Adventure Outline: The Black Forest

Another post for The Black Forest. So this is another new type of post that is also my method to actually creating an adventure. I list out the important themes and dangers of the area, and then plan out the possible encounters. Normally I start out with simple encounters to introduce the players to the area, and then ramp up towards more complex and difficult ones. In this case there were two main elements that I wanted to include - the traps and the monsters. So it starts out very basic, and then becomes more difficult as they start working together. It also ends in a boss fight that has all of the elements of the adventure, plus a difficult boss to deal with. I like these outlines because it gives me an idea of exactly what I need to prepare, and a general philosophy on how to approach each encounter. This is another short post as it is just an outline.


Theme: Exploration, Extermination
Dangers:

• Trap flowers and plants with various magical effects
• Mutated monsters rampaging about
• Undead creatures wandering aimlessly
• Antagonist that created the corruption

Encounters:

• Shambling undead on the outskirts of the forest.
• Basic combat encounter. No coordination among enemies.
• RP-wise, this is more of an alert that the PCs are in the right area.
• Areas where many different flowers are concentrated.
• An intro to the traps. 
• Many different flowers should be in the same area, to introduce them all.
• I imagine this as being a skills challenge.
• More dangerous monsters.
• Swamp creatures and animated plants.
• Deeper into the forest, the mindless undead are probably all dead, killed by more dangerous things.
• At this point, different tactics are in play - the creatures either charge forward, or are dangerous ambushers.
• Stealth should be encouraged.
• Monsters and traps.
• This introduces more complex combat encounters, with the possibility of stealth.
• The encounters here can vary wildly, and should based on what the party is capable of
• Boss fight
• The Black Forest should end with a large combat involving the creature who corrupted the forest to begin with. 
• Heavy use of flower-traps, and they should be empowered versions of the normal ones.
• Monsters should be used as guards.
• The boss is a powerful spellcaster, and has an underground lair to use as an arena.