Ideas can be spawned from multiple sources. The players are one such source. What they use, you as Dungeon Master can use. All it takes is a slight twist, a little re-colouring, and perhaps a plot twist, and you have an encounter. In this case, we’ll look at the player character backgrounds feature as a source.

One great source is the hermit background. The very nature of this background means it could be encountered almost anywhere. This grants the DM the versatility they may need, as well as seeding the encounter with the discovery feature. This discovery then becomes the source of the meat of the encounter. The discovery might be arcane, infernal, Far Realm, fey, religious, technological, or anything else a DM might want to interject into the campaign. It could also be what turns this harmless hermit into something “other” if you want an encounter with danger, or it may be that which turns this encounter into something more heavily roleplaying in nature. That’s a choice between the players and the DM to decide.

In this case, we will interject deception, mystery, and murder.

Wilderness/Forest

5

Travelling the thick woods, before the party has been only access by random deer paths and stream beds. Eventually, though, it opens into a region of older, taller wood. The canopy rises to well above the PCs, and the ground becomes a brown carpet of fallen leaves and pine needles, twigs, branches, and other deadfall.

What draws the attention of the more wary (with passive Perception 12 or higher) is the distant smell of smoke. This could mean one of two things: you’re not alone or there’s a forest fire. Given the lack of panic by the local fauna, it’s likely the former and not the latter. The truth reveals itself in short order, as a distant cabin can be seen through the maze of large trees.

Approaching the structure, the PCs can estimate the building is likely 20 ft. square. The walls are a 10 ft. tall log construction, and the roof peaks a further 5 ft. higher down the length. The bark-shingled roof is littered with fallen leaves and brown needles. Simple wooden shutters block closed the single small 2×3 ft. window centred on both the left and right walls. The back of the building hosts a stone and mud mortar chimney – the source of the thin wisps of smoke that have lead you here. Also on this side is a patch of churned earth, perhaps a small garden.

The front of the building is the most striking. A simple wooden door rests in the center of the front wall, windowless and closed with a simple latch. Three fist-sized circular burn marks scar the front of the building, but do not appear to have penetrated the outer wall. Six arrows stick out of the front of the building. Three grey-skinned humanoid figures lay scattered and face down roughly 20 ft. from the entrance. They’re in random pieces of piecemeal armor. Spears and longbows are scattered about them.

The characters are likely going to investigate the area. Should they check the figures on the ground, they can quickly determine they are orcs. Their flesh and equipment appear undamaged, but they are quite dead. Those proficient in Intelligence (Nature), Wisdom (Survival), or even blacksmith’s tools can determine the armor they wear is certainly of orc manufacture with a successful DC 10 check. Their weapons, however, look to be of a higher quality. A successful DC 15 Intelligence (History) or blacksmith tools check would likely determine they are made by a local human culture, and are well crafted (no additional damage, but they can be resold for 3/4 their listed price in the Player’s Handbook).

Examining the outside of the structure will reveal a few things as well. Because of the scattered dry leaves and needles, success on a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check for proficient characters reveals tracks. They will find the tracks of four sets of booted feet approaching as a unit, then milling about the front of the building. There will be another set of tracks, also booted, that has moved about the property in multiple directions.

An examination of the outside of the building itself might be revealing.

The PCs can examine the arrows in the front of the building. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (History) check will determine the arrows are indeed of the same manufacture as the bows, but possess odd markings. A further success on a DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check will reveal orc tribal markings have been added to these arrows.

The burn marks are also open to examination. By means of a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check, the very faint smell of brimstone will reveal these might be magical in nature. There are multiple magical sources which might be in play here, including fire bolt, produce flame, scorching ray, etc. It may even be flame arrows, and the arrow was consumed in the fire.

Truly digging in to the investigation of these burn marks and arrows will reveal the following. A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) (or Wisdom (Perception), in some cases) check of the arrows and burn marks will make it obvious the burn marks and arrows are separate attacks. In other words, there are no obvious arrows inside the burn marks. If the check succeeds by 2 or more the intense examination of the burn marks and digging into the surface charcoal of the burn marks will reveal no arrow heads or other puncture damage.

The window shutters are locked from the inside, and can be opened with either a successful DC 17 Strength check, or simply broken. The shutters have an AC 15 and 10 hit points.

The front door is not locked, and will easily open outward. Inside the cabin, the furnishings are a mix of the strange and the rustic. A large blood stain is sprayed on the inner door frame and covers a full 5 ft. of the floor in fronts of the door. There is but one open room here, and a small stone fireplace on the far wall across from the door fills what would be a dark room with a warm glow. A small table made from hand-sawed lumber rests in the far right corner by the fireplace. Fired mud cups and wooden bowls are scattered and overturned on its surface, and dark oily fluids drip from the surface of the table. A simple bear skin rug is pushed back toward the back of the floor, revealing a strangely dust-free surface. Some pages of parchment also scatter the floor. An unmade straw bed lay against the left wall, and a a few baskets of woven alders serve to hold a scattering of household items and clothing.

There is a long work bench occupying the majority of the right wall, with a hutch-like series of shelves above it. The shelves are filled with a mix of common tools, cookware, and a strange mix of clay pots and jars, and stacks of papers. The bench surface itself has several scattered papers as well. Looking over these papers in a hurried fashion is a single figure. This single figure is a middle-aged male with a full red beard and a ring of trimmed hair around a bald pate. He looks to have a tattered grey robe tied with a simple rope.

If questioned, the man will claim to be Branthan, and a simple hermit. He will say this is his home, and was living quite peacefully here (thank you very much), until those wretched orcs attacked. The battle all but ruined his research with all the mess, but he was able to kill the orcs and drive off their shaman. When questioned how, he will claim he was once a wizard of some renown, and did what he had to in order to protect himself and his home. He will not like visitors and will do his best to urge them to leave him in peace. He will not change from this stance unless magically forced to.

• The orcs were hired by Venshin. The orcs are named Grutok, Ruhk, and Mobad.
• Venshin said Branthan had powerful secret. A secret that would grant them all great power.
• They thought Branthan would be easy prey.
• Branthan made a monster appear that filled them with great fear, and it attacked them all. When it
• struck them, they felt pain enter their minds, and then death took them.
• There was no shaman.
• Venshin was a great wizard. He made them fear his power. He made magic fire.
• They can describe Venshin as a human with hair like blood. They know exactly what he looks like, but make it colourful and full of metaphors an orc would use.

 

If anyone takes the time to excavate “the garden” to a depth of five feet, they will find the body of an older human male who is naked from the waste up, wears old grey pants, and has hand-made rabbit fur boots. His front torso has no arrow marks, but is badly burned and has several smooth puncture marks running deep into him. A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) or Wisdom (Medicine) check will certainly reveal these were the fatal strike. Those skilled in smith’s tools who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check determine no metal weapon makes marks like these, as there’s always some form of tearing or tool marks, even with the sharpest weapons. If the corpse is subjected to detect magic (Player’s Handbook, page 231), they will pick up on trace amounts of evocation magic.

Again, the PCs can also try to speak with dead. If they do so, the following can be revealed to those who address the corpse with respect and deference:

• This is Branthan.
• He’s been living here for many years
• He found a secret, and came here to both protect it and research it.
• That secret is hidden in the cabin.
• He did not know his attackers.
• He turned the orcs fear against them (phantasmal killer)
• The red haired man slew him with his wand.

If combat breaks out with Venshin (who’s pretending to be Branthan), use Transmuter (Volo’s Guide to Monsters, page 218). Substitute mold earth (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, or Elemental Evil Player’s Companion, page 21) for the listing on mending. Venshin will be wearing his fine clothes under the tattered grey robe, and has a ring of mind shielding on his right hand, as well as a wand of magic missiles (Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 211) hidden under the robe that also doubles as his arcane focus.

If or when Venshin is confronted, he will not fight fair. He might use blink (Player’s Handbook, page 219) as his opener to try and use the spell as an escape from the cabin, choosing to materialize outside the cabin’s walls. Once outside and still blinking, he’ll then cast slow (Player’s Handbook, page 277) to debuff them before laying in with fireball (Player’s Handbook, page 241), chromatic orb (Player’s Handbook, page 221), and of course, his wand of magic missiles. The DM may choose instead to just fireball the PCs once he’s free, which is appropriate if there are no or few Dexterity-based characters like rogues or rangers. He may even try to lure one PC away and kill it, then assume their form with alter self (Player’s Handbook, pages 211-212). Then he will slip away when the opportunity arises within an hour, or will create an opportunity if none arises.

How Venshin fights or escapes is up to the DM in question, but he will always try to make his way back to discover Banthan’s secret.

Speaking of which, Branthan has a few treasures himself. His spellbook (use Illusionist, page 214, Volo’s Guide to Everything as a guide) will be hidden under a floorboard and discovered with a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) check under his bed. Furthermore, inside this spellbook will be all the written research necessary to add shadow blade (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, page 164) and summon greater demon (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, page 166-167) to possible spellbooks if they are not already in them. The latter spell was the reason for Banthan’s exile, as he stole these notes from a rival in his Guild, likely Venshin or Venshin’s master.

Monsters

Venshin – Transmuter – as per Volo’s Guide to Monsters, page 218, except as noted.

Treasure

• Ring of mind shielding (Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 191)
• Wand of magic missiles (Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 211)
• Banthan’s spellbook (Use “Illusionist”, Volo’s Guide to Monsters, page 214)
• Scroll – shadow blade (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, page 164)
• Scroll – summon greater demon (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, page 166-167)
• Venshin also has a pouch in which he has a small diamond (500gp), 100gp as orc bribe money, and a necklace made of tiny silver clasped hands (100gp).

Complications

I think the greatest complication here might be either frustration if the PCs feel stymied or if they can’t roll above a 9 on a d20. Conversely, if the PCs seem to be having an easy go of it when it comes to divulging clues, feel free to have Venshin use his alter self spell to resemble Branthan to a tee. Nailing the murderous mage’s outlook and paranoia is key here. The PCs will not get answers from him, and that may well make them just throw out any plans and attack him anyway. He should not be an easy foe, so feel free to use him as cunning as you like. You may well have the greatest treasure an DM could ask for – a returning villain.

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