I'm writing an adventure based on something I saw about baby doll heads being stapled onto trees during a hike. Put simply, there's this golbin witch lady who asks the adventurers to go hang up small hand-crafted heads outside her house. I like this setup but I can only imagine it going one of two ways, and don't really like either one.

A. She's cutting people's heads off and using magic to make them into decorations. I think this works at making her very creepy and off-putting, as a small horror adventure for my DnD party. The main fault is that it's so predictable. They're going to spot it a mile away and have no reason to trust her or think she ISN'T cutting people's heads off.

B. She has no ill-intent and just makes them for fun. I think this works well as a good subversion of the expectations that the party would no-doubt have, and might leave them walking away with an uneasy feeling in their stomach of "is there more we overlooked?" The downside is that this is a super anti-climactic end to the adventure, and I'm afraid will result in the party feeling like the adventure was a waste of time.

I don't know which of these options I want to move forward with. If you have any ideas on how to make option A less predictable or option B less anticlimactic, please let me know. Or if there's any other pathways to take this setup and give it a better ending, I'd be more than happy to read that too.

Here is a compact D&D 5e wilderness encounter designed to drop onto a forest trail, hunting ground, frontier road, or druid-haunted woodland. The party arrives in the middle of a confrontation that is already close to becoming violent.

Three hunters have surrounded a massive stag. One antler is broken and blood darkens its flank. Their spears are lowered, but nobody has struck yet.

The stag stands over a wounded young hunter who is pinned beneath a fallen branch. Whenever either of the other hunters moves closer, the animal stamps, snorts, and threatens to gore the trapped man. The hunters are shouting contradictory demands at the characters. Their leader insists that the stag attacked without warning and needs to be killed immediately. Another hunter begs everyone not to provoke it until their companion can be pulled free.

The stag itself is exhausted, frightened, and refusing to retreat.

What actually happened is that the hunters accidentally cornered the animal while pursuing it through dense undergrowth. The wounded hunter threw a spear first and grazed the stag. During the resulting charge, a dead limb crashed down and trapped him.

The stag is not guarding prey. Its fawn is hidden in thick bracken directly behind the trapped hunter. The animal will fight savagely if anyone advances toward the fawn, but otherwise it wants only enough space to escape with it. The hunters do not know the fawn is there.

The pressure comes from both sides. The trapped hunter is bleeding heavily and weakening. At the same time, the shouting, movement, and smell of blood make the stag increasingly frantic. If nobody changes the situation, one of the hunters eventually loses his nerve and throws a spear. The stag charges, turning the standoff into a chaotic melee around the pinned victim.

The main complication is positional: freeing the wounded hunter requires approaching the exact patch of ground the stag is defending. Even if the characters correctly understand that the animal wants to flee rather than fight, simply backing away does not solve the immediate problem because the trapped hunter may not survive without help.

There are several plausible ways to resolve the encounter.

The characters can calm and redirect the stag using food, Animal Handling, magic, or coordinated movement to create a safe route between the bracken and the trees. Once the fawn emerges, the stag retreats with it unless someone attacks.

They can try to free the wounded hunter without directly entering the defended space, cutting, lifting, or dragging the fallen branch from the opposite side while other characters distract the stag. Failure or sudden movement may provoke a charge.

They can side with the hunters and kill or drive off the stag. That removes the immediate threat quickly, but discovering the frightened fawn afterward may change how both the hunters and the party understand their victory.

Finally, everyone can withdraw temporarily and give the stag enough quiet to leave on its own. That reduces the confrontation with the animal but deliberately accepts greater risk to the bleeding hunter.

The useful feature of the setup is that the 5e party is not solving a hidden puzzle with one correct answer. They are choosing which danger to manage first while incomplete information, fear, and a worsening injury push the scene forward.

If this is not a good place to ask for advice and feedback, do let me know the correct subreddit and I'll kindly make my way over there post haste. That being said, I'm chewing over the details of a setting for a Campaign I plan on running eventually and wanted to have some thoughts and feedback relating to my ideas for it. It was heavily inspired in tune by the webcomic 'Problem Sleuth' and 'The Midnight Crew' Intermission in Act 3 of Homestuck (I bet no one guessed those inspirations huh?)

And those wondering, no I haven't settled on any system quite yet. Maybe DnD 5e, or even Gurps for the sake of learning it.

The overall notes which I have in mind for the setting are;

1) It takes place in a fantastical version of our worlds history - set in a fictional east coast city during the 1940s' named '***Ravenberge***', where all the typical fantasy races and anthro species exist along side typical humans.

2) Magic exists in a form now united with science - light bulbs and house hold appliances are powered by lightening magic, foods and perishables are kept cold with frost sigils, bullets are fired by striking a small explosive run on the back of the shell. ect. It's basically used as a tool in line with modern advancement.

3) The Main protagonists/Party would be a group of free lance detectives for hire who've been brought on by city officials to investigate the Death of the director of the City Museum, possibly tying it to one of the local Crime Syndicates

4) They would later fine the Syndicate is plotting a take over of Ravenberge by holding the entire city hostage through some kind of weapon.

I also have some other ideas relating to some world building and just character details. I had the humors idea that Crime families should be based off of board games ala Monopoly, Chess, Checkers, Yahtzee, ect. Each of the higher ranking members being based off the board pieces. I figured it would be a fun motif to give the villains and not-so-subtle way to hint at their mind games and plotting.

Also, purely a mechanical thing I thought would be fun but could have some setting implications that I could use some thoughts on.

Early on I was gonna have it revealed the Crime Syndicate was using a new form of magic to smuggle in weapons and contraband in the form of magic containers and chests that can be summoned to any location the person calling it is currently. The party would gain the ability to call their own containers early on just to handle their items and storage.

Any further ideas or just critique on what I have so far would be much appreciated.

L'autre jour nous avons fini une campagne et l'un de mes joueurs à perdu son personnage en combat. A la fin de l'histoire, j'ai raconté comme quoi, pendant la nuit, un homme habillé d'une longue tunique et d'une capuche l'avait ressuscité. Maintenant je travaille sur l'histoire de notre prochaine campagne et je me suis dit que cet homme pouvait être un sorcier rouge de thay qui l'avait ressuscité mais je n'ai pas trouvé d'idées du pourquoi il fait ça. Est-ce pour l'utiliser comme espion ? Comme esclave ?? Avez vous des idées à me proposer ?

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È da un po' che nel tempo libero sto lavorando ad una avventura e volevo crearene un pdf da poter condividere con altri DM. Per farlo ho cercato fi analizzare la struttura di altri manuali ma ne ho trovati di molti tipi. Questa avventura dovrebbe durare alcune sessioni, è ambientata in un mondo homebrew ed è basata prevalentemente da roleplay, interazioni sociali e intrighi, ci sono pochi scontri.

Avete qualche qualche consiglio su come strutturare il manuale?

Quanto, come contesto, dovrei inserire del mondo?

Avete qualche altro consiglio a riguardo?

Doubt any one will read this but it's worth a shot and if you want to, you can review it and stuff😁

DM here, came up with a pretty cool yet simple idea.

So, the seeds of time is actually a theme park, made by time wizards who build each section of the theme park off of various locations in different parts of history.

So I was wondering if this could work in DnD, with the park becoming 'open' and visible again after the party helps one of the chrono wizards who built it.

What would history in DnD be like? Maybe dwarves during the ice age? Maybe an enemy like a less-humanoid dragonborn. Maybe a mix of past and future enemies, like Elves with muskets riding on dinosaurs or something. Maybe a cool artifact or weapon from a point in time, or an artifact that messes with time in its own right (maybe gives someone an auto-save like the chrono wizard feature)

Just thought it was a cool idea and wanted to see what others thought I could add/change, or if it just wouldn't work entirely.

(For context, I'm not using a module, this is just part of a campaign of my own I'm planning)

The best results is gained by using AI to generate the encounter, but that can be turned off

My friend's kickstarter is on it's last week, and is not only fully funded but also is several stretch goals in, and now has a super discounted physical book available for backers!

Check out the infobox below for updates and a list of all the industry-established artists (D&D, Magic, Blizzard, Smite, it's crazy) currently on board. We're both curious to see just how high we can get, especially since the next stretch goal is so close.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robinthorne/teeth-in-the-dark-5e-folk-horror-and-witch-class

I just finished writing a level 3 D&D 5e (2024 rules) one-shot called “When the Walls Start Breathing.” It’s heavily inspired by Stranger Things and focuses on horror, pressure, and time-sensitive decisions rather than just combat.

A local cop named Hopper (yes, inspired by Jim Hopper) secretly contacts the party because a child named Elliot has gone missing. Witnesses saw the kid near an abandoned house outside of town. Official procedure says wait. Hopper says there isn’t time.

Inside, they discover claw marks, drag trails that end at a wall, and eventually a portal to the Upside Down.

If you have any feedback please let me know id like to improve!

Working on a part of my campaign inspired by the horror game Dredge, where a dark god called the Devourer is angered because it’s three Archonic beasts, beasts that connect the material plane to the other elemental planes, have been captured and are being tortured by the BBEG. So far all I have is that the fighter or someone gets one of his arms temporarily replaced by a “hand of the Devourer”, which means he can’t unequip it as it’s literally replacing his hand, and that it starts with a blood fog making an entire village go insane or turn into Monsters of the deep. Any ideas?

I’ve been working on expansions of my dark fantasy setting called Urdunn and I just released a small free booklet on DriveThruRPG: The Twilight of the Elves.

It's not an adventure per se, but a lore piece with an inspirational story that includes a new elven subrace, a new monster, magical items and spells (yes they are rescued and reshaped from very very old d&d versions)

The PDF is 100% free, fully illustrated in my Urdunn style (dark epic fantasy, gothic faerie), and comes with some pages I think you might like for inspiration.

If you want to check it out, it's here: The Twilight of the Elves - Deva Movanico | DriveThruRPG

Any feedback on the writing / atmosphere is super welcome.

Thanks!

And again, I used my Mountain Encounters table to create an adventure idea. I used the extended version. You would roll 3d20 to mix the categories Who, Where, and What and create an encounter. What I do, though, is I roll 6d20 to create two of those encounters, and then I mix and mash those encounters together again to create something even more unique. I use what inspires me and leave out what doesn’t. I hope you have fun with it…at the table.

Download

You can find a downloadable PDF for free on my Patreon.

Adventure Idea

This mountain adventure is suitable for a Tier 1 or 2 party. You can adjust the size of the dungeon to the pacing of your game and the difficulty of combat to the level of your party. Location names are intentionally left blank, so it can be fit into any game played in a mountain setting.

Adventure Background

A mysterious mountain cave makes up many bedtime stories in a nearby village. Lost treasures and thrilling adventures await those who dare to step into the mountains, they say. Until, at one point, a group of children wanted to make their fantasies real, snuck away, and entered the cave.

The cave served as the lair and ritual ground of a cult many decades ago, long before the village existed. Their deity, ruthless and smug, drove them into madness until they destroyed each other, and today only a sentient artifact is left, sleeping and waiting for new victims.

The children's arrival woke the artifact’s mind, which is now playing with them. Confronted by scary events around them, they wanted to run away, but the cave entrance closed in front of them. Now they are trapped and scared, growing increasingly desperate. For now, the artifact leaves them alone, using them as prey to lure more potential victims.

One of the children left a note behind, hoping their parents would be less angry if they told them where they went. After finding this note, the experienced mother, Carryh Wanderfoot, immediately travelled to the cave, only to find the entrance sealed. She could hear the children, and she then travelled towards another entrance she knew about - one at the summit, next to a lightning-struck tree.

Hook

As the party travels through a mountain region, they encounter a woman quickly hiking up a steep path. It is Carryh Wanderfoot, desperately trying to reach the summit to rescue her child, who got stuck in a mountain cave together with other children. Reaching the summit, she would rappel down into the cave through a hole in the ground, search for the children inside the cave, and try to get them out. She could really use help and asks the characters for support.

After rappelling down into the cave, the sentient mind of the artifact, hidden in the depths of the mountain, awakens. The earth starts trembling when Carryh is climbing down a rope, as she falls and hurts herself. She won’t be able to travel through the cave and relies on the characters to do it for her. When both the party and Carryh reach the bottom of the cave, the trembling causes a massive boulder to close the entrance in the ceiling.

Conclusion

Rescuing the Children. The main goal is to rescue the children and get them safely back to their village. To exit the cave, the characters need to open one of the cave entrances again - either they somehow remove the boulder from the entrance at the summit, or they lift the seal on the cave entrance, which locked the children in.

Defeating the Cave. An ancient, sentient artifact causes the earthquakes and closes the cave entrances. The characters need to discover and destroy it to lift its influence on the surroundings and exit the cave. If you want to give this adventure a thrilling component, you can use the Fear and Mental Stress rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, specifically the rules for mental stress. You could let the characters roll a Wisdom saving throw and use either one of the DCs, or you could let them roll a saving throw once an hour and increase the DCs and/or the potential damage each time.

Hi all, a while back I mentioned I would make a generator for this.

It's been available for a while now, and it produces quite interesting results.

https://codexcryptica.com/generators/plot-twist-generator

It works best with AI, but it is also possible to use it without AI

Here's an example of the output

The Tithe of the Unyielding

The holy crusade defending the borderlands discovers that the miraculous, immortal paladins holding the line are not blessed champions of the light, but the animated armor of the realm's long-dead defenders, bound to their posts by an ancient, inescapable civic contract. Labels: plot-twist, complication, classic-fantasy, Classic Fantasy, Plot Twist, Undead, Bureaucracy, Moral Dilemma

The Reveal

When the party finally breaches the inner keep of the bastion to coordinate the final defense alongside its legendary, seemingly tireless commanders, they discover that the gleaming suits of full plate armor are entirely empty of flesh and blood. There are no sleeping warriors, no hidden alcoves for sustenance, and no divine avatars. The paragons of the crusade are animated solely by the legal binding of an ancient feudal oath, compelled to fight, command, and bleed magical proxy-vitality to fulfill a millennia-old contract with the land itself.

What Everyone Believed

For generations, the church and the crown maintained that the bastion was held by an elite order of ascetic warrior-saints who had taken vows of absolute silence, wore their armor permanently sealed, and subsisted entirely on prayer. Their legendary endurance, lack of visible wounds, and refusal to remove their helms were celebrated as the ultimate triumph of mortal faith over the encroaching darkness.

Why It Makes Sense

The "saints" never ate, drank, or removed their armor, and their voices always sounded hollow, echoing as if spoken within a metallic vessel. They fought with rigid, unyielding tactical precision rather than passion, prioritizing the defense of the specific territorial borders outlined in the original charter above all tactical flexibility or the lives of living soldiers.

Foreshadowing

The Seal of the Seal: Scuffs on the armor's greaves reveal cold, grey iron beneath the polished gold leaf, completely devoid of sweat stains, blood, or the wear-and-tear of human bodies.

The Echoing Decree: When the commander issues orders, perceptive characters notice the speech lacks breath sounds, pausing only to allow magical resonance to finish the cadence.

The Weight of Duty: Captured supply manifests for the bastion show massive shipments of maintenance oil, rivets, and soul-binding reagents, but zero rations, medical supplies, or bedding.

Immediate Consequences

The morale of the living soldiers plummets upon realizing their invincible heroes are mere automata bound by bureaucratic magic rather than living exemplars. Worse, the pact binding the armor requires a continuous payment of mortal life-force to maintain the enchantment; now that the truth is out, the armor demands the party sign the remaining clauses of the contract to keep the wall standing.

New Choices

Assume the Mantle: The players can voluntarily sign the ancient contract, binding their own souls as the new animating force for the armor to hold the breach, gaining immense supernatural power at the cost of their physical agency.

Break the Seal: The party can shatter the foundational legal magic holding the suits together, causing the wall to instantly fall to the besieging horde, but freeing centuries of trapped ancestral spirits from their endless servitude.

The Concordat of Iron was forged a thousand years ago between the first King and the local spirits of the borderlands, turning the royal guard into perpetual wardens who cannot rest until the territorial debt is settled in full.

I'm currently writing a book that is very heavily inspired by DnD. The setting is a fantasy version of the USA. The characters are essentially magic cops and they are going across the US to find and stop a cult from resurrecting a dead god. So far I have several random encounters that the party will come across that have absolutely nothing to do with the story and I want a few more. These are the ideas that I already have so far.

-A dulahan motorcyclist that has been terrorizing a small town for a very long time.

-A literal ghost town that was created during the Old West when a train derailed and the resulting accident killed everyone in town and on the train. Every night on the highway, the tragedy replays.

-A coven of hags lures in travelers to their tourist trap to kill and eat them.

-A town is forced to dance constantly because the historical society found an old gramophone and blank record, the music it plays is forcing everyone to dance and no one can stop it.

-A creature in the woods haunts a small rural town.

-While driving down the highway, a massive storm elemental manifests and wreaks havoc across the land.

-A mimic in the form of a general store attacks the party when they stop to get snacks.

-In an abandoned factory town, the factory still runs. Constructs and summoned creatures still pump out nonsensical objects and the factory needs to be shut down as many of the objects are dangerous.

-Small fishing village is run by a cult (that has nothing to do with the other cult) and they try to sacrifice the party to the kraken they worship.

Anyone else got any good ideas for random encounters or side stories? Granted, the party doesn't need to stop and earn money as they already work for the US government as law enforcement. I just want some interesting ideas for things that could happen on the road.

I’m trying to make a modern world for a dnd campaign. What would be some cool modern gods that I could make shape the world, or atleast some cool story concepts?