A Roadside Ambush!
Roadside ambushes are road encounters often present in both game-oriented worldbuilding and narrative worldbuilding. Bandits, raiders, or other criminals or competing factions set up an ambush to ensnare travelers on the road. Often these ambushes occur where there is cover for the ambushers to be close without detection, and to lay traps or other obstacles to ensure there can be no escape.
| Synonyms: a sudden attack |
| Encounters |
Designing Fictional Roadside Ambushes
Overview
These ambushes will likely occur where there is cover for the attackers to hide in or attack from (terrain features such as trees and rock formations or other elements like broken vehicles or bridges). There may be traps placed. There may be roadblocks (fallen trees, vehicles, etc.) either at the site of the ambush or earlier along a route to force travelers towards the ambush site. There may be a highwayman, bandit, or marauder that feigns friendship with the victims to lure them into the ambush or assess their wealth.
A birdcall that sounds human, a tree across the road, a broken vehicle, a stranger pleading for help, may all be clues that an ambush is imminent.
