Gnarled Enemies Await You in the Gloom | Pre-order Now
It’s said that walking through forests can have a healing effect on the soul. The soothing energy bound within the trees has long been said to calm nerves, spark creativity, and exude feelings of peacefulness.
But not these trees! This is the Forest of the Damned, and being in the presence of these particular trees makes people unsettled and panicked...and may even leave them dead.
In ages past, this forest was young and thriving. A lush wildwood stretching for many miles and providing a home to countless woodland creatures, natural and supernatural, and to hearty folk who lived off the land. Nature worked in harmony within the abundant overgrowth to create a blissful sanctuary.
Then, seemingly overnight, everything changed. A malignant shadow crept over the woods, infecting every plant and animal, transforming this once gentle haven into a place where nightmares roam.
The forest is now a place of darkness and despair, where the very shadows seem to move of their own accord. The trees creak and groan as if in agony, the thick canopy overhead casts a perpetual gloom, and the ground is littered with bones and other signs of violence—some from long ago, and some fresh. The creatures that dwell within the forest are as gnarled and diseased as the trees, their forms distorted and monstrous. They lurk in the shadows, waiting for unsuspecting travelers to wander into their domain.
A constant sense of dread pervades the air itself in Epic Encounters: Forest of the Damned, as thick as the canopy overhead.
Take your party on their first steps through this dark and foreboding forest, in a D&D 5e encounter sure to strike the fear of nature itself into their very souls. Gnarled enemies formed of the very foliage and earth around their feet await them in the shadows.
Complete with 17 stunningly detailed minis, designed and developed for this haunting warband encounter. Epic Encounters: Forest of the Damned brings six new enemy types to your table.
Sprout Scout
Sprout Scouts are archers who blend seamlessly into the forest, often serving as lookouts. Tall and lithe, these treefolk are covered in armour made of bark, and their arrows are tipped with sap-based poison.
Sapling Warrior
Sapling Warriors are hardier than the scouts, and are fierce hand-to-hand combatants. Covered in thick wooden plate armour, they barrel into foes to knock them off their feet, before pummelling the downed defender with heavy fists.
Seedling Warlock
Seedling Warlocks are magic users that are adept at controlling the battlefield, steering the player characters into range of the scouts’ bows, or the warriors’ fists. Draped in thorny vines and wielding an arcane staff, the warlocks are more fragile than the other creatures, and typically remain at the back of any fight.
Bramblekin
Magically formed from fallen leaves and rotten branches on the forest bed, each Bramblekin looks like a shambling monstrosity, their bodies dominated by a gaping maw, and minds by a desperate and insatiable hunger.
Dark Dryad
Neither good nor evil, the Dark Dryads are the defenders of the forest’s inner glades, using their magical abilities to enchant and deter trespassers. They can be friend as well as foe—in rare instances, it’s possible to convince the dryads to allow the party passage, but only if they feel the motivations of the party are to protect the forest.
Evil Treant
Evil Treants are dangerous creatures that have been corrupted by foul magic, and dwell only in the darkest depths of the forest. Each creature is surrounded by a malevolent aura, assailing those that would seek to do them harm with sickening energy that threatens to choke and decay all hint of life.
Forest of the Damned and Glade of the Evil Oak are the latest releases in the Epic Encounters range. Just like other Epic Encounters sets, they’re designed to work both as standalone encounters (providing ideal D&D 5e one-shot adventures), as well as alongside each other as part of an epic, longer campaign.
Created to save experienced Game Masters time, and to give new Game Masters an easy way to add thrilling adventures to their roleplaying campaigns, every Epic Encounters set is a complete D&D 5e adventure-in-a-box that includes everything from stats, story hooks, and tips to battle maps, tokens, and of course, highly detailed miniatures.
Each set offers scalable encounters to fit with any level of adventuring party or campaign. Whilst bosses (such as our huge Evil Oak) have suggested attack patterns, with unique behaviour and special rules to keep things interesting and make for cinematic and spectacular battles.
Whether you’re a time-strapped GM or a new GM still learning the ropes, these sets are the perfect addition for your game nights, that’ll take care of all that hard work for you.
Forest of the Damned and Glade of the Evil Oak are available to pre-order now.
Don’t forget to join us and other adventurers over in the Steamforged Games Discord.
Miniatures shown are painted by Electric Eve. Epic Encounters minis are supplied unpainted.
