These encounter ideas work on any game system although some terminology such as sizes refer to 5th edition d&d. They do not have stat blocks so you will need to create them from scratch or use existing creatures and modify them as you see fit.
A classic encounter to throw at your players but with a sizable twist. This creature is huge in size, easily spanning 15-20ft across (including its legs) and 10-15ft tall. This beast might have become this way as a freak accident, a magical experiment or even a new terrifying species set to take over, the choice is yours.
Use the classic implementation of thick sticky webbing around it’s lair to make both travel inside and combat inside a much more dangerous endeavor. Webs can also block line of sight and contain additional eight legged foes!
If you want to add or twist or two, consider making the weather incredibly wet so the webs won’t burn quickly or at all. Maybe your spider has powers of mind control or persuasion to aid others in defending it, potentially even through means of poisoning. Giving them innocents to save can always ramp up the tension…
An unseen monster lies amongst the crops in the farm fields, feeding off of the vegetables nutrients until their hunger and desire to consume grows exponentially.
How this ‘thing’ has arrived here is for you to choose, however some examples could be an alien organism brought by a meteor shower, a parasite that has made its way up from the underdark or a deliberate sabotage by an unknown group or individual.
This monster is hungry and it needs bigger prey than mere veggies to satisfy it. Infected crops are harvested, many used as ingredients in local cuisine and drinks, where the infection is passed on to those who consume them. Those with a particularly weak constitution are drawn to the pumpkin fields at night and walk straight into the creature's lair, never to be seen again. All evidence consumed or buried by the time daylight comes.
When the monstrous creature is discovered or unearthed it is revealed to be an enormous mass of vegetable matter and human remains, with numerous vine-like tentacles that it will fight with trying to grab targets and force them into its open, dark, vacuous maw.
Many years ago, an elf was cursed and sealed away in a tomb by a jealous unrequited lover. She was cursed to remain there until saved by her ‘hero’ who never came. Now a vengeful spirit lingers in the tomb, opened by those seeking treasure and breaking the magical seal. Now set free in search of the one who imprisoned her, stopping at nothing to get her revenge and bring destruction to all in her path.
This encounter is nothing out of the ordinary in many fantasy settings so let’s spice it up a little! Perhaps the magic keeping her trapped is still intact while the physical barrier has been removed, every night the ear-piercing screams and wails can be heard from the nearby settlement and they want somebody to sort it out for them.
The banshee instead might be freed completely but the settlement is just out of reach for how far she can travel from her tomb, every night she gets as close as possible trying to lure the descendants of her imprisoner to their demise. Whispering into the night or projecting alluring illusions from afar.
Members of a village are plagued by troubled nights, vivid nightmares and strange hallucinations during the day. Nobody has been able to find the cause behind everything and now the village is suffering with exhausted workers making mistakes, seeing things that aren’t there and slowly being driven mad. In some cases they are even attacking one another or passers through, thinking they are monstrous creatures. They are desperately seeking help, willing to do anything it takes to go back to normal.
A strange fungus of the underdark has made its way into the town's water supply, affecting all those drinking from it. The only way to get to it is to descend to the bottom of the well and investigate.
This presents interesting situations for the players, the well being full of water for one. Consuming this water is also going to be dangerous and have a chance of causing madness in the players as well. A good twist might be after a thorough investigation they find the fungus but it hasn’t penetrated through from the underdark but instead been dropped in the well on purpose.
The last encounter on the list can take as much of a dark twisted turn as you want to give it although it is important to establish if your players are on board before you begin.
A fairly novice practitioner of magic has managed to fail an attempt at bringing a loved one back from the dead, incorrectly casting the spell, mutating the corpse into a disfigured mass of torn flesh and parts. This fleshy monstrosity has been imbued with the power of animation and given a new sense of ‘life’ as an undead creature. It seems to be focused on one thing, mindless destruction, seemingly able to sense the presence of the living and focusing their rage onto them.
This monstrosity seems to be able to consume living creatures and expand its size and power with each one. After consuming three unsuspecting individuals on the outskirts of town and almost doubling in size to a large creature, it heads towards town sensing a great source of energy to consume.
To add a little more...horror to the encounter you could have those consumed become active parts of the new creature, granting it extra arms, legs, faces in all manner of places. Give these new faces a horrifying rasping scream in addition and you’re bound to give out some chills.
If you like the sound of creating your own homebrew content like the examples above then you should check out the homebrew course below or ask any questions you may have!