The Nature GM

Continuing on the theme from the last post, I bring two more side quests for different wilderness environments. They are short quests that bring a sense of wonder to the world and reward players for exploring.

The hooks for these side quests are based on the truth universally recognized that if the game master mentions a detail, it must be significant.

River: A King’s Treasure

Setup

The party is crossing a river or large stream. Downstream is a steep waterfall, and they can hear the roar of the rushing water. At the very edge of the waterfall is a massive, moss-covered stone carved in the shape of a head. Inside an eye socket the player characters see something glint when sunlight hits it.

The Stone Head

Getting to the stone head is somewhat dangerous because the river current is strong and may pull characters over the waterfall. The eye sockets are large enough for one person to crouch inside. The left socket is empty. The right socket contains a hexagon-shaped copper piece, green with age, with a large diamond set in the center.

Engraved into the stone of the eye socket is a drawing of a door and a waterfall. Below it is ancient writing that, if deciphered, says something like This key unlocks the place of our king’s eternal rest.

The Tomb

Behind the waterfall, the characters find a hexagon indentation that the key fits into. Turning it makes a loud snapping sound as an ancient mechanism is engaged, allowing the stone wall to be shoved inward. Behind the door is a dark, narrow tunnel.

The tunnel leads to a chamber where a dozen armed skeletons are slumped against the left and right walls. Presumably these are the king’s guard who were buried with him. When the characters enter the chamber, the skeletons stand and advance on them to attack.

The next chamber contains the mummified body of the king laying on a lavishly ornate sarcophagus. He is wearing a crown and ceremonial armor, and beside him is a scepter. The king’s eyes glow red, and he rises to destroy those who disturb his rest. Once the king is defeated, his magic scepter may be a prize of a spellcasting focus that casts a low-level spell without expending any resources.

The Treasure

There are no obvious doors in the king’s burial chamber. The characters notice grooves in the floor next to the sarcophagus that allow it to be pushed back. Below the sarcophagus is a cavity filled with treasure.

The treasure is in the form of coins, gems, and exquisite platters, goblets, candelabras, etc. None of the items are magical. Based on game master discretion, the characters may be limited in what they can reasonably carry out of the tomb.

When the characters exit the tomb, the door mechanism fails, and the thousand-pound stone door is wedged shut for all eternity.

Plains: A Great and Terrible Power

Setup

The party is travelling across a vast and featureless plain. In the distance, they see an odd-looking hill with a tiered shape. It looks constructed rather than natural. Characters with excellent eyesight may notice some sort of structure on the top.

The Tiered Hill

A shallow stream flows around the hill in a spiral, giving it the tiered look. At the outer edge of the stream channel is a row of evenly spaced yellow crystals that maintain an anti-magical field on the hill. The stream originates from a fountain at the top of the hill. In this fountain lives a water weird that can travel through the stream around the hill.

The water weird’s sole purpose is to protect the hill and prevent anyone from climbing to the top. It will attempt to drown the characters in the stream. The stream may contain the remains (and equipment) of unfortunate adventurers who tried unsuccessfully to climb the hill.

A character may chip off a piece of the yellow crystals to gain a personal anti-magic shield. However, it will prevent them from casting spells or using magic items, including weapons, potions, and spell scrolls.

The Reward

At the top of the hill is a marble plinth which holds the magical item that the water weird was guarding. They are gauntlets of necromantic power that allow the wearer to both control and summon undead creatures. They may additionally grant the wearer a boon such as additional health or protection from harm, have a detrimental effect such as making the wearer just a little bit insane, and/or be cursed and be impossible to remove without magic.

Closing Thoughts

The water weird continues to be my favorite D&D monster, and I have used one in nearly all of my games. The anti-magic hill is a scenario I ran for a high-level adventure. After some initial frustration from the wizard character, the players enjoyed the anti-magic field because it challenged them in new ways.

I hope you find these scenarios useful for your game. If you have created wilderness side quests of your own, feel free to link them in the comments.

Stay tuned in for two final wilderness side quests in the next post. Until then, keep exploring!