D&D 5E Novice Dm help

[Oofta]

I like the suggestions that other people have, but I'd go with a Shambling Mound (a CR 5 monster).

They're basically giant plant monsters, and normally wouldn't be able to corrupt a forest but it introduces a concept that I like to use.

Make the BBEG a minion. Yes, he's big, bad, and will swallow half your party whole but he's just someone else's lackey. The real threat is hidden off-screen somewhere and you can face other lackeys in future adventures if the group takes the bait.

As far as planning for the ultimate BBEG, you don't need to do much at this point other than drop hints that someone else is behind this nefarious plot to corrupt the land. Killing the shambler is a worthy goal and by doing so you win the battle only to realize that you are now at war.

I'd have the ultimate BBEG deliver the standard bad-guy monologue after the adventurers have won. Something along the lines of "Incompetent fools, this was just one of my weaker subjects. You have merely succeeded in getting my attention, soon you shall pay! BWAHAHAHA!"

If the group doesn't seem to care you can abandon the plot. If they take the bait you have a lead in to future adventures.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Ettercaps!

 

[Shiroiken]

I'd go with an Evil Druid or a Cult Fanatic. I know they are only CR 2, but I generally avoid using a solo BBEG. Giving him a charmed (or corrupted)Treant or Shambling mound would work for the main threat, along with some lesser threats.

As for your Fortune Teller, I would go one of two ways, depending on which BBEG I used. If it's a Cult Fanatic, I'd have the FT be a druid in disguise, looking to trick the PCs into aid (having him show up to help in the final battle). If it's the Evil Druid, I'd have it be a Good shape-shifting nature spirit trying to trick the PCs into aid (having it show up afterwards to reward them).

An evil twist (my favorite) is to have the FT be the Cult Fanatic, and the BBEG be a Good (or Neutral) Druid. The Cult Leader has a way to drain the pure life energy from the Forest to summon a Fiend, and the Druid has reluctantly started desecrating the forest to ruin the Cult Leader's ritual. The PCs go in and stop the "bad guy," only to have to stop the real villain once they realize their mistake.

 

[Jediking]

I think [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] has a solid encounter built around a corrupted Treant that looked cool. It was a one-shot IIRC, so should be good for a rotating table

 

[iserith]

I think [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] has a solid encounter built around a corrupted Treant that looked cool. It was a one-shot IIRC, so should be good for a rotating table

Good recall!

The challenge is called Vow of the Silent Knight. It is holiday-themed, but you should be able to adapt it for your purposes.

 

[Quickleaf]

Hi guys new to the forum and in need of help.

My d&d group struggled to find a DM that could fit in with our schedules initially so we decided to take it in turn Dming and the time has come for me to take up the mantle.

so we are at level 4 and I really wanted to do a corrupted Forrest story line, I intend to encounter random Forrest creatures and blights being mainly used as henchmen the main issue I have is who/what to use as the main villain. I am open to suggestions I have seen certain daemons but some are far too tough for us ATM.

many thanks

A Gulthias Tree might be interesting...

 

[Imaculata]

And if you want the corrupted Treant to hire the players, a logical choice would be to have a corrupted Dryad be its messenger.

In fact, maybe the Treant is trying to hire the players to stop a villain from destroying his forest. Perhaps this villain is a local baron who wants to burn the forest down, but can't due to magical protection by the Dryads. He might ask the players to steal a magical golden acorn from the grove of the Dryads, to lift the magical barrier that is keeping his people out. He might try and convince the players that he is not a villain, since the Treant is clearly corrupted. And who is to say who is right? You could leave it up to the players to pick a side, or to perhaps betray both parties in the end. In fact, I would even throw in a third party that is also interested in either acquiring the acorn, or killing the baron. Leave it completely unclear who is right and who is wrong.

These are my favorite kinds of plots. Because it is also exciting to the DM to see how the plot plays out. Who will the players end up fighting? The Treant? The Dryads? The baron and his men? The mysterious third party?

 

[Ancalagon]

Ettercaps!

You can get a lot of mileage out of Ettercaps.

 

[Goblinslayer]

Thanks so much guys for all of the responses, I've been using bits from everyone's suggestions. It's coming together now, and we start tomorrow night so just as well.
To clarify on encounter calculation
On the way to the new town I'm going to have the party ambushed by a awakened tree and some awakened shrubs. To be sure I have calculated this right
The awakened tree is level 2 so should be fine for the party. I'll have one tree and 5 shrubs meaning total Xp is 500 and with 6 enemies makes a x2 multiplier so 1000Xp which would be a medium encounter for 4 lv4s with 250xp threshold each?


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[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=6852011]Goblinslayer[/MENTION] Glad our collective advice helped Yes, by the DMG mathematically, you're right. However, the DMG does note:

When making this calculation, don't count any
monsters whose challenge rating is significantly below
the average challenge rating of the other monsters in the
group unless you think the weak monsters significantly
contribute to the difficulty of the encounter.

You may be on the cusp of that. And experience tells me that your encounter will probably play out as fairly easy. Here's why I say that:

• Everything in your encounter is vulnerable to fire. Players love setting stuff on fire.
• The shrubs are slow, have 10 hp, and deal 1d4-1 damage. They *plink* you for basically no to little damage and are easily wiped out.
• There are no ranged attackers / spellcasters, only melee.

If I was preparing this encounter and wanted a "medium challenge", I would make one or more of the following adjustments:

• Exploit false appearance to ensure the monsters get surprise while PCs are within attack range.
• Give the tree a lair action or bonus action allowing it to summon more shrubs with a sprout that starts to form over the course of a round before creating a new shrub.
• Include roughly twice the number of shrubs that the numbers suggested (i.e. 9 or 10 instead of 5).

And if there's a bard he should be able to sing to subdue (or antagonize?) the shrubbery, for Monty Python and tradition.