Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 aryth3 Aug 06, 2015 19:46:17	I need help figuring out what to populate a corrupt forest with.   In my campaign (as part of the character's background story) orcs came from the north, following the River Delimbiyr south east. The orcs made it all the way to Daggerford before being pushed back (in large part due to the characters' heroics). This took place three years ago.   Now, the chacters head to the town of Secomber to investigate only to discover the town is plagued by something I'm calling Soulrot. The Lady of the town (Traskar Selarn married her before the orcs came and was killed during the fighting) has fallen ill. What they don't know is that she is acting as a conduit for a demon and is barely holding on. While possessed the demon has some influence in the town and is making people sick. The only way to dispell this demon is by casting Protection from Evil or Magic Circle. Both require a special component (holy water blessed at the Lady's birthplace). If she is freed, the plague will end.   Now, she's a half-elf who was born in the Misty Forest and I want her birthplace to have been corrupted by orc magic. I've looked through the MM for ideas and nothing really speaks to me (that wouldn't be too easy or too tough) so I was hoping that the community might have some ideas.   I've tried reading the DMG's entry on affecting CR but it doesn't make that much sense to me (I really wish they included an example -- I'd love to know how the werewolf with 4 levels of barbarian would be completed).
#2 transcendantviewer Aug 06, 2015 19:55:02	Well, just build them first, then go by the tables. You take the averages of their offensive stats to get thier Offensive CR, and the averages of their defensive stats to get their Defensive CR, then you average those together and you get their Challenge Rating.
#3 Endarrion Aug 07, 2015 5:43:31	The CR system isn't super reliable. When building an encounter, I'd start with thinking about how unique and difficult you'd like it to be. If you're looking for something unique and difficult, build it according to the party. Lots of magic users/ranged characters? Use monsters that are mobile and melee-based. Just doing that, you'd be surprised how low of a CR you can throw at the party and still make the encounter difficult. Also, think about terrain, venue, etc. Alternate goals for the monsters other than 'kill the heroes' can make an otherwise easy fight very difficult. Or at the very least, unique and memorable.
#4 Tiarn Aug 07, 2015 6:09:20	It would be helpful to know, since you put so much emphasis on "too easy" and "too tough" while mentioning CR, exactly what level your PCs are.   Aside from that, some helpful advice, like pages of helpful advice.     Edit:  Also, you simply cannot, and I can't stress this enough, cannot, go wrong with giant spiders.
#5 aryth3 Aug 07, 2015 19:12:54	Tiarn wrote:
#6 THEMNGMNT Aug 07, 2015 22:16:15	Blights, shambling mounds, evil dryads, etc.
#7 BRJN Aug 08, 2015 17:29:31	A few real demons whose job is to maintain the corruption.  They travel a circuit, and especially evil spots get the attention of more than one demon.  These demons have some kind of ritual they perform, so the PCs can get a clue to their purpose.  Killing one will weaken the strongest corrupt location (which needed them all to attend it) plus the places he alone tended will fade away.  This may be tracked on a chart as away-from-table background.   Look up "The Rotting Man" and "Blightlord of Talona" in a Forgotten Realms wiki, if the corruption you want is like an antidruid rather than other-plane-unnatural.   This may or may not help: check the lair effects of a green dragon or black dragon.  Acid and poison don't do living things any favors either.
#8 aryth3 Aug 08, 2015 21:01:42	I'm thinking it's a manifestation of the spirit of the forest. Packs of werewolves roam the forest (werewolf-like, at least... I'm thinking they were the former inhabitants of the forest that were cursed by the spirit when the corruption took place) hunting any interlopers. The spirit can animate any plant life or influence any animal life and send it after the characters. The more time they spend in the forest the worse it gets.   The spirit takes on the form of a powerful druid who sees anyone not native of the forest (i.e. not flaura or fawna) as a threat that must be eliminated. I can treat the spirit as a lych in the sense of how it is "killed". In essance, it doesn't die it just remanifests a number of days later at it's base of power -- an ancient oak tree (believed to have been the first tree in the forest).    I'm thinking a group of orcs stumbled upon Yesté Orne (Elvish for "First Tree"... or so says Google) and were killed there. Their corpses (and their shaman's relics) polluted the ground there and the First Tree drew in that corruption.