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Often, the most basic of settings can be a great place to put an encounter. What will seem like another boring problem will turn out to be more. When missing goods, livestock and the like become a problem, players always assume that goblins, kobolds, or the usual rogues gallery of villains is to blame. Switching that up from time to time is a good idea, as it keeps the players guessing.

  Additionally, players tend to forget that others operate as a team too. Players will use scouts, terrain, spells and the like to their best potential. They will seek to flank their foes or find some way to gain Advantage. Some monsters like to do this too, but the list is short. What if a monster has another monster as a pet? What if the players assume that typically solo monsters surprise them by acting like a team?

Environment: Wilderness/Forested/Farmland.

Suggested level: 3

A local village or farmer of renown has a problem with an increasing loss of farm animals. Chickens geese, small goats, and even domestic dogs or cats has gone missing of late. What started as a suspicion of a coyote problem has been made more mysterious, as no howls have been heard and no large tracks have been found. What has been really disturbing is the lack of cricket song in the evenings, giving nightfall an eerie silence.

The farm borders on a large forest that has been avoided by local hunters because of rumors of a haunting. To reinforce this foreboding sense, an increase of large webs has been noticed deep in the forest, and a prized hunting dog has gone missing in pursuit of a deer very recently while exploring this area.

In reality, a “Fengus” the Ettercap has begun a spider farm.

  “Fengus” has been breeding spiders bigger and bigger, creating a new species in the process. His favorite spider is “Beatrice”, a giant spider and very protective companion. On the way to Beatrice, he has bred a species of dog-sized Large Spiders, as well as fostering an entire swarm of tiny spiders who have recently hatched.

  For them, he has created a “fenced in” spiral series of webbed walls leading to a large central pen. This is where he’s been breeding spiders to be bigger and bigger. These spiders then hunt for him and are for sale to many nefarious sorts as guards and pets. The “farm” can be as big as desired, but should have webbed walls clinging to strong trees tall enough to discourage climbing. Anyone still trying to do so should be treated as if under the effect of a “Web” spell, DC:14. Within this spiral maze of webs, the walls will be crawling with Large Spiders (see below), a swarm of tiny spiders from which they were bred. In the center of the maze will be the open area where “Fengus” and Beatrice will be.

  Once the players find their way inside the labyrinth of webs, they will see the “farm” in all it’s glory. The carcasses of dead animals, wrapped in gossamer, will cling to the inside walls or dangle from the trees. Fengus and Beatrice will be here and ready, having seen the trembling of the webs as the players either fought their way through, burned a hole through, or got caught in the webbing. They will fight as a pair. Beatrice will have been with Fengus since she was born, so they are very familiar with each others tactics.

“Fengus” the Ettercap (1): Use Ettin as per Monster Manual, p. 131

“Beatrice”(1): Use Giant Spider as per p. 328 of the Monster Manual.

Insect Swarm (Spider Swarm variant): As per p. 338 of the Monster Manual

Large Spider (8): see below

Large Spider

Small beast, unaligned.

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Armor Class: 13

Hit Points: 4 (1d6+1)

Speed: 30’, Climb 30’

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STR:5(-3), DEX: 14(+2), CON: 12(+1), INT: 1(-5), WIS: 10, CHA: 3(-4)

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Skills:Stealth +4

Senses: Blindsight 10’, Darkvision 30’, Passive Perception : 10

Languages: —

Challenge: 1/4 (50 XP)

Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check

Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any creature in contact with the same web.

Web Walk er. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Actions

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Bite: Melee Weapon: +4 to hit, reach 5’, one creature.

Hit: 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (3d6) poison damage. If the target is reduced to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit points, and is paralyzed while poisoned this way.

Any and all livestock will be either dead or poisoned to the point where their recovery is unlikely. A bounty for their return isn’t likely, and their flesh couldn’t be harvested for survival purposes due to the venom.

  However, it’s likely that one or more hunters, wanderers, or other travelling folk may have fallen victim to this farm and were dragged back as part of the feeding pen. If the hanging wrapped bodies are cut down, the players can gather:

250 sp

An engraved pocket watch – 50gp

A silver flask (25gp) filled with fine brandy.

A gold wedding ring – 100gp

There’s a lot that could go wrong for either side. There are many creatures with poison, so there’s a very good chance that one or more players will have to deal with that problem. On the other hand, many experienced players will seek to burn spider webs on sight.

  This will have the benefit of likely removing all of the Large Spiders in one go, but may also start the trees to which these webs are anchored to burn as well.

  Any turn in which fire spells are used to remove webs, a check should be made to see if the trees are set alight. This check should also be made if players miss ranged spell attacks with spells like Fire Bolt, Scorching Ray and the like that have Ignition properties. Living trees tend to not instantly catch fire, but dried leaves, pine needles, twigs and the like might. The DM should roll a D6 every time such an event could occur. A fire of some kind will start 1 chance in 6, which will require action by the players to stop. How they do it is up to the players and the DM to resolve, but a successful Survival or Nature check might well do the trick on a successful DC 12.

Fengus will not seek to die in this conflict. He’s a successful farmer, after all, with clients who buy his pets. If Beatrice falls before he does, or his farm is totally on fire, he will seek to escape. If he can get away, expect the players to be spied on by spiders, followed by them, and other harassment.