The Search for Dread
Can you find my mama?
A parent was lost. Can you reunite the family?
This adventure is designed for 3–4 characters, level 5–6, with a total of 18–20 levels.
Background & Synopsis
Children at a playground are tormenting a tiefling child. Intentional, an adult tiefling, scares away the other children. The child, Sanctity, is new in town, having left the last one due to not being accepted with their parents. The mother (Dread) was lost along the way, kidnaped by bandits. Intentional and the child’s father ask the party to find Dread.
As the party retraces the family’s path, they encounter Moonmaeven, who welcomes the party and remembers seeing the father and child but never saw the mother. Moonmaeven offers them a sculpture that the same bandits dropped.
As the party travels, they enter an abandoned mine and encounter Lanark, who warns them of shoddy supports that led to the original owners’ demise and the new residents (cultists) who know nothing about masonry and engineering. As they navigate the mine, in a chamber with an altar. The cultists attack, and by the end of the encounter, Dread is free, as may be some devils. At one point, they may find treasure, but a collapse leaves them trapped, rescued by Veritas. When they return, the cultists have kidnaped the child, intending to turn the child into a “key” sculpture instead. Dread helps stop the cultists.
Once the party returns to their family, the cultists have kidnapped Dread’s son, Sanctity, and the party must rescue him as well.
Content Trigger Warnings
This adventure includes racially-motivated bullying (against a tiefling child), violence, and kidnaping.
Adventure Hooks
This adventure can serve as a side quest or as a connection or introduction to an ongoing cult-related villain.
Where are we?
This adventure can occur in any population center larger than about 400 people, which would typically include a public park, within a day’s travel of a forest.
Opening Encounter
Read or paraphrase the following:
As you travel through town, you pass by a park, which consists of trees, benches, a fountain with an iridescent dragon spraying a mist of water from its mouth that looks like a rainbow regardless of light sources or the viewer’s angle, a round field marked for some kind of ball game, and a large sand pit. In the sand pit, two human children are tormenting a tiefling preteen child with taunts and physical aggression. An adult tiefling sitting on a nearby bench notices the encounter and chants a short melody. The sand at the edge of the sandbox bursts into flame and begins moving across the sand toward the children. The two humans see it, look at the tiefling, and run away in panic. The tiefling notices the flame and walks over to it, staring at it curiously, getting closer, and eventually stepping into it. The adult walks over to the child as the flames vanish, speaking words of comfort.
As the party witnesses this and decides how to react, a middle-aged male human adult with long black hair in a ponytail and plain tunic comes running and hugs the boy, Sanctity, who bursts into tears. The adult, clearly Sanctity’s father from their overheard conversation, continues to comfort the child and thanks the adult tiefling. The tiefling approaches the party, welcomes them to town if they’re new, and introduces himself as, Intentional, assuring the party that not everyone in town is so cruel to those different from them.
Sanctity (commoner) is a brave preteen tiefling boy with hair like his father’s, crimson skin, and red antelope horns. He has experienced much persecution in his life to the point that, while it hurts him, he tries to hide it until he’s with someone safe. He’s kind to others but slow to trust anyone besides his parents, but he’s also learned to trust Intentional.
During this conversation, the father approaches Intentional, attempting with little success to hide his stress, barely finding strength to speak above a whisper as he uses what little energy he has to hold back tears. “Thank-you, Intentional. We came here looking for a place to thrive, but it’s been one struggle after another. First, my wife is taken during the trip, then we encounter this kind of hostility. I was really hoping we were done with this, but I guess that was naïve.”
He turns to the party and introduces himself as Numer. When Numer realizes the party are adventurers, his face lights up and says, “I wonder whether people of your skills can help me.” He explains that they recently moved from a small village, and while traveling, they were ambushed, and the bandits in red robes captured his wife, Dread.
He heard them say, “We need it alive,” so he’s confident that Dread is still alive somewhere. Even if the party can’t rescue them, any information would be appreciated. Numer tells them that he and Dread had saved a little money to help them get started in their new home, and the party can have it all if they can help rescue his wife. Intentional offers to chip in what he has if needed. If asked, Intentional won’t go along — he’s needed in town.
Optional Travel Encounters
While traveling, the game master may want to include an extra encounter along the road. If so, choose or roll randomly from the following tables. (Use Forest Path Maps)
Combat Encounters
D4 |
Encounter |
1 |
A bandit party of 4 goblins and a bugbear leap out from behind trees and demand all the party’s money |
2 |
A party of 3 centaurs believe the party are cultists and fire darts with sleep poison at the party. (Sleep Dart. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage. On hit, the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 hour. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature is also unconscious while poisoned in this way. The creature wakes up if it takes damage or if another creature takes an action to shake it awake.) The centaurs attack any remaining party members the next round, calling them “cultists” and telling them to get out of their forest. If the party tells the centaurs they’re not cultists, either through roleplay or with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, the centaurs stop attacking. The centaurs don’t wish to kill the party — they just want to capture them and remove them from the forest. |
3 |
An elven beekeeper (commoner) comes running and screaming for help, pursued by 3 giant wasps. He acquired them in an attempt to create magic hybrid bees to produce large amounts of honey, but they escaped before he could finish. |
4 |
A ghast & 3 ghouls hope to make a meal of the party. |
Non-Combat Encounters
D4 |
Encounter |
1 |
An imp is spying on the party from a nearby tree and snaps a branch, which gets the attention of anyone in the party with a passive Wisdom (Perception) of 8 or higher. If captured, it offers 10 gp for the sculpture (see below), and if the party refuses, it haggles up to 50 gp. If asked why it wants the sculpture, it is reluctant to answer, but if forced, it says that it belonged to its master but refuses to reveal more. |
2 |
Arixi Wigglepocket, a gnome doctor (commoner) riding on the back of a rhinoceros has lost control of her mount, which charges toward the party. She’s yelling, “Help me, but don’t hurt Nosy!” She’s traveling through the forest, and, “Some people in red robes were making a ruckus back there, which spooked my poor Nosy!” |
3 |
A group of 4 goblins come from the opposite direction. They’re arguing with each other over directions. They ask the party for directions to the town the party came from. After the party gives directions, one says to another, “See? Pay up!” The other reluctantly hands over a cp. |
4 |
That party hears a loud screech coming from not far off the road. An owlbear crouches there. If the party backs off, it leaves them alone, as it only wants to protect its eggs. |
The Glassblower
Numer tells the party that he and his family came from Millview, eight days’ journey away, but the attack where Dread was taken came just off the road about a day’s journey from here. You can recognize the location by three boulders and two stumps in a clearing.
The road is a wide country path with wagon wheel ruts, first through a few miles of farms, then changing to woods. As the woods get thicker, the land rolls into gentle hills that get slightly steeper as they progress. In this woodland, they meet Moonmaeven and her massive dog, Freckles. Moonmaeven has set up camp near the road and is working over a fire to craft an intricate glass figurine that resembles Sanctity. When she sees them, she says, “Oh, there you are! Yes, that’s who I was expecting! Here, have some soup! I’m just finishing! Your timing is perfect!”
In the edge of the fire, a pot of soup holds an aromatic herb and lentil soup, and she sets the figurine into a ceramic box on the other edge of the fire and opens a wooden case, revealing a collection of beautiful glass bowls, separated by straw. She pours soup for anyone interested, a bowl for the dog, and one for herself.
Moonmaeven is happy to answer the party’s questions.
- She had a vision of the party arriving but forgot the details, only that someone was coming, so she prepared for their coming and remembered the vision once she saw them.
- That vision inspired the creation of the figurine she’s working on.
- She remembers seeing Numer and Sanctity traveling through here but doesn’t remember anyone with them, “But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
- She was attacked by a group of bandits sometime after seeing them, whom she chased away, but when they fled, they dropped a pouch with an odd sculpture, a box on a round base with horns sticking up from it. She shows it to them: it is small enough to fit in a human hand with horns the size of dagger blades, crimson in color, and made from an unknown material that could be metal, stone, or bone, hard and seemingly indestructible. Detect Magic reveals an aura of transmutation magic. A successful Wisdom (Religion) check reveals the following:
o 15: It’s devilish in nature.
o 20: It’s associated with the cult of Ganzul, a Pit Fiend.
o 25: It’s a device used in a summoning ritual.
- She offers them the sculpture in case it might help them.
- She heard them say, “Something like mine or shrine or something like that, but I can’t remember, and I can’t make sense of it.”
She tells them the glass figurine will be ready by tomorrow, so if she’s still there when they come back, it’s her gift for the little one.
The Mineshaft
As the party travels on, they find the clearing just as Numer described. As the party investigates the area, the searcher with the highest Wisdom (Perception) sees a torn piece of red fabric on a trail that leads away from the road and clearing. The path leads to a mine entrance with a broken sign hanging from the top: Titan Trove Mine Map. Several rotting boards lay on the ground around the entrance, and another piece of torn red fabric is snagged on the boards on the entrance. (Use Titan Trove Mine Maps)
The entrance to the mine has a rusted iron pulley wheel just inside that was once used for mining carts. The 7-foot wide limestone passage forms a 30-foot-long graded ramp with rusted rails, sloping downward at a 45 degree angle. Most wheelchairs for medium or small sized creatures can fit against the rails to navigate the slope. Those without such supports who attempt to walk down the ramp must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or fall prone and slide to the bottom, noisily hitting a pile of rubble at the bottom. Using a rope with the pulley gives advantage on the check.
- Crashing into the pile of rubble or any other loud noise awakens a Swarm of Bats in Chamber One, which immediately attacks the party. Characters must succeed on a DC 8 Dexterity (Stealth) check to avoid disturbing the bats. Loud noises in one of the adjacent chambers also awakens them, but they then fly outside, not toward the noise.
The chamber is a carved mineshaft, support timbers looking new and firmly attached. The ground is covered in bat guano, the air pungent with ammonia, and anyone with a typical sense of smell experiences Nausea and vomits if they fail a DC 8 + (IE) Constitution saving throw, which leaves them incapacitated for 1d4 rounds.
In the back of the chamber, a stone door blends into the wall. A successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals the outline, and a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals the function of a spring mechanism to open it. Cultists use this door to sneak past Lanark into chamber 7.
- The minecart track leads into and through this chamber. As the party nears this chamber, they hear an echoing bang and an annoyed voice say, “What did they use for supports, balsa wood?” Lanark stands by a broken beam with new beams nearby on the ground. He’s leaning on his ax, but when he sees the party, he says, “Ugh, more cultists! This is mine! You can’t pick this one! Just get out, or you’ll be in a tunnel trouble!”
Lanark heard about the abandoned mine a few months ago and decided to renovate it. Once he realizes the party aren’t cultists, he’s happy to answer questions.
- If asked about his broken horn, he simply tells them that this is why solid engineering is important and won’t say more about it.
- The cultists showed up a few months ago. He complains that they know nothing about masonry and engineering and have no business down there. He chases them out at times, but he’s too busy making repairs to deal with them most of the time.
- He asks the party some questions about engineering that require a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Mining Tools Proficiency) check to answer accurately. If the party fails to answer accurately, he tells them they should leave before they hurt themselves. He won’t stop them, but if they need his help, they have disadvantage on all Charisma (Persuasion) checks with him. “You don’t know an ax from an elbow joint!”
- The cultists wear red robes and have been going deeper into the mine, but he hasn’t been back that far lately to see what they’re up to. “If they keep it up, the beams won’t keep it up — the ceiling, I mean.”
- He hasn’t paid attention to their conversations, but he did hear them say something about losing something and needing to find it. “Sounds like they’re between a rock and a hard place.”
- Before the party moves on, he warns them to watch out for cave-ins. “I haven’t worked my way back that far yet. A lot of people take this kind of work for granite, but when I’m done, you’ll marble at it!”
- As the party walks away, Lanark takes another chop at an old beam and grumbles, “I don’t think they knew a tongue and groove from a mortise and tenon!”
- This large open chamber, strewn with broken mining equipment, rubble, and bones, has a slightly damp floor, and by the footprints in the mud pooled in some spots during rain, it has seen a lot of recent foot traffic. Searching the rubble reveals 18 cp fallen from the pockets of the dead miners, but nothing else that hasn’t been destroyed by time and moisture.
- This alcove contains several stacks of lumber, a mining cart, and a flat cart in addition to a small chest and an ornately carved, minotaur-sized chair. Opening the chest immediately presents an aroma of thyme. It contains three large fresh round loaves of bread, two large sausages, and a variety of artisanal cheeses. The hinges on the chest have a ratchet that makes a loud clicking sound when opened and prevents shutting, which alerts Lanark that the party has opened his lunchbox. If the party investigates the box before opening, they see a lever on the back to release the ratchet and open it quietly or shut it. If Lanark catches the party with his lunch, he offers them some of the bread and a thick slice of griffon sausage. He appreciates compliments on his cooking, which makes him more likely to help if the party needs him later, giving them advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks with him.
- This chamber holds a black wooden altar at the center with large horns on the corners, curving inward. A pedestal in the center has an indentation that looks like a perfect fit for the small sculpture they received from Moonmaeven. Magic detection reveals a fiendish aura.
- When the party enters the chamber, four Acolytes of Ganzul attempt to ambush the party. Two have already cast Shield of Faith (+2 AC) and use Spiritual Weapon to attack apparent casters while two attempt to Hold Person on martial characters.
- A priest protected by two hellcats stands away from the others, wearing a necklace with a red gem pendant (100 gp value). She holds the necklace to her eye and shouts, “They have the key! Get the key to the altar while I complete the incantation, but only while the incantation continues!” and begins chanting but not attacking the party unless the others die. The hellcats attack any of the party that approach the priest or attacks her.
- The cultist party wants to put the object from Moonmaeven, the “key,” into the altar pedestal, but only while one of them is chanting. If the cultists succeed, Dread (without their familiar) is released from within the key, but a portal opens, and three bearded devils come through and attack the party.
- If the key is put in place without the chanting, it releases Dread but does not open the portal. If the priest’s chanting stops, the cultists start yelling to each other to keep the key away from the altar until the incantation resumes.
- Dread immediately attacks the nearest devil, being able to smell them and feel heat coming from them, and when the devils have been vanquished, Dread helps against any remaining cultists, who are loud and smell of sulfur and sweat.
- When Dread is released, regardless of whether the portal is opened, the walls shake, and the passage where the party entered collapses with twenty feet of rubble.
- Once the battle ends, Dread asks the party, “So, to whom do I owe my thanks?” Dread taps around with their cane and listens to the party and the sounds in the room to get their bearings. They ask how many are in the party and for each to introduce themselves to get to know their voices.
- If the party asks, Dread explains that the cultists kidnapped them and started chanting. Dread felt themself being pulled into the key and remembers nothing after that until being pulled out. They have no sense of how much time has passed, like waking from sleep and having a sense that it wasn’t instantaneous but with no clear sense of how long.
- Dread wants to know how the release happened, and as soon as the party mentions Dread’s family, Dread interrupts and only asks questions about her family, their welfare, and how long it takes to get back to them.
- Dread joins in any additional combat encounters and is eager to return to their family.
- This room is thick with cobwebs, thicker on the side away from the entrance, and when the party enters, three swarms of spiders and a giant spider attack the party.
- Twelve cultists are organizing cases of candles, lanterns, chains, and a chalk-like substance. If Dread is with the party, the cultists attempt to grapple and restrain them with the chains. A stone door identical to the one in chamber 1 blends into the south wall.
- This chamber has another pile of rubble from a cave-in; bones and mining tools covering the ground around the rubble, and a green mist covers the ground. If the party disturbs any of the bones, they animate, and five skeletal miners attack the party.
- This entire chamber is filled with magical darkness, and in the center of the and in the center of the chamber, a twenty-foot diameter and thirty-foot-deep pit. The party hears many quick movements around their feet and flapping above their heads. Any loud noise causes a swarm of bats and a swarm of rats to attack the party. If asked, Dread recognizes the sounds.
- The hallway slopes downwards and gets wetter. Dark stagnant water covers the chamber’s floor six inches deep on average. If the party steps into the water, a black pudding attacks.
- This dripping chamber contains three lanterns, three flasks of oil, and a chest in the back embedded into a forming stalagmite with a rusty lock, which can be unlocked with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using Thieves’ Tools if first lubricated with oil, but the hinges are embedded into the wall, requiring 15 bludgeoning damage to remove. The chest contains 100 cp, 300 sp, 30 gp, and uncut 5 zircon stones (transparent pale blue-green) worth 25 gp each or 50 gp after a jeweler cuts them. If the party smashes the chest, the vibrations cause the entry to collapse, trapping the party inside. As they discuss how to get out, a tapping sound comes from above, and a hole breaks open in the ceiling, where Veritas breaks through and peeks into the room. When it sees the party, it asks who they are, and when convinced that they’re friendly, it drops in via a rope and offers to help them out via an old air vent. Veritas wanted to explore the cave but was annoyed by the “grumpy minotaur” by the entrance and decided to use “the back door.” The vent can lead them out of the cave, back to the forest, or drop into chamber #7. If they go to Chamber #7, Veritas helps against the cultists, who attempt to capture it, since it’s also a tiefling.
Out of the Shaft
Once the party is ready to leave, if they pass Lanark, he offers them a taste of his cheeses, including a spicy aged cheddar and chimera curds. If Veritas is with them, he refuses food to it and comments about its immature palate, to which Veritas rolls its eyes and comments about cranky minotaurs.
Quickly, back to my family!
Dread is eager to return home but honors any requests to rest first. When arriving at Moonmaeven’s camp, Moonmaeven is excited to see the party and is ecstatic that they rescued Dread. She offers Dread the figuring she created, and Dread takes some time feeling the intricate details of the tiny glass tiefling and begins to cry. They say, “This is my Sanctity, though more fragile than my strong child.” Moonmaeven gives Dread a wooden box lined with feathers to protect it and says, “It may be glass, but you will find it quite resilient. May it always warm your heart.”
Moonmaeven offers to prepare a meal for them, and as she digs through dishes and utensils, Dread asks whether she happens to have a brass brazier. Moonmaeven does, as she uses it in some of her glasswork. Dread politely borrows it, reaches into their coat pocket, and tells the party to eat when the food is ready, and that Dread themself eats after finishing a ritual. (She’s casting the Find Familiar spell.) An hour later, a raven flies out of the brazier and perches on Dread’s horn, to which Dread says, “Welcome back, Void, old friend.” They quickly eat and wash the utensils before moving on.
Where’s Sanctity?
When the party returns to town, Numer sees Dread from a distance and comes running, tears pouring down his face. Intentional follows at a slow pace, his head hanging low. When Numer gets close, Dread smiles, recognizing Numer’s gait pattern and his welcoming shouts.
Dread accepts Numer’s embrace and says, “You didn’t give up on me.”
Numer hugs Dread harder. “Never, my dear. Never shall I ever.”
Dread begins to cry. “You still love me?”
Numer cradles her head with his hands and kisses her tenderly. “Always and forever.”
Dread hugs Numer tightly and says, “Where’s Sanctity?”
By this point, Intentional has caught up to the party and says, “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop them!”
Numer and Intentional explain that some red-robed figures caught them by surprise in their house and took Sanctity. When they came into the house, Intentional was in the privy. They pinned Numer down with the couch and took Sanctity, dragging him into a cart and fleeing town. Intentional saw which way they went (a different road in the direction of the mine) but knew he couldn’t catch them.
Dread’s face combines fear and anger. “No! They will not use my Sanctity like they used me!” They ask Intentional to get enough horses for the party and them, and he runs off. They reach into their pocket, pulling out the box with the figurine, taking it out, and holding it in their hand. “It’s warmer,” Dread says, returning it to its box.
Intentional returns, out of breath, with the horses. Dread mounts one and says, “Someone, please take my horse’s rope to keep us with you, and don’t slow down.”
As the party heads out of town on the horses, Dread keeps reaching into their pocket, eventually extracting the figurine and holding it up. “We’re getting warmer! Keep going!” After about an hour, of fast travel, Dread says, “Slow down. We’re burning up.” They explain that the figurine has been getting warmer, and they believe it’s leading them to Sanctity. They must be close, and they need to be careful. She tells them to stop, and her raven, Void, flies on ahead, while Dread becomes still. “They’re around the next curve in a clearing. They stopped to eat. My Sanctity is tied up next to one of them. They’re five in number. Prepare yourselves.” Dread casts Mage Armor. (Use Forest Clearing by Path Maps)
When the party arrives at the clearing, two Acolytes of Ganzul and three cultists all move toward Sanctity. The cultist closest holds her scimitar to Sanctity and says, “Not another step! We only need one of you alive, fiendfake!”
Sanctity stomps on the cultist’s foot and tries to run, and the cultist slashes at Sanctity, leaving a narrow cut on his leg. As Sanctity falls to the ground, his finger points back at his attacker, and the attacker bursts into flames and falls to the ground. (He used his Hellish Rebuke.)
The remaining four attack the party. If the Acolytes of Ganzul begin to lose, one grabs Sanctity and holds him hostage, even threatening to use their Burn Out ability if necessary; although if they do, while the fire would hurt Sanctity, his fire resistance would keep him from dying, which the Acolyte may have forgotten. In this case, Sanctity might even provoke the acolyte to do so.
What’s Next?
Once the cultists are defeated and the family reunited, Intentional offers everyone dinner and rest at his house. As the party celebrates, a wagon comes into town, driven by a minotaur. Lanark is coming to town to get building supplies. When he sees the party, he comes over and says, “I found some useless lumber in my mine. I don’t see any good use for this stuff except as firewood.” In the back of his cart, he has the dismantled altar.
Bestiary
Acolyte of Ganzul
Medium humanoid (human), lawful evil
Armor Class
13 (leather armor)
Hit Points
33 (6d8 + 6)
Speed
30 ft.
STR |
DEX |
CON |
INT |
WIS |
CHA |
11 (+0) |
14 (+2) |
12 (+1) |
10 (+0) |
13 (+1) |
14 (+2) |
Skills
Deception +4, Persuasion +4, Religion +2
Senses
passive Perception 11
Languages
any one language (usually Common)
Challenge
2 (450 XP)
Spellcasting. The cultist is a 4th-level spellcaster. Its spell casting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 11, +3 to hit with spell attacks). The fanatic has the following cleric spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): light, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots): command, inflict wounds, shield of faith
2nd level (3 slots): hold person, spiritual weapon
Burn Out. When the cultist dies, it explodes in a burst of fire. Each creature within 5 ft. of it must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 7 (2d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Dark Devotion. The cultist has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.
Actions
Multiattack. The cultist makes two melee attacks.
Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) slashing damage.
Hellcat
Medium fiend, lawful evil
Armor Class
16 (natural armor)
Hit Points
45 (7d8 + 14)
Speed
50 ft.
STR |
DEX |
CON |
INT |
WIS |
CHA |
17 (+3) |
14 (+2) |
14 (+2) |
6 (-2) |
13 (+1) |
6 (-2) |
Skills
Perception +5
Damage Immunities
fire
Senses
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages
understands Infernal but can’t speak it
Challenge
3 (700 XP)
Keen Hearing and Smell. The cat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Fire Breath (Recharge 5-6). The cat exhales fire in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Pounce. If the cat moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a target and then hits it with a bite attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the cat can make another bite attack against it as a bonus action.
These infernal minions appear as black panthers with red highlights in their fur, glowing flaming eyes, and flames flickering from their claws and mouths. When attacking, it uses its fire breath for multiple targets, then use its next turn to pounce.
Skeletal Miner
Medium undead, lawful evil
- Armor Class 14 (hide armor)
- Hit Points 13 (2d8 + 4)
- Speed 30 ft.
STR |
DEX |
CON |
INT |
WIS |
CHA |
12 (+1) |
14 (+2) |
15 (+2) |
6 (-2) |
8 (-1) |
5 (-3) |
- Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning
- Damage Immunities piercing, poison
- Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned
- Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
- Languages understands the languages it knew in life but can’t speak
- Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
War Pick. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8 + 1) piercing damage.
Rubble Rumble (Recharge 6). If the Skeletal Miner is within 5 ft. of a mine or cave wall, it can slam its pick on the wall and send a shockwave through the ceiling, causing a collapse in a 20-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.