The Haunting Long Rest: Your Long Rest, Her Final Stand! A Free Ready-to-Play D&D Encounter (5e)

August 6, 2025

After a long and physically demanding trek, your D&D party discovers a secluded clearing perfect for setting up camp. The air is still, the moon full, and your flickering campfire casts dancing shadows across ancient, weathered stones of what seems to be a forgotten ruin. The forest is quiet and peaceful; a perfect spot for a well disserved long rest.

During the night watch, a peculiar chill descends over the camp. A low, unsettling moan rises from beneath your very feet. Abruptly, the ground cracks and shifts as a chorus of guttural groans splinters the night's silence. Grotesque goblin zombies claw their way out of the earth, their decaying green skin and huge milky eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

This is no random nighttime ambush! A spiteful, concealed power directs them with icy wrath that now permeates the area. A powerful poltergeist with a tragic past has chosen your group as her next victims, transforming your peaceful long rest into a desperate final stand.

Ready to unleash this horrific and thrilling D&D 5e encounter to your players? Need a quick encounter to throw at your players just when they think they’re just taking a quick long rest before moving to the next adventure? “The Haunting Long Rest: Your Long Rest, Her Final Stand!” provides all the details for the encounter setup, tactical suggestions, potential loot, and story seeds to drive your campaign forward!

The Haunting Long Rest: Your Long Rest, Her Final Stand! A D&D One-shot Encounter (5e)

The details:

An encounter designed for four 5th-level adventurers taking their long rest in a remote location, a deserted ruin, dense forest of, or a secluded area, with a hidden ancient goblin burial site lurking beneath. This play-tested scenario balances challenge and fairness with just enough horror.

The setting:

This encounter takes place during a long rest in a deserted outdoor ruin, densely wooded area, or any open air location that is hidden away from dense population areas. Unbeknownst to the party of adventurers, the very ground below them is haunted by a malevolent poltergeist who has corrupted the remains in a long-buried goblin cemetery below their sleeping location. The encounter begins during the 2^nd or 3^rd watch, or at the strike of midnight if no watch is being taken.

"After a long trek, you come across weathered stones that appear to be the foundations of a small ancient settlement. Time has eroded these remnants, while vines and fungus have gradually covered them pushing nature's quiet attempt to reclaim the space and restore the natural order. The night is peaceful and still as the party members begin their watch and rest up for tomorrow's adventures."

The Enemies:

Lilith the poltergeist

Lilith was once a half-elf noblewoman regarded for her ethereal beauty and bardic talents by those who she travelled with. Long ago, she fell deeply in love with a human warrior, but their forbidden romance ended when a jealous rival poisoned her. Her body was discarded in a shallow, unmarked grave at the forest's edge, which coincidentally was near a small goblin tribe's settlement.

Her spirit refused to fade and she was consumed by grief and rage. Her own hatred transformed her into a powerful poltergeist but the agony of betrayal and thirst for vengeance anchored her to her burial site. From this unhallowed ground, she discovered the nearby goblins were perfect vessels for her supernatural power. Over the countless years she learned to possess their corpses who lay in their ancient burial ground, creating shambling zombie servants. These reanimated goblin corpses became extensions of her hatred and sorrow and were her weapons against any living soul who ventures into her domain.

Now, Lilith appears as a translucent, shimmering spectre. Though her form seems frail, as if a single gust of wind could blow her away, she radiates profound evil. Wearing a tattered white gown that billows in a silent, supernatural wind, she silently stalks the area. Ancient blood and dirt stain the fabric while tears in the material reveal glimpses of her ghostly form beneath. Her spectral clothing, once symbolising her beauty, now serves as a frightening cloak of malice. Frightening yellow light burns in her eyes, amplifying the deep rage that animates her as she controls her gruesome goblin army with silent, trembling hands.

Goblin zombies

Having been animated by Lilith the poltergeist, the goblin zombies begin the encounter by crawling from the earth around the sleeping party. Their emergence presents a horrifying sight as they claw themselves out of the ground in a grotesque birth-like process. These small-sized creatures have emaciated frames with loose, green-grey skin stretched taut over bone and are actively decaying. Ragged pointed ears call attention to their milky white sunken eyes, while their slack jaws reveal mouthfuls of broken, yellowed teeth. A sickly-sweet odour of decay and grave emanate from their frames as the goblin zombies move with jerky, unnatural motions. These creatures are now animated not by muscle and sinew, but by the furious will of the possessing poltergeist.

The setup:

Lilith the poltergeist, an intelligent and cunning enemy, carefully observes the unsuspecting party as they set up their campsite for the Long Rest. Using her Vanish ability to become invisible, she flies silently among them, studying their movements, skills, and weapons while assessed their vulnerabilities. With the patience from countless years, she waits until most of the party are asleep and the flickering campfire casts shadows that provide perfect cover for unleashing her wrath.

Convinced the adventurers are enemies in her twisted quest for revenge, Lilith taps into her dark powers to summon her army of goblin zombies buried directly beneath the party's campsite.

Preferring to remain concealed and invisible, Lilith will command her zombie minions through a telepathic link from afar. Under her control, the goblin zombies emerge from the earth ready to attack and devour the adventurers.

Only if her goblin zombies begin to falter against the party’s defences will Lilith reveal herself and manifest in her full horrifying glory to join the battle directly.

The encounter:

The encounter unfolds in two phases: first, a surprise attack by the goblin zombies rising from the ground around the sleeping party; second, Lilith joining the encounter when half of her goblin zombies have been destroyed.

The encounter begins with a surprise initiative roll. The goblin zombies use Lilith's initiative modifier of +2 at advantage, while the adventurers roll their initiative with disadvantage. Though Lilith has her own initiative count, she remains invisible and doesn't engage in combat until her minions have been reduced to half their numbers (5) or she is discovered.

The goblin zombie’s battle tactics:

Attack the weak: Under Lilith's control, the goblin zombies target spellcasters and lightly armoured adventurers first. They swarm those she perceives as most vulnerable, overwhelming them before they can establish an effective defence.

Still armoured... sort of: The goblin zombies retain fragments of armour attached to their decaying bodies, giving them an AC of 11.

Still nimble? Despite being unthinking, slow, and decaying, these goblin zombies retain some skills from their previous lives. As a Bonus Action, they can use part of their Nimble Escape ability to take the Disengage action. They are not able to use the Hide action.

Lilith’s tactics:

Object Slam start: When entering combat, Lilith first uses her Object Slam against the weakest target by hurling a large stone, discarded shield, or other object and announcing her presence to the battle. If still invisible, this attack is made with Advantage.

'Till Death do us part: Enraged and demented, Lilith fights to the death—or undeath—vanishing in a vortex of dark energy that plunges the area into still silence when defeated. When Lilith is dispatched, any remaining goblin zombies instantly collapse and cease to be animated.

Possible encounter developments:

Many hands: To add more excitement and horror, add 6-8 Crawling (goblin) Claws to this encounter. Having severed green goblin hands skittering across the battlefield will create more chaos and inflict minor damage to the party but provide more targets to hit.

What happens after:

Once Lilith has been vanquished combat will end immediately. Any remaining undead creatures will collapse since they are no longer animated when the poltergeist is destroyed. The area will no longer have a presence of evil and a subtle shift in the nighttime atmosphere becomes noticeable.

A quick search of the zombie goblins bodies and their graves will reveal a few items of note:

Pouches of old coins: Half of the zombie goblins carry small, rotting leather pouches containing a few ancient coins in each (2d8 gp, 5d6 sp).
Assorted equipment: In the shallow graves of the goblin zombies are an assortment of rusty equipment; knives, daggers, bucklers and scimitars. Small rotten boxes with bone jewellery, glass beads, and knickknacks that were buried with the goblins.

A thorough search of the area uncovers a tiny weathered gravestone etched with the name “Lilith” and a several notable items:

Lilith’s Locket: A silver locket on a delicate silver chain, found sitting on the gravestone. The locket is untarnished and appears to be new despite its ancient origins. Inside is a miniature portrait of a young half-elf woman (Lilith) and a handsome human knight.
The Knight's Signet Ring: Buried in the shallow earth near Lilith’s locket is a silver signet ring bearing the crest of a red stag on high cliff.
Lilith's Bardic Notes: A small, decayed leather book of music lies among the earth, its pages brittle and aged. The melodies are written in a beautiful elven script, though reading them it is clear they are all tinged with sorrow and rage. A skilled bard might be able to decipher some of the notes, granting a temporary advantage in a future performance or insight into a new song they could perform.