Tricky Dungeons & Dragons Terrain — Watch Where You Wander in Foreboding Forests
Hello fellow gamers out there. It is I Ted, your Nerdarchist for this article and today we get to talk about the Forest.
Whether you are playing Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder RPG, or any other Fantasy Role Playing Game, the forest will almost always come up in your game.
If you think back to when you were little the world was a large and terrible place. When things are so much bigger than you it is imposing.
A forest can exact this kind of awe upon adventurers. You could have a magical effects of fear or intimidation placed upon your D&D or Pathfinder RPG characters for just being an ancient primordial wood.
The useable terrain effects and mechanics of a forest should be easy to find in your role playing game rulebook.
Dungeons and Dragons Monsters will use the forest to the advantage
With a vast forest it is easy for monsters to hide. An ambush can be set up if the bad guy scouts or guards pass a listen or perception check, depending on what version you are playing, they could have a spot that is just not visible to the trail so they will not be seen guaranteeing the surprise round.Some creatures can use the low foliage as cover or the height of the trees as their advantage.
Having small creatures with missile weapons in the trees can give your adventuring party a challenge to over come if they are not possessed with an abundance of missile weapons themselves.
Another great feature to add would be to have Awakened Trees or Treants as a cool role playing feature. The living trees could offer a story hook or a side quest.
You could have the trees think that the players are attacking the trees, especially if they are gathering firewood or making a fire, and have the have to role-play their way out of the combat or face destruction.
This could also have your Dungeon and Dragon Druid react unkindly towards you players for their actions. Should the play do some great role-playing with the druid he could change his/her opinion and become an asset to the players every time they travel through the forest.
Another cool thing you could do to make your D&D or Pathfinder role playing game more of a challenge for your players is to have your spell effects become a hindrance .
Imagine if your fireball were to cause a forest fire. In fact any area effect spell that launches fire or lightning could easy spark a wild fire. If your player characters do not posses such spell effects, but you like the concept you could have either a monster with some effect or NPC spell caster loose the spell themselves.
This could actually lead to more interesting role playing scenario for instance.
Your players could defeat their adversaries without a problem, but them ending up having a wilder adversary in the form of a forest fire.
Without some serious spell work fighting a forest fire in a Fantasy Role Playing game is a very challenging feat.
Another aspect of the forest that might not be taken into account is the fantastical element. If you are playing Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder RPG, or some other role playing game the natural laws of nature must not be strictly adhered to.
The plants could be alive and attack any who come near. There could be natural traps as well as those hidden by monsters. Use your imagination and let whatever hazards you can imagine make the forest as terrifying as you can imagine.
So I hope that this helps you make your Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder game better. I hope that you can enhance whatever role playing game you are using with these little tips and tricks to make your adventurers think twice about leaving the inn.
So until next time stay Nerdy my friends!
Nerdarchist Ted
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