Friday Encounter: Fire in the Hole

This encounter may be used in any rural environment, preferably one settled by halflings. As always, feel free to adjust the details or background of this encounter to suit your campaign setting.

The Encounter

As the party comes over the crest of a hill, they notice smoke rising from a nearby field. If they inspect the scene more closely, they will discover that the smoke is billowing from the open door of a halfling burrow, tucked among some fields - and a crackling fire is raging inside!

Shortly thereafter, a rotund halfling farmer, Murdoch Knepp, runs from the door in a panic. It was fortunate that the party happened by just in time - it was only moments ago that a fire spread from the hearth to the rest of the burrow, and in the commotion, Murdoch ran for the door to save himself. He pleads with the PCs for help in retrieving the rest of his family from the fire (alternatively, if you want the PCs to investigate the fire and are not sure they will do so, you can have them run into Murdoch on his way down the road).

Making Murdoch's predicament more complicated is the fact that, like many halflings, his family is a large one - he lives with his elderly mother, his wife, his brother, and their three children (two sons and a daughter). All of them are still inside the burrow, and have succumbed to the smoke. They need to be rescued as soon as possible!

You may want to use Action Time for this encounter. If so, the party has a limited number of rounds in order to save all six halflings from inside, equal to the number of party members times 1.5, rounded down.

For each round a PC spends inside the burning burrow, they must make a DC 12 Constitution save. On a failed save, they will succumb to smoke inhalation and fall unconscious. Use the same rolls as those for retrieving the halflings if the PCs attempt to move their comrades.

Due to the thick smoke billowing through the burrow, a DC 10 Perception check is needed to navigate through its rooms. On a successful check, the PC finds 1d4 halflings that turn. Roll 1d6 on the following table to determine who they find, rerolling halflings already discovered.

1. Adlai, Murdoch's father

2. Ithra, Murdoch's wife

3. Silas, Murdoch's brother

4. Hiram, Murdoch's elder son, age 10

5. Hanan, Murdoch's younger son, age 8

6. Hosana, Murdoch's daughter, age 4

On one turn, a PC can either look for halflings or attempt to carry them outside, but not both. If they know the location of a halfling, they can attempt to carry them outside to safety.

• A medium-sized creature can carry one halfling, two halfling children, or one small-sized party member without penalty. They can carry two halflings, three halfling children, one medium-sized party member, or two small-sized party members in their turn, but must make their Constitution saves against smoke inhalation with disadvantage while doing so.
• A small-sized creature can carry one halfling child without penalty. They can carry one halfling, two halfling children, or one small-sized party member in their turn, but must make their Constitution saves against smoke inhalation with disadvantage while doing so.
• Two party members may choose to work together to transport the same victims, sharing the load. If so, they receive Advantage on their Constitution save against smoke inhalation. Additionally, two small-sized creatures working together can carry as much as one medium-sized creature, with the same rules applying.

PCs who cover their mouth with a damp piece of cloth receive Advantage on their Constitution saves against smoke inhalation. Creatures that do not need to breathe, for whatever reason, automatically pass their saves.

Some players may think outside the box when it comes to solutions for this encounter - for instance, using magic to create water and using that to put out the fire. Use your judgment on whether or not such solutions would be effective.

If the time limit elapses, the inside of the burrow is consumed by the fire and smoke, and all creatures still inside automatically die.

Further Developments

If at least one of Murdoch's family members are retrieved, he thanks the PCs and bids them his eternal gratitude. His family will need to stay at his sister's burrow (in a small village about a mile to the north) while the rest of the community rebuilds the damaged homestead, but the halflings of the village will see the PCs as local heroes, and will allow them to stay at any of their homes free of charge if passing through the area (and will give them plenty of food all the while). You may wish to mark the hex or point this encounter was obtained on, if using such mapping schemes, in case the players want to return to the village.

In addition, Murdoch will reward the party with 10 GP for every family member saved. If all the halflings were saved, he will also give them a cloak of elvenkind - a treasured family heirloom he was able to save from the fire, but one he feels will be in better hands with the party.

However, the halflings will learn to rely on the heroes they know they can trust. The village is in debt to a nearby warband of orcs, which they pay monthly tribute to in exchange for protection - but resources are growing scarce, and many of the villagers are growing restless. They know they could never stand a chance against the orcs themselves, but the PCs might be what they need to tip the scales - and should the PCs return to the village, the halflings will have a task for them...