Encounter 9: Grubs

The True and Rightful King

Encounter 9: 

Level 2:  Hard (party’s level +3 = 5) 200 xp

4 Ruin Scarab Grubs, Level 5 Minion Brute, 50 xp ea. (1 player)
Carrion Crawler Scuttler, Level 5 Skirmisher, 200 xp (2 players)
Carrion Crawler Scuttler, Level 5 Skirmisher, 200 xp (3 players)
Carrion Crawler Scuttler, Level 5 Skirmisher, 200 xp (4 players)
Carrion Crawler Scuttler, Level 5 Skirmisher, 200 xp (5 players)
Carrion Crawler Scuttler, Level 5 Skirmisher, 200 xp (6 players)

Setup

Once more, an enemy onslaught defeated, you begin to climb down.

Tactics and Development

As soon as a character reaches level 4, the bugs attack, crawling out of a hole in the trunk, getting a surprise round.

Features of the Area

The tree:  The cypress is over 100 feet tall, but the top branches which will support weight are 100 feet above the ground (Level 10).  Climbing the tree, up or down, requires the following Athletics DCs:

Level 1-2:  5
Level 3-4:  5
Level 5-6:  7
Level 7-8:  9
Level 9-10:  11

Each time a character is hit while standing on a branch, he must make an Acrobatics check or fall:

Level 1-2:  10
Level 3-4:  11
Level 5-6:  12
Level 7-8:  13
Level 9-10:  14

If a character falls, he or she gets to make a saving throw at each level, starting with the one he or she is on.  If they save, it means they are hanging from the branch at the level they saved on.  No matter what, they save 20 feet below where they started, so they never take more than 2d10 damage from the fall.  A hanging character is helpless.  Regaining the branch is the same climb check as climbing a level.

A character who falls all the way to the ground level falls either on the ground or in the water.  The water is deep and they have to swim to shore, but if they fall in the water, they take no damage.

Any character who enters another encounter’s level starts that encounter, but the creatures of the encounter do not pursue if the character moves up from their level.

Treasure

Perception DC 10:  You notice something fairly large and bulky in the hole from which the bugs appeared.  Carefully you reach in and feel around, then withdraw from the hole a set of +1 Gloaming Hide Armor (level 5 magic item).