Ridiculous Encounters [3.5]

[Thundrpigeon]

So I have recently started DMing my first campaign, which also happens to be the first gestalt campaign that any of my group have ever run. We also have 6 people including me, so I've found that making encounters for them is a challenge in itself. Instead of just adding more of another monster or fudging the stats a little, I've found that I've had to think so far out of the box to come up with challenging ideas that I sometimes wonder if what I'm doing is worth my time or if my ideas are even possible to work into the campaign let alone being a reasonable fight for the party.

I was just wondering what sort of ideas others might have to liven up a battle. Favored templates, environmental conditions, or just fights that seemed really one sided, but change part of the way through. I want the game to be exciting and challenging, but I'm afraid that all I'll end up doing in the long run is slowly setting them up to fail until the day finally arrives that they do. Any ideas or advice would helpful.

[dspeyer]

The most fun battles I've played have always involved environmental components. Cliffs, buildings, moving boats....

These things tend to favor the PCs, who have time to think about using them creatively (while you're trying to keep track of and adjudicate everything), so bump the CR up a few notches.

[Vangor]

What I have begun trying to incorporate for my encounters are far more environmental notes and more unique combat types. The first to a campaign I had for a mass of level 17s (I believe we had 8) contained a set of constructs, one from a massive metal tower and four from stormclouds, with a fire elemental.

For the tower, this had area wide attacks where secondary targets could reflex away. Successful hits were opposed Strength checks to avoid being thrown (DC10+Damage+Size), with every additional failure by five being five more feet thrown, and Balance checks to avoid being rendered prone (DC10+Distance).

Two of the stormclouds used lightning bolts, all ranged touch attacks, but could "critical" to arc between additional nearby targets for reduced damage, with 15-16 being one, 17-18 being two, and 19-20 being three additional targets. The other stormclouds used thunder which would attempt to cause shaken and cowering and sonic damage in an area on critical strikes. After the tower activated, the clouds would arrive in the first and second and fourth and fifth rounds.

Those winds caused the fire elemental inhabiting these six heavy iron braziers to be a whirling mass of flame, more difficult to evade and wider the greater the amount of wind, but this would be respawned if an additional source of flames was nearby.

Obviously this wasn't all to each of the monsters, but the basic premise was to try and include as much activity as possible. Reflex saves became more active, positioning seemed more important, a scheme on how to complete the encounter was included, the environment was more important, and new threats were distinguishable with different mechanisms.

Everyone thought this encounter felt as though transitioning boss battles common in other games into a d&d environment. This was somewhat the basis (plus the inspiration for the Flame-Throwing Hurricane was from All Guns Blazing by Judas Priest) for this encounter being ridiculously more difficult than many but possible with a reactive, capable group.

[Kol Korran]

what i find works well is not actually designing encounters, but desigining situations. (and of course the elements involved)
for example: the PCs need to get a prisoner out of an orc camp, in which there is also a small mercenery band of humans, and the orcs have trained beasts of some sort (lets say Kreshnars and hippogriffs).

the characters then seek a way to do this. most times i plan the situation so it can't be solved straight with force, though some force might be needed to do the job (depending on the strategy the players take). note: sometimes do plan situations that can be solved purely with force. it's a good tension breaker once in a while, and lets the players feel powerfull.

so, as to the example, what would i prepare? well, DCs for various actions (blimb the wall, sneak in stealthily, bluff the orcs, diplomacy with the mercs, knowledge skill and so on). stats and amoutns for the variosu creatures, and also notable ones (merc leader, orc leader and shaman, tainted hippogriff) then i plan for various possible ways the PCs can interact. note: "plan" does not mean "find ways that it can't work". it means setting the responses, and results of common actions.

if you plan it right, the situation comes to life and flows naturally when the PCs will do something unexpected.

some things that enhances planning:
- don't make all things the same. for every element plan for weaker versions, stronger versions, and what i call "unexpected" versions. for example- the walls could have places easier to climb/ break, places which are more dangerous (guard towers), and maybe even a secret way out of the camp some of the orc kid use to sneak out (or part of it could have a dryad caught in a piece of an ever living oak, which could help the PCs if they promise to get her out). considering the entire forces in camp i could have the warrior orcs, the servitor kobolds or orc wives and such, strogner elements such as the leader and his guards, and the unexpected thing could be the merc group, that can become bitter enemies or temprery allies if played (and paid) right.
- some things stay the same, some things change: with every interaction with the situation, have some things stay the same, and some things change. for example, if the party captures a patrol for questioning, then the next patrols follow the same routes, and have approximatley the smae amount of orcs, but they are accompanied from above by a hippogriff and a rider, with a small group of elite warriors on the ready to move where there is trouble. if the party torches the wall, then next time there will be water buckets all over the place in preperation
- try to find a way to appeal to the party's specific characters. for example, the party's warrior might find that one of the mercs in fact belongs to a rival group of his clan/ city. the halfling might find there are other halfling captured in a building on the far side of the camp from their prisoner- can they rescue both parties at the same time? the wizard might learn that the shaman holds an orb very similar to the one he's been looking for. note: don't over do this element, or it becomes rediculous.
- lastly, have this situation affect an even larger situation. have things MATTER.

i know this wasn't exactly unto topic, but it might help. check my sig for creative uses of monsters, that might help. if not, i'd always suggest rust monsters and carrion crawlers for low level hardship...

[Thundrpigeon]

Thanks guys. This is some awesome advice that will help a lot more than you know.

[Heliomance]

Two men playing Texas Hold 'em with a Deck of Many Things.