Hello all, I'm looking for some ideas/feedback for a set of swamp encounters my party could potentially come up against as they travel trough the Mere of Dead Men. The list of things i have so far are:
nothing happens, carry on
The fog rises and becomes thick and dense, which will make travel too dangerous. Stop for the night or push on with greater risk.
You spot a sickly looking tree on a hill Around the Tree there are signs of a camp here previously but no signs of the people, if the tree is examined there will be faces in the patterns of the bark looking like they are in pain. (it's a Gulthias Tree) and there are tracks coming out from where the roots cross and entwine, caused by blights coming up from the roots. If you stay here anyone who touches the tree makes a DC 14 Strength save to pull away and stop them being pulled into the tree and absorbed. absorption takes X rounds
A catoblepas stalks the party. It will attack someone if they stray more than 10 feet from the group. Otherwise, it will get bored and leave. If it is noticed then it will leave, if attacked then it will call upon it's mate and calf to join the attack
A cave entrance looms. A sign in infernal warns that Juiblex resides within. If the party is foolish enough to venture into the cave, they are 5% likely to encounter him and 95% likely to encounter 1-3 ochre jellies, an adult Oblex and a black pudding. If the characters stay the night in the cave then they must make a DC 16 Wisdom Saving throw, on a failure they most roll on the Juiblex madness table.
A swarm of insects fly around the party, slowing progress. All characters make a DC 15 Con save on a fail they become infected with Sight Rot
The Drowned - No one survives being completely submerged in the mud here. You know those shapes that sometimes blub up to the surface and seem to move on their own, floating nowhere. Those are the Drowned. Not many know, but these souls are still alive.. the swamp keeps them that way.. ever drowning, lungs full of muddy water. A faith with no purpose, and wished on no-one. (not combat just flavour)
A geyser erupts 10-100 feet away, spraying the party with swamp muck. Make a dex save, The closer they are the higher the save DC is, the dirtier they get., Failing the save gives disadvantage on stealth checks.
Party finds three blueberry plants with fist sized blueberries. If they are eaten, they taste delicious and heal 1-8 hit points. There are 1-6 blueberries per plant, but they expire if they are not eaten within a day. A character may only benefit from one blueberry per day
A dusk hag and her hut are seen in the distance, with a warm inviting fire and the area around it looks pleasant. If the party approaches and are polite the hag will invite them in, feed them some fey chocolates (magical effects) and give them a good nights rest. She may offer them deals as hags do. in the morning the hag and her hut walk off into the swamp.
Hidden Markers - Perception 15+ - the party notices hidden markers in the swamp written in draconic, if they realize these are markers then they can travel following the markers with nothing to hinder them
Will-o_wisp - finding a safe spot they begin to rest, during the night Will-o-Wisps will try to lure the characters into a corpse flower.
An acidic, caustic fog drifts over a large area before the party. Moving through it will be dangerous, but avoidance will cost time. If the party move through the fog they will take 10 damage for every minute they travel through and will have to make a DC 14 Con save to avoid becoming poisoned.
The ground before the party loosens into soft mud. Those that do not notice it in time are in danger of being dragged down., Perception 18+ to notice, Strength check to pull anyone out
The sounds of a deer calling out in pain can be heard. A hulking wooden creature is haunched over the creature as you look a black oil is pouring from the creature. After a short while the deer stops moving, a little while longer the creature bounds to life, moving slowly. The wooden creature is a Bagiennik and it was healing the creature.
Also, when sitting this into a table how would you best split up the roll on this? 16--20 no issue then one number for each other possibility
I dislike the [monster[Catoblepas[/monster] as its damage pretty much comes out of nowhere and can't really be avoided, with potentially severe ramifications. I'd never use a monster this deadly in a random encounter, I kind of assume random encounters are for draining resources rather than threatening instant disintegration.
The Hag is accommodating because i wanted to offer something different to the party and just because she's being nice doesn't mean she's benign. I think the Catoblepas will require some foreshadowing in the environment etc to get across to the party that this might not be a fight they want. even if the 6 of them (at level 7 ) would be able to handle one or 2 of these fairly well.
The idea behind the table would be to emphasize the fact that they are moving into a hostile environment, which none of them have traversed before, which they've had plenty of clues from NPCs and lore nuggets about. just trying to make it feel lived in.
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Hello all, I'm looking for some ideas/feedback for a set of swamp encounters my party could potentially come up against as they travel trough the Mere of Dead Men. The list of things i have so far are:
Also, when sitting this into a table how would you best split up the roll on this? 16--20 no issue then one number for each other possibility
Looks like a good, varied table.
Not sure why the hag is so accommodating though!
I dislike the [monster[Catoblepas[/monster] as its damage pretty much comes out of nowhere and can't really be avoided, with potentially severe ramifications. I'd never use a monster this deadly in a random encounter, I kind of assume random encounters are for draining resources rather than threatening instant disintegration.
Thanks Sanvael,
The Hag is accommodating because i wanted to offer something different to the party and just because she's being nice doesn't mean she's benign. I think the Catoblepas will require some foreshadowing in the environment etc to get across to the party that this might not be a fight they want. even if the 6 of them (at level 7 ) would be able to handle one or 2 of these fairly well.
The idea behind the table would be to emphasize the fact that they are moving into a hostile environment, which none of them have traversed before, which they've had plenty of clues from NPCs and lore nuggets about. just trying to make it feel lived in.