A Druid's Task

[Armored Walrus]

In my campaign, the intro story arc (the tutorial so to speak) is about to come to an end. Our party happens to contain two druids, and as a way to guide the players into D&D (all but one are new) I had the druids' "Trailblazer" - a sort of mentor/guide NPC that the Druid Conclave sends out to newly initiated druids to teach them how to druid - run with them as a DMPC for the first few levels. They are about to complete their journey to what will be the small village that will introduce all of the various plot hooks, and the trailblazer will go on her way to accomplish a task she has in the area. I'd like to give the party the option to help her with her task as one of their various plot hooks - or have her failing her task be a future plot hook that can bring them back in contact with her.

The trailblazer is level 2, the party is 4x level 2 - the aforementioned 2 druids, a monk, and a rogue.

Oh Playgrounders, please give me some tasks that she might be off to complete, within a half day's journey of a small frontier town, that could plausibly have been thought by the Conclave to be a solo task, but was underestimated and is a task that in reality would take the entire party. As a bonus action, give me possible consequences of her failing her task if they let her leave the party and go on to other things in the area.

[Sabeta]

1) A summoning ritual from a "couple" of rogue Wizards/Warlocks; which turns out to be an entire cult trying to summon an ancient deity (The cult itself can be tailored to be defeatable by your PCs in one outing, or you can "grow" them into the main plot. Even if the PCs think they've defeated the entire cult, maybe you could revisit it by revealing that it was but one small branch.)

2) Deforestation being committed by a nearby settlement. What was supposed to be a stern warning or a kind reminder to be gentle with the forest, turns out to be a band of pirates or other ne'er-do-wells who promptly lock the Druid up.

3) A single necromancer, who turned out to be 6th level instead of 4th.

4) A group of low CR monsters hanging around a much larger den

All of these should fit what you're looking for, and I doubt any one of them is exactly what you want, but I think with that I've established a pattern that can help guide to an answer you're more satisfied with. Good luck.

[Herobizkit]

Run "The Sunless Citadel" from the new Yawning Portal book. Seriously.

I converted the 3.0 version to intro my players to 5e and it's damn-near perfect for Druids:

What starts as an investigation into some aberrant plant-life becomes a sprawl into a lost fort with a (currently) very dark purpose.

[Armored Walrus]

Thanks for the quick follow up.

Sabeta: Yep, all plausible, not as "natury" as I'm hoping for. Maybe some vegetable-based monsters are in order. Oh, see, you did guide me closer ;)

Herobizkit: I'll google it and see how fitting it is. Wasn't planning on buying material for a "side quest" that may not even be followed up on, but if the adventure is compelling enough, who knows, it could become the campaign focus.

Edit: Googled it. This is spot on. A purchase may be in order if they bite on this hook. Don't let that stop the rest of you, though. This forum comes up with some real gold, and I'd hate to overlook it in favor of buying something published.

[Sabeta]

Druids don't necessarily delve into nature all the time. They also aim to stop people from hurting it. All of the things I listed are common enemies of a Druid for one reason or another; though I completely agree that being more entrenched in Nature is never a bad thing for a Druid story.

If that's the case, try using Twig Blights and Tree Blights. Weak creatures that any Druid shouldn't have a problem clearing up, but some terrible plant monster (Rafflesia? Not sure if that's D&D) is there creating the blights.

[Armored Walrus]

Yeah, I'll hit up kobold fight club and see what other plant monsters are out there.

Anyone else? Maybe some unique beasts in the CR 2-5ish range? That maybe need to be calmed and moved further from civilization or tended to in some way? Maybe some monster I'm overlooking that's diametrically opposed to nature?

[Herobizkit]

@Sabeta: The origin of the Twig Blights is actually from The (3.0) Sunless Citadel. :)

[Arkhios]

1) A summoning ritual from a "couple" of rogue Wizards/Warlocks; which turns out to be an entire cult trying to summon an ancient deity (The cult itself can be tailored to be defeatable by your PCs in one outing, or you can "grow" them into the main plot. Even if the PCs think they've defeated the entire cult, maybe you could revisit it by revealing that it was but one small branch.)

2) Deforestation being committed by a nearby settlement. What was supposed to be a stern warning or a kind reminder to be gentle with the forest, turns out to be a band of pirates or other ne'er-do-wells who promptly lock the Druid up.

3) A single necromancer, who turned out to be 6th level instead of 4th.

4) A group of low CR monsters hanging around a much larger den

All of these should fit what you're looking for, and I doubt any one of them is exactly what you want, but I think with that I've established a pattern that can help guide to an answer you're more satisfied with. Good luck.

I must say that I particularly like the number 2) and would recommend this for OP.

Maybe a local Lumber Consortium is causing damage to nearby sacred grove and the Trailblazer is sent to investigate?

Here's something to work with (borrowed from Pathfinder's Deadwood-esque town of Falcon's Hollow within a region known as Darkmoon Vale):

Lumber Consortium: This powerful collection of unscrupulous tycoons and magnates of the lumber trade controls most of the tree-felling camps (commonly called cutyards) in the area around the vale. Those lumberjacks who refuse to affiliate with the consortium (and agree to its horrendously exploitative labor and pay practices) are often muscled out of business or simply disappear. The consortium employs three hundred jacks and nearly half that many sellswords, thugs, and mercenaries to protect the cutyards from monsters as well as to intimidate competitors.

[Armored Walrus]

I like that. They have some personality, and provide some reason for the non-druids to hate them as well.

Any other ideas?

[NNescio]

Time for your turn on the Destroy Water duty roster again to counteract all the water created by spells and magic items (because people like to use Create Water to make water to drink, but never Destroy their urine or perspiration so the amount of water on the material plane slowly increases over time).

[Tetrasodium]

the "lore" for druids, as thin & one dimensional as it is, is rooted in Celtic myth. That has a bunch of useful things for a d&d game. In no particular order

The Morrigan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Morr%C3%ADgan): She is sometimes Anu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anu_(deity)), Macha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macha), and/orBadb (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badb) & sometimes just The Morrigan; but all three of the sisters are different aspects of The Morrigan bound as one.
Nauda Airgetlám (silverhand) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuada_Airgetl%C3%A1m): He lost his hand/arm in battle & was then inelligable to become high king (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_King_of_Ireland) of Ireland due to the fact that he was no longer physically perfect. He later managed to mind a hand/arm of functioning living silver & returned to replace the disastrous half Fomorian Bres who took what would otherwise been his place when the hand allowed him to be free of blemish & marry the Land
The Celtic marriage ceremony involved "binding" a couple with a cloth/rope/ribbon looped around clasped hands.
One of the Tuatha Dé Danann (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatha_D%C3%A9_Danann) had a pen of sheep(goats?) that were bound to return whole to their pen after being slaughtered & eaten
The fomorians (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fomorians) are not quite living but not quite dead (ie undead) & wand to bring civilization back to the awful precivilization aspects bound to them. They are the enemies of the Trutha de danann & were lovecraftian eldritch horrors a couple thousand years before lovecraft.
Brigid: was another dual aspect one, sisters who were aspects poetry, healer & a smith bound together as one.


Anyways.... , the concept of binds & binding are important & a lot of those guys up there were mentioned in the Celtic section of PHB298 in one degree or another. So here's a quick idea

the land is growing sick with a corruption. While big wise archdruid type holds the crisis at bay... travel to $place deep in the mountains to ask the land for a specially pure vein of silver that can be used to absorb the corruption & cleanse the land of its taint.
The earth elemental deep within the treacherous/dangerous depths of $place agrees to gather the special silver ore of macguffin, but is upset that a river has been diverted in a way that is eroding $importantStuff & has been expending too much energy to maintain the seal on $importantStuff with his fellow earth elementals
The river has been diverted by group of Sahuagin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahuagin) (or whatever) trying to regain access to an ancient relic of immense & awful power. The immediate problem needs to be dealt with forcefully. Luckily the water elemental busy doing its best to keep the river from tearing open the seals is able to provide everyone charms of waterbreathing that will work as long as the party is "within its domain" (i.e. where ever you feel like).
The Sahuagin had been equipped & supplied with things that should have been well beyond their capabilities & was just the first group of many. A search of the operation/area/whatever reveals that they are being supplied by a.... dragon cult
The dragon cult has worked itself into either a "nearby" thieve's guild so must be purged without killing the good/non-cult ones.
An old friend in the guild is willing to lay the groundwork for a trap, to out the cultists; but will need both time, funds & a "distraction", to accomplish this the group needs to "collect" a holy macguffin at the nearish monk monastery they would never part with due to how much of a holy symbolic/historic/whatever thing it is.
The macguffin is deeep within the catacombs where it was sealed away generations ago by the great & pure brother whatsit after using it to banish a great evil not well recorded Lucky for the intrepid party of adenturers, the stories of their quest so far convince them that it might be time for someone to recover brother Whatsit's Macguffin..
While recovering the macguffin, the original archdruid sends an animal messenger to let the group know that he is losing his struggle against the sickness & is himself ailing
If the group drops everything, they can rescue the archdruid & contain the blight, but the dragon cultists break into the sealed vaults to recover the ceremonial athame (ritual knife) that they believed to be a relic capable of raising a dragon as a dracolich... oops
If they continue to get the monk temple Macguffin, & bring it to the thieve's guild... they get to break in the door & kill some dragon cultists at a special conclave meeting where they are communicating with their trapped dragon lord. Good thing the group got there just as that talon was starting to tear through that portal the cultists opened, cause it was effing big.
Having been stripped of backers, the Sahuagin are unlikely to return; but they have broken into something dark & there is air in it. insert $awfulCritter dungeon crawl with a thin veneer of cultist/rituals/whatever themes. IGotNothin there.
Having battled their way to the seal that brother Whatsit placed, the group is able to renew the seal binding the BigBad within & even discover some lore about the dracolich locked within.
The Earth elementals & a nearby village of significant size have been under attack/siege by a group of go forth & purge typeadventure you want to run that were originally sent by the now dead cultists, they must be purged.
Even though the dracolich is sealed away, it was able to provide aid & influence to these $whateverLevelAppropriateThings to make them a real threat that was much more organized & cunning than typically seen of $whateverLevelAppropriateThings. The seals must be weakening
The party now finally has the silver ore of $macguffin & the other $macguffin used to seal the dracolich so they can return to save the archdruid... hopefully.
The archdruid is dying; but as you choose, the group can either go forge the $Cleansingmacgufin with the ore through another quest, or he can just forge it as you feel like doing.
With the $whateverLevelAppropriateThings & $BrotherWhatsit'sSealingMacguffin in hand, the group can use it to bind enough of the corruption into a partial reconstruction of the ancient & forgotten evil templewhere they can kill some of the dracolich's dead minions given form, & maybe even battle thge dracolich or a watered down mostly/partly sealed away version of it.

Murder the stereotype of druids being treehuging mary sues (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue) interested in nonsense nobody cares about, do something awesome instead :D

[Armored Walrus]

Time for your turn on the Destroy Water duty roster again to counteract all the water created by spells and magic items (because people like to use Create Water to make water to drink, but never Destroy their urine or perspiration so the amount of water on the material plane slowly increases over time).

That is a really interesting concept, but for another campaign. Mine is set in the Toxic Seas setting from over on the worldbuilding forums. There are no create spells there.