Encounters

At the Red Lion Inn

Depending on the time available these small social and exploration encounters can help the table come together as a team before venturing off to the ruins.

Night at the Inn (exploration)

This is a chance for the party to relax and enjoy the magically created guest rooms. The room can generate food (room service). It can increase/decrease bed size, firmness and number of pillows. It can increase the size of the tub to a hot tub size. Whenever the party uses a room they get a long rest. Rooms are 2 coin per person a night.

Armwrestling with Traut (social)

Traut is a indigenous farmer and regular in the tavern. He is boisterous and friendly but not the sharpest tool in the box. He loves to take on any strength challenge, while his friend Kerna, local blacksmith, looks at him disapprovingly. He is very strong. A player may make an opposing strength related skill check in your game system to see if they can best him.

Cards with Autumn (social)

Autumn is a bit shady halfling entertainer/rogue who loves a game as much as Traut. She would never cheat Traut but the players, oh yes. Her game is How/Low. An opposed roll of a 20 sided dice determines the winner except she gets to re-roll 1's and can play an 18 one time, any time she wants as a bit of trickery. She'll bet 5 coin on a round if the player is up for it. If a second round is rolled she will probably play the 18 if she didn't need it in the first round. A player can't prove any deception but could a strong insight check could save them from playing in a round with the cheat. They can appeal to Kerna and Traut to get their money back.

Kitchen Scraps (exploration)

There are cookies and other treats in the storage room. There are also bottles of wine and mead that a play may want to aquired. If a player explorers the kitchen with detect magic they will find the caldrons glow (you can pick the type of magic), there are 4 glyphs that activate magically programmed glove that do night-time tasks (cleaning dishes, scrubbing floors, arranging shelves). If someone takes a cookie or bottle a glove will take it and put it back in its spot. The first time it will automatically succeed. After that surprise round a player can roll a strength skill check to hold onto their treat. The glove will only try once to reset the item.

Night Garden/Morning Garden (social)

At night the garden is a peaceful scene. If a player uses their nature skill from your game system they will find enough plants to stock help protect against poisons and injuries. Refer to your game system for ways to handle with these materials plus the appropriate costs.

In the morning Eliza and Ivy are busy pruning and weeding in the garden. If a play engages in a discussion with them about plants food or healing uses, Eliza will offer a vial of antitoxin she brewed from the garden. She is quite proud of her product. She only has one, and it is one use. A player can ask to gather plants like during the Night Garden but will need to do a persuasion skill check. Eliza is protective of her garden.

Tending the Stables (social)

Taylan stomps through the common room toward the back door. "Something is bothering the horses. Any of you lot who are done partying could give me a hand." He picks up a long spear on his way out the door. The animals were frightened by the presence of undead. The party may suspect that from previous one-shots but there is no way to confirm that. A survival or tracking skill check will find foot prints, this is a clue that the other party has already left.

Surface Ruins

Tracking the letter (combat)

Undead including Zombies and Will-O-Wisps (to lure the lure the party to the zombies). No Treasure

Forest Ally (social)

An alert player will detect an animal watching the party. A nature spirit (Lavani) is strengthening her presence in the forest. She has sent an animal ambassador to see if the party is a potential ally. Welcoming the animal will prove the party's worth. The animal will bestow a Charm (see below) that lasts for 24 hours to one characters that interacts with them in a positive manor. It will follow along until the party enters the ruins.

• Fox - wily insight to keep them out of traps, advantage on perception checks
• Owl - keen sight to prevent any surprise random encounters, can't be surprised
• Chipmunk - location sense to keep them from getting lost

Whispers in the Forest (exploration)

A nature oriented character will hear whispers on the leaves. A nature spirit (Lavani) is strengthening her presence in the forest (this is relevant in the Anhult Wildlands setting and is optional in one-shot adventures). A player that hears the whispers will be momentarily distracted as they get a brief sense of the entire forest talking to them but unable to make sense of all of it. To other players this seems like a gentle wind picked up for a few seconds and then passed by. Players that hear the forest can make nature related skill checks with a bonus for the next 24 hours.

Repository

These random encounters can be placed in any of the hallways or rooms in the Repository Level.

Animated Assistants (combat)

As the party begins investigating, walking through the space, or disturbing items a horde of small constructs activate and attack. The swarm of mechanical insect-like constructs poke and prod at the party to protect their space. They are rusty so any party member hit by the swarm should roll to see if they are poisoned. If the party does not leave an animated broom and dust pan also attack. The broom or dust pan can be grabbed and will stop fighting is spoken to one of the ancient languages.

Hungry Puddle (combat)

A wet puddle sits in the middle of the floor in a hallway. An alert character will notice it shake or move. If it is touched or player(s) approach within 5 ft, it will activate and signal other puddles on the ceiling that drop onto the characters. If reduced to half health it retreats under a door to one of the rooms. It then hides in one of the porcelin vases in the room. This creature was originally part of the Repository's refuse system and escaped its container.

It could also be encountered during an investigation of a room. When its container is in the room being checked it will reach out of its porcelin container for a meal when the lid is lifted. This container is represented on the maps with a large vase in the corner of the rooms. An alert party member searching that part of the room will prevent it from getting getting out of the vase.

Creeper (combat)

A mass of vines covers the wall or corner of a room. A vine remains motionless until half the party is in reach, then it's vines twist and tangle around the party in a 15 foot radius. An investigation after the battle or conversation with the vine for a nature oriented character will reveal that this mass of vines was placed here by the competing party as they broke through the wall.

General Notes

Any of these encounters can be skipped to optimize the session for time. The vines are on the Repository map and can be described simply as the way the other party entered, using spell to break through the wall.

The Necropolis encounters are all described in the main adventure document