03/27/2023

As the party of adventurers travels through the rugged mountain passes, they suddenly come across a group of fierce orc raiders led by their chieftain, a brutal warrior known as Gruumsh Eye-Gouger. The orcs are armed with heavy battleaxes and crude spears, and they immediately rush towards the party, bellowing war cries and hurling insults.

The party must fight hard to overcome the orcs and their fearsome leader, who is a formidable foe with incredible strength and skill in battle. However, if the party emerges victorious, they can search the orcs’ camp and find a stash of stolen loot, including gold, precious gems, and magical items.

Among the loot is a powerful magical weapon, a great axe that glows with a fierce, red aura. The weapon is incredibly sharp and can cleave through even the toughest armor with ease, making it a valuable addition to the party’s arsenal.

However, the weapon is cursed, and whoever wields it for too long will begin to hear whispers in their mind and feel a growing hunger for battle and bloodshed. The party must decide whether to keep the weapon and risk its dark powers or to leave it behind and seek less dangerous treasures.

Ok, first we need to lay out an encounter using terrain on the table along with some miniatures:

Here is something that we use for the encounter.

Terrain:

There is just enough space for the orcs to reach the party in a single move, but I made sure there is a chokepoint in the pass to keep the number of orcs that can attack in a single round down as long as the PCs take advantage of the terrain. I would also allow the PCs to climb the cliffs on the left side with athletics checks (DC 10) to get higher ground.

Orcs:

Depending on the level and number of PCs in the party, I would adjust the number of orcs in the enemy group. I would use a book like Ultimate Bestiary Revenge of the Horde 5E to make the orcs different from the standard orc in the Monster Manual. Gruumsh Eye-Gouger would be some sort of leader while the others in the group could be two or three different types of orcs.

The magical cursed great-axe could be a fun addition to the game as well. At lower levels, it could be a +1 berserker axe. At higher tiers of play, it could be even more fun. I would make it a +2 Great-Axe with the following curse:

Curse This great-axe is cursed, a fact that is only revealed when a creature attunes to it. While attuned to this great-axe you have disadvantage when using any weapon besides this great-axe and gain the following flaw: “I will not part from this great-axe under any circumstances.” You are cursed until you are targeted by remove curse or similar magic.

I might even add to the curse that unless the great-axe kills at least one opponent in a battle, it will cause 2d12 psychic damage to the user for displeasing it (the voices in the user’s head grow painfully loud).

Keep on gaming!