Witch’s Cottage A 1st Level Dungeon
Written and Designed by Jesse Gazic
Summary
This dungeon details the cottage of Halia Whitethorn,
a witch who lives deep within a thick and dangerous
wood. Halia has spent the last few decades learning
the art of potion brewing, creating potent concoctions
through a combination of forest plants and her own
arcane powers. PCs can explore her yard and the
interior of her cottage before discovering the trapdoor
to her hidden underground workshop, where they
will confront the witch of the forest herself!
How to Use This Dungeon
This dungeon is suitable for use with the 5th edition
1
of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game.
(The word “dungeon” is used here to refer to a set of
linked encounters in the same time and place.) GMs
are encouraged to adjust any element of this dungeon
to better suit their needs.
The first section of this text provides a breakdown
of each area of the dungeon and any encounters
therein. Italicized text at the start of each entry should
be read aloud to players. Shaded boxes contain
additional notes.
The subsequent section contains a map of
all encounter areas, as well as short profiles for
characters appearing in this dungeon. GMs should
familiarize themselves with all of the information in
this document before introducing this dungeon into a
campaign.
Approaching the Cottage
“The trees clear to reveal a squat, ramshackle cottage
in the dead centre of a small meadow. On the west side
of the house, a figure slowly tends a large vegetable
garden. At the northern edge of the clearing stands a
decrepit outhouse, and to the south you see a low stone
well.”
The following section details the exterior and first floor
of the cottage, which is 15 feet wide, 30 feet long, and
10 feet tall.The well and the outhouse are functional
but contain nothing of interest.
1. Garden
“The garden is quite large, spanning the entire length
of the cottage. Colourful flowers and fat mushrooms
grow in dutiful rows, while bushes bearing swollen
berries droop from raised planters. A tired gnome
woman stands here, idly raking up fallen leaves.”
This garden is where Halia grows plants that are rare,
valuable, or otherwise require a lot of attention. Several
of the specimens are grown in wire cages or raised
wooden planters. The gnome is Rowan, who was exiled
from her village for murder. She now lives in the forest
and thinks of herself as Halia’s apprentice, spending
several hours a day maintaining the witch’s gardens
and fetching her ingredients. Halia has no interest in
rewarding Rowan for her efforts, and plans to poison
the gnome once she has outlived her usefulness.
Encounter: If approached peacefully, Rowan (pg. 5) is
hostile and insists the PCs leave at once. If they seek an
audience (or claim to have one already), Rowan assures
them that Halia is very busy, “and if she had business
with the likes of you—or anyone—I’d have known of
it!” If the party refuses to leave, she inititates combat.
2. Front Porch
“The front porch of the cottage is rather dirty and
dusty. The steps are crudely built, and the cottage’s
screen door hangs limply off one hinge. An old tin roof
covers the length of the porch.”
Encounter: The front entrance of the cottage is
trapped, using a trip wire to collapse a section of the
roof. The trip wire suspended 3 inches above the porch
floor is strung between two posts. It’s a DC 14 Wisdom
(Perception) check to notice the trip wire. A DC 15
Dexterity check using thieves’ tools disables the trip
wire successfully. A character without thieves’ tools
can attempt the check with a sharp implement at a
disadvantage. A failed check triggers the trap.
Anyone examining the ceiling of the porch can
see that the bottom sheet of tin is held up by beams
wedged into place. The dusty floor, signalling disuse,
can also clue in players to the danger here. (Halia uses
the secret door to the north, which is a DC 20 to spot.)
When triggered, the trap causes the bottom
section of the roof to fall open, and a hail of rusty
daggers and forks rains down upon the porch. Anyone
on the porch must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving
throw, taking 6 (1d10) damage on a failed save, or half
as much on a successful one.
3. Living Room
“This large room takes up most of the interior of the
cottage. Every available surface is covered in boots,
trowels, shovels, shears, books, jars, seeds, and plenty
of mud. A hallway in the northwest corner of the room
leads further into the cottage.”
There are no hostile creatures or traps in this room,
though combat with Rowan (area 1) or the rats (area 4)
may continue into this area. Any PC who stops to look
for treasure finds none, but their searching alerts the
rats in the next room. All of the tools and books are
mundane. Halia keeps her valuables in her workshop.
4. Bedroom
“This tiny room is sparsely decorated in comparison
to the clutter of the living room. The walls are covered
in patches of pale green mold, and a cot is crammed in
the back of the room, just on the other side of a large
trapdoor set in the floor.”
This is where Halia sleeps. In the mornings, she leaves
via the secret door to work in her garden, and in the
afternoon and evening works tirelessly in her lab.
This room is therefore empty for most of the day, save
for Halia’s roommates (see encounter). Beneath the
trapdoor is a 20 ft. tall ladder that leads to the network
of tunnels underneath the cottage.
2
Encounter: When the PCs enter this room, three giant
rats (pg. 5) crawl out from under the cot and attack.
Treasure: Under her cot, Halia keeps some coin
stashed for when she sends Rowan to town to buy
supplies. A small silk bag contains 60gp.
Beneath the Trapdoor
This section details the basement of the cottage. The
ceilings are 6 feet high, and there is no light unless
otherwise noted. (Halia uses her goggles of night to
navigate.)
5. Milking Room
“This large room is coated in thick, stringy webbing.
Through the darkness, you can make out deep gouges
along the walls and floor, and the room stinks of
droppings and decay.”
In this padlocked chamber, Halia keeps a giant spider
she raised from a young age to farm for venom. The
spider is not tame, but Halia heavily doses its food
with opiates that keep it sluggish and docile. In her
busy operations, however she hasn’t fed the spider in a
while, so it is alert and quite angry.
Encounter: If the giant spider (pg. 5) detects the PCs
through bright light or loud noise, it climbs to the
ceiling of its pen, hoping to pounce on anyone who
comes looking in this room.
Treasure: The spider’s last meal (a trespassing elf) wore
an amethyst ring (200 gp) which now lies in the corner.
6. Supply Room
“This room is barely bigger than a broom closet, but
the walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed
with all manner of potion ingredients. Dried plants
and jars of brightly coloured powder crowd the room.”
This is where Halia keeps her preserved potion
supplies. Most of the supplies are worth little (1d10 sp),
but Halia has stashed some emergency potions here.
A secret door (DC 15 to notice) behind a shelf leads
directly to the workshop (area 7).
Treasure: With a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception check),
PCs can discover a potion of healing, a dose of oil of
slipperiness, and a potion of poison.
7. Workshop
“This room has a low ceiling of packed earth.
Long worktables hold clusters of ceramic and glass
instruments, most of which are spattered with
strange and sour-smelling liquids. At the far end of
the chamber, flickering candles perch on the rim of a
massive iron cauldron.”
Halia spends most of her time here, tirelessly labouring
to create new potions. The cauldron is currently full of
potion of healing (amounting to about 8 doses), which
Halia brews to barter with forest creatures.
Encounter: Halia (pg. 6) can be found here when the
PCs arrive at the cottage. She is intensely focused on
her work, and won’t be alerted to the PCs’ presence
unless they make a significant amount of noise in the
other underground chambers. If she is made aware of
intruders, she drinks her potion of heroism.
This Dungeon in Your Campaign
Halia’s motivations are kept unspecified in this text so
that GMs can easily integrate this dungeon into their
own campaigns. If you’re unsure of how to incorpo-
rate the scenario here, below are a few suggestions:
•  A valuable object (or an allied NPC) has been
stolen by Halia for use in a potion. The PCs must
retrieve their quarry before it’s too late!
•  The PCs desperately need a certain potion brewed
(perhaps an antidote or poison) and Halia is the
nearest or likeliest hope. Bargaining with the spiteful
witch is sure to be dangerous!
•  Tension rises in the forest as Halia claims more
land in order to expand her gardens. Why could the
crone possibly need so many potion ingredients at
once?
•  The PCs are sent to track down Rowan, an exiled
murderer last seen in the forest, and capture her
alive. In this case, consider placing Rowan in area
7 and putting several Awakened Shrubs in the
vegetable garden.
3
 N

←
← N
S
T
4

3
2

Halia’s Cottage
1 square = 5 feet

5 6 S

The Workshop
4
Appendix: Enemy Statistics roll against a creature if at least one of the rat’s allies
is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t
incapacitated.
Rowan
Small humanoid (gnome), Lawful Evil Druid 2 Actions
Armor Class 14 Bite. Melee weapon attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
HP 17 (2d8 + 4) target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Speed 25 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Giant Spider
9 (-1) 16 (+3) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 11 (+0) Large beast, unaligned
Armor Class 14
Saving throws Intelligence +4, Wisdom +5 HP 26(4d10 + 4)
Skills Nature +4, Survival +5 Speed 30 ft., climb 30 ft.
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 13 STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
Languages Common, Gnome 14 (+2) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 2 (-4) 11 (+0) 4 (-3)
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Skills Stealth +7
Spellcasting. Rowan is a 2nd-level spellcaster. Her Senses blindsight 10 ft., darkvision 60ft., passive
spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, spell Perception 10
attacks +5 to hit). She has prepared the following Languages —
spells: Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Cantrips (at will): druidcraft, mending, shillelagh
1st Level: cure wounds, entangle, thunderwave Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces,
including upside down on ceilings, without needing to
Actions make an ability check.
Quarterstaff. Melee weapon attack. +1 to hit, reach 5 Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider
ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d8 -1) bludgeoning damage. knows the exact location of any other creature in
Sling. Ranged weapon attack. +5 to hit, range 30/120 contact with the same web.
ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) bludgeoning damage. Web Walker. The spider ignores movement
restrictions caused by webbing.
Rowan is a natural lackey who craves power but fears
responsibility. She entangles foes, then attacks with her Actions
sling, casting shillelagh on her staff if caught in melee. Bite. Melee weapon attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one
Giant Rat creature. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage, and the
Small beast, unaligned target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw,
Armor Class 12 taking 9 (2d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half
HP 7 (2d6) as much damage on a successful one. If the poison
Speed 30 ft. damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit
7 (-2) 15 (+2) 11 (+0) 2 (-4) 10 (+0) 4 (-3) points, and is paralyzed while poisoned in this way.
Web (Recharge 5–6). Ranged weapon attack: +5 to
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10 hit, range 30/60 ft., one creature. Hit: The target is
Languages — restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP) target can make a DC 12 Strength check, bursting
the webbing on a success. The webbingcan also be
Keen Smell. The rat has advantage on Wisdom attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 5; vulnerability to
(Perception) checks that rely on smell. fire damage; immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and
Pack Tactics. The rat has advantage on an attack psychic damage).

5
Halia Whitethorn
Medium Humanoid (human), Neutral Evil Warlock 4
Armor Class 14
HP 28 (4d8 + 8)
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
10 (+0) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) 16 (+4) 15 (+2) 18 (+4)

Saving throws Wisdom +4, Charisma +6

Skills Arcana +5, Nature +5,
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Common, Sylvan
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Spellcasting. Halia is a 4th-level spellcaster. Her

spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, spell
attacks +6 to hit). She has two available spell slots and
knows the following spells:
Cantrips (at will): eldritch blast, mage Hand, true
strike
1st Level: expeditious retreat, hellish rebuke, unseen
servant
2nd Level: darkness, hold person
Actions
Dagger. Melee or ranged weapon attack. +3 to hit,
reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 +
2) piercing damage.

Other
Eldritch invocations: agonizing blast, beast speech
Familiar: Ajax (bat, noncombatant)
Gear: In addition to any items listed above, Halia
carries a potion of heroism, a potion of resistance
(poison), a potion of water breathing, and a pair of
goggles of night.

Halia Whitethorn is a witch studying the art of potion

brewing. Unscrupulous in her quest for knowledge,
Halia is willing to sacrifice anything (or anyone) for a
deeper understanding of the arcane arts. She regularly
traffics with the fey of the forest, and has no problem
using lethal force to protect the many gardens and
mushroom beds she cultivates throughout the region.

In combat, she attempts to control the battlefield with

darkness or hold person, then attacks with eldritch blast.
If reduced to 10 or fewer HP, she casts expeditious
retreat if able and attempts to flee through her secret
door.

6
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