The Three Witches
Overview:
In this encounter your PCs will be facing off against a number of witches in an abandoned farm house. They will summon ghouls that can overwhelm the players if they are not careful to keep the numbers down. The withes sit back lobbing spells, only appearing to summon more ghouls.
Initial Description:
As you walk into the dark room you hear a cacophony of hideous laughter. Looking around the you see three ugly etherial figures muttering dark incantations. Groups of ugly, deformed corpses slowly make their way towards you. Roll Initiative
Enemies:
FIRE WITCH
Fire dances upon this witches head as though it were hair. Bright red skin and flames dance about their body.
HP 100 AC 14 MOV 30ft
STR+2 DEX+4 CON+3 INT+4 WIS+4 CHA+4
Eldritch Sight 100ft - The witch can see in the dark and through an illusionary spell (invisibility, darkness, etc)
Attack: Ranged Magic (+7 to hit) 2d10 + 3 fire damage. When a creature is attacked they must make a DC 12 CON saving throw or take an additional 3d10 fire damage.
Ethereal Cloaking: The witch is not targetable using magic or physical attacks while etherial. She also is not affect by any spell cast in her area. Her etherial form drops when all of her fire zombies have been taken out. It takes her two actions to re-summon 2d6 fire zombies and restore her Ethereal Cloaking.
FIRE ZOMBIES
These partially rotted corpse appear to have bits of charred flesh. They seem to have an inner light which you can catch a glimpse of through their eyes or any other puncture mark in their body.
HP 10 AC 14 MOV 20ft
STR+4 DEX-2 CON+4 INT-3 WIS-3 CHA-3
Blood Sense 100ft - Zombies go after the nearest living creature each round. If a PC is downed they will continue to attack it until it is dead.
Attack: (+5 to hit) 1d6 bludgeoning damage. On a hit the target takes an additional 1d6 fire damage for each zombie that the target is engaged with.
PLAGUE WITCH
The plague has clearly taken root in the body of this witch. Sores ooze with puss, boils grow on top of one another, and the skin is pocked mark beyond recognition.
HP 130 AC 14 MOV 30ft
STR+2 DEX+4 CON+3 INT+4 WIS+4 CHA+4
Eldritch Sight 100ft - The witch can see in the dark and through an illusionary spell (invisibility, darkness, etc)
Attack: The Plague witch targets whichever of the platform has the highest number of PCs on it. Each PC needs to make a DC 14 CON saving throw. On a failure the character takes 2 points of CON damage.
Ethereal Cloaking: The witch is not targetable using magic or physical attacks while etherial. She also is not affect by any spell cast in her area. Her etherial form drops when all of her plague zombies have been taken out. It takes her two actions to re-summon 2d6 plague zombies and restore her Ethereal Cloaking.
PLAGUE ZOMBIES
These undead have limbs loosely held together by maggots. Flies buzz about them and their flesh moves and bulges as the insects inside of them move about.
HP 10 AC 14 MOV 20ft
STR+4 DEX-2 CON+4 INT-3 WIS-3 CHA-3
Blood Sense 100ft - Zombies go after the nearest living creature each round. If a PC is downed they will continue to attack it until it is dead.
Attack: (+5 to hit) 1d6 bludgeoning damage. On a successful hit the target must make a DC 12 STR or DEX check or be grappled
POISIN WITCH
A fouls smell accompanied by by a green oozing substance leaks from the skin of this witch and covers their body as though it were a layer of protection.
HP 120 AC 14 MOV 30ft
STR+2 DEX+4 CON+3 INT+4 WIS+4 CHA+4
Eldritch Sight 100ft - The witch can see in the dark and through an illusionary spell (invisibility, darkness, etc)
Attack: (+7 to hit) 3d6 poison damage. When a creature is attacked they must make a DC 12 CON saving throw or take an additional 2d6 poison damage and are poisoned.
Ethereal Cloaking: The witch is not targetable using magic or physical attacks while etherial. She also is not affect by any spell cast in her area. Her etherial form drops when all of her poison zombies have been taken out. It takes her two actions to re-summon 2d6 poison zombies and restore her Ethereal Cloaking.
POISIN ZOMBIES
These bloated rotted corpses smell foul from afar. Each wound made against them releases bits of noxious gas that make you feel as though you may pass out.
HP 10 AC 14 MOV 20ft
STR+4 DEX-2 CON+4 INT-3 WIS-3 CHA-3
Blood Sense 100ft - Zombies go after the nearest living creature each round. If a PC is downed they will continue to attack it until it is dead.
Attack: (+5 to hit) 1d6 damage. If the target is not poisoned it must make a DC 10 CON save or be poisoned. If the target is already poisoned on it’s next turn it may only take a move or an action, not both (bonus actions are still allowed).
Objectives:
Main: Kill the witches.
Map:
Overview:
The important feature of this map are the height of the different platforms (as depicted in the side view picture) and the spacing. They do need to be far enough apart that it takes two a few move actions to get from place to another. One thing that is not noted are the 2d6 of each zombie type. The zombies start on the platform with their corresponding witch. If PCs fall off the platform they hit acid which has the following properties: DC 15 CON Saving throw or 4d6 Acid damage, half as much on a success.
Special Mechanics:
Etherial Witches - The biggest special mechanic is the etherial property of the witches. Each witch controls their own collection of zombies. When those zombies are killed the witch drops their ethereal form. The witch then takes two actions re-summoning the zombies. At the end of the second action 2d6 zombies of their type are re-summoned and they re-gain their etherial form.
Extras:
How We Used it - We haven’t yet, but we are putting together a monster hunter game in which this and many other encounters may feature.
Inspirations, Shoutouts, and Thanks - We have been playing a large amount of Bloodborne recently. This idea came from one of the many encounters in that game.
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