A Corpse, a Helm, and a Love Letter | Free D&D 5e Encounter

A corpse wearing nothing but a finely crafted helmet is usually enough to make adventurers suspicious, and in this encounter, they absolutely should be. A Corpse, a Helm, and a Love Letter is a free encounter for four to six 1st-level characters featuring hidden plant creatures, a mysterious love letter, and a jealous druid with a very strange grudge. What begins as a simple investigation can quickly turn into an ambush, a bizarre mystery, or both.

A Corpse, a Helm, and a Love Letter comes from Loot & Lore, which is packed with ready-to-use encounters, traps, puzzles, magic items, NPCs, and other resources you can drop directly into your D&D  5e game.

A Corpse, a Helm, and a Love Letter

Level. This encounter is designed for four to six level-one characters.

Creatures. This encounter features the following creatures: skitterthorn*, skitterweed*, druid.

*Provided here and further detailed in Lairs & Legends, Part 2: Bestiary.

Location. A twisting series of thickets leads through a forest. Eventually, the thickets coalesce into a winding maze bound on each side by heavy foliage. The maze finally opens up into a large clearing, with a single oak tree at its center.

Description. While traveling through the forest, the group eventually comes across the grove. As they explore deeper in, they discover the skeletal remains of a half-orc sitting upright against the tree at its center. Resting on the skull of the remains is an unremarkable but extremely well-crafted helmet. Upon investigation, the body is that of a male half-orc wearing absolutely nothing but a helmet.

Four skitterweed and two skitterthorn are hidden in the nearby vegetation, remaining completely still and undetected as they appear to be nothing more than shrubbery. The skitterplants were commanded by their mad druid master to guard the helmet on the corpse, attacking any who would disturb it. As long as the characters do not try to take the helmet, the skitterplants leave them be.

Loot. Within a small hole at the base of the tree is a backpack. A character can find it with a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check made when searching the area. The backpack contains the contents of an explorer’s backpack, 12 cp, 15 sp, 5 gp, and a love letter written in Orcish. The love letter is addressed to Sugbu Longhorn and expresses the undying love of Rulfim Pigeater.

Secret. Rulfim Pigeater is a crazed half-orc druid who lives in the area. She typically stays wild-shaped in the form of a raven, keeping watch over her grove. She loved Sugbu Longhorn—the skeletal remains—with all her heart but became convinced that he was cheating on her with the animals in the forest, believing them to be other druids who have wild-shaped themselves. Consequently, Rulfim broke Sugbu’s neck while he was vulnerable and wearing nothing but his prized helm and backpack of belongings. She then set her skitterplants to guard Sugbu’s helmet, determined that no one else should ever wear it.

Skitterplants

Suddenly springing into motion, the brambles animate to reveal a creature, not unlike a tumbleweed with six thorny, insect-like legs and a barbed proboscis skittering forward with a jerking gait and strange, abstract malice.

Skitterthorn. Dangerous ambush predators, skitterthorn are carnivorous plants that feed on the blood of warm-blooded creatures. They group together in hunting groups known as clutters and scatter through natural underbrush, waiting for a target to stumble into their midst. They then strike from all directions at once, initiating their attack with volleys of poisoned thorns. Skitterthorn are larger and more deadly cousins to skitterweed and are often found hunting alongside them.

Skitterweed. Small but dangerous plant creatures, skitterweed disappear into the undergrowth and wait in ambush for the warm-blooded creatures upon which they feed. They are rarely alone, hunting and living in groups known as clutters. They hunt by spreading themselves across an area of underbrush and wait for some hapless creature to walk into the middle of the clutter, then all strike at once from all sides. Rumors persist of larger, more dangerous forms of skitterweed, some with tendril-like, grappling vines or the ability to hurl poisonous barbs at a range.

Skitterthorn

Armor Class 13 (natural)

Hit Points 13 (2d8 + 4)

Skills Stealth +3

Condition Immunities. blinded, deafened, prone

Senses darkvision 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10

Languages --

False Appearance. While the skitterthorn remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a large mass of thorny brambles.

Proboscis. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (2d4 + 1) piercing damage.

Thorns. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (2d6 + 1) piercing damage, and if the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. An affected creature may repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself with a successful save.

Skitterweed

Armor Class 13 (natural)

Hit Points 4 (1d6 + 1)

Skills Stealth +3

Damage Vulnerabilities. fire

Condition Immunities. blinded, deafened, prone

Senses darkvision 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 10

Languages --

False Appearance. While the skitterweed remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from thorny brambles.

Proboscis. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.

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