D&D 5E 100 Wilderness Events

[Gilladian]

Help me create a list of events that could happen in the wilderness - not combat encounters, but things that could happen that make travel more difficult, interesting, weird, or whatever. It would be nice to have ideas for what skills/how challenging they could be, as well.

Things like:
1. You find your way blocked by a small river. While narrow, it is fast-running and plainly fairly deep. Rocks form a partial crossing a ways upstream; you could try to cross there, or search for another way around.

2. In this narrow valley, the evergreen trees grow so thickly that you are forced to dismount and lead your mounts. The air smells so strongly of pine-sap, and the decaying needles on the floor are so soft, that you know it would be easy for any creature to surprise you.

 

[Gardens & Goblins]

3. You've made a friend. A persistent, relentless, mosquito/fly (as applicable). With a high pitched hum it strikes without warning before fading from sight, only to pester another party member. It's antics make concentration a chore and threaten to distract you as you adventure forwards.

 

[Rhenny]

4. The air is warm and still. Clouds build in the sky above and heat lightning dances through the clouds. All of a sudden, the lightning surges from the cloud to the ground only 50' from you. You hear the loud thunder burst and a tree splits, falls and begins to catch fire. The fire begins to spread from the shattered tree to another right beside it. What do you do now?

 

[CrimsonCarcharodon]

5. The party comes across a clearing marked with dozens of skulls. Halflings, humans, elves, hobgoblins - skulls of dozens of races. The clearing is mist-shrouded, cold, and smells like death and decay.

 

[aco175]

6: You reach a quiet crossroads along the trail. A small shelter stands with an open front and fireplace complete with a stack of wood. You can have it be a mystery, a group of merchants maintain several huts along the trade road, or even sprites that clean up after other groups.

 

[Ard3]

7: You come across a badly mauled deer corpse. It is still a bit warm. You realize that your surroundings have been bit too quiet for the last mile or so. You have stumbled on the hunting grounds of something dangerous. No clear tracks visible.

8: As you step out of a thicket you see a mating display of two [insert big beast here] going on just a little ahead. They haven't noticed you yet, but are moving towards you faster than you are comfortable with.

 

[CrimsonCarcharodon]

9. A flock of birds, hundreds strong, sits in trees surrounding a clearing. As soon as anyone enters the clearing, the birds stare at them. Then, one by one, they all start cawing and squawking, sounding angrier and meaner as the PCs get closer to the middle of the clearing.

 

[Thurmas]

10. The forest around you hums with life energy. Bird song and the chattering of squirrels mix with the sound of a gentle breeze blowing lazily through the canopy above. You have a sense of calm and safety around you as up ahead, you just catch the glimpse of a shimmering white horse, a single spiral upon its head, disappearing silently into the trees.

11. A small clearing opens before you, revealing a stone foundation of what was once a small farmhouse breaking through the grass, with a single apple tree growing next to it.

12. As you round the curve in the trail, three deer stand only yards away, their eyes locked on you. A moment later, the mother and two fawns bound off into the brush, disappearing from view.

 

[trinculolives]

13. You stop for the evening in the midst of a pine forest that covers a steep mountain valley. As you set up camp, you catch the scent of burning on the breeze. Climbing a nearby tree, you see that a sudden blaze is working its way up the valley towards you, sending burning embers toward the peaks all around your camp as smoke begins billowing into the sky. Smaller fires kick up on the ridges behind and in front of you. It will not take long before you are encircled by the flames.

14. You disturb a herd of wild pigs rooting around beneath an enormous oak tree. As they scatter, you see that rather than digging for acorns, they were hard at work uncovering a stone pedestal buried beneath the loam.

 

[Yama Dai O]

15. A familiar, unpleasant feeling of claustrophobia settles in as you continue to read this description. You find yourself vowelizing a nasal, whiny little complaint at the thesaurus-owner who just had to write this in the second person.

What? Fine, I'll try to actually contribute.

15. The party's path through the forest is unexpectedly blocked by a rock face about twenty yards in height. The stone is slick and covered with moss. A winding crevice runs into the rock, wide enough to pass single file and seemingly sloping upwards. (This path slows progress, leaves the party vulnerable to attack and could split them up if the crevice forks, or when a dead tree shifts or drops).