I Scry a…Witch!

All this extra time between game sessions has introduced several new short encounters to our Witch showdown. DM Ben can’t seem to help himself with all this extra tinkering. Let’s see what else he just added to the mix!

First, let’s briefly catch you up: the party is traveling deep into enemy territory to confront an old woman they believe to be a witch and kidnapper. The woodland journey to strike her home base is treacherous, to say the least. DM Ben is using the “death by a thousand cuts” encounter approach to slowly wear them out until they are no match for her powers and mighty mimic bodyguards.

So, now DM Ben wants to instill a wet blanket of paranoia in the group, which grows with every step toward her camp. To make it feel like they’re constantly being watched, we found this free Scrying Stone STL by good ol’ Dutchmogul on Thingiverse.

We did this freebie STL on our resin printer, and the good news is that this reusable scatter terrain piece can also serve as a desk paperweight. It’s heavy, folks but in a cool way. 😉

Novice painter DM Ben took a stab at painting this one, using the same paint-no-fuss scheme as the hanging cage piece. The green eye seemed fitting as our villain is watching the party approach from the security of her lair. The group will see several of these scrying stones for each mile they traverse toward the evil kidnapper.

The cool thing is the stone has a normal rock side and an eye side. So, depending on how the group is situated on the table, you could flip the rock around to reveal the spooky eye to the unsuspecting players.

Now the question is, what are the mechanics and story elements that introduce this unnerving scrying stone? Well, a lot happens to the party once they get within three miles of her woodland cabin.

You can drop these in any order or snag one of them as a one-shot in your own game.

• Witch Way Did She Go
• Only the Scarecrow Knows
• Stone Cold Trouble
• Venus Print Traps
• The End is Near
• Wilderness Trek Wandering Monsters*

*Our Wandering Monster table is for if/when the party attempts to make a long rest.

Players can periodically roll Survival or Nature checks (DC 15) to discern the scrying rocks from regular boulders as they trudge toward the Night Hag. Once the group is within 3 miles of her cabin, DM Ben will give the party three checks, as each scrying rock serves as a mile marker.

In terms of appearance, the eye is on the rock like an old movie camera projecting onto an old roll-down screen. If spotted, it can be seen moving all over the place by aggressively twitching and blinking ( like it’s frantically looking for the party). You could also have it be an actual eye embedded into the rock.

The eye stops moving and closes once it senses the jig is up. When that happens, the players can still barely make out the eye, even though it’s closed. Regardless, the player definitely knows what he/she initially saw and can communicate it back to the party.

So, the party knows they’re being watched, and they know they’re getting close! A showdown is imminent!

Until next time!