Out of the Box Introduction

Adding depth, mystery, or lore to a setting can only help it. Searching through dusty tomes and scrolls isn’t the way many adventurers prefer to do so, though. A Dungeon Master can add this depth through the right encounter, especially if the image is striking.

Give the players pause, and you’ll motivate the player characters. Most have a natural curiosity that will propel that learning forward. Better still, they won’t know they’re learning a history lesson, because it will be in the form of an adventure and exploration.

You can keep all your D&D notes and campaign info an Adventure Journal from Table Titans.

Keen players will jot down notes, and may well take on further exploration on what might become a serious story, wrought with its own hazards, rewards, and surprises….all because the DM wrapped a lesson in world lore in the form of a discovery or puzzle. Better yet, make that puzzle or lore hard to get to, and they might easily spend time in hard labour to unlock that mystery – all because you hinted at it but wouldn’t give it away.

This can be a great way to fill a session when you’re not prepared, or give the players a break from endless combat. When the players show interest in the world you’re creating, the DM can relax a little and watch the players collaborate and generate their own plot lines.

In this case, we’ll use weather as an excuse for discovery. The discovery has to be reasonable, otherwise the players will ask why anything strange and shocking hasn’t been mentioned before. This will make the moment special and give it importance to the players.

Environment

Arctic (Although any setting with a changing environment applies. Shifting

sand, landslides, earthquake, or other event that can reveal a hidden thing)

Level

Any

Description

A long distance away from any civilization, the wind howls. Drifts of snow create slow moving walls in some areas, and the wind blows other areas clear.

A raven as seen in the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

The land is harsh with dense forests filled with snow. Easier travel is always desired. For those brave enough, the lake ahead might or should be frozen enough to carry the weight of the party and any pack animals they have. As perhaps a sign of depth, a small tree, perhaps only 10 feet tall and with sparse branches, grows from the centre…an odd place for anything to grow. Two ravens (Monster Manual, page 335) cling to the branches despite the breeze.

Allow PCs with either Nature or Survival proficiency to roll a check, with a DC 12. Those that pass will know two facts. A tree this age would need something to grow from, so there must be an island in the middle or this is a massive tree growing from the base of the lake. Those that fail this check but succeed against DC 10 can be told that trees cannot grow from bottoms of lakes, so this may have been a dry lake bed at some point. (In actual fact, that discovery, although logical, is a red herring.)

If the PCs approach the tree, the ravens will turn to look at the approaching party. Wind will whip up momentarily and dramatically, blowing the snow clear from the ice around the tree and making the ravens flutter and caw while they maintain their grip on the tree. Light will glint off the surface of the ice, revealing the faint green water which flows deep below the thick frozen layer above. Small harmless cracks can be seen here and there, with a few wriggling out from the “base” of the tree ahead.

When they get to within 30 feet of the base of the tree they can see something foggy and faint through the ice which indicates the tree is either larger than expected or is part of a larger structure. Once they get to within 10 feet a lot more is revealed. The tree ahead is odd in more than location. PCs with either Nature or Survival proficiency can make a check against a DC 10 to realize that the tree is wrong. Those that pass will realize right off that the tree has no bark, and yet it grows small branches. Its surface is smooth and polished. Furthermore, those that look straight down will see shocking sight.

Looking up at them, locked in the ice, possibly 5 feet below the clear frozen surface is a massive skull looking up, its jaw agape. The skull measures probably a little over 3 feet tall from the top of its skull to the base of the jaw.

And it is not alone.

Fading below is what the party may perceive as the rest of the skeleton. They can only see the top of the rib cage and one shoulder – the rest is obscured by depth and ice. This “tree” grows through the rib cage in a straight line, shooting from deep below and rising through the opening at the top of the rib cage, passing though the opening where the neck meets the shoulder and collarbone. No branches of this “tree” exist below the surface of the water. The “trunk” is a straight line and unwavering, until it passes like the rest of this skeleton into obscurity below the ice.

As the PCs look below to this sight, the ravens will speak. In Giant, one will say “obey”, and the other will say “ordning”. It’s important to note that the ravens are not speaking like people, but are using their Mimicry ability. They will only “talk” these two words when alighted upon this tree. They should not speak these words in any other language than Giant in order to keep the entire encounter thematic.

For those that inspect the skeleton thoroughly and succeed on either and Dc 15 Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check will see partially obscured letters written in the language of the Giants upon the few ribs that they can see. Because of the obscurity of the ice, only a partial message can be seen:

“…been nailed to my..”

A goliath from fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

Should someone of a giant descent or lineage (like a goliath, firbolg, etc.) touch the “tree”, feel free to give them a vision from below the surface of the water, looking up. What looks like a massive icicle pierces the surface of the water and pain shoots through the body of the person having the vision. They feel like they’ve been fully impaled from above.

Also, those who speak Giant and succeed on a DC 25 Intelligence (Religion) check will reveal a tale, thought myth from long ago. This Religion check can be modified as follows:

The person doing the check is…

Of giant or giantkin descent (goliath, firbolg, half-ogre, etc): +5 to the roll
A Sage specializing in giant Lore: +5 to the roll
Is a native to lands where giants are common: +2 to the roll
Is a member of a race in constant war with giants (like dwarves from such regions): +2 to the roll
Is a giant or giantkin and touched the tree, having a vision: Automatically succeeds.

Those that pass can tell the tale. Feel free to allow them to embellish in collaborative storytelling. The base of the story is this.

A storm giant in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]
Long ago, in the days of the Forefathers, when giants and dragons walked the land as kings, many giant heroes rose to prominence with tales of glory.

One such giant was Korphyrion. A storm giant who claimed dominance over all he saw, full of pride and given to boasting. His successes were many, and it only fueled his foolish pride. He saw himself the king of the ordning itself, wandered far to find anyone worthy of his challenge.

Far from home and in a bitter land of ice and snow, he spied a lone frost giant at a great distance and challenged him without a thought. This figure spun immediately, and quickly walked up to Korphyrion. As he approached, his true size became apparent, for as the frost giant approached, be began to tower above this mortal.

His eyes were the coldest blue, and his breath was the very winter. He uprooted a mighty tree, and stripped the branches from it with one stroke of his hand. The tip of this tree then grew an icicle spear point, and he thrust it into Korphyrion with such force as to create a massive crater.

“Know now your place, proud mortal,” this being spoke down to him in a voice filled with the bitterness of midwinter.

While still alive but clearly dying, Korphyrion had these words burned into his skin by the coldest of touches. “I have been nailed to my pride.”

Then Thrymm, God of Frost Giants turned away, leaving this Storm Giant to be eaten by ravens.

It is important to make sure that all of this lore is kept locked behind the requirements stated above. The mystery and lore only have value if the players do the work in unlocking it. They may need to hire someone who speaks Giant, or talk to the elders of a tribe of golaiths, or other tasks. They may even seek to learn to speak Giant, and that in itself is character growth. Do not give away the story even if they fail the checks. This cheapens the victory of learning it.

PCs who seek to chip through the ice to discover more of this skeleton will have a near impossible task ahead of them. For every 2 foot cube of ice they want to try and excavate, they will require doing 20 hp of damage to the surface with heavy weapons or tools like axes and picks.

Fire damage will melt sections of the ice, which will pool and simply freeze again in a short time. Thunder or lightning damage will do as well, but may also (25 percent chance) create unstable cracks. If or when the PCs have excavated downward 3 feet, they will start seeing clearer ice, but this is also a sign of thin ice. Doing a further 25 hp downward at this point where thin ice exists will create flooding. Those standing on this thin ice when this happens will need to succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall into the frozen lake.

Such poor souls will take 1d6 cold damage each round thereafter as well as dealing with the Suffocation rules (Player’s Handbook, page 183) while underwater. PCs with a swim speed, or who have amphibious or resistance to cold traits will be at an advantage in these circumstances.

Those brave (or foolish) enough to swim down to the base of the skeleton will need to swim down 23 feet to the base. The “tree” spear shaft goes all the way down and is buried into the lake floor. At the base of this “spear” is the severed and corroded necklace a giant once wore. Its massive ruby (1000 gp) is unaffected by time and the cold.

Monster

Ravens (2) – As per Monster Manual page 335….not really a monster encounter.

Treasure

Lore! Lots of it….and to those who are worthy, a 1000 gp ruby.

Complications

A storm giant in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]

Several complications arise from this. The PCs may not have the appropriate skills or racial features to unlock this encounter. There are several routes given above, but the chance exists that they have no inroad on this lore. Ambitious or curious players may then employ experts or those otherwise knowledgeable in the fields they seek. Feel free to unlock these chances for the PCs elsewhere.

PCs who dig into the ice had best have the right tools and some common sense. Freezing to death below the ice is a real possibility, as is drowning. However, this also offers characters like tritons, water genasi and aquatic half-elves (Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, page 116) have a chance to allow their swimming or amphibious natures shine. Air genasi can hold their breath indefinitely while conscious, so they can deal with suffocation but not the cold damage. That’s where white and silver dragonborn shine.

Opportunities exist for the brave, but players often overreach. Be aware of this.

This single encounter can lead to so much more and may well be the start of something. If you want the PCs to actually see this and not avoid what may be a simple tree, have those with the right ancestry (giantkin) or Sage/religious knowledge to have dreams of this tree. It’s a great way to unlock character development in giantkin characters or even dwarves (the perpetual enemies of all giants).

I could even see this being the case of the two dragonborn listed above (white and silver) as dragons and giants are also long lasting foes. White dragonborn might even have a long standing feud with frost giants (as they do in my campaign), and might have similar visions in the quest for greatness.

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