Stone Cold Trouble

We’ve got a stone-cold DnD one-shot encounter that’s sure to petrify your players. Our work campaign is getting closer to confronting an infamous suspected witch in The High Forest, and we needed something to shake the party’s confidence!

We’re picking several free 3D prints off Thingiverse from two very talented and generous creators. Curufin hails from EC3D Designs, an absolute anchor of the community. Dutchmogul is another mastermind who also has a substantial free library for all to download. You’re missing out if you haven’t nabbed any of their fun STLs yet.

Now, let’s discuss the dungeon master’s intent. Are you grabbing a Medusa image off your minis shelf and going for a TPK? Nah, not this time, at least. 😉

Our fourth-level players have to march a bit on foot to reach our witch’s hideout. So, DM Ben is sprinkling in several encounters along the way to spruce up the story, wear the players down, and, in this case, add a little fear into the mix.

DM Ben just wants his players to think a Flesh to Stone spell is a possibility during the witch encounter. First, he’ll drop in these petrified adventurers by Curufin and position them to look like things got ugly in a hurry for these poor chaps.

Then, he’ll break up the rock theme here and insert an already-prepped Scarecrow encounter, which helps explain how our sweet old lady (Lyra Shaw) became an evil witch and how she disposed of her tattling husband (Jack Shaw).

As the party gets closer to the secluded cabin, they’ll encounter Dutchmogul’s solid stone troll. So the group will naturally think the first adventurer group was wiped out. However, to make matters worse, this creepy lady even took out a troll? Big trouble ahead!

Paint jobs were a snap with ArmyPainter SpeedPaint Gravelord Gary with a little Desolate Brown wet blended over the top. We then finished the pieces off with a smattering of green moss flock.

Pretty spooky, right? Like, what on earth are we about to get ourselves into here?! DM Ben loves to place things on the game board, whether it’s miniatures, scatter terrain, buildings, etc., just to mess with the players’ heads and keep them guessing.

Now, DM Ben isn’t planning on introducing a Medusa monster or even having the witch cast a Flesh to Stone spell (sixth level, mind you) to their upcoming villain showdown. At least the group thinks this sort of encounter could happen, and that’s half the fun of being a dungeon master. 😉

Until next time!