Wilderness Encounters
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Just as there is no daytime result to roll for ghouls on the Wilderness Encounters table in Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web, there’s also no nighttime result to roll for the ogre. It would appear that ogres are afraid of the dark or, at a minimum, have enough sense to realize they’re at a disadvantage…
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Out of the eight monsters listed on the Wilderness Encounters table (Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web), the ogre is one of my favorites. There’s already an ogre by the name of Gog in Lost Mine of Phandelver. Gog aligns himself with Brughor Axe Biter and his company of orcs at Wyvern Tor. However, if the…
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Since characters often deploy their long rest mechanic at the end of an adventuring day, it’s not uncommon for a nighttime random encounter to occur as the party sleeps – especially when camping outdoors. It’s why there’s almost always a discussion around which characters are standing watch as the rest of the party dozes. And…
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Ghouls are the only monster on the Lost Mine of Phandelver’s Wilderness Encounters table (Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web) that does not call for a daytime encounter, and I approve! These are creatures of the night, and they’ll make for a more memorable encounter when they go bump in the dark. That being said, there’s…
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The nice thing about stirges is their ability to subvert expectations for what some players might steel themselves for during an evening spent out under the stars. For a nighttime random encounter, stirges don’t come crashing out of the bushes with a roar or a war cry. Certainly not when, under the cover of darkness,…
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During daylight hours, characters are most-likely to encounter stirges while the foul little beasties are sleeping, since the monster’s darkvision trait suggests a nocturnal nature. Like bats, stirges sleep upside down, hanging from the upper reaches of wherever they roost. In Lost Mine of Phandelver, that would likely be a mine, cave, or ruin. Or…
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No, really. Ghouls are totally gnarly. And in thinking through Sister Garaele’s side quest this week, I came to the realization that I haven’t leaned into their true nature on the occasions where I’ve deployed them in my games. Unless they’re under control by some outside force, ghouls are not guardians or belligerents. They’re predators.…
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So for the past couple of days, my thoughts have been bent upon a barrow north of Gnomengarde that’s inhabited by a pack of ghouls. The barrow’s proximity to both Phandalin and Gnomengarde is of concern to Sister Garaele. An Elvish priestess of Tymora, Garaele journeys to the barrow by herself, with the expectation that…
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In yesterday’s thoughts, I proposed a side quest given by Sister Garaele using the ghouls from the Wilderness Encounters table in Lost Mine of Phandelver Chapter 3: The Spider’s Web. With her religious training, Garaele knows the telltale signs of a ghoul pack, as well as what makes this particular undead creature dangerous. So, in…
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Meanwhile, at the Stonehill Inn: Dungeon Master: So according to Ol’ Narth, Sister Garaele left Phandalin for a few days and then “returned wounded and exhausted.” Players: Hmm. Interesting. I wonder what happened? Dungeon Master: (oh, shiiiit…) Players: Let’s head over to the Shrine of Luck. Dungeon Master: (fuuuuuuhhh…) Don’t get caught flat-footed. If you’re…