The Forest, CR 1/4 – Random Encounters for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition

by jmgariepy · January 13, 2016

“All alone, all alone.
Little lost halfling, all alone.
You so tired, woods you creep.
Uglurk put you fast asleep.”

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Goblin Tree Sentry, by John Barry Ballaran

Appropriate random encounters for a single first level character travelling through the forest, which may be useful for a character lost in the woods, or for introducing a new player to D&D before introducing them to the party. For more information on random encounters, when they are appropriate, and how often they should occur, see the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG), page 85.

For more random encounter charts, go to the Random Encounters for Dungeons and Dragons: 5th Edition page.

When determining a random encounter, roll 1d12+1d8 and consult the chart.

d12+d8	Rarity	Relationship to a lone first level character	Result
2	Very Rare	Deadly Encounter	A black bear is very hungry.
3	Rare	Hard Encounter	Two twig blights escape from the Shadowfell.
4	Rather Unlikely	Hard Encounter	Two bandits looking for an easy mark.
5	Unlikely	Hard Encounter	A pair of kobolds, hopelessly separated from their core scouting party.
6	Uncommon	Medium Encounter	A constrictor snake drops from the canopy.
7	Plausible	Medium Encounter	A hermit goblin who deserted his tribe a long time ago (in goblin years.)
8	Common	Medium Encounter	A giant owl, swooping in for a quick meal.
9	Most Common	Friend or Foe Medium Encounter	A boar, mean and ill-tempered. He has no need to fight the characters, but may do it out of pure malice.
10	Most Common	Easy Encounter	Two awakened shrubs, the product of a magical battle, are no longer beholden to their defeated master and now threaten the wildlife.
11	Most Common	Easy Encounter	A giant weasel with an appetite bigger than the both of us.
12	Most Common	Common Roleplaying Encounter	A pair of commoners lost in the woods are in need of a guide and/or protection. One commoner, however, is insistent that they don’t need to stop and ask for directions, even while the other begs for help.
13	Most Common	Common Beneficial Find	An abandoned campsite. Tossed aside are the remains of twelve gold worth of provisions.
14	Common	Piece of Flavor	A strange tree in the woods features a knobby protrusion which looks like a goofy face. That’s quite the landmark. Any Survival check made at this location in order to get one’s bearing is made with advantage.
15	Plausible	A Trap!	A net trap (DMG, p. 122) This net with a number of bells attached to it drops from the canopy. Any character trying to escape the net must make an additional DC 15 Dexterity check, or the ringing bells attract monsters. The first time a character rings the bells, roll on this random encounter chart. If you get a 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, or 20 that monster/those monsters appear in 1d4+2 rounds.
16	Uncommon	Uncommon Roleplaying Encounter	A pair of elven guards engage the party thinking they are monsters, but quickly realize their mistake. They are currently trailing four kobolds that raided their camp, and could use help hunting them down.
17	Unlikely	Environmental Hazard	An old tree collapses with a crack. Choose a random character. That character may detect the danger and avoid walking into it with either a perception or survival check, DC 10. Otherwise, the tree collapses and its branches scrape at the character for 1d4+1 damage unless they jump out of the way with a successful DC 10 dexterity check.
18	Rather Unlikely	A Barrier	Players claw their way through dense overgrowth, forcing the party to move at half-speed for the next 1d8 hours. This will likely lead to another random encounter…
19	Rare	A Lucky Find	A backpack is left dangling from a tree branch, with no sign of its former owner. Inside is some food, a few personal effects, a stylized mirror worth 25 gold, and a random item from Magic Item Table A. (DMG, p. 144)
20	Very Rare	Incredibly Fortuitous Find	A dryad tails the party. She isn’t mean, but she doesn’t like the idea of adventurers spending more time in her forest than necessary. As long as the players remain in her habitat, she does what she can to help them out, ensuring their speedy departure. If possible, she keeps her presence a secret. Whenever a threat is dealt with, she runs back to the woods and hides.