Brainstorming: Interesting Wilderness Encounters

KMcCollam

I am currently working on a sandbox exploration-based game for my Pathfinder group. The area in question is a temperate forest, although it gets pretty swampy in places, with minimal civilized humanoid contact (besides native tribes, goblin warbands, etc.). It's mostly low-level, but can get dangerous fast in some areas. To make the exploration a little more interesting (and a little less "Oh, great, look. Another stream. Whee.), I'm trying to add in some interesting locales and encounters that have more "character" than just an orc encampment or stream. Example: in one section of the forest closer to civilization is an dilapidated halfling slave graveyard, where the now undead halflings raise nightly, seeking vengence on their old master (or anyone, for that master). So I have come to ask the creative minds here at OP if they have any interesting ideas/contributions.

TL;DR- Any ideas for interesting forest encounters?

Poutine_Paladin

Village in the trees filled with overprotective/secretive/angry pixies...

Underground (or hidden in some other way) meeting of some druidic council that your players stumble across by accident somehow...

An area where the trees themselves come to life (maybe every full moon or something) due to an ancient curse that leaves them restless, and your players need to find a way to break the curse so the trees can finally rest...

That's just off the top of my head...I'll be back later and see what else I can muster up to help out. (And see what others have said, too...that's the best part of threads like this)

KMcCollam

Nice ideas. The cursed trees is particularly good and do-able (not mention a good tie in to another area of interest- where ever the cure to the curse may be). Timing dependant ideas are also very nice, as the characters will often be trekking and retrekking through these areas. They freshen things up. There are already a few, such as a compact-making devil who only appears on certain nights.

gnunn

A pond that is home to a family of werebeavers who demand wooden weapons in tribute

A hermit's shack that is overrun with giant spiders with the dessicated corpse of the hermit still inside

A woodland glade full of flowers that give off a narcotic odor. They put anyone who lingers in the glade into a mystical slumber and the only way out is to escape the world of dreams... and of course everyone has the same dream.

Oh, and a rap battle with "this guy":http://fatkidatcamp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/50-Centaur.jpg

FemmeLegion

A squirrel who is actually somebody that got hit with a Baleful Polymorph.

Two lines of five aeolian harps, one along each side of a stretch of river/creek that's shallow enough to ford. (My thought is that something lies buried beneath the river stones and the music of the harps keeps it asleep or otherwise incapacitated.)

This scene from O Brother Where Art Thou: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODlmEjZ8UFA - but custom build the monsters so that they can teleport away if someone immediately decides they're evil.

Falchen

There is nothing wrong with bandits, or an old bandit cave/hideout.

Don't forget to put in parts of past civilizations, old roads can be used to create clearings, they can also lead to places or interest (ruins) or encounters (remains of an old stone bridge that is the only way across for some distance, but is treacherous).

Good luck, and keep us updated on what you try and how it works.

igornappovich

Couple other minor considerations: terrain -- thick brush takes effort to walk through. Forested hills cut visibility way down. Swamps are exhausting to walk through, and take a loooong time to make progress in. Insects, bird calls, animal droppings from above.... all can add atmosphere if used at the right moments. On the other hand, forests are great for trackers (either the pc using a skill, or an enemy tracking the pcs through the forest).

Other things (not standalones, just ideas for you to mesh into your existing stuff):
Perception checks to see if someone notices the bird calls stopping (predator near).
Broken twigs indicate a humanoid footstep heading towards .. (encounter area X).
A crazy, but harmless denizen (goblin or whatever is local to the area) who imparts rumors, legends and false information (some truth/ clues for encounters upcoming) to the party.

None of the above is meant as something to stand by itself, just use them to spice up existing encounters as needed. For example, use terrain (like a forested hill, or dense thicket) to create a more dramatic moment for the party when they reach an overlook or encounter area. Or, they notice the bird calls stopping right before they are attacked (this could give players a chance to prepare/ flee/ form a defensive position if they perceive it correctly).

Good luck!