SHILO THE BUFF

Horror has swept over the small village of Whitwick. Men,

women and children have gone missing in alarming
THE HOLLY INN
quantities in the past few months. The culprit? A
cannibalistic mad-man deep in the woods nearby. Will the In the corner of the town square stands the Holly Inn,
players be able to find and defeat the menace and bring a cozy inn and tavern. The entrance, a heavy oak door,
relief to the people of Whitwick? is barred from the inside and has a small shuttered
peephole. Like all other buildings in Whitwick, the
windows are boarded shut.
ONE SHOT ADVENTURE
If the party knocks on the door or shouts out, the
covering on the peephole will swing open and an old
This 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure is
man will inspect the party. If they seem friendly, he
designed for a group of level 3 players. For maximum
will allow them to enter.
enjoyment and terror, players should be human, non-
magical classes with no items, equipment and little coin.
Do not show them the title of this adventure - simply The sturdy door creaks open, revealing a quiet tavern.
refer to Shilo the Buff as "the creature" until his A tall, thin man eyes you from behind the door, sour-
pivotal "Shilo Surprise" moment. This adventure should faced and pale. A large crackling fire warms the Holly
only take one 3-4 hour session. Boxed text should be read Inn and the smell of cooked meats wafts in the air.
(or paraphrased) aloud to the players. The lofty walls feature dozens of mounted animal
heads: elk, bears, and owlbears. One lone patron sits
at the bar in the otherwise deserted room.
THE VILLAGE OF
WHITWICK Cedric Shaw is the proprietor of the Holly Inn. A thin
middle-aged male human with long, curly black hair, a
thin mustache and pale, translucent skin. He has a
This scenario assumes that the characters are traveling in sharp, angular face with grey eyes.
a secluded, unpopulated area.
Straight-faced, paranoid and twitchy, Cedric is wary of
After several hours of travel along the quiet, winding everyone he meets. He will question the party
path, a small village comes into view. A thankful sight incessantly on their business in Whitwick before
after a long, difficult journey. With a hungry belly, no sharing any information with them. If he thinks they
equipment and only a few coins left to your name, you are being honest, he will reveal the following
feel a pang of hope. The dense forest clings tightly to the information:

• An alarming amount of townsfolk have gone

edge of path and cradles the village in thick pines and
spruce trees. Several dozen quaint wooden cottages are
nestled in a circular shape, plumes of smoke billowing missing in the past few months. It started with
from their chimneys. In one corner of the cobbled town hunters who would go hunting in the Holly
square stands a cozy tavern. Forest and never return. Then the townsfolk of
Whitwick started disappearing during the night.

A quick look around Whitwick reveals that things are • Many townsfolk have moved away, but those
amiss. All the cottages have boarded windows and heavily who have stayed have taken extra precautions,
reinforced doors. Some even feature large scratch marks like boarding their windows and keeping a strict
gouged into the wood - a successful DC 10 Intelligence curfew.
(Nature) or Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals
that a humanoid made the scratch marks. The town • The food stores of the town are dipping lower
square is deserted - in fact, not a single living soul is and lower as fewer hunters survive their
outside. excursions.

• No bodies have been found, but splatters of

WHITWICK LOCATIONS blood have been seen in the forest.

Most villagers will not answer the door. Some will peek • Only one person claims to have seen the beast,
out from their boarded windows and perhaps open the and he sits at the bar.
door a crack if the party seems friendly. The tavern will be
the easiest place for the party to gain information.

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SHILO THE BUFF
Quinn Ashglade is the man at the bar, one of the few Arthur Fenwick is an elderly bald man with piercing
remaining hunters in town. He is broad-shouldered with blue eyes. He's very friendly and chatty but suffers
rough tanned skin and a full beard. One arm is in a sling from dementia. He will tell the players a variety of
while the other grips a frothy pint of ale. Quinn is a gruff information, some true and some false, always
man of few words, but will loosen up after a few drinks. correcting himself or changing to different subjects.
He might tell the players:
• Cedric Shaw is a werewolf who sheds his human
• He has seen the beast, and it bit his arm. (If the skin every night to hunt the townsfolk (False).
players wish to see his arm, he reveals a large fresh
wound - ripped flesh and humanoid bite marks). • The beast is actually a renowned bard from
Waterdeep who lives in the forest (True).
• It was dark, but he says it was the size of a man,
although it ran on four legs. • The creature is an evil hag named Muriel who
makes blankets from human flesh (False).
• It's very fast and strong.

• He set some bear traps in the woods to try to catch

THE HOLLY FOREST
it. He's not willing to go back into the forest until
his arm has healed. Sooner or later, the party will venture into Holly
Forest. If they visit during the day, a successful DC 10
Wisdom (Survival) check will reveal a few scattered
COTTAGES gouges and scratch marks in the trees and some
spatters of blood on the forest floor and a confusing
Knocking on doors around town may help the party amount of tracks - some animal, some human. It's
gather more information. difficult to tell what direction any creatures have
traveled. The brush is dotted with bright red holly and
Emeline Kramer is a young, slender woman with long, pointed leaves. If they decide to visit the forest at
straight jet-black hair and brown eyes. Her parents went night, things get more interesting.
missing two weeks ago and now she cares for her younger
brother, Sam, alone. They are quickly running out of food
The Holly Forest is dense and overgrown with
and unsure of their next move. She desperately wants her underbrush and tall spruce trees. The woods are
parents avenged and will offer the party her father's strangely quiet. Thick grey clouds roll over the moon,
hunting knife (see dagger stats) in exchange for some blocking out all light occasionally. After a few hours of
food. walking, the trees are all starting to look the same.
Confusion is setting in - you feel like you're walking
Muriel Cleves is a middle-aged woman with red eyes and in circles. Something feels wrong.
tear-stained cheeks. Her son, Gregory, went missing last
night. She says that she found his bedroom window torn
open and his entire bedroom covered with blood. Muriel A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check will
will allow the party to investigate her home. Everywhere reveal the following information:
but the bedroom is in perfect condition. Gregory's
bedroom is splattered with sticky blood. A successful DC As you try to collect your surroundings, you see a
10 Intelligence (Investigation) check will reveal slash dark flash of movement between the trees behind
marks on the bed that were made by a very sharp object. you - about sixty feet away.
Muriel lives next door and didn't hear anything.
Investigating outside will show smears of blood on the
On a failure, the party keeps walking, oblivious to
back of the house beneath the window. The smear
Shilo stalking them. After a few moments, reveal this
continues into the forest beyond. A successful DC 15
information:
Intelligence (Investigation) check will alert the players
to ripped clumps of grass and finger-made drag marks in
the dirt. You hear the sound of a branch cracking underfoot -
about thirty feet back. Out of the corner of your eye,
you spot him. Bathed in moonlight is a man following
you, brandishing a knife that glints radiantly. As you
take notice of him, he gets down on all fours and
breaks into a sprint.

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SHILO THE BUFF
If the players run, describe how fast the creature is and
how he is gaining on them. As he gets closer, they can see
SHILO SURPRISE!
that he is covered in blood and has a wild look in his eyes.
When he's almost upon them, the clouds billow over the Unless beheaded, Shilo will come back to life an hour
moon, completely blocking out the moonlight. after dying. He will attempt to sneak up on the party
and point a shotgun to the head of one party member.
With a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check,
the party hears panting and soft footsteps nearby. You hear a sudden voice from behind you and the
Eventually, the sounds disappear. The woods are barrel of a gun pressed against your head. "Shilo
completely dark now. Surprise!" The man grins at you with cold, dead eyes.

Now it's dark and you seem to have lost him... but you The second round of combat begins. Shilo can use an
are hopelessly lost yourself. Creeping quietly through the action or bonus action to reload his shotgun after 2
underbrush, you see a small cottage in the distance - the shots. Describe how Shilo dodges their swipes and
light is on. parries with ease. Finally, describe the final blow as
decapitation.

TRAP Finally, you catch him in the neck, chopping off his
head. His head topples to the ground, expressionless.
Have the head of the party's marching order roll a DC 20 You fall to your knees and catch your breath... finally
Dexterity saving throw - on a success they hear the click safe from Shilo the Buff.
of a bear trap and manage to jump out of the way in time.
On a failure, their leg is now stuck in the bear trap. The
bear trap deals 1d4 piercing damage and the player can The party has successfully defeated Shilo the Buff. If
they decide to return to Whitwick, the townsfolk
use an action to make a DC 15 Strength (Athletics)
celebrate them as heroes and shower them with
check to attempt to pry it open. Another player can step
praise. As they leave town, the clapping of the
in to help to give the trapped player advantage on their
townsfolk fades away - except for one. One of the
Strength check. On a failure, the leg is severed and the
players thinks he sees Shilo standing in the crowd
player's movement speed is halved permanently.
clapping, but he's gone in a blink.

THE COTTAGE THE END

You creep silently through the underbrush towards the As a fun ending, let your players watch "Shia
cottage. From the doorstep, you see the man sitting
LaBeouf" Live by Rob Cantor on Youtube - the
inside, turned away from you. He is sharpening an axe.
inspiration of this adventure.

If the party sneaks inside, Shilo doesn't hear them

approach - he is too focused on sharpening his axe. His
cottage is simple, with a single armchair and fireplace.
THANK YOU
Upstairs is a clean, plain bedroom. However, the
basement is a gruesome sight - chains and hooks hang Thank you to Rob Cantor for creating the amazing
from the crossbeams and a large, gouged butcher's table inspiration for this adventure, and many Redditors for
sits in the middle of the room, drenched in blood. Clean- play-testing this adventure… and of course, the man
picked bones are stacked in the corner. himself - Shia LaBeouf.

When the fight breaks out, Shilo attacks using his hand-
axe and knife. The party can attempt to fight hand-to-
hand or try to grab Shilo's weapons using the Disarm
action. If a player rolls a critical attack, describe their
attack as stabbing him in the kidney.

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SHILO THE BUFF

Shilo the Buff

Medium humanoid, chaotic evil

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 58 (9d8+18)
Speed 30 ft., 50 ft. sprinting on all fours

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA

14 (+2) 17 (+3) 16 (+3) 11 (+0) 12 (+1) 10 (+0)

Skills: Stealth +6
Condition Immunities: frightened, sleep
Senses: darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 11
Languages: Common
Challenge: 5 (1,800 XP)

Shilo Surprise. If damage reduces Shilo to 0 hit points (and he has not been decapitated), he regains all hit points in 1 hour.
Death Eyes (Recharge 5-6). One target within 60 ft. of Shilo who can see him must succeed on a
DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of Shilo's next turn. If a creature's saving throw is successful,
the creature is immune to Shilo's death eyes for the next 24 hours.

Actions
Multi-attack. Shilo makes 2 attacks: 1 bite and one melee weapon attack, or one shotgun attack.
• Handaxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60, one target.
Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage.

• Knife. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60, one target.
Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.

• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.

Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

• Shotgun. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 30/90 ft., reload (2 shots), two-handed, one target.
Hit: 11 (2d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Reactions
• Parry. Shilo adds 3 to his AC against one melee attack that would hit him. To do so, Shilo must see the attacker and be
wielding a melee weapon.

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