As I mentioned in yesterday’s musings, it’s expensive AF to keep the lights on below Tresendar Manor. With the crevasse being the largest area of the dungeon, I would have the lighting strategically positioned by the rope bridges, so employees of Glasstaff LLC can find their way to the crossing safely, and avoid falling down the steps a short distance away. Other than that, I’d like to think a significant portion of the cavern would be cloaked in shadow (dim light), perfect for a skulking Nothic.
If the Nothic makes an appearance, characters without darkvision see a single luminescent eye, gazing balefully at them from the shadows with the rest of the creature a hunched, monstrous silhouette.
If you think you’re going to have a hard time getting the players at your table to play along when the Nothic makes use of its Weird Insight, you’re not alone. Many DMs struggle with this. Weird Insight is an interesting monster ability for sure, but it requires players who are very deeply invested in their character’s background for it to be a fun story element. Most level 2 characters don’t have enough dirt under their fingernails to have an interesting fact or secret to have drawn out of them by the Nothic.
The way I get around this situation with a Nothic is to replace it’s Weird Insight with short-term or long-term madness. If a character fails their contest with the Nothic, the player rolls from the short-term madness table. If they fail the save by 5 or more, the roll is made from the long-term madness table instead.
According its stat block, a Nothic trades in secret and forbidden lore, which it shares for a price in the form of magic items. You’d never know it by our Nothic’s meager treasure chest. I mean, 160 sp, 120 gp, five malachite gems (15 gp each), two potions of healing, +1 longsword, and a spell scroll of augury is a nice start I guess, but it implies the Nothic hasn’t engaged in the business of sharing its terrible truths very often. Unless…
I suppose I should pause here for a moment to explain that I am a big fan of working oft overlooked rules and game elements into my adventures. So, when thinking along those lines, how can I load up the Nothic’s treasure chest with magic items that won’t overpower the characters for Tier I play?
Trinkets!
From the trinkets listed in the basic rules, place all of the trinkets that have a magical quality to them into the Nothic’s treasure chest. None of these trinkets have any combat utility, but perhaps they could have story elements built into them! A few examples of what I mean (click on the triangle for each to get the information in the drop down):
A piece of crystal that faintly glows in the moonlight
The crystal glows faintly in the moonlight with the new moon. But with each additional phase of the moon, the crystal grows brighter and brighter until at the full moon, it reveals a scene for the past to the character: Conyberry’s fall to the werewolves. The explosion of Mount Hotenow. The fall of Axeholm. The armies of Phalorm marching off to what would become the Mere of Dead Men. Whatever lore you want to bake into your game, glimpses of it could be seen through the crystal at the full moon.
A small idol depicting a nightmarish creature that gives you unsettling dreams when you sleep near it
If you plan to take your party to another published adventure after you finish with Lost Mine of Phandelver, perhaps the character afflicted by the unsettling dreams sees glimpses of a grim future in a far off place. An example would be a nightmare about the the horrors the residents of Nightstone will live through at the Dripping Caves in Storm King’s Thunder.
A blank book whose pages refuse to hold ink, chalk, graphite, or any other substance or marking
At first, it would appear the book does not allow one to write on its pages. But that’s not necessarily true. Allow the player who possesses the book to understand that its magical in nature, but has some mystery that must be unlocked. Give it a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check that can only be made during a long rest, just so the book remains a mystery the character must puzzle out over time. A successful check reveals the book to be a blank spellbook. Only spells from the school of necromancy can be transcribed into it. And they must be transcribed in blood.
A vial of dragon blood
A vial of blood taken from a green dragon. When visiting Thundertree, Venomfang smells the blood, knows exactly what it is, and takes an uncomfortable interest in the character who possesses the vial.
Along The Triboar Trail 
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