The party is about to go on a rescue mission, out deep in a magically

>>52295404
Oh, and they're level 2

>>52295404
Owlbear or any other large beast at the edge just out of reach

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>>52295404

>skeletons
>orcs
>ogres
>Bigfoot
>spiders
>orc skeletons
>ogre skeletons
>Bigfoot skeletons
>spiders made of skeletons
>Slender Man or Men
>ancient statues which come alive when you aren't looking at them
>large owls the size of small children
>small children the size of large owls
>crumbling ruins of an ancient keep, the rumored home of the King of Rats
>judgmental talking trees
>an old bridge, guarded by a ghostly knight
>the Witch of the Woods
>the Man of Straw and Reeds
>Lord Voldemort
>The "Oh My" trinity, with supernatural flairs as needed
>glimpses of the party members themselves, from another point in time during their trip innawoods

>>52295404
straight from wikipedia:

Trolls
Huldras
Nattmaras
scandinavian mermaids
lorelei mermaids
a troll's wife
The "classic" witch lives alone in a little cottage in the woods
Fossegrimen
Nokken
nix
lindworms (party might have to run)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_folklore

>>52295404
Use ideas from your pic. Lots of darkness, lots of fog. Make the monsters more powerful than the players, and let them know it. Make sure they know it.

Stuff is moving in the fog and the characters need to avoid it. It is all about them spotting the other thing first, then running away or avoiding/hiding.

Have them encounter a hag/witch. And instead of it being about combat it is about roleplay and dealing with her madness (from the player point of view). Can they RP out of it by her weird rules?

>>52295404

Corrupted tree-men and fog spirits. Maybe evil fairies, too.

>>52295404
5e? Use a barghest. Play up its spookiness big time. Barghests make for the perfect malevolent black supernatural beasts that get spoken of in rumor, and they're suitable bosses for a level 2 party too. Shadow mastitis work for a less powerful version of this. Beyond that I'd say hags, and take a look in Volo's, it's got an assortment of monsters that fit in the setting you've described.

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>>52295404
I have a similar area in my setting, OP. A couple of the things that have been hits so far include: The Leviathan Elk, so large it sweeps over redwood-sized trees as it walks;
Antler, a strange horned skull that whispers to those nearby and compels you to carry it and eventually put it on as a helm;
Dire shrikes, snatching prey and imaging them on sharp tree branches;
And a strange overgrown temple with a giant humanoid woven out of plants and branches laying at the entrance. The party member carrying Antler barely passed a save to avoid putting antler at the figure's head, and the party booked it cuz they got spooked. Unfortunately for them, paths work differently in the Deep Woods, and I roll randomly for where the paths lead, so they're probably gonna end up back there soon.

>>52306577
>The party member carrying Antler barely passed a save to avoid putting antler at the figure's head
W-what happen if he does ?

>>52306577
I wish you were my DM.

>>52295404
Utilize the weather. Rain doesn't just mean an overcast sky. It means your firewood is wet. It means your clothes are soaked. It means mud on the ground making travel slow and awful. It means any winds are felt as cold and piercing.

Utilize fey creatures with glowing eyes that watch and follow the party. Have them steal things in the night.

Utilize monstrous giant beasts which shake the forest as they pass.