I was recently kicking around a game set in a deep forest. While it didn’t pan out, I did manage to salvage a few set pieces that can be dropped into your game as landmarks or adventure sites.

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The Spire:
A massive petrified tree standing over the rest of the treetops. Hollow on the inside, it has on occasion been a bandit fortress and a wizard’s tower. It would make an excellent druid’s keep, or lair for the monster of the week.

The Runestones:
A collection of overgrown boulders, rolled into a complex geometric pattern and carved with weathered runes. They may be a map of the stars, a calendar, or a seal to keep a demon trapped in another dimension. No one knows, but their nature tends to attract casters and outsiders.

The Oubliette:
This might have at one point been a well or cistern for an isolated cottage. Now it’s a dangerous vertical drop obscured by vegetation. At the bottom is mercifully a pool of water and a small series of natural caverns. What was that noise? Is there something down here with you?

The Lightning Rod:
What is it about this old tree that attracts lighting strike after strike? The tree is long dead and it’s outer layer is hardened ash. The ground around it is scorched and bare of vegetation. Breezes stir up ash clouds. The entire area seems devoid of life.

The Gibbet:
A man sized cage hangs from a large tree. It’s heavy iron bars are badly corroded, and it’s door is stuck. Carrion birds and strange noises haunt the area. A few human looking bones can be found beneath the sod under the cage.

What are some interesting set pieces you’ve used in your games, and what horrible fate befell your PCs there? Let us know in the comments below.