So, I have a Dungeon with a variety of monsters in it, most of which the PC’s won’t actually fight since it’s a level 1 through 3 Dungeon, and we all know how suicidal combat is for characters prior to 3rd. At the end of the Dungeon they will all be 3rd level, guaranteed, with a full complement of equipment (good armor, weapons, and gold for their level, a reasonable batch of spell components, and some minor magical items). They gate out of the Dungeon into an abandoned Warehouse located in a large city of roughly 500,000 people on the coast. The city inhabitants are majoratively human, with maybe 30% of the other inhabitants being Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings. My initial plan had been to have the party remain in the City and surrounding region thorough maybe 7th level, but it occurred to me there might be a certain lack of fun if the enemies were mainly humanoids (not all, but mainly). My plans hadn’t really included a lot of Dungeons or Planes Hopping until after 7th level. Now, the humanoids won’t all have the same faces, they’ll belong to a variety of factions, with an eclectic set of personalities. And I am extremely confident in my quests. BUT I am concerned that a lack of variation in Monster Types could negatively impact player fun. They’ll be visiting nearby woods and farmlands but no Ankhegs by example. What do you think?
Edit: I guess there will be some monsters in the graveyards (inside the city walls and outside), plus in the city sewers, and even on the coast. Maybe a hag or two, ghouls and ghasts, a couple of trolls, and some sahuagin (on the coast). I could also include a ghost (haunted house); an evil wizards hidden laboratory with a fiend (Glabrezu or two Nycaloths). Possibly a werewolf / serial killer quest in a not so far off village (assuming I feel the quest is fun). Also, a large manticore or a wyvern blocking traffic on a major road. Huh, more varied than I initially thought. Enough?
I’m asking here since I want the opinions of players as well as DMs.
So, I have a Dungeon with a variety of monsters in it, most of which the PC’s won’t actually fight since it’s a level 1 through 3 Dungeon, and we all know how suicidal combat is for characters prior to 3rd. At the end of the Dungeon they will all be 3rd level, guaranteed, with a full complement of equipment (good armor, weapons, and gold for their level, a reasonable batch of spell components, and some minor magical items). They gate out of the Dungeon into an abandoned Warehouse located in a large city of roughly 500,000 people on the coast. The city inhabitants are majoratively human, with maybe 30% of the other inhabitants being Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings. My initial plan had been to have the party remain in the City and surrounding region thorough maybe 7th level, but it occurred to me there might be a certain lack of fun if the enemies were mainly humanoids (not all, but mainly). My plans hadn’t really included a lot of Dungeons or Planes Hopping until after 7th level. Now, the humanoids won’t all have the same faces, they’ll belong to a variety of factions, with an eclectic set of personalities. And I am extremely confident in my quests. BUT I am concerned that a lack of variation in Monster Types could negatively impact player fun. They’ll be visiting nearby woods and farmlands but no Ankhegs by example. What do you think?
Edit: I guess there will be some monsters in the graveyards (inside the city walls and outside), plus in the city sewers, and even on the coast. Maybe a hag or two, ghouls and ghasts, a couple of trolls, and some sahuagin (on the coast). I could also include a ghost (haunted house); an evil wizards hidden laboratory with a fiend (Glabrezu or two Nycaloths). Possibly a werewolf / serial killer quest in a not so far off village (assuming I feel the quest is fun). Also, a large manticore or a wyvern blocking traffic on a major road. Huh, more varied than I initially thought. Enough?
I’m asking here since I want the opinions of players as well as DMs.
A pack of strangely clever ghouls could hide in an abandoned cellar, hunting on the streets at night. (Setup like a Jack the Ripper Scenario).
Gargoyles are always great.
Someone's breeding Cockatrices, and they escape into the busy streets.
Horrible Blood Elementals (Water Weird or Water Elemental) roam the sewers below the slaughterhouse quarter.
A manor/tower/warehouse full of mad, animated furniture.
Someone opened all the cages of a nobles private menagerie.
Perytons build a nest on a tower and hunt peasants
I'm just assuming that you don't want to just roll up random combat encounters from tables, but build more unique ones - you still can throw at random at the players when they crave action - or to create minor side quests, maybe even connecting them to your factions. Stuff is happening in a city, even chaotic things, but on a small scale.
So, I have a Dungeon with a variety of monsters in it, most of which the PC’s won’t actually fight since it’s a level 1 through 3 Dungeon, and we all know how suicidal combat is for characters prior to 3rd. At the end of the Dungeon they will all be 3rd level, guaranteed, with a full complement of equipment (good armor, weapons, and gold for their level, a reasonable batch of spell components, and some minor magical items). They gate out of the Dungeon into an abandoned Warehouse located in a large city of roughly 500,000 people on the coast. The city inhabitants are majoratively human, with maybe 30% of the other inhabitants being Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings. My initial plan had been to have the party remain in the City and surrounding region thorough maybe 7th level, but it occurred to me there might be a certain lack of fun if the enemies were mainly humanoids (not all, but mainly). My plans hadn’t really included a lot of Dungeons or Planes Hopping until after 7th level. Now, the humanoids won’t all have the same faces, they’ll belong to a variety of factions, with an eclectic set of personalities. And I am extremely confident in my quests. BUT I am concerned that a lack of variation in Monster Types could negatively impact player fun. They’ll be visiting nearby woods and farmlands but no Ankhegs by example. What do you think?
Edit: I guess there will be some monsters in the graveyards (inside the city walls and outside), plus in the city sewers, and even on the coast. Maybe a hag or two, ghouls and ghasts, a couple of trolls, and some sahuagin (on the coast). I could also include a ghost (haunted house); an evil wizards hidden laboratory with a fiend (Glabrezu or two Nycaloths). Possibly a werewolf / serial killer quest in a not so far off village (assuming I feel the quest is fun). Also, a large manticore or a wyvern blocking traffic on a major road. Huh, more varied than I initially thought. Enough?
I’m asking here since I want the opinions of players as well as DMs.
Sewers, catacombs, and old abandoned buildings can all be places for spooky things to hide in the day, to emerge at night.
Demons and other monsters can be summoned....
In Town
I'm just assuming that you don't want to just roll up random combat encounters from tables, but build more unique ones - you still can throw at random at the players when they crave action - or to create minor side quests, maybe even connecting them to your factions. Stuff is happening in a city, even chaotic things, but on a small scale.
It depends how big the city is. A mega city like never winter or water deep can easily run a whole campaign with different areas and factions
Allot of creatures can also hide in plain sight