3.5 encounter level 7 (+/- 3 or 4) - OG Myth-Weavers

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3.5 encounter level 7 (+/- 3 or 4)

   
3.5 encounter level 7 (+/- 3 or 4)

In a world drenched in evil (or any world for that matter) what type of encounter would you create...
*im looking for some extra ideas to bring to my game, but hey, feel free to use them for yours if you want!

*the average encounter level of 7, with a level variant up to 3 or 4 in both the positive and negative direction is recommended but any would be fine.

Umberhulks!.... everytime... Umberhulks..

I'd like to ask for a little more details about it.

What sort of encounters have you already had?
-- This is to avoid repetition, you don't want to have the same fight scene over, and over, and over, and over again. You want to be able to mix it up.
What sort of monsters have they fought?
-- If they've been fighting large magical animals and such, maybe throw in a demon or undead? Since it's a world covered in evil you have a lot of different things you can do
How strong is the party?
-- This is more for balancing. If your party is all rogues and scouts and they have no clerics or wands, throw an ooze or golem at them where their precision damage is useless. That'll make it really hard without you having to try anything.

I knew a DM that would spend weeks (This is for RL tabletop) planning each game because each "main" encounter would have a different theme that didn't repeat itself. He did one encounter where ranges moved within the treetops shooting arrows and pulling back constantly or jumping over the trees. (Much like the kobolds)

One thing you could even do, is set a "bait" fight up. Have the party moving along and someone comes and asks them for help, saying their town is underattack. When they get there, the town is overrun with undead, they go to help and attack the undead and the citizens cheer for you. Suddenly, things change and around them are all dead citizens and the zombies are standing. It was a magical illusion that was draped over the city and they just helped the evil side.

You can do a lot of things with just small tweeks to it, just think of what would be challenging for them and work on it from there.

Quote:
I knew a DM that would spend weeks (This is for RL tabletop) planning each game because each "main" encounter would have a different theme that didn't repeat itself.
that's definitely me, lol... prep the party with some items that will surely be needed and then drop the main fight of them, sometimes unexpected...

currently the world has been thrown into chaos, undead (mainly zombies and skeletons) roam the cities and towns that have been laid to waste. so as for the numerous amount of said creatures, im going to have a few premades with higher level intelligent undead and even some on a random encounter chart. however, that will surely get repetitive, and will possibly lead to players not giving it their all.

so as for the extra filler in my game, ive kind of hit a stump, I do have a shovel and some time to dig it out, but figured I would see what ideas others might have aswell

one thing I do plan to do, is have some form of 'monster' gaining the upper hand in a world where their are only a few beings left alive... but the problem with that is they will also be faced with undead filled landscapes...

as for the umberhulk idea, nice! those creatures can always come in handy...

How strong is the party? not sure yet, haven't gotten that far with them, but we will soon find out

Ok. Another time you could do, I can't remember what monster it is... But what the monster does is put a human inside it's stomach and slowly drains their life to stay alive. Any damage from AoE spells hits the person inside as well. So if you make the monster Intelligent the party has to find a way to get the person out alive or watching them die slowly.

Aboleths and their minions!

Those piles of ooze and tears of players are crafty buggers.

The senario:
The group fights an oddly organized group of undead, which could lead to them running into a small 'coven' of necromancers and a small variety of dominated living humanoids hiding out in a cave system with an underground river. They would find that the necromancers themselves seem to be acting more puppet-like during fights and straight up don't even attempt to communicate. If the group decides to explore the caves more extensively, they would run into one or more Aboleths and their personal slaves, and come across the terrifying realization that the Aboleths have been dominating passing spellcasters, necromancers in particular, and using them to create undead servants that those spellcasters would then have capture some of the still living humanoids for the Aboleths to dominate and expand their sphere of control. And the underground river could lead to even more cave systems, and even maybe the ocean or a large lake, so who knows how many other Aboleths are using the chaos to make their move to try to take control of the surface world!

What are you looking to get out of these encounters? Is it a way to see how your group act as a (in)cohesive team? Bleed them of resources or funnel gear/info to them?

Maybe a natural disaster like a flash flood or the aftermath of a tornado could be an option instead of monsters.

Are there any side quests or character backstories you could exploit?

Quote:
What are you looking to get out of these encounters?
different ideas than what I would normally think of. their doesn't really need to be a reason behind why the encounter happens (well besides a quick hook anyway)

flash floods and other forms of weather effects like a tornado are definitely in the works

Ninjas. Naruto style and regular ones. Goblins. Goblin Ninjas. War machines and a secret cabal of crusaders. Swords ages who are also were-rabbits. A village is hungry and wants the party to hunt down some giant beasts for food. The village wants the party to hunt down some hill Giants to eat. The persecuted Giants want the party to stop the evil village from eating them. The goblin ninjas are hired by the Giants to stop the party and the village decides to try Goblin soup.

Also, it is dinner time

Goblin were-direwolves

Black pudding with a really nice magic item sticking out of it which is secretly being held onto by an undead which was trapped in the pudding (unharmed).

A giant mimic disguised as an inn.

A powerful 20th level lich who thinks the party is cool and wants to help them become powerful adventurers (you remind me of me when I was less than a hundred). Gives them good advice and hints where ancient dungeons with lots of treasure are. Is merely amused if they try and fight him.

A big red button on a podium out in the middle of nowhere. When pressed.... Nothing happens!




 

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