MindForge
3rd June 2008, 11:10 PM
In my home game I have prepared a pretty heavy level 7 encounter chain. This part takes place after an adventure to discover the location and what is going on but needless to say it is a gnoll encampment atop a barrow mound of an ancient hero. A hero that the characters must consult with via ritual. They have been facing a few gnolls up to this point but now they must get into an excavation site that is surrounded with hyena and gnolls, including the big bad that is atop the mound. The characters have little time left before a shaman forces the spirit of the long dead hero to serve them.
Ok. More happened to lead up to this but here is how this encounter will go down. The main site is a barrow mound with a palisade and defenses and alert gnolls. The far outer rim is a pack of hyena that follow this gnoll pack and feed on the scraps that are tossed over the palisades.
These hyena are an early warning and attack system but the entire pack might just be a fun hack and slash if the players don't want to try and be sneaky. The players can sneak into the fortified camp but I have the events set up in a yes/no flowchart.
Do the characters alert the Hyena? Yes or No.
Yes. Okay, start with encounter 1 and continue.
No. The characters are able to get to the palasade and bypass the first encounter. But retreat might prove difficult if an entire pack of hyena are on their heels on the way out.
Crossing the palaside should be a little more difficult because of the cacklefiend hyena and huntmasters that patrol. So it continues with the flow chart following a yes no.
I'll skip the flowchart and leave it to you if you want to use it. This is more of just a sharing of ideas anyway.
Encounter 1: 15 Hyena +1d6 Hyena per round for 6 rounds. These are meant to die fast. They are level 2 compared to the PC's at level 7 or close. I was thinking about creating some cacklefiend hyena minions but I thought that this was just as appropriate.
Encounter 2: 3 Cacklefiend Hyena and 3 gnoll huntmasters
Encounter 3: The real force begins to come out at the characters once the palisade is breached. 1 gnoll demonic scourge (level 8 brute) 2 gnoll claw fighters (level 6 skirmisher) 2 gnoll huntmasters (level 5 artillery) 1 cacklefiend hyena (level 7 brute)
Encounter 4: I wanted to throw the evistro demons here as a last ditch effort feel. They are lower in power and I could use them in higher number. I want it to have a sinister feel to the final parts and the demons might just have it. I want this to be less lethal than the other encounters.
Encounter 5: 3 gnoll marauders (level 6 brute), 2 evistro demons (level 6 brute) followed by the solo boss Gnoll Demonic Scourge Death Hulk and a couple evistro demons. Encounter 5 would be the final battle but come in two phases. It would be tough. But I would grant them an additional surge and action point because of the hero spirit within the mound - I would of course work it into the flavor of the fight. This boss would probably be present in the first part of the fight but take no action against the players until a certain trigger point. He would not hurt the players but would instead amp up. I need to look at this encounter and playtest it out to see if it can be beat by a level 7 group though. I might need to tone it down and make it a bunch of claw fighters or something... we'll see.
In these encounters the players will really feel like they are under attack by fierce combatants that are in their face constantly. The cacklefiends will pose a problem with autohitting attacks and they will need to take measures to take the short rests behind cover when it is offered. These are GM fiat rests basically. They are headed up a hill being shot at by arrows and I will allow them to recoup behind an object so they may use their surges and keep pushing.
Ok. More happened to lead up to this but here is how this encounter will go down. The main site is a barrow mound with a palisade and defenses and alert gnolls. The far outer rim is a pack of hyena that follow this gnoll pack and feed on the scraps that are tossed over the palisades.
These hyena are an early warning and attack system but the entire pack might just be a fun hack and slash if the players don't want to try and be sneaky. The players can sneak into the fortified camp but I have the events set up in a yes/no flowchart.
Do the characters alert the Hyena? Yes or No.
Yes. Okay, start with encounter 1 and continue.
No. The characters are able to get to the palasade and bypass the first encounter. But retreat might prove difficult if an entire pack of hyena are on their heels on the way out.
Crossing the palaside should be a little more difficult because of the cacklefiend hyena and huntmasters that patrol. So it continues with the flow chart following a yes no.
I'll skip the flowchart and leave it to you if you want to use it. This is more of just a sharing of ideas anyway.
Encounter 1: 15 Hyena +1d6 Hyena per round for 6 rounds. These are meant to die fast. They are level 2 compared to the PC's at level 7 or close. I was thinking about creating some cacklefiend hyena minions but I thought that this was just as appropriate.
Encounter 2: 3 Cacklefiend Hyena and 3 gnoll huntmasters
Encounter 3: The real force begins to come out at the characters once the palisade is breached. 1 gnoll demonic scourge (level 8 brute) 2 gnoll claw fighters (level 6 skirmisher) 2 gnoll huntmasters (level 5 artillery) 1 cacklefiend hyena (level 7 brute)
Encounter 4: I wanted to throw the evistro demons here as a last ditch effort feel. They are lower in power and I could use them in higher number. I want it to have a sinister feel to the final parts and the demons might just have it. I want this to be less lethal than the other encounters.
Encounter 5: 3 gnoll marauders (level 6 brute), 2 evistro demons (level 6 brute) followed by the solo boss Gnoll Demonic Scourge Death Hulk and a couple evistro demons. Encounter 5 would be the final battle but come in two phases. It would be tough. But I would grant them an additional surge and action point because of the hero spirit within the mound - I would of course work it into the flavor of the fight. This boss would probably be present in the first part of the fight but take no action against the players until a certain trigger point. He would not hurt the players but would instead amp up. I need to look at this encounter and playtest it out to see if it can be beat by a level 7 group though. I might need to tone it down and make it a bunch of claw fighters or something... we'll see.
In these encounters the players will really feel like they are under attack by fierce combatants that are in their face constantly. The cacklefiends will pose a problem with autohitting attacks and they will need to take measures to take the short rests behind cover when it is offered. These are GM fiat rests basically. They are headed up a hill being shot at by arrows and I will allow them to recoup behind an object so they may use their surges and keep pushing.