Credits
Author: Troy McConnell
Editing: Troy McConnell and Ross McConnell
Map Art: Ross McConnell (2-Minute Tabletop)
Parchment Texture: Seth Tomlinson
Statblock Generation: Tetracube
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Copyright 2019 Troy McConnell
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1
Encounters by Environment: Caves

A shape flies through the corner of the leader’s vision. She raises a hand, signaling those behind her to hold still.
Seconds tick by. The unease in their stomachs grows as the silence continues. Hands creep to the handles of weapons
and to draw spell components. Then, movement. Swords, arrows, and crackling sparks of energy all swing to aim at
the approaching sound. From the boundaries of the shadow a small, bat-like creature scurries forth. It stops in place
and turns up to them, wide eyes questioning the tense adventurers. The group sighs and chuckles, returning their
weapons. Their resident mage, relaxing, casts forth a series of glowing orbs. They float in the air around the creature,
illuminating the face of its much large parent several feet behind.

Designing random encounters for players to find when traveling can be tedious and taxing, especially for
inexperienced writers. Running out of ideas is inevitable and inspiration is hard to find. You want to keep your
players on their toes with combat and intrigue, but random encounters of ‘XdX wolves leap from the bushes’ are
a quick way to lose interest. Each and every encounter should be unique and captivating and come with both story
and consequence. That’s where we aim to help.
Our goal is to steer clear of basic combat and generic ambushes. We design encounters not only with backstory
and multiple paths but also with layers to keep players guessing and invested. Our encounter outlines are
designed as jumping-off points, to save you prep time while remaining loose enough to make them feel your own
and to be adjusted to all parties and levels.

Our aim is not to tell you what to do, but rather to inspire and teach you with new ideas and advice. Your campaign
will still be your own; we’re just helping you get started.

About the Author

I am Troy McConnell. With an interest in fantasy, writing, and acting stretching as far back as I can remember, I
was always somewhat destined to end up in tabletop gaming.
I first entered the medium of roleplaying games with a campaign in 2014, run by my brother who went on to
create 2-Minute Tabletop. It was soon after that that ideas for my own campaign began formulating, before I
finally took the plunge and introduced my first hand-crafted world, Fornheim.
But running one game a week limits the number of stories I can tell, and the difficulty of creating each and every
encounter between plot points frustrated me. The answer to this eventually came in the form of producing
content. I am able to vent all the stories and ideas I have while making it easier for other people to avoid the
inspiration pitfalls.
My goal is to create content that can help people at all levels by simplifying the initial steps in session and game
planning. I do this primarily by providing the building blocks for adventures and encounters that can be tailored
to any campaign and party.

2
Contents

Credits 1 2 – In the Mouth of the Beast 13

Encounters by Environment: Caves 2 3 – Now You’re Thinking with Bottomless
About the Author 2 Pits 14
Contents 3 4 – Dive and Survive 15
How to Run a Cave Adventure 4 5 – Spitting, Punching, Fighting Image 16
Part of a Larger World 4 6 – Around and Around and Around and… 17
Connections to the Surface 4 7 – Impatient Ancient 18
A World unto Itself 5 8 – Suffocating Stone 19
- Caverns and Tunnels 5 9 – Bull in a China… Cave 21
- The Underground Population 5 10 – Explorers in Mystical New Lands 22
Quiet Moments 6 11 – Descended into Madness 23
Explain, but Engage 6 12 – Fungal Faux Pas 25
Challenges to Face 7 13 – Freedom for a Favor 26
As Danger Arises 8 14 – Hall-ooze-inations 27
Using the Environment 8 15 – Careful, Quiet Crossing 28
- Map Features 8 16 – Echoes of Betrayal 30
- Encounter Structure 9 17 – Arachnomorphosis 31
Signs and Sounds 10 18 – Rising Heat 32
Once the Storm has Passed 10 19 – In the Black Fog 34
1d20 Cave Encounters 12 20 – Itsy-Bitsy Intruders 35
1 – Eyes in the Light 12 Patrons 37

3
How to Run a Cave Adventure

Finding encounter ideas and planning them for your own other environments but serve the same purpose. Our goal
game is only one part of adventures. The key to making is to subtly suggest to players that they need to be
encounters great is by integrating them into the journey. prepared for the isolation that we will cover later.
Doing this requires handling of pace, downtime, and
effective transitions between each moment. This might seem
easier than the encounters themselves but it is these details Connections to the Surface
that can set great campaigns apart. It can also prove to be The next step is defining the purpose and use of the cave.
a challenging factor for even those with experience. We'd Think about the opportunities that the cave provides to
like to help with that. both the creatures and people nearby. This runs parallel
to planning the cave’s location, as the two will often form
the in-world reason for the encounter or adventure.
Part of a Larger World The most obvious example of this is in monster lairs.
Whether for wolves, kobolds, dragons, or even just people,
caves represent a defensible position for creatures of all
Caves are unlike deserts, jungles, and other environments.
kinds to make their home. In this case, the cave will change
They tend to act as a feature within another region rather
to fit the creature. They will outfit it for their own needs,
than being one themself, but can also function as the
depending on their own intelligence and the length of time
entrance to an entire network below the surface. This can
they have been there. This should be evident within the
create difficulties in planning their connection to the
cave, but also in the surrounding terrain. Think about the
world, as you want to balance their realistic integration
creatures themselves and the impact they would have,
with a sense of isolation for the players. Ultimately, we can
whether that be resource gathering or evidence left
boil it down to a consideration of the cave’s location and
behind from hunts. Their sphere of influence has the dual
contents. Use these as starting points, keeping in mind the
purpose of informing wary players while further
purpose your caves serve in your campaign.
emphasizing a connection to the world.
When placing a cave entrance, you want it to feel like a
Many creatures will also use this theme in reverse.
feature of the environment around it. The transition
Spiders, bandits, and other predators are able to use the
between the surface world into the underground is usually
safety of caves as a lure for prey, with traps set to catch
a quick one but is important for connecting the two. When
them. In these cases, they will often seek to remove any
viewed from a distance, describe it to your players as a
visual indicators of their presence and make the cave
piece of the surrounding area. Have your descriptions
appear uninhabited. This is a good way to incorporate
make note of the characteristics of the terrain that
other random encounters but relies on you also including
continue into the cave, such as vines or snow cover. These
regular, safe caves. If every cave is a lair or trap, players
can reduce in density as your cave environment takes
will simply avoid them.
over. Typical features like stalagmites and stalactites, as
well as the darkness of the cave, will replace them. On the other end of the spectrum, caves are also a resource
for towns and regular people. Mines are the most common
This all seems simple but is an important step for
use, with caves doing the work of exposing the presence of
introducing your cave adventure. You want the entrance
minerals or providing paths to where they can be found.
to feel like a natural progression, while also quietly
They can also serve as tunnels for transport under difficult
warning players of what they are facing. Include hints of
terrain, as well as the aforementioned shelter. In all of
what challenges you intend to include. If the cave presents
these cases, the importance of the caves will lead to people
an immediate danger, you can emphasize features such as
reinforcing their structure and ensuring their safety. They
jagged stones and harsh angles. For deeper cave systems
will much more closely reflect the town, often to the extent
or introductions to longer cave adventures, you can focus
of appearing more like a building than a natural feature.
on the cave stretching into darkness and out of sight.
This can, of course, vary depending on the proximity to the
These are not as direct as the hints we use for jungles and

4
town and the effort invested in it. A derelict tunnel or
unstable mine shafts are good ways of displaying the
character of those responsible for their upkeep.
A World unto Itself
Caves function well as locations for a single, defined
encounter. But there is another option that is significantly
more involved and open-ended, while also giving more
freedom. Tunnels and caverns can be used to create an
entire underground world, complete with different
biomes, terrains, and settlements. This allows you to set
entire adventures (or even campaigns) beneath the
surface. But it comes with considerations that need to be
made.
- Caverns and Tunnels
Essentially, the way to do this is by approaching it exactly
as we labeled; as another world, underground. This means
planning the caves as you would for an overworld map, in
terms of settlements and roads in the form of larger, safer
tunnels. The same can be said for changes in terrain. The
underground will function as a parallel world, with
specific differences to the world above.
One of these differences is when players leave the main
tunnels and caverns. These deviations separate the party
from the world, like overgrown forests and swamps and
barren deserts do. Caves emphasize this further. They will
quickly grow more wild, inhospitable, and unpredictable
the further they are from civilization. Darkness, physical
walls and obstacles, and changes in elevation will work to
isolate the party from any help or escape, both mentally
and literally. The effects of this will be most apparent as
the players travel and during encounters.
Also like the regular world, your caves should have
variations within them. This means having the details of
the environment change throughout your cave adventure,
making use of the different features like bodies of water,
plants, chasms, and even pockets of magma. We will cover
this in more detail as it pertains to travel and encounters
a little later, but it should be a consideration in planning.
Many of these features are large, obvious, and impactful,
so they will rarely appear randomly. Think about them
more like regions or biomes in the overworld and plan
them with the necessary space and transitions.
When mapping your caves, do not try and include every
single, little tunnel. Focus on the settlements, any wide,
open caverns, and the main roads that connect them.
Cover the smaller tunnels of encounters or travel in your
descriptions, with general directions if players have a
particular heading or are maintaining a map. This saves
you obvious planning time while also giving you more
room in-session to improvise and make changes when you
need to.
- The Underground Population
As always, the unique features of the environment should
have an effect on its people and vice versa. Subterranean
settlements and worlds will, again, act similarly to their
surface counterparts, with certain features exaggerated.
This is good. It means that much of your planning is the
same, with only a few necessary details to set your cave
adventure apart.
The first step is to ask yourself a question: how isolated is
your underground world from the surface? The level of
seclusion will determine basic factors such as available
resources and the kinds of people that will be present. It is
also an important part of worldbuilding and should be
visible to players, even having a direct impact on them.
Let’s have a look at two examples on opposite ends of the
spectrum…
A dwarven city with a good relationship with the surface
has access to easy trade and assistance. They are able to
set up supply lines to bring in resources such as wood and
overworld food, depending on the environments and
surface settlements nearby. This will be apparent in their
architecture, as well as the fruitfulness of trade, courier,
and escort businesses. The races in the city will quickly
diversify and visitors such as researchers and tourists will
be more plentiful. The city can call on outside help with
any dangers within surrounding tunnels, though they may
see less need to as they rely less on local industry.
Ultimately, the city will more closely resemble a regular
surface city, with a change of scenery.
Conversely, a city that isolates itself must act self-
sufficiently. The people and companies will form around
the industries available to them, many of which rely on
finite resources of the environment. This, along with a
growing population as people don’t leave for the surface,
will require them to expand through the connecting
tunnels. They will, therefore, need to maintain control of
the area from any dangerous creatures to secure land and
5
maintain safe roads. The advantage of this is a greater
understanding of their location and ability to deal with
these threats. The people themselves will be almost
entirely native races, particularly those with darkvision,
tending to be more insular and either less accepting of
outsiders.
You can see how these examples both stem from the same
question to form very different experiences for players.
Building from a single point is a good way to realize details
you might have otherwise missed. For instance, a town
consisting only of races with darkvision and not expecting
visitors might not bother with torches or other lights.
Small but distinct points like these are great ways to give
locations an identity without making drastic changes and
complicating planning.
An important aspect of any new environment is to give
players a chance to learn about it first. This can come from
their own character backgrounds or knowledge checks,
but we would always advise having other characters that
can answer questions for them. These could be locals,
other travelers, or simply someone who is well-read. The
purpose is not to exposit all of your notes to players,
though. Have the information be given from the
characters’ perspectives, basing it on local knowledge,
first-hand experiences, and even rumors. You can use this
to separate the information between characters. You
reward players for seeking multiple sources and
effectively conversing with the people. The ranger might
be able to find the way, but it’s the bard that learns about
the rumor of cave trolls on that path.
Your download came with two premade battle maps, as
well as two packs for creating your own caves. All of them
are courtesy of 2-Minute Tabletop.
Quiet Moments
Once you understand your cave adventure’s setting, it’s
time to drop players into it. This is when we use all the
effort of establishing the environment to challenge and
entertain players. Even outside of encounters, we want the
unique characteristics of the environment to shine
through and remain ever-present.
Explain, but Engage
One of two important aspects of keeping pace and
immersion in cave adventures is to avoid a common
problem: don’t let your caves be boring. This applies to
every environment but is especially pertinent in caves.
The constant darkness and stone with little additional
detail can become very repetitive for players, which can
then result in losing their attention. You should work to
deal with this on both the large and small scale.
The first is what we mentioned earlier about
incorporating different biomes into your cave systems.
Just like the surface world, extended cave adventures
should move through areas that look distinctly different.
This works to make each session and ‘chapter’ of an
adventure feel refreshing and unique, providing players
with new sights to see, details to investigate, and
challenges to overcome. These areas should be large
enough that the party spends time there and is able to
learn and adapt. This can also mean having them appear
gradually, or including signs of what is coming, to let
players adjust and plan as the new environment becomes
more prominent. It also integrates them into the world
more smoothly.
When thinking about the variations you can include, we
find it easiest to start with broader ideas. Identify smaller
features or details of caves and then increase those in size
or scope. An example is a stream that cuts through a
tunnel. Simple, right? This is a basic addition in itself, but
what if it leads to a large pool? Maybe a cavern is flooded,
forcing players to dive underwater and navigate through
sunken tunnels. The same can be done for almost any
other feature of a cave. Mushrooms could develop into a
fungal forest, while magma could be flowing from a fire
giant stronghold or the chambers of a volcano. You can
start with a basic root idea and use that to find inspiration,
or look at encounters and build from those.
6
In addition to the regions themselves, remember how
much caves in general can vary. Your cave adventure can
take players through tight, constricting tunnels, or into
vast, expansive caverns. These variations are a great way
to emphasize areas that are not settled or often traveled.
They can play heavily into encounters but also serve to
keep players interested and imagining the situation. You
can use them to liven up the less characterful tunnels, as
well as differentiating the landscape within your more
interesting regions.
On a smaller scale, and for single cave encounters, you
want to create minor variations within these regions. The
idea is for each description of the environment as the
party moves to be different from the last. These changes
only have to be minor, as you will usually be avoiding
having multiple occur consecutively. They should be
broken up by encounters, conversations, and other player-
driven moments, to keep a moving pace.
Much of the technique of this comes from your delivery
and vocabulary. This can seem daunting but you can break
it down to focusing on a different feature with each
description. While the tunnel might not change,
elaborating on a certain feature with each description can
feed players information in a less repetitive and more
attention-grabbing, memorable way. This could mean
talking about rock formations one time, the shadows in the
cave another, and an animal scampering alongside them
for another. You can even write a basic list of these
beforehand.
If you find yourself unsure or running out of ideas, focus
on one of the five senses in each description. Here is an
example of how to use each sense…
• Sight: “Your vision as you move is limited to the
space of your torchlight. You stare at its edge,
cresting over stalagmites and opening and
constricting with the tunnel’s ridges. The
movement of the flame tricks your eyes, at one
point, causing you to flinch. But you take another
step, and the light reveals nothing more than a
jagged, broken rock, and its crumbled pieces
below it.”
• Hearing: “The cave itself is silent, seeming to
make your own sounds louder through its own
stillness. Your footfalls, shuffling clothes, and
even breaths are clear in your ears. Occasionally,
you find yourselves maddeningly lost in these
tiny noises, before you shake yourself free of the
distraction.”
• Smell: “The air in the tunnel is thick and stagnant.
It smells of old, trapped moisture, like mold and
dirt and stone. The same humidity even seems to
capture the smells of your own sweat, clothes, and
armor in its musk.”
• Touch: “A constant chill bristles your skin,
despite there not being even the slightest breeze.
It’s almost soothing, yet carries an uncomfortable
humidity. Ridges and undulations in the cavern
floor strain your knees and ankles. They are not
exhausting by any means, but the ambient
moisture gathers on your brow and in your armor
as if replicating sweat.”
• Taste: “The thick, dense underground air strains
your lungs, occasional forcing you to stop and
breathe. As you do, the taste of iron and earth
creeps in. It’s not unlike an unpleasant mushroom
served without proper cleaning, and seems to
stain the inside of your mouth until you next take
a sip of your waterskin.”
These small travel descriptions are also a good habit to
develop for introducing encounters. When clues or signs
of danger start appearing, they won’t feel abrupt or out of
place, and your players are more likely to be attentive to
these details. But more on that in the next section…
Challenges to Face
The other way to keep players engaged is to simply keep
them playing. There’s no reason to not keep your party
thinking and rolling dice outside of encounters, as they are
the best, most direct ways to keep players interested. This
might mean them facing obstacles that aren’t involved
enough to be encounters of their own. Or they could be
general challenges that characters face in order to
traverse the environment. All of these are great ways to
set the environment apart and really demonstrate its
unique dangers.
Our first example plays into the different regions and
features we previously discussed. To put it simply, some
of these should act as hazards that require planning and
the use of abilities and skill checks. There is an almost
limitless number of ways to do this, which is why it is often
7
best to establish the environment and its characteristics
first. These will give you a base to build from. Try to use a
variety of challenges that require different skills, rather
than defaulting to perception and athletics. You might
include poisonous plants that require knowledge of
nature to identify, sleeping creatures that motivate
stealth, or survival to identify a path across a cracked,
collapsing floor.
As always, variety is the key here. Do what you can to vary
the obstacles as your players move, making them think in
different ways rather than repeating one strategy over
and over. Include both immediate and prolonged hazards,
such as surviving the heat of volcanic tunnels through
constitution checks. You can repeat one for an extended
time, a series of inclines or cliffs that require climbing, for
instance, as a way to add a factor of endurance to what
could otherwise be a single check. If you do, just make an
effort to change it up for the next obstacle or environment.
You also have the option of including survival challenges
throughout your cave adventure. These will not be for
every party, but they can be a great way to add pressure
to a risky endeavor. Underground networks are inherently
devoid of food and water sources. What they do have,
players can rarely see from a distance and navigate to. You
can use the food limitations to create an organic time limit
for survival before the journey becomes much harder. This
can then play into the difficulties of navigation, as simply
getting lost is a very real concern in many caves. Both of
these become much less impactful as parties grow
stronger but can be used to great effects at lower levels.
An important note is to not let survival challenges feel
tacked on. Use mechanics that are linked to the party’s
goal. If they are trying to find a rumored location,
navigation becomes more important. The same goes for
food if they are on a long-distance journey. Furthermore,
include obstacles and encounters that make use of or
interact with the challenges. An encounter might come
with a way to avoid combat, but doing so will mean a
detour on a path they are unsure about. Perhaps it has the
possibility of locking off their intended tunnel, or
rewarding them with a better option? Survival mechanics
should be justified and meaningful, as they otherwise run
the risk of becoming annoying distractions for players.
As Danger Arises
As your cave adventure continues, the players will
eventually come to an encounter. This is where your
descriptions will smoothly transition and your design of
the environment will manifest in a battle map. But your
job begins before anyone else at the table knows what’s
coming. Caves are rife with opportunities that other
environments do not share, but they also come with other
considerations to keep in mind. Knowing, understanding,
and using these are key to running your encounters.
Using the Environment
When constructing encounters, attention must be paid to
the environment. The characteristic features should feed
into both the battle maps and the encounter structure, to
highlight the terrain and set it apart from wherever the
party last adventured. Fortunately, we have already
established a variety of biomes and covered the
importance of diversifying your visual features. This
mindset will act as the basis for creating unique and
engaging encounters.
- Map Features
The most obvious aspect is simply using a variety of maps.
Much of this will come from your changes in biomes and
encounter-specific features, but you should also pay
attention to smaller details. A problem I personally ran
into when I first started running games was when multiple
encounters occurred along a road or in a forest. It is easy
to randomly place trees and rocks, but that quickly
becomes boring for players. To avoid this, start by
identifying your available resources, and then think about
how those can affect a fight.
Perhaps the most obvious example is simply the cave
walls. Dividing rooms and creating sightlines can instantly
make fights more interesting. Players must fight to stay
together as monsters try to separate them, movement
must be planned and thought out, and both sides have the
ability to hide and take cover. It even plays into the use of
light, which we will cover next. As they are natural
environments, you can even create the shapes of the cave
map randomly instead of trying to carefully plan it.
The next step is using elevation. Splitting your map
between two or three levels can work to further
8
emphasize visibility while also introducing skill checks
and movement penalties. Sliding down a slope or
dropping off a ledge is quick, but might require an
acrobatic landing to not fall prone. Meanwhile, climbing
up an incline will slow most players and possibly require
an athletics check. Both of these force players to think
about not only where they intend to move, but how. This
goes doubly for if they split up. It can also reward and
highlight players that chose skills or tools to deal with
these obstacles. Just remember, all of this also applies to
whomever they are fighting.
We can also make use of areas of difficult terrain and
movement impairment. This could mean fast-flowing
streams, loose debris, webs, or sheer drops into darkness.
These all act as natural ‘traps’ to decorate your battle map.
They are great ways to show the hunting strategies of
certain creatures or to divide the map in the same way that
elevation changes can. The key difference is in their
differing levels of danger, as failing to avoid these
obstacles could damage or restrain a player (spider webs),
or even change the battlefield in some way (parts of the
floor or roof falling away). This is balanced by them
tending to be more obviously visible, allowing players to
use them to their advantage.
Finally, make use of the challenges we discussed before.
You can incorporate the same obstacles and skill
challenges of your environment, only now as part of an
encounter. While you will not use all of the previous points
in every encounter, we would advise trying to include at
least one of these. This is to maintain the identity of the
region in both visuals and game mechanics. The best part
of using these is that players will already be familiar with
them, so the added danger will not feel cheap. It will come
across as a natural progression, with the party having time
to adapt and plan for the new obstacles.
As we mentioned before, try not to repeat the same
features in multiple, consecutive encounters, unless it is a
specific feature of the area. Your regional features can be
ever-present but the rest should be spread out to avoid
repetition. If one encounter is in a web of small tunnels,
maybe make the next one more open but with cliffs and a
river.
- Encounter Structure
Of course, varied battle maps can only go so far if every
encounter boils down to “kill the enemies”. You want your
encounters’ structure and objectives to be just as varied.
Perhaps the best way to start doing this is by reducing
your party’s goal in the encounter to a few words. If you
find them often being the same, try to change that. This
could mean shifting it completely, adding a secondary
objective or development, or giving players more ways to
succeed. One encounter might be “kill the enemies” but the
next could be “don’t let the enemies past”, “kill the enemies
and save the captive”, or “kill the enemies or escape them”.
These might seem like simple, arbitrary changes but they
work to diversify encounters from the ground up.
These goals will often go hand-in-hand with your map
design. A map with restricted movement or chokepoints
can change your party’s strategy, modifying their goal;
“kill the enemies” becomes “kill the enemies by doing X“.
Much of this will come down to players realizing it but the
onus is not entirely on them. You can bake it into your
battle maps using the features we discussed above. The
reverse is also true, though. A map that does not
accommodate their goal can motivate them to take control
and change it. Think about what challenges you want them
to overcome, trying to reward preparedness without
overwhelming them.
A simple example of this would be monsters making their
way out of a cave, near a town. The party’s objective is to
stop them. Now, do they fight the creatures, not knowing
their full numbers? Or do they collapse the tunnel and
hope that is enough? Both could work but come with their
own risks that could be overcome with more investigation
and planning. Within the encounter, players will find a
battle map centered around the cave entrance. One half is
inside, with tight movement and poor lighting. But the
outside is open, taking away the party’s control of the
situation. A creature making it past them can quickly
divide the party, shattering their control of the
chokepoint, or even dash away and begin its hunt. All of
these factors work to make players think about their
environment, using or changing it to fit an otherwise basic
objective.
You’ll notice we repeatedly mention the idea of ‘control’.
This is because the power dynamic of an encounter can
greatly influence its tone. Who has the advantage in an
encounter? Obvious examples of this are monster lairs
that actually grant their owners additional abilities. But it
also applies to ambushes and the use of stealth and
9
perception checks. These will often come down to how
your party utilizes their skills and the clues of the
encounter to gain an opening advantage. You can
manipulate and vary this between encounters to create
more subtle variation. Two encounters with the same goal
can feel very different if one places the party as underdogs
and the other has them open with a surprise attack.
Signs and Sounds
Laying clues in the lead up to encounters helps them feel
natural and lets players prepare. There are general rules
for doing this, but caves also come with unique factors to
incorporate. First, simply consider what might be present.
Look at what you have planned for the encounter, most
notably the monsters and region features, and think about
how far away these might begin to appear. This links back
to what we discussed about spheres of influence, with
particular creatures seeking to demonstrate their control
and others hiding it. Use these to create clues that show
the monsters’ intent, behavior, and physical features. They
will begin to slowly appear, hidden as part of your travel
descriptions, before growing more prevalent near the
encounter or within the creatures’ territory.
There are two reasons we do this: to integrate encounters
into the world, and to let players slowly discover and plan.
The former point links back to our efforts to create a living,
interconnected world. People and creatures influence the
world around them, whether that be by intentional
changes or simply leaving behind evidence. For players,
this means a way to learn about the encounter before
rolling initiative. Signs of any weapons or tools, shed fur,
or previous victims all allow the party to gather
information. This is not always possible, as some
encounters function as ambushes or accidents. But, when
appropriate, these little details provide opportunities for
players to use their skills and act intelligently. They can
also pose risks, as the party might make incorrect
assumptions.
Underground tunnels and even cave entrances also
uniquely interact with sight and sound. Constant
darkness, as well as twisting and bending tunnels, can
obscure details while also making distant light sources
more obviously visible. This should play into your use of
stealth and perception checks. Shining light can lead to a
group being exposed without being seen directly, giving
their enemies time to prepare and surprise them.
Conversely, darkness can act as dynamic cover,
particularly for those with long-range darkvision. This can
go both ways. Limited vision can create moving
battlefields within your map, as both sides favor or avoid
it depending on their own abilities. If you need to, basing
an early encounter around the use of light is a good way to
remind players of this.
The enclosed areas also introduce one of the most
important aspects: echoes. While light is limited
underground, sounds bouncing off of cave walls can
actually increase the range of perception checks. But this
comes with caveats. Namely, echoes can lead to the sound
being directionless or indistinct. You can use this as the
first clues of an encounter, with a perceptive player
hearing echoes of movement or chatter. Like the other
clues, this will become more obvious and distinguishable
as they near each other. The same can be said for if the
party is constantly talking or roll a low stealth check.
Again, this can give an advantage to either side, depending
on how they adapt to use it. Echoes can also play into the
consequences of encounters, which we will discuss in the
final section.
These two senses are important due to the nature of caves
and the creatures in them. Like real-life animals, many
native monsters will have evolved to favor hearing over
sight. This can help emphasize your players being foreign
to the environment, as they have a limitation that their
enemies do not. It again plays into the feeling of isolation,
with the party being trapped within their light or
darkvision. The fear of the unknown can be a great way to
ramp up the tension.
Once the Storm has Passed
But what about after the encounter, when players take a
breath and prepare to move on? This is where you will
likely either return to your travel sections or begin the
transition into another encounter. As you do this, there are
things to keep in mind. Cave adventures come with unique
consequences in addition to the regular effects on a party’s
survival, reputation, and coin purses. These are important
to remember, as they can change the pace and structure of
the players’ journey.
The first difference of caves is one we have already
discussed in the reverse context: echoes. To put it simply,
encounters are loud. If players do not act in a way that
10
minimizes this, it is possible that the noise of their scuffle
can attract other, unwanted attention. This allows you to
add more danger to certain environments like large nests
and lairs. The risk of being instantly drawn into another
fight will prompt players to act stealthily and with caution.
Just be sure that they know this, or give them time to learn
instead of instantly bringing a cave’s worth of monsters
down on them. It is important to use this threat sparingly
and fairly, so you might even limit these reinforcements to
when players use thunder damage. Of course, nothing is
stopping you from describing other echoes to create
tension, even if nothing shows up.
Another possibility is a change in the environment. As we
mentioned in the challenges, encounters and other
obstacles can often come with options or consequences
that change the path the party must follow. This could
come from a simple deviation, or something as extreme as
collapsing a tunnel. Both of these relay back to the feeling
of survival, even if it is not mechanical. Having their plans
disrupted by a fight going badly applies pressure without
you needing to do much at all. In the most drastic cases, a
cave-in might trap or separate the party. Just remember
that your goal is not to punish your players. Not every
encounter needs these kinds of consequences, and those
that do should be posing a new challenge to overcome
rather than simply taking something away.
Always remember that these results should be both
positive and negative, depending on the choices the
players made. You can reverse the consequences we
describe in order to reward players for a well-executed
encounter or successful plan. When appropriate, the
sounds of their fight could draw help from another group.
Sneaking past a fight or quickly ending it could lead to
them finding a shorter, safer tunnel. Not all rewards need
to be monetary.
A final consideration that plays into many others we’ve
covered is the use of time. Parties traveling underground,
without any special skill to do so, will need to estimate the
passage of time. The official rulebook places limitations on
the number of rests a party can take, but you are able to
waive this for your cave adventure. Instead, incorporate
the characters’ energy levels into your travel descriptions
after encounters. You can blend this especially well into
survival resources by giving players total control over
how long they are willing to push themselves before
resting. A long rest will consume a ration, forcing them to
balance their food supplies with their hit dice and abilities.
This is all to simulate their ‘internal clocks’, acting as the
final point of maddening isolation in a cave adventure.
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1d20 Cave Encounters

1 – Eyes in the Light

Players with darkvision still have the option to avert their
eyes, so attacks with disadvantage will be common either
The party comes to a basilisk lair, their torchlight way. The difference is that a player starting their turn
allowing them to see into its eyes. without being able to see a basilisk won’t need to look
away and therefore can use that to intelligently bypass the
As they travel through the caves, the adventuring group
disadvantage. It’s a brief moment of opportunity but gives
begins to notice broken chips and shards of stone at their
your party some extra options for strategy.
feet. They show signs of once being detailed and intricate
but have since fallen to pieces. The stones grow larger and
more defined as the adventurers progress, their nerves From there, combat is relatively simple. Fill the cavern
gradually unsettling. The shapes appear almost… natural. with supporting columns and rocks for cover, as well as
Organic. But it is only when they reach a larger chamber pockets of bioluminescent moss. This can create small
that the truth is confirmed. They look around anxiously, areas of light that the basilisks use to ensure their prey can
seeing the rocks coalesce in the shapes of native wildlife and see them, giving your party an interesting dynamic to
other unfortunate explorers. As the group turns to anxiously focus on rather than simply dealing damage. Let your
retreat, the scraping of claws echoes behind them. players use these features creatively and be ready to
accommodate their ideas. Finally, if you wish to lessen the
steep penalty of petrification, include an antidote in the
For our first cave encounter, we want to look at how the
hands of a previous victim. Players can heal one victim
subterranean environment can add to a more standard
with it, be it a party member or other character, or keep it
encounter. The key dynamic here is the use of light and
as a reward to more easily overcome a future encounter.
how that affects the group’s combat ability. See, normally
If more than one person is petrified, you can allow them
darkvision is a strength with little to no drawback. Many
the possibility of creating antidotes by brewing the eyes of
races take it for granted and its presence can often create
a recently dead basilisk.
a challenge for encounters that might rely on darkness or
visual obstruction. But here it is a weakness. The basilisk
relies on its prey seeing it (and vice versa), so players with
darkvision must rely on averting their gaze. Humans and
other races have the option of snuffing or manipulating
their light to gain possible advantages.
This encounter’s introduction is important for not
immediately alerting your party. We start with them
finding the larger chunks of stone to begin building
tension without giving away what is happening. The truth
is that these are the pieces left behind from the basilisk’s
meals. Players can find larger or more identifiable chunks
(lower DC to identify features) as they move closer to the
lair but the reveal should only come in the final moments
before initiative. This is where they will find the petrified
Your download came with 2-Minute Tabletop’s
victims that the monstrosity has dragged inside but not
Luminescent Cave. You can use it for this encounter’s
yet consumed. The party is ultimately still able to flee,
patches of light and dark, or keep it for one of our later
though they will have to get past the basilisk cutting off
encounters…
their escape.

12

2 – In the Mouth of the Beast
The cave transitions into the mouth of a great
beast, hungry for careless travelers.
The cave tunnel continues through the dark, rough and
covered in stalagmites and stalactites. Though the party
remains alert for danger, the tedious lack of differentiation
in the environment has a way of dulling one’s senses. It has
already changed before they realize it. The formations
jutting from the floor and roof seem to be of a different
material, the colors beneath their orange torchlight have
changed, and the ground is… wet? Focusing more on their
surroundings, the group’s stomachs all drop at a final
realization: the walls are pulsing and shifting, ever so
slightly. They have transitioned from a tunnel and into the
gullet of an enormous beast at some point, and it is now
beginning to digest them.
This cave encounter aims to be a quick diversion that asks
the players to quickly react. The beast, likely a worm, has
evolved to hunt this way and therefore is well-disguised
as a continuation of the cave. It should be a slow transition,
meaning that your travel description should not give
anything away. Describe the tunnel as it continues, making
note first of the stalagmites and stalactites. You can
mention a small crack where the beast’s mouth begins and
the dank, breathy air afterward, but be sure not to use a
tone of danger in your voice. It is up to your players to
investigate, should they suspect something. Otherwise,
your reveal will come once they are deeper in. The worm
will close its mouth some distance behind them and its
body will begin digesting and chewing.
If your party identifies the danger before this point, it is up
to them to sneak out without alerting it. Trying to walk out
will still lead to it eating them, of course, though they will
be much closer to the exit. When this does happen, it will
have two effects. The first will be a mist of digestive
enzymes that force constitution saves on each of its turns
(success halving the damage). We add a save because of it
being a mist and the party not being restrained, as with
other creatures that can swallow prey. Meanwhile, the
worm’s turns will also include chewing the players.
Choose or roll for a number of five-foot lines running
across the cave, different ones every turn, and have
anything in those areas make a dexterity save. Successes
can take half damage, while failures can render them
prone as the teeth crush them.
Another way to run this encounter is by shifting gear to
comedy. Instead of camouflaging the mouth, have a
perceptive character notice the change when they reach it.
They can quickly identify that the flesh and teeth, and will
then (hopefully) not walk in. A few minutes of standing
around later, have the worm move. It can begin speaking,
asking for them to step inside as it has been days since
anything has fallen for its trap and it’s starving. Play it as
goofy and inept, attempting to bargain with or simply beg
the party. Perhaps they can even find a way of making a
deal with the worm?
Ultimately, both of these should lead to the worm moving
on without having eaten the party. It can begin burrowing
into the side of the cave, eventually disappearing entirely.
The party can then continue on through the larger tunnel
that it had dug to reach that point.
13
3 – Now You’re Thinking with fall is the most obvious choice but be ready for them to
come up with other insane, unrealistic ideas. You might
Bottomless Pits wish to be lenient with fall damage to prevent lower-level
characters from splattering against the stone rim. Just
don’t immediately indicate to players that you’re doing so.
A vertical tunnel cuts through a chamber,
It is better to have them think about the real danger and
seeming to repeat endlessly. come up with a genuine solution, and then lower the
The party comes to a larger, circular chamber. Their tunnel damage if you need to.
cuts through it, intersecting with another shaft that runs
vertically through the center. Curiosity compels them to
investigate the shadowy pit, finding that it extends further
than of them can see. They toss a torch down, watching as it
falls into darkness. A few moments later, a lit torch falls from
the tunnel above and continues down the pit. Another few
moments and the torch repeats again. Only this time, it
disturbs something in the tunnels. A frenzied swarm of
wings, claws, and teeth fly from both openings, bombarding
the party with attacks.

The premise of this cave encounter comes from the

location it uses. This makes the combat itself extremely
dynamic. Our most basic idea is for swarms of bats to fly
out of the shaft with a smaller number of darkmantles. The
latter’s use of darkness and blinding can help elevate the
danger of the pit, particularly if you include (minor)
additional mechanics to simulate actual blindness. One
option is to describe the darkmantle colliding with the
player when it attacks, sending them spinning. Roll a d8
and use the result to determine which direction they are
now facing, but do not tell the player themself. They can
still use a perception or investigation check to find out, or
another party member can yell at them. That is where the
darkmantles’ Darkness Aura can come in. When the player
moves, they risk walking into the pit.
Another option is to use the pit more directly. Replace the
flying swarms with creatures that can pull or forcibly
move players. The most obvious choice is ropers, though a
gibbering mouther is another, more magical option. These
creatures might have been drawn by the pit’s magic. Their
abilities mean that, while they might not be intentionally
throwing prey down the hole, it is still very likely that a
player will end up falling. This is where the cave
encounter’s unique challenge comes into play.
Falling in will have a player descend for a turn before it
repeats and they pass the chamber again. This gives them
an opportunity to escape every turn, meaning they are not
left out of combat if they are dragged in early. As always,
let your players think creatively about a solution. Feather

14
4 – Dive and Survive

The tunnel ahead is flooded and something

invisible is lurking in the water.
A slow descent in the party’s path brings them to the surface
of a flooded cavern. It is the only way forward, requiring
them to dive under and find their way to the other side. The
water is dark and cold, and will snuff most nonmagical
lights. Fortunately, there are several pockets of air that
allow the group to stop and breathe as they move. As they
do, something brushes past the leg of the rear-most
adventurer. They whip around but can see nothing. The
cavern opens again, not long after, allowing them a
momentary reprieve. But it is as they stop that the water
begins to move; not something below the surface, but the
liquid itself.
This is another of our cave encounters that uses a unique
battlefield as its basis. Unlike the previous portal-pit, this
time we use a section of the cave network that has been
flooded. Players will need to first overcome the
environmental obstacle by diving through a submerged
tunnel, before entering a larger chamber. This is where the
combat will take place. Having to swim through is simple
enough and will ultimately not require many checks.
Encourage your players take some precautions as they
move through, such as conjuring light or managing to seal
the air in lanterns, as well as searching for air pockets. You
can make the tunnel long enough that at least one of them
will need to take a breath. Being underwater can halve the
range of light sources and darkvision, in addition to the
disadvantages in combat.
The entry tunnel will lead to a nexus chamber. This should
be more open and with plenty of air and other tunnels out.
The water can fill two-thirds of the room, with all other
exits below that to add risk to trying to escape from the
combat. Support columns and changes in elevation will
form crude islands above the surface. Position these in
ways that give players different options but try to avoid
making too many of them too large, as the enemy
creatures will need to reach them. Include bones on the
cavern floor if you want to give players some extra
warning on top of something brushing past them. The
closer they are to the center, the more evidence of
previous victims.

15
Speaking of creatures, our choice of monster is where this
all comes together. The water is home to a water elemental
and its smaller minions. The elemental will coalesce from
the water and use it to obscure its movement while its
smaller minions can remain entirely hidden until striking.
They will use this to grab the party and pull them under
the surface, pummeling and drowning them. From here,
the combat is relatively simple and dependent on your
party’s plan. They may stay and fight or attempt to flee and
risk swimming through another tunnel.
Be very careful when balancing your creature numbers,
given the effects of drowning. The risk of being knocked
unconscious while underwater can elevate the threat that
the creatures pose so you may wish to err on the side of
caution. I have personally had a game in which the party’s
monk was dragged under and pummeled. He ended up
requiring constant healing from the bard and ranger to
keep him from drowning permanently.
5 – Spitting, Punching, Fighting Image
Mirrors of polished stone line the cavern’s walls.
There is something unusual about the
reflections.
A web of interwoven tunnels forms a room, of sorts. The floor
and walls seem natural, save for a multitude of sections of
smooth, polished, black stone. There is no volcanic activity
in the area, so the presence of obsidian is strange to the
party. But there is something far stranger. It takes them a
moment to notice, while gazing into the clear reflections,
that the other side is… delayed. The reflections follow their
movements and actions but only a fraction of a second after
the real articles. This discovery is instantly disconcerting.
Their spine’s chilled, the party turns to make a hasty exit.
Behind them, the reflections stop their mimicry.
Inspired by a dungeon encounter featured in Critical Role,
this encounter makes great use of a sudden stomach-
dropping moment. The players will come across the
strange room and hopefully begin investigating. Let them
look around and do as they wish. You want them to have
them spend a little while in view of the mirrors before they
notice the delay, which itself might require a high
perception. This also makes this room a fantastic entrance
for a dungeon, needing the players to search for the
doorway or a way to open it. A great and chilling way to
use this without a dungeon is by having both tunnels into
the room collapsed. Players will need to move the rubble
to make it through. Once the encounter begins to unravel,
they will hopefully realize why the previous visitor tried to
seal it away.
From here you are free to use Matt Mercer’s
doppelganger-esque monsters, but we have our own
approach. When your players touch or collectively move
away from the mirrors, have the reflections begin to act.
16
They can reach out of the obsidian, their form crudely
comprised of the stone and somehow constantly reflecting
the person they resembled.
Statblock-wise, you can use a flesh golem with a number
of hit dice to match the player (average 8.5 x player level,
rounded down). Remove its Berserk, Aversion to Fire, and
Lightning Absorption, but raise its AC to around 14,
depending on party level and size. Knock its weapon
immunity down to a resistance. Keep in mind that there
should be more than one of these, so you may wish to scale
their constitution and damage down further. Finally, you
can also add a vulnerability to thunder damage.
Here is an example of the reflection creature that a level 5
party might face. Keep in mind that this is a base, before it
replicates abilities…
The reflections’ special ability will come from their nature
as copies. Make notes of any weapon, attack, ability, spell,
or even tactic that a player uses and have their reflection
copy it after seeing it. Your players should notice this
quickly and adjust to account for it. New copies should
appear slowly, perhaps swapping out when an active
reflection retreats back into the mirrors to reposition.
They can then reemerge from a different mirror. If you
wish to give the creatures a goal, have them attempt to
drag players through the obsidian and into a dark,
crystalline mirror of the room. These players will then
make constitution saves to fight slow petrification that
resembles them becoming one of the creatures.
6 – Around and Around and Around
and…
The party drops into a tunnel that seems to travel
in a wide loop.
Following the path down a slope, the adventurers drop
through the ceiling into another tunnel. It runs in both
directions, curving into darkness. They choose one that runs
in their general heading and continue walking. This new
tunnel follows a gradual right turn that maintains as they
follow it. It is only after an hour or so of turning right that
the travelers begin to question their circumstance and
investigate, finding rock formations that they could swear
they have already passed. Yet, the opening they entered
from is nowhere to be seen. Has something trapped them in
a loop?
The most important aspect of running this encounter is
understanding the reasoning behind it. Fortunately, it’s
quite simple. A group of kobolds, short on resources, has
set up a tunnel that runs in a wide circle. They watch for
anyone that drops into the trap, sealing the entryway once
their prey is far enough away. The trappers are then able
to watch on from smaller tunnels as their victims ‘travel’,
slowly growing weary. Eventually, they will die of
exhaustion, starvation, or dehydration. That’s the kobolds’
plan, at least.
Running this cave encounter is quite simple and comes
down to your descriptions. For a start, your players need
a reason for being in the cave. This is easy if they are
spelunking, as the descent can just be the natural
17
progression of their path. If they are following a tunnel
road, however, you might have a voice call for help from a
side tunnel. The echo would beg for anyone nearby to free
it from a collapse. This is another kobold trick. It can draw
players into the trap and even continue to call, constantly
just ahead of them, to keep them moving.
Once your players are in the loop, the kobolds will let them
walk away before sealing the entrance. This could be done
magically or with a fake section of stone that they slide
over the hole. A perceptive player might hear this
movement behind them, which is good. Your players will
be ready for an ambush and expect the reality even less.
Your description comes next. Describe random, small
features as they move and, most importantly, do not place
verbal emphasis on the curve of the tunnel. Our advice
would be to write a list of five minor features, such as a
grouping of stalactites or a pile of mossy stones. Slowly
incorporate them, in order, as the party travels. Let the
characters speak in between and simulate the passage of
time. Once the list is done, repeat it and see if your players
notice.
Eventually, a party member will catch on, hopefully from
a player recognizing the pattern. If you find your table
being unobservant or not realizing, feel free to give the
most perceptive character a nudge. Start with a,
“something is odd about this section of cave,” in the
location of one of your repeated features. If they still don’t
get it, progress to, “it feels… familiar?” Escape should then
be relatively simple. They can quite easily navigate back to
where they entered and find the opening with some
investigation, or a perception check might expose kobold
movements nearby. The kobolds will not attack if the
party finds them, so some quick negotiation or (more
likely) intimidation can have them reveal their plan and
the exit.
7 – Impatient Ancient
A living colossus is being carved by faithful
undead and it wants the party to join their ranks.
Many centuries ago, a small cult sought to carve a body for
their god. Their ambitions drew attention, however, and
they were dealt with after making only minor progress. But
the will of their master would not be halted and it raised
them to continue their work. Unfortunately, it
overestimated the strength and work ethic of animated
corpses. They have toiled away at their task since then,
slowly chipping away a set of shoulders and a chest. The
party, drawn by the sounds of tools, are the first visitors they
have had in some time. This delights the colossus, which
seeks to exert its will over them and have the adventurers
aid in its construction.
This cave encounter is one that can be played for humor
or danger with very little adjustment. It will begin with the
players either stumbling across the chambers or being
drawn by the echoes of what they believe to be regular
miners. When they arrive, the undead will face them and
block the exit, but not attack. This is when the voice of the
colossus can manifest. It should as prideful and
commanding as any other god, projecting its words into
the players’ minds and demanding fealty. Of course, it has
only been carved down to the elbows and is not fully
animate, so it cannot actually act against them.
This is when you will need to choose the tone of your cave
encounter. We feel it’s safe to assume that your players
18
will say no to the giant stone head. Its response will be the
determining factor. For humor, have it grow increasingly
desperate as they deny its requests, eventually to the point
of begging. It thought the undead would be a good idea but
they’re so slow and weak that it will take a millennia
before the being is free. You can display this if the zombies
and skeletons (and their variants) attack by having each
one fall with a single attack. The voice can progress from
threats to bargains. It can even ask the party to take a
section of stone that it places itself in, seeing that as a
better alternative.
Making the encounter dangerous is a different kind of fun.
This version will see the colossus grow angrier and more
domineering as it seeks to simply add to its faithful. It will
command its legion to attack, which should have greater
numbers and variations than the previous example. While
the players fight, the colossus itself can attempt to charm
them. You can have this act as a stacking effect, with the
first failure (of a wisdom save) charming them until the
end of its next turn. A player that fails the save while
already charmed (or by five or more?) can then be
subjected to a Command spell with the added option of
being forced to attack a creature of the colossus’ choosing.
Players can win this version of the fight by killing the
legion and leaving, thereby halting the excavation, or by
attacking the stone head. Simply set a damage threshold at
which the colossus’ core is exposed. It can appear as a gem
or other relic, deep in the stone. Removing this object will
isolate the consciousness in it and limit its powers to
telepathic speech. The party can then find a way to safely
destroy it, keep it, or later sell it to an impressionable
merchant.

8 – Suffocating Stone

The party stumbles into the lair of creatures with

control of the stone itself.
Continuing through their tunnel path brings the
adventuring band to a disturbing sight. Flashes of variation
in the stone are revealed to be bone, mostly bestial but some
humanoid. They are absorbed into the cave walls, the stone
melded into their form and arms outstretched as if clawing
for freedom. It is a sickening sight, but thankfully
temporary. The tunnel contracts soon after and no more
bones are visible. But when the party later rests, the truth

19
becomes clearer. A shifting of earth awakens them to see swallow them like the previous skeletons, though it is up
that the walls have constricted, the tunnel itself closed just to you if you use this as a real possibility.
beyond the range of their light. Within the stone, creatures
are preparing to strike.
Earth Glide. The creature can burrow through
nonmagical, unworked earth and stone. While doing so,
This introduction is similar to our first cave encounter but the creature doesn't disturb the material it moves
the combat it leads to is very different. Ideally, it will occur through.
an hour or so before the players need to rest. You will
begin with them seeing odd pieces of stone, which a high
Shape Earth. While using Earth Glide, the creature shapes
passive skill in perception, nature, or medicine might
the stone around it. The earth in the creature’s space
identify as unnatural. Looking closer can quickly show it
draws on nearby material to expand and fill 5 feet in every
to be bone. This serves to put your players on edge and
direction.
raise the perceived stakes of the combat that comes later.
Make note of the skeletons’ positions and the fact that they
have been swallowed by the stone. It is likely that your
players will expect an encounter from this, leading to them
being on guard and traveling further before resting.
Ideally, the party will be eased slightly by passing beyond
the bone formations. If one or more of them realize why
this is, as the tunnel ahead shrinks, there’s a good chance
they will increase their pace and push past the ambush.
Good for them! Even if your creatures now panic to cut off
their escape, your players are still rewarded for figuring
out the enemy’s tactics. If they don’t, have them reach the
point of needing to rest shortly after. They can set camp,
place defenses, and work out a watch rotation, all of which
may help in the next phase.
Your creatures will have been watching the players and
will act out of sight. They will cut off a stationary party’s
escape by closing the tunnel on either side of them
(though this can be broken through) before constricting
the rest of the chamber. A player on watch may hear this
as the stone moves, again allowing them to act before
being fully trapped. Once the characters discover them or
the paths are closed, your creatures can attack.
The basis for our creatures is the earth elemental. While
you are free to use the elemental as it is, we find it better
to transfer its key ability to weaker creatures, letting us
use a larger number. Both gargoyles and grimlocks are fun
choices with different flavors. All you need to do is give
them the elemental’s tremorsense and Earth Glide ability,
with some visual descriptors to show this mutation. You
can also give them custom ability ‘Shape Earth’ as a lair
action. This will allow them to slowly modify the
battlefield as the encounter continues, pressuring players
to act quickly. The implication is that the stone can

20

2-Minute Tabletop’s Cave Room Builder was included
free with your download. With 26 walls and 2 tiling floor
textures, it has everything you need for creating
underground battle maps. You could even move the wall
tiles to show the tunnel closing in on the party…
9 – Bull in a China… Cave
A raging monster threatens to crumble the
cavern’s supports.
The creature’s speed, even at a full charge, was no match for
the dextrous monk. She leaped over its head, spinning in the
air to watch it pass under her. Her eyes, focused on her
opponent as she now lands, track its path directly into the
natural supports of the cavern. The beast’s momentum
carries it right through the pillar, shattering stone in every
direction and sending an uneasy rumbling along the floor
and ceiling. Large chunks of stone fall in the vicinity, nearly
crushing her and her party. They quickly realize that the
monster’s horns are not the only danger here.
Let’s start with the real trouble of this cave encounter:
introducing it. Creating an interesting combat scenario is
all well and good but you still need to find a way to make
it feel organic and fitting. We have a few options here. You
can use this as the entrance to a dungeon or other
protected location, awakened by a failed attempt to force
the door open. Just keep in mind that this defense could
collapse the entire entrance, so it makes the most sense to
be guarding someone who can tunnel their way back out.
Or perhaps it leads to a dungeon full of other trials that
protect a powerful item? Maybe they are guards to a
magical prison?
If you wish to use this as a random or independent
encounter, place a lure for players. The creature might
start off as a statue with a large, expensive jewel set in its
forehead. Attempting to remove or tamper with this could
then animate the statue. In this case, you can have the
party contracted to find the jewel or have them come
across it as they travel. An accompanying character could
approach it or offer to pay for its retrieval. You could also
just let your party’s greed take hold as dollar signs fill their
eyes. This allows you to have the chamber appear
randomly along their path, perhaps in the ruins of a long-
destroyed dungeon chamber. You can simply hint at a
story without needing to fully explain or tie it to other
events.
The choice of creature for this cave encounter is relatively
simple and boils down to using the (Trampling) Charge
ability. You could use a giant boar or giant elk, but perhaps
the best option is the gorgon. Its physical makeup is
perfect for the setting and its abilities are exactly what we
21
need. You can even remove its petrifying breath if you
wish to avoid the risk, as the crumbling pillars help
compensate for a lack of mechanical depth. If you want to
replace it and focus on the encounter’s gimmick, allow the
beast to dash as part of its charge.
Your combat arena should be an expansive room, dotted
with at least a dozen pillars or support columns. Have each
one be roughly ten feet from the next. These will first seem
like options for cover, stealth, and movement for players,
but they will quickly realize the hazard. Put simply, the
monster will charge at players with no regard for the
pillars. If its Charge causes it to pass through or continue
into one of them, the column will shatter. Have anyone
within five or ten feet of the column make a dexterity save
to avoid the falling stone. Success will halve the damage,
while failure will hurt them and render them prone.
Failing by five or more can restrain them under heavy
rubble.
10 – Explorers in Mystical New Lands
A group of Duergar explorers breaks through the
cave wall, stunned to discover real surface-
dwellers.
The first alarm was the sound of nearby stone breaking
away. Soon enough, the party identifies it as the echoes as
pickaxes and humanoid movement, just beyond one of the
cave walls. Speech accompanies it. It is not long before the
stone gives way in a small window, before more tools strike
through to connect the tunnels. A group of Duergar steps
through, clad in pelts of subterranean creatures and
carrying supplies for an extended expedition. They stare in
awe of the adventurers’ very existence. What the party does
not realize is that these Duergar are from a secluded
community, raised in the traditional teachings of the ‘myth’
of the surface world.
This cave encounter functions as a unique interaction that
poses non-combat challenges. The Duergar are not hostile
and would actually prefer to speak with and study the
players, but there is an immediate language barrier. They
will speak an odd dialect of undercommon so even a
linguistically talented character will only understand
broken pieces of speech. Otherwise, it is up to players to
find ways to communicate. The party has the choice not to,
of course, but the encounter’s context and any prior
knowledge of Duergar should suggest that they could have
useful information. And who knows, the enraptured locals
might follow a group that ignores them.
Of course, the most important aspect of this cave
encounter is the Duergar themselves. The gimmick here is
that this group is from a long-reclusive community with
no real connection to any larger society. This was
originally due to them following the teachings of a specific
god or creature. In planning, it allows you to disconnect
them from other Duergar and focus on a unique identity.
Their teachings have mutated and corrupted over time.
They now resemble a cult, with a widespread acceptance
that the surface world is a myth. But there has recently
22
arisen a group of curious, excited, and brave explorers
who have set out to prove this history wrong! This is the
party that your players encounter.
The result of your encounter can differ depending on what
your players value. At its simplest, let it function as a
humorous interaction with a somewhat silly group of
locals. Give players a breather between travel and combat.
Have the dwarves show them sketches they drew from
rumors of what humans look like by taking three general
descriptors (like their height or limb length) and
exaggerating them. Do the same for animals, trees,
landscapes, and anything else the dwarves have never
seen. You can reward players that take the time to speak
with and understand them with knowledge of nearby
dangers, directions that aid in their goal, or perhaps an
item that combats a common problem in the caves. An
antidote for petrification is a good example, especially for
Encounter 1.

11 – Descended into Madness

Living in the dark caves for generations has

twisted people into ravenous monsters.
The cave path continues deeper into darkness. Openings dot
the walls, twisting out of view. Everything is quiet. As the
group moves through these interconnecting tunnels, the
edge of their vision reveals two forms. They are indistinct in
the dim grey but are easy to identify as humanoid. Fellow
travelers? Lost souls? The adventurers are not so lucky. A
misplaced step shifts a stone and echoes sound down the
shaft. In response, the two forms tense, then drop to all fours
and dash out of view.

Let’s kick off our second half of cave encounters with one
that’s sure to put chills in your players’ spines. This
encounter aims to make full use of claustrophobic, hive- ant’s nest-like network. This lays the groundwork both for
like tunnels. The environment that they transition into the tone of the reveal and the combat that follows.
before seeing the forms should resemble a web of small
If you wish to make your own map for this cave encounter
tunnels. There will be many areas in which they must
and are unsure how to, we would advise avoiding over-
squeeze and shuffle to get through and your descriptions
planning. You can start by simply making it a series of
should focus on the dense environment and stifling air.
slightly larger chambers, set out randomly. Then, connect
The atmosphere itself should pressure them. Be sure to
them with a multitude of tight tunnels that weave around
introduce this slowly so that it is less obvious they are
and pass through each other. They don’t need to look
entering a lair. The side tunnels can appear first before the
planned. Do what you can to add elevation levels, even if it
main path becomes smaller, eventually joining them in an
means designing a map that is viewed side-on. Decoration

23
should come last and be very basic. The lowest room can
be a dumpsite for bones and bodies, with a feeding room
above it, and perhaps some sleeping areas towards the
top.
Be sure to also describe the figures slowly, in the seconds
that they come into the range of light or darkvision. Both
of these will place them in dim light, making it difficult for
players to make out detail. The intention is for them to
seem like humans until they hear the party. A high
perception check/score can slowly show more detail.
Keep in mind the mechanics of stealth and passive stealth
as the party approaches, and thus when the creatures hear
them.
Once the creatures hear the party, combat engages. You
can treat them as ghouls, though with some modifications
for their environment. We would advise making them
blind but with highly evolved hearing, inspired by the
creatures in ‘The Descent’. Allowing them to move through
the tunnels without having to squeeze is another way to
show their control of the lair. They will scurry through the
hive’s tunnels, attempting to separate the party and using
their venomous claws to paralyze and drag players away
to feed. Emphasize the environment in their movement
and throw in a (similarly modified) ghast as a possible
alpha.
24
12 – Fungal Faux Pas
Eating the wrong mushrooms has had a curious
effect on another group and they need the party’s
help to create an antidote.
A light illuminates the ceiling of a cavern up ahead. Forms
surround it, casting shadows across the surrounding
surfaces. They seem like simple rock formations at first, but
the adventurers quickly realize that they are moving. The
silhouettes appear… human? It takes a moment of
observation and a few steps closer before they begin to
understand. The shapes are, in fact, human. They sit on the
ceiling as if it were their ground, one of them holding a torch
in the center of their group. As the party approaches, a
figure notices them and beckons with a friendly wave.
not been able to go back, though your players are able to
do it for or with them. Beyond the tunnel will be a fungus-
infested room. Other openings can lead to other chambers,
all coated in mushrooms. Your party’s objective is to take
the type of mushroom believed to act as an antidote, which
you can distinguish from the gravity-reversing
mushrooms by color.
The catch? Much of the fungus in the room is, in fact, violet
fungus and shriekers. Knowledgeable characters can
easily identify the latter as they survey the area. Reaching
and picking the necessary plants will mean bypassing a
field of them and upsetting the shriekers will send swarms
of bats into a frenzy. Alternatively, you can place the
mushrooms that players need on the back of a sleeping,
fungal-themed shambling mound. A low stealth roll or
triggering of a shrieker will wake it and engage combat.

Reversing gravity is a very tempting prospect for players.

Variety is the spice of life, and this cave encounter takes a As a reward, you can have the alchemist character show
very different tone from the last. The basis is a second them a way to combine the ingredients into a temporary
party of adventurers that made an unexpected blunder in potion. Your players are sure to find creative ways to use
their travels. Their journey through the tunnels brought it.
them to a grove of mushrooms and fungus, which one of
them elected to mix into their food and tea. “It’ll be fine,”
he said. Curiously, brewing with the local flora caused
gravity to reverse for them. They have been stuck this way
for the last day, unable to reach the grove due to the shift
in perspective. If they could, they are confident they could
create an antidote to the effect. That is where your players
come in.
Once your party (hopefully) realizes the group is non-
hostile and approach, you will need to play the characters.
Try to write them like another party of players, each with
their own unique characteristics and mannerisms. Aim to
make them varied and memorable. This means that you
should also limit their numbers as you want your players
to walk away and remember their names. We would
advise not exceeding three or four. Don’t feel the need to
write out their entire stories either as it is unlikely players
will question them in that much depth. You can limit it to
why they’re in the cave and leave anything more for if the
group makes a future appearance! Your real effort should
be in playing out their group dynamic. Have them be
friendly and inviting to players, though there may be
tension towards the members that picked and then
brewed the mushrooms.
A tunnel can descend from the chamber, out of the other
party’s reach, and into the grove. This the reason they have

25

In addition to the room builder, 2-Minute Tabletop’s
Underground Terrain Tokens are also bundled in your
download. They have everything you could need to
decorate your caverns. For this encounter, you can even
use them as tokens!
13 – Freedom for a Favor
The cave wall opens into the ruins of an ancient
jail. One prisoner remains, immortal and willing
to bargain for their release.
Broken ruins and shattered dungeon rooms are not
uncommon when traveling below the surface. Remnants of
old settlements, temples, and even prisons remain in the
stone. Unfortunately, it is the latter that the party comes
across. A collapsed wall brings them into a hallway of
carved stone and bricks, ancient and eroded. Sections are
caved in and worn away. It takes walking past a few alcoves
to realize the purpose of the structure. These extensions
were once prison cells, the bars, amenities, and features lost
to time. All but one. At the end of the hallway is one cell, its
bars still solid iron and warding runes covering its
perimeter. The adventurers’ torchlight illuminates the
space as they move closer, revealing a grinning face in the
back corner.
One of our favorite types of encounters is posing a difficult,
tempting choice rather than combat. This is the basis for
this cave encounter. The setting is intentionally simple,
having players spot the opening to a small ruin through a
collapsed tunnel wall. This damage will be recent, playing
into the later interaction. The ruin itself should look
ancient and broken, meaning that cave-ins can be used to
limit connecting rooms as much as you like. Likewise,
consider how much lore you want to include in the room.
The importance of the space means that records might
have been left behind in etchings or murals. These will
have worn with time, so how much is recoverable is again
up to you. Think about how much information you want
players to have and decide from there. The exception to all
of this will be the single, preserved cell and its wards.
Once the interaction begins, most of your attention will be
on playing the prisoner. The creature itself is the most
important part of this cave encounter. It will be either a
devil or an archfey, or the equivalent for your world. This
is because it will bargain for its freedom. It should act
abstractly and with an otherworldly charisma, both from
its nature and the madness of its imprisonment. You can
emphasize this through behavioral tics and mannerisms.
Ideally, both the players and their characters should have
difficulty reading its intentions. You should also have a
firm understanding of its morality and whether it will lie.
26
Tricksters can be fun but they tend to place the focus on
discerning what is a lie rather than the creature’s offer. An
outwardly honorable and truthful negotiation can avoid
distractions from the moral decision.
The boon that the creature offers can be almost anything
you wish. The nature of the offer is very similar to a
warlock patron so you may wish to look at pact boons and
invocations for inspiration. You might have the prisoner
roll insight on a party member and then use that to offer
them something you know the character would want. This
is where the evidence of a previous group can add
pressure. They were surely offered similar power, yet
denied the prisoner. Did they know something the party
doesn’t?
A fun way to add tension is by offering each player a boon
that is tempting to them. After all, the prisoner only needs
one of them to release it. This can help players focus on
their character’s motivations and morality. It can inspire
tense, in-character discussion but does require a table that
can argue as characters without becoming angry in-
person. This also requires you to make it physically
possible for each character to break the seal. Maybe the
wards can be dispelled with magic or by breaking the
runes with a magical weapon?
Caves are the perfect place for your party to come across
unexplored dungeons and ruins. 2-Minute Tabletop’s
Dwarven Hermitage is included in your download as an
example of this. You can sequester the devil in one of the
rooms, with the others once housing his guards and now
filled with clues to the area’s history.
Accepting a boon in exchange for releasing an unknown,
potentially dangerous being tends to be an inherently
selfish choice. It should have visible consequences, both
for the world and the players. The party might later
encounter warlocks bound to it or even a cult worshiping
it. Perhaps it leads to the creature empowering one of their
enemies?
14 – Hall-ooze-inations
An ooze lurks in the tunnels, using powerful
hallucinogenic venom to trap and eat its prey.
Slime covers much of the cave’s walls. It drips down from
small holes in the stone, coating the surfaces in slick, black
grime. While not appreciated by the party, it does not seem
at all threatening. And it does not seem to be the strangest
thing in the caves, as a turn brings them into an open field.
They turn back, but the path behind shifts into a warm,
bustling tavern. Many faces in the room are recognizable
and invite the adventurers to stay and drink. Sitting down
sees the room morph again. This time, it is the childhood
home of one member of the group. They are sitting down for
a family dinner, surrounded by their loved ones. But a
burning sensation is prickling their skin as a creature begins
to feed on their paralyzed bodies.
Oftentimes an encounter is needed as a random
occurrence during travel, without lasting consequences or
ties to the larger world. This is the purpose of this cave
encounter, while also giving you an opportunity to bring
in players’ backstories.
The encounter will begin with the appearance of the slime.
It should seem to be an environmental feature at first, with
knowledge checks needed to identify it as caustic and
poisonous with prolonged exposure. The only other detail
is the strongly acidic smell. This is to make sure players
take notice and are curious about it without immediately
putting them on alert. It will grow worse as they move,
until the hallucinations begin to appear. You have the
option to make it trigger a constitution save with the DC
growing as exposure continues, but keep in mind how this
can affect the encounter when players succeed.
Alternatively, have the ooze wait until they rest to apply
its toxins.
27
The content of the visions can be whatever you wish. They
provide an opportunity to play into character
backgrounds and motivations through their own
memories but you don’t need to use them if your players
don’t enjoy that aspect of roleplay. You can simply make
them comfortable, inviting, or confusing, as the real
importance is in the mechanics. Insight checks can expose
illusory people as fakes, while perception can have them
notice the feeling of acid or burns appearing on another
player. Similar checks, resistances, or spells will also work.
Any of these discoveries will have that person’s visions
begin to break down, after which they can wake the rest of
the party. Meanwhile, roll ticking acid damage. You can let
players act in a loose turn order by simply asking each
player what they do in turn. Once a player breaks out, the
acid damage is discovered and ‘applied’.
This is when initiative is rolled and players enter the cave
encounter’s combat, centering around a modified black
pudding. It is the source of the slime and hallucinations
and has been feeding on their unaware bodies. Remove
the creature’s armor and weapon-corroding effects and
replace them with constitution saves to resist the poison.
Failing will blind them with visions. For a little extra
oomph, you can also give the ooze a chain devil’s
Unnerving Mask. Finally, we would advise taking extra
care with the ooze’s damage. The prior damage from the
visions, as well as its Split and blinding abilities, can make
the creature stronger than it seems on paper. You may
wish to adjust its attack’s acid damage mid-encounter,
depending on how much health players lose to the initial
hallucinations.

15 – Careful, Quiet Crossing

The party comes to a fissure they must cross, but

a swarm of beasts sleeps nearby, threatening to
wake at every sound.
Coming to another opening that cuts through the tunnel, the
party finds a large subterranean chasm. The earthen tear
stretches into darkness on either side, with the opposite
edge and tunnel only barely visible. The travelers cannot see
how deep it runs as they peer over the edge where the
shattered remains of a rope bridge now hang. Investigating
the area shows no clear way across. They must create one.
But it is during this investigation that they notice a large
cluster of creatures, slowly swaying and twitching. They are

28
wrapped in leathery wings, with clawed feet holding them
in place as they sleep, adjusting in response to every sound
the party makes. The adventurers must make it across, but
can they do it without waking the swarm?
This is, in reality, a very simple cave encounter. Players
must overcome an obstacle through their own ingenuity
and preparedness, with the risk of falling if their plan goes
wrong. We make it more interesting by including the
sleeping monsters. This puts pressure on players to think
more critically and limits them from simpler solutions to
the puzzle. Similar to the creatures in Encounter 11, these
have evolved to possess extremely sensitive hearing.
Verbal components, rough use of tools, or simply slipping
could wake them. They can be killed, of course, but the
chance of falling into the fissure should make players
hesitant about direct engagement.
Unlike other environmental obstacles we have written in
the past, this cave encounter gives the players little to
work with. The tunnel will not have the same available
resources as in a forest or even desert, meaning the
solution must come from the players. Less than half of the
old, rickety bridge will remain. This is a good way to
reward players who are prepared for the environment,
and encourage them to do so later. Try not to worry about
the possibility of players not finding a solution. We find
that a table will always manage something, even if it
means climbing to the bottom of the fissure and then back
up the other side. Ultimately, it simply comes down to the
risks they are willing to take, how creatively they can
approach the problem, and how much time it takes the
characters.
The creatures will wake if a stealth (or another
appropriate skill) check rolls lower than their passive
perception. You can use any bat-like monster but our
favorite choice for this cave encounter is stirges. Their
extremely low hit points and manageable damage let us
use a large number of them, arranged in groups for the
sake of initiative management. Better yet, you can give
them the abilities of a giant spider to make them even
more disgusting than they already are! A rechargeable
Web, along with Spider Climb, Web Sense, and Web
Walker, is a great way to add another element to a
traversal encounter. They become more disruptive and
dangerous to the party in a way that doesn’t involve just
throwing players to their death. The most creative of
parties could even find a way to use the web to their
advantage.
29
16 – Echoes of Betrayal

A young woman’s ghost still haunts the cave in

which she died. She enacts her revenge on
anyone that abandons her, as her lover once did.
The underground tunnels are prone to cave-ins, leading to
paths changing over time as some are covered and others
are opened. Stories of those trapped by falling rocks are
common. Some are mercifully crushed by the stones while
others are left to suffocate and starve. One such victim was
a young elven woman, traveling with her partner. A collapse
separated them, trapping her and injuring him. He did what
he could to assuage her terrified screams and sobs,
promising to find help and return. But he never did. She was
left to slowly wither and waste as her fear evolved into
vengeful scorn. This hatred persists, sustaining her spirit
long beyond her untimely death. It still haunts the caves,
luring travelers with the cries of a lost soul.

This cave encounter presents your party with another

moral decision. As they travel, they will hear the cries of
someone trapped behind fallen stones. The sounds will
echo from some ways off the path, down a tunnel directly
to their side. They must detour to help. This is where the
decision comes in, determining how the encounter will
play out.
If your party helps, they will follow the echoes to a cave-
in. Clearing the stones will open a chamber containing the
woman’s long-rotted skeleton and belongings. Her ghost
will manifest as a ragged version of herself, speaking in
distant, broken tones. Have her confusedly note that they
helped her, before asking for a final favor: to meet her
beloved again. This can mean either taking her necklace to
an old man in the next town or bringing him to the
skeleton. Either option will result in the bitter elder
breaking down in guilt, asking the party to leave him. As
they do, they will hear the woman’s scream, and then the
man’s.
This encounter relies on a degree of worldbuilding and
this path emphasizes that further. Players should be
warned of frequent tremors and cave-ins before they
enter the tunnels. This creates a link in their minds once
the encounter occurs, and can also be used for other
encounters. Even better, you can have these warnings
come from the man himself. He will initially seem like a
crotchety old local living close to the cave entrance but

30
players will discover the deeper meaning after
encountering the ghost. She can explain her story and he
can add to it when meeting the party the second time.
The other option is for players to ignore the calls or deny
helping the ghost. Either of these will lead to the screams
continuing while growing in intensity. They will grow to
be deafening as the party moves further away. The ghost
will eventually appear as, you guessed it… an ‘agonized
ghost’. Why? Because another, similar undead is not
included in material that can be safely, legally recreated.
You can use an official source, of course. Our own version
is a ghost with its Possession action replaced with an
Agonized Scream. The scream’s effect covers a wide range
(with a greater intensity for those nearby) to simulate it
echoing through the cave. We also beefed it up to make it
a little more distinct.
This cave encounter uses slow-building horror themes to
manipulate tension over several days of travel. The
extended time frame means that events can be changed
drastically by player actions, meaning you need to
understand what is happening behind the scenes. This lets
you focus on character motivations, adjusting actions as
circumstances change.
Your party will hear calls for help and cries of pain from a
nearby tunnel, which will lead them to a spider’s lair. The
beast has caught a group of armed men and their empty
cart and is moments away from eating them. This spider is
not the encounter’s focus so feel free to simply use a phase
spider. What is important is to include a human aspect in
its description. But don’t overdo it! Keep it simple and
horrifying, such as one pair of eyes appearing human or
noticeable human teeth within its mouth. Once it is dead,
the party can cut its victims down.

Deciding on rewards for some cave encounters can be

difficult. In this case, you can have the ghost ask the party
to take her necklace one she rests (or have the banshee
wearing it!). The couple were traveling on an adventure
when she died, and this way she can continue to travel.
The wearer of the necklace can cast Thunderwave once
per day (DC 13), conjuring the sound of her scream and
stunning creatures that fail the save by five or more.

17 – Arachnomorphosis

The party saves another group from a giant

spider but they did not all make it out unchanged.
The party, having saved and allied with a group that was
harvesting spider eggs, are becoming suspicious of their
new compatriots. Neither side can fully trust the other. That
is to be expected, but there is something more. One of them
comes across as too insistent on the protection of the eggs,
deflecting any questioning on the subject. Tensions only
grow once they wake to a hatched egg and bite marks on
another member. He seems fine and claims no pain, though
healing for the venom is administered. But he then begins to
act erratically. They are only a day from their destination
when the situation hits a fever pitch and those that were
bitten show their true colors.

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The other group should be friendly and thankful to the
party. Keep their numbers low, four at most, so that you
can put effort into playing each one differently. They will
return to their business of harvesting spider eggs,
explaining to players that they are a delicacy that few risk
harvesting. But a nearby mayor is throwing a party and
would pay a small fortune for them. This conversation will
lead to the group negotiating a portion of that money as
payment for the party’s protection. They are headed in the
same direction, so why not?
Here is where your focus shifts onto controlling
background events. See, this breed of magical spider does
not reproduce on its own. They implant themselves into
other creatures and take control. The host slowly changes
to resemble the giant spider the party killed, all while
being driven to infect others and protect the eggs. And one
of the men was infected. This will mean him working in the
background to hatch eggs and have them implant into his
friends, then the destination town.
Playing this out means having multiple clues slowly
appear. Let the first day play out normally so that players
are comfortable and foster a rapport with the group. The
second night can then see an egg hatch and another of
them be infected. Follow this trend, with events growing
worse and the infected acting more erratically and
defensively. Play them like every movie character that
hides a zombie bite, only with a burning insistence on
finishing their job. You can also include other encounters
during the travel to distract players, show the passage of
time, and give the infected moments to act without being
seen.
This cave encounter’s conclusion is, unfortunately, up to
your players. The goal is to have their suspicions and
conversations lead to a confrontation. This could come
from the poachers accusing the party for what is
happening, realizing the truth, or even all being infected.
Tensions will culminate in combat if the players threaten
the eggs. The infected will show their new forms, with
multiple eyes and mandibles appearing. You can play them
as ghouls with the additional abilities of the phase spider
and their paralysis venom swapped for poison. There is
also the chance of there being no confrontation, in which
case the party will receive a tidy sum of gold for delivering
the eggs. Meanwhile, you’ll gain the opportunity to use a
spider-infested town not long after!
18 – Rising Heat
Fiery monsters from deep beneath the earth have
found their way up and are attacking travelers.
Not all of the caves are stone and darkness. Some descend
far enough to breach into realms of fire and magma. These
places give birth to strange creatures, composed of the very
heat that fills their tunnels and possessing a burning
proclivity for violence. And sometimes these monsters dig
their way towards the surface. It is a swarm of these
elementals that has found its way into the caves and
attacked travelers. The adventurers first see signs of these
attacks in scorched carts and corpses, before sections of the
walls begin to superheat and release monstrous creatures.
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As described, this cave encounter will begin with players
finding the remnants of an attacked cart. The broken wood
and metal are largely burned and bear marks from fiery
claws and teeth, as well as the charred bodies of any
victims. This can otherwise appear to be a trader or
traveler’s cart, or perhaps the property of a mage or order
of knights, who were transporting the fiery creatures. In
this case, include cages that were clearly broken from the
inside, with melted or exploded bars. The party can then
find some extra carts, perhaps those that tried to flee
during the attack, before they stumble across the current
victims. Just don’t overdo it as you don’t want players to
simply turn around and leave.
The final cart will still be burning, casting a small amount
of light down the tunnel. Players will see this from a
distance before noticing the small figures scampering
across it. They will look roughly like humanoid children,
but move like beasts as they tear the vehicle apart and kill
any survivors. Here is where you can have some extra fun,
too. The party will only see a few of them on the cart. There
are others, however, lurking nearby. Depending on stealth
checks, you can include others on the cave’s walls and
ceiling, or within the walls themselves. Once those on the
cart notice the party, their vicious cries will alert the
others.
If the statblocks haven’t given it away, the creatures are
magmins, with some magma mephits as their winged
cousins.
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The monsters’ battle cry will engage their Ignited
Illumination, giving players a clear view and lighting the
cave before they animalistically rush the party. On
initiative 20 of each round, you can roll for a number of
reinforcements as sections of stone begin to ignite and
melt. Roll initiative for the new additions and have them
appear on their turn.
It is important to note that the creatures’ Death Bursts and
burning effects make them much more dangerous than
their CR might suggest. Be very careful with balancing unit
numbers and how often players will need to douse the
flames. You might wish to include other survivors to help
the party and bail them out, even just as a backup plan.
This can even develop into everyone escaping in order to
regroup and mount a counterattack against the fire
elemental behind for the attacks.
19 – In the Black Fog
A black fog fills the cave, distorting time and
space for more than just the party.
Naught but darkness lies beyond the party’s torchlight. Even
those with enhanced vision can only see so far before a pure
wall of shadow swallows the caves. The lack of natural light
is suffocating and maddening. Monotonous black dulls their
senses as they move. The adventurers hardly notice when it
grows closer. Their lights begin to dim as the shadows creep
forth in a dark fog, consuming them before they can react.
It hides everything beyond a few feet. They reach out for
each other and find nothing, but can still hear each other’s
voices… and more. There are other people trapped in the
mist, calling and searching. But something else is wrong.
These people and their stories are not possible in what the
party has seen, and something seems to stalk them from the
shadows.
This cave encounter is all about taking the darkness and
claustrophobia of caves and cranking it up to eleven.
Taking inspiration from Stephen King and Joe Hill’s ‘In the
Tall Grass’, the shadows of the mist will cover the party
and distort space and time. This lets us play with spacing
during combat while having fun with horror elements. The
shadows are also a great way to turn a single unit into a
threat to the entire party.
Fortunately, introducing this encounter is quick and clean.
During travel, the shadows will grow closer before rushing
forward like a torrent of fog. At first it will seem like the
Darkness spell, except players with a light source or
darkvision will be able to see in a radius of five feet. From
here, you can shift into the narrative aspects. The general
idea is that there is a pregnant couple caught in the mist,
who the party will encounter over different time periods.
Their child, born within the phenomenon, will also appear
throughout his lifespan. But the years of darkness have
twisted him and he will attempt to deceive and attack the
party. This is the basis for your combat elements.
The specific mechanics of the cave encounter are
important to keep in your mind as it plays out. The fog
removes any need for a map, but you still need to manage
player positions. For the sake of the game, we will not be
shifting players around time-wise. But we can play with
spacing. You want sound to act normally, but movement
should be changed by a consistent set of rules. An example
34

Keep in mind that both of the spy and assassin can use the
situation to deal massive damage, despite their low health.
If you’re looking for a middle ground, you may wish to…
• Reduce the assassin’s HP to 52 (8d8+16)
• Set his sneak attack to 10 (3d6)
• Reduce his poison DC to 13 and damage to 14
(4d6)
is by having player movement actually carry them ten
times the distance they think, causing them to overshoot
targets. You can make it more interesting by applying
separate rules to different movements, such as reversing
their east-west movement. The effect being magical gives
plenty of freedom but be sure to keep these rules
consistent. You want the party to be able to use in-
character callouts to slowly figure it out.
Ideally, your narrative reveals should come slowly and in
an order that has the players realize the truth. Have a
player first meet the couple after the child’s birth,
frantically searching for their son. Meanwhile, another
party member can find the son. These characters will be
panicked and erratic, and strangely cannot be heard by
those that can’t see them. The party will need to fight to
stop them from running back into the fog. Other versions
players can meet are the son in his teens, the couple during
their pregnancy, and then the bodies of the couple. You can
even place these randomly in the fog and have them occur
when players stumble across them, building the narrative
organically.
The combat opponent is actually very easy to control.
Unbind the child’s adult persona from the fog’s distortion,
allow him to see through it, and otherwise treat him as a
spy or assassin. He will stalk the characters and strike
whenever he can gain advantage, then slink away without
retaliation. When he is either defeated or forced into a
retreat, he can take the fog with him. It will clear and
release the party in the same place they were, only now
with the couple’s skeletons beside them.
20 – Itsy-bitsy Intruders
The tunnel brings the party into a giant’s abode.
They are like mice against the colossal furniture,
and the exit is on the opposite side of the room.
Traveling through the deepest tunnels they have known, the
adventuring party spots an opening ahead of them. The
tunnel suddenly ends, with a flat, open plain of stone
extending beyond. Heavy, distant tremors shake the tunnel
as they cautiously approach. The realization stuns them as
they reach the opening, peering in as well as reading
roughly scrawled warnings around the cave. Beyond their
tunnel is a room, gargantuan in size and decorated with
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similarly enormous, stone furniture. A giant sits not far from
the entrance, its head cocked at the sound of movement.
Of course, we saved the strangest for last. Cave encounters
give us the opportunity to use monsters and problems that
other environments simply couldn’t accommodate. Their
hidden and secluded nature means that you don’t need to
think as much about their influence extending beyond the
encounter or immediate region. Because sometimes you
just want them to be weird and fun. In this case, we are
using the home of a particularly large stone giant.
This isolation gives us a great deal of design freedom. The
giant might be a recluse, happy to live in their home deep
under the earth or within a mountain. Or the room that the
party passes through might connect to a larger settlement
or fortress. You are free to limit the encounter as a once-
off occurrence or have it tease a larger giant presence for
later use. In the latter case, consider having any nearby
settlements make mention of giants to better integrate
them into your world and avoid the encounter feeling
random without explanation. The warnings your party
finds during the encounter will add to this. The room itself
should be decorated realistically for its purpose, complete
with the giant’s mess and personalization. Design it as a
living area, not an encounter’s battlefield.
Speaking of your giant, we would advise scaling them up
too. Stone giants are ‘huge’, making them roughly three
times the height of a medium character. Your players
should feel like mice in the room, so consider doubling or
even tripling (or more!) the giant’s size. Keep in mind that
the larger the players are by comparison, the easier they
are to see.
The tunnel that passes through the giant’s room exists
prior to the party, so include some scrawled warnings as
they approach. Most will be of the regular ‘turn back’ and
‘only death awaits’ variety, though some others might
include advice for future groups. They should vary in both
language and tone. One at the very entrance might read,
“be careful of gia-” with a dark red smear leading away.
Ideally, the combination of clues and general perception
should allow your party to see the exit tunnel before
entering the room. This lets you place it on a giant-sized
bookshelf without it feeling cheap, as players have all the
time they need to plan.
Once the encounter begins, it is up to players to take
control. Your job, aside from handling their actions, is to
control the giant. You can have players move in a regular
turn order if you need to monitor their individual speeds
and decisions. Be sure to include skill checks whenever
appropriate, most of which will be to avoid making noise.
If they are breezing through the room, consider having the
giant move to do something else, putting it in a new
position that sees players recalculate. Finally, if it does
notice them, it will try to crush them like pests. The giant
can grab its club and begin ruthlessly hunting for them,
forcing your players to either rush or create distractions.
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