D&D 5E Taking suggestions for an adventure

[Gwarok]

So, the party is a 15th Level Warlock(Infernal Bladelock), 14th Level Paladin(Devotion w/high AC and flaming hammer). Mission goal is retrieve a lost elven sword from a badass Fey Troll in his cave. The bad guy is a tweaked troll, one from the Feywild. I've read a lot of the Dresden Files and like their take on Fairie Folk. The PC's have penetrated the outer defenses, 3 Green Hags + 2 Shambling Mounds outside the cave, a network of twisting tunnels populated by Ettercaps and Phase Spiders, and the front guard room containing 20 trolls.

The Hags and Mounds were almost fatal to our heroes oddly enough. Multiple Lightning Bolts casters combined with grappling by things healed by Lightning bolts ftw! The ettercaps and spiders were just a cool fight but easily handled, and the Trolls, well. I thought the PC's would sneak past them using a Pass Without Trace from the Dryad they saved from the spiders, but instead they stood in the doorway and just tanked them down over a long time. Fire Wall in a long tunnel is particularly effective against trolls lemme tell ya.

But now I'm taking suggestions for the rest of the dungeon. The BBEG Troll is going to have a high CHA and caster levels, but on the current floor things are run by his Lieutenant, a Spirit Naga. I wanted to use evil pixies and Sprites in the fight as the pixie's in numbers can be very difficult and after whupping on 20 trolls clearly a straight up slugfest isn't the way to keep things interesting. Just taking suggestions on how to use non standard monsters and make it like an evil fairie dungeon(monstrosities are in the mix too). Thinking of things like gorgons, displacer beasts, Redcap, maybe Winter Eladrin, but coming up short on any ideas that really stand out as memorable. So, any suggestions?

 

[DeanP]

A grove with two Feyward Trees (Tome of Beasts, Kobold Press CR 8) and four Vine Blights (MM, CR 1/2); commanded by a single Abominable Beauty (Tome of Beasts, Kobold Press CR 11). The nice thing about the Abominable Beauty is that her Blinding Gaze is a Cha save and her Deafening Voice a Con save; so your PCs should have a rock solid chance of resisting her powers. I think with barrages of flaying leaves from the trees, Vine Blights with their ensnaring vines and the Abominable Beauty at the center of it all, it should make for a memorable encounter. Calculating this out, its a deadly encounter for two characters of 14th and 15th, but if they easily handled 20 trolls, you could consider either adding more Vine Blights or a tree(s) you know better than I do for your players. I think, in terms of design, making the trees and Blights sufficiently spaced a part, and adding difficult terrain ( thick briars with long thorns that part for the beauty put impede the PCs) should make it challenging and hopefully memorable.

 

[jasper]

One bright white bunny rabbit with red lips just outside the grove. It just a real bunny.

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=12249]Gwarok[/MENTION] I used fey trolls in my old home brew, referring to them as “treows” in the mythology, as they were said to grow from putrescence trees, a sort of evil version of dryads. Like most fey they put a big emphasis on maintaining oaths and promises, but were evil minded, more interested in letter of law than the spirit. In my game they were deal-brokers and mysterious “green knights”, emerging from the woods to offer a challenge to a warrior prince or an. I had the troll king be a “throne taker and crown breaker”, an enemy of human kings who’d reneged on an ancient promise with the trolls. I believe I gave them vastly enhanced regeneration when in touch with their linked tree / the foul waters feeding the tree.

 

[Ancalagon]

So this is a 2-member party? No NPC allies or anything?

 

[Gwarok]

It is a 2 man party, or rather it was. One of my co-workers has recently gotten back into the game and he joined them as well. 15th Fighter with a big ass Maul called "Greeter". We did the next phase of the adventure and it went pretty well. I do occasionally have allies show up, like the Dryad they released from the Ettercaps, but they told her to leave when they engaged the trolls earlier. There are 3 prisoners of the Troll king as well, wise ones that used to protect the local area till the Troll King showed up. A Guardian Naga, a Githzerai Druid, and a Unicorn. As they get located and released they'll provide some help which I haven't determined yet, but will not be officially joining the party or anything.