In part one of The Altar of the Green Man, the party visited the village of Novos. The residents of this small agricultural community hired the adventurers to get to the bottom of some strange happenings.

Farmers harvesting their crops noticed that something was wrong with the soil. Others reported signs of an odd blight. Evan more puzzling was the fact that grain dollies (crude dolls made of grain to represent the spirits of the harvest) have been disappearing from people’s homes.

Following some investigations around the village, the party learned about the Green Man, a revered figure who represents the spirit of nature and fertility in the region. Followers of the old ways once left offerings at an ancient altar to the Green Man, to ensure a bountiful harvest.

• A village elder suggested the party travel into the forest to seek out the old altar and leave a humble offering.
• A less reputable villager also mentioned having seen strange little creatures coming out of the woods at night.

The journey out to the location of the altar should only take a couple hours. However, the villagers will gladly supply the party with any mundane gear needed for the trip. In addition, Sister Elena will provide the party with a number of remaining grain dollies to take with them as an offering at the altar.

What the Party Doesn’t Know

A green hag by the name of Agatha Verdantmire is behind the blighted crops. Taking great delight in corrupting the natural order of things, the twisted fey creature is feeding upon the misery and suffering of the village. Her plan is to spread a blight across the region until the people of Novos are forced from their homes. To assist her in her cruel machinations, she has enlisted the aid of some creatures from the fey realm. These foes are unique to my game, so I will provide you with a brief description and you can create stats as you see fit.

• The Gnarr: Standing nearly 10’ tall, this creature resembles a misshapen tree. It plods along at movement rate of 15’ (3 squares). The Gnarr swings its branches for defense and also has the ability to cast entangle twice per day. Damage from fire sources will cause double damage to this creature.

• Toadstool Sporelings: These diminutive horrors are what Agatha has been using to spread her blight to the nearby farms. At 30” in height, these creatures are what Anton saw dancing around in the farm. They move at 30’ and could be considered as minions (will drop with a single hit). While not physically intimidating, the Sporelings drip a contact poison that affects anything they touch. In addition, they have circular rows of sharp teeth under their caps. On a hit, the sporeling attaches to the target. While attached, the sporeling doesn’t attack. Instead, at the start of each of the sporeling’s turns, the target loses hit points due to blood loss.

Agatha stumbled onto the altar of the Green Man months ago and has been working to corrupt it ever since. The Green Man’s influence over the region has long ensured bountiful harvests. By tainting his altar, the wicked hag aims to weaken his power and clear the way for her magical blight to spread unchecked across the land.

In a desperate attempt to seek help, the spirit of the Green Man caused the grain dollies to disappear from homes across the village. This unexplained phenomenon was a plea for aid, a sign that something was terribly wrong.

The Encounter

The gully where the altar is located is fairly easy to find. However, the party likely won’t be expecting what they find when they arrive.

After crossing a small creek and arriving at location #1, the characters will be aware that things feel a bit off. The sounds of their movement and any conversation that may be taking place is oddly muffled here. Looking forward into the clearing, describe the trees and any other vegetation as having a bizarre appearance. The colors are unnatural and vibrant shades of pinks and lavender. Finally, characters who are sensitive to such things will be aware that there is primal magic at work here.

While game statistics should not be altered, the audio and visual abnormalities will increase as the party nears the altar. Views seem to elongate, colors become more unnatural, and sounds more muffled.  

Ahead, the party will see Agatha situated behind the altar, gesticulating wildly. She appear as an emaciated woman, with mossy green skin. Her long, tangled hair is an unruly mass of leaves and twigs, and her claw-like fingers are tipped with sharp, jagged nails. She is dressed in tattered robes. As she sees the party she will bark out a command in a guttural language. At this point you should instruct your party to roll for initiative.

Two tree stumps (areas #2 & #3) will flare with an eerie yellow light. From each of these a toadstool sporeling will emerge and move to engage the party. The stumps are portals to the fey realm and will each produce another sporeling at the top of every round. These little combatants only have 1 hp each. They are easily dealt with but will add up quickly if the party is not careful. If the stumps themselves are targeted and dealt 5 hp of damage, the portal will be destroyed and prevent further combatants from joining the fray.

The Gnarr will step out from behind a small tree (location #4) and start moving to get between the party and the altar. The creature has been instructed to protect the hag and it will act accordingly. Its initial strategy will be to use its entangle ability to root the party, creating a situation where they are overrun by sporelings.

Agatha Verdantmire is cowardly. If it appears that her minions have the upper hand in the struggle, she will use her at will vicious mockery ability to hinder the party. However, if the tide shifts she will flee immediately, using invisible passage to make her escape.

The Aftermath

If the party succeeds in defeating (or running off) the hag and her minions, the strange audio and visual effects will fade immediately. Furthermore, placing the grain dollies Sister Elena gave them onto the altar of the Green Man will fill characters with a feeling of peace.

Over the course of the next 4 hours, the trees in the area will slowly revert back to their natural colors from the bizarre shades of shades of pinks and lavender. While there will not be any immediate proof of this, the crops in the fields surrounding Novos will heal over time. The following year’s yield will be off by a bit. However, it will be nowhere near as catastrophic as if would have been if the hag’s plan had come to fruition.

Keep in mind that hags are vengeful creatures. Assuming that Agatha Verdantmire made her escape, she will not likely forget about the party of adventurers who meddled with her plans. She will start plotting immediately, trying to devise some wicked way to make them suffer.

Conclusion

That is all for now. Thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope you find the seeds of something here that you can use for a future game. If you do, please take a minute to let me know in the comments below.

Finally, as of this writing (11/9/23) I have a couple invite codes for Bluesky Social. If you would like one, please let me know.

For more maps & plot hooks, go here.

For some random tables, go here.

Want to help me to compile a list of TTRPG conventions? Click here.

Finally, for a bit about me and some general stuff, this is the spot.