My group is currently in a forest fighting alongside "tree people" to rid the forest of a common enemy. The only problem is that i don't want the encounters to be too repetitive as it's set in a forest and they are fighting duergar dwarven mercenaries. And I'm worried that this could get quiet boring for them.
Does anyone have any ideas of how to make encounters here that are more interesting? All help would be greatly appreciated and thanks to all those who respond.
Sometimes having a secondary goal in the combat can really raise the stakes and change up combat!
Maybe one of the tree people has been captured and in three turns of combat will be killed so the players have to try and save them during the combat; or the enemies are about to cut down a sacred tree so the combat is now about defending that tree. Maybe the map is a maze and they are all separated trying to find each other again whilst the enemy is slowly attacking them one at a time.
I did a combat once where the players had to collect apples before the insects ate them all at an orchard and it was so much fun!! They started using the abilities and resources for picking apples and they thought really creatively about their skill sets. I set little apple tokens around the map - I think maybe 16 - and players had to collect 12 so it was quite challenging!
Sometimes having a secondary goal in the combat can really raise the stakes and change up combat!
Maybe one of the tree people has been captured and in three turns of combat will be killed so the players have to try and save them during the combat; or the enemies are about to cut down a sacred tree so the combat is now about defending that tree. Maybe the map is a maze and they are all separated trying to find each other again whilst the enemy is slowly attacking them one at a time.
I did a combat once where the players had to collect apples before the insects ate them all at an orchard and it was so much fun!! They started using the abilities and resources for picking apples and they thought really creatively about their skill sets. I set little apple tokens around the map - I think maybe 16 - and players had to collect 12 so it was quite challenging!
A battle on two fronts is a good way to spice things up. Have reinforcements show up from behind the party while they're dealing with the foes in front of them.
Secondary objectives are good too, as mentioned above.
Throw in some monsters the duergar captured to fight for them. Or throw in a powerful monster that isn't part of either side, so the party can try to get it to focus on the badguys.
Give one of the badguys a magic item that lets them do something totally unexpected.
Use terrain that encourages decision-making. Advance on a direct route with no cover, or a longer route between the trees?
Also consider homebrew more types of enemies within the duergar. Make the players think about whether they want to take out a support/healer type enemy first, or focus on a heavy hitter.
Nothing says fun like fighting in a clearing only to have the ground fail and the party (and baddies) fall into some kind of ruin. Bonus points if there are other monsters down there that fight both of them.
My group is currently in a forest fighting alongside "tree people" to rid the forest of a common enemy. The only problem is that i don't want the encounters to be too repetitive as it's set in a forest and they are fighting duergar dwarven mercenaries. And I'm worried that this could get quiet boring for them.
Does anyone have any ideas of how to make encounters here that are more interesting? All help would be greatly appreciated and thanks to all those who respond.
Typically the way this is handled in episodic media (such as weekly television shows and cartoons) is that you have the seasonal adversary group (the Duergar mercenaries) but also a wacky Scheme of the Week that will surely win the day (unless stopped by the PCs). The easy way of doing that is to just open up the monster manual to a random page, find the first monster of a more or less reasonable CR, and try to come up with way that the bad guys can use that monster for a scheme.
For example
Ankheg: the Duergar have trained Ankhegs to drag war carts and are using them to tunnel past defensive formations. Go raid the training facility.
Needle Blight: the Duergar have been planting blight seeds where they will spread and infest the sacred groves. They have an item that they're using to control them (such as a Gulthias Staff). Go capture and destroy it.
pacifist rangers and druids embarrassed by not being included by either side team up as a third party to impede both sides, insisting that this can all be worked out in negotiations. the druids keep up their act of being mediators just long enough to get some leaders (no actual big-wigs) of both sides close enough to maul in vengeance. their beef is something that makes more sense to them than to the forest friends, the mercenaries, or even the rangers.
a fey winter court incursion drives a Wild Hunt through the forest, chasing any small force or individuals of any side caught out at night. they are prey until dawn. can chose to run or face a glorious death.
a family of bugbears have been man-fishing. with long rope snares in high grass, they've been catching the legs of scouts and patrols then reeling in their catch a surprising distance through glade, forest, and up a sheer cliff to a cave. it's become quite a sport, and many heads decorate the walls just inside the hidden entrance to their cave. the trick to their success has been two large spools inside the cave connected to heavy chains. when a weighted chain is dropped into the depths of the cave it rapidly rotates one of the spools which reels in a rope. a taken individual can seemingly disappear between steps while walking with their party in the glade. the ride is pretty rough and the route is designed to hit numerous trees on the way up. sometimes only a single leg arrives. a wary party ranger might easily spot suspicious drag-paths or find one of the multiple ropes. the bugbears are so far away they rely on luck, timing, and no risk for missing (other than having to set it up again later). also, the trophy heads of one side have taken to loudly cheering one b particular ugbear and booing their rival fisher, risking a reveal of the cave.
guerrilla mission #1 behind enemy lines to undermine their supply paths with a druid that'll turn certain paths into difficult terrain. additionally, in some places players could steal a crossroads sign and overgrow the turnoff such that loggers (assumption on my part) trying to leave the area miss their exit and get lost and drop their logs in a lake instead of gentle bend of the nearby river.
guerrilla mission #2, divert the river and/or destroy a dam to undermine the deforested sections of their camp/fort/base built upon unstable ground. if timed strategically it could wash away a marching force, strand many wagons and horses in silt, and even allow temporary access to their camps for drive-by-arrowing by elven allies in war canoes.
during that mission, perhaps it's noted (by an accompanying NPC if the PCs didn't get close) that the mercenaries are building up a stone structure that's not so much a fort as it is a chapel. it includes an altar and a metal circle. this could lead to divine intervention, ritual magic for weather or destruction, or summoning. is there some nearby flying humanoids, beasts, or giant beasts who might be asked to help with aerial surveillance or, perhaps, bombing runs? or maybe the bugbear cave included a cache of gemstones and a lonely xorn who might be persuaded to burrow up and take bites out of the circle periodically to keep it non-functioning.
I know Duergar kidnap for slave trading, so you could have the players pull a stealth op to rescue hostages from the Duergar before going all out attack.
Almost every humanoid civilization has casters, so why not the Duergar? Try throwing in a couple casters here and there to spice things up.
The duergar have trapped some driders and unleashed them on the surface to wreak havoc.
They kidnap one of the characters and try to take them down underground, the others have only a certain amount of time to free them before the character is taken to the underdark.
Some of the duergar have managed to capture and learn to ride phase spiders. Mounted teleporter.
Dwarves are incredible smiths, maybe some nice traps. A landmine here, acid tripwire there, ect...
Hello my fellow masters of the dungeons đź‘‹.
My group is currently in a forest fighting alongside "tree people" to rid the forest of a common enemy. The only problem is that i don't want the encounters to be too repetitive as it's set in a forest and they are fighting duergar dwarven mercenaries. And I'm worried that this could get quiet boring for them.
Does anyone have any ideas of how to make encounters here that are more interesting? All help would be greatly appreciated and thanks to all those who respond.
Sometimes having a secondary goal in the combat can really raise the stakes and change up combat!
Maybe one of the tree people has been captured and in three turns of combat will be killed so the players have to try and save them during the combat; or the enemies are about to cut down a sacred tree so the combat is now about defending that tree. Maybe the map is a maze and they are all separated trying to find each other again whilst the enemy is slowly attacking them one at a time.
I did a combat once where the players had to collect apples before the insects ate them all at an orchard and it was so much fun!! They started using the abilities and resources for picking apples and they thought really creatively about their skill sets. I set little apple tokens around the map - I think maybe 16 - and players had to collect 12 so it was quite challenging!
Thanks.
A battle on two fronts is a good way to spice things up. Have reinforcements show up from behind the party while they're dealing with the foes in front of them.
Secondary objectives are good too, as mentioned above.
Throw in some monsters the duergar captured to fight for them. Or throw in a powerful monster that isn't part of either side, so the party can try to get it to focus on the badguys.
Give one of the badguys a magic item that lets them do something totally unexpected.
Use terrain that encourages decision-making. Advance on a direct route with no cover, or a longer route between the trees?
Also consider homebrew more types of enemies within the duergar. Make the players think about whether they want to take out a support/healer type enemy first, or focus on a heavy hitter.
Mission Impossible style stealth skill challenge - sneak into duergar camp, retrieve something/someone, sneak back out
Nothing says fun like fighting in a clearing only to have the ground fail and the party (and baddies) fall into some kind of ruin. Bonus points if there are other monsters down there that fight both of them.
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Typically the way this is handled in episodic media (such as weekly television shows and cartoons) is that you have the seasonal adversary group (the Duergar mercenaries) but also a wacky Scheme of the Week that will surely win the day (unless stopped by the PCs). The easy way of doing that is to just open up the monster manual to a random page, find the first monster of a more or less reasonable CR, and try to come up with way that the bad guys can use that monster for a scheme.
For example
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Fire since its in the forest
Sink hole, since it's vs duergar. This at least would allow you to switch it up and do some underground stuff.
Duergar also ride jumping spiders so them coming down out of trees could be cool
I know Duergar kidnap for slave trading, so you could have the players pull a stealth op to rescue hostages from the Duergar before going all out attack.
Almost every humanoid civilization has casters, so why not the Duergar? Try throwing in a couple casters here and there to spice things up.
The duergar have trapped some driders and unleashed them on the surface to wreak havoc.
They kidnap one of the characters and try to take them down underground, the others have only a certain amount of time to free them before the character is taken to the underdark.
Some of the duergar have managed to capture and learn to ride phase spiders. Mounted teleporter.
Dwarves are incredible smiths, maybe some nice traps. A landmine here, acid tripwire there, ect...