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Keep Old Harth from taking the root-heart - AI-generated fantasy Encounter

Keep Old Harth from taking the root-heart

Encounters
Hold · Low · 4 players, level 5

Keep Old Harth from taking the root-heart

If Old Harth keeps the altar, the corruption consumes the root-heart and spreads through the grove.

Run the fight

Round
1
3–5 rounds
Creatures
1
Low

This round

Nothing planned.

Win The party interrupts the corruption and defeats Old Harth or forces him to retreat

Lose The party retreats or is overcome before interrupting the corruption

Party 4 players, level 5

System D&D 2024

Cheat sheet

Hold

Hold the altar long enough to interrupt the corruption: earn two successful DC 14 checks before two failures, then defeat Old Harth or drive him off.

Win

The party interrupts the corruption and defeats Old Harth or forces him to retreat.

Lose

The party retreats or is overcome before interrupting the corruption; the root-heart goes dark and the corruption spreads.

If it goes badly: Old Harth blocks the altar while the party withdraws toward the tree line; he does not pursue beyond the clearing.

Forces

  • 1 × Old HarthAC 15 · HP 110 · CR 5

Read aloud

Say this

Old Harth tears himself from the roots at the clearing's edge and charges the cracked altar. Black sap shines over the exposed heart as the ground bucks beneath your feet. He swings to keep you away from it.

Forces

1

  • Old Harth

    Bruiser

    1 of them
    AC
    15
    HP each
    110
    CR
    5

    Root-Bound · Grove Strider · Heart-Tether

    Opens
    Charge the nearest character approaching the altar and use Slam twice; use Engulf if a character is isolated.
    Targets
    The character examining the root-heart; otherwise, whoever is closest to the altar.
    Flees
    Withdraws when reduced to 20 hit points or fewer; he retreats into the tree line rather than fight to the death.
    Open the monster

What happens

3–5 rounds
  1. ·

    Initiative count 20, losing ties; choose one 10-foot square.

    Old Harth lashes the chosen square from below. Creatures there make a Dexterity save or take bludgeoning damage and have speed 0 until the start of the next round.

  2. ·

    The party earns two successful checks to understand how to interrupt the corruption before two failures.

    The black sap pulls taut across the heart, and the next root-snare does not affect anyone beside the altar.

The battlefield

Zones

  1. 1

    Altar25 ft

    Cracked stone altar around the exposed root-heart; altar provides half cover. Black sap coats the stone.

  2. 2

    Root clearing25 ft

    Knee-high roots make this difficult terrain. The ground is soft enough for root lashes to break through.

  3. 3

    Tree line25 ft

    The grove's close-set trees break sight lines and offer places to withdraw, but roots cross the ground.

What the party can use

At initiative count 20, roots lash one 10-foot square; creatures there make a DC 13 Dexterity save or take 1d6 bludgeoning damage and have speed 0 until the start of the next round.
If the party found the safe paths in the grove, show the targeted square before the roots erupt; characters can move out of it.
A character adjacent to the root-heart can use an action to attempt a DC 14 Intelligence (Nature), Intelligence (Religion), or Wisdom (Medicine) check.

Scaling

XP budget1,800 of 4,400 XP
Weaker

Low

One fewer Old Harth

Old Harth has 100 hit points; root lashes deal no damage, but still reduce speed to 0 on a failed save.
As written

Low

Stronger

High

One more Old Harth

Add one vine blight, which stays near the altar and uses its Entangling Plants to hinder anyone making checks.

Treasure

The altar's cracked stonework holds a few old silver offerings beneath the black sap.

Media

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Visual sheet

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