Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage. REACTIONS Stone’s Endurance (1/Short or Long Rest). When the goliath guard takes damage, they reduce the damage taken by 9 (1d12 + 3). GOLIATH CAPTAIN Same as goliath guard except: Armor Class 16 (breastplate) Hit Points 75 (10d8 + 30) Str 18 (+4), Dex 14 (+2), Con 16 (+3), Int 13 (+1), Wis 15 (+2), Cha 14 (+2) Skills Athletics +6, Insight +4, Intimidation +5, Perception +4, Survival +4 Challenge 3 (700 XP) Rally (2/Short or Long Rest) As a bonus action, the goliath captain can choose a friendly creature who can see or hear them. That creature gains 1d8 + 2 temporary hit points. Multiattack. The goliath captain makes two attacks with their greataxe. Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d12 + 4) slashing damage. ORC SCOUT The orc scout is an orc with the following changes: Their Armor Class is 14 (hide armor). They have 22 (3d8 + 9) hp. Their Dexterity is 16 (+3), their Intelligence is 11 (+0), and their Wisdom is 14 (+2). They have Perception +6, Stealth +7, and Survival +6. They have 60 feet of darkvision, and their passive Perception is 16. Their Challenge Rating is 2 (450 XP).
They have a Multiattack action, which lets them make two melee or two ranged attacks. Instead of the Greataxe action, they have the following attack actions: Battleaxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage, or 8 (1d10 + 3) slashing damage if used with two hands. Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage. ZVIAD UK’VDAVI Zviad Uk’vdavi is a lich attuned to three magic items: a robe of the archmagi, a staff of the magi, and the Tome of Atrocity. These affect his stats as follows: His Armor Class is 19. His Intelligence is 22 (+6), and his Intelligence saving throw modifier is +13. His spell save DC is 23. He has resistance to psychic and radiant damage. He has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. His spell attack modifier is +15, which is also his to-hit bonus for Paralyzing Touch. He can memorize twenty-four spells at a time. (The additional spell is usually teleport, but it varies.) The staff of the magi grants him an additional action: Retributive Strike (see Dungeon Master’s Guide, chapter 7, “Magic Items A–Z”). To use the Command Evil or Dark Speech action, he must use a bonus action to draw blood from a willing or incapacitated creature within his reach, using a piercing or slashing weapon. The subject takes 2 (1d4) damage of the appropriate type. Zviad carries a dagger for this purpose. The Tome of Atrocity has other detrimental properties (it causes the attuned individual’s body to rot, and the attuned individual has disadvantage on saving throws against poison, takes on a cadaverous appearance, and must eat and drink
six times the normal amount every day), but because Zviad is a lich, these properties don’t affect him. OceanofPDF.com
CARTOGRAPHERS If you like the maps in this book, find more of the illustrators’ work at: Chloe Bolland: https://twitter.com/ChloeTheCartog Dungeon Baker: http://dungeonbaker.com George Mason: https://www.thereclusivecartographer.com Fernando Salvaterra: https://fernandosalvaterra.carrd.co OceanofPDF.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As always, I owe thanks first and foremost to my wife, Jen C. Marshall, and to my devoted readers. I also want to express my gratitude to various people who’ve contributed to this book by providing information and inspiration: J. Eric Smith (coastal defense); Christopher Kulander (cave geology, mining, and underground engineering); Andrew Eaton (dive trauma); Dael Kingsmill (thieves’ cant); Ginny Loveday, Michael J. O’Connor, and Ken Walter (drow compound); Thomas Nesges (vampire mansion); Ahmed Aljabry (genie’s palace); Justice Arman (blue dragon lair); and Ian Wickles (lich’s crypt). Thanks also to my editor, Jeremie Ruby-Strauss, and editorial assistant, Molly Gregory, for their patience with how long it took me to finish writing. OceanofPDF.com
More from this Series The Monsters Know What… Book 1 Live to Tell the Tale Book 2 Moar! Monsters Know What… Book 3 OceanofPDF.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR KEITH AMMANN has been a Dungeons & Dragons player and DM for more than thirty years. He has been writing his fifth edition D&D-focused blog, The Monsters Know What They’re Doing, since 2016. He lives in Chicago. FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Keith-Ammann SimonandSchuster.com SAGAPRESS.COM @SagaPressBooks @SagaSFF OceanofPDF.com
ALSO BY KEITH AMMANN The Monsters Know What They’re Doing MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing Live to Tell the Tale OceanofPDF.com
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook. Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox. OceanofPDF.com
www.SimonandSchuster.com Copyright © 2022 by Keith Ammann All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Saga Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. First Saga Press hardcover edition December 2022 SAGA PRESS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Jacket design by Emma A. Van Deun Jacket illustration by Lio Pressland Author photograph by Jen C. Marshall Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. ISBN 978-1-9821-7135-3 ISBN 978-1-9821-7137-7 (ebook) OceanofPDF.com