand to ambush them.

A monstrous scorpion stands over a desiccated corpse whose pack looks to hold valuable treasures.

The party encounters an isolated temple to the river god Tem-Et-Nu. All the priests and acolytes have mysteriously died. Who or what is the culprit? Investigation leads the players towards the main plot of the campaign. Also, they fight a hippopotamus.

The party stumbles upon an ancient ziggurat. Inside is a huge block of stone with a single enormous horn poking out of it. Little do they know that this is the site where Zargon, an elder evil, is imprisoned. Maybe there are some cultists (or corrupted wildlife) for them to fight and it segues into a whole arc.

[Fynzmirs]

Thank you all for input, I particularly like the idea of this Mirage Mullah merchant, love the flavour of this creature :)

[The Kool]

If you'd like something straight out of the SRD, you can have a group of bandits mob the party, but they're not super invested in the fight. One of them slips away and runs, begging for mercy if cornered. Paranoia has gripped the bandits recently after they stole an egg from the clutch of a blue dragon, and their potential buyer didn't show. The party may choose to keep the egg... That could lead into some interesting options, such as a Dragon Familiar, Cohort, or other companion if you and your players want to go that route. It may also lead to complications, as they attempt to tame it and eventually unwittingly attract the attention of the mother (higher level callback plot hook?). Or they could seek out the mother in the first place. Not only will they have to navigate her lair, but when they do encounter her they have a high-stakes high-tension discussion with the mother. Thankfully she's not interested in blasting them, she already knows they're not the ones who took the egg and is thankful they brought it back. As long as no one attempts suicide-by-dragon (a thing I've had players do) they'll even be rewarded. If you want to flesh this out into multiple sessions, you can expand on the dragon's lair, the bandit camp, and the travel between the two. The biggest way to draw it out though would be to draw out the bandit encounters over more than just one ambush, play this up anyway you like as long as the end result is the players staring at the dragon egg that the bandits had, knowing they stole it.

[Vizzerdrix]

A gang of barbarians that got turned into camels by a vengeful witch still seek glory and combat.

A village needs help keeping their dottering old shaman focused on the job of controlling a vast quantity of shapesand. A bridge over a chasim or an important building. Hyjinks ensue.