The Woods of Wonders
A Hansel and Gretel Inspired D&D Adventure
This adventure is an “escort” quest for 1 to 5 characters. The encounters are designed for 1st to 3rd level characters. It is intended as an introduction to D&D or as a first adventure for a new party. It could also be used as a one-shot or flashback adventure.
This adventure relies heavily on exploration, role-playing, and problem-solving and has several opportunities for combat. This is a wilderness exploration quest with numerous random encounters are available in addition to combat, and role-playing opportunities.
This adventure can be played solo or in a group of up to 5 players. The BBEG’s stats have been provided below.
DM Notes
If you are playing with very young players, try using the 3 strikes method. See Kid Friendly D&D Adventures for more on this.
Adventure Hook
Papa, a kindly but nervous woodcutter, approaches the adventurers in a small, sleepy village on the edge of a vast forest. He pleads with them to escort his children, Hansel and Gretel, to their grandmother’s house deep within the woods. The children have made the journey before, but there have been strange goings on in the woods lately and the wood cutter is concerned for the children’s’ safety.
The children’s grandmother is a healer, but rumors in the village suggest she may be more than that—a reclusive witch or someone touched by old magic. Papa brushes off these tales, insisting that the party and children should be safe as long as they stick to the path.
As the adventurers prepare to leave, an elderly neighbor tugs one of them aside and mutters:
“Watch yourselves in those woods. The forest has teeth. And if the children stray, they might not come back… whole.”
BBEG's Plans
A witch has disguised herself as the children’s grandmother and has been giving out tainted healing potions to locals who seek her aid. The potions, known as Lanora’s Harmonic Draught, do heal those who take them, but they also allow the witch to telepathically command their actions when they sleep.
The children’s grandmother is being held hostage in the root cellar and forced to brew the potions for the witch.
The witch has been using her charmed locals to set traps, attack other villagers, and rob local merchants. Her plan is simple:
- She has replaced the local elder/healer, using her potions and powers of deception to get locals to spread her influence and steal for her.
- She has made an alliance with a group of bandits, supplying them with her special “healing” potions in exchange for a percentage of their loot.
- The bandits alternate between hit-and-run tactics, intended to send victims to Grandma’s for healing, and outright highway robbery.
- The witch has charmed some local wild life to help in her plans. A pack of wolves act as her guards and a scurry of squirrels fetch, carry and hide small packages and stolen trinkets.
- She is gathering as much treasure in the attic of grandma’s house as possible.
- Once she has collected as much as she can or when the locals start to get too close, she will move on, leaving chaos in her wake.
Interviewing the Locals
Townsfolk, or Hansel and Gretel, will readily tell the party:
- Holtsberg is a great place to live despite the recent happenings.
- The woods surrounding the village have recently taken on an ominous feeling and strange noises are heard in the night.
- Several people have recently disappeared without a trace along the road to neighboring villages.
- A traveling merchant reported being robbed by bandits along one of the smaller roads (the one that goes to grandma’s house)
- There are many roomers of many locals sneaking around performing strange acts at night.
- Many of the local businesses have reported being robbed, but there are no signs of break-ins, just missing money and goods.
Party Goals & Rewards
- The party’s primary goal is to escort the kids to their grandmother’s house.
- Investigate the strange goings on along the road to grandmother’s house.
- Track down the bandits and put an end to their activities.
Complications
- The witch has a pack of wolves that prowl the forest and act as guardians.
- The bandits that are working for the witch are paid extra for bringing her kidnaped children.
- The witch has offered a reward to a local tribe of goblins for living human children.
- There are pit traps and snares set by the goblins and the bandits not far off the trail.
- Getting lost in the forest.
- Encountering (random) dangerous creatures such as trolls.
- Being harassed by the witch or her minions to keep the party from getting a long rest.
- Getting separated from Hansel and Gretel.
- Running out of food and water.
- Facing harsh weather conditions such as snowstorms or flooding rivers.
- Dealing with difficult terrain such as steep cliffs or swampy areas.
Encountering the Witch
It is assumed that the party will make it to the Grandmother’s cottage in the wood eventually. There are several variations of how that could happen.
Approaching Grandma’s cottage, the smell of fresh baked bread, cookies and meat permeate the area. Different characters may experience different smells, depending on their personal preferences and personal back stories.
Observant elves, rangers, druids and characters with wilderness survival skills will notice the unkept garden area and signs of rot among trees and plants near the cottage.
Keep the witches’ primary goals and motivation in mind when deciding what happens next. She wants to avoid direct conflict as much as possible while increasing her personal power and wealth as much as possible. These two goals may come into conflict because of her greed.
- The goblins or bandits have kidnapped the children and/or members of the party. In this case the witch will distrust and actively seek to send the party on their way with whatever lies she thinks will get them to leave the fastest. She will deny any involvement with the goblins or the bandits.
- The party arrives with the children at Grandmother’s cottage. Despite her very convincing disguise, the children’s passive perception and familiarity with their Grandmother will alert them to something being “off.” The longer the party is able to engage her in conversation, the less willing the children will be to be left alone with her. If the party is able to rile her up to the point of arguing, the children will absolutely not want to stay with her.
- One or more party members have been injured and are in need of healing. In this case, the witch will offer the party her special healing potions. Once they have consumed the potions, she will wish them well and try to send them on their way.
- If the party is badly injury, or on the verge of a TPK (total party kill) the witch will invite them in with promises of healing potions only to give them sleeping potions. Depending on the characters interactions, she will either try and turn them into minions or dinner.
Monsters & NPCs
When considering random encounters in an adventure like this it is best to keep the goals of the BBEG and her minions at the forefront of your mind. In this case “random encounters” are more about which of the minions and environmental hazards the party will encounter along the way. Lucky rolls may find the party arriving at Grandmas’ house at full health and well rested, ready for battle. Some unlucky rolls my have the party arrive low on hit points and spell slots.
Depending on the level of the party you may want to use stats for a Night Hag, cultist or one of the many witches from any of the published adventures as the witch.
For younger groups, I should say wing it. Pick out a couple of good spells like sleep, magic missile and a couple of others based on the power of the party and go with the 3 strikes, your out rule. Increase the number of strikes based on the number of attacks the party gets per turn so the witch will last at least three turns. Maybe have her flee if the party hits too hard in the first round or two of combat. Her life is not worth more than the small treasure she has acquired and there are more towns to loot just down the road.
Random Encounter Chart
| 1D20 | Qty | Name | Award XP Each | Total XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | 1d10 | Merchant Caravan/Townsfolk | – | – |
| 6-10 | 1d4 +1 | Bandits + Bandit Captain | 25/450 | * |
| 10-12 | 1d6+1 | Goblins | 50 | * |
| 12-14 | 1d6+1 | Guards (on patrol) | 25 | * |
| 14-16 | 1d4 | Townsfolk / Farmer (Witch’s Minions) | – | – |
| 17-19 | 1d6 | Wolves | 50 | * |
| 20 | 2 | Dire Wolf | 600 | 600 |
All creatures are also taken from the basic rules and/or Monster Manual.
Magic Items
Lanora's Harmonic Draught
Crafted by the infamous witch Lanora, this potion heals (1d8) damage. If the person dirking the potion is a will victim, the the person giving them the potion will be able to telepathically send them a task to perform while they sleep. This acts as a geas and must be completed before the end of their next long rest. The task must be assigned during the recipient's first long rest after consuming the potion. If the recipient is unable to performing the task for any reason, the wound will return at dawn on after their second long rest.
Maps
Maps generously provided here by Dyson Logos. Check out his site for lots of great RPG maps. https://dysonlogos.blog/
Darkling Town North
5 Responses
I want to play this with my child who has never played dnd before I was thining of just him or him and one friendly helpful NPC character but I am confused by this is there more to the pre made than this? I am willing to pay some for it but confused wehre the actual edventure is. Looks good from what I can see. would I just make up a level 3 character for him or somethign else are there any pre made characters that would work good for this adventure?
Irvin,
Think of my adventures as DM prep. I provide the story hook, player & BBEG goals, setting, maps, monsters, random encounters, obisticals and some challenges. Sometimes I add NPCs and magic items. That is really all you need to get an adventure started from the DM side. Well that and pencil, paper, and some dice. If you want to play with minis and maps, you can, but they are not necessary.
From the player side, they will need a character, some paper, something to write with and some dice. The character sheet is the thing that takes the longest. If you don’t want to go through the character creation process, I have a collection of free, pre-made character sheets to download.
Not to oversimplify it, but D&D is basically this:
Check out the Getting Started post for more on it all works. The most important thing is that you have fun and work with your players to create a story together.
In the random encounter chart, should guards actually be goblins or am I going crazy? I just can’t figure out where guards come into it and whether they are friend or foe!
Thanks in advance.
PS newbie DM here so I may just be being stupid
I am so sorry I took so long to see your comment. I see how that could be confusing. I updated the chart to add goblins. The guards would most likely be out on patrol. As far as their being friend or foe, I would leave that to you based on how the characters have been interacting with the locals and if you feel like you need a combat encounter. Perhaps they are a source of information or they are a minion of the witch.
Thank you!