Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Maxwell_Silverhammer 04-23-07, 04:42 PM	my players are going to be traveling a GREAT distance (2 day travel) alongside a river, away from civilization. Would giants be found near the river beds fetching water? what other types of creatures frequent the water in a mountainous/forested area?
bobothechimp 04-23-07, 04:55 PM	Almost all water-dependant creatures in the area will be found, at some point or another, at the river.
nlentz88 04-23-07, 05:22 PM	I'll assume that you're joking about a 2-day journey being a great distance. Sometimes sarcasm is hard to detect in text. A baseball board I post on uses teal to identify sarcasm, e.g. fighters are the most powerful core class. As for your question, I would feel free to put almost any type of creature native to the area in an encounter along a river. Scrags would fit in nicely, though. If the PCs are travelling in a small boat, perhaps the aquatic trolls would attempt to tip it over, grapple the PCs, and pull them underwater to drown. Another obstacle could be a dam built by a family of dire beavers. The PCs could either fight the beavers and wreck the dam, or they could find a peaceful solution (especially if the party has a druid or ranger). Giant eels would be fun too. Humanoids could set an ambush. The orcs on either side of the river pull a winch which raises a net from out of the river bed, halting the PCs' boat; meanwhile, the orcs throw grappling hooks onto the boat and rain arrows down upon the PCs. Really, you could put anything into a river encounter. And don't forget non-combat encounters like waterfalls, rapids, low water, and passing other ships, e.g. tribal humans in canoes, a steam-powered gnome paddle wheel boat, a barge of halfling traders, etc.
Lazigothi 04-23-07, 06:13 PM	If the players see the van by the river, watch out! It could be motivational speaker Matt Foley. :rofl: Seriously though, unless some get water from other natural/ magical sources, rivers would be a common place to expect anyone else seeking water and river game. It could be a place to expect ambush, or to ambush, and any visitor should be more alert for such things.
Kouk 04-23-07, 10:02 PM	Another obstacle could be a dam built by a family of dire beavers. The PCs could either fight the beavers and wreck the dam, or they could find a peaceful solution (especially if the party has a druid or ranger). Wow. Make it Fiendish Dire Beavers and that would be a truly memorable encounter.
Sci_fi__Messiah 04-23-07, 10:11 PM	Kraken ehL Oh ehL. Maybe a fiend disguised as a maiden bathing.
Mock26 04-23-07, 10:30 PM	Ancient red wyrms need to drink water, too! ------------------------------ Another obstacle could be a dam built by a family of dire beavers. Dam dire beavers!
Raumz 04-24-07, 01:37 AM	2 days is a great distance? Hmmmm well if you say so... Well if you want giants you can put giants in. I like the idea of a Kraken floating down the river. A band of bandit floating on a raft down the river? Maybe a dire shark can pop out if a PC gets to close to the river. Basicaly anything you want. Almost all creatures need water, with a few exceptions. So yea, have fun with it.
Mock26 04-24-07, 08:19 PM	Freshwater weresharks!
darkneolink 04-24-07, 08:37 PM	use a piranha swarm n_n
OravennasBrother 04-25-07, 12:08 AM	2 days from civilization lmits what you might fnid. Large predators will make their presence known because they will encroach on civilized lands in search of food. If you have legends of Dragons, then you cold find them, otherwise they are out, as close as you are to civilization. You could find a small community, particularly if they have a strong insular leader who prevents them from raiding the Humans just two days away. Wait is this two days on the ground or two days on a magic carpet? A carpet will make it far enough away for ANYTHING.