I had a lot of small and variably challenging encounters set up for the DDC that they neatly avoided by taking a route over the mountains rather than following through the swamps and lowlands. The trolls had left a fairly easy trail to follow, with occasional spikes in difficulty designed to lure the adventurers into traps or ambushes. Irreck the Stalker in particular had laid snares and deadfalls while hiding his brothers’ retreat.
It was all to no avail however, as the DDC used research, luck, and their alliance with Deadeye Alice to narrow down the likely location of the trolls’ lair rather than run in pursuit. As a result I have a number of scenarios that aren’t needed any more and its a good excuse to get a map and some encounter ideas down. If they inspire you as a GM or a player, that’s even better.
This map I called the Swamp Forge – it can be found in the Steam Workshop at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3090226250 and is a 45×45 squared encounter map.
The design of the encounter was for intruders (the DDC) to be lured in towards the hastily rebuilt and crude forge building in the centre of the map.
Hiding inside was a two-headed troll keeping watch. When intruders came close enough, he was to throw levers opening the pits to the north and south and release a pair of hungry hydras.
The troll would then wait a moment and then run to attack any spell casters as a priority.
The whole encounter would be worth 9600 XP, consisting of two CR8 hydras and a CR5 two-headed troll