Players! Want to play this quest? Stop reading and notify your DM. Save the fun for the game-table!Running this quest
As you are walking through the forest you notice a patch of ground where many different flowers are growing. Between the flowers you see pieces of wood lay scattered about. When you come closer they appear to be wooden planks and pieces of wooden furniture. Most of them are rotten and grown over with moss. You also see rooftiles, some broken window glass and remnants of what used to be curtains. There is no walls or foundation here, but these seem to be parts of a house.
Any further investigation of the ground reveals some pots, broken vials, remnants of books, rusty cutlery and laboratory instruments. The flowers look as if someone seeded this area. Players must look upward to find the treehouse, for instance with a DC15 perception check.
High up in the tree, just underneath the canopy, you see some branches twisting together. There appears to be some kind of structure built between them. It looks as though the rubble on the floor is falling from up there. The trees around you are huge and have no easy climable surface.
The house is 40 ft up in the tree. Climbing the tree is considered moving accross difficult terrain, so players move at half speed unless they succeed a DC15 Nature or Survival check. Basically, they need to make about two checks before reaching the treehouse. Failing a check means you slip and fall down taking fall damage.
When you reach the treehouse, you can see it is quite big. It is completely made out of wood and is built between several large branches, some of which seem to grow right through it. The house is round, like a tower, and has two stories. The pointy roof is made of green rooftiles and has partly collapsed. The bottom is built into a round point as well. Around the house you can see some metal pipes, wooden levers and ropes running through loops and old pulleys. Everything is wet, partly rotten and overgrown with mosses. In front of you is a small porch and behind it you see broken windows and an open door. Inside it looks completely dark.
Succeeding a DC20 investigation check outside of the house reveals runes carved into the tree. They belong to the schools of Abjuration and Transmutation. They’re meant to protect the treehouse. If players try to remove or otherwise disable te runes, the tree will shake violently. To avoid falling down players must succeed a DC25 Acrobatics check.
The inside of the house is dark and damp. It smells of wet wood and fungus. There are holes in the floor and walls, and some of the furniture has broken. The wooden floor is slippery and creeks when stepped on. There are cupboards and cabinets with along the wall, and an old reading chair near a fireplace built from clay. The fireplace holds a black pot. There’s a table in the middle that has a clay bowl on it. A large branch grows straight through the room and curls upward. Built against it is a stairway that leads up.
Upon further investigation, players can determine: the cupboards hold a couple of clay plates, some rusty cutlery and two clay cups. It also holds a small, round, glass bottle with a cork that still seems to be intact. It holds seven servings of a strong liquor. A cabinet holds some books, but they are old and rotten. Most will fall apart on touch, but succeeding a DC20 investigation check you can find two books (alternative), both fictional. The black pot in the fireplace holds a dried up stew, now overgrown with funghi (eating this can give any random effect, if you like). The table holds a clay bowl filled with the same driep up stew.
The second floor seems more damaged. A part of the back wall and the roof is missing. You can see a desk, filled with flasks, pots, small boxes and other containers. You also see some rusty spoons and some kind of tweezers or clamps, and some papers on the desk. Next to the desk is a table with broken lab equipment. There is some kind of assembly of flasks and tubes built, but is has fallen apart. Some clamps are hanging from the ceiling above it, holding up parts of a metal frame. Broken glass is everywhere. On one of the walls you can see rotten remains of plants and animal hides. A plank on the wall is filled with small animal skulls and books and scrolls.
Upon further investigation, players can determine: the desk holds some small boxes, one of which is locked. If you succeed a DC15 sleight-of-hand check or have lockpicking tools, you can open the box to find a large jade gem worth 500GP. The plank holds some scrolls that fall apart on touch, except for two scrolls of greater restoration. Amongst the books you find three that are readable:
- Accumulated Lectures on Animals, 312 pages, 12 GP, Elvish
(when read you get a +1 bonus to Animal Handling) - Rudimentary Etiquette of the Giant Lexicon, 339 pages, 40 GP, Dwarvish
(when read you get a +1 bonus to Performance) - Fundamental Erudition on the Ancient History of the World, 594 pages, 24 GP, Elvish
(when read you get a +1 bonus to History)
Risks and Rewards
Players risk falling down or getting trapped or even killed by the tree itself. The reward is not material, since the treehouse won’t let you leave with anything. Therefore the reward lies in information (such as a letter, password, etc) or a function (such as some special machine or shrine). You can integrate this with your main quest.
Player Options
Some players may try to steal treasure. Any physical means to do this (such as throwing it down, or putting it in a bag of holding) will fail. The tree will create a netting of branches to stop it from leaving the house. The only way to do this is to teleport out of the treehouse when holding the item. In this case you must succeed a DC25 stealth check to avoid being incapacitated by the tree.
Some players may wish to destroy the treehouse, or disable it somehow. The tree will protect itself from harm by disabling the creatures that attack it. It can sprout branches that can grasp and restrain attackers (incapacitate), muffling their voice with leaves or even choking them. The tree will release anyone after some time, provided they have stopped their attack. Any truly damaging ranged attacks or attacks with fire will awaken several Treants nearby (as much as you need, really). They will attack to protect the area and will not persue if the players flee. Optionally, beating the Treants and burning down the treehouse will grant the players any fire-proof treasure that was in the house.
Monsters and NPC's
Treant
Huge plant, chaotic good
Armor class 16 (Natural Armor)
Hit points 138 (12D12+60)
Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23 (+6) | 8 (-1) | 21 (+5) | 12 (+1) | 16 (+3) | 12 (+1) |
Damage Vulnerabilities Fire
Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing
Senses Passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Druidic, Elvish, Sylvan
Challenge 9 (5000 XP)
False Appearance. While the treant remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a normal tree.
Siege Monster. The treant deals double damage to objects and structures.
Actions
Multiattack. The treant makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 16 (3d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, range 60/180 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d10 + 6) bludgeoning damage.
Animate Trees (1/Day). The treant magically animates one or two trees it can see within 60 feet of it. These trees have the same statistics as a treant, except they have Intelligence and Charisma scores of 1, they can’t speak, and they have only the Slam action option. An animated tree acts as an ally of the treant. The tree remains animate for 1 day or until it dies; until the treant dies or is more than 120 feet from the tree; or until the treant takes a bonus action to turn it back into an inanimate tree. The tree then takes root if possible.
Read more information on Treeants over at DNDBeyond or check the Basic Rules pg. 351
