Ok everyone. I've been thinking about the new encounter system in 4th edition and how it requires a change in thinking for the DM, a change that is really cool, but not always natural if you've DM'ed for a long time.  I'm not suggesting DM's haven't been doing things like this for a long time,I know I do a lot of things "off the cuff" a lot of the time with 3.5, but 4th edition formulaizes it a bit and because of the skill system and level modifiers its just more possible to have these kind of generic complex encounters that you couldn't have before. 

At any rate, I thought it would be cool to put together a list of encounters that could be used in adventures.  These could be combat encounters, combat with trap encounters, or skill challenges.  Ideally a DM can use these as random encounters, or as pieces in his larger adventure.

I'll start it off, others can feel free to contribute. :)  I'd like a good format for these, but for now I'll just kind of spew it out and organize it later.  This first one is pretty rough, but hopefully it gets easier over time.

Murder in Library

Concept: Someone has been murdered in a library in the restricted area.  For whatever reason, the players have been invited to take a look.  This could somewhat easily be inserted into an adventurer revolving around an assassin attempting to summon a devil or some other sort of exotic being, or perhaps the assassin is casting a ritual and needs certain symbols from the book.  Perhaps the book details that a certain ritual can only be cast in the next 2 weeks at a certain spot, say a tall mountain top or a natural spring, the site of many murders, or something else, at midnight.

Level: 1

Complexity: 2 (requires 6 successes before 3 failures).

Primary Skills: Perception, Diplomacy, Arcana, Heal

Perception: DC 15: The corpse is laying on its stomach, its coin purse still swells with a few coins, and most ofthe blood seems to have welled from a point in the midback from a stab wound upward.  A silver dove is pinned on his collar, the only item of value other than the coins, unlocking the arcana DC15. 

Heal: DC 15  The wound pierced a lung, making the victim unable to scream as his lungs filled with blood.  From the position of the corpse and location of the wound, the attack was quick and efficient, the victim barely struggled.

Arcana: DC 15  The silver dove is the sign of an organization of wizards, The Silent Wings, its tower located nearby.   The group is known for being reclusive, barely interefering in the world around it.  Other than strangely colored plumes of smoke often being seen coming from their tower, little is known of the group.

Perception: DC 18:  Other than the obvious pool of blood surrounding the corpse, little blood is anywhere else.  An exception is a red thumbprint barely visible low on a bookshelf near the body.  A single gap in the row of the books at this level seems to indicate the possibility that a book was taken by the assailant.  This unlocks diplomacy with the librarian.

Diplomacy: DC 15 The librarian wants to avoid the area of the corpse entirely, but when the librarian is convinced to take a look at the shelf missing a book the librarian pales.  She knows immediately which book has been taken and tells the players so, the Ariangerard.  This book was only 1 of 2, the 2nd is possessed by the Silent Wings, a secretive order of magi who live in a nearby tower.  This unlocks the Arcana check DC 18.

Arcana: DC 18  Those trained in magic recognize the name of the book.  How it managed to arrive here in the library is anyone's guess, but the Ariangerard is a fabled journal, one that describes one novice's travels through hell with his master.  The novice saw many things while travelling with his master and wrote them down, often not understanding the significance of what he wrote or the symbols or creatures he etched.

Success:  The goal was not murder, but rather the theft of a book.  Most likely the topic of the book has some significance,  obviously something worth killing over.   The killer was a trained assassin, killing the victim silently and with little struggle.  A 2nd copy of the book exists, held by the Silent Wings, a secretive order of magi.

Failure: Even 1 perception success should reveal that the target was not the victim but rather something at the library, otherwise the group simply misses this point, perhaps facing the consequences of whatever bad thing will happen if the assassin isn't stopped. 

Here is my 2nd try, I played with the format a bit, and I also made it more abstract.

Arrange a Meeting with the Master of the Thieves Guild.

The group wants to get in touch with the master of the Thieves Guild.  Perhaps they need to recover something stolen.  Perhaps they need to bargain for passage out of the city or some other illegal action.

Level: Party Level

Complexity: 2 (requires 6 successes before 3 failures)

Primary SKills: Streetwise, Perception, Diplomacy

Spot Thief: Perception DC moderate.  Someone in the group sees someone steal something, either a pickpocket or shoplifter.  This opens the diplomacy line (its possible to sneak up and grab the thief which might result in a intimidate option and possibly a combat encounter but this is the harder line).

Find Thief: Streetwise DC moderate.  The group talks to someone "in the know" who refers them to a member of the thieves guild.  This unlocks the Talk to Thief option.

Find Guild Lieutenant: Streetwise DC hard.  The group manages to find someone who will refer them directly to the leader for a bribe!  The bribe should be fair for the level of the group, perhaps 10 gold per level.  This unlocks the Arrange Meeting.

Unlockable Options

Talk to Thief: Diplomacy DC moderate. The group convinces the thief to talk to them without running away.  This unlocks Arrange Meeting.

Arrange Meeting: Diplomacy DC Moderate.  This requires 2 successes to fully convince the rogue, he could be punished or killed after all for making the wrong choice!  The group successfully convinces the thief to introduce them to a leader.  The group might be led to a dark alley where the leader talks from a covered window, a meeting in the sewers, or a shop where the group is led to a back room.  No matter what the group is likely to be in terrible danger!

Success:  The group finds itself in a meeting with the master of the thieves guild! 

Failure:  The group manages to draw attention to it from the thieves guild, negative attention.  The group finds itself attacked or followed by members of the thieves guild who punish those who are indiscreet in poking into matters of the thieves guild.

Convince Ship Captain to allow Party to sneak out.

So the group is in trouble, they need to get out of the city.  The guards are looking for the players to arrest, the cityfolk are looking to get a reward by turning in the players.  What is a group to do? Bribe a ship's captain to sneak the group out of course! 

Bounty Limit: I recommend 50 gold per level per player in terms of how much the bounty.  This is expensive enough to hurt the player's pocketbooks if they have to bribe someone to let them go.

Cost of Voyage: The trip defaults to the bounty cost but can be adjusted up or down.

Level: Party Level

Complexity: 3

Primary Skills:  Diplomacy, Intimidation, Athletics

Set Captain's Demeanor:  1 Diplomacy Success or intimidation here makes the captain neutral and willing to entertain a business proposition that could risk the captain's ship but is financially worth it.  A failed intimidation will make the ship's captain hostile and pretend to go to the next stage(bargainning) but secretly ambush the players regardless of the rest of the challenge unless they able to change the ship's c. 

Bargaining: Each success here moves the cost of voyage down 10%, each failure unnerves the captain and makes him increase the cost by 10%.  The ship's captain doesn't necessarily need to be paid in gold, but has to receive services or wealth in trade equal to the determined amount.

Seek Employment: A single athletics check can convince the captain that player can work as crew, which acts as 25 gold per level for payment purposes.  If a player has a power thats particularly useful for being a member of the crew the player gets a +4 to this roll.  No character can make this check more than once. 

Special Consequence

The following results happen based off of the ship's captain's mood at the end of the encounter, regardless of the success or failure of the encounter. 

Friendly: The ship's captain is willing to negotiate down to 1/2 the party's bounty in value.

Neutral: The ship's captain will simply not accept less than the award. 

Unfriendly: The amount paid must be worth at least the bounty +10% or the ship's captain will secretly lead the group to be ambushed and get the reward. 

Hostile:  the captain will secretly lead the players to being ambushed.

Success: The group decides upon an amount, the group pays none (friendly mood), half (neutral mood), or full (unfriendly) amount up front, and the ship tries to get the party out of the city undetected.

Failure:  The group is turned away to find another way out of the city, perhaps the danger to the captain's ship is too great for what the players are willing to pay.  If the mood is unfriendly or hostile the captain will turn the group in.