The Thornpath Ambush
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Fern TrailRoot BridgeMarked Grove
Combat EncounterDND5E 2024Party L4 · 5 PCs
The Thornpath Ambush
Read Aloud
The narrow path buckles as blue-green light pulses through three split trees. Ferns whip across your legs, hounds burst from the vines, and a mound of thorny roots heaves itself upright. The grove is feeding on the scars, and every step toward one makes the roots tighten.
Forces
Battlefield Zones
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Fern Trail
A cramped trail choked with waist-high ferns; the first leyline scar glows across the path.
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Root Bridge
A root bridge spans a dark ravine; vines hang low enough to grab or cut.
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Marked Grove
Three marked trees crowd the trail, each split by a pulsing blue-green scar.
Terrain Levers
- Disrupt a glowing leyline scar with a successful DC 13 Nature, Arcana, or Survival check; three successes end the encounter.
- Sever corrupted roots beneath a marked tree with an action and a successful DC 14 check; the next bramble surge does not occur.
- A creature shoved onto an unstable root bridge must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or fall 10 feet into tangled undergrowth.
- Pull down hanging vines to create difficult terrain in a 10-foot square.
- Protecting a marked tree prevents the next wave of thornlings from emerging.
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