The Forest, CR 10 – Random Encounters for Dungeons & Dragons: Fifth Edition

by jmgariepy · October 7, 2016

“They call themselves civilized, yet what is civilization? Is a city not another wilderness? And in the wilderness, does not the strong survive? In the natural order of things, it is the predator that puts fear in the heart of his prey. Why then must the fearsome hunters of Havenbrook slink beneath the veil of night, conducting our work in secret? Has not Nature made us the dominant species? And what could be more right than that which is Natural? If we are not willing to…”

“Oh, er, don’t mind us. We were just running a little late to the meeting. I think you were talking about nature? My crew is all about nature, right guys? Go, go nature and whatnot.”

“I can’t say I can place your voice. Who sent you, and why are you here at this most secret of meetings?”

“Oh, um, Aronius couldn’t make it. He sent his regards and us in his place.”

“How’s that possible? Aronius was killed by the Havenbrook constable last week. There were a number of witnesses…”

“Well, you see, he left a missive in case he happened to, you know, suddenly die.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Where was I? If we are not willing to take our rightful place as rulers of this city, then by what right… I’m sorry. It’s just that Aronius was illiterate. How did he write that missive, exactly?”

“Oh we’ve, um, been doing a lot of the paperwork for Aronius for a while now. You know, what with him being illiterate and all. So we wrote it.”

“You wrote a message on his behalf to yourself?”

“I know. I tried telling him the same thing. But he insisted.”

“That’s funny. You don’t smell like a werewolf…”

“Haha! Werewolves! Of course we’re werewolves! What kind of daft idiot would walk into a secret meeting of werewolf cultists, pretending to be one of them?”

Appropriate random encounters for

Eight seventh level characters
Five eight level and two seventh level characters
Three ninth level and three eighth level characters
Five tenth level characters
Three eleventh level characters and a tenth level character
Three twelfth level characters
Two fifteenth level characters
Or a lone twentieth level character travelling through the forest.

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	Description	Relationship to Players	Result
2	Very Rare	Deadly Encounter	A wererat, a werewolf, a wereboar, a weretiger, and a werebear—each respected leaders of their own broods—meet to form an unholy alliance and take their revenge against an organization which has been targeting them individually.
3	Rare	Hard Encounter	A green hag corrupted six giant elk, and uses them to do her bidding.
4	Rather Unlikely	Hard Encounter	An orc eye of Gruumsh and his four orog ringleaders lead seven orcs into glorious battle.
5	Unlikely	Hard Encounter	A pack of six werewolves picked up the party’s scent.
6	Uncommon	Medium Encounter	An aboleth’s possessed subjects all succumbed to disease. So the cruel aberration left it’s hidden lair at the bottom of a deep, dark lake, and is on the prowl for new toys to possess.
7	Plausible	Medium Encounter	Two green half-dragon veteran siblings take their vengeance out on a world that refuses to accept them.
8	Common	Medium Encounter	A pair of phase spiders in a symbiotic relationship with twelve giant wolf spiders are eager to feed.
9	Most Common	Friend or Foe Medium Encounter	A lush of fifteen drunk satyrs are ready to get a wee rowdy.
10	Most Common	Easy Encounter	Eight giant centipedes and six swarms of insects (centipedes) burst out their nesting spot inside a huge dead tree.
11	Most Common	Easy Encounter	Three cowardly wererats (in rat form) urge along, and hide among a plague of four giant rats.
12	Most Common	Common Roleplaying Encounter	The characters encounter a wyvern which somehow trapped itself under a fallen tree. Unless one of the players makes a DC 18 Animal Handling check, the wyvern is too scared of the characters to let them come close, instead lashing at them with its tail. If the characters successfully free the wyvern, it flies off without looking back (though, it doesn’t fly far without resting. It’s exhausted after its ordeal.)
13	Most Common	Common Beneficial Find	A pair of unfortunate gnomes lost a battle with a tribe of goblins. Their loot was plundered. Even their boots were removed. But the goblins evidently didn’t notice the two were wearing Chain Mithral under their shirts. (DMG, p. 182)
14	Common	Piece of Flavor	In a wide clearing, a gnome festival takes place. Or that’s what it looks like from a distance. As the characters approach, it becomes apparent that the entire festival is an illusion. Whoever cast this illusion, and why they did so remains a mystery.
15	Plausible	A Trap!	Unless a character leading the party makes a combined DC 15 Perception and a DC 15 Nature check, that players stumbles into a faerie circle of mushrooms which casts Polymorph on everyone within a 50 foot radius (PHB, page 266). Those affected must make a Wisdom save at DC 13 or be turned into field mice until they successfully complete a short rest. Of note: A number of foxes and hawks are aware of this faerie circle, and tend to hover nearby in case they chance upon a lucky meal.
16	Uncommon	Uncommon Roleplaying Encounter	An erinyes descends from the heavens. Its mission is to capture a cleric who gravely insulted the erinyes’ master, and bring them to the Nine Hells. There the priest will be judged for their ‘crimes’. The Erinyes, however, is not familiar with the mortal world and could use a primer on the culture, as well as any amount of help the characters can give in order to pursue her target. The erinyes is incapable of understanding that what she is doing is evil, since she doesn’t comprehend the concept of good. The closest thing she can relate to ‘doing good’ is “my master’s bidding.”
17	Unlikely	Environmental Hazard	An unobservant skunk blunders out its den directly in front of the characters. Unless a character passes a DC 15 Animal Handling check, the skunk sprays that character, and anyone within ten feet of them. All Stealth and Diplomacy checks made by the sprayed person is made at -5 for the rest of the day, -4 the next day, -3 for the day after that, etc., until the smell is barely noticeable by day six.
18	Rather Unlikely	A Barrier	The characters find a totem carved out of a dead tree in the woods. As they approach, it hums, glows green, then stops. Suddenly, all magic in a seven mile radius ceases to function. Magical containers, such as portable holes, empty out. Furthermore, all previously magical objects increase in weight by an additional twenty-five pounds apiece (Potions and scrolls are unaffected by this weight increase, though they are inert.) The items return to normal as soon as they leave this fourteen mile diameter Anti-Magic aura, or until a new Moon rises, whichever comes first.
19	Rare	A Lucky Find	The players come across a house in the woods. It’s very inviting and warm inside. The coals on the stove are still smoldering, but the owner of the house appears to have stepped out. After searching around for a while the characters can find plenty of food and supplies, as well as a random treasure hoard for characters level 11-15 (DMG, p. 138) The trio of werebears that live in this house, however, may not appreciate other people sitting in their chairs, eating their food, or sleeping in their beds.
20	Very Rare	Incredibly Fortuitous Find	One of the characters accidentally kicks aside an otherwise well-hidden trap door in the ground. If the characters explore, they find a now-defunct secret hideout once employed by a thieve’s guild. The underground fortress-hideaway features a large number of bedrooms, a kitchen and pantry, a large common area, stairways which lead into multiple large hollowed trees for easy escape (via zipline) and/or the ability to make guerrilla attacks on an enemy from above, as well as a vault which still holds a level 11-15 treasure cache inside it. (DMG, p. 138)