D&D 5E Labyrinthine dungeon in the feywild

[Hatox]

Hello everybody,

I'm running a 5th edition game and my players just stepped into the feywild. They're on the hunt for a displacer beast(they have no idea what that is yet except the name and the fact that it has tentacles ) and I'm thinking about having them go through a maze of bushes and plants. Their main goal will be reaching the other side of it but I will hide treasure in it if they want to risk staying longer or just stumble over it while searching for the exit.

My problem is I don't have a lot of ideas for creatures that could dwell in such an "open" maze that are interesting, but don't wipe the party. The group currently consists of 4 3rd lvl characters even so 2 or 3 of them might reach lvl 4 (depending on other things they might want to do first)
The first idea that comes to mind is, of course, a minotaur, and I´m probably going to put one in, but it will be a medium encounter at best.

So which monsters would you put into an open forest-bush-maze and do you have any ideas for funny traps? :3

 

[KahlessNestor]

Look for fey creatures since it is the Feywilf. Satyrs and dryads, sprites and pixies. Maybe an eladrin hunting party with blonk dogs.

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[Tony Vargas]

They're on the hunt for a displacer beast(they have no idea what that is yet except the name and the fact that it has tentacles

You should throw in lots of other tentacled monsters, just to mess with them.

So which monsters would you put into an open forest-bush-maze and do you have any ideas for funny traps? :3

Xivorts, Boggles, Gnomes ("but I'm not a monster anymore! I swear!"), Pixies, Twig Blights, and Pookas, for a feywild start. And a Leprechaun, whose pot of gold is in the center of the maze.

Traps & tricks: Animated briers, moving/fast-growing hedges, teleportation points, sleep-inducing flowers, poison berries mixed in with naturally-occurring goodberries...

 

[Hatox]

That's a lot of ideas thanks. To be honest I don't know a lot of them since we started with 5th edition and only have the monster manual, the dmg and the players handbook. They've just fought blights so those fall out because I don't want to use them again this soon.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

A hags and Shambaling Mounds could also work.

Some creatures you could put in the Maze could be invaders. Fiends that have come to the Feywild to attack and cause havoc in the place before the locals like Spirtes and Dyads lured them into the maze to trap them.

 

[Hatox]

A shambling mound might be to hard with cr 5 (depends on if they're still lvl 3 then) but I love the invader idea, finally a reason to make them fight demons without a whole part of the campaign being about it^^

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

Since there aren't a lot of fey in the monster manual you could include monsters that are foresty and/or mischevious that could be fey related in your world. Creatures like centaurs, doppelgangers, harpys, gnomes, and pretty much any of the more magical feeling animals (giant owls have around human intelligence iirc).

 

[MonkeyWrench]

I'll second the shambling mound suggestion. If you're worried out it being over-powered just reduce its AC and/or hp to make for a more manageable fight.

 

[Tony Vargas]

To be honest I don't know a lot of them since we started with 5th edition and only have the monster manual...

There's only a handful of fey in the MM, I figured you already knew those, and they've been pointed out.

For a classic Pixie, you could take a Sprite and make it invisible (Pixies could 'become /visible/at will').

Boggles were fun (for the DM), ugly little fey humanoids that could not only teleport, but open up tiny dimensional windows and reach through them to pick pockets or attack. Xivorts are X'varts were small blue-skinned evil fey, also teleporters. Either could harass PCs trying to navigate a maze.

Pooka are a little odd, not sure why I included it, but they're humanoid rabbits, have magic powers, and can appear to only one individual in a group, making it seem like he's hallucinating...

For a Leprechaun, you could start with a Gnome, make it an illusionist, and add a 'fulfill another's wish' power (appropriately twisted, of course), if you do manage to catch it or acquire it's gold, in return for releasing/returning it. Of course the other mischeivous fey would tell you that it's in the center of the maze, presenting a side-quest temptation.

A shambling mound might be to hard with cr 5 (depends on if they're still lvl 3 then)

As long as they have the advantage in numbers, 5e characters can usually handle CRs over their level.

If you want to stick to the MM, a dryad or green hag could make an ok center-of-the-maze monster. Maybe with a charmed protector or two in the former case, or able to animate part of the maze into the afore-mentioned shambling mound in the latter.

 

[Rils]

I'll second the shambling mound suggestion. If you're worried out it being over-powered just reduce its AC and/or hp to make for a more manageable fight.

Level 2 characters are introduced to a Shambling Mound in Curse of Strahd. Some groups report defeating it easily, others end up as a TPK. The general idea in the module is that you're supposed to run away from it, back through the haunted house which grows teeth in the doorways that chomp you, poison smoke from fireplaces that blinds you, etc. A Mound could be used similarly in a maze - that inexorable doom chasing you down the winding pathways, which invariably also do horrible things to you while you run for your life. Sounds like an awesome skill challenge to me!