D&D 5E EN5ider #414 - Roadside Encounters

EN5ider wants you to make the journey more interesting and today's article has half a dozen great ways to do it!



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• 414. Roadside Encounters. Travel is a part of adventuring that is often glossed over by GMs but those wishing to make the journey more interesting are in good stead: this article provides a number of short scenarios to spring on adventurers on the go. Included among them are a mysteriously abandoned caravan, the remains of a massacre by robbers or monsters, an ambush by a cult feigning need for kind strangers, and more, all with unique rewards and interesting outcomes the party won't soon forget. Distantly designed by Anthony Pryor, illustrated by Jesse Mohn.
• 413. To Smite A Fiend: Part 4. The exciting conclusion of To Smite A Fiend is nigh! With the help of the Angelic Fane and the greatest evils roaming across Holdenshire defeated, the adventurers are finally able to deal with the interplanar troubles at their source: the keep of the errant summoner Kalle Sirkesalo. Once inside they face a host of celestial soldiers, the Spiritual Circuit, the Hall of Holy Flames, the Hall of Light, and finally the mage himself within the wizard's sanctum. In Sirkesalo's defeat however it becomes clear what greater entity has been pulling the strings and an even more epic battle ensues with the fate of Holdenshire, Heaven, and more realms beyond hanging in the balance! Includes 5 different spirit soldiers (ranging from CR 1/4 to CR 7), Kalle Sirkesalo (CR 18), and Nebradakk (CR 18), as well as new cartography by Xanditz.
• 412. Diabolical Diseases. Unless something dramatic happens during combat or the adventurers are low level, diseases simply don't pack as much of a punch as the GM might want—and that's where diabolical diseases steps in, the sicknesses within beyond the easily remedied illnesses most players know and rightly do not fear. Get the party's boots quaking with an affliction of faesic pox and all the vegetative matter it entails, entice them with the gifts and perils of the fluxx and its crystalline ailments, make them fight a sentient fungi with mythological wildfire, infect them with the dreaded wyrm pox and watch their horror as pox wyrmlings (CR 1/2) emerge, or turn a typical dungeon delve into a true trial of courage with the spreading of some necrotizing plague! Diabolically designed by Tyler Omichinski, illustrated by Herman Lau.
• 411. Enchanted Trinkets: Gambler's Toolkit. Cheating is on the whole to be discouraged—but adventurers out for a night of revelry and wagers are another matter, and may even be an exception. In this Enchanted Trinkets article there are nearly 11 cunning minor magic items perfectly suited to the morally flexible gambler, whether they're throwing cheaty dice or utilizing a silver tongue to escape after a botched run at the table. Delicately designed by Christopher Craven, illustrated by Erik Davis-Heim.
• 410. Dangerous Scenarios: Kobold Cache. Kobolds are not known for being particularly adept fighters—they are known for their clever and widespread use of traps. A cult of these creatures have taken up residence in the lair of a forgotten faith, pilfering the local community at night, yet all who have gone to face them have not returned. Within the adventurers find a dungeon prepared to kill, the kobolds inside moving to activate hidden defenses that turn the party's delve into a challenging run against deathtraps galore! The deadly designs in this Dangerous Scenario for 4–5 PCs of 9th–11th level by Tyler Omichinski include 8 new traps and the trapping kobold (CR 2), illustrated by Júlio Rocha and utilizing cartography by Dyson Logos.