Witch’s Cottage A 1st Level Dungeon Written and Designed by Jesse Gazic
Summary
of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game. (The word “dungeon” is used here to refer to a set of linked encounters in the same time and place.) GMs are encouraged to adjust any element of this dungeon to better suit their needs. The first section of this text provides a breakdown of each area of the dungeon and any encounters therein. Italicized text at the start of each entry should be read aloud to players. Shaded boxes contain additional notes. The subsequent section contains a map of all encounter areas, as well as short profiles for characters appearing in this dungeon. GMs should familiarize themselves with all of the information in this document before introducing this dungeon into a campaign.
This dungeon details the cottage of Halia Whitethorn, a witch who lives deep within a thick and dangerous wood. Halia has spent the last few decades learning the art of potion brewing, creating potent concoctions through a combination of forest plants and her own arcane powers. PCs can explore her yard and the interior of her cottage before discovering the trapdoor to her hidden underground workshop, where they will confront the witch of the forest herself!
How to Use This Dungeon This dungeon is suitable for use with the 5th edition
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Approaching the Cottage “The trees clear to reveal a squat, ramshackle cottage in the dead centre of a small meadow. On the west side of the house, a figure slowly tends a large vegetable garden. At the northern edge of the clearing stands a decrepit outhouse, and to the south you see a low stone well.” The following section details the exterior and first floor of the cottage, which is 15 feet wide, 30 feet long, and 10 feet tall.The well and the outhouse are functional but contain nothing of interest.
1. Garden “The garden is quite large, spanning the entire length of the cottage. Colourful flowers and fat mushrooms grow in dutiful rows, while bushes bearing swollen berries droop from raised planters. A tired gnome woman stands here, idly raking up fallen leaves.” This garden is where Halia grows plants that are rare, valuable, or otherwise require a lot of attention. Several of the specimens are grown in wire cages or raised wooden planters. The gnome is Rowan, who was exiled from her village for murder. She now lives in the forest and thinks of herself as Halia’s apprentice, spending several hours a day maintaining the witch’s gardens and fetching her ingredients. Halia has no interest in rewarding Rowan for her efforts, and plans to poison the gnome once she has outlived her usefulness. Encounter: If approached peacefully, Rowan (pg. 5) is hostile and insists the PCs leave at once. If they seek an audience (or claim to have one already), Rowan assures them that Halia is very busy, “and if she had business with the likes of you—or anyone—I’d have known of it!” If the party refuses to leave, she inititates combat.
2. Front Porch “The front porch of the cottage is rather dirty and dusty. The steps are crudely built, and the cottage’s screen door hangs limply off one hinge. An old tin roof covers the length of the porch.” Encounter: The front entrance of the cottage is trapped, using a trip wire to collapse a section of the
roof. The trip wire suspended 3 inches above the porch floor is strung between two posts. It’s a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check to notice the trip wire. A DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools disables the trip wire successfully. A character without thieves’ tools can attempt the check with a sharp implement at a disadvantage. A failed check triggers the trap. Anyone examining the ceiling of the porch can see that the bottom sheet of tin is held up by beams wedged into place. The dusty floor, signalling disuse, can also clue in players to the danger here. (Halia uses the secret door to the north, which is a DC 20 to spot.) When triggered, the trap causes the bottom section of the roof to fall open, and a hail of rusty daggers and forks rains down upon the porch. Anyone on the porch must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw, taking 6 (1d10) damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
3. Living Room “This large room takes up most of the interior of the cottage. Every available surface is covered in boots, trowels, shovels, shears, books, jars, seeds, and plenty of mud. A hallway in the northwest corner of the room leads further into the cottage.” There are no hostile creatures or traps in this room, though combat with Rowan (area 1) or the rats (area 4) may continue into this area. Any PC who stops to look for treasure finds none, but their searching alerts the rats in the next room. All of the tools and books are mundane. Halia keeps her valuables in her workshop.
4. Bedroom “This tiny room is sparsely decorated in comparison to the clutter of the living room. The walls are covered in patches of pale green mold, and a cot is crammed in the back of the room, just on the other side of a large trapdoor set in the floor.” This is where Halia sleeps. In the mornings, she leaves via the secret door to work in her garden, and in the afternoon and evening works tirelessly in her lab. This room is therefore empty for most of the day, save for Halia’s roommates (see encounter). Beneath the trapdoor is a 20 ft. tall ladder that leads to the network of tunnels underneath the cottage.
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Encounter: When the PCs enter this room, three giant rats (pg. 5) crawl out from under the cot and attack. Treasure: Under her cot, Halia keeps some coin stashed for when she sends Rowan to town to buy supplies. A small silk bag contains 60gp.
Beneath the Trapdoor This section details the basement of the cottage. The ceilings are 6 feet high, and there is no light unless otherwise noted. (Halia uses her goggles of night to navigate.)
5. Milking Room “This large room is coated in thick, stringy webbing. Through the darkness, you can make out deep gouges along the walls and floor, and the room stinks of droppings and decay.” In this padlocked chamber, Halia keeps a giant spider she raised from a young age to farm for venom. The spider is not tame, but Halia heavily doses its food with opiates that keep it sluggish and docile. In her busy operations, however she hasn’t fed the spider in a while, so it is alert and quite angry. Encounter: If the giant spider (pg. 5) detects the PCs through bright light or loud noise, it climbs to the ceiling of its pen, hoping to pounce on anyone who comes looking in this room.
Treasure: With a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception check), PCs can discover a potion of healing, a dose of oil of slipperiness, and a potion of poison.
7. Workshop “This room has a low ceiling of packed earth. Long worktables hold clusters of ceramic and glass instruments, most of which are spattered with strange and sour-smelling liquids. At the far end of the chamber, flickering candles perch on the rim of a massive iron cauldron.” Halia spends most of her time here, tirelessly labouring to create new potions. The cauldron is currently full of potion of healing (amounting to about 8 doses), which Halia brews to barter with forest creatures. Encounter: Halia (pg. 6) can be found here when the PCs arrive at the cottage. She is intensely focused on her work, and won’t be alerted to the PCs’ presence unless they make a significant amount of noise in the other underground chambers. If she is made aware of intruders, she drinks her potion of heroism.
This Dungeon in Your Campaign Halia’s motivations are kept unspecified in this text so that GMs can easily integrate this dungeon into their own campaigns. If you’re unsure of how to incorporate the scenario here, below are a few suggestions: • A valuable object (or an allied NPC) has been stolen by Halia for use in a potion. The PCs must retrieve their quarry before it’s too late!
Treasure: The spider’s last meal (a trespassing elf) wore an amethyst ring (200 gp) which now lies in the corner.
• The PCs desperately need a certain potion brewed (perhaps an antidote or poison) and Halia is the nearest or likeliest hope. Bargaining with the spiteful witch is sure to be dangerous!
6. Supply Room “This room is barely bigger than a broom closet, but the walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed with all manner of potion ingredients. Dried plants and jars of brightly coloured powder crowd the room.”
• Tension rises in the forest as Halia claims more land in order to expand her gardens. Why could the crone possibly need so many potion ingredients at once?
This is where Halia keeps her preserved potion supplies. Most of the supplies are worth little (1d10 sp), but Halia has stashed some emergency potions here. A secret door (DC 15 to notice) behind a shelf leads directly to the workshop (area 7).
• The PCs are sent to track down Rowan, an exiled murderer last seen in the forest, and capture her alive. In this case, consider placing Rowan in area 7 and putting several Awakened Shrubs in the vegetable garden.
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Halia’s Cottage
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Appendix: Enemy Statistics
roll against a creature if at least one of the rat’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Rowan
Actions Bite. Melee weapon attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Small humanoid (gnome), Lawful Evil Druid 2 Armor Class 14 HP 17 (2d8 + 4) Speed 25 ft. STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
9 (-1)
16 (+3)
15 (+2)
14 (+2)
16 (+3)
11 (+0)
Saving throws Intelligence +4, Wisdom +5 Skills Nature +4, Survival +5 Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 13 Languages Common, Gnome Challenge 1 (200 XP) Spellcasting. Rowan is a 2nd-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, spell attacks +5 to hit). She has prepared the following spells: Cantrips (at will): druidcraft, mending, shillelagh 1st Level: cure wounds, entangle, thunderwave
Actions
Quarterstaff. Melee weapon attack. +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d8 -1) bludgeoning damage. Sling. Ranged weapon attack. +5 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage. Rowan is a natural lackey who craves power but fears responsibility. She entangles foes, then attacks with her sling, casting shillelagh on her staff if caught in melee.
Giant Rat
Small beast, unaligned Armor Class 12 HP 7 (2d6) Speed 30 ft. STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
7 (-2)
15 (+2)
11 (+0)
2 (-4)
10 (+0)
4 (-3)
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10 Languages — Challenge 1/8 (25 XP) Keen Smell. The rat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. Pack Tactics. The rat has advantage on an attack
Giant Spider
Large beast, unaligned Armor Class 14 HP 26(4d10 + 4) Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft. STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
14 (+2)
16 (+3)
12 (+1)
2 (-4)
11 (+0)
4 (-3)
Skills Stealth +7 Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10 Languages — Challenge 1 (200 XP) Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web. Web Walker. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.
Actions
Bite. Melee weapon attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 9 (2d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the poison damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit points, and is paralyzed while poisoned in this way. Web (Recharge 5–6). Ranged weapon attack: +5 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one creature. Hit: The target is restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained target can make a DC 12 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success. The webbingcan also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 5; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage).
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Halia Whitethorn
Medium Humanoid (human), Neutral Evil Warlock 4 Armor Class 14 HP 28 (4d8 + 8) Speed 30 ft. STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
10 (+0)
13 (+1)
14 (+2)
16 (+4)
15 (+2)
18 (+4)
Saving throws Wisdom +4, Charisma +6 Skills Arcana +5, Nature +5, Senses passive Perception 12 Languages Common, Sylvan Challenge 2 (450 XP) Spellcasting. Halia is a 4th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, spell attacks +6 to hit). She has two available spell slots and knows the following spells: Cantrips (at will): eldritch blast, mage Hand, true strike 1st Level: expeditious retreat, hellish rebuke, unseen servant 2nd Level: darkness, hold person
Actions
Dagger. Melee or ranged weapon attack. +3 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Other
Eldritch invocations: agonizing blast, beast speech Familiar: Ajax (bat, noncombatant) Gear: In addition to any items listed above, Halia carries a potion of heroism, a potion of resistance (poison), a potion of water breathing, and a pair of goggles of night. Halia Whitethorn is a witch studying the art of potion brewing. Unscrupulous in her quest for knowledge, Halia is willing to sacrifice anything (or anyone) for a deeper understanding of the arcane arts. She regularly traffics with the fey of the forest, and has no problem using lethal force to protect the many gardens and mushroom beds she cultivates throughout the region. In combat, she attempts to control the battlefield with darkness or hold person, then attacks with eldritch blast. If reduced to 10 or fewer HP, she casts expeditious retreat if able and attempts to flee through her secret door.
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