TEXT: Written by Dimitri Lambermont & Remko van der Heul 
  Cover art by Wouter Florusse
  NERDICTED PRESENTS
  
  Twenty fun, creepy and horrible 
   encounters you can throw at your party
  Written by Dimitri Lambermont and Remko van der Heul
  Artwork and graphics by Wouter Florusse
  Version 1.0    22-10-2018
  
  3
  EncounTEr 1
  You are on the road between the towns of Ebongate 
  and Autumnbury. It is a cloudy and grey but dry day 
  and so far your travel has been uneventful. As you 
  make your way from a small forest path onto the 
  main packed dirt road, one of the PCs stumbles over a 
  rock and falls to the ground. The PC angrily kicks the 
  stone to the side… revealing a hand with a golden ring 
  (worth 25 gp) still on its finger. 
  Digging some more reveals the body of…
  Roll a D6 or pick one at the DM’s discretion:
  1. A richly dressed fat human merchant, his privates 
  have been cut off.
  2. A young girl (age 10 or 11) dressed in dirty rags no 
  wounds or other cause of death are visible.
  3. A headless halfing man dressed in a simple woolen 
  robe. The wound was made with a very sharp blade 
  or axe and has no ragged edges.
  4. A man missing the lower half of his body. His upper 
  body still dressed in the bronze and green livery of 
  an Autumnbury city guard.
  5. A middle aged plainly dressed human woman with 
  her eyes pried out. 
  6. A half-elf male, naked except for the ring. Fiendish 
  arcane markings and scars cover his body.
  EncounTEr 2
  You walk along a muddy path on a rainy day when 
  a sweet but sickly smell reaches your nose. The last 
  couple of days you have been making your way to the 
  city of Ravenmire. Under the constant downpour, you 
  mostly have been hiding in your robes, keeping your 
  head down. 
  As one your party stops when you come to find a 
  wooden stake beside the road. On the stake is a 
  corpse. The body is fresh, but the human man upon 
  it is dead. After you walk a bit further along the road, 
  which curves slowly up a steep hill, you find another 
  one. This has a half-elf woman on it. You walk some 
  more, another one, this time a tiefling man. Horrified 
  you press on until you reach the top of the hill. From 
  this vantage point you discover the stakes go on as far 
  as the eye can see. 
  Investigating some of the bodies indicates they died 
  on the stakes, non-lethal (or slow but deadly) cuts 
  cover their naked bodies. There are men, women 
  and even children of all the common races (human, 
  halfling, gnome and so on).
  A DC 20 (INT) investigation check reveals that all the 
  staked corpses miss their tongues.
  Examples of what could possibly have caused this:
  1. An Orc (hobgoblin or lizardmen) warband took 
  revenge upon a town after the local watch 
  destroyed their camp killing men, women and 
  children.
  2. A collective vision from forgotten times. Somehow 
  the veil of time shows you an event that happened 
  many hundreds of years ago. But why?
  3. As #2. It is not the past, it is the near future. What 
  will cause this? 
  4. A deadly disease struck town. The people tried to 
  scare any travellers away from Ravenmire.
  5. Ravenmire is famed for its slave trade. A recent 
  revolt was struck down. The revolting slaves have 
  all been put up for display and discouragement.
  6. The Gathering of the Damned cult have done this. 
  These cultists believe that their own sacrifice 
  will bring them into the fold of Odarr, the God of 
  Judgement. They will live in silent happiness from 
  now on in his realm after their sacrifice (also called 
  the Judgement ritual).
  7. Other...
  InTroDucTIon
  Welcome traveller to the darkest and cruelest corners 
  of the realms. Where your worst nightmares hide just 
  beyond your sight. Where all is not as it seems and 
  evil lurks in shady corners. Where you are lucky to 
  get out alive and with your sanity intact. Welcome to 
  Twenty chillingly creepy Encounters.
  In this module you, the Dungeon Master, will find 20 
  new encounters to throw at your party. Dark, scary 
  and sinister encounters to give your players a scare 
  or make them feel uncomfortable. Some encounters 
  will give you an idea to go from and build on. other 
  encounters will indicate how you can adjust them 
  for players of different levels. We hope you give 
  your players a good fright and have a fun and scary 
  encounter. 
  We offer you the building blocks for an encounter. 
  Everything mentioned here is to give you an idea to 
  work from. To make your life as a DM easier. naturally 
  you are free to change any monster and names to 
  better suit your setting and campaign. 
  
  4
  EncounTEr 3
  You are on your way through a dense, dark green 
  forest towards the town of Duskcross. A small girl 
  dressed in rags approaches the group. She is skipping 
  happily along the dirt road holding a sack and singing 
  a simple children’s lullaby. As she finally stops in front 
  of you she is seemingly a cute little girl with some 
  smears of dirt on her face. She is maybe seven years 
  old. Her dress used to be a colorful pretty thing but it 
  is smeared and torn. Her brown curls are unkempt and 
  twigs and leaves have caught in it. She looks at you 
  with unsettling eyes staring deep into your soul. She 
  holds up a faded brown sack: “My marbles. But I do 
  not want you to see them.” 
  A deep urge overcomes you to try to persuade her, 
  make a DC 12 CHA (Persuasion) to get her to show her 
  marbles. 
  When she opens the sack, to your horror, you find it 
  filled with eyes. It is then that you notice a stream 
  of stumbling and moaning forms behind her. Eyeless 
  husks that once were men. She closes the sack and 
  coldy says: “Now you give me YOUR eyes”. 
  SourcE
  The girl is Dimme-Kur. A maddened Night Hag stuck in 
  girl form - Monster Manual, p. 178 (CR 5)  
  (Cover illustration)
  EncounTEr 4
  You walk through open farmland and are making your 
  way through a field of corn. At the end of the field, 
  you come across an abandoned farm. The weather 
  is changing very rapidly as a storm is gliding in on 
  the horizon. The nearest town of Ironvault is still a 
  day’s walk away as the skies open up and a downpour 
  starts. Seeking shelter from the cold wet rain, the 
  party quickly enters the abandoned farm. 
  You find that everything inside the old wooden barn 
  seems as though it has been left in a hurry. You count 
  at least ten plates with rotten food on it. Dust covers 
  all the surfaces and the air is stale. Outside the storm 
  is raging, so you decide to take shelter for the night 
  in what once was the living room. You settle in as the 
  storm slows down and eventually passes. When all 
  is silent you begin to hear the laughter of children 
  coming from the fields — yet no children are in sight.
  Investigating the sounds, the PCs find themselves 
  being lured away from the safety of the homestead, 
  deep into the cornfield. The PCs see a shimmering ball 
  of energy hover a few feet above the ground. When 
  they investigate a DC 16 (INT) Arcana check reveals to 
  them it’s a small portal of some kind, through which 
  1d3+1 spirits came to haunt the farmers. The spirits 
  are unable to venture far from the portal and by 
  mimicking the sounds of children lure passersby into 
  their reach.
  EncounTEr 5
  It has been raining for hours now and you are glad 
  to be out of the damp woods. You make your way 
  out of the edges of the forest and approach an old 
  abandoned estate. The large wooden building is 
  
  5
  three stories high. It has lost none of its former glory 
  although it is obviously in a state of disrepair. The 
  doors hang askew off their hinges. Cobwebs cover 
  most of the porch. 
  As you enter through a gap between the two large 
  black wooden doors, you notice there are mirrors all 
  over the estate. On the first floor, on the landing, and 
  in all the rooms. Though all is covered in a fine layer 
  of dust the mirrors have lost nothing of their shine. 
  As you pass the mirror you have the feeling something 
  is wrong. As if your reflection is slightly off. You 
  stand still in front of the mirror and can see yourself 
  reflected. 
  Even though you did not move, your reflection is. It 
  starts banging on the other side of the glass in a rage. 
  Clawing at the smooth surface with a distorted grin. 
  Although there is a lot of movement inside the mirror, 
  you hear no sound. 
  DM’S oPTIonS:
  1. This is just the former owner’s idea of a joke and 
  the mirrors are just enchanted with illusions. To 
  disbelief make a DC 16 INT (investigation) check. 
  2. The mansion is a prison. The mirrors, cages to 
  capture souls. Beware those guilty with sin. Staring 
  into an empty mirror for longer than a few blinks 
  make a DC 14 CHA save to resist imprisonment.
  3. The mansion is a lair of an aberration, who uses 
  the mirrors to spook the PCs and feeds on their 
  fear. Deep inside the mansion he lives, a fat 
  bloating putrid brain… growing ever more powerful. 
  (Use: Elder Brain, CR 14 - Volo’s guide to Monsters, 
  p. 173/174).
  4. The owner is a wizard. Deep in his experiments 
  he/she opened a gate… and let something in. 
  Optionally the wizard lives here still, totally mad 
  now (Archmage, CR 12 - Monster Manual, p. 342).
  5. The former owner collected souls. He imprisoned 
  them inside the mirror. The ones he most treasured 
  were his competitors and enemies.
  6. The mirrors are enchanted to capture wandering 
  souls. Long ago a great battle was fought here and 
  many perished. Their souls are captured inside the 
  mirrors. Breaking the mirror releases the spirits 
  (Ghost, CR 4 - Monster Manual, p. 147).
  7. Other... 
  EncounTEr 6
  You cross open grassland early in the morning. There 
  is fog on the wet grass. It is strangely chilly here. The 
  fog is curling around you. Slowly but surely the fog 
  starts taking humanoid form. 
  Everywhere you see these human-like forms arise. 
  Then the fog curls in some places and takes the form 
  of all kinds of creatures. They seem oddly familiar. You 
  soon realize these are all the people and creatures 
  you have ever slain. As one they raise one arm and 
  point at you. That is when the wailing starts: Why? 
  Why? Why?
  The area is affected by a tiny crack in reality and dark 
  energy from the deepest and darkest voids has leaked 
  into the world. The area covers a 5 by 5 mile stretch 
  and is growing.
  To resist the madness that emanates from this area 
  the PCs must make a DC 18 WIS save.
  Failing with 1-4 points difference:
  A character afflicted with short-term madness is 
  subjected to the effect for 1d10 minutes.
  Failing with 5-9 points difference:
  A character afflicted with long-term madness is 
  subjected to the effect for 1d10 × 10 hours.
  Failing with 10+ points difference:
  A character is afflicted with indefinite madness that 
  lasts until cured.
  A Calm Emotions spell can suppress the effects of 
  madness, while a Lesser Restoration spell can rid 
  a character of a short-term or long-term madness. 
  Depending on the source of the madness, Remove 
  Curse or Dispel Evil might also prove effective (DM’s 
  discretion). A Greater Restoration spell or more 
  powerful magic is required to rid a character of 
  indefinite madness.
  DM’S noTE:
  This encounter can easily be adapted into a side 
  quest to close the rift. Perhaps a corrupted priest has 
  opened it or a wizard with malicious intent tried to 
  summon a demon. Or a powerful warlock died here, 
  causing the rift with its patron’s plane to open up.
  EncounTEr 7
  You come across the small settlement of Lakemire as 
  the moon is almost full. The villagers welcome you 
  with open arms. At the local inn - The Marked Troll 
  Tavern - you hear rumors of a rat infestation that has 
  been plaguing the lands. 
  Rats are no problem for seasoned adventurers as 
  yourself. And you are paid handsomely if you agree to 
  rid the countryside of rats. 
  
  6
  They do have one strange request. Please do not kill 
  the rats, but subdue them. After some time you begin 
  to notice something strange. There are absolutely no 
  children in the entire village. When you question the 
  villagers they do not give you any straight answers. 
  That night the moon is full and it all becomes clear as 
  the hordes of wererats attack.
  DM’S oPTIonS:
  1. The teacher at the local school is a wererat and has 
  infected all the kids (the townsfolk are unaware).
  2. Rat-bite-fever came to town by means of a foreign 
  merchant ship, oddly it affected only the kids.
  3. A meteor fell from the sky into the lake where the 
  kids play and swim in the summer. Its first contact 
  was with a muskrat. It absorbed the rat and now it 
  spreads its radiance that transforms the kids into 
  wererats  
  Variant: the meteor is all that remains of a cast-
  out fiend. It needs the rat kids (easy targets) to 
  regenerate into his full form again.
  4. A recent storm uncovered an ancient evil temple 
  worshipping a rat-like god. The kids of the town 
  play in that area and took ‘treasure from the 
  temple’. Now cursed, they transform into wererats 
  at a full moon. 
  5. An ancient curse has hit the town (which it does 
  every 111 years). That year the kids turn into 
  wererats, eventually killing their parents, but this 
  time the PCs have arrived to hopefully stop them.
  6. The curse is made by a vengeful Hag who loved a 
  man of the village once. Their kid was burned as a 
  monstrosity, the man was killed, the hag survived. 
  She is bent upon destroying all the kids and their 
  kin.  (option: combine with #5)
  EncounTEr 8
  You walk the trail through the dense forest and start 
  noticing something strange. The usual noises you are 
  accustomed to hearing when in this terrain are gone. 
  No birds. No scuttling through the undergrowth. No 
  animals. You move along anyway. 
  That is when you start finding the corpses of dead 
  birds, foxes, rodents and insects. They all just lie there 
  and you can find no signs of a struggle. As you walk on 
  you catch a strange metallic scent on the air. It makes 
  you nauseous. 
  As you move along the smell becomes stronger and 
  the nausea becomes worse. That is when you notice a 
  woman on the road. She is crying, holding her tattered 
  clothes, moving backwards. “Please do not come near 
  me. Please!” 
  The Purple Rot has hit the area, affecting all the living. 
  The lady in the road is the source of the disease. 
  If you come closer you have to make a DC 15 
  constitution saving throw or become infected.
  Once infected the PCs organs start to be affected: 
  • 
  1-2 hrs after infection - the PC starts feeling cramps 
  in his stomach area - exhaustion lvl 1.
  • 
  3-6 hrs after infection - the PC starts to cough up 
  small amounts of blood -  exhaustion lvl 2.
  • 
  9-10 hrs after infection - The PC is nauseous, 
  has severe cramps and coughs up lots of blood, 
  blood pours from eyes, nose and ears as well - 
  exhaustion lvl 3.
  • 
  20-24 hrs after infection - The PC is seriously ill and 
  has high fever and all earlier effects - exhaustion 
  lvl 4.
  • 
  2nd day (any time DM’s discretion) -  Increase to 
  exhaustion lvl 5. If untended the PC dies (2d12 hrs 
  time left).
  • 
  3rd day (if still alive) - The PCs organs start failing 
  and the PC will die within 2d6 hrs - exhaustion lvl 6.
  PoSSIBLE curES
  1. Cure Disease spell
  2. Ritual at a local temple
  3. Kill the lady on the road
  4. No Cure
  5. Divine intervention
  6. Wish or similar spell(s) - Hero’s Feast, Greater 
  Restoration, Heal
  7. Side Quest (DM’s Discretion)
  8. Acquiring a special potion from a shady merchant, 
  witch, wizard…
  9. A Night Hag’s Heartstone
  10. Blood donation by a Cleric or Paladin 
  DM’S noTE:
   This encounter, although possibly deadly, wasn’t 
  meant to be lethal for the PCs. To reach the latter 
  stages of the disease, a crafty DM could have a dear 
  friend (NPC) travel with the party and he/she might 
  contract the disease instead.
  EncounTEr 9
  As you come over the hill you can already see the 
  black smoke rising. Below you, you see the burned 
  down remnants of what once was the rural village of 
  Bellgate. All the farms and houses have been sacked 
  and put to the torch. 
  You make your way to town. As you walk down the 
  main street to the village square you see black ravens 
  sitting on round boulders in the distance. The smell 
  of burned wood mixes with the sickly sweet smell of 
  death.
  
  7
  Upon further inspection you find that all of the 
  boulders are actually heads sticking out of the ground. 
  All of the villagers have been buried, standing up in 
  a circle. The only parts of their bodies sticking out 
  are their heads. Most villagers are dead. Others are 
  moaning or screaming as the ravens feast on their 
  eyes. 
  You find one of the villagers still alive and able to talk. 
  It is the local halfling baker Theudebald Burrowes. He 
  tells you a hobgoblin raiding party has struck again. 
  DM’S oPTIonS:
  1. The raiders have moved back to their base.
  2. The Raiders are moving in on another village.
  3. The Raiders lurk and are waiting for the travellers 
  to ambush them
  4. The Raiders are zealots spreading death and 
  destruction in the name of their god Maglubiyet the 
  Mighty One, the greater god of goblinoids. 
  5. The Raiders blamed the villagers for the death 
  of their children and came to take out revenge 
  (source: pollution due to work in the village).
  6. A larger more evil entity incited the hobgoblins to 
  attack (Oni MM, p 239, (CR 7).
  7. The Raiders have occupied the town preparing for 
  a ritual.
  8. DM’s choice, different enemy and or monsters.
  SourcE: 
  Hobgoblin - Monster Manual, p. 186 (CR ½)
  Hobgoblin Iron Shadow - Volo’s guide to monsters,  
  p. 162 (CR 2)
  Hobgoblin Captain - Monster Manual, p. 187 (CR 3)
  Hobgoblin Devastator -  Volo’s guide to monsters,  
  p. 161 (CR 4)
  Hobgoblin Warlord - Monster Manual, p. 187 (CR 6)
  EncounTEr 10
  You walk through a dark eerie forest between the two 
  towns of Lakeward and Grassbarrow. Ahead you spot a 
  round lake surrounded by large weeping willows. You 
  have been walking for some time now and you need to 
  fill up on your water supply. 
  Besides, it seems like a quiet place to sit and have a 
  rest. The water is fresh, cold and clear. You can wash 
  yourself and freshen up. You might lie down in the 
  cool grass and unwind for a couple of minutes. 
  As you lie down under the weeping willow, you notice 
  a pair of boots hanging from the long branches of the 
  tree. Looking around you spot more boots, a backpack, 
  even arms dangling higher up. 
  That is when you see the green long vines coming 
  towards you from above as an alluring voice tauntingly 
  tells you to relax and just let nature embrace you. The 
  undergrowth starts to entangle you. 
  SourcE:
  You are under attack by (2D6) Vine Blights - Monster 
  Manual, p. 32 (CR ½) 
  EncounTEr 11
  Arriving at the rural village of Greenpeak the party 
  sees the whole village is out in the main square. 
  When they get closer they see it is a funeral wake. An 
  important lord has passed away. 
  Respectfully the party keeps to the back, then the 
  wife and kids step forward all dressed in a white robe, 
  and when the family stands around the body of the 
  deceased 4 man step forward dressed in red priestly 
  robes. They cut the throats of all 4 (wife and kids). 
  They catch them gently and put their dying bodies 
  next to the dead man. Then a large number of village 
  men lift the gurney and move to the outside where 
  they put the bodies on the funeralpire and burn them.
  Perception Check (DC 12) reveals that the mother and 
  kids were not coming along willingly but are forced by 
  the red clad cultists. The town is being harassed and 
  is under the control of these cultists who need the 
  sacrifices to still the hunger of their resurrecting god-
  like-being. 
  SPIcE IT uP
  Make the cult worship a Slaad. The Slaad is coming to 
  Greenpeak to wreak some havoc. The PCs are arriving 
  just in time to try and stop this or even defeat the 
  Slaad.
  capable level parties (lvl 3-5): 
  Red Slaad - Monster Manual, p. 276 (CR 5)
  Expert level parties (lvl 6-9):
  Gray Slaad - Monster Manual, p. 277 (CR 9) 
  SourcE
  Cultist - Monster Manual, p. 345 (CR ⅛)
  Cult Fanatic - Monster Manual, p. 345 (CR 2)
  (Cult) Priest - Monster Manual, p. 348 (CR 2)
  
  8
  EncounTEr 12
  All the baby girls in the village of Blackmeadow are 
  stolen from their parents in their first week on earth. 
  Within a week they are returned to the grieving 
  parents and all appears to be in order. This has been 
  going on for some time now.
  What the villagers do not know is that a coven of 
  hags lives nearby. They steal the babies during the 
  night and eat them. A week later the hags give birth 
  to a daughter themselves and the baby is returned, 
  seemingly unhurt. The way for hags to propagate. 
  Roundabout the time the adventurers arrive at 
  Blackmeadow the hags are completing a ritual that 
  will show the true nature of these girls. 
  SourcE:
  Expert level parties (lvl 6-9):
  Green Hag - Monster Manual, p. 177 (CR 3)
  Night Hag - Monster Manual, p. 178 (CR 5)
  The Girl’s will shed their skin at the witching hour 
  revealing mere shadows:
  Shadow - Monster Manual, p. 269 (CR ½)
  For stronger party’s replace the shadows for Wraiths - 
  Monster Manual, p. 302 (CR 5) 
  EncounTEr 13
  The party is hired by one of the local nobles: Duke 
  Symonet. They are to search down one Guibert the 
  Giant. A beast of a man, a barbarian, accused of many 
  horrid crimes, according to the noble. The reward is a 
  bag of gold each. Guibert is said to hide out in a log 
  cabin in the woods near the town of Icewick. 
  If the party decides to take the nobleman up on 
  his offer they soon find the cabin of Guibert on the 
  outskirts of town in the local forest. Upon arriving 
  Guibert will step outside, a bulk of a man with a broad 
  chest and huge arms. His mop of brown curls and big 
  beard make him even more intimidating. “Be gone”, he 
  bellows, “I have no quarrel with ya.” 
  He stands at ease with a two handed sword over his 
  shoulder. Should the party attack they will have some 
  trouble defeating this man. If Guibert is slain, his wife, 
  two sons and one daughter will run from hiding and 
  weep over the fallen Guibert. 
  Unbeknownst to the party Guibert used to serve in the 
  Duke’s army and he has information about the wicked 
  tastes of the Duke. If the party leaves the scene, 
  leaving the widow and children behind unattended, a 
  band of thugs will assault the grieving family and slay 
  them. 
  SEVErAL WEEKS LATEr
  Let the party move along. After some sessions ask 
  them to roll perception every now and then. On the 
  horizon they can see a large man lumbering forward 
  with a two handed sword. He is followed by a woman 
  and several children. 
  At the DM’s discretion the party is attacked by Guibert 
  and his family who have all turned into Revenants.  
  SourcE:
  Revenant - Monster Manual, p. 259 (CR 5)
  
  9
  EncounTEr 14
  As you walk up to the town of Beargate you meet a 
  man on the road. His hood is up and it is hard to see 
  his face, but it seems awfully white. You eventually 
  meet on the road and strike up a conversation. The 
  man keeps his hood up all the time and, upon closer 
  inspection, you notice he is wearing a white wooden 
  mask. If you ask about the mask he becomes agitated 
  and tells you to “Bugger off!” and he continues 
  walking. 
  You make your way into town and notice more people 
  wearing these white masks. About half of the people 
  on the street wear them. They look away if you look at 
  them. Some people are seen without masks and they 
  seem normal. 
  You make your way to the inn - The Smiling Snail 
  - and, after ordering your drinks, you question the 
  barkeep Thurgouk Stronghorn about the masks. 
  Some of the patrons also wear these masks and only 
  lift them shortly to take a sip. You see scarred flesh 
  underneath the masks and even some bone here and 
  there. 
  The barkeep bends over the counter and whispers. 
  “They are diseased. Nobody knows what causes it. But 
  it literally rots your flesh off. With some it is the lips, 
  others the nose. Some people lose a hand or their 
  feet. Your flesh is eaten away. To the bone.” 
  He shivers and leans in closer: “With some, their 
  private parts are completely rotted away.” Then he 
  leans back: “Even though you still get to live a couple 
  of months. In pain. Screaming. As you rot. Eventually 
  you just fall apart”, he adds with a shrug. 
  There appears to be no connection to zombies or 
  undead. 
  Disease - The Flesh Rot - 
  The creature’s flesh decays. The creature has 
  disadvantage on Charisma Checks and vulnerability to 
  all damage.
  PoSSIBLE SIDE QuESTS
  1. Someone has caused this disease? Who and why?
  2. A player catches the disease. The party needs to 
  find a way to cure it
  3. The local healer pleads the PCs to help him take 
  care of the townsfolk. It is getting too much to 
  handle. He is convinced something unnatural is 
  afoot.
  4. Some townsfolks have decided they need a 
  scapegoat. That sweet old lady at the edge of town 
  looks like a nice target. But she is innocent or is 
  she?
  5. There is a strange green rock just outside the town. 
  Has that always been there or is it new? Might it be 
  the cause of this ugly disease?
  6. A tribe of Xvart’s -  Volo’s guide to Monsters, p. 200 
  (CR ⅛) have settled next to Beargate, they have 
  spread this disease just out of malice.
  EncounTEr 15
  The usual dark smoke on the horizon does not bode 
  well. As you come nearer, you see another village - the 
  rural human town of Timberrest - has been raided. 
  Most of the inhabitants have been killed. Their homes 
  put to the torch. 
  In one of the houses you find a small boy named 
  Sarmul. Crying and terrified he tells you this is the 
  work of Kurgys the Usurper. An Eye of Gruumsh 
  that wears a cloak made of the skin of his defeated 
  enemies. He and his band of Orcs are getting bolder 
  and bolder as they raid. 
  His preferred method of celebrating his victory is 
  skinning the leaders of the village… alive. He points 
  you towards the town hall. From the large dark 
  wooden beams of the hall hang the skinned corpses 
  of what used to be the city council. 
  SourcE:
  Orc - Monster Manual, p. 246 (CR ½) 
  Orc, Warchief - Monster Manual, p. 246 9 (CR 2)
  Orc Eye of Gruumsh - Monster Manual, p. 247 (CR 2) 
  Orc Red Fang of Shargaas - Volo’s Guide to Monsters, 
  p. 185 (CR 3)
  THE SKIn cLoAK
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
  AC 16 (as barkskin spell)
  Assume Form. 1x/long rest you can become the victim 
  you just killed by adding part of the victims skin to the 
  cloak. Its form can be taken for 1d4+2 days.
  Moral Decay. Shift your disposition towards the world: 
  From Good to Neutral to Evil / Lawful to Chaotic. This 
  occurs instantly, the effect will be permanent after 
  attunement.
  EncounTEr 16
  A small earthquake hits the region the party is 
  traveling through. Although the party is rocked about 
  and some trees fall, nothing out of the ordinary has 
  happened. They continue to the dwarven settlement of 
  Dhimbihr still some days travel away. 
  
  10
  As they arrive at Dhimbihr the party begins to hear 
  rumors. People from the town keep disappearing as 
  they go to fetch their daily water supply from the old 
  well. They are seen bending over the well, nodding 
  and then descending down into it. Then nothing is 
  ever seen or heard of them. The party is asked to 
  investigate. People are terrified to even touch the 
  water let alone drink it and they are getting thirsty. 
  The well is their only water supply.
  As the party approaches the well black vapor tentacles 
  start seeping from it. Wherever these tentacles touch 
  a surface they seem to materialize and stick to it like 
  rubbery black vines. They bubble and swirl black and 
  green. It starts enveloping the area of the well.  
  Something ancient has been sleeping for decades in a 
  cave at the bottom of the well. It has been awakened 
  by the earthquake. 
  SourcE:
  novice level parties (lvl 1-2):
  Grey ooze - Monster Manual, p. 243 (CR ½)
  capable level parties (lvl 3-5):  
  Corrupting ooze - Tome of Beast (Kobold Press), p. 311 
  (CR 5)
  Expert level parties (lvl 6-9):
  White Maw - Tales from the Yawning Portal, p. 248  
  (CR 10)
  Legendary level parties (lvl 10+):
  Spawn of the demon Lord Juiblex - Mordenkainen’s 
  Tome of Foes, p. 150. (CR 23)
  DM’S noTE:
  Adjust the encounter to fit the monster. Encounter was  
  made for legendary level parties. The others are 
  suggestions to make it easier to adapt to lower level 
  parties.
  EncounTEr 17
  The party arrives late at night at the town of Tunbury. 
  It is dark and the tired party is in search of food and a 
  room to spend the night. Suddenly they hear a series 
  of loud explosions. Soon thereafter the sewer covers 
  are blown off. Gouts of flames following them in a jet 
  stream. As soon as it happens the flames die out again 
  followed by the clanging and thuds of the iron covers. 
  They hit the surrounding area, passersby, the streets 
  and buildings, causing severe damage all around. 
  Small fires start all over town and soon the street 
  is filled with townsfolk stunned and dazed by what 
  happened. They recover quickly and start to put out 
  these fires. The PCs help, but more flames appear at a 
  dozen other locations (sewer entrances). 
  These are living flames and they start attacking the 
  bystanders. 
  EXPLoSIonS
  Flammable Gasses in the sewers set off these 
  explosions. 
  DM’S STorY oPTIon:
  1. A random portal to the elemental plane of fire 
  opened underneath the town.
  2. A bored Efreet made a portal and is watching and 
  relishing in the mayhem it causes.
  3. A summoning went awry and a rift formed in the 
  sewers, allowing the fire elementals to emerge. 
  This sets off the flammable gasses underneath the 
  town.
  4. The head of the Firewatch, after warning the 
  rulers of town about the town’s vulnerability, 
  hired a wizard to summon a small fire elemental. 
  The wizard was not strong enough to contain the 
  elemental. Which led to these events.
  5. Other...
  SourcE
  Fire Elemental - Monster Manual, p. 125 (CR 5)
  ALTErnATE VErSIonS:
  1. Use Water elementals, and replace the explosions 
  with torrents of water flooding the (lake/river) town 
   
  Water Elemental - Monster Manual, p. 125 (CR 5) 
   
  Drowning 
  After 1+(con bonus) minutes of holding your breath 
  underwater you fall unconscious, your hit points 
  fall to 0, and you begin making your death saving 
  throws as per the standard rules. However, if 
  you become stable there is a problem. If you are 
  still under water you can’t remain stable. So you 
  must start making death saving throws again. This 
  continues until you die. Unless you are saved in 
  some way.
  2. A quake deep underneath the town opened a 
  pocket of poisonous gasses, that now slowly engulf 
  the town. The PCs need to close this rift before the 
  town is lost. It’s very hard to breathe down there. 
  Can they close the rift before they suffocate or 
  succumb to the poison? 
   
  Poisoned 
  A poisoned creature has disadvantage on Attack 
  rolls and Ability Checks. 
   
   
  
  11
  Suffocating 
  A creature can hold its breath for a number of 
  minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier 
  (minimum of 30 seconds). When a creature runs 
  out of breath or is choking, it can survive for 
  a number of rounds equal to its Constitution 
  modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its 
  next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and 
  it can’t regain hit points or be stabilized, until it 
  can breathe again. For example, a creature with a 
  Constitution of 14 can hold its breath for 3 minutes. 
  If it starts suffocating, it has 2 rounds to reach air 
  before it drops to 0 hit points.
  EncounTEr 18
  The town of Ledbury lies next to a large lake (Lake 
  Pemu). The population is dependent on this lake for 
  food. They also fish for export and trade. When the 
  party arrives, the town at first seems empty, but soon 
  they notice a large crowd gathered at the wharfs. The 
  people are chatting nervously, some are crying, others 
  stand dumbfounded watching the lake. 
  When the PCs look beyond the crowd they see the lake 
  is oddly silvery in color. It is then they realise that all 
  the fish and other water creatures are dead, floating in 
  the water. The towns people are ruined or so it seems, 
  but what has caused this event?
  DM’S STorY oPTIon:
  1. In the past days rumbling has been heard. An 
  underground volcano erupted. The sulfuric vapours 
  destroyed Lake Pemu’s aquatic life.
  2. A malicious evil cleric named Malcore has, with the 
  help of his cult ‘The Shroud’, poisoned the lake. 
  They opened a portal to an outer plane and let the 
  poison flow into the lake for weeks. The PCs must 
  find Malcore’s temple and stop the flow or the town 
  won’t recover.
  3. A quake (in the past month) has made it so that 
  salt water from the nearby sea flows into the lake 
  now. The aquatic life can’t survive in salt water and 
  is slowly dying.
  4. Underneath the lake is a cave, in hich lives an 
  Ancient Green Dragon. His breath is poisonous and 
  he has been waking up blasting his poison up into 
  the lake. Soon he wakes and will feast upon the 
  dead aquatic life floating, but thereafter will notice 
  the townsfolk...
  5. A wild magic pocket left by a passing-by sorcerer 
  named ‘Wild Seamus’ is infecting the lake with a 
  constant flow of necrotic energy. The PCs must 
  close this wild magic infused necrotic flow or the 
  town is lost.
  6. A local wizard named Silas the Hermit imprisoned 
  a Huge Fire Elemental, who wreaked havoc a while 
  ago. He found it a fitting punishment to imprison 
  the Elemental in the middle of the lake, the water 
  is slowly killing it. Alas the Elemental (Elder) is slow 
  in dying, he is heating the lake which is scalding 
  hot now killing the aquatic life.
  7. Other….
  SourcE:
  capable level parties (lvl 3-5):  
  Fire Elemental - Monster Manual, p. 125 (CR 5)
  Expert level parties (lvl 6-9):
  Adult Green Dragon - Monster Manual, p. 94 (CR 15)
  Legendary level parties (lvl 10+):
  Ancient Green Dragon - Monster Manual, p. 93 (CR 22)
  For MALcorE uSE THE FoLLoWInG STATS
  capable level parties (lvl 3-5):  
  Priest - Monster Manual, p. 348
  Expert level parties (lvl 6-9):
  War Priest - Volo’s guide to Monsters, p. 218 (CR 6)
  DM’S noTE:
  Don’t let Malcore fight the party alone, give him some 
  cultist allies, use the cultist stats as referred to in 
  encounter #11.
  EncounTEr 19
  You still have to deliver your charge, the merchant 
  Raimund’s niece Aillee, to her husband-to-be Georg 
  Munsun, a wealthy shipowner, in the port town of 
  Seaham. To make it in time for the wedding, the 
  party need to brave the road through the bogs of 
  Shar’da’rill. The bogs have an ill reputation and it is 
  rumored to be a hazardous journey, but it shaves 5 
  days of your traveltime.  
  It is a two day trip through the bogs, and on the 
  morning of the second day the party stumbles upon 
  hundreds of stakes set in the road. The stakes have 
  partly rotten remains of body parts: arms, legs, heads 
  and bodies. Crows eagerly pluck at these remains, 
  fighting and croaking loudly. 
  Recently a cannibalistic tribe of Blackscale Lizardfolk 
  have settled here in the area. They have been 
  following the party for a few hours and lie in wait to 
  take them, preferably to their high priest to sacrifice 
  them to their god Sess’innek. 
  All these lizardfolk wear grotesque face masks and 
  their adornments are made of body parts such as 
  fingers, toes and ears. 
  
  12
  Blackscale lizardfolk are larger and more brutal 
  Lizardfolk. They have a great affinity with acid and 
  use acid as a weapon to defeat their prey or foes. 
  They have prepared an ambush for the party buried 
  beneath camouflaged reed mats ready to strike.
  SourcE:
  Lizardfolk - Monster Manual, p. 204 (CR ½) 
  Lizardfolk Shaman - Monster Manual, p. 205 (CR 2) 
  ALTErnATE VErSIonS:
  Make the Shaman a Yuan-ti Nightmare Speaker - 
  Volo’s Guide to Monsters, p.205 (CR 4)
  Or
  Yuan-ti Abomination - Volo’s Guide to Monsters, p. 308 
  (CR 7) with the Variant Acid Slime.
  EncounTEr 20
  You are walking through a dense forest. The trees are 
  large, dark-green and tower into the sky. Around you 
  are green bushes and soft mosses. The shrubs are 
  healthy and offer plenty of fruit. 
  As you look ahead you notice something odd. Up 
  ahead is a brown, black patch in the forest. As you 
  move forward you notice that the shrubs have all 
  withered here, the trees have lost all their leaves. The 
  mosses are black and no wildlife can be heard. Even 
  the flies that have been buzzing around your head 
  seem to have disappeared. 
  Where you first found plenty of fruit, you only find 
  rotten and moldy apples, brambles and dried up 
  blackened berries. It is as if the whole area has been 
  contaminated. 
  Looking further ahead you notice the decay seems to 
  be following a straight line. Beyond it, the forest is fine 
  and healthy, but in this line all is dying and withering. 
  What could cause such destruction?
  SourcE: 
  Legendary level parties (lvl 10+):
  Sibriex - Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, p. 137 (CR 18)
  
  What lurks in the deep and dark dungeons?
  What horrors wait for you in the ancient temple?
  Will you ever get out from under the mountain again?
  As you walk through the tunnels deep in the earth 
  you hear a low rumble. The whole place around you 
  shakes. Nothing comes down from the ceiling, only 
  some dust. You do see cracks appearing here and 
  there. But the structure appears to be safe. There is 
  the faint smell of gas in the air... That is when you start 
  seeing very strange things.
  Investigate the disappearance of a large group of 
  people from a mining town. Find out what is behind 
  a dripping sound echoing through the tunnels. Look 
  inside the ancient temple that was built inside a 
  mountain. Look upon the burial grounds of Ice Giants.
  WHAT’S InSIDE?
  In this module, you will find 20 prompts you can use 
  at any time your party ventures underground. We offer 
  twenty fun, scary and disturbing encounters you can 
  throw at your party. A seasoned DM should have no 
  problem filling in these prompts. 
  MorE FroM nErDIcTED
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/20 Chillingly Creepy Encounters.pdf