Tresendar Manor’s cellar has a lot of opportunities to have some fun with lightly used combat mechanics. If you want this encounter to go beyond a hack and slash race to 0 hp, consider some of the following suggestions below:

Somebody to shove. The ruffians are the pushy type. Lean into that with special attack actions that use the shoving a creature mechanic.

• The landing by the door that opens into this area is 15 feet above the cellar. An archer or arcane character perched on the landing to remain above the fray could be in for 1d6 bludgeoning damage if a ruffian goes charging up the stairs to toss them from the landing.
• I see that cistern taking up so much of the room, and instantly want any character fighting along its rim to take a bath with a shove attack. This is a fun way for a character to find Glasstaff’s waterproof satchel hidden in the cistern (without necessitating a perception check or probing the water), and it’s also a way to pull your punches.
• Another way to pull your punches is to have a ruffian uses a shove attack to accidentally send a character crashing through the secret door at the southwestern corner of the cellar, leading a player to a discovery often missed.

Improvised attacks. The cellar contains 16 barrels and casks of varying sizes, filled with apples, flour, sugar, salted pork and ale. Make use of them. FOOD FIGHT!

• As an action, a ruffian topples or tosses a barrel of apples, spilling them out onto the floor. They’re small, tough little pommes that roll under your feet when stepped on. Basically, treat them like improvised ball bearings. The spilled apples cover a square area that is 10 feet on a side. Any creature moving across the covered area must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. A creature moving through the area at half speed doesn’t need to make the save.
• There are 4 small casks located to the northeast corner of the cistern. As an action, a ruffian uses them as improvised weapons to make ranged attacks. Each cask deals 1d4 damage, and has normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.
• As an action, a ruffian reaches into a barrel and throws a fistful of flour as a blinding attack. Use the dust mephit’s death burst feature as the mechanic for this attack. Each creature within 5 feet of the ruffian must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be blinded for 1 minute. A blinded creature can repeat the saving throw on each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Put the pieces on the board the way you want! It will make your combats more dynamic, and show your players there’s more to combat than swinging a sword.

If you’d like to support my work, please consider downloading my latest title on the Dungeon Master’s Guild, Along The Triboar Trail: Cragmaw Country. All of my titles on Dungeon Master’s Guild are free/PWYW. Thanks for reading!