Forests are the perfect starting venue for adventures; the foliage can hide monsters of all shapes and sizes, and the cover makes for perfect hiding places for criminals and cultists seek. These tables are here to provide you with inspiration or random encounters to drop on your players and add some more life to the forest environments in your worlds!
Sources
Each encounter focuses on a monster from throughout the D&D 5e library; to see what book or source they come from, you can consult the Book column. The sources unabbreviated sources are Basic Rules (BR), Monster Manual (MM), Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (MPMM), Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden (RoF), Out of the Abyss (OoA), Volo’s Guide to Monsters (VGM), and Storm King’s Thunder (SKT).
Forest Random Encounters
The following table provides random encounters for parties playing in various “tiers” of gameplay; they generally reflect encounters you can sculpt to work for tables within a level range. The Low-tier can work for levels 1-4, Mid-tier for levels 5-11, and the Upper-tier for levels 12+.
Low-Tier Adventuring Random Encounter Table
| d20 | Book | Encounter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BR | 1d4+3 awakened shrubs annoyed with travelers stepping on their branches |
| 2 | BR | 1d6+3 deer fleeing from 1d4+1 bandits hunting them with two mastiffs |
| 3 | MPMM | 1d4+1 boggles playing tricks on a camp of three scouts |
| 4 | BR | 1d6+2 twig blights shambling around their host tree hiding a vampire’s coffin |
| 5 | BR | 1d4+1 constrictor snakes lurking in the underbrush |
| 6 | BR | Two domesticated giant badgers carrying two gnome commoner merchants |
| 7 | BR | 1d6+2 giant wolf spiders in a twisted nest of webbing made to trap humanoids |
| 8 | BR | 1d4+1 goblins and a bugbear splitting their recent haul from a grand robbery |
| 9 | MPMM | 1d6+2 grung gatherers returning to their pond cummunity with satchels of food |
| 10 | MPMM | A green kobold inventor and 1d4+1 green kobolds with a trapped giant frog |
| 11 | BR | 1d4+1 sprites protecting a fairy ring from trespassers |
| 12 | MPMM | A trio of darklings and their darkling elder searching for a new home |
| 13 | BR | A nest of 1d4+2 giant wasps attacking the two gnoll trappers that bothered it |
| 14 | BR | A satyr performing on a tree stump, playing for a menagerie of beasts |
| 15 | MM | A vine blight lurking in the canopy with 1d4 needle blights beneath it |
| 16 | BR | Two dryads keeping an eye on the woodlands for their green hag overseer |
| 17 | MM | A mischievous pair of young and old faerie dragons tormenting a goblin |
| 18 | MPMM | 1d6+2 vegepygmy and a thorny vegepygmy dragging an infested elk corpse |
| 19 | MPMM | An awakened tree frustrated with the 2d4+2 squirrels that live in it |
| 20 | BR | An ettercap and two giant spiders wrapping squirming humanoid prey |
Mid-Tier Adventuring Random Encounter Table
| d20 | Book | Encounter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BR | 1d4+3 centaurs on a hunt |
| 2 | BR | 1d4+2 giant boars with two halfling druids looking for mushrooms |
| 3 | BR | Two wererats leading 1d4+3 bandits at their hideout camp |
| 4 | MM | A bugbear chief leading 1d6+2 bugbears in a festival dance |
| 5 | MM | 1d4+1 displacer beasts dragging their giant badger prey back to their cave |
| 6 | BR | An injured gold dragon wyrmling captured by 2d4+3 green kobolds |
| 7 | BR | A green hag and her assorted 2d4+2 vine, twig, and needle blights |
| 8 | BR | Two owlbears shaking down a tree to get the stirge nest at the top |
| 9 | MBMM | 1d4+3 redcaps unsated by the gnomish village they rampaged through |
| 10 | BR | A werewolf and its pack of 1d6+2 wolves following it as their pack leader |
| 11 | MBMM | A stegosaurus out of time |
| 12 | BR | A wereboar with its giant boar pet and posse of 1d4+3 bandits |
| 13 | BR | Two shambling mounds basking in an open glade |
| 14 | BR | A unicorn grazing blissfully in harmony with the birds and critters around it |
| 15 | BR | A werebear bounty hunter their two black bear animal companions |
| 16 | MBMM | A venom troll and two troll underlings poisoning a river to kill the riverside town |
| 17 | MBMM | A korred and its 1d4+2 pixie allies perfoming a fey ritual to bring stone to life |
| 18 | BR | A young green dragon and its 1d6+3 green winged kobold lackeys |
| 19 | BR | A guardian naga protecting an abandoned yuan-ti temple |
| 20 | MBMM | Three treants meeting to discuss what to do about the encroaching humans |
Upper-Tier Adventuring Random Encounter Table
| d6 | Book | Encounter |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MPMM | An archdruid and 1d6+3 assorted giant badgers, boars, elk, and other beasts |
| 2 | MPMM | A dire troll and three rot trolls who’ve claimed the forest as their own |
| 3 | MPMM | A green hag death coven who are blighting the land and reanimating the beasts |
| 4 | BR | An adult green dragon and its enslaved 1d6+3 treants attacking a village |
| 5 | BR | An adult gold dragon wounded from its losing fight with a nagpa |
| 6 | BR | The ancient green dragon who’s lair resides below the gargantuan central tree |
