# Tundra Encounters



## I'm A Banana (Jun 4, 2011)

So my party will, in short order, be going to the Frigid North in order to see a crystal dragon who can read the stars and tell them the destiny of a single kobold that has eluded them for weeks. 

The idea is that this crystal dragon lives basically at the North Pole, and uses the unending winter nights to foretell the future in the stars. 

So, what should they encounter? I need more "tundra" than "glacial seas" ideas (polar bears and penguins and the Crystal Dragon pretty much take care of that!), and I already have some pretty solid exploration ideas in place to fight the cold and darkness, but I'm kind of lacking actual things to encounter in interesting ways on the way. So gimmie what you have!


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## Theo R Cwithin (Jun 4, 2011)

Animals - wolves, reindeer; mammoths if prehistoric.

Undead - Tundra usually lies on top of frozen bogs, so frozen bog mummies and other frozen variants of watery undead (ooh! an ancient mammoth zombie!).  And incorporeals.

Tribal humanoids.  Hunter folk, live in tipis or lodges, drive sledges, raise reindeer, harvest mosses, etc.

Dwarves + Vodka.  

Grey ooze in cold marshes; white pudding in snowy areas.

Will'o'wisps (some sort of cold variant?) might make sense given the frozen boggy conditions.

Fey (especially malevolent ones) tied to the chill, the aurorae, the long dark, hibernating beasts or plant creatures, lichens, icicles, frozen waterfalls, etc.


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## Aberzanzorax (Jun 4, 2011)

If you're looking to spend some time there, you might invest in:


Northlands (Open Design, in print)

Frost and Fur (Monkeygod Enterprises, out of print)

Frostburn (WotC, out of print)



Here's a potentially useful thread, as well.

paizo.com - Paizo / Messageboards / Paizo Publishing / Pathfinder® / Pathfinder RPG / Advice / Archives / Arctic Tundra/Wasteland


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## Crothian (Jun 4, 2011)

I would emphasis the weather, the cold, the lack of vision in a storm, getting lost, snow blindness, and other hazards that the group might not be 100% prepared for.

One item I had fun with ws a dagger +1, frost or something like that.  But I described it as an unmelting ice sickle.  One player had the clever idea to use to keep his drinks cold in warmer climates.  

I had a light in the ice.  They found a large glacier, block of ice and deep inside was something glowing.  They had to use lots of fire spells to get to it and then they ended up freeing a trapped powerful fire diety.  But you could make it anything you like.  

Another thing I did was a civilization that was frozen.  The gods had brough t destruction to them by just freezing them all and it created a mystery of what they had done and if they wanted to do anything about it.


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## fba827 (Jun 4, 2011)

weather and weather events to make the area aseem more than just _cold themed_ but actually _cold_.


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## Celebrim (Jun 4, 2011)

I like to customize monsters.

I'd be taking alot of normal monsters and ad hoc templating them as cold, templating hags as 'Rime Hags' for example.  I also like creating monsters on the fly, so there would probably be frost sprites, tundra spirits, cold spirits and the like.  I can also imagine both the Seelie and Unseelie court having palaces in the tundra, each one being ascendent during its appropriate season while the other hibernates.

But things I'd definately have in my frigid zones:

Frost Giants (This is the dominate civilization in the artic regions of my campaign world.  Everything else short of a white dragon great wyrm is there at their sufferance.)
Goblins (Goblins have filled the eskimo/inuit niche in my campaign world, outcompeting humans and even dwarves in this environment)
Ice Mephits
Mammoths
Wooly Rhinos
Ice Elementals
Frost Wurm
Trolls (Trolls in my game are fey creatures, but with otherwise similar stats to the normal D&D ones.)
Grey Oozes
Marzanna
White Puddings
Snowflake Ooze
Remorhaz
Wendigo
Bhut
Werebears
Winterwolf
Wolverine
Sabertooth Tiger

I'd also do some research on Alaska and look for the most outlandish terrain I could find and then fantasy theme it: arctic dune seas, areas of hot springs and volcanism, glaciers, etc.  

Other monsters that stike my fancy as preplanned (not necessarily wandering encounters)

Desiccator
Immoth
Drowned
Qorrash

Some monsters that seem ripe for transforming
Dust Wight -> Snow Wight
Dune Stalker -> Tundra Stalker
Water Wierd -> Ice Wierd
Sea Hag -> Rime Hag
Air Elemental -> Rime Elemental (by adding a cold subtype to it)
Drowned -> Frozen
Dune Hag -> Snow Hag

Manual of the Planes has a Cold Element Creature Template that might be used for some of the above (though probably with some tweaks).

I'd also probably apply it to:
Monstrous Spider
Viper
Shadow


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## Starfox (Jun 4, 2011)

Remember, polar nights are not neverending, there is constant sunshine in the summer months.


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## Ravilah (Jun 5, 2011)

I ran a North Pole themed game once.

There was a villain called the Red Necromancer, who had a lair full of elf-slaves, and who rode a chariot pulled by flying Dire Elk (the foremost of which had flames pouring from its mouth to lead the way on misty evenings). Once a year he left his lair in the Frosted Mountains and swooped down upon the native villages, stealing away their children and burning the houses to charcoal.

The taskmaster over his slaves was a massive, female troll named Carol (the ancient, yuletide troll) who wielded a spiked whip.

Guarding the pass through the Frosted Mountains was a huge construct of ice and snow, animated by the magical cap of human skin bolted to its head. 

Beyond the pass was a labyrithine frozen bog inhabited by a massive yeti. The party found the yeti caught in a nasty trap, helpless and wounded. They chose to free it and everyday after that, it reappeared, bringing them a present. First it was just odd local birds, then rings, then human victims. It meant well, but eventually they had to kill it because it was killing so many innocent peasants (and ten local lords). It died with this pathetic look on its face of, "Why? I love you guys."

The Red Necromancer had a huge bag of holding just full of loot (and several pretty dolls...go figure).


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## Razjah (Jun 5, 2011)

You can always just look in the monster manual/bestiary for cold type monsters or monsters that have that as an environment. Winter wolves and frost giants?

With the actual encounters make sure you use the terrain. Taigas have a lot of cover to offer, high winds make ranged attacks dangerous and inaccurate as well as causing issues for travel, deep snow causes a character to fall and requires a strength check or escape artist check to get out and the area is difficult/hindering terrain. Ice is treacherous. It breaks, it is slippery, it melts from a camp fire.

The cold makes metal armor a problem so be aware of anyone who has that. Endurance checks or survival or just a Con check to simulate the bitter cold metal draining the heat from the character.

Also remember that without many landmarks it is very easy to get lost.

Avalanches could make an intersting encounter- something like a snow bulette that causes an avalanche and uses that to make hunting prey more interesting.

Snow blindness? Hypothermia? Difficult travel in unpacked snow? Lack of good firewood could be a problem. Maybe have a couple modified spells like shape ice? Native that are eskimo like and hunt dragon turtles or your choice of a deep sea monster?



A random fire monster that is preying on the cold mosnters' weakness to fire would be interesting.


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## Wild Gazebo (Jun 5, 2011)

Nomadic halfling caribou riders.  

They could have all sorts of legends revolving around the crystal dragon...perhaps even worship it.


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## steeldragons (Jun 5, 2011)

Just reiterating the notes to make the weather and the terrain adversaries all their own...encounters across the arctic region should be relatively rare, but the danger/threat/lethality of simple exposure is omnipresent.

For encounters:
Snow swept areas/arctic foothills/etc...
1.Remorhaz is an absolute must in my book.
2. Frost giant(s). Maybe a lone hunter riding a mammoth. Maybe a whole band going off to war with some local dwarves (or coming back from one... with slaves in tow?). Maybe find yourselves in the heart of a large community.
3. Winter Wolves and/or Hoar Foxes
4. Yeti(s)
5. White Dragon(s)...maybe fully grown and thoroughly annoyed at the vastly superior crystal dragon it knows to be far to the north.
6. White Pudding.

For actual "tundra" terrain.
1. Herd animals -elk, caribou, reindeer, musk ox/yak, if you use pre-historic creatures then sure, throw in the wooly rhinos, mammoths, mastadons, dire elk (I forget the name for those extinct huuuuge antlered elk)
2. Predators- wolves (normal, dire, winter, a pack of all three?), foxes (normal, dire, or hoar), giant/dire snow owls, LYNX! (a personal favorite  normal or giant)...how 'bout gryphons whose front half are white-speckled falcons instead of eagles?
3. "Barbarian" hunters: 3d6 human barbarian hunters (or 'berserkers" if you like) from some local tribe.
4. "Snow Gnomes": a community of gnomes (give them an Inuit flavor if you like) who ride giant snowshoe hares and live/work with the hares and large community of some lemming/marmot/can't think of the name of the tundra version right now. But those large-numbering burrowing prairie dog type things. Them.  
5. I'm just thinking in a region that has large herds of edible treats, the biiig scale predatory monsters would most likely move in during the seasons of high population. So things like the Bulette (LOVE the "snow bulette" idea in the post above), again the Remorhaz, maybe some daring ankhegs (who only come into the perimeter regions of the tundra during the summer months when the ground is softer), a "tundra" umber hulk?
6. Ice Trolls (and/or Frost Giants), again, coming out of the hills to take advantage of the abundant spring/summer hunting. 

Keep in for tundra/arctic animals (and fantastic creatures for that matter, if you like), if you are doing this in "spring/summer" months fur and feathers will be in their (primarily) brownish summer coat versus late summer/fall when everyone's coats start to go mostly or totally white.

I am also reminded of a japanese legend about a spirit "snow woman" who preyed on travelers in the winter/snowy places. Basically, led them back to her house, gave them a fire and warm beds and then killed them in their sleep. You could make this an actual "evil spirit" or perhaps a vampire or go less undead and make her an 'arctic fox'woman complete with magic charm ability and such...but I can't recall her actual name...or if there was ever a D&D equivalent creature...

ANYwho, have fun and happy tundra-combats 
--Steel Dragons


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## steeldragons (Jun 5, 2011)

*One more completely ORIGINAL idea...*

How about a tribe of elk-riding elfkimos in an age old war with ice trolls who are trying to get through the ice troll mountain kingdom to reach their ancestral home...

Wait...ok, maybe not a comPLETEly original idea.

How's this? There's this witch...a "white witch", let's say...she's blanketed the land in an endless winter...anyone who resists her rule gets turned to stone and...hang on...this sounds familiar too for some reason. hmmmm.



Well, have fun with it whatever you decide.
--SD


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## TarionzCousin (Jun 5, 2011)

theo r cwithin said:


> dwarves + *dire *vodka.



fifm.


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## I'm A Banana (Jun 6, 2011)

So, given the preponderance of "big, shaggy mammals," how would you differentiate between them? What makes the big difference between Dire Elk, Woolly Mammoths, Grizzly Mastodons, and all the other big largely inoccuous herbivores who are likely to stampede? And between dire bears, polar bears, dire wolverines, dire wolves, and winter wolves, what makes a different kind of "predator" encounter? How would you distinguish between various "arctic race" encounters? 

Any more detail on some fey ideas? I figure an area of untouched, pristine wilderness is probably an ideal place for a fey spirit, especially in the middle of a lightless arctic winter.

I'm getting some cool ideas, but they need a bit more flesh on 'em...

Thanks so far, great stuff, keep it coming!


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## Gilladian (Jun 6, 2011)

Any fey encounter I would probably model on the idea of the rusalka or the will-o-wisp - a creature that lures prey into dangerous situations to devour their life-force.

Or they could simply be small helper/hinderers much like brownies or pixies; they have no interest in the human purpose for being there; they help or hinder based on their own amusement.

Quasi-elemental fey who are part of the ice and cold could be really fantastic - they again have no understanding of the human need for warmth and shelter, but might be led to being helpful if their own needs are understood.


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## Theo R Cwithin (Jun 6, 2011)

I could see fey connected to slumbering creatures, possibly as protectors or as an extension of their dreams.  There might be little feral fey-- toothy and fierce-- running around accumulating food for their charge, maybe in snares or pits.  These little buggers would trap prey, but _keep it alive through winter_ so their guardian... dire bear, maybe?... can have a nice breakfast when he wakes up.

Aurorae fey might be really spacey.  Maybe they're enamored of strange colors and express themselves in weird slow, undulant dance like the wintery lights that give life to them.  An encounter with them would likely be trippy rather than combative.

A conclave of will'o'wisps might be a power center of the tundra, perhaps rivaling even the crystal dragon.  Perhaps they, too, read the stars... or maybe they use other means of divination: crystalmancy, casting of bones (but only adventurer's bones will do!), auroramancy, reading snowflakes like tea leaves, or the like.

Sleepy bracken faeries might go scurrying when a horse steps into a moss-filled depression on the frozen moor.  Warmth faeries might slink through the night stealing the heat from sleeping adventurers' toes.  Ice fey might delight in pouring out and freezing PCs' waterskins-- or the innards of their mounts!

As for the animals, you might just split them into four broad groups and run/anticipate just one or two encounters for each type.  First are the lone hunters, a very rare but dangerous breed-- likely something weird, such as an aberrant sabre-toothed cat/displacer-beast hybrid, a behir, a grumpy cave bear with indigestion (or night terrors!), and those sort of things.  

The next group is the pack predators: wolves and the like.  They could easily becombined with a herd animal encounter, as well as being a menace in their own right.  You could include especially primitive or ferocious humanoid hunters in this group, I suppose.

Next are the 'normal' herd animals (in tundra areas, this is probably going to be reindeer or something similar). These will be fairly common; on the rare occasions they're a threat, it'll likely be because they stampede or something.  Maybe tie a stampede to an attack by pack predators, just to complicate  things.  

Finally will be the BIG herd animals:  the mastadons and the like.  Like their lessers, they might stampede when attacked by pack predators or hunters.  However, an interesting encounter might happen on occasion with just one or two of them: an abandonee, a sick baby and protective mother, or the like.  A cliche prehistoric encounter might be a mammoth caught in a bog or tar pit: trapped and scared and therefore dangerous.

And of course, in fantasy land you can layer on oddball D&Disms to make more peculiar encounters.  A mastodon zombie might have been struggling to get out of its tar pit for a thousand years; heck, it might  be happy just to be out of it rather than interested in a fight, if the pCs should decide to help rather than kill it.   A stampede of incorporeal glowing reindeer pursued by nebulous ghostly hunters could be a fun wtf moment, as arrows go zipping through the PCs and animals tumble to their deaths around them.


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## Aberzanzorax (Jun 6, 2011)

you could use lovecraft's "colour out of space".


More generally, I've read that fey like the "in-between times" like dawn and twilight/dusk. 

I bet they have one hell of a party the first time the sun rises after 6 months, or the first time it sets.


I don't know if you want to go dichotomy here, but there's also the opportunity to capitalize on the darkness/light component, both with fey and undead. Unseelie fey for darkness, seelie for light. Vampires that can party/feast all night long...but all night is 6 months. Etc.


Oh, and someone mentioned an awesome idea with a fire elemental frozen in the ice...I think that could be extended to other options for enforced dormancy or imprisonment. From frozen eggs that thaw and hatch to a sub-arctic Tarrasque dormancy that only ends on rare occasions that it warms sufficiently (let's hope your world has no global warming) to a lich whose phylactery ended up here somehow and he's reformed, but frozen solid in the ice... tons of options.


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## I'm A Banana (Jun 8, 2011)

Malright, thought I'd show off what I have, thanks to your help.

The encounters include a _Dire Elk Stampede_, an encounter with a _Yuki-Onna_ and her faerie servants, and a creepy abandoned cabin with a _Wendigo_ lurking outside.

The party's going to be level 2 when I take 'em through, and this is 4e. 

These are just the fights, of course. While traveling through the region, they're going to have to make some sort of Exploration check to make progress to the Crystal Dragon's abode (they're going to get their fortune told!), and if they fail, they loose a healing surge that cannot be restored as long as they are exposed, and need to try again the next day. 

The environment is constantly dim, though not the pitch blackness of dead night. Stars, a moon, and the frequent aurorae keep dim light over the outdoor encounter regions. The ones that aren't in a blizzard, anyway.

Lemme know what you think! This is just the "first wave" of polar encounters, of course. Polar bears, penguins, glowing glaciers, and probably a Remorhaz await them as they near the shore, and the lair of the Crystal Dragon.

The Crystal Dragon itself will have to be overcome, but I'm going to use a skill/combat hybrid (like I did for the dire elk stampede) to govern it. They're going to have to lure it into dark places so they can attack it without the blinding, searing radiance it exudes.


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