The End Is Near

Today, we’ve got a small set-the-scene encounter for our mysterious old woman scenario, as DM Ben wants to get some white knuckles going for his players as they get closer to the big boss showdown.

Our elderly woman, who, let’s face it, is clearly a witch, uses plenty of tricks to spook curious onlookers or even overconfident adventurers who get closer to her hideout. DM loves to plant seeds and build up certain encounters, so today, he thought he would share one such case.

Our miniature comes from Dungeons and Dadskies, a delightful vendor DM Ben encountered at the annual Game On Expo here in Phoenix, AZ. He’s been at the last two Cons and usually has a few custom miniatures that catch his eye. Apologies for the poor biz card photo, but it was the best we could do (they don’t have a website or social presence quite yet).

The “End is Here” sign is just so epic that we nearly knocked over the booth to snatch this doom’s day fella up. We think this one was 3D-printed in some way, shape, or form, but it wasn’t in traditional FDM or Resin material. Still, he turned out so good!

We will also place this fallen horse a little further up the road and use this deceased beast as the last mile marker before the party enters the danger zone! It’s an ominous sign, to say the least. A medicine check will reveal that the dead packhorse is only a few days old.

We printed this Hayland Terrain STL on our Prusa FDM printer and had resident painter Kimmy Utah color it.

So, what makes our shivering miniature extra cool is that he seems like a human from the front, but flip him around, and you’ll witness a disturbing sight. The poor guy has a tentacle starting to sprout from his back. Clearly, this lost soul attempted to rescue one of the kidnapped children, and our mean ol’ witch decided to give an example of him to others.

The End is Here scene won’t be overly complicated. The group will see this shivering at the very point where the road ends and the forest and lush fields surrounding the witch’s cabin begin. He will not answer to any distanced verbal greetings. The group just sees him shaking in place and mouthing gibberish but with no actual words spoken.

A history check (DC 18) will provide some intel that this guy was a prominent merchant in Waterdeep but disappeared months ago after his child went missing.

He won’t attack the players, even after they see the cursed tentacle protruding from his back. His very last words to the group will simply be, “Run…run!