With Season 7 of Rick and Morty coming up in two weeks (October 15, 2023), we thought it might be fun to come up with a few encounter ideas based on the adventures of the duo. Below are nine of them from some of our favorite episodes.
1. Cannnn Do
Based on Season 1, Episode 5 – “Meeseeks and Destroy”
A mysterious old artificer approaches the party and gives them a box with a button on top. When pressed, a Scarecrow (CR1) or Flesh Golem (CR5) will pop out and grunt, take a request, fulfill the request and then explode out of existence (or back to its original plane).
The catch is, for every scarecrow or golem over one that is active, the party rolls a d6. If any d6 lands on a 1, the creatures immediately begin to attack the party. If the party is feeling lucky, they could have a huge number of creatures helping them, but the instant that 1d6 hits 1, the world comes crashing down. If the DM determines a request to be too difficult, they can have the
You could also consider a Homunculus Servant, or other kinds of Golems (CR9-16) depending on the level of the party.
2. Show Me What You Got
Based on Season 2, Episode 5 – “Get Schwifty”
The party enters a town where Vargouilles are forcing townsfolk to compete in a realmwide music contest, shouting “Show me what you got!” The town’s mayor turns to the party to come up with a hit song and save the town from being sent to The Abyss.
Through a series of performance checks, and approval from the DM, the party might just be able to Get Schwifty and save the town.
You could also consider using Beholders (CR13) or Death’s Head of Bhaal (CR5).
3. Oh Great, A Purge Plane
Based on Season 2, Episode 9 – “Look Who’s Purging Now”
From Season 2, every good campaign should have a town that holds an annual purge. That purge just so happens to take place on the same night that the party shows up. From sundown to sun up, all crime is legal, a Rogue’s dream.
For the setup, maybe the party accidentally stepped through a portal that closes after they exit. They need to make their way through town to the only portal that can get them home, but doing so puts them in harms way of those creatures participating in the annual purge. They’ll need to fend off a barrage of commoners, each horde getting more difficult to deal with.
4. I’m A Pickle Mortyyyy
Based on Season 3, Episode 3 – “Pickle Rick”
Based on the popular Cucumber Grandpa transformation from Season 3, consider having an important NPC turn themselves into a food or inanimate object. This could also be an encounter played out when a member of the party is absent from the session that day.
You could also have the party wake up as a pickle after a long rest, the product of a nomadic wizard playing a prank on them. The party must then use their surroundings to undo what the wizard has done and return to their normal form. DMs decision, but you could be generous and let them start with arms or as an anthropomorphic pickle.
5. Big Bad Doodoo Daddy
Based on Season 4 Episode 2 – “The Old Man and the Seat”
A lonely plumber constructs an intricate dungeon between the tavern and the restroom, forcing the party to maneuver through a dangerous series of traps, monsters, and other obstacles. If they successfully make it to the toilets, they are given special crowns by the modron butlers standing by the sinks.
The crowns give the wearer -1 CHA, but +2 CON.
6. Pirates of the Pancreas
Based on Season 1, Episode 3 – “Anatomy Park”
The party is asked to shrink down and enter the body of the king in order to stop his heart palpitations from worsening. Throughout their journey, they will have to square off with different bodily systems, and take on pathogens and diseases that are also attacking the king from the inside. You can use stat blocks of Spectors, Ghosts, and Wraiths for many of the creatures inside the body.
This is best run as a larger dungeon crawl, with the end goal being to find the heart and give it a good jolt (if no member has a Lightning spell, the quest-giver can provide one). Consider tracking a time limit or round limit to add to the stress. If the party is unable to reach the heart before the time runs out, the body deteriorates, trapping the party inside the king forever.
7. General Portal Shenanigans
As the party walks through town they notice an old man and his grandson drop a strange inter-planar device. When used, a shimmering wall of green appears. If the party enters the blob of green in front of them, they are transported to some other plane.
You can roll on the below d6 table to determine which plane they end up in.
- A plane where hamsters sit on the heads of humans and control their movements through a tiny set of reins
- A plane where the sun screams the entire day
- A plane where anthropomorphic weapons use downscaled creatures to attack one another
- A plane where everyone was turned into Dragonflesh Grafters (see #10 below)
- A plane where anthropomorphic furniture constructs run the realm, using creatures as their own furniture
- A plane full of sawblades that immediately deal 3d6 slashing damage to the party when they enter
8. Goodbye Moonmen
Based on Season 2, Episode 2 – “Mortynight Run“
The party accidentally (or intentionally) saves an Air Elemental from being destroyed by an Assassin. Oddly enough, the Air Elemental is capable of taking standard household objects and turning them into solid gold bars. It requests assistance from the party in returning to its homeland in the Crystal Sphere in order to snuff out the entirety of the realm.
If the party allows the Air Elemental to accompany them, he will prove valuable in battle, capable of infiltrating the minds of enemies and casting Suggestion, depending on the intensity the DM chooses. As the journey continues the Air Elemental will get more intense about returning home and more hellbent on killing off every living creature.
The party must decide how to deal with the Air Elemental before it’s too late.
9. Just A Chemical Reaction
Based on Season 1, Episode 6 – “Rick Potion #9”
If a party member is attempting to court an NPC, an elderly sorcerer will appear and offer the individual a well-priced Love Potion (he can likely be persuaded to give it away for free). Once consumed, the individual immediately begins attracting all creatures within a 100-foot radius, unless they have a successful DC18 WIS save.
As the attraction continues, something in the air begins transforming all creatures into Dragonflesh Grafters that then attempt to attack the party. The party can attempt to fight them off, or the DM can throw in some sort of Deus ex machina that teleports all afflicted creatures into another plane.
Have other favorite episodes that you think would be fun to convert into DnD? Let us know below!
