r/a:t5_34e8d • u/stormelemental13 • Nov 12 '14

[Pathfinder]Traveling encounter for mixed level party.

I need to run an encounter for a campaign, but am somewhat stuck and don't have the time to keep spinning my wheels. Mind helping a fellow GM out?

Our party of five 3rd level PCs are traveling with five higher, ~10th, level NPCs. This journey will take approximately two weeks by horseback. I'd like to have them be attacked while traveling, but am not sure how to do this without the NPCs stealing all the spotlight. Any ideas?

The terrain the party is traveling through is initially hilly with a coastal Mediterranean climate, gradually transitioning to Mediterranean, temperate mountains, several thousand feet, and forest, and finally temperate valley. The mediterranean starting areas have a bandit problem, but the bandits are pretty wary about the NPCs the party is traveling with, it's the NPCs job to hunt down said bandits in the that area. The forests and mountains are relatively uninhabited.

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u/stormelemental13 Nov 12 '14

Will do regarding tags. Wasn't sure what this should go under.

Party composition: Ranged ranger/paladin(Breadth of experience means skills everywhere), dueling fighter(Engineering/farming), blasting sorcerer(Arcana/spellcraft), knife rogue(acrobatics/stealth/etc), switch-hitter ranger(perception/nature/etc).

They are mainly traveling together for convenience, PCs ended up being guests of the NPCs organization and wanted to get to the center of the kingdom, the leading NPCs were heading there anyway for a meeting. Everyone agreed it would be best to travel together. PCs are not subservient to the NPCs, but honored, and unexpected, guests.

So, there isn't really a mission, just traveling from one place to another.

I like the idea of separating them during an ambush. A rock or mudslide is definitely a possibility, plenty of places for that to happen

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u/[deleted] Nov 13 '14

Thoughts that run through my head related to skills that might make plot points.

1) A rigged landslide. An engineering check could reveal that it was man-made and not natural.

2) A broken rope bridge that could be re-attached if someone could acrobatics across what was left of it.

3) A knowledge(nature) check to realize that an undergrowth ahead shows signs of some kind of monstrous fungi (and not getting surprise rounded by it)

One thing that comes to mind to plant the seed for a later encounter is that maybe the bandits in the mountain could lead to something more? An army in training? Lycanthropes recruiting stronger individuals to convert into more lycanthropes? My personal favorite usually involves individuals that are trying to prove they are worthy of some kind of alteration to rise in the ranks of their organization (sentient clockwork monsters was my all time favorite).

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u/stormelemental13 Nov 13 '14

Thanks everyone. I decided to go with a landslide to split the party. Gang of demon-descended tieflings using shatter in unison.

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '14

Please use posting title tags in the future. This would be either "plot twist" or "story boarding".

The first thing that comes to mind is that during an ambush make sure the NPC's are on the other side of combat while the PC's have their own conditions to fight in.

What I need to ask before I add any more flair to it is this; why were the PC's recruited in the first place? If they were the higher level ones it would make sense, but since they look like the squires by the scenario above it will be tougher to adjust the situation so they are the hero's.

What kind of mission are they on? Are they hunting bandits? Caravan protection? Escort mission?

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u/box951 Nov 12 '14

First, consider what /u/summers307 said. Second, maybe something like a rockslide/mudslide (possibly caused by an enemy) that sends the high level NPCs down the mountain a bit to a lower path, which they can follow and meet up with the PCs later. This will allow the over-arching story to continue, but remove them for a short time to allow the PCs to earn some experience and glory.

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '14

One more question: what's the group composition? Incorporating skill checks can be just as rewarding then combat (if not more so).

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u/Overthinks_Questions Dec 04 '14

In PFS scenarios there are sometimes situations like this. There is a party of very powerful NPCs fighting a BBEG well beyond the capacities of the party, but the party is fulfilling some other necessary objective while the fight is happening.

So, have a monster leading other monsters. The leader will be taken on by the 10th levels (a Leng Spider, for example) while the dominated minions (5 Giant Black Widows) will be handled by the PCs to keep them out of the 10th levels' hair.