Invasion of Dragonscar Keep

A Favor for Elegance

Introduction: An old friend has summoned you to a city the locals call Dragonscar Keep, to
investigate unusual behavior on the part of the Duke, a number of disturbing
disappearances, and their suspicion that shapeshifters have invaded!

A six-hour adventure for 3-6 Level 8th characters

by Levi Mote

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 Invasion of Dragonscar Keep
A horror-themed adventure for 3-6 Level 8 characters
Written by Levi Mote
This adventure uses original monsters as well as some not included in the 5e SRD
You will need the Monster Manual published by Wizards of the Coast

Pregame Timeline
One A Red Slaad was accidentally
year summoned by a desperate man
ago, accused of a crime he did not commit
The infected criminal’s tadpole erupted
and became a Green Slaad, the two
Slaad then worked to infect their
9
jailers with Chaos Phage. The Green
months
Slaad used the brain fluid of the jailers
ago,
and the criminal to make a brain brine
pool and begins growing Intellect
Devourers in the jail.
A few Blue Slaad were born from the
6
jailer-hosts. These Slaad then worked
months
to infect the entire Keep’s Guard and
ago,
Sir Reginald with Chaos Phage
Additional Red & Blue Slaad were born
from their Hosts and the Green Slaad
began impersonating Sir Reginald
The Green Slaad’s Intellect Devourers
3 began puppeteering the bodies of the
months fallen Guard and townsfolk
ago, Elegance, Sir Reginald’s concubine,
detected the change and immediately
sent a letter to one of the PCs
The Slaad continued slowly infecting
townsfolk Content Warning
One of the PCs received a letter from This adventure contains descriptions of parasitic
1.5 body horror, infectious disease, and suicide.
Elegance asking for help with an
months Moderate their use as fits your group’s discussed
invasion of Dragonscar Keep by
ago,
shapechangers boundaries and tolerances.
The Green Slaad has forged a
1 week Spawning Stone decreasing the Horror Story Pacing
ago, gestation time of Slaad from 3 months The PCs should be kept guessing as long as
to mere hours! possible as to the truth of the Slaad invasion and
After 1.5 months of travel, the Heroes Intellect Devourer puppeteers.
have arrived at the Keep intending to
Now
lend a hand. The Slaad are strong in Recent History of Dragonscar Keep
number and growing every day! Dragonscar Keep has been built in four
Design Note: progressively larger wards and is home to
This module was designed with maximum approximately 1,000 people. Largest to smallest as
flexibility for the GM and maximum fun for the well as newest to oldest these are the wards; The
players in mind. Commons, Laborhaem, The Hill, and the Keep.
Some mysterious illness has been claiming the
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lives of people in the Keep over the last six months.
One day people start complaining of dull, grinding
pain in their gut or chest, easily dismissed as
indigestion or a bad reaction to alcohol or pipe
weed. The next day they seemingly disappear. The
missing includes many family members of the
Keep’s Guard. This has prompted the Duke of
Dragonscar to declare martial law prohibiting
anyone from entering or exiting the Keep.
A handful of the people who have seen the horrors
for themselves or believe the claims of those who
have; have banded together to form a secret
resistance to fight the evil infecting their home.
Sir Reginald Wolfcastle Duke of Dragonscar
replaced human, noble, he/him
The Duke of Dragonscar Keep, cousin to the Queen
Regent and minor despot who was feared far more
than respected by the people of the Keep. Luckily
for most of them, he largely kept to himself and his
harem until his death by Chaos Phage. Since being
killed and replaced by the Green Slaad, Sir
Reginald has dismissed his harem (many of which
were infected with Chaos Phage first) and instead
focused on instituting martial law in the city,
enforced by a growing number of puppeteered
corpses of those who have “disappeared”.
Dragonscar is not the name of this keep on any
official map. This is the name given to it by the
locals, for the Royal family of this relatively small
regency is known to have been cursed for drinking
the blood of an ancient dragon. This gives them
spellcasting powers and a longer life alongside a
furiously uneven temperament.
Design Note: Why not name the city, only give its
nickname? In this way you can place this city in
any undeveloped far-flung edge of your world map
using a pre-existing city name that you have yet to
flesh out because it was so far afield. In this way,
Dragonscar Keep can be anywhere.
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Key NPCs
Timmons Breg
deceased human, accused criminal, he/him
Patient Zero, Timmons was imprisoned for
poaching in Sir Reginald’s wood, but in actuality
he had made his catch beyond the edge of the
wood and was only guilty of carrying his catch
home via a shortcut through Sir Reginald’s wood.
This can be confirmed by Drayton Rholl (see
below). In prison Timmons found a scroll etched in
blood that detailed a ritual that he believed would
allow him to summon a portal and escape his false
imprisonment. Unfortunately, in the dim light and
desperation he misread the scroll. He now serves
as a puppeteered corpse in the Keep’s Guard.
Sister Alaundra
elf, Life Cleric Lvl 9, she/her
Last remaining member of the church of (most
religious PC’s faith). The Sister has been allowed to
maintain her temple and keep her life in exchange
for healing wounded Slaad. She saw firsthand
when a tadpole burst forth from the Keep’s Sister
Superior. The Second Sister attempted to cast
Revivify using the last of the diamonds they had in
reserve, but the tadpole had devoured the Sister
Superior’s organs and even a powerful, reliable
miracle of her deity could not repair the damage or
revive the fallen Sister. Her mind has not recovered
from this experience, and she tends to babble bits
and pieces of scripture incoherently when not kept
focused.
Example Babbling:
“Forgive the monsters within us, as we will be
forgiven in eternity.”
“For I will forgive wickedness and forget the actions
of the penitent.”
“Overthrow their idols, break their pillars, burn their
stars from the sky.”
Over the last 3 months, she has secretly scribed
six Greater Restoration and six Protection from Evil
and Good Scrolls, but she will not reveal this
unless the PCs can earn her trust and assure her
safety – or she is infected / dying. She has been
approached by Elegance and refused to aid them in
the interest of not giving the Duke an excuse to
close her temple to the people.
INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 3
Mirabell Sweetbiscuit
halfling, innkeeper of the Lazy Daisy Inn &
Taproom, she/her
Mirabell is known throughout Dragonscar Keep as
a sweet elderly halfling with a heart of gold, known
for generosity to strangers and locals alike.
Secretly, she is a warlock of Ozyth’lidrex a Great
Old One, which she turned to in desperation
decades ago when Sir Reginald threatened to close
the Lazy Daisy if she could not pay triple the prior
year’s taxes. A secret chamber in the basement of
the Lazy Daisy hides her shrine to Ozyth’lidrex as
well as a secret tunnel out of the Keep to a nearby
river.
She wrote the scroll and planted it in the prison at
the behest of her patron. When approached to join
the resistance, she loudly and publicly dismissed
Elegance’s accusations against the Duke as the
actions of a jilted former lover. Anyone who brings
it up now is met with similar loud, public dismissal
and derision. Mirabell has been instructed by her
patron to attempt to poison the Heroes’ food with
Pale Tincture (from the 5e SRD). Mirabell is an
expert in this, so her poison causes maximum
damage and any non-magical attempt to detect the
poison is made with disadvantage.
Pale Tincture (Ingested): A creature subjected to
this poison must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution
saving throw or take 6 poison damage and become
Poisoned. The Poisoned creature must repeat the
saving throw every Long Rest, taking 6 poison
damage on a failed save. Until this poison ends, the
damage the poison deals can’t be healed by any
means. After seven successful Saving Throws, the
Effect ends, and the creature can heal normally.
Should the Heroes want to investigate Mirabell, she
will go about her legitimate activities until she
eventually notices the Heroes and will then try to
convince them of her innocence. If this is
unsuccessful or they persist, she will lead them /
flee to the Lazy Daisy Hidden Shrine detailed
below.
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Key Resistance Members
The resistance numbers in the teens. They have
seen transformations for themselves or believe
those who have. None who have seen it can
describe it without breaking into sobbing or
babbling madness.
Elegance
(tiefling, sex worker, they/them)
Former concubine to Sir Reginald, now leader of
the Keep’s resistance forces. Old friend to one of
the PCs.
Brohm Ironbarrel
(hill dwarf, former battlerager turned brewer,
he/him)
Local brewer whose wife and 3 of his 4 sons were
found dead by Brohm with holes in their chests!
Brohm hid and watched as the Keep’s Guard
collected the bodies. Luckily, he was not seen by
them and has been able to keep his rage in check
for the sake of his last remaining son, Morli.
Brohm has become Elegance’s most trusted
advisor and has begun leading secret food raids.
Morli Ironbarrel
(hill dwarf, blacksmith, he/him)
Youngest son of Brohm (81 years old), just moved
back to the keep 6 months ago after completing his
30-year blacksmithing apprenticeship. On the day
the Heroes meet the Resistance, the Ironbarrels
have just returned from leading a food raid. Morli
was infected during the raid but does not know
about the accelerated incubation time or how to
tell his father.
Drayton Rholl
(half-elf, hunter, he/him)
Former partner of Timmons. To his shame,
Drayton abandoned him when Sir Reginald’s men
arrested Timmons. Drayton is positive he saw his
dear friend in the ranks of the Keep’s Guard just
two days ago, despite the fact that his friend was
imprisoned a year ago. A reluctant, cowardly
member of the Resistance, he simply hasn’t found
a safe enough way out of the Keep yet.
INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 4
Places of Note in Dragonscar
Marford Family Silversmith
This abandoned Silversmith forge was founded by
Jessa Marford only 7 years prior in the Laborhaem
ring as the first and maybe last silversmith ever to
set up shop in Dragonscar. Jessa was one of the
first people to have gotten sick and gone missing.
Jessa was a stout woman in her twenties and the
last anyone would have thought would succumb to
a strange illness. She lived alone in a room in the
shop when she passed, and no kin have come
looking for her. The Duke ordered the shop
boarded up a few days after her disappearance and
no one goes near the place for fear that it is
infected.
In truth, Jessa saw one of the intellect devourers
scurrying through an alley near the jail. When she
reported it to the watch, she was visited that night
by a Red Slaad who infected her. She now serves
as a member of the Keep Guard.
The Lazy Daisy Inn & Taproom
Built into one of the walls dividing Laborhaem and
the Hill, the Lazy Daisy is a split-level structure as
the entrance from the Hill Ward sits at a 30 foot
higher elevation from the Laborhaem entrance.
Both sides consist of a dining hall / taproom and
access to rooms above. The lower hall is rowdy,
warm, and loud. The upper hall is quiet, refined,
comfortable and serene. One of Mirabell’s spells
keeps it this way, but she claims, “The Lazy Daisy
has always been this way and I couldn’t say why.”
(a half-truth).
The upper hall is where the kitchen and taproom
are located. A pair of dumbwaiters delivers food
and drink to the lower hall. A pair of stairs on
either end of the halls connects the two, but these
are guarded by bouncers as is the entrance to the
upper hall. The prices in the upper hall are about
ten times that of the lower hall with commensurate
refinement in servers and presentation, but no
appreciable difference in food or drink quality,
despite the claims of the upper hall’s patrons.
The rooms above each hall are equally different in
their accommodations and pricing with single or
double rooms above the upper hall for 1 SP /
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person / night and 4-6 person rooms above the
lower hall for 1 CP / person / night
Lazy Daisy Hidden Shrine
Warning: This is a Dea dly encounter for a ny
player count at this level you should
discoura ge players from poking this bear.
Mirabell Sweetbiscuit’s secret shrine to the Great
Old Ones is hidden in the basement of the Lazy
Daisy. Anyone who enters here without Mirabell is
attacked by a long leather cloak (Cloaker) and
Mirabell appears at the start of the second combat
round. Mirabell is no fool and will Dimension Door
away before being killed if able. She also has the
basement booby trapped with alchemical fire if
need be. She is loath to set this trap off as it will
burn her shrine of devotion as well as the Lazy
Daisy Inn and Taproom itself. It can be disarmed
by succeeding on an Insight check DC 13,
Investigation check DC 16, and a Dexterity
(Thieves Tools) check DC 19. If any of these is
failed by more than 5, the trap resets and the
person attempting the check is burned for 10
psychic damage as Mirabell’s voice mocks them.
The group gets one chance to disarm this trap
before the room and the Inn go up in flames.
Among the many bottles and baubles in the Shrine
sits a small jar with a single, rotting tooth in it. The
cork stopper is labeled with the letter T. In one of
her cupboards is a roll of specially treated linens
for scribing scrolls.
These linens match the scraps found in the Jail.
Use any basement map you can find just add a
shrine to the Great Old Ones.
Suggested Session Start
Read or paraphrase the following for your players.
The full moon shines down upon this seldom used
road that your company is travelling reminding you
of the last time you saw your friend Elegance in
person. The moonlight glinting off the silvered
baubles they wore in their horns shone almost as
brightly as their devilish grin. No one in the realms
was more fun than Elegance, made you feel more at
ease, or more jovial. This is why the letter you
received six weeks ago was so troubling and why
you have come so far.
INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 5
Key Encounters B) Gates of Dragonscar
The city gates are closed all times of the day now
A) Strange Wolves
This encounter occurs as the Heroes approach the per the Duke’s orders. The Keep has only one set of
Keep as a way to set the mood and possibly gates, and they are well-manned at all hours. The
misdirect them as to the true evil at work here. guards question travelers as to why they’ve come;
any reasonable answer or lie will grant them
Use any wooded outdoor map that you feel passage. If they mention Elegance, they are
adequately represents the Heroes’ stated approach informed that the Tiefling is a fugitive from the
to the Keep (Road, Overland, Flight, etc…) If they Guard and any information or contact with them
need to be drawn in, have the wolves attacking a has been outlawed. The bounty on Elegance
travelling merchant who will reward them for the currently stands at 500 GP.
rescue with an amount of gold you find
appropriate. (800 GP suggested) The outer wall stands 40 feet with a constantly
patrolled catwalk along the inner top. Note: Keep
This should not be a difficult encounter, the Guard can sense the presence and location of any
werewolves are not interested in fighting to the creature within 300 feet of it that has an Intelligence
death and if tracked when they flee, they lead of 3 or higher, regardless of interposing barriers.
pursuers to Dragonscar Keep where they blend in
to the citizenry. Provoking the Keep Guard
Should the players decide to test the guards, here
3 Heroes
are guidelines for how many guards you may want
Difficulty Enemies
to use. There is no possible way to guess where the
Easy 2 Werewolves
Medium 2 Werewolves players may want to attempt something like this,
4 Wolves so mapping will be variable. This encounter may be
repeated several times if the Heroes keep at it.
4 Heroes
3 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
Difficulty Enemies
Easy 2 Werewolves
Medium 2 Keep Guards
2 Wolves
3 Werewolves Deadly 3 Keep Guards
Medium
3 Wolves
4 Heroes
5 Heroes Difficulty Enemies
Difficulty Enemies Easy 2 Keep Guards
Easy 3 Werewolves Ha rd 3 Keep Guards
2 Wolves Deadly 4 Keep Guards
Medium 4 Werewolves
2 Wolves 5 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
6 Heroes Easy 2 Keep Guards
Difficulty Enemies Medium 3 Keep Guards
Easy 4 Werewolves Ha rd 4 Keep Guards
Medium 4 Werewolves Deadly 5 Keep Guards
4 Wolves
6 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
Easy 3 Keep Guards
Medium 4 Keep Guards
Ha rd 6 Keep Guards
Deadly 7 Keep Guards

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C) Meeting the Resistance
If the Heroes show any interest in the Resistance
around town, most upstanding citizens have
nothing kind to say. If they approach disreputable
citizens or specifically sex workers, they will be led
to a secluded alley and meet with Elegance. Once
Elegance sees the Hero they sent the letter to, they
will take the heroes to one of their hideouts in an
abandoned silversmith shop. One of the first
business owners to have gone missing was Jessa
Marford the local silversmith. Elegance explains
that… “For some reason, the Duke ordered this
place boarded up after her disappearance and the
Guard never come down this alley.”
DM Note: The silversmith is meant to be a red
herring to lead the heroes into thinking the BBEG is
a Lycanthrope rather than a Slaad.
Use any shop map you can find for this encounter,
but do not place a map out until Moril erupts!
Elegance brings the heroes in and introduces them
around (see Key Resistance Members above).
The Ironbarrels plus 3 other resistance members
(feel free to flesh them out as you wish) and
Drayton have just returned from a food raid on the
Keep.
Drayton should be introduced last. After the
introduction, Drayton asks to speak privately with
Elegance they excuse themselves to have a private
conversation in the next room about Drayton
believing one of the Keep Guard is his old friend
Timmons.
After they step away read or paraphrase the
following…
Morli begins complaining about a wrenching pain in
his gut. His father Brohm looks concerned and
begins checking him for wounds. Once Morli’s shirt
is removed, a vicious, weeping gash is revealed
across the young dwarf’s lower back.
Just then Morli spasms and screams. Brohm calls
for help restraining the boy as Elegance rushes to
lend aid. The pair desperately try to get a rag in
Morli’s mouth to muffle screams, so as not to attract
the guard. Morli flails and spasms, inadvertently
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kicking away any strangers who try to aid him until
he gasps loudly and drops onto his back motionless,
breathing shallowly.
As the room sighs a collective breath of relief, Brohm
kneels and takes his only living child’s head into his
lap. As he gently wipes the sweat from Morli’s
furrowed brow, an anguished scream escapes the
younger dwarf’s throat as his chest erupts in a
volcano of blood and bone. From the carnage
slithers a slimy, tadpole-like creature; no bigger
than the housecat Morli so loved as a child. Slick
with blood and viscera, it slips between the rotted
floorboards and disappears from sight.
In that moment, Brohm begins to foam at the mouth.
His face turns from shock to disbelief and settles on
unbridled fury. The old battlerager’s mind snaps
and he falls headlong into a berserker rage.
Brohm begins by attacking the nearest Hero.
Brohm’s ferocity takes any heroes that can be
surprised by surprise.
After Brohm is dealt with, Elegance asks Drayton
to tell the Heroes what he told them only to find
that Drayton has run off as well. Elegance then
tells the Heroes that Drayton told them that while
fighting one of the Keep’s Guard, the Guard’s
helmet fell open and Drayton swore it was his
partner Timmons who had been hauled away to jail
for poaching in the Duke’s private hunting ground
a year ago. Drayton said that Timmons did not
seem to recognize him or even register that his
name was being called. Drayton said that despite
missing a tooth, he was sure it was his partner
Timmons.
Elegance also knows a secret way into the Throne
room, but does not know that it has been
discovered by the Green Slaad and is guarded by
Keep Guard (use Provoking the Keep Guard)
Drayton is an experienced hunter and tracker who
knows the local area well, suffers from intense
paranoia, and wears an invisible ring of mind
shielding, he cannot be found if he doesn’t want to
be.
INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 7
D) Jail Pool Party 3 Intellect Devourers
Infiltration See the stat block for the Slaad and Intellect Devourers
Should the heroes sneak into the jail, they will find in the 5e Monster Manual

it inhabited by Blue Slaadi guarding a mysterious Patient Zero

pool of brain brine where the Green Slaad is If they search the Jail, The Heroes find a stained
growing Intellect Devourers. cloth with the initials DR embroidered in one
Special Guests corner. The smell of sweet baked goods once held
If the Heroes are captured by the Keep Guard, they within have been replaced by the acrid stench of
are brought here for conversion. No sense wasting infernal magic. Interspersed with the graffiti of
such fine physical specimens, especially those who desperate men doomed to live out their final days,
can cast spells. Anything the Heroes were holding the walls are etched with infernal symbols and
in their hands when they were knocked scraps of tattered linens hang and cling like rotting
unconscious is stowed in a chest in the jail, The moss. Each ruined piece holds a small fragment of
jailers were instructed to re-equip the Heroes after an infernal ritual. Tucked beneath a loose stone in
their conversion. the floor is a folded piece of used baking
Note: If a party begins this encounter without parchment with the following message scribbled on
their equipment, they should be counted as one it in charcoal.
party size smaller for calculating difficulty
To my brave and beautiful Drayton,
Thank you for the cakes! I thought they would be
You awaken to the screams of the infected citizens
my last meal before I, by my own hand, ended my
in the cells around you just as a hulking Blue frog-
imprisonment in this dark, forgotten place. However,
demon with hooked hollow projections on the backs
my fortune has turned and the Fates have shined
of its hands enters your cell croaking in a way that
upon me, I found a scroll with an arcane spell on it!
sends shivers through your very being.
Since I found it, I have been hearing whispers that
Each cell holds three people. You can divide the are instructing me on how to cast it and free myself
Heroes and determine which cell the Slaad is from this cursed cell. Soon we will be hunting
entering first. Use any jail map you can find just beyond the Duke’s preserve together once again. I
add a brain brine pool at least 10 feet across in the can’t wait to feel the sun, warm on my skin, and
most heavily fortifiable area. hold you under the apple trees as I once did!
Love, Timmons
3 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
Medium 1 Blue Slaad
Hard 1 Blue Slaad
1 Intellect Devourer
4 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
Easy 1 Blue Slaad
Medium 1 Blue Slaad
1 Intellect Devourer
5 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
Easy 1 Blue Slaad
Medium 1 Blue Slaad
1 Intellect Devourer
6 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
Easy 1 Blue Slaad
1 Intellect Devourer
Medium 1 Blue Slaad

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Dragonspawn Keep This should be a Deadly encounter because
The oldest and most heavily fortified structure in destroying the Spawning Stone can end it
the city is the actual Keep the rest of the city has immediately and the Green Slaad knows this.
been built around. This area is heavily fortified by
DM Note: You may need to find a way to clue
Keep Guard along the wall and the Keep’s one gate.
the players in to this option.
No one is allowed within the Keep without being
summoned by the Duke personally. 3 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
Note: Before running this final Encounter, the Deadly 1 Green Slaad
Heroes should have either found or been found by 1 Blue Slaad
1 Red Slaad
the Resistance.
4 Heroes
Difficulty Enemies
E) Spawning Stone Throne Room
Deadly 1 Green Slaad
Upon reaching the Duke’s Chambers, the Heroes
1 Blue Slaad
find them relatively empty, save for a few 2 Red Slaad
uninfected servants whose minds have been dulled
to the point of only being capable of completing the 5 Heroes
repetitive tasks they were assigned by the Duke. Difficulty Enemies
The Heroes make their way into the Duke’s throne Deadly 1 Green Slaad
1 Blue Slaad
room to find that he has marshalled all of his
3 Red Slaad
strongest forces here.
6 Heroes
The Green Slaad has converted the Duke’s throne
Difficulty Enemies
room into a portal into the Elemental Chaos. A
Deadly 1 Green Slaad
huge Spawning Stone stands behind the Throne 1 Blue Slaad
and the Green Slaad is joined by their personal 4 Red Slaad
Slaadi guard.
See the stat block for the Slaad in the 5e Monster
Use any Throne Room map you can find, make Manual (pp. 276 – 277)
sure to add the Spawning Stone in a prominent,
but not too easy to get to location.

Spawning Stone
Armor Class: 15, Hit Points: 20 per Player,
Damage Resistance bludgeoning, piercing,
slashing, acid, cold, lightning, and fire damage

Destroying the Spawning Stone

The Stone will collapse the portal and draw the
Slaadi from every corner of Dragonscar Keep back
into it over the course of 3 rounds (Red at the end
of the first round, then Blue at the end of the
second round, finally the Green Slaad at the end of
the third and final round).

Once the stone and the Slaadi are destroyed, any

remaining Intellect Devourers will abandon their
Keep Guards and attempt to escape into the wilds.

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Appendix A: Monsters Wolf
Reprinted here from the 5e SRD
Werewolf
Reprinted here from the 5e SRD Medium beast, unaligned
Medium humanoid (human, shapechanger), chaotic Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
evil Hit Points 11 (2d8 + 2)
Armor Class 11 in humanoid form, 12 (natural Speed 40 ft.
armor) in wolf or hybrid form STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
Hit Points 58 (9d8 + 18) +1 +2 +1 -4 +1 -2
Speed 30 ft. (40 ft. in wolf form) Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Senses passive Perception 13
+2 +1 +2 +0 +0 +0 La nguages ---
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +3 Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
Damage Immunities bludgeoning, piercing, and Keen Hearing a nd Smell: The wolf has advantage
slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing
silvered weapons or smell.
Senses passive Perception 14 Pack Tactics: The wolf has advantage on attack
La nguages Common (can't speak in wolf form) rolls against a creature if at least one of the wolf's
Challenge 3 (700 XP) allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally
isn't incapacitated.
Shapechanger: The werewolf can use its action to
Actions
polymorph into a wolf-humanoid hybrid or into a
wolf, or back into its true form, which is
humanoid. Its statistics, other than its AC, are the
same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or
carrying isn't transformed. It reverts to its true
form if it dies.
Keen Hearing a nd Smell: The werewolf has
advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely
on hearing or smell.

Actions
Multiattack (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only):
The werewolf makes two attacks: one with its bite
and one with its claws or spear.
Bite (Wolf or Hybrid Form Only): Melee Weapon
Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8
+ 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it
must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving
throw or be cursed with werewolf lycanthropy.
Claws (Hybrid Form Only): Melee Weapon Attack:
+4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2)
slashing damage.
Spear (Humanoid Form Only): Melee or Ranged
Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range
20/60 ft., one creature. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing
damage, or 6 (1d8 + 2) piercing damage if used
with two hands to make a melee attack.
Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 10
Brohm Ironbarrel Keep Guard
Medium humanoid (hill dwarf), chaotic good Medium construct, lawful evil
Armor Class 16 Armor Class 20 (plate, full face helm, & shield)
Hit Points 93 (8d12 +40) Hit Points 30 (4d8 +12)
Speed 35 ft. Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
+5 +1 +4 -1 +1 +0 +4 +0 +3 +1 +0 +0
Saves Strength +8, Constitution +7 Skills Perception +4
Skills Athletics +8, Insight +4, Persuasion +3, Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and
Survival +4 slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Resistance bludgeoning, piercing, and Condition Immunities blinded, charmed,
slashing damage deafened, frightened, paralyzed, petrified,
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 poisoned, stunned
La nguages Common, Dwarvish Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius),
Challenge 2 (450 XP) passive Perception 14
La nguages understands Deep Speech and
Dwarven Resilience: You have advantage on
Common but can't speak
Saving Throws against poison, and you have
Challenge 4 (1100 XP)
Resistance against poison damage.
Ma gic Resista nce. Keep Guard has advantage on
Reckless: At the start of his turn, Brohm gains
saving throws against spells and other magical
advantage on all melee weapon Attack rolls during
effects.
that turn, but Attack rolls against him have
Immutable Form. Keep Guard are immune to any
advantage until the start of his next turn.
spell or effect that would alter their form.
Actions Detect Sentience. The intellect devourer
Multiattack: Brohm can make 3 attacks when puppeteering the Keep Guard can sense the
using a pair of Battleaxes or Hand axes, or 2 presence and location of any creature within 300
attacks when using a Battleaxe two-handed feet of it that has an Intelligence of 3 or higher,
+1 Battleaxes: Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, regardless of interposing barriers, unless the
reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8 +6 slashing creature is protected by a mind blank spell.
damage, or 1d10 +6 slashing damage if used with
ACTIONS
two hands. Multiattack. Keep Guards make two spear
Ha nd axe: Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 / attacks.
+4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one Spear. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
creature. Hit: 1d6 +5 slashing damage.
one target. Hit: 1d6 +4 piercing damage, or 1d8 +4
piercing damage if used with two hands. Keep
Guard cannot throw their spears.

Note: Once a Keep Guard reaches zero HP, an

Intellect Devourer (Monster Manual pg. 191) emerges
from within it. This is factored into the CR.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 11
Mirabell Sweetbiscuit
Medium humanoid (halfling), chaotic neutral
Armor Class 16 (mage armor)
Hit Points 77 (14d8 + 14)
Speed 25 ft., Jump (spell) 24 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS
-1 +3 +1 +3 +3
Saving Throws Wis +6, Cha +8
Skills (Guidance: +1d4 to all) Arcana +4, History
+4
Damage Resistances psychic
Senses darkvision 60 ft., truesight 120 ft., passive
Perception 13
La nguages Common, Halfling, telepathy 30 ft.
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
Lucky: When Mirabell rolls a 1 on The D20 for an
Attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, she can
reroll the die and must use the new roll.
Brave: Mirabell has advantage on Saving Throws
against being Frightened.
Halfling Nimbleness: Mirabell can move through
the space of any creature that is of a size larger
than hers.
Whispering Aura. At the start of each of Mirabell’s
turns, each creature of its choice within 5 feet of it
must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or
take 10 (3d6) psychic damage, provided that
Mirabell isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Eldritch Blast. Ranged Spell Attack: +8 to hit,
range 120 ft., three targets. Hit: 1d10+5 force
damage.
Chill Touch. Ranged Spell Attack: +8 to hit, range
120 ft., one target. Hit: 3d8 necrotic damage, and
target can't regain hit points until the start of your
next turn.
Shocking Grasp. Melee Spell Attack: +8 to hit,
range 5ft., one target. Hit: 3d8 lightning damage
and the target can't take reactions until the start of
its next turn. You have advantage on the attack
roll if the target is wearing armor made of metal.
Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only.
3 Daily Uses Total of a ny of the following…
Armor of Agathys. Gain 25 temporary hit
points. If hit by a melee attack while you have
these hit points, the creature takes 25 cold
damage.
CHA Arms of Hadar. All creatures within 10 feet of
+5 you must make a Strength save DC 15. On a
fail, a target takes 6d6 necrotic damage and
can’t take reactions until its next turn. On a
successful save, the creature takes half
damage, but suffers no other effect.
Dimension Door. Mirabell teleports herself into
the Lazy Daisy and calls for security and the
Keep Guard.
Dissona nt Whispers. Range 60 ft., Target
must make a Wisdom save DC 15. On a fail, it
takes 7d6 psychic damage and must
immediately use its reaction, if available, to
move as far as its speed allows away from
Mirabell. On a successful save, the target takes
half as much damage and doesn’t have to move
away.
Telekinesis. Concentration. Range 60 ft., You
can exert your will on one creature or object
that you can see within range, causing the
appropriate effect below. You can affect the
same target round after round or choose a new
one at any time. If you switch targets, the prior
target is no longer affected by the spell.
 Creature. You can try to move a huge or
smaller creature. Make a contested
Charisma v. Strength check. If you win the
contest, you move the creature up to 30 feet
in any direction, including upward but not
out of range. Until the end of your next
turn, the creature is restrained in your
telekinetic grip. A creature lifted upward is
suspended in mid-air.
 Object. Up to 1,000-pound object that isn't
being worn or carried, you automatically
move it up to 30 feet in any direction, but
not out of range. If the object is worn or
carried by a creature, you must make a
contested Charisma v. Strength check. If
you succeed, you pull the object away from
that creature and can move it up to 30 feet
in any direction but not out of range.
INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 12
Cloaker next turn. If a creature's saving throw is
Reprinted here from the 5e SRD successful, the creature is immune to the cloaker's
Large, aberration, chaotic neutral moan for the next 24 hours.
Armor Class 14 (natural) Pha ntasms (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest).
Hit Points 78 (12d10 +12) The cloaker magically creates three illusory
Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. duplicates of itself if it isn't in bright light. The
duplicates move with it and mimic its actions,
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
shifting position so as to make it impossible to
+3 +2 +1 +1 +1 +2
track which cloaker is the real one. If the cloaker is
Skills Stealth +5 ever in an area of bright light, the duplicates
disappear. Whenever any creature targets the
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
cloaker with an attack or a harmful spell while a
La nguages Deep Speech Undercommon
duplicate remains, that creature rolls randomly to
Challenge 8 (3900 XP)
determine whether it targets the cloaker or one of
Damage Tra nsfer: While attached to a creature, the duplicates. A creature is unaffected by this
the cloaker takes only half the damage dealt to it magical effect if it can't see or if it relies on senses
(rounded down), and that creature takes the other other than sight. A duplicate has the cloaker's AC
half. and uses its saving throws. If an attack hits a
False Appeara nce: While the cloaker remains duplicate, or if a duplicate fails a saving throw
motionless without its underside exposed, it is against an effect that deals damage, the duplicate
indistinguishable from a dark leather cloak. disappears.
Light Sensitivity: While in bright light, the
cloaker has disadvantage on attack rolls and
Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight

Actions
Multiattack: The cloaker makes two attacks: one
with its bite and one with its tail.
Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft.,
one creature. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) piercing damage,
and if the target is Large or smaller, the cloaker
attaches to it. If the cloaker has advantage against
the target, the cloaker attaches to the target's
head, and the target is blinded and unable to
breathe while the cloaker is attached. While
attached, the cloaker can make this attack only
against the target and has advantage on the attack
roll. The cloaker can detach itself by spending 5
feet of its movement. A creature, including the
target, can take its action to detach the cloaker by
succeeding on a DC 16 Strength check.
Tail: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft.,
one creature. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage.
Moan: Each creature within 60 feet of the cloaker
that can hear its moan and that isn't an aberration
must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or
become frightened until the end of the cloaker's

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 13
Appendix B: Handouts
Letter from Elegance
A letter arrives by courier. You can tell it has
travelled far, but still smells sweetly of lavender
and vanilla. You know before you open it, that the
letter is from your tiefling friend Elegance. Plain Text Version

Hello my dear friend,

I am writing you under the most dire of

Hello my dear friend, circumstances and I hope this courier will
find you in time.
I am writing you under the most dire of circumstances
and I hope this courier will find you in time. The Duke I have been playing court with
has suddenly changed and I am sure he
The Duke I have been playing court with has suddenly has been replaced by a shapeshifter of
changed and I am sure he has been replaced by a some skill, in fact I believe we may be in the
shapeshifter of some skill, in fact I believe we may be in midst of an invasion of such creatures. The
the midst of an invasion of such creatures. The number of number of people I suspect grows every
day.
people I suspect grows every day.
Sir Reginald has always been a difficult
Sir Reginald has always been a difficult man, but never
man, but never before has he raised a hand
before has he raised a hand to me or any of our coterie. to me or any of our coterie.

You know I would never ask this of you if I was not sure You know I would never ask this of you if I
you were needed. Please make all haste to Dragonscar was not sure you were needed. Please make
Keep and save us from whatever has become of my all haste to Dragonscar Keep and save us
beloved Duke. from whatever has become of my beloved
Duke.
Always Yours,
Always Yours,
Elegance Elegance

The letter is dated three months ago. It took the

courier a month and a half to find you and another
month and a half to arrive at Dragonscar Keep.

Not for resale. Permission granted to print or photocopy this document for personal use only. INVASION OF DRAGONSCAR KEEP 14