Greger’s

Grotto

A Fifth Edition Adventure

for 1st to 3rd Level Characters
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 1: Overview............................................................3
Background..................................................................................3
Conventions Used.......................................................................3
Likely Flow of Events.................................................................3
The Players..................................................................................4
Changing the Adventure.........................................4
Randomness................................................................................4
Difficulty.......................................................................................5
Variants........................................................................................5
Storytelling..................................................................................5
Part 2: Introduction......................................................7
Taking Up Arms..........................................................................7
The Arena.....................................................................................7
After the Fight.............................................................................8
Part 3: The Caverns.......................................................9
Common Features....................................................................10
Prisoner Caverns...................................................10
Prisoner Factions......................................................................10
Prison Guards.............................................................................11
Drusus’ Demonstration...........................................................12
Random Events.........................................................................13
3a. Human Cavern....................................................................14
3b. Goblin Cavern......................................................................15
3c. Orc Cavern............................................................................15
3d. Hobgoblin Cavern...............................................................15
Annex Caverns.......................................................16
3e. First Empty Cavern............................................................16
3f. Second Empty Cavern........................................................16
3g. Spider Cavern......................................................................16
3h. Burrows................................................................................17
Haunted Caverns...................................................18
The Ghost....................................................................................18
3 j. Western Pool Cavern..........................................................18
3k. Eastern Pool Cavern...........................................................18
3l. Empty Cavern.......................................................................18
3m. Mining Camp.....................................................................19
3p. Ocean Pool Cavern.............................................................19
3n. Escape Tunnel....................................................................20
3r. Makeshift Morgue..............................................................20
3q. Natural Tunnel....................................................................21
Part 4: The Arena........................................................22
Arena Battles.........................................................22
General Rules............................................................................22
Logistics......................................................................................23
The Editor..................................................................................24
The Crowd.................................................................................24
Battle Variants..........................................................................24
Battle Difficulty........................................................................24
Beast Combat.............................................................................26
Training......................................................................................27
Arena Rooms.........................................................27
4a. Arena....................................................................................27
4b, 4c, 4d. Preparation Rooms..............................................28
4e. Refuse Pit.............................................................................28
4f. Guard Room.........................................................................28
Part 5: Upper Level......................................................29
Guards........................................................................................30
Independents............................................................................30
Upper Level Rooms................................................31
Common Features.....................................................................31
5a. Guard Commons.................................................................31
5b. Guard Barracks....................................................................31
5c. Arena Spectator Area.........................................................31
5d. The Amorous Octopus Tavern.........................................32
5e. Visitor Commons................................................................32
5f. Refuse Ledge........................................................................32
5g. General Store.......................................................................32
5h. Salvage Warehouse............................................................33
5 j. Greger’s Warehouse...........................................................33
5k. Empty Warehouse.............................................................34
5l. Greger’s Grotto....................................................................34
5m. Tavern Stores.....................................................................34
5n. Gladwin’s Quarters............................................................35
5p. Gladwin’s Store Room.......................................................35
5q. Gladwin’s Study..................................................................35
5r. Godrick’s Quarters..............................................................35
5s. Drusus’ Quarters.................................................................36
5t. Empty Quarters...................................................................36
5u. Gertrude’s Quarters...........................................................36
5v. Dodds’ Quarters..................................................................37
5w. Traveller’s Shrine..............................................................37
5x. Overland Exit......................................................................37
5y. Internal Corridor................................................................37
The Outdoors.........................................................38
The Wilderness.........................................................................38
Privateer Activity.....................................................................38
Appendix A: NPCs and Monsters................................39
Bugbear Guard..........................................................................39
Bugbear Prisoner......................................................................39
Drusus Skull-Skewer..............................................................40
Dwarf Ghost...............................................................................41
Festan Elf-Cleaver...................................................................42
Gertrude Greger.......................................................................43
Gillian Greger...........................................................................44
Gladwin Greger........................................................................45
Goblin Prisoner........................................................................46
Godrick Greger.........................................................................46
Haguur........................................................................................47
Harry Dodds..............................................................................48
Hobgoblin Guard......................................................................48
Hobgoblin Prisoner..................................................................49
Human Prisoner.......................................................................49
Jisthelek the Grasping.............................................................49
Orc Prisoner..............................................................................50
Xanthe Jonquil...........................................................................51
Appendix B: Acknowledgements................................52
The Author.................................................................................52
Art................................................................................................52
Fonts............................................................................................52
Legal............................................................................................52
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
 PART 1: OVERVIEW
G reger’s Grotto is an adventure for use with Dungeons
and Dragons fifth edition for a party of first-level
characters. It is designed to fit into almost any
setting or campaign.
Adventure Supplements. This adventure is designed to
work with the Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition rules. You
will need the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master Guide
and the Monster Manual to get the most out of this
adventure. For more information about Dungeons and
Dragons, visit dungeonsanddragons.com.
Distribution. You are encouraged to share this document.
It must be shared in full and unaltered. You may not charge
for it, nor may you use it in any way for commercial purposes.
Finalisation. This document is complete, though newer
versions containing corrections may be released. It was last
edited 1 November 2017. Find newer versions at
http://deck16.net/dnd
BACKGROUND
Somewhere in your campaign world there is a rugged,
isolated coastline. Along that coastline are a series of natural
caverns. In those caverns live a small community of pirates
and outlaws: Greger’s Grotto.
The main feature of Greger’s Grotto is a large underwater
cave, where less-than-legal ships can moor out of sight of
navies and coastguards. Here they can trade in stolen and
illegal wares and stock up on provisions. All for a small fee, of
course.
The other attraction of Greger’s Grotto is the arena. Like
anyone, bandits and thieves desire entertainment. For
generations the Greger family has turned a profit by buying
slaves and beasts and setting them on one another in the
arena. These bloodsports don’t turn a direct profit, but they
do encourage the Grotto’s lawless visitors to stay longer or
return more frequently than they might otherwise. And more
visitors means more fees.
The PC are the newest lot of slaves forced to fight in the
arena. Can they survive the arena combat, and the harsh
prison lifestyle? Will they ultimately be able to escape?
CONVENTIONS USED
The following conventions are used in this document.
Sections. Part 1 contains an overview of the adventure and
information for running it. Part 2 is where the game begins,
it’s the adventure’s introduction. The main body of the
adventure is divided into three parts, one for each general
area, in the rough order that the PCs are likely to encounter
them. Part 3 details the prisoner caverns. Part 4 documents
the arena, including rules for arena battles. Part 5 is for the
upper “living areas” of Greger’s Grotto. Appendix A contains
information for NPCs and creatures unique to this adventure.
It is strongly recommended you, as the DM, read this
entire adventure document before attempting to run it.
Book References. For your convenience page numbers
from the Player’s Handbook (PHB), the Dungeon Master
Guide (DMG) and the Monster Manual (MM) are listed when
they are relevant. For example, DMG123 refers to page 123 of
the Dungeon Master’s guide. Page numbers were accurate
with books available at the time of writing.
Creatures and NPCs are listed with bold names. If the
creature or NPCs has a reference to the Monster Manual, look
it up there. Otherwise, look for it in Appendix A.
Maps. Areas on the map are referred to by a short code in
square brackets, such as [2A]. The number refers to the Part
that this map and room description can be found in:
information on [3B] could be found in Part 3. Note that not
every letter is used, those that might be mistaken for other
letters or numbers (such as I and O) are purposely skipped.
Each square on the grid represents five feet (PHB192,
DMG242, DMG250).
The following map symbols are used:
From left: door, locked door, secret door.
Number Ranges and Subtraction. You will encounter
die roll value such as “1d20 – 14 guards” or “1d12 – 6 gems”.
This indicates subtraction: 1d20 minus 14 guards, not 1d20 to
14 guards. Unless otherwise specified, the minimum is always
zero. (It does not make sense to have negative guards or
negative gems!) These ranges often lead to zero as a common
or even most likely result – that is by design.
LIKELY FLOW OF EVENTS
It’s impossible to predict exactly what your players might do,
but here’s a probable sequence:
Introduction. The PCs fight in the arena as per the
introductory section. They are then moved to the prison
caverns.
Prisoners. While in prison, the PCs do four main things:
1. Survive. Food, water and sleep are essentials. The PCs
will probably want to maximise activity while still
allowing for enough downtime to recover from
injuries.
2. Interact with other prisoners. The PCs might make
friends or enemies.
3. Explore adjacent caverns. This allows the PCs to get
a small amount of XP and allows them to find useful
PART 1: OVERVIEW 3
 gear which could help them escape.
4. Fight or train in the arena. The PCs can be
summoned from the prison to the arena. In combat
they can gain XP but risk death or injury.
Escape. There is no way out for the PCs except escape. Escape
is something they must plot and execute – this is “sandbox”
affair rather than a pre-written set of encounters.
They might escape by cunning or stealth, slipping away
undetected. They might rally their fellow prisoners and
mastermind a rebellion. Or they might simply slaughter
anyone who stands in their way. In most cases their plans
will be a combination of the above, some planned, some
improvised.
The adventure is designed such that the PCs are unlikely to
be able to escape immediately. They are going to want to gain
one or two levels before any attempt. Generally speaking, this
should happen naturally by the time they’ve put together a
plan. If not, there’s no harm in them purposely delaying an
escape so they can “train” in the arena.
THE PLAYERS
Character Advancements. This adventure suits a party
of approximately four 1st level characters. By the end of the
adventure they should have reached 3rd level.
Level Limitation. This adventure is non-linear. It’s hard
to predict experience gain. The arena alone is random and
(potentially) endlessly repeatable. You should cap the PCs at
3rd level. A party of 4th level PCs will find the content too easy.
(If you are feeling generous you could cap them just before 4 th
level, and allow them to attain it at the conclusion of the
adventure.)
XP Sharing. If your PCs are working as a team, it makes
sense that they are all awarded XP equally, even if they aren’t
all present for the encounter or event that gives the XP. If the
fighter got beaten up trying to save the party’s food rations
from thieving orc prisoners, she shouldn’t be penalised for
not being able to attend the arena combat later that day.
Milestones. You could award XP when certain milestones
are reached (DMG261, DMG82).
The following make good major milestones:
• The PCs escape from Greger’s Grotto.
• The PCs help a large number of NPC prisoners escape
without too many casualties.
• Each time the PCs are victorious in a special arena combat
(one that is especially hard, or has story significance).
• For named NPCs (see Appendix A) of CR 2 or greater: the
PCs either defeat such an NPC, or convince them to
become an ally.
• The PCs have finalised their escape plan and are soon to
enact it.
The following make good minor milestones:
• The PCs help NPC prisoners escape, but didn’t qualify for
the major milestone version; either because they helped
only a small group of prisoners or there were a large
number of casualties.
• The PCs are victorious in an unimportant arena combat.
• For named NPCs (see Appendix A) of CR 1 or lower: the
PCs either defeat such an NPC, or convince them to
become an ally.
• The PCs explore the Spider Cavern [3G].
• The PCs explore most or all of the Haunted Caverns [3 J] to
[3Q].
• The first time the PCs successfully navigate an
underwater tunnel in [3C] or [3D].
• The first time the PCs smuggle an item into prison.
• The PCs make an important step toward escape that isn’t
already covered by a minor milestone above.
Defiant Personalties. Any PC whose sense of honour, or
freedom, or grand ego means they would never ever submit to
captors will be unconscious or dead within minutes of
starting this adventure. Do not let the players create PCs with
extremely defiant personalities.
Encounter Difficulty and Metagame Thinking. The
arena, and some dungeon-like parts of this adventure are
crafted within the bounds of traditional combat encounters
(DMG81); they might be easy or hard but should never be
impossible. (Indeed, if they are, you as DM should tweak
them.)
But this isn’t always the case. Attack a prisoner or a prison
guard, for example, and he’ll call for help. In a worst-case
scenario the PCs could have the entire guard population
mobilised against them. You should forewarn your players
about this, without giving away details. Essentially, they
should drop any metagame thinking (DMG235) they might
have about combat encounters and actually think about
potential enemies before they start a fight.
CHANGING THE ADVENTURE
You can and should modify this adventure to suit your needs
(DMG72).
RANDOMNESS
This adventure has many random elements, from minor
things like amounts of coin to major things like the nature of
arena battles. The randomness exists as a tool to assist you, as
DM; not as something to restrain you (DMG236). If you want
to re-roll, or pick a particular result, or do something else
entirely you should; whether it be for story reasons, challenge
reasons, or any other reason.
DIFFICULTY
Like any adventure, the players’ competencies and the party
composition can impact on how easy or hard things are. As
DM, it’s up to you to tweak the adventure to suit.
PART 1: OVERVIEW 4
 What follows are considerations specific to this adventure. If you do desire a story, consider building one on-the-fly
Escape Difficulty: Magic and Wild Shape. It’s quite based on the players’ actions. You’ll find some ideas
difficult to escape the Grotto by mundane means. But magic throughout this document. Especially see Appendix A, which
could assist. There are not (to the author’s knowledge) any has story idea sections for many of the NPCs.
Player’s Handbook spells or class abilities accessible to 3 rd
level players that make escape trivially easy. But do not
underestimate the creativity of players. Or capabilities added VARIANT: AT HIGHER LEVELS
by expansion material.
This adventure is written for levels 1 to 3, but it wouldn’t be
The druid Wild Shape ability (PHB66) does make escape
hard to tweak for higher levels. Here’s what you might need
easy. A druid could conceivably turn into a small crawling
to do:
insect (such as a spider) to escape.
Toughen Up Named NPCs. It should be fairly apparent
If only some of the PCs can escape easily that doesn’t
what class or classes they are – just add more! Optionally,
matter: most parties won’t want to leave any party members
you can provide them with better equipment.
behind. Even if the druid and the wizard can escape at any
Toughen Up Guards and Prisoners. Re-build these
time, they’re not going to help the fighter and rogue escape by
NPCs as you would make PCs, but with the appropriate racial
just waiting outside.
traits (DMG282).
So, you only need be concerned if all your players can
Replace Independents and Arena Beasts. There’s
escape easily, be it through Wild Shape, a clever application
plenty of choice in the Monster Manual. For instance, a scout
of magic, or anything else. If such a scenario comes up you
might be too weak for a high-level party, but an assassin
might modify the adventure to nullify the easy escape:
wouldn’t be. An arena battle against a brown bear will be
perhaps the Grotto has magic that inhibits shapeshifting. Or
trivial but a battle against a cyclops will not.
you could task your players with the goal of saving the NPC
Add Magical Protections. High-level characters have
prisoners and/or shutting down Greger’s operations rather
access to spells and abilities that might make escape trivial.
than simply escaping.
You may need to add protections against this, be it collars
Combat Difficulty: Encounters per Day. Adventuring
that inhibit certain abilities or anti-magic barriers on easy
parties typically handle six to eight combat encounters per
escape points. Think carefully about each PC in your party;
day (DMG84). Until the PCs attempt an escape it is unlikely
what might they do to escape, and what plausible protections
they will reach this quota.
might the Greger family take?
Part 3 has a section called “Battle Difficulty” that describes
Adjust Rewards. You may wish to increase the amount of
way to increase the challenge of arena combat to counter-act
coin carried by foes in this adventure. In rooms that contain
this.
treasure and items, you may wish to add to the spoils or
Another alternative is to use rule variants that slow down
replace them with something more fitting.
healing and make rests harder to take (DMG267). (The “Gritty
Glamourise the Grotto. Greger’s Grotto is a hideout for
Realism” variant is too harsh in this setting. Reduce its long
low-level thieves, bandits and pirates; run by a fairly
rest time to 24 hours.) If you don’t want to use these variants
middling crime family. That’s hardly the setting for high-
for the rest of your campaign you could decree that they’re a
level heroes, even if they are prisoners. You may want to
temporary thing caused by the harsh prison conditions.
elevate the Grotto: perhaps it is an exclusive community of
Combat Difficulty: Monks and Cantrips. Much of this
elite criminals and rich black marketeers, resplendent with
adventure sees the PCs lacking decent equipment. Certain
luxury: fine furnishings, aged wide, and a waiting servant at
classes (such as monks and any class with damaging cantrips)
every corner.
are dangerous in combat without any equipment. If you have
one or two PCs of these classes, that’s fine. If you have more,
you may wish to increase the difficulty. VARIANT: PCS AREN’T PRISONERS
This is especially true in sections of the adventure where
the PCs have extremely limited access to equipment, such as There’s no reason why you couldn’t throw away the “escape
in the prisons in Part 2. You may wish to furnish the prisoner from prison” plot and just use Greger’s Grotto as a setting in
NPCs with a range of smuggled weapons (daggers), hand- your campaign.
made weapons (clubs) or improvised weapons (PHB147). As a Dungeon. Good-aligned PCs might be tasked with
the relatively mindless task of clearing the Grotto: raiding it
as they would raid a crypt or labyrinth; slaying bandits and
STORYTELLING guards as they would skeletons and mummies.
As a Quest Setting. Parties of any alignment might accept
It is up to you as DM to build a story on top of the framework
quests to infiltrate the Grotto. The Greger family has many
you are given, should you want to. A detailed story may not
enemies both criminal and lawful. The PCs might be tasked
fit your play style (DMG34). Maybe your players would
with stealing documents, recovering treasure, assassinating a
rather just win arena fights and hack down guards.
visiting bandit, or freeing prisoners. One quest could lead to

PART 1: OVERVIEW 5
another, making good use of the Grotto as a setting.
As a Home Base. Criminally-minded PCs might use the
Grotto as a home base (DMG15): a place to recuperate, shop,
and pick up new jobs. Indeed, the Gregers themselves may
make for excellent quest-givers.

WHAT’S NEXT?
You might link this adventure to your next one (DMG125).
Escape from the Grotto. The journey back to civilisation
might not be easy. It may involve wilderness travel
(DMG106). NPCs from the Grotto may be enraged enough to
pursue the PCs.
Return to the Grotto. If the PCs managed to escape the
Grotto without too much disruption they may wish to return
at a later date. They might wish to rescue still-trapped
prisoners, or they may simply want revenge. Quite possibly
security has been increased since their break-out, or maybe a
“dead or alive” bounty on the PCs means that previously
uninterested visitors to the Grotto are now likely to be
enemies.
Slaver Slayers. The PCs may want revenge on whoever
sold them to Greger’s Grotto in the first place. Good-aligned
PCs might just want to stamp out slave trading. The PCs
might find clues in Gladwin Greger’s documents, or get
leads from any still-living criminals in the Grotto.
New Owners. The PCs might occupy Greger’s Grotto.
They could re-purpose it as their personal stronghold
(DMG128). If they’re of a less ethical persuasion they might
simply take it over as-is, replacing the Greger family and
allowing criminal trade to continue. Either option may not be
easy as opportunistic criminal types (and maybe any
surviving Gregers) rush to fill the power vacuum.
Sailing. This link works well if the PCs escaped by taking
one of the pirate vessels moored at Greger’s Grotto. Perhaps
they plan to sail back to civilisation, or they may intend to
start a new life on the seas. Pirates may be in pursuit of the
stolen ship.
Deeper Dungeons. As the PCs explored the caverns below
the Grotto, maybe they overlooked a passageway that leads
into an expansive dungeon. The coastal nature of the Grotto
might suit a lair of kuo-toa (MM199), lizardfolk (MM204),
merrow (MM219), sahuagin (MM263) or even a sea hag
(MM179).

PART 1: OVERVIEW 6
 PART 2: INTRODUCTION
T he campaign opens with the PCs being thrust into
gladiatorial combat, whether they like it or not.

TAKING UP ARMS
The sack-cloth is removed from your head.
“Take them!” barks one of the hobgoblin guards, gesturing to a table
laden with weapons and other equipment.
For weeks, maybe months, you’ve been a prisoner in-transit. Sit
down, stand up, march, eat, sleep; these are commands you’re used to.
But now your captors invite you to take up arms?
You take in your situation. You’re in a small, dank chamber. The only
furniture is a battered old table on which rests a selection of gear.
There are two exits. Your guards block one that leads into darkness.
Another exit leads out, via a short tunnel, to sunlight.
With you are several other prisoners, filthy and clothed in rags. They
appear to be as confused as you are.
Player characters. The PCs are, of course, the prisoners in
this chamber [4D]. The only possessions they have are rags
for clothing. They are fully healthy. Spell-casters have spells
memorised. Whether the PCs have met previously is up to
you, but it may be more entertaining if they are thrust into
this scenario as strangers.
Table. On the table are several well-used but serviceable
weapons: 2 daggers, 2 maces, 1 net, 2 shields, 2 shortswords, 2
spears, 2 scimitars and 1 whip (PHB149). There is also a
selection of arcane foci, druidic foci and holy symbols
(PHB150); any spell-casting character will be able to find
THE ARENA
something that suits them. Finally, any wizard PCs will find
Sooner or later the PCs should move through the tunnel.
their spellbook on the table, taken from them back when they
were captured as prisoners. You proceed through the tunnel and into the sunlight. The roar of a
Guards. Twice as many hobgoblin guards as there are crowd reaches your ears. This is a makeshift arena inside a deep natural
PCs. Be sure to make clear their fearsome nature: these are
shaft. The bottom, where you stand, is roughly circular and eighty feet in
hobgoblins, not goblins. The guards aren’t talkative. They will
direct the PCs to take equipment and head outside. They will diameter. It is covered in fine white sand and littered with scraps of
punish disobedience with violence, escalating to lethal force ruined armour and spatters of blood. The walls of the shaft are near-
if threatened, though they will favour knocking out the PCs vertical. Some forty feet up a viewing area has been hewn from the rock;
(PHB198) rather than killing them. If the PCs start to win this is where the small crowd of several dozen cheer from. The crowd
against the guards, have more guards join the fray. If the PCs
consists of a diverse mix: mostly humans, hobgoblins and goblins, but
are neutralised, they will be moved to the slave grottos as if
some orcs and bugbears too. Over a hundred feet up the walls give way
they had lost the arena combat.
to a clear blue sky.
Behind you, a heavy metal gate slams shut. It’s operated by a winch
from the viewing area above.
On the other side of the arena is another group of prisoners much
like yourself.
A voice bellows from above. “Some new blood to the arena!”

PART 2: INTRODUCTION 7
 It’s a human, a bald man with a thick black beard. He seems to be
presiding over this whole affair. He points at your group.
“This lot have newly arrived. They’ve not even had the time to
unpack and settle into their lodgings!”
The crowd laughs.
“We want to give them every chance to see their new
accommodation, so fighting against them are our next newest guests;
this lot have only been with us for a few days.”
The man raises his open palm melodramatically. “Begin!” he shouts.
The prisoners opposite you look nervous. They hesitate, but after
sharing a few nods of grim determination they begin to charge at you.
If you need more details about the arena, look in Part 4,
especially [4A].
The Other Prisoners. As many Human Prisoners as
there are PCs. They do not relish attacking the PCs, but are
too frightened by the consequences of disobedience to do
otherwise. If they are winning in combat, or they have reason
to believe the PCs are likewise hesitant to fight, they may
attempt to knock out the PCs (PHB198).
The Announcer. Is Gladwin Greger. He is this battle’s
editor (organiser). Feel free to have him make remarks and
quips as the match progresses. He will ultimately announce
when the battle ends. Since this is a match between
newcomers he may waive the usual rule of “only one team left
standing” so long as there’s a clear winning team.
Disobedience. Escape is very difficult with the sheer rock
walls and sturdy gates. Opportunities to attack the guards or
audience are few, but if a PC manages to find a way the guards
will retaliate. See Part 4 for guidance if any PC insists on
taking these courses of action.

AFTER THE FIGHT

All participants are ushered back to the preparation room
[4D] where they will surrender weapons. They will then be
taken through [4F] and left in [3A] where their adventure
begins in earnest.
Incapacitated Combatants. Still-standing combatants
are expected to carry incapacitated members of their own
team; guards will grudgingly help if required. All living
combatants are left in [3A]; corpses are disposed of in [4E].
Spellbooks. Nothing is permitted to be taken from the
arena or the preparation rooms. The only exceptions are
spellbooks – indeed, the guards will insist the party take their
spellbooks. This is because it is known prisoners need these to
prepare magic, and magic makes for entertaining crowd-
pleasing fights. The guards know their magic-using prisoners
are too inexperienced to perform very dangerous or
disruptive magic.
Disobedience. If your PCs do not obey the guards see Part
4 for more information about procedures for handling
prisoners.

PART 2: INTRODUCTION 8
 PART 3: THE CAVERNS
N ot all of Greger Grotto’s natural caverns are as
impressive as the arena and the underground docks.
The same geologic processes also riddled the area
with smaller caverns, many of which extend underwater.
Some of these darker, more claustrophobic caverns are
considered an excellent place to house prisoners, including
the PCs.
Adjoining the prisoners’ caverns are several other caverns.
Few prisoners know of the adjoining caverns, and even fewer
venture into them. Yet they might present opportunities for
brave PCs.

PART 3: THE CAVERNS 9

COMMON FEATURES
All areas in Part 3 have the following properties, unless
otherwise specified by individual descriptions.
Caverns. All rooms this section are natural, and so feature
uneven walls (the neat squares shown on the map are a
simplification). Ceilings vary in height from 10 to 30 feet,
usually highest in the centre. Stalactites are common.
Light. Unless otherwise mentioned, all areas are in
darkness (PHB183).
PRISONER CAVERNS
Areas [3A], [3B], [3C] and [3D]. Living areas for prisoners. The
“true” starting area of this adventure, after the introduction.
PRISONER FACTIONS
The prisoners are divided into four factions. These factions
are distrustful of one another but exist in a state of fragile
peace.
Prisoner Equipment. Guards do not permit prisoners to
take anything into the caverns beyond the rags they wear.
Some prisoners have smuggled weapons in or managed to
fashion them out of refuse, but this is very rare.
Prisoner Routine. While not summoned to the arena,
prisoners almost always stay in the cavern claimed by their
clique. There’s little to do beyond resting, sparring, bathing
and talking. In times of heightened tensions some prisoners
may be assigned as sentries.
Light Sleepers. No-one sleeps deeply in a cut-throat
prison. Sleeping prisoners can make use of passive perception
(PHB177), though at disadvantage.
Language. Many prisoners only speak their racial
language (PHB123). Prisoners have a chance to know extra
languages – Common, Goblin or Orc – though fluency may be
poor. See the entries in Appendix A for details.
Interaction. It’s up to the PCs whether they befriend or
antagonise their fellow prisoners. Ideally, they could serve as
allies in an escape, though gaining trust will not be easy.
It is possible to talk with any prisoner, but for anything
important prisoners will defer to their leader.
Use the table below for random conversation topic ideas.
Feel free to embellish. Topics aren’t always truthful – just
something a prisoner believes. Divulge these with roleplaying
or interaction ability checks as you see fit (PHB186, DMG244).
d20 Topic
1 Food and water supplies are irregular. Keeping some reserve
provisions is a good idea if you can manage it.
2 In the arena it is possible to indicate surrender by raising one’s
hand with an open palm. If the crowd approves, the defeated
combatant will be spared. But in some battles surrender is
forbidden.
3 Prisoners are sometimes taken to do manual labour.
4 Horrible sea monsters occasionally emerge from the pools to
drag prisoners back down into the water. (Untrue.)
5 Sometimes a fiery red glow can be seen in the empty cavern.
This is the ghost of a dead prisoner! (Partially true. The glow
exists, but is not caused by a ghost. It is caused by roaming fire
beetles from [3H].)
6 There are secret passages all through Greger’s Grotto. I heard
there was one in: (pick one at random) the refuse pit, the guard
barracks, the bottom of the pools of water, the empty cavern
adjoining the hobgoblin cavern, one of the preparation rooms.
(Some true, some untrue.)
7 Godrick Greger is a necromancer. He claims the corpses of
those that die in the arena. That’s why he is so eager to see
combatants die. (Untrue.)
8 A rival pirate faction is preparing to take over Greger’s Grotto, it
should happen any day now. (Untrue.)
9 There are two types of arena fights; those between prisoners,
and those where prisoners face fearsome beasts.
10 The Greger family has run the arena for generations.
11 Gertrude Greger is the kindest editor. You’re lucky if you get her.
12 Jisthelek the Grasping, the leader of the goblin prisoners, has
escaped many times. But he comes back voluntarily. (Untrue.)
13 The guard room contains a large iron bell which they ring to
summon reinforcements.
14 Drusus Skull-Skewer, the leader of the guards, is so honourable
he cannot refuse a one-on-one duel. (Untrue.)
15 Gladwin Greger admires courage in the face of death so much
that he is more likely to let a downed arena combatant live if
they don’t surrender. (Untrue.)
16 Xanthe Jonquil, leader of the human prisoners, is an excellent
healer.
17 It is rumoured that, many years ago, some dwarf prisoners
managed to escape. There must be a secret way out of these
caverns.
18 It is possible to win freedom by winning ten battles in a row.
(Untrue.)
19 Gillian Greger often flirts with prisoners while editor. She has
had affairs with several; including orcs and hobgoblins. (By
default this is untrue, but you could make it partially or wholly
true if desired.)
20 Sometimes they bury a magical greatsword in the sands at the
centre of the arena. This had been the deciding factor in many
arena battles. (Untrue.)
PART 3: THE CAVERNS 10
THE HUMAN FACTION
This group is called ‘human’, but it may contain members of
“civilised” races such as elves, halflings or dwarves; as
appropriate to your campaign.
The human group consists of eight Human Prisoners,
plus their leader Xanthe Jonquil. Human Prisoners are a
particularly weak type of NPC, present them as such to the
PCs. Maybe they are enslaved peaceful folk (farmers,
merchants, scholars) or captured soldiers weakened by
hunger and mistreatment. Their thoughts currently do not
extend beyond living to see the next day.
This faction is initially friendly (DMG244) to the PCs.
THE GOBLIN FACTION
Fourteen goblin prisoners, plus their leader Jisthelek the
Grasping.
The goblins are concerned only with survival. They avoid
physical confrontation unless they have considerable
advantage. They are more of a nuisance, stealing goodies and
stirring up fights between other groups. Due to racial affinity
they rarely act against the hobgoblins, even though that
feeling is not mutual.
This faction is initially indifferent (DMG244) to the PCs.
THE HOBGOBLIN FACTION
Eight hobgoblin prisoners and two bugbear prisoners led
by Festan Elf-Cleaver.
The hobgoblins are model gladiators; they accept their
imprisonment and seek freedom through gaining honour in
the arena. While the hobgoblins have a fierce rivalry with the
orcs, they would rather see it settled in the arena – or at least
in a straight-up fight – rather than in some underhanded
manner lacking in honour.
This faction is initially unfriendly (DMG244) to the PCs.
THE ORC FACTION
Six orc prisoners led by the orog Haguur.
This group has two desires: to escape, and to slaughter as
many of their captors as possible. They consider the
hobgoblin prisoners as complicit as the guards, but dare not
move against them because of their greater numbers.
This faction is initially unfriendly (DMG244) to the PCs.
PRISON GUARDS
The guards take a fairly hands-off approach to managing the
prisoners in the cavern. They believe that there is no way to
escape the caverns.
Duty of Care. The guards are not held responsible for the
occasional prisoner dying in custody. As such, they don’t care
if a prisoner is sick, or if a prisoner is starving, or if one
prisoner attacks another. They will get in trouble if they don’t
prevent mass prisoner deaths (as that is bad for business), so
riots and epidemics are investigated.
Alerting the Guards. The doors in-between [3F] and the
guard room [4A] are iron gates; sound travels easily enough
through them. The guards will hear any loud noises and may
decide to investigate.
Guard Caution. The guards aren’t stupid. They try to
evaluate the situation from behind the safety of a locked gate.
If they decide to go inside, they go in groups (typically of
four), and they ensure that they can call to the guard room for
help. While guards do not purposely seek to kill rebellious
prisoners they will not hold back against anyone who is a
serious threat.
Guards entering the prison caverns take a key to open the
gate to [3A], but not [4F]. They rely on guards in [4F] to let
them back in. Sometimes laziness and overconfidence means
this procedure is overlooked if the task seems safe, and the
guards will take a key to [3A] and to [4F].
If things seem more dangerous than usual the guards have
no qualms about assembling reinforcements. The whole
population of guards and/or Drusus Skull-Skewer may be
called in for very serious problems. Once assembled, the
guards may try to storm the caverns.
Prisoner Relations. Hobgoblin guards know the
hobgoblin prisoners to be trustworthy, and may even trust
them to help in some limited circumstances. They consider
the orc prisoners dangerous, but think the human and goblin
groups inferior and may underestimate them.
Punishment. Typical punishment for wrongdoing is
physical violence, from an unarmed blow to the face or gut to
a serious beating to near-death.
Other possible punishments are work duty (see below),
corporal punishment whip-lashings (PHB149) (sometimes in
the arena as a pre-match “show”), or by planning unfair arena
matches for the troublesome prisoners to partake in.
Food and Water. Prisoners only get to eat and drink if
there’s enough food for the rest of the Grotto. At the start of
the adventure, the prisoners are on full food and water
rations. Roll against this table at the start of each day to see
how this changes.
d20 Result
1-9 Full water. Starting today, the prisoners get full rations of
water. Their food provisions are as per the previous day.
10-14 Full food. Starting today, the prisoners get full rations of food.
Their water provisions are as per the previous day.
15-16 Limited water. Starting today, the prisoners are now on half
water rations. Their food provisions are as per the previous
day.
17 No water. Starting today, the prisoners get no water. Their food
provisions are as per the previous day.
18-19 Limited food. Starting today, the prisoners are now on half
food rations. Their water provisions are as per the previous
day.
20 No food. Starting today, the prisoners get no food. Their water
provisions are as per the previous day.
Thirst or starvation (PHB185) are real concerns. If needed,
you should provide one-off exceptions to food and water
shortages to prevent certain death. After all, the Gregers
PART 3: THE CAVERNS 11
don’t want to lose their money-making arena fighters.
The guards distribute food and fresh water daily, assuming
there is anything to deliver. They do this at a regular time
shortly after sunrise. The food and water comes in large
wooden tubs. The guards leave the food in [3A]. Prisoners are
expected to return their previous day’s tubs and take the new
ones away.
The food varies depending on what can be sourced. It is
rarely anything nice but it does provide adequate nutrition.
No utensils or crockery are provided. Any food not eaten will
spoil after a week.
Corpse Removal. When a prisoner dies the body is
usually taken to [3A] by other prisoners. It is in every
prisoner’s interest to not have rotting corpses lying around.
Guards collect the body and deposit it in the refuse pit [A4].
Occasionally, corpses will be hidden in [3E].
DRUSUS’ DEMONSTRATION
This scripted scene introduces Drusus Skull-Skewer to the
PCs and also imparts an important message: that a piecemeal
escape plan is probably not a good idea. You should have this
scene play very early in the adventure.
grab at hunted goblins, or trip them, or shove them back. Soon enough,
two goblins are dead.
The hobgoblin guards and their leader leave as quickly as they
arrived, dragging two corpses behind them.
The PCs are welcome to intervene in these events.
Violent Resistance. If the PCs try to fight the guards, the
guards will respond in kind. If the PCs appear to be quite
dangerous, Drusus will halt his goblin-killing plans –
cancelling the killing order if it had been given – and turn his
attention to the troublesome PCs.
Drusus knows to have a couple of loyal soldiers at his back
when in the company of prisoners. He will not make himself
an easy target for assassination.
Escape. One guard will carry a key to [3A]. That guard will
lock the door behind him. It may be possible to pick-pocket
the key, but it would be missed the moment the guards
attempted to leave. And Drusus would not lightly tolerate a
stolen key.
Conversation. Drusus might answer one to two simple
questions, but he isn’t really interested in hanging around for
a chat.

There’s a commotion going on in the human faction’s cavern. Nine

hobgoblin guards have entered into the prison. The hobgoblin leading
them stands out, not just because of his immaculate split mail, which
glints even in these depths; but his confident manner. There’s also the
fact that he holds a bloody, dripping sack in his right hand.
He strides forth, leading his small army west into the goblin
faction’s cavern. Prisoners flocking to see what’s up dart out of the way
rather than obstruct his path.
The guards’ leader speaks, addressing the leader of the goblin
faction, in their native tongue.
“Jisthelek,” he says, “Is this one of yours?”
He throws the bloody sack to the goblin leader, who opens it to find
a severed goblin head inside.
“I remember him being taller,” comes the reply.
Many of the prisoners, and even some of the guards, laugh at this
gag. Not the guard leader.
The guard leader switches to Common, and his gaze wanders to
members of the human faction. “That prisoner was found roaming the
corridors far from the location of his work duty. For the benefit of you
newcomers, the rule is simple. If you escape, or die trying, it will be your
kinsmen who receive your punishment.”
He motions to his soldiers. They move to block the cavern’s exits.
He then selects two guards, ordering them in goblin “You two, one
each”.
The chosen guards wade into crowd of goblins. The goblins scatter,
dodging and diving, but all escapes are blocked by guards. Most of the
other prisoners are cheering, some (including the goblin’s leader) even

PART 3: THE CAVERNS 12

 workers they may be asked for specifically.
RANDOM EVENTS Work Detail. Roll against this table to determine what
work needs doing:
Use the below random events to spice up life in the prison. It
Number of
is suggested that you do four per day – one in the morning, d20 Work Detail Preferred Races Prisoners
one at noon, one in the afternoon and one for the night.
1-3 Hauling cargo in the docks hobgoblin, 2d6
d20 Result
[5L]. human*, orc
1-3 Work Duty. Guards seek a handful of prisoners to perform a
4-5 Scrubbing the deck of a goblin, human* 2d4
labourious task. (See below for more details.)
docked ship [5L].
4-7 Arena Team Combat. If it is night-time, nothing happens.
6-8 Scrubbing the floor of a goblin, human* 2d4
Otherwise, the guards seek participants from two factions to
room or corridor: [5A],
face one another in the arena. (See below for more details.)
[5C], [5X] or [5Y].
8-10 Arena Beast Combat. If it is night-time, nothing happens.
9-11 Working in the tavern human* 1d4
Otherwise, the guards seek participants from one faction to
[5D], either to clean it or
face beasts in the arena. (See below for more details.)
as temporary bar staff.
11-13 Arena Training. If it is night-time, nothing happens. Otherwise,
12-13 Entertaining guests in the hobgoblin, 2d4
the guards allow one faction access to the arena for training.
arena spectator area [5C] human*, orc
(See below for details.)
e.g. in harmless exhibition
14 Prisoner Altercation. Randomly pick two non-player prisoners, matches.
even of the same faction. These prisoners quarrel and enter
14-15 Maintaining weapons and hobgoblin 1d4
into a violent confrontation.
equipment in the guard
15 Guard Altercation. As above, but one of the picked characters room [4F] or guard
is a guard. barracks [5B].
16 Appropriation. One faction decides to take food or water from 16-17 Picking out bits of detritus goblin, human*, 2d4
another faction. Determine the factions randomly. How the from the arena sands [4A]. orc
appropriation happens (theft, bargaining, intimidation, force
18-20 Spreading refuse across goblin, human*, 1d4 + 1
etc) depends on the nature of the factions involved and the
the refuse pit [4E] to orc
general situation in the prison. When food and water are not
accelerate decomposition.
limited the motive may be greed, otherwise it may be borne of
greater necessity. If the human faction is instigating, the PCs * “Human” can include any race from the human faction.
are likely to be at least aware of the plan.
17 Rumor. A rumor spreads through the prisoner populations. Escape Options. While work tasks can be helpful in
You might invent a rumour for this, otherwise choose a preparing for an escape, they shouldn’t make escape trivial.
conversation topic from the table on prisoner interaction
further above.
In some locations, it’d only take a fast runner or strong
swimmer to escape. Avoid letting PCs all work together on
18 Illness. A random prisoner becomes ill. Sewer plague
such an assignment or the adventure could be over quickly.
(DMG257) is suitable, but you may use other maladies. If you
wish the disease to be communicable, it can spread to anyone Attempting to escape is considered extreme disobedience.
in contact unless they pass a DC 5 Constitution check. Punishment is severe. If an escapee gets away or is killed in
19 Guard Incursion. The guards mount an incursion into the the attempt then heavy punishment will be meted out to the
prison. If you can, connect this to a recent event. Otherwise, prisoner’s faction.
pick a random faction and have the guards search their cavern Prisoner Supervision. Usually there is one guard for
for contraband.
each prisoner. This number can vary if the guards trust or
20 New Blood. d6 new prisoners are thrown into the prison. distrust the prisoners in question.
Randomly determine a faction, or choose one that needs more
The guards may use leg-chains to keep prisoners from
numbers. They are standard members of that faction and will
join that faction by default, though it is possible the PCs could escaping. These chains halve the speed of anyone wearing
convince them otherwise. them, and otherwise are as per manacles (PHB152). In some
cases the guards may even chain the manacles together,
meaning no prisoner may move more than 20 feet from her
WORK DUTY “neighbours” along the chain.
Prisoners are often used for chores around Greger’s Grotto.
The guards keep track of what prisoners they take out for
Prisoner Selection. Since the guards need to escort and
work duty. If any prisoners go missing the guards will likely
supervise the prisoners, they generally pick trustworthy,
notice it as they muster the prisoners at the end of the work
compliant and willing individuals. Sometimes, though, they
shift.
will be selective: why not pick the hated prisoners to do a
Meeting NPCs. A work shift is an excellent opportunity
filthy task?
for the PCs to meet some of the named NPCs in Appendix A.
For certain tasks, the guards may be instructed to select a
For example, if sent to haul cargo in the docks, they may be
certain race. In some cases, they may be instructed to select
working under the orders of Gladwin Greger or Harry
certain individuals: if the PCs ingratiate themselves as hard
Dodds.

PART 3: THE CAVERNS 13

ARENA EVENTS
Here are details regarding events where guards seek
participants for the arena.
Chosen Factions. The guards know to select prisoners
down factional lines, as any attempt to mix teams would
likely result in bloodshed before getting to the arena sands.
The guards are instructed on what factions to select ahead
of time. As DM you can the pick factions purposefully or just
randomly.
Volunteer Basis. The guards allow chosen factions to put
forward their own members. If no members volunteer, the
guards pick individuals. This could be an interesting test of
the PCs’ heroism (or otherwise). The orc and hobgoblin
factions almost always have members volunteering, the
human faction often does, the goblin faction rarely does.
Quantity (Combat). For non-training events, the guards
seek groups of the following size to represent each faction.
d20 Group Size
1-2 Solo. One person.
3-8 Small. Randomly determined: at least two, at most the number
of PCs minus one. (If there are less than three PCs, ignore this
entry and reroll.)
9-15 Perfect. The same as the number of PCs.
16-19 Large. d4 multiplied by the number of PCs.
20 Everyone. Take all members of a faction.
Quantity (Training). Any number of prisoners from the
selected faction can volunteer to participate in training.
Usually everyone goes – even injured or frail members can at
least get some fresh air.
Fairness. The guards are usually instructed to pick
prisoners to make a fair fight. If – in their estimation – the
balance seems unfair they will make adjustments.
Spectators. The guards may take a few extra prisoners to
watch the fight from the arena sidelines or from behind the
gates to the ready rooms. They will not do this for
untrustworthy prisoners. Any attempt by spectators to
influence the fight will be punished.
Arena Combat. If the PCs are involved in the combat then
you need to enact it. See Part 4 for details.
Casualties. If the PCs are not involved in the combat then
you needn’t run the combat round-by-round. If you wish, you
can simulate injuries from the battle. Roll per-combatant on
the below table.
d20 Injuries
1 Dead. The combatant died. Their body is taken to the refuse
pit [4E].
2-3 Critically Injured. The combatant fell to zero hit points, but was
stabilised (PHB197).
4-10 Injured. The combatant suffered some damage. Inflict d4
damage per the combatant’s hit die total; this cannot leave the
combatant with less than one hit point.
11-20 Uninjured. The combatant lost no hit points.
3A. HUMAN CAVERN
This cavern is the area claimed by the human prisoners (or,
more accurately, it is the only sunlit cavern not claimed by
other groups).
This natural cavern is about forty feet from wall to wall. Beams of
sunlight shine in through gratings far overhead, well over one hundred
feet up. The floor is covered in a fine sand. In centre of the cavern is a
large, deep pool of water.
You’re not alone in here. A small group of prisoners, mostly human,
stare at you. One of their number, an older woman, extends her arms
and says, “Welcome!”
On entering the cavern for the first time, the PCs are
welcomed by Xanthe Jonquil.
Light. This cavern is brightly lit at or around noon, when
the sun can shine directly down through the cavern. At any
other time during the day it is dimly lit. At night it is in
darkness. (PHB183).
Door. The door leading toward the guard room [A4] is an
iron gate. Sound and most ranged attacks can travel easily
through it. It is extremely sturdy, requiring a DC35 Strength
check to break. The lock can be picked with a DC 12 Dexterity
check and a set of thieves’ tools.
Climbing. The ceiling is 140ft. overhead. Climbing is
obviously hazardous, becoming progressively more difficult
as the overhang increases and the rocks become smoother
from years of exposure to rainwater. Any climbing of the first
forty feet requires a DC8 Strength (Athletics) check. Any
climbing of the next fifty is DC14. The final fifty feet is DC18.
Failure by more than 5 means the PC falls (PHB183) some
random point between the start and end of that section of
climbing.
Ceiling Grates. Exit to the surface is barred by strong
metal grates, fixed in place. Each bar as as thick as a man’s
arm; the gap between each bar is about the same width.
A successful DC40 Strength check is needed to break or
bends the bars. Characters who fail to bend or break the bars
while climbing must take a DC10 Strength (Athletics) check
not to fall.
The grates have an AC of 19, 18 hit points and a damage
threshold of 10 (DMG246). They are immune to cold, fire,
lightning, piercing, poison, psychic and radiant damage and
resistant to bludgeoning, force, necrotic, slashing and
thunder damage.
That said, it’s fair that you consider them impervious to
anything low-level PCs could possibly do, and simply state as
such.
If a PC can bypass the bars they will end up outdoors (see
part 5).
PART 3: THE CAVERNS 14
THE WATER
This cavern has a pool of water around thirty feet deep.
Not potable. The pool is sea water. Drinking a few sips is
harmless but any significant amount is a bad idea. The
amount drunk subtracts from the PC’s daily water intake
rather than adding to it (PHB185). In addition, a PC that
imbibes a large amount of water may be immediately
required to take a Constitution check or immediately suffer
one level of exhaustion (PHB291); the DC being 5 per cup-full
of water.
Exploring. The PCs may be tempted to explore the pool’s
depths. There is nothing to find in this particular pool – but
don’t tell them that! Exploring the pool requires a successful
Strength (Athletics) check against DC10.
If that succeeds they may make a Wisdom (Perception)
check; at disadvantage unless they have a light source with
them. (Lights from above the pool don’t pierce the murky
depths.) Only if they succeed against DC30 should players be
told they’ve made a comprehensive search of the pool.
You may reduce the DC of Wisdom (Perception) checks by
2 per attempt if the PCs communicate and collaborate about
where they have and haven’t searched.
A PC may make as many Strength (Athletics) checks for
exploring in pools equal to 1 + his Constitution modifier
(minimum of 1). A short rest, or an extended period away
from the pools, resets this limit.
3B. GOBLIN CAVERN
This cavern is claimed by the goblin prisoners.
Light and Climbing. This cavern has openings in the
ceiling like [3A]. The same rules for light and climbing apply.
The Water. The cavern has a pool like [3A]. The same rules
for exploring it apply here.
There is, however, something in this pool. A short sword
(PHB149) lies at the bottom, lost during a past skirmish
between guards and prisoners. Finding it requires a
successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. It is has been
corroded by the seawater, and will break if it rolls minimum
damage. (Whether you tell the players this or track it yourself
is up to you.)
3C. ORC CAVERN
This cavern is claimed by the orc prisoners.
The Water. The cavern has a pool like [3A]. The same rules
for exploring it apply here.
This pool hides two secrets. On a successful DC 15 Wisdom
(Perception) check the PCs will discover an underwater
tunnel that leads to the south. See further below for how this
tunnel is traversed.
There’s also a bag of caltrops (PHB151), smuggled in from
the arena and hidden but forgotten about. Its discovery is DC
10. The caltrops are corroded but this doesn’t impact their
effectiveness (but it might limit their re-usability).
UNDERWATER TUNNEL
Once the tunnel has been discovered (see above) it can be
traversed. The tunnel is 80 feet long (the PCs won’t know this
until they traverse it). Its is mostly 10 feet wide, occasionally
narrowing it to 5 feet. It leads to the pool in [3 J].
Because it twists and meanders and is entirely underwater
it is considered difficult terrain (PHB182). Swimming
(PHB182) is done on a round-by-round basis; a PC may only
move in a round if they succeed at a DC 10 Strength
(Athletics) check, otherwise they make no progress. If the PCs
desire to stick together you may wish to perform this as a
group check (PHB175).
The tunnel is in darkness; it is possible to grope along
without seeing but doing so imposes a disadvantage to the
Strength (Athletics) checks.
PCs who take a long time to traverse the tunnel run the
risk of suffocating (PHB183). Remember, there are ten rounds
to the minute (PHB181).
A PC who has successfully traversed a tunnel no longer
considers that tunnel difficult terrain as they now know what
to expect.
3D. HOBGOBLIN CAVERN
This cavern is claimed by the hobgoblin prisoners.
The Water. The cavern has a pool like [3A]. The same rules
for exploring it apply here.
This pool hides a secret. If the Wisdom (Perception) check
reaches a DC of 10 the PCs will discover an underwater tunnel
that leads to the south. Traversing this tunnel uses the same
rules as the tunnel in [3C], except this tunnel is 120 feet long
and it exits in [3K].
PART 3: THE CAVERNS 15

ANNEX CAVERNS
Areas [3E], [3F], [3G] and [3H]. The fact that these caverns exist
is known to many prisoners, and some make use of them
when seeking privacy. Few, however, have explored very far.
feet high, and filled with webs all the way up. Few light
sources will penetrate that far. Climbing up requires a DC10
Strength (Athletics) check, remember to consider the slowing
effect of the webs. Falling is not a danger because of the webs.
There are some more cocoons up in the ceiling cavity, and
possibly a spider too (see below for both).

SPIDER LAIR
3E. FIRST EMPTY CAVERN This cave is obviously a spider lair, but whether it is active or
This ceiling of this cavern is low, as low as 5 feet in some cases, and not is up to you.
Dead Giant Spider. In this scenario, the lair is now
in many places narrowing into niches only a few feet across. It is not
empty; the giant spider that once dwelt here has starved from
inhabited but instead seems to be used as a makeshift graveyard and a lack of curious (or stupid) prisoners. At an opportune
refuse pile. At first glance there’s nothing useful amongst the detritus moment, such as when the PCs approach the cave rear or
on the floor: scraps of cloth, tiny fragments of leather and wood. Even start searching the cocoons, have the spider’s dried-up corpse
the larger bones of dead prisoners have been plundered. Anything that fall on an unsuspecting PC:
Something leaps down from the ceiling! Something big, hairy and
could make a primitive club or shiv has long ago been removed.
multi-legged!
This chamber is devoid of anything useful.
Hidden Tunnel. One of the niches at the cavern edge, as Have the unlucky PC take a Dexterity saving throw to
marked on the map, actually leads through to [3F] via a short avoid being “captured”, allow the PC to pass to matter how
cramped tunnel. It can be found with a DC15 Wisdom abysmal the roll. Then start combat. The dead spider, of
(Perception) check, or a PC declaring they are inspecting the course, does nothing in its turn. It has an AC of 10.
niches. Technically it should be unconscious (PHB292) but this might
alert savvy players to your trick.
Eventually the PCs will stop to wonder why the spider is
3F. SECOND EMPTY CAVERN doing nothing. Anyone asking to examine the spider should
be told it is not moving, and lying collapsed on the floor.
Another irregular cavern. This one does not have refuse and bones.
Like the previous cavern, it has several natural alcoves along its wall.
Tucked into a corner of this chamber (but noticeable with a
cursory inspection of the room) is a sack. Inside the sack are
two makeshift but perfectly serviceable slings, a pouch
containing 20 sling stones, and two sets of unlocked manacles
without keys (PHB149-150). This is stash belongs to Jisthelek
the Grasping, who will not be happy if he sees the PCs with
it.
Hidden Tunnel. There are two more hidden tunnels in
this room. Like before, they can be found with a DC15
Wisdom (Perception) checks, or by a PC declaring they are
inspecting the niches.

3G. SPIDER CAVERN

This chamber, too, is characterised by a number of natural niches
along its walls. Most of these alcoves are thick with spider-web, some
even appear to have humanoid-shaped lumps cocooned inside. The
cavern’s ceiling starts off low, but rapidly ascends ahead of you. The
ceiling on the far side of the cave is high enough to be indiscernible
through the gloom.
Webs. The map area coloured in white is thick with webs Living Spider(s). The cavern is home to a giant wolf
(DMG105). spider (MM330) or a giant spider (MM328). Or several of
Ceiling Cavity. The cavern’s roof is highest at the south- either. Or, it could be home to one or more swarms of
western end of the cavern, above the webbed area. It is 100 spiders (MM338); either on their own or with the

PART 3: THE CAVERNS 16

aforementioned giants (the swarms being the “babies” of the
giants).
When choosing what spiders to include, consider the
difficulty of the encounter (DMG82). Too many spiders may
be impossible for the PCs to defeat! Here are some
suggestions for hard encounters:
• Four PCs at level 1: one giant spider; or two swarms
of spiders (MM338); or three giant wolf spiders.
• Four PCs at level 2: three giant wolf spiders and two
swarms of spiders; or two giant spiders.
• Four PCs at level 3: one giant spider plus three
swarms of spiders; or eight giant wolf spiders.
Any spiders living in the cavern will hide in the ceiling
cavity. They will retaliate if attacked, or if the PCs linger;
their aggressiveness otherwise is up to you. If you choose to
make the spiders aggressive, consider making use of their
Stealth skills.
COCOONS
The cocoons are the desiccated remains of the spider’s prey.
Equipment caught in these cocoons has survived the ravages
of time quite well. There are eight cocoons; five in niches
around the cavern’s edges and three up in the ceiling cavity;
at heights of 20, 40 and 60 feet.
Determine which cocoons hold what loot randomly.
The first four cocoons hold nothing of use, just bones of
long-dead prisoners.
Cocoon five entombs a hobgoblin guard; it contains a set of
studded leather armour (PHB145), a short sword, a dagger
(PHB149), and coin as per Individual Treasure Challenge 0-4
(DMG136).
Cocoon six holds a dead goblin prisoner that had
considerable smuggling success; it contains a set of thieves’
tools (PHB154) and a tinderbox (PHB153).
Cocoon seven contains the corpse of a human pirate who
wandered into these caverns well before prisoners were kept
here. It contains a rapier (PHB149), three torches, a spyglass
(PHB153), and coin as per Individual Treasure Challenge 0-4
(two rolls) (DMG136).
Cocoon eight holds a dwarf prisoner, one that tried to
escape during excavation duties. Inside is a shovel and a
miner’s pick (PHB150).
Swarming Surprise. If you are feeling cruel, you may
wish to put swarms of spiders into one or several of the
cocoons. If you are feeling very cruel you may wish to trigger
a spider attack (living or dead, see above) at the moment such
a swarm is released.
3H. BURROWS
One of the cavern’s natural alcoves has been intersected by a tunnel.
The tunnel goes off in two directions. It’s very cramped: even a halfling
would have to crawl to squeeze through. The smooth, round edges of
the tunnel suggest it was left by some burrowing creature.
The tunnel is Tiny sized. Medium-sized creatures cannot fit;
Small-sized creatures can squeeze in (PHB191) by crawling
(PHB182) down the tunnel.
GUARD ROOM WALL
The burrow’s north-western end terminates at the wall of
[4F] the guard room. Dozens of years ago giant fire beetles
burrowed into the guard room. A heavy-duty brick wall was
put in place to seal it off. That event has long been forgotten
and the current guards have no knowledge of the burrow.
They consider the bricked-up wall as just one of many bits of
rough cosmetic work that can be found around the Grotto.
Eavesdropping. Gaps between the brick wall allow sound
to travel both ways. Loud sounds travel well, but it’s hard to
make out quieter details. Listening to conversations or other
quieter sounds requires a successful DC 12 Wisdom
(Perception) check.
A PC can chip away at the mortar between the bricks to
clearly hear and even have a limited view into the guard
room. Doing so requires some kind of tool suitable for the job,
and perhaps a Dexterity (Stealth) check to ensure the guards
don’t notice the noise. Once cleared, listening no longer
requires a skill check and a limited arc of view is possible. On
the flip side, any noises from the tunnel are easily heard
inside the guard room.
Guard Suspicion. If the guards suspect there’s something
behind the wall, they may attempt one of two actions.
If they are unsure of what’s causing the noise, they may
smash down the wall to investigate. When they discover a
burrow, they will arrange to have it bricked up more solidly.
If they have reason to suspect humanoid activity (such as
hearing tool use or someone talking), they may mount an
excursion into the prisoner area to search for the tunnel. If
they can find it, they’ll arrange to brick it up more
thoroughly, and in the mean-time they’ll know to watch it
carefully.
BEETLE BURROWS
The tunnel branches and leads in various directions as shown
on the map.
Dead Ends. The tunnels don’t end where shown on the
map, but they do shrink such that only Tiny creatures could
squeeze in (PHB191).
If the constrictions don’t stop the PCs, have the tunnels
continue for a few hundred more feet before terminating in a
collapse.
The fairly hard rock walls of the burrows has given way to looser
gravel-like material. As you crawl on, you start to notice voids above
you, places where the ceiling has collapsed in the past. Sure enough, up
ahead the burrow ends in a tunnel collapse. It seems likely that the
burrowing creatures will dig through again, as they apparently have done
in the past, though you’ve no idea whether their return will be in
minutes or months.
PART 3: THE CAVERNS 17
 At your discretion the tunnel to the south could meander excluding [3Q].
for 1,600 (3d10 x 100) feet before exiting somewhere along Randomly determine the ghost’s starting position, then
[3Q]. every so often (about once every 15 minutes; whenever it is
Beetle Activity. At your discretion, you may have Giant convenient for you) move him randomly by rolling against
Fire Beetles (MM325) navigate the burrows. (Although these the below:
are Small creatures, allow them to navigate their own
burrows as if they were Tiny creatures.) d20 Result
The beetles aren’t necessarily hostile, but if they do attack 1-5 The ghost lingers where it is.
the resulting combat in a confined space could be very
6-10 The ghost moves to a random adjacent room.
difficult for PCs.
The glowing beetle glands might be useful for the PCs. If 11-13 The ghost moves one room closer to [3L]. If it is already there
it lingers.
your PCs are having trouble with illumination, you may want
to be liberal with the beetles, even having them venture 13-16 The ghost moves one room closer to [3M]. If it is already there
it lingers.
outside their burrows.
17-20 The ghost moves one room closer to [3R]. If it is already there
it lingers.

HAUNTED CAVERNS
3 J. WESTERN POOL CAVERN
Areas [3 J] through to [3R]. These natural caverns are
unknown to all living members of Greger’s Grotto. This cavern is unremarkable save for the watery pool it
Many years ago, when Greger’s Grotto was first being contains.
established, captured dwarves were used to dig out corridors The Water. The cavern has a pool like [3A]. The same rules
and living areas to augment the natural caves. for exploring it apply here.
Eventually, these dwarves mounted an escape. Their plan The only thing of interest in this pool is an underwater
was to hide out in these caverns – which their captors did not tunnel leading to [3C]. This tunnel requires a successful DC10
know about – while they dug to the surface. Unfortunately, Wisdom (Perception) check to discover. (Any tunnel the PCs
their escape took them through a seam of coal. The leader entered by is automatically discovered.)
knew the risks, but pushed on, unwilling to start a new tunnel Consult [3C] for information about traversing the tunnel.
with provisions dwindling.
This turned out to be the wrong choice. Noxious gases
released by the seam polluted the caverns and poisoned most 3K. EASTERN POOL CAVERN
of the group. Those few that remained, driven desperate by
This cavern is unremarkable save for the watery pool it
the fumes, quarrelled with their leader. This escalated into a
contains.
fight in which the leader slew the would-be “mutineers”.
The Water. The cavern has a pool like [3A]. The same rules
Distraught to the point of inaction, the leader succumbed to
for exploring it apply here.
the deadly gas a few hours later.
The only thing of interest in this pool is an underwater
Traumatised by this bloodshed and his general failure, the
tunnel leading to [3D]. This tunnel requires a successful DC10
leader of these escapees haunts the caverns as a ghost. Even
Wisdom (Perception) check to discover. (Any tunnel the PCs
though this is a lesser form of ghost than the one found in the
entered by is automatically discovered.)
Monster Manual (MM147), it is still a tough encounter for
Consult [3D] for information about traversing the tunnel.
low-level PCs with limited equipment. Attacking it would be
dangerous. Clever PCs will avoid or outwit the ghost while
they explore these caverns. 3L. EMPTY CAVERN
There is nothing special about this cavern.
THE GHOST Metagame Bluff. You may wish to use this cavern to
subvert your players’ metagame thinking (DMG235). Every
These caverns are haunted by a Dwarf Ghost. He is the
time they pass through this cavern do something suspicious;
confused type of ghost, believing he and his band are still
have them take meaningless Perception checks or secretly
alive and at work on the tunnel.
roll some dice.
See the ghost’s stat block for more details.
Movement. The ghost moves around the caverns,
believing himself to be on various errands and duties that
occupied him during the last days of his life.
The nature of his unfinished business means he cannot
leave the area; he must remain in in the rooms [3 J] to [3R],

PART 3: THE CAVERNS 18

3M. MINING CAMP
The dwarf escapees set up here while they dug the tunnel. It’s
also where the attempted mutiny took place. Years later, their
camp remains mostly intact.
This cavern looks to have been a camp site. You see a few
extinguished cooking fires, a half-dozen unfurled sleeping mats, and
small piles of provisions and equipment.
There are skeletal corpses of dwarves here. One lays curled up on a
sleeping mat. Another is slumped against a wall, a mining pick lodged
into its skull, the blow right between the eyes. The pick’s handle is
banded with loops of twine. An iron crowbar lies on the floor by this
corpse’s hand. The third and final corpse lays face-down on the floor in
an awkward pose, a flat-headed shovel still gripped in its bony fingers.
A layer of dust and filth coats everything here; it is apparent that this
room has not been disturbed for many years.
Equipment. Much of the camp site has decayed or been
ruined by vermin, including the food, the bedrolls, clothing
and cloth and some leather containers. The following items
are in serviceable condition and can be scavenged: two light
hammers, one warhammer, one warpick (PHB149), ten
candles, one crowbar, two hammers, one mess kit, seven
miner’s picks, three flasks of oil, one iron pot, one hempen
rope (50 feet), three shovels, 20 iron spikes, two tinderboxes,
seven empty waterskins, one whetstone (PHB150) and one
herbalism kit (PHB154).
3P. OCEAN POOL CAVERN
Like many of the caverns you have seen before, this one has a pool
in its centre. Movement draws your eyes to the water’s surface. Small
fish dart about in the pool. The previous pools had been devoid of
animal life. Bones of medium-sized fish lie scattered around the pool’s
edge, picked totally clean.
The Water. The cavern has a pool like [3A]. The same rules
for exploring it apply here.
This pool hides a secret. If the Wisdom (Perception) check
reaches a DC of 10 the PCs will discover an underwater tunnel
that leads to the west. Traversing this tunnel uses the same
rules as the tunnel in [3C], except this tunnel is a considerable
400 feet long and it exits somewhere underwater in Greger’s
Grotto [5L].
Crabs. Sometimes, Giant Crabs (MM342) lurk here
consuming the fish they have scavenged or caught. There are
d12 – 8 giant crabs present. The crabs are not aggressive. If
attacked or startled, they will retaliate or retreat. As they’re
not social animals, they don’t necessarily work together: one
crab may stand idly by another is killed.
Giant crabs contain a considerable amount of meat: 20
rations’ worth each (PHB185). A successful Wisdom (Survival)
check at DC 10 made while harvesting the meat ensures that
it won’t be dangerous to eat (see below), though the amount of
rations is reduced by 5. The meat goes bad after one day, or
one week if cooked. Crab meat may be infected with marine
parasites: anyone eating uncooked crab meat must pass a DC5
Constitution saving throw or be infected with a disease
similar to Sewer Plague (DMG247), but non-communicable.
Foraging. Since this pool connects to the ocean, it
contains sea life. PCs can try foraging as per DMG111. The DC
is 15. It is assumed the PCs have something to use as bait –
even minuscule scraps from their own food supply will do, if
PART 3: THE CAVERNS 19
not the Survival check has disadvantage. Note that only food
can be foraged from this pool, not fresh water.
Tunnel Lurker. The first PC to reach d6 x 50 feet into the
tunnel will encounter a Giant Octopus (MM326).
Up ahead you see a shape move. It’s big; about the size of a horse.
You catch a glimpse of tentacles. Whatever it is, it darts back and forth
in the dark tunnel ahead of you before disappearing from sight.
If the PCs press on regardless, the octopus will attack.
Consider using its Stealth skill and Underwater Camouflage
to surprise the PCs (DMG189) and attack unseen (DMG194). If
it loses more than half of its hit points it will attempt to
retreat, using its Ink Cloud action. Remember, this is
underwater combat (DMG198).
3N. ESCAPE TUNNEL
This is the dwarves’ attempt at an escape tunnel. It is a dead
end – it was never finished.
You stand at the entrance to a long, narrow tunnel. It’s clearly
artificial. It slopes upwards at an incline and its ceiling is low enough
that a human would have to stoop. The walls of this tunnel contain thick
seams of sooty coal, and thinner seams of gleaming gold. Indeed,
chunks of gold litter the floor.
Knowledge. There are certain facts about this tunnel that
a PC may know. These are all Intelligence (Nature) checks.
Dwarf PCs double their proficiency bonus (PHB173). You may
wish to perform these as passive checks (PHB175), so as not to
alert the players. If PCs explicitly examine the tunnel or ask
pertinent questions, you may allow them to roll for some or
all of the facts.
DC Read to Players
12 The golden material is pyrite, also known as fool’s gold.
Though pretty it is essentially worthless.
14 Coal seams like this often release dangerous gases, especially
when disturbed.
16 Jet is a valuable gemstone commonly found in coal seams like
this. Uncut jet is difficult to distinguish from the coal that
surrounds it, but you know what to look for.
Minerals. The tunnel cuts through an extensive seam of
coal. Coal litters the floor in copious amounts should the PCs
want to take any.
PCs scavenging along the tunnel floor can find 3d6 nuggets
of pyrite, each weighing ½lb. If they know to look, they can
also find d4 jet gemstones (DMG134).
PCs equipped with mining picks can dig for more with a
DC10 Strength check. The check takes half an hour. If the PC
was digging for pyrite, they find one nugget, plus one nugget
per 2 by which they exceeded the DC. If the PC was digging
for jet, they have a 5% chance of finding a jet gemstone, plus
5% per 2 by which they exceeded the DC.
Extending the Tunnel. The tunnel is only a fraction of
the length needed to reach the surface. The PCs cannot
realistically complete it, though they don’t necessarily know
this. The tunnel increases in length by 1 foot per person-hour
of digging. At your discretion, excessive digging may cause
exhaustion (PHB291).
Noxious Gas. Digging for gems or to extend the tunnel
may release noxious gases. After every half-hour period
during which one or many PC were digging, roll a d20:
d20 Noxious Gas
1-2 Flammable gas builds up. PCs in the tunnel passing a DC 12
Wisdom (Perception) check will notice a “rotten egg” smell
some minutes before the gas reaches dangerous levels. Once
at dangerous levels, any open flame will cause the gas to
combust causing 3d6 fire damage. All characters in the tunnel
are damaged. A DC12 Dexterity saving throw will halve the
damage taken. Ignition clears the gas build-up. Otherwise, it
will dissipate after one hour.
3-10 Odourless poisonous gases build up. Anyone in the tunnel
must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 2d6
poison damage and become poisoned (PHB292) for one hour.
The DC is 15 for characters in the tunnel, 10 for characters in
the mining camp [3M], or 5 for characters in [3J], [3K], [3L],
[3P] or [3R].
11-20 No gases are released.
3R. MAKESHIFT MORGUE
This cavern was used as a makeshift morgue by the dwarves,
while they still had the strength to attend to such
arrangements.
Five short humanoid bodies have been neatly laid out side-by-side in
this cavern. Each body is covered, either with a decayed remains of a
blanket or threadbare lengths of sackcloth.
Equipment. The bodies have been stripped of useful gear
and the clothes they once wore have decayed beyond
usefulness. Anyone searching may make successful DC 10
Wisdom (Perception) check to find a folded silk handkerchief
hidden away in one of the corpses’ clothes. The handkerchief
contains five tiny rubies, worth 25 GP each.
Metagame Bluff. You may wish to use this cavern to
subvert your players’ metagame thinking (DMG235). As they
move towards or otherwise interact with the bodies do
something suspicious; have them take meaningless Wisdom
(Perception) checks or secretly roll some dice.
PART 3: THE CAVERNS 20
 underground – there is no opening to the surface at the top.
3Q. NATURAL TUNNEL The bottom is difficult terrain (PHB182).
Climbing up or down the walls below the ledge requires a
Even in the fantasy world, sometimes a natural cavern goes
DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check (PHB182). The DC increases
nowhere and contains nothing. This area is exactly that – a
to 20 when climbing the walls above the ledge, as this would
long tunnel that terminates in a large cavern, going nowhere
necessitate climbing an overhang.
and containing nothing useful; of interest only to spelunkers.
PCs may consider jumping across the gap (PHB182).
This area could distract exploration-hungry PCs, and
Falling would almost certainly be lethal (PHB193).
possibly serve to dislodge metagame thinking (DMG235) that
Glowing Moss. From the ledge, a PC may notice a faint
everything has a purpose. If the idea of a pointless tunnel
glow at one of the bottom corners of the crevasse. In
doesn’t appeal to you, simply erase it from your adventure.
This tunnel is clearly natural, as no sane architect would make darkness, this glow is obvious. If a light source is present, a
successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check is needed.
something so awkward. To navigate it you are constantly squeezing
Something is faintly glowing somewhere down in the fissure; about
through narrow gaps, clambering up or down gradients or ledges. It
one hundred feet below you and about as much along the wall itself.
twists and turns in on itself, its width and height is erratic, though it
You can’t see what’s causing the glow
does feel like it descending overall. Now and then it appears as to
The glow is caused by some bio-luminescent moss. The
branch into alternate routes, but on inspection these end abruptly in
moss neither useful nor nutritious nor harmful in any way;
rocky blockages or shrink down into tunnels or gaps far too small to fit but don’t tell the players that. If removed from the wall, it will
into. Indeed, it seems that your path is actually a series of different stop glowing within minutes.
tunnels and caverns linked together. Tucked away in a small fold at the end of the crevasse is a small
pocket of life. Unlike most of the fissure, the walls here are damp, and
Navigation. Though the tunnel is awkward to navigate,
support a softly glowing yellow moss. Tiny pale insects, barely the size
no feature of it is so difficult as to require skill checks.
Tiny Tunnel. If one or more of your PCs are of Small size, of a grain of rice, crawl lazily over the soft beds of moss.
you may wish to decree that the tunnel shrinks to Tiny size The Other Side. A tunnel continues from the ledge on the
(PHB191). Small characters may pass, but Medium characters other side. It is similar to the tunnel the PCs entered with.
cannot (PHB192). On the downside, this may split the party. After a few hundred feet it terminates in a dead end. Though,
On the up side, it may increase tension as an individual or at your discretion, it could connect to the burrows [3H]; see
small group venture into the unknown. that room for more information.
Extra Exit. At some point along the tunnel there may be
an exit to the burrows [3H]. See that room for more
information. The exit, if it exists, is only seen with a
successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.
Metagame Bluff. You may wish to describe the tunnel’s
path and its various short dead-end offshoots in detail. You
could also describe various rock formations. None of these
details are of any consequence, they are merely red herrings.
You might also over-dramatise difficult points in the
tunnel, such as crawling or squeezing through a smaller space
(PHB182, PHB192). Ask them exactly what order they go in,
and who is holding the light source. They may go to
extraordinary lengths avoid an ambush that isn’t going to
happen.

CREVASSE CAVERN
After a few hundred feet, the tunnel opens into a large cavern.
The tunnel opens up into a large cavern. It’s a huge underground
fissure, or crevasse, and you stand on a wide ledge on its wall. The void
extends to the left and right, up and down, swallowed by darkness.
Across from you ledge is another ledge, with a twenty-foot gap in-
between. It appears the tunnel continues onward on the other side
The Crevasse. Is about twenty feet wide, two hundred feet
tall and three hundred feet wide. The two ledges are
approximately in the middle of the crevasse walls. It is wholly

PART 3: THE CAVERNS 21

 PART 4: THE ARENA
B loodsport, like any other sport, can be
commercialised. The operators of Greger Grotto don’t
run an arena because they personally enjoy it. They
run it because it lures visitors. Instead of stopping only for
trade or repairs privateers will visit just to be entertained.
More visitors, more money.
ARENA BATTLES
Arena battles are organised when there are enough interested
visitors to warrant it. There can be up to three events per day;
purposefully spaced apart to encourage visitors to stay and
spend money.
There are two main types of battles: battles between teams
of prisoners, and battles where a team of prisoners face off
against beasts.
The PCs are summoned to arena fights from the prisoner
caverns. Part 3 has rules about when and how the PCs may be
summoned.
GENERAL RULES
Even the most lethal of bloodsports has rules.
Defer to the Editor. The Editor is the person running the
arena on that day. Combatants are expected to heed the
editor’s instructions.
Starting. The combatants take up positions near the edges
of the arena, opposite the enemy team. They are expected to
listen to any special instructions from the editor, and wait for
her order to commence.
Surrender. Raising one’s hand with an open palm is a
sign of surrender.
Killing Blows. It is expected that a combatant will seek
permission from the Editor before killing a clearly defeated
foe, or a foe that has surrendered. The Editor will gauge the
crowd’s reaction and give the order. Refusing to kill an enemy
when ordered constitutes disobedience.
Killing an opponent while they are an active threat is
perfectly allowed. Some combatants will purposely knock out
their foes (PHB198), but this is not expected.
These rules apply to prisoners only. Animals and monsters
can kill – and be killed – without consequence. Guards will
not save a downed prisoner from an animal or monster.
Pacifism. Refusal to fight is only a problem if all
combatants do it, or if some combatants are so good at
avoiding combat (through mundane or magical means) that it
spoils the fight. Problematic pacifism is considered
disobedience.
Magic Use. Magic is permitted in the arena.
PART 4: THE ARENA 22
 Escape. Attempting to prematurely leave the arena or
move upwards towards the spectator level is considered
disobedience.
Crowd Endangerment. Attacking the crowd is a severe
form of disobedience. The editor may order the death of any
combatant that displays an extremely dangerous attack (such
as a fireball spell), even if that attack is only used on other
arena combatants.
Disobedience. The editor will rebuke mild disobedience,
especially for combatants new to the arena and unfamiliar
with the rules. More serious offences will warrant beatings
from the guards carried out in the arena. Grave disobedience,
such as attacking the crowd, will result in immediate lethal
retaliation by guards; both by archers in the stands and
guards nearer the arena floor.
LOGISTICS
A lot must be done behind-the-scenes to stage an arena
battle. Here are the tasks, in order.
Instructions. Word is sent to the guard room [4F] as to
the type of battle to be undertaken along with any special
instructions.
Preparation Rooms. Guards take weapons and other
equipment from the guard room [4F] to the various
preparation rooms [4B], [4C] and/or [4D].
order the combat begin. Gates are closed during combat.
Combat lasts for as long as it lasts.
Prisoner Return. After combat is over, the gates are once
again opened. Prisoners are expected to return to their
preparation room, where they will await guards to escort
them back to their caverns.
Prisoners are not permitted to take any equipment back
with them. The guards watch for smuggling attempts.
Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks (PHB177) might help
conceal an item.
There is a special allowance for spellbooks – it is known
these are required to prepare spells. The arena organisers
want to encourage magic in the arena as it excites the crowd.
No treatment is offered to prisoners. Prisoners are
expected to carry incapacitated allies, but the guards will
begrudgingly help if required. Prisoners are not supposed to
carry corpses back to their caverns, though guards have little
reason to check every limp body for life signs.
Remove Creatures. Monsters and animals still in the
arena will be re-captured if they’re relatively uninjured
and/or expensive. Otherwise they will be killed.
Final Cleanup. Corpses will be taken to the refuse pit
[A3], as will any equipment that is beyond repair. Usable
equipment is returned to the guard room [A4]. The arena is
left clean, though the guards are not thorough enough to
wash away the blood or tiny scraps of equipment.

DEFAULT PREPARATION ROOM EQUIPMENT

This is the default equipment that PCs will find in a preparation
room:
d4 daggers, d4 maces, d4-1 nets, d4 shields, d4 shortswords, d4
spears, d4 scimitars, d4-1 whips (PHB149).
There is an assortment of arcane foci, druidic foci and holy
symbols (PHB150); any spell-casting character will be able to
find something that suits them.
Generally you needn’t worry about what NPC prisoners might
have in their preparation rooms, use what they have in their stat
blocks. If the players complain that the other teams are getting
different equipment that’s fine; the arena isn’t always fair! Just be
mindful that NPC equipment doesn’t contravene battle variant
rules (see below).

Wrangle Creatures. Some fights pit prisoners against

animals or monsters. The guards, usually assisted by the
traffickers that previously owned the animals, put these
creatures into preparation rooms [4B], [4C] and/or [4D]. If the
creatures aren’t aggressive enough to enter the arena on their
own some guards may remain behind to shoo them into the
arena when the battle starts.
Collect Prisoners. The prisoners are collected and taken
to preparation rooms. See Part 3 for more information about
this.
Open the Gates. On the editor’s orders, the gates are
opened via winch systems in the spectator’s area [5C].
Combatants are expected to sally forth onto the arena; the
guards will forcibly motivate anyone that refuses.
Combat. The editor may make a few remarks then will

PART 4: THE ARENA 23

THE EDITOR BATTLE DIFFICULTY
The editor is always someone from the Greger family. Each The PCs should find arena combat fairly easy. After all,
individual has a different style, as detailed in their stat block adventuring parties typically have six to eight combat
in Appendix A. encounters per day (DMG84). If you use the arena guidelines
The same editor usually oversees all arena battles on a as written in this part they will fall well below this quota.
given day. Roll to determine: Does it matter? In some cases, no. The PCs are lacking in
d20 Editor equipment (especially armour). And if anyone deserves a bit
1-5 Gertrude Greger of a break it’s low level characters.
That said, if you want to increase difficulty, consider these
6-10 Gillian Greger
options. You might imply that the added difficulty is
11-15 Glawdin Greger standard procedure in the arena, or you could attribute it to a
16-20 Godrick Greger bloodthirsty or vindictive editor or crowd.
Quantity. Add more enemies per encounter. This
increases the encounter difficulty (DMG82).
THE CROWD Waves. Add more encounters. If the PCs beat a group of
prisoners or beasts simply send in another. You could allow a
The arena exists to entertain the crowd. While the editor may few minutes’ respite between waves: this is not only
technically run the games, she would be a fool to defy the logistically realistic but allows the PCs a few moments to use
favour of the crowd. Happy customers are returning abilities and get organised.
customers. Handicaps. Give the PCs a disadvantage, or their enemies
Crowd Desires. The crowd wants drama, blood and an advantage. You might use the Battle Variants table on the
displays of skill. Deficit of one can be forgiven if there is next page for ideas.
surplus of another.
Fickle. The crowd is fickle. Its mood and its loyalties
change constantly. Novelty is favoured more than
consistency.
Factional. The crowd has its favourites, often picked
down racial lines (human spectators generally favour human
combatants, for example). When favourites compete it
energises the crowd. In extreme situations it may lead to
riots.
Surrender. As a general rule, the crowd will accept
surrender. They will not accept it when they feel the
combatant has been cowardly or displayed a lack of skill.
Happy crowds are more forgiving than unhappy ones.
Avoiding Punishment. Combatants can get away with
bending or breaking the rules if they please the crowd in
doing so. Sensible editors do not seek punishment in such
situations. At least not publicly.
Interaction. The PCs can curry favour with the crowd by
being interesting. They might show off with fancy moves or
take exciting risks. They might engage in grandiose banter,
especially by way of Charisma (Performance) checks. There
are quite a few regular spectators so it is possible to build a
reputation.
NPCs might also attempt to win the crowd over in these
ways, sometimes cynically, sometimes out of a genuine love
of performance or of the arena.

BATTLE VARIANTS
The table on the next page can be used to randomly
determine battle variants.

PART 4: THE ARENA 24

d20 Variant
1 No Surrender Allowed*. All combatants on the defeated side are to
be killed. (You may wish to re-roll if this comes up early in the
adventure, or if the opposing team is very difficult.)
2 Choose Your Weapon. The preparation rooms are empty of
weapons, but each combatant may choose a weapon and be
provided with it. Magical weapons, weapons with the Ammunition
property (PHB146), and weapons that are very rare will not be
provided. To make this easy to apply to NPCs: let most NPCs
choose default weapons and only give an interesting weapon to one
or two of them.
3 Unarmed. No weapons are provided. Foci and holy symbols are
provided as usual.
4 Reach. Pikes (PHB149) are supplied instead of the normal
weapons. There is one pike for every combatant.
5 Rush. No weapons are supplied in the preparation room. Instead,
weapons are placed in the arena centre. Pick a few different melee
weapons (PHB149) to put there. There is a 50% chance that foci
and holy symbols will also be in the centre of the arena rather than
in the preparation room.
6 Special Gear. Choose one of the following at random: bag of ball
bearings, bag of caltrops, flask of oil (PHB150). d6 such items are
added to the preparation room. Oil flasks come with a single torch
and tinderbox. Roll for each team separately.
7 No Foci. Arcane foci, druidic foci and holy symbols are not provided
in preparation rooms. Magic use is still allowed.
8 Chained. All combatants in each prisoner team are chained one-to-
another in a line. As such, each prisoner has one or two
“neighbours” in the chain. The chains attach by manacles
(PHB152) to a single leg on each combatant. The chains are
designed to not slow movement but no combatant may move more
than 20 feet from their neighbours; because of this combatants
may wish to use Ready actions (PHB193) to move together.
Combatants may pull on the chain to shove (PHB195) others at a
distance; either one of their neighbours or, more usefully, any
creature occupying space between themselves and a neighbour.
Neighbours can be pulled 5 feet closer using this special shove,
they cannot be pushed away; other creatures can only be knocked
prone.
9 Blindfolded. Two combatants from each prisoner team must wear a
special, locked helmet with no eye-holes. The helmets render the
wearer blinded (PHB290). If there are no volunteers for the
helmets, the guards will choose who wears them.
10 Starting Positions. The combatants are arranged in an unusual way
prior to the battle beginning. Teams might line up, face to face.
Pairs made from opposing teams may be scattered around the
arena. Against beasts, one prisoner may be placed well ahead of the
others.
11 Staggered Start. All combatants are ordered to start the battle
“inactive”. Inactive combatants are expected to not move or
perform any actions. Once per round an individual from each team
is allowed to become active. By default the team chooses who; a
variation is to let the editor choose instead. If an inactive combatant
is attacked by a foe, they are allowed to immediately become active.
12 Tied Up. All combatants enter the arena tied up. While they are tied
up they are restrained (they are able to shuffle slowly into position).
The restraints are designed to be fairly easy to escape from; they
may be made of weak material and thus require a Strength check, or
they may involve undoing a tricky knot and require a Sleight of
Hand (Dexterity) check. You decide the DC, it should be around 10-
15; it might be a set value or a randomised value for each
combatant (e.g. 3d6). Unrestrained characters have advantage on
checks to untie someone else, or they may simply slice open the
restraints (PHB151, PHB153, DMG246). Attempting to escape
restraints before battle begins is considered disobedience (but only
if someone notices!).
d20 Variant
13 Capture the Combatant. The goal for each team is to bring an
enemy to their edge of the arena. The enemy must be alive and not
unconscious (PHB292). When the battle is between two prisoner
groups, this is an optional means of instant victory – the losing
team is considered to have surrendered. When prisoners face
beasts it is mandatory to capture a beast – killing them all is
considered disobedience. You may wish to purposefully select a
single powerful beast for the purpose.
14 One on one*. Both teams select an individual from their own team
to fight in the centre of the arena. The rest of the team must not
interfere. When any combatant is defeated, both teams select again.
A team loses when it has no remaining members. Prisoners are
permitted to extract their defeated team-mates to the sidelines.
Prisoners on the same team who are not in combat are permitted to
interact with one another; including to cast spells. Refusing to
select an individual to fight is considered disobedience.
Participating in combat out-of-turn is considered disobedience,
though combatants may get away with actions like the Rally
maneuvre (PHB74) or spells like vicious mockery (PHB285) which
may be disguised as normal banter.
15 Surprise Beasts. During the battle, at the editor’s command, the
guards release some animals from the Beast Combat section (see
below). You could determine randomly, or pick an entry. You might
wish to pick a lower-CR entry to serve as a nuisance or distraction
to the combatants, or a high-CR entry to really spice up the battle.
16 King of the Hill. An area of arena is marked out with a loop of rope.
Usually it marks an area roughly 15 foot in diameter in the middle
of the arena, but it could be elsewhere. Once per round, a single
archer in the stands fires at a random prisoner outside the rope.
Moving the rope is considered disobedience. An unfair variant on
this is to allow one team to start inside the rope.
17 Capture the Flag(s)*. 1d6 objects are placed in the arena. Each team
has a receptacle for said objects on their side of the arena (e.g. a
barrel, a cage). When battle starts, a timer counts down for 3d6
rounds. The combatants may or not may not be told what the time
limit is. When the timer expires, the team with the most objects in
their receptacle wins. The other team is considered to have
surrendered. Stealing objects and killing competitors is wholly
allowed. Only objects that are in good condition are counted – for
this reason you may wish to choose interesting objects like
watermelons, live chickens, or even live scorpions (MM337) or
poisonous snakes (MM334). Or you may wish to use heavy objects
for a different kind of challenge (PHB176). To prevent this variant
from devolving into a simple combat, you may wish to disallow
weapons and/or foci.
18 Ribbon Wars*. Brightly coloured ribbons are put in the middle of
the arena. Ribbons come in four or five different colours, and there
is one less ribbon than there are combatants. Once per round, a
single archer in the stands fires at a random prisoner not holding or
clearly wearing a ribbon (ribbons are often tied to arms, legs or
around the head). As battle proceeds the editor may call out colours
– such colours of ribbon no longer offer protection. Combatants
can use an action (PHB192) to tie a ribbon to themselves or untie a
ribbon from a willing or incapacitated (PHB290) combatant. A
successful unarmed strike (PHB195) can steal a ribbon off another
combatant instead of inflicting damage.
19 Different rules*. Roll again for each faction and apply that rule to
that faction only. If a rule does not make sense applied to only a
single faction then apply default rules to that faction instead.
20 Roll twice. Roll on twice more on this table and, where possible,
combine variants.
* This variant is only valid when two groups of prisoners
are battling one another. If rolled for a beast battle, presume
default rules.
PART 4: THE ARENA 25
 Of course, you are encouraged to forgo the randomness d100 Creature CR Lvl 1 Lvl 2 Lvl 3
and engineer battles to make your story memorable. Some 1 Ape (MM317) 1/2 2 3 5
suggestions follow.
2-6 Axe Beak (MM317) 1/4 3 6 9
Grudge Match. What might bring in the crowds? A series
of battles between rivals, culminating in a no-surrender 7-10 Black Bear (MM318) 1/2 2 3 5
duel? Testing the claims of a boastful combatant (“I could kill 11-14 Boar (MM319) 1/4 3 6 9
them all with one hand behind my back!”)? Giving a 15-18 Brown Bear (MM319) 1 1* 2 3
combatant with a crowd-pleasing killing style (perhaps a
19-22 Cave Bear (MM334) 2 0 1* 2
monk, or a magic user) plenty of fodder enemies to show off
her talents? 23 Crocodile (MM320) 1/2 2 3 5
Prison Management. Troubles in the prison can be 24-27 Dire Wolf (MM321) 1
sorted out with arena fights. Throwing unwanted or 28-29 Giant Boar (MM323) 2 0 1* 2
troublesome prisoners into unfair or downright lethal fights
30 Giant Constrictor Snake 2 0 1* 2
is an obvious option. The PCs could potentially be on either
(MM324)
side of such an unfair fight.
Having the guards poison combatants before they enter 31-34 Giant Crab (MM324) 1/8 6 10 14
the arena – Assassin’s Blood or Drow’s Poison (DMG257) – is 35 Giant Frog (MM325) 1/2 2 3 5
especially villainous. 36 Giant Goat (MM326) 1/2 2 3 5
But if troublesome prisoners are also crowd favourites it
37 Giant Hyena (MM326) 1 1* 2 3
may be wiser to throw their friends (if they have any) into
that kind of unfair fight. It forces compliance without risking 38-39 Giant Lizard (MM326) 1/4 3 6 9
anything valuable. 40-49 Giant Rat (MM327) 1/8 6 10 14
50-53 Giant Scorpion (MM327) 3 0 1 1*
BEAST COMBAT 54 Giant Toad (MM329) 1 1* 2 3
55-56 Giant Weasel (MM329) 1/8 6 10 14
Use the table below to pick beasts when required.
57-62 Hyena (MM331) 0 12 17 31
Creature Swaps. Use the creature rolled, or substitute it
with something functionally similar. For example, a jackal 63-68 Jackal (MM331) 0 12 17 31
could represent a mid-sized feral dog; a panther could be a 69-72 Lion (MM331) 1 1* 2 3
mountain lion (MM317). 73-78 Mastiff (MM332) 1/8 6 10 14
Feel free to adjust the table below to remove creatures that
79-80 Panther (MM333) 1/4 3 6 9
aren’t a fit in your campaign world, or to add new creatures
that are. 81-82 Sabre-Toothed Tiger (MM336) 2 0 1* 2
Creature Quantity. The three right-most columns show 83-86 Tiger (MM339) 1 1* 2 3
the number of this type of animal to include to make a hard 87-94 Wolf (MM341) 1/4 3 6 9
difficulty encounter (DMG82) for a party of four PCs at the
95-100 Worg (MM341) 1/2 2 3 5
specified level. Consider four PCs at level 2: they might fight
three apes or six axe beaks. If the quantity shows zero the * Actually a Medium encounter (DMG82).
creature may be too difficult: you may wish to re-roll.
Creatures in Combat. The beasts’ handlers will have
ensured the creatures are aggressive and ready to fight.
Cruelty is commonplace; the creatures may have been
starved for days, or tormented immediately before release.
Some of the more exotic creatures cannot be so easily
enraged. In such a case, arena combatants are expected to
instigate the attack, the idea being that the animal will defend
itself. Refusing to attack a peaceful animal is considered
disobedience.
Consider that different creatures will fight differently.
Wolves may fight as a pack, whereas giant crabs are not
inclined to work together. Some animals are likely to be very
aggressive; others may defensively stand off until provoked.

PART 4: THE ARENA 26


TRAINING
Occasionally the PCs will have a chance to train in the arena.
They are under no obligation to train, but training can
slightly improve their chances in future fights.
Equipment. Prisoners will be given two lots of Default
Preparation Room Equipment (see sidebar above). How they
share it amongst themselves is up to them.
Spectators. Training sessions may attract a few
spectators, but nowhere near as many as a real battle. The
relative quiet may allow spectators and prisoners to converse
or otherwise interact.
Guards. Guards are generally less alert during training.
It’s not as exciting as an arena battle, there’s usually fewer
prisoners involved, and prisoners are grateful of the training
opportunity and less likely to misbehave. Guards will
investigate any suspicious interaction between spectators
and prisoners.
TRAINING EXERCISES
Explain the following training options to the players. During
a training session a PC may train in one of these.
These training benefits are intended to be limited to this
adventure – not a permanent enhancement. Furthermore,
they may only be used during arena battles.
Conditioning. You improve your general fitness. You
gain one temporary hit point (PHB198) at the beginning of
every future arena battle. You may repeat this training to
increase the amount of temporary hit points up to a
maximum of 1 + your Constitution modifier (minimum 1).
Weapon Training. You train with a particular type of
weapon. You may re-roll the damage of a single attack you
make with that weapon. Re-roll as many times as you have
undertaken this training. You may choose to apply the initial
roll, or any of the re-rolls. Once you use this training benefit,
you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it
again.
Defensive Training. You practise evading and parrying
attacks. You may re-roll the damage of a single attack made
against you. Re-roll as many times as you have undertaken
this training. You may choose to apply the initial roll, or any
of the re-rolls. Once you use this training benefit, you must
finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Dirty Fighting. You concentrate on learning
“unconventional” fighting techniques. You may gain
advantage on a single opportunity attack, grapple, or shove
attack (PHB195). Once you use this training benefit, you must
finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Combat Superiority. You consider non-obvious ways
you can influence combat. You gain the benefit of the Martial
Adept feat (PHB168), except you only learn one maneuver
instead of two. If you already have this feat, or for every time
you repeat this training, you may learn an additional
maneuver.
Battle Strategy. You practise co-ordinating as a team. You
must perform this training with at least one other person (all
participants share the same benefit). For every future arena
battle, your Dexterity checks for initiative (PHB189) are
increased by whichever of these two values is lesser:
• The number of characters on your team that you have
personally done this training with (excluding yourself).
• The number of times you have done this training.
ARENA ROOMS
This section describes areas marked [4A] through [4F].
4A. ARENA
The arena is a shaft cave (also known as a pit cave, vertical
cave, or pot); a naturally-forming vertical shaft in the rock. It
has no ceiling and is open to the air. The shaft is roughly
cylindrical, about eighty feet wide and one-hundred and forty
feet high.
The bottom of the shaft is the arena “stage” where fights
occur. It is covered in a thick layer of sand.
Light and Weather. Being open to the sky, the arena floor
is effectively outdoors; dark at night, bright at day (PHB183).
The weather can also come into play (DMG109), though the
deep shaft protects against wind.
Climbing. The rocky walls of the shaft become smoother
from water weathering the further one climbs. Any climbing
of the first forty feet requires a DC14 Strength (Athletics)
check. At this height, they can access the spectator area [5C].
Any climbing of the next fifty is DC16. The final fifty feet is
DC20. Anyone reaching the top can easily exit to the surface
(see “The Outdoors” in Part 5).
Failure by more than 5 means the PC falls (PHB183) some
random point between the start and end of that section of
climbing.
Portcullises to Preparation Rooms. Iron portcullises
(DMG104) lead towards the preparation rooms [4B], [4C] and
[4D]. Their winches are on the spectator level [5C].
The portcullises can be manually lifted open from the
ground with a DC30 Strength check. You may allow PCs to
work together on this check (PHB175).
The winch ropes can be destroyed, provided its attacker
can reach the top of the eight-foot-tall gates. Consider a rope
to have an AC of 11 and 2d4 hit points (DMG246). It is
immune to poison and psychic damage; resistant to
bludgeoning, cold, piercing and thunder damage; and
vulnerable to acid, fire and slashing damage (PHB197). When
destroyed, the gate slams closed and can only be manually
lifted open.
Secret Passage to Refuse Pit. There is a natural passage
that connects the arena to the refuse pit [4E]. It is twenty feet
above the floor of the arena. It is very difficult to notice
against the craggy wall, requiring a DC19 Wisdom
PART 4: THE ARENA 27
(Perception) check. Even if someone knows roughly what to
look for it isn’t guaranteed to be found – the DC drops to 10.
The passage is only a few feet high. Humanoid creatures
must crawl through (PHB182).
4B, 4C, 4D. PREPARATION ROOMS
These excavated chambers are used to hold arena combatants
prior to battle. The contain some rudimentary furniture, such
as stools, tables and weapon racks.
Light. During the day, dim light bleeds in from the arena;
at night it is dark.
Equipment. Equipment is only left in these rooms when
preparing arena combatants (see “Arena Battles”, above).
Doors. The doors leading toward the guard room [4F] are
iron gates. Sound and most ranged attacks can travel easily
through them. They are extremely sturdy, requiring a DC35
Strength check to break. The lock can be picked with a DC 12
Dexterity check and a set of thieves’ tools.
Information about the doors leading to the arena can be
found in [4A].
4E. REFUSE PIT
This is another open-skied natural shaft like the arena. At one-
hundred and forty feet it is just as tall, but is it only thirty-five feet
across. Refuse is piled onto the floor here: domestic waste, sewage,
even corpses. It stinks mightily.
Forty feet up the northern wall is a ledge. Judging from the slant of
the refuse pile, this is where the most of the garbage must be throw in
from.
Light and Weather. As per [4A].
The Refuse. There is nothing of value in the refuse,
though you shouldn’t let the PCs know this. Allow them to
make Wisdom (Perception) and/or Intelligence (Investigate)
checks in vain. Anyone mucking about in the refuse is at risk
of contracting Sewer Plague (DMG257).
Ledge. See [5F] for more information.
Door. The flimsy wooden door that leads back toward [4B]
requires a DC13 Strength check to force open. It can also be
picked with a DC 10 Dexterity check and a set of thieves’
tools.
Secret Passage to Arena. The passage is the same height
up the wall, and it is just as hard to spot from this side at the
other; use the same rules from [4A].
Climbing. Use the same rules as the arena [4A].
4F. GUARD ROOM
This room houses the guards that monitor the prisoners.
Light. This room is dimly lit with a few candles (PHB183).
This suffices for the hobgoblin guards.
Furniture. Basic furniture; tables, chairs, and lots of
weapon, armour and equipment racks.
Guards. Guards are stationed here at all times. At any
particular moment there will be 1d4 + 4 hobgoblin guards.
Alarm. A crude but extremely noisy iron bell exists in the
room. The guards will use it to signal they need immediate
and numerous reinforcement. When used, it will summon
guards from [5A] and [5B].
Secret Tunnel. Behind the eastern wall is a secret tunnel.
See [3H] for more information. A successful DC22 Wisdom
(Perception) check notices the suspicious brickwork.
Doors. The doors to this room are iron gates, as per [4B].
Keys. Several hangars hold keys for doors in [4B], [4C],
[4D], [4E] and [4F]. Guards are supposed to carry keys only
when they need them, and to return them to these hangars
when done. The keys are organised but not labelled in a way
the PCs can easily intuit. Note that no two doors use the same
key, but several copies of each key exist.
EQUIPMENT
There’s plenty of weapons and armour here. It’s all for arena
use (the guards store their equipment elsewhere).
Common Arena Weapons. There are 3d6 of each of
these: daggers, maces, nets, shields, shortswords, spears,
scimitars, pikes and whips (PHB149).
Uncommon Arena Weapons. There are 1d4 of any
weapon (PHB149) that is not part of the common arena
weapons (above) and does not have the ammunition property
(PHB146).
Spell Foci. There is an assortment of arcane foci, druidic
foci and holy symbols (PHB150). Any caster PC will be able to
find something suitable for themselves.
Special Arena Gear. This stuff is used in special arena
games. There’s 3d6 of each of these: bags of ball bearings, bags
of caltrops, flasks of oil, manacles and chain (10 ft.) (PHB150).
There’s 1d4 of each of theses: tinderboxes, torches and
hempen rope (50 ft.). There’s 1d4 + 1 lockable helmets with no
eye holes. Finally, there’s a large pile of coloured ribbons.
Maintenance. There’s a whetstone (PHB150) and tinker’s
tools (PHB154) here for equipment maintenance.
PART 4: THE ARENA 28
PART 5: UPPER LEVEL

PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 29

T he upper level of Greger’s Grotto is like a small port
town; just one that happens to be underground and
welcoming of criminals. It has accommodation,
entertainment and commerce.
GUARDS
Quantity. The number of hobgoblin guards in Greger’s
Grotto is equal to six multiplied by the number of PCs
(minimum eighteen). This number doesn’t really matter until
either:
• All the guards become mobilised, typically in
response to an escape attempt or major disruption
caused by the PCs.
• For whatever reason, guard numbers drop so low
that it impacts their normal operations.
As DM, you don’t necessarily need to track the position of
every guard at all times. You should, however, keep track of
their numbers. If their numbers drop low, their tactics may
change, and they are less likely to be found at their normal
posts. If they are wiped out, then the PCs won’t have to worry
about them any more.
Response to Upper Level Incursions. Any organised
response firstly requires the alarm to be raised. This is
possible with some of the alarm bells scattered around the
Grotto, or simply by a runner being dispatched for help. If the
PCs can keep the alarm for being raised they may have a
distinct advantage.
Should the alarm be raised, the guards will organise to
respond, led by Drusus Skull-Skewer. How exactly the
guards react is up to you. Keep in mind Drusus’ personality,
and that his hobgoblin mercenaries are level-headed,
sensible, patient and not the type to take unnecessary risks.
INDEPENDENTS
Not everyone at Greger’s Grotto is a member or employee of
the Greger family. Most are visitors – privateers visiting to
trade, resupply, rest or for recreation. This chapter refers to
such folk as “independents”.
Racial. The racial mix of independents should suit your
campaign world. By default they primarily consist of
humans, orcs, hobgoblins and goblins with a smattering of
other humanoid races.
Interaction. These independents are not beholden to the
Greger family. They act in their own interest. By default they
are indifferent to the PCs (DMG244), though if the PCs have a
reputation this may differ. For example, if the PCs are arena
favourites then independents may be friendly. Or, if the PCs
are in the process of indiscriminately slaughtering everyone
in their path, independents may be hostile.
Like any group of people they have different and distinct
personalties.
NPC Types. Independents come in many types. When you
need some, roll on this table. You can roll once per individual
or once per group; the former gives variety, the latter may be
easier to manage.
Optionally, you can customise these NPCs (MM342) by
changing weapons and armour or applying racial traits
(DMG282).
d20 Variant Treasure
1-4 Bandit (MM343). A typical bandit or pirate. x1
5 Bandit Captain (MM344)*. The pirate captain of a x3
visiting ship. Will often try to take leadership in
any encounter.
6-9 Commoner (MM345). Non-combatant sailors, x1
indentured servants, oarsmen and non-
professional auxiliaries like cooks. These
independents are less eager to engage in combat.
10-13 Guard (MM347). The soldiers of the privateer x1
world. Mercenaries, bodyguards and marines.
14-15 Noble (MM348). Black-market merchants and x1
professional auxiliaries like navigators, surgeons
and scribes.
16-17 Scout (MM349)*. Bounty hunters, trackers, or x2
pirates with a penchant for ranged weaponry.
18-19 Thug (MM350)*. Officers and lieutenants of the x2
criminal world, or simply tougher-than-average
pirates.
20 Named NPC*. Select one of the following NPCs n/a
at random: Gladwin Greger, Gillian Greger,
Godrick Greger, Gertrude Greger, Drusus Skull-
Skewer, Harry Dodds. If it’s not appropriate for
that NPC to be present, pick another NPC or re-
roll on this table.
* These NPCs are tough. Consider limiting their
occurrence both overall and per-encounter. Re-roll if
necessary.
Equipment and Treasure. Independents carry weapons
and armour as per their NPC stat block. Each also carries coin
as per Individual Treasure: Challenge 0-4 (DMG136): roll as
many times as shown in the Treasure column above.
Response to Upper Level Incursions. Being hardened
criminal types, independents aren’t going to flee at the first
hint of danger. Indeed, some may not care and all, and some
may even find entertainment in guards fighting prisoners.
Generally, though, they will avoid areas of conflict. If the
prisoner uprising seems sufficiently dangerous they may
consider retreating to the Grotto [5L].
PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 30

UPPER LEVEL ROOMS
This section describes areas marked [5A] through [5Y].
COMMON FEATURES
All areas in the upper levels have the following properties,
unless otherwise specified by individual descriptions.
Carved Chambers. Rooms in this section have been hewn
from the rock. The workmanship is professional, but not
ornate. Ceilings in most rooms are ten feet high, lowering to
seven in corridors.
Light. As humans and other races without darkvision
frequent these halls, artificial illumination is needed. Torch
sconces are used, and could easily be taken by PCs. Unless
otherwise specified, the level of lighting is dim (PHB183).
Doors. Unless otherwise specified, all doors are wooden
and of decent quality. They can be broken open with a DC18
Strength check. Doors that are locked can be picked with a DC
14 Dexterity check and a set of thieves’ tools.
Population. Room descriptions contain populations of
guards, independents and special NPCs. These are guidelines
only, intended for when all’s calm in the Grotto and it’s
business as usual. You can and should override population
guidelines as you see fit, especially in response to upheaval
caused by the PCs.
5A. GUARD COMMONS
Combined mess hall, recreation room and training area for
off-duty guards. Because the guards work shifts, there’s
always some here, day or night.
Population. 2d4 hobgoblin guards and 1d12 – 8
independents.
Alarm Bell. A large alarm bell hangs from the ceiling near
the south-west corner of the room. If rung, it will alert guards
from [4F], [5B] and [5C].
Equipment. There’s a modest amount of food and drink
here. There’s three random gaming sets (PHB154) laid out on
the tables. A dart-board with 20 darts (PHB149) is on one of
the walls.
5B. GUARD BARRACKS
Sleeping quarters for the prison guards. Crowded rows of
beds with some containers and furniture to store personal
gear.
Population. 3d4 hobgoblin guards. There is a 50%
chance they’ll all be asleep; if not, d4 are awake. Guards sleep
with their weapons and armour close at hand, though of
course they will not be able to don armour if woken by
attackers. Awake guards have a 50% chance of wearing
armour.
Equipment. The guards have stowed away plenty of
camping gear, as their usual job is on the field as mercenaries.
There’s plenty of backpacks, bedrolls, blankets, common
clothes, mess kits, tents, tinderboxes, waterskins and
whetstones (PHB150). There’s also one fishing tackle and two
trinkets (PHB159). Finally, there’s some spare weaponry kept
in racks: 2d6 short swords, 2d4 shields, 1d6 short bows
(PHB149) and 1d6 x 20 arrows (PHB150).
Treasure. The guards keep some treasure amongst their
belongings, but bear in mind that it would take an individual
some twenty minutes to search through everything. The
number of coins can be determined by rolling on the
Individual Treasure: Challenge 0-4 table (DMG136) a number
of times equal to the number of PCs in the adventure
(minimum three).
Secret Passage. Behind a cupboard in the back of the
room is a short, roughly-hewn tunnel leading to [5M]. A
successful DC19 Wisdom (Perception) check will notice a
small part of the tunnel peeking out from behind the
cupboard at floor height. With a successful DC13 Intelligence
(Investigation) check, anyone searching through the guards’
belongings will notice the tunnel as they look through the
cupboard.
The tunnel is dark, but dim light (PHB183) can easily bleed
in from the barracks.
5C. ARENA SPECTATOR AREA
Forty feet above the arena floor [4A] a viewing area has been
hewn from the shaft wall. The viewing area encircles the
shaft, but does not overhang it.
Outside of fights, this area serves as a social hub. Tables,
chairs and settees are here (set away from the edge) for
visitor’s comfort. Food and drink is often sold and consumed
here.
Population. Guards are always present in the spectator
area whenever prisoners are in the arena below. There will
usually be d4+1 hobgoblin guards, though more will be
stationed during large or dangerous fights. The guards here
will always be equipped with bows. Outside of fights, there
are rarely guards present.
There will be 2d20 independents during an arena fight, or
double that for popular fights. Otherwise; during the day and
early evening there will be d20 independents, during the
night there will be d12 – 6.
During a fight, an editor will be present. See Part 4 for
choosing an editor.
Light. Daylight seeps in well enough from the outside. At
night, the spectator area may be brightly or dimly lit
(PHB183) by artificial means, depending on whether it is in
use.
The Edge. A low two-foot stone barricade is all that
prevents spectators from falling into the arena below – this
offers no protection to anyone being shoved (PHB195). The
floor around the edge is cleared to allow maximum room for
PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 31
spectators. Most spectators stand at the edge for the best
view. Some will sit on the barricade, some sit back from it.
Gate Winches. There are three winches (DMG104) here,
one above each gate to the arena floor. They are usually
operated by guards.
The Floor, The Shaft Walls. For information about this,
see area [4A].
5D. THE AMOROUS OCTOPUS TAVERN
This is a large tavern. The bar is against the eastern wall, while tables
and chairs fill the remaining space. Someone has painted an ornate
mural of an octopus on the ceiling. Its nine tentacles traverse the
breadth of the ceiling and even down some walls; ships and sailors are
often shown tangled within.
Population. Between midday and midnight: d20 + 2
independents and d12 – 8 hobgoblin guards. Otherwise: d8 +
2 independents and d20 – 16 hobgoblin guards. Two of the
independents are always tavern staff.
In addition, Gertrude Greger is likely to be here running
the bar, especially when it is busy.
Equipment. Plenty of food and drink (PHB158), especially
behind the bar. The bar’s operating funds are frequently
taken by Gertrude Greger so as to not grow too large; roll
twice on the Individual Treasure: Challenge 0-4 table
(DMG136).
5E. VISITOR COMMONS
Rounded metal loops have been affixed to the ceiling of this
chamber at regular intervals. From these hooks hang makeshift walls,
made of scrap fabric like old sailcloth, which imperfectly partition the
chamber into smaller “rooms”. In addition, various other things hang
from the ceiling, including equipment, short lengths of rope,
rudimentary candle holders, decorations made from bones and cheap
beads, and even drying laundry. All this clutter makes it impossible to
gauge exactly how big this chamber is.
This large space has been partitioned into a number of
“rooms” by draping scrap fabrics from the ceiling. The
“rooms” serve as sleeping and meeting areas for visitors to
the Grotto. Some basic furniture may be found in some of the
“rooms”, but mostly visitors sleep on bedrolls. The fabric
partitions offer some amount of privacy and sound-muffling.
The quantity of partitions and other assorted hanging
things makes this room lightly obscured (PHB183).
The Rooms. Divide the area into a series of “rooms” each
between 4 and 9 squares in area. Have a “corridor” provide
access. Do not worry about getting it perfect – indeed
imperfection is more realistic.
Population. Each “room” contains d8 – 4 independents.
They are likely to be engaged in down-time activities:
sleeping, tending to equipment, talking quietly.
Fire Hazard. The fabric partitions and bedding material
makes in this chamber makes it a fire hazard. A single flame
takes d4 rounds to blossom into anything dangerous; fires lit
with an arsonist’s abandon or with an accelerant such as oil
will spring up instantly. You may want to use the same rules
for burning a Web spell (PHB288). You could also use the
rules for suffocating (PHB183) if the fire grows large enough
to output choking smoke.
Treasure. No visitor would be foolish enough to leave
anything valuable unattended. But PCs may find plenty of:
bedrolls, blankets, candles, common clothes, and short
lengths of rope (PHB150).
5F. REFUSE LEDGE
A foul stench hits you. Looking down, you see the source. You’re on
a small ledge overlooking a refuse pit. Above you is clear sky – this
room is near the bottom of a large natural shaft.
This ledge overlooks [4E]. See that room for more
information.
Door. A flimsy wooden door, it requires a DC12 Strength
check to force open. It is has no handle, but is simply barred
shut from the corridor [5F] side. Consequently, it cannot be
picked. Due to the stench, visitors rarely forget to shut this
door.
5G. GENERAL STORE
A fully-stocked general store, run by Harry Dodds.
Opening Hours. The store is open during daylight hours.
When it is open the door is unlocked and customers can
simply walk in. When it is closed the door is locked, and no-
one is inside.
Population. Dodds is highly likely to be here when the
store is open. If not, use an independent as his employed
store-manager. Additionally, a thug (MM350) is employed
during open hours to provide security. While the store is
open there are d6 – 2 independents shopping.
Light. The store is brightly lit when the store is open. It is
in darkness otherwise (PHB183).
Store Stock. Items can be bought at the standard price
(PHB143) or they can be stolen. Or liberated (much of the
store’s items are stolen goods in the first place).
The store potentially stocks items from the Armour and
Shields table (PHB145), the Weapons table (PHB149), and the
Adventuring Gear table (PHB150) that cost 100 gp or less. To
determine the stock count of any item roll a d100, halve it,
then divide by the cost of item in gp, rounding down.
The store also stocks basic items as a general store would,
including the cheaper non-livestock items in the Trade Goods
table (PHB157).
Treasure. The store’s cash-on-hand can be determined by
rolling four times on Individual Treasure: Challenge 0-4
(DMG136).
PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 32
 Treasure. Not everything item in this room is of value.
5H. SALVAGE WAREHOUSE Some items are fairly worthless, but are appreciated by
Behind a set of large doors is a dark, cavernous chamber. Hulking Gladwin for sentimental or aesthetic reasons. Some items
may have value but are too bulky to be easily taken.
wrecks of ships stand eerily in the gloom. The scent of rotting wood is
That said, there is plenty of value. Roll on the Treasure
apparent.
Hoard Challenge 0-4 table (DMG137). Add an additional 2d4
This room is a warehouse used to store things salvaged from 25 gp art objects to whatever you roll.
wrecked ships. It contains all sorts of material – old sails, Also add these trade goods (PHB157): 2d6 lb of pepper, 2d4
piles of wooden planks, barrels of old nails, and even parts of sq. yd. of linen, 1d4 sq. yd. of silk and 1d4 – 1 lb of saffron.
old hulls. The idea was to create a common place for salvage Finally, add 1d4 trinkets (PHB159).
materials for the public good; the reality is that anything Trapped Chest. There are several chests containing the
decent has been taken long ago and it’s mostly a dumping hoard’s coins, the smallest of them is a decoy. It is trapped:
ground. when its latch is opened a small needle springs out to jab the
Population. This chamber is almost always empty: d20 – user’s fingers. The person opening the chest has a 1-in-10
18 independents are browsing the materials here. chance that the needle will happen to miss their fingers;
Light. The room is in darkness when its doors are closed, otherwise they take one piercing damage. The needle is
it is dimly lit otherwise (PHB183). coated in Drow Poison (DMG258).
Metagame Bluff. There is nothing of interest in this It’s impossible to passively notice this trap, and it’s
room, but you may wish to use it to subvert your players’ extremely unlikely the PCs will be investigating each object
metagame thinking (DMG235). As they enter this room do in the hoard for traps. But if they are, a successful DC20
something suspicious; have them take meaningless Intelligence (Investigate) check will spot the trap, at which
Perception checks or secretly roll some dice. point it can be opened in a way to avoid the needle. A
successful DC15 Dexterity check with thieves’ tools can
disarm the trap, or re-arm it, though the poison will wear off
5 J. GREGER’S WAREHOUSE the first time the needle jabs someone.
The contents of this large chamber must be worth a small fortune. There is nothing inside the decoy chest.
There are sacks and barrels of valuable trade goods, coin chests of
various sizes, and various expensive-looking pieces of art including
paintings, vases, small statues, tapestries, books and jewellery on display
stands. The room is spotlessly clean and everything is well-organised.
This is Gladwin Greger’s personal treasure store. It
represents years of work and trading with visitors to the
Grotto.
Population. This room is not open to the general public.
Gladwin Greger occasionally visits to stock-take and keep the
place in order, or to deposit or fetch something to be traded.
He usually enters via the secret entrance. Very rarely he may
show this room to prestigious visitors – he will convey such
guests through the regular entrance.
Light. When Greger is present the room is brightly lit,
otherwise it is in darkness (PHB183).
Main Doors. The large wooden doors on the western wall
are high-quality and secure, for obvious reasons. Breaking
the door requires a successful DC 28 Strength check; picking
the lock requires a DC 22 Dexterity check and a set of theives’
tools.
Secret Passage. On the northern wall there’s a cheap,
heavy tapestry behind which is a secret passage to Gladwin’s
quarters. A large table is positioned in front of the tapestry to
minimise the chances of anyone accidentally touching the it.
A passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 16 will notice scrape-
marks on the floor where the table has been frequently
moved.
The secret passage is trapped: see [5P] for information.

PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 33


5K. EMPTY WAREHOUSE
This warehouse is not currently being used. It’s empty save
for a few crates and barrels stacked in the corners. The lack of
activity means the area is quite filthy and dusty, and is home
to various small vermin. The doors are kept closed.
Population. Generally, no-one visits this room. On very
rare occasions, some independents may visit if they seek
privacy; though the filth discourages extended stays.
Light. The room is in darkness when its doors are closed,
it is dimly lit otherwise (PHB183).
Metagame Bluff. There is nothing of interest in this
room, but you may wish to use it to subvert your players’
metagame thinking (DMG235). As they enter this room do
something suspicious; have them take meaningless
Perception checks or secretly roll some dice.
5L. GREGER’S GROTTO
You’re in a massive natural cave that has been turned into an
underground harbour. Most of the cavern is water, but nearer to you the
floor raises steeply from the depths to form a wide shelf of dry land. On
this land is what you might see in any harbour – sacks and barrels, coils
of rope, stacks of planks and bundles of sail. Jetties extend into the
water, against these ships of various sizes are moored. Artificial torches
light up the whole area. Looking further out, across the dark water-filled
cavern interior, you think you can see the faint light of the outside
world.
This is the underground habour that defines Greger’s Grotto.
It is a bustling harbour by day, and even by night there’s
some activity.
Size. The Grotto’s exact dimensions are up to you, and
may be influenced by the ships in your campaign world
(PHB157, DMG119). It’s not difficult to imagine lighter ships
like Greek hemiolia or Viking longships fitting underground.
You could expand the cavern to allow for massive barques
and galleons, or have them dock out to sea with longboats
conveying people and goods into the harbour.
Light. The harbour area and jetties are well-lit at all times,
providing bright light. Some areas at the peripheries may be
dimly lit (PHB183).
Population. There are 3d20 independents on the harbour
by day, d12 by night. This does not include people on the
ships.
Ships. Ships are often coming and going. There are d6
ships docked at any particular time. A moored ship has d12
independents on board, and they generally are working on
the ship by day and sleeping by night. A ship that has freshly
moored, or is about to launch, has all crew on-board and so
has 3d6 independents.
Treasure and Equipment. On the docks and in the ships
are mostly shipping supplies, empty containers (PHB153) and
low-value trade goods (PHB157).
At your discretion ships could contain more expensive
trade goods or treasure (DMG137). You could also add items
like navigator’s tools (PHB154) and spyglasses (PHB150) for a
nautical theme, though beware of the latter’s price.
Ocean. By moving out into the grotto one will come to the
open ocean. The grotto’s entryway is concealed against a
length of craggy cliffs.
Nearer to the harbour, there’s an underwater tunnel
leading to [3P]. The tunnel entrance would be nearly
impossible to find without prior knowledge.
5M. TAVERN STORES
A well-stocked tavern store room, containing various barrels
and bottles of drink (PHB158).
Light. This room is dark. If the door to the tavern [5D] is
open, it is dimly lit (PHB183).
Population. Usually no-one is here. This room is visited
by the tavern staff occasionally – once every 1d6 x 10 minutes
between midday and midnight, once every 1d4 hours
otherwise.
Secret Passage. A rack of wine bottles can be slid aside to
reveal a short, roughly-hewn tunnel leading to [5B]. A
successful DC17 Wisdom (Perception) check will notice fine
pebbles and dust (loose debris from the tunnel) in front of the
wine rack. With a successful DC15 Intelligence (Investigation)
check, anyone searching through the goods in this room will
notice the tunnel as they inspect the wine rack.
The tunnel is dark, but dim light (PHB183) can easily bleed
in from the store room.
PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 34

5N. GLADWIN’S QUARTERS
This is a bedroom, and a fine one at that. The furnishings here –
including a large poster bed and some wardrobes and drawers – are of a
quality that would suit minor nobility. Patterned tapestries hang against
the walls, hiding the cold stone from view.
This is the main bedroom of Gladwin and Gillian Greger.
Population. There is a 25% chance of Gladwin or Gillian
being in this room during daylight hours (roll separately for
each individual). Those odds increase to 90% during the
night; during which time they will be asleep.
Light. The room is brightly lit when someone is there,
provided they are not sleeping. It is in darkness otherwise
(PHB183).
Equipment. The room contains typical domestic supplies,
including blankets, a lamp, a steel mirror and 2d4 vials of
perfume. There’s also two sets of fine clothes and two sets of
traveller’s clothes (PHB150).
Treasure. Coins can be found in some of the drawers. Roll
once on the Individual Treasure: Challenge 0-4 (DMG136).
There is a 50GP gemstone (DMG134) hidden away at the
back of one of the drawers. Anyone searching the drawer will
find it on a successful DC10 Intelligence (Investigate) check.
5P. GLADWIN’S STORE ROOM
A store-room. Like many spare rooms in domestic settings, this one
has accumulated a selection of junk, including a dining table, a desk,
several chairs (one of which is broken), a large cracked mirror, and two
open crates with various odds and ends inside.
the rest of the tunnel. The trap is easily avoided by carefully
stepping over it.
5Q. GLADWIN’S STUDY
This room is a study. It contains an elegant writing desk and a
comfortable-looking padded wooded chair. A large patch of off-white
cloth covers the northern wall; a crude horse-head emblem has been
stitched onto it.
Population. During the day, there is a 15% chance of
Gladwin Greger being present.
Light. The room is brightly lit when Gladwin is there. It is
in darkness otherwise. If Gladwin’s Quarters [5N] are lit, and
the intervening door is open, dim light bleeds into this room
(PHB183).
Equipment. The desk holds a vial of antitoxin, vials of ink
and sheets of paper (PHB150). The only writings on the desk
are financial accounts; they are written in the common
language (DMG123) and show that the Grotto is moderately
profitable.
Cloth Wall Covering. This is a section of sail from a navy
or coastal patrol ship, sunk by pirates during a famous battle.
Greger keeps it as a memento. A successful DC14 Intelligence
(History) check means a PC knows the significance.
5R. GODRICK’S QUARTERS
This is a single-room private quarters.
Two things stand out immediately. First,
there are three desks here as well as

Population. This room is not occupied save for the rare several bookshelves of various sizes.
occasion when Gladwin Greger uses it as a thoroughfare Secondly, the place is filthy. There’s
between his quarters [5N] and his warehouse [5 J]. discarded items everywhere: crockery
Light. The room is in darkness. If Gladwin’s Quarters [5N] with day-old left-over food and drink, the
are lit, and the intervening door is open, dim light bleeds into occasional coin, discarded clothes
this room.
(mostly undergarments and black robes),
Equipment. The room contains various mundane odds
and ends. Choose 2d6 items at random from the Adventuring open books, scraps of paper and scrolls,
Gear table (PHB150). At your discretion you may wish to half-melted candles, peculiar reagents in
ignore items worth more than a few gold pieces. jars, and statues, totems and foci from
Secret Passage. The large cracked mirror obscures an strange and distant cultures.
opening to the secret passage. A successful DC14 Wisdom
(Perception) check will notice dust is curiously absent on the Population. During the day,
mirror, particularly on either side where one might grasp it there is a 50% chance of Godrick
to move. Greger being present. That chance
The passageway itself contains a pit trap (DMG122). A rises to 95% at night, at which
section of floor gives way when stood on, dropping into a point he will be sleeping.
shallow pit (2 feet deep) full of short, sharp metal spikes. Light. The room is brightly lit
Falling onto the spikes inflicts d6 piercing damage; anyone when Godrick is there, provided
taking damage has their walking speed reduced by 10 feet he is not sleeping. It is in darkness
until they regain the lost hit points. otherwise (PHB183). Dim light
A successful DC12 Wisdom (Perception) check allows a PC bleeds through from the corridor
to notice that the stone is of a different colour and type than [5X] if the door is left open.

PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 35

 Equipment. Godrick’s collection of arcane knick-knacks
is impressive in quantity, but not so much in quality. Most of
the items are worthless and useless. There are some choice
items amongst the trash, but finding them isn’t easy.
Searching takes two minutes and requires a successful DC
14 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check.
If the searching PC is prepared to spend longer, decrease the
DC; it drops by 2 every time the search time is doubled. On
success, reveal an item from the below table. Reroll any items
already discovered. When all items are discovered, you may
announce that the room has been completely searched.
Alternatively, if the PCs have no time pressures, forgo
searching and reveal all items in the table to them.
Describe items as they appear to the PCs: don’t necessarily
reveal any magical properties (or lack thereof).
d20 Discovered Items
1 A random trinket (PHB160).
2 A small book, written in Halfling (PHB123). It contains
amusing poems, limericks and songs about a fictional dwarf
who uses brute force to overcome every problem.
3 A ceremonial dagger (PHB149) with a serpentine blade.
4 A poisoner’s kit (PHB154).
5 A steel mirror (PHB150).
6 A large oil painting, carefully rolled up. It depicts a human
paladin in plate mail battling a bronze dragon. His weapon is a
fast-moving blur. The dragon’s lightning breath engulfs the
man to little apparent effect.
7 1d4 gemstones worth 10 gp (DMG134).
8 1d6 arcane foci. Randomly determine type (PHB150).
9 1d4 divine foci. Randomly determine type (PHB150) and deity
suitable to your campaign (DMG10).
10 1d4 flasks of holy water (PHB150).
11 1d4 potions of healing (PHB153).
12 A vial of alchemist’s fire (PHB150).
13 A vial of acid (PHB150).
14 A potion of growth (DMG187).
15 1d4 – 1 spell scrolls (1st level) (minimum 1) (DMG139).
16 1d4 – 2 spell scrolls (2nd level) (minimum 1) (DMG139).
17 Roll three times against Magic Items Table B (DMG144), take
the single lowest result.
18 Two recorded 1st level wizard spells (PHB114, PHB210).
19 One recorded 2nd level wizard spell (PHB114, PHB210).
20 Wand of Magic Detection (DMG211).
5S. DRUSUS’ QUARTERS
Drusus’ quarters are spartan and tidy. There’s a bed, a desk,
and a simple armour and weapon rack.
Population. During the day, there is a 25% chance of
Drusus Skull-Skewer being present. That chance rises to
95% at night, at which point he will be sleeping.
Light. The room is in darkness (PHB183). Dim light bleeds
through from the corridor [5X] if the door is left open.
Equipment. Anyone searching through the room will find
an abacus, a backpack, a bedroll, a blanket, three sets of
common clothes, one set of traveller’s clothes and a
whetstone (PHB150). When sleeping, Drusus hangs his
weapons and armour on the racks.
On the desk is a book that contains finances for Drusus’
mercenary group, written in the goblin language (DMG123). It
shows that the Gregers pay a fair amount, though the
mercenary group has been hired for far more profitable
contracts in its past.
5T. EMPTY QUARTERS
This room is occasionally used as guest quarters. At the
moment it is unoccupied. It contains a bed and bedroom
furniture, but nothing else.
Population. No-one uses this room.
Light. The room is in darkness (PHB183). Dim light bleeds
through from the corridor [5X] if the door is left open.
Metagame Bluff. There is nothing of interest in this
room, but you may wish to use it to subvert your players’
metagame thinking (DMG235). As they enter this room do
something suspicious; have them take meaningless
Perception checks or secretly roll some dice.
5U. GERTRUDE’S QUARTERS
Gertrude’s quarters are clean and tidy. Her room includes a
bed, some chests, and a wardrobe.
Population. During the day, there is a 10% chance of
Gertrude Greger being present. That chance rises to 80% at
night, at which time she will be sleeping.
Light. The room is well-lit (PHB183) if Gertrude is present
and not sleeping. It is in darkness otherwise. Dim light bleeds
through from the corridor [5X] if the door is left open.
Equipment. Anyone searching the room will find: two
sets of common clothes, one set of fine clothes, one set of
traveller’s clothes, a white-feathered axe beak costume, soap
(PHB150), brewer’s supplies, a lute, a horn and a drum
(PHB154).
PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 36
5V. DODDS’ QUARTERS 5X. OVERLAND EXIT
Dodds’ quarters contain a bed, a desk, and a set of drawers. A At the northern end of this long corridor is an exit to the
small chest sits atop the drawers. outdoors.
Population. During the day, there is a 10% chance of Population. As a lower-traffic thoroughfare, this corridor
Harry Dodds being present. That chance rises to 80% at contains 1d20 – 16 independents.
night, at which time he will be sleeping. There are 2 hobgoblin guards stationed at the northern
Light. The room is well-lit (PHB183) if Dodds is present doors. These guards can see down the length of the corridor,
and not sleeping. It is in darkness otherwise. Dim light bleeds and know that most of the rooms are private. They will
through from the corridor [5X] if the door is left open. attempt to stop any suspicious interlopers.
Equipment. Anyone searching the room will find: two Northern Door. Large double doors block the way to the
sets of common clothes, one set of traveller’s clothes, a vial of outside. The doors are thick, made of wood and reinforced
basic poison (PHB150), a dice set and a playing card set with iron. But they have no traditional lock. Instead, a heavy
(PHB154). wooden beam is used as a bar. This bar can be removed from
Treasure. The small chest atop the drawers has been the inside with a successful DC7 Strength check. Breaking in
chained (PHB151) to the drawers. A single lock (PHB152) keeps from the outside is very difficult and would require a heavy-
the lid closed and keeps the chain fastened to the chest. A PC duty ram, hours of deconstruction, or powerful magic.
proficient with theives’ tools can use them to open this lock The door contains a small viewing slit, which the guards
on a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. Inside is coin as per the use to eyeball visitors. The guards keep the gate barred at all
Individual Treasure: Challenge 0-4 table (DMG136) (roll times, except when letting visitors in and out.
twice). There are also 1d4 gemstones worth 10 gp and 1d8 – 6
gemstones worth 50 gp (DMG134).
5Y. INTERNAL CORRIDOR
5W. TRAVELLER’S SHRINE Population. This corridor contains 1d20 – 4 independents
during the day, and 1d12 – 6 during the night. As a high-
This candle-lit room is a small temple. Centred on the far wall is a traffic thoroughfare people are constantly coming and going.
shrine to a deity thought to protect sailors. There are other smaller During the day 1d6 – 2 hobgoblin guards stand watch in
shrines to a variety of deities – including some lesser-known ones. It’s the area, on the lookout for troublemakers. This falls to 1d6 –
not quite the same selection you might find in a town church. Offerings 4 at night.
Gradient. This corridor is not level: its western end is
are present on many of the altars.
about one storey lower than its eastern end. The gradient is
This small shrine is where visitors to the Grotto pray for fairly shallow in the eastern half, and greater in the western
protection in their voyages. half.
Population. This small shrine is “self-service” and has no
priests or other staff. There are 1d12 – 8 independents here
during the day, or 1d20 – 18 at night. Prior to a ship setting
sail the numbers can swell, even to the point of a queue
forming.
Shrine Divinity. You should use deities suitable to your
campaign world (DMG10). The main shrine should be to a
deity that represents sailors, or the ocean. The other deities
should cater to the tastes of the Grotto’s criminal visitors.
Equipment. There is a large number of candles here
(PHB150). There are also various ornaments and trinkets that
could serve as makeshift holy symbols (PHB58); though the
deities on offer may not be to the taste of certain law-abiding
or civilised PCs.
Treasure. Valuable offerings to the gods are often stolen
by less devout visitors, and are periodically cleaned out by
Gladwin Greger (though he does use the money on shrine
maintenance). Roll four times on Individual Treasure:
Challenge 0-4 (DMG136), but take only the two lowest d100
rolls.

PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 37

THE OUTDOORS
The main ways to exit Greger’s Grotto are: the main doors
[5X], the underwater grotto [5L], and the underwater tunnel in
the Haunted Caverns [3P]. It may also be possible for PCs to
escape by climbing up and out of natural shafts in [3A], [3B],
[4A] or [4E].
Generally speaking, if the PCs manage to escape to the
outdoors then they have finished the adventure. It is anti-
climactic to consider their journey back to civilisation
(though this could certainly be part of your next adventure).
Lingering in the Outdoors. But in some cases the PCs
may wish to linger. Maybe there are more people still trapped
in Greger’s Grotto – PCs or NPCs – and those on the outside
wish to heal up or bide their time waiting to act. Or maybe the
PCs have unfinished business exacting revenge or collecting
treasures. If they wish to linger, they may have to survive in
the wilderness.
PRIVATEER ACTIVITY
Any PCs trying to hide out above ground will find it
exceedingly easy to do so.
On Land. Guards are posted at the door [5X], but do not
otherwise patrol the area. Occasionally independents may
take walks, but they will generally not stray far. Depending
on where Greger’s Grotto is situated in your campaign world
it may or may not make sense for visitors to arrive by land.
At Sea. Ships come and go from Greger’s Grotto fairly
regularly.
Pursuit. Generally speaking, prisoners that manage to
escape into the wilderness are not pursued; they are
considered a lost cause.

THE WILDERNESS
Greger’s Grotto is isolated – it has to be to stay unnoticed by
the authorities. There are no settlements within a few days’
travel and few civilians venture this way. It’s wilderness all
around.
Coastline. The entry to Greger’s Grotto [5L] is naturally
camouflaged by a coastline of craggy cliffs and rocky
outcrops. There are plenty of smaller, uninhabited caves and
caverns along this stretch of coast; enough to confound
anyone looking for a hideout.
Climate and Terrain. Greger’s Grotto is in your
campaign world, so you decide what the surrounding
wilderness is like: tundra, desert or anything in-between. If
you’re unsure, or it doesn’t matter, assume a temperate
environment surrounded by patches of woodland and
grassland.
Foraging. Rules for foraging exist on DMG111.
Weather Hazards. The risks of extreme weather are
explained on DMG109. In addition to that, PCs may suffer on
cold nights (less than 10 degrees Celcius or 40 degrees
Fahrenheit) if they do not have camping equipment or do not
have shelter, especially if rain or wind is also present. Such
PCs must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving through or
gain one level of exhaustion (PHB291). Apply exhaustion after
any gains from a long rest taken during this period (PHB186).
PCs with resistance or immunity to cold damage
automatically succeed on the saving throw.
Finding or building a shelter requires a Wisdom (Survival)
check of DC10. Such a check can be attempted only once per
day, though once succeeded the same shelter can be re-used.

PART 5: UPPER LEVEL 38

 APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS
BUGBEAR GUARD BUGBEAR PRISONER
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), chaotic evil Medium humanoid (goblinoid), chaotic evil

Armour Class 14 (studded leather) Armour Class 14 (shield)

Hit Points 27 (5d8 + 5) Hit Points 27 (5d8 + 5)
Speed 30 ft. Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
15 (+2) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 8 (-1) 11 (+0) 9 (-1) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 8 (-1) 11 (+0) 9 (-1)
Skills Stealth +6, Survival +2 Skills Stealth +6, Survival +2
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10 Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common (25%), Goblin Languages Common (25%), Goblin
Challenge 1 (200 XP) Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Brute. A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when the Brute. A melee weapon deals one extra die of its damage when the
bugbear hits with it (included in the attacks). bugbear hits with it (included in the attacks).

Surprise Attack. If the bugbear surprises a creature and hits it with an Surprise Attack. If the bugbear surprises a creature and hits it with an
attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6) attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 7 (2d6)
damage from the attack. damage from the attack.

ACTIONS ACTIONS
Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: Mace. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6
12 (3d6+2) slashing damage. + 2) bludgeoning damage.

Bugbear Guards are not mentioned in the adventure notes
above. You can include them if you feel an encounter with
Drusus Skull-Skewer or his hobgoblin guards needs more
difficulty: these would be the special reserve troops Drusus
would only commit if things were going wrong. If you do
include them, do not add more than a few across the whole
adventure.
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft. or range
20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 11 (2d8 + 2)
piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack.
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 3
bludgeoning damage.
Bugbear Prisoners do in captivity what they did out of it –
act as shock-troops for hobgoblin allies. Their ability to both
give and take large amounts of damage makes them a
considerable threat.
Weapons. Prisoners are generally unarmed. A variety of
weapons are presented here for arena combat. Don’t forget to
remove the AC bonus for a shield if you choose a two-handed
weapon.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 39

DRUSUS SKULL-SKEWER ACTIONS
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), lawful neutral Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit:
3 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage.
Armour Class 17 (splint)
Hit Points 28 (3d10 + 12)
Speed 30 ft. EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA Greatsword (PHB149), splint armour (PHB150), common clothes
15 (+2) 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) (PHB150), a keyring containing keys to doors in [3A] [4B] [4C] [4D] [4E]
Saving Throws Str +4, Con +4 [4F], Individual Treasure: Challenge 0 – 4 (DMG136) (roll twice).
Skills Athletics +4, Insight +3, Intimidation +3, Survival +3
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 11 Drusus Skull-Skewer is captain of a hobgoblin mercenary
Languages Common, Goblin, Orc
Challenge 2 (450 XP) group. He is currently employed by Gladwin Greger to
provide security to Greger’s Grotto.
A hobgoblin wearing fastidiously-maintained armour. He carries
Action Surge (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). (PHB72) On his
turn, Drusus can take one additional action. himself with confidence. His face is expressionless, his shifting gaze
suggests a certain level of wariness or alertness.
Great Weapon Fighting. (PHB72) Drusus can reroll 1 or 2 on damage die
for weapons wielded in two hands. Mannerisms. He is extremely dour, rarely laughing or
even smiling. His anger is reserved only for discipline and
Martial Advantage (1/Turn). Drusus can deal an extra 7 (2d6) damage to
a creature he hits with a weapon attack if that creature is within 5 feet of
intimidation, and even then it is more for show than genuine
an ally of Drusus that isn’t incapacitated. emotion.
Interaction Traits. He speaks only when necessary and
Second Wind (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). (PHB72) On his remains silent otherwise.
turn, Drusus can use a bonus action to regain d10 + 4 hitpoints.
Ideal. He seeks military victories, but only prizes them
Superiority Die x4 (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). (PHB73) when they are done right. A sloppily-executed or brute-force
Drusus knows these maneuvers: Commander’s Strike, Precision Attack, triumph is no triumph at all.
Rally. The maneuver save DC is 12.
Bond. He exhibits strong solidarity with his mercenary
brothers; he will not frivolously or carelessly put them at risk.
He takes his mercenary contracts very seriously and would
rather die than break a contract.
Flaw. While not opposed to tactical deceptions such as
ambushes and feints, he resents being deceitful in
conversation. Basically, he cannot lie.
Story Ideas. Part-way through the adventure, Drusus
might leave the grotto with all of his hobgoblin mercenaries.
This parting might be permanent (failed contract re-
negotiation), long-term (assigned to protect one of Gladwin’s
off-site ventures) or short-term (recreational).
Whatever the case, the Gregers quickly hire a band of
goblins as replacements. Each hobgoblin guard is replaced
by two goblin guards. Drusus is replaced by a goblin boss
(MM166). The goblins are far less competent and confident
than the hobgoblins; they are actually afraid of the prisoners.
This makes them harder to trick but easier to intimidate.
They would rather starve out rebellious prisoners than
charge in and re-establish order. Their fear causes them to be
more abusive when it comes to doling out punishment.
Use this story event if you feel the PCs need an an easier
time escaping, or if they need some encouragement. A
temporary change puts the PCs under pressure to escape
before the hobgoblin guards return.
You can lower the number of goblin guards replacing each
hobgoblin guard to make escape even easier.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 40

DWARF GHOST ACTIONS
Medium undead, lawful neutral Ghostly Pickaxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target.
Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) necrotic damage.
Armour Class 11
Hit Points 45 (10d8) Frightening Visage. Each non-undead creature within 60 feet of the
Speed 0 ft., fly 40 ft. ghost that can see it must succeed on a DC13 Wisdom saving throw or
be frightened for 1 minute. If the save fails by 5 or more, the target also
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA suffers one level of exhaustion (PHB291). A frightened target can repeat
7 (-2) 13 (+1) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 17 (+3) the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the frightened
condition on itself on a success.
Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it,
and slashing from nonmagical weapons the target is immune to this ghost's Frightening Visage for the
Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison next 24 hours.
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, This dwarf ghost haunts an isolated series of caverns. It is a
paralysed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive perception 11 “lesser” kind of ghost compared to the “regular” type
Languages Dwarf, Common (MM147).
Challenge 2 (450 XP) This dwarf is transparent and glows with a faint blue light. When he

Ethereal Sight. The ghost can see 60 feet into the Ethereal Plane when it speaks his voice reverberates in an otherworldly fashion Otherwise, he
is on the Material Plane, and vice versa. seems not unusual for a dwarf. He looks to be a miner. He wears simple,

Incorporeal Movement. The ghost can move through other creatures and
objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if
it ends its turn inside an object.
ragged clothes and a small pack; along with his skin and long braided
beard these are covered in a thick sooty residue. He carries a mining
pick in one hand, the handle of which has been looped with twine to
provide a better grip.
Mannerisms. He tugs gently on his beard when thinking
or when annoyed.
Interaction Traits. He is direct to the point of being
tactless.
Ideal. He believes in solidarity and never betrays a loyalty.
Bond. He wishes to lead his dwarven brothers and sisters
to freedom, or to a noble death in trying.
Flaw. He is quick to judge others lazy, cowards, or
disloyal. He often views disagreement as dissidence.
Death Denial. As the ghost believes he is still alive, he
doesn’t willingly leverage his incorporeal nature; he doesn’t
fly up in the air, move through solid objects, or leave the
material plane.
First Encounter. The ghost is initially indifferent
(DMG244) to the PCs. In his confused state, he believes they
are fellow dwarves, and will demand they get to work digging
out the tunnel [3N]. Being a stubborn sort, he will not react
well to being refused or ignored; he will accuse the PCs of
laziness and mutiny, growing hostile and eventually
attacking the characters.
Mining Expertise. The ghost is an expert on mining and
minerals. They may find his expertise valuable in the escape
tunnel [3N], if they think to ask.
Indulging Delusions. The PCs can best exploit his
confused mind by staying within the bounds of his delusion.
For example, if the PCs refuse to work the tunnel because
“our shift just ended” he may apologise and resume his
wandering. Such interaction ability checks (PHB186) should
be easy (DC 5 or 10), but only while they are fresh. Even the
confused ghost won’t fall for the same tale several times.
Accusations. The ghost stubbornly refuses to believe
“nonsense” about him being dead. Demonstrations of his
ghostly nature do little to sway his mind.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 41

 Raising the topic of killing of his last followers can be an
effective, but only if the PCs can relate enough detail to jog
his memory. Where the killings occurred, with what weapon,
and why. This could involve an interaction check (PHB186) of
DC25, with each fact reducing the DC by 5. On success, the
ghost becomes distraught.
“I had no choice!” the ghost yells, his voice thundering at an
unnatural volume. “They wanted to go back! Back to being slaves. I
couldn’t allow it.”
Then, the ghost collapses on the floor, sobbing and screaming. His
wails echo eerily throughout the caverns.
While in this state he is effectively stunned (PHB292). He
will remain in such a state until he succeeds at a DC15
Wisdom saving throw; such a check is made every ten
minutes, or at the end of any round where he is damaged.
After recovering he will be enraged, attacking any creature on
sight. He will calm down to his old self after d4 days, or when
destroyed; whichever comes first.
Destruction. The ghost can be destroyed in combat, but
he will return to its haunting in d4 days. He will have no
memory of the event.
Unfinished Business. The ghost can be permanently put
to rest by either completing the tunnel to the surface, or by
taking the remains of the dwarves and giving them a proper
burial of some sort. Neither of these is likely attainable by the
PCs during the campaign, but perhaps this could be part of a
future adventure.
FESTAN ELF-CLEAVER
Medium humanoid (hobgoblin), neutral evil
Armour Class 14 (shield)
Hit Points 21 (2d10 + 12)
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
14 (+2) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0)
Saving Throws: Str +4, Con +4
Skills Athletics +4, Perception +2, Stealth +4, Survival +2
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 12
Languages Elvish, Goblin
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Action Surge (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). On his turn, Festan
can take one additional action (PHB72).
Duelling. (PHB72) When Festan is wielding a melee weapon in one hand
and no other weapons, he gains a +2 to damage rolls with that weapon
(included in the attack information below).
Improved Critical. Festan’s weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of
19 or 20 (PHB72).
Martial Advantage (1/Turn). Festan can deal an extra 7 (2d6) damage to a
creature he hits with a weapon attack if that creature is within 5 feet of
an ally of Festan that isn’t incapacitated.
Second Wind (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). (PHB72) On his
turn, Festan can use a bonus action to regain d10 + 3 hitpoints.
ACTIONS
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit:
9 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 3
bludgeoning damage.
Festan Elf-Cleaver is the leader of the hobgoblin prisoner
faction. Previously, he was a skilled soldier. His older brother
was killed in a humiliating defeat against elves. Spurred by
revenge he deserted his unit to hunt and kill elves in small
guerilla actions, often taking sympathetic soldiers with him.
Repeatedly captured, corporal punishment did not dissuade
him, so his superiors eventually consigned him to slavery.
The hobgoblin prisoner carries many scars, presumably from
combat, and his back is marred by what must be dozens upon dozens
of calloused lashings inflicted some time in the past. Otherwise, this
prisoner is tall and strong; even for his kind.
Mannerisms. He stands tall, stiff-backed, and tends to
fold his arms when talking.
Interaction Traits. He is direct and to-the-point in
conversation. He is irritated by small-talk and pleasantries
and demands to get to the point.
Ideal. Like most of his kind, he believes in military
professionalism and the solidarity of soldiers. He believes
honour is a very real thing that can be won or lost in combat.
APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 42
 Bond. He ultimately wishes to be free so he may continue
his revenge-fuelled war against elvenkind. But he must do
this the honourable way: in the arena. No matter what
GERTRUDE GREGER
Medium humanoid (human), neutral good
transpires, he will not abandon his current hobgoblin
“brothers”. Armour Class 13
Flaw. His beliefs about being a professional soldier often Hit Points 17 (2d8 + 8)
Speed 30 ft.
clash with his hatred for elves and desire for revenge against
them. This conflict, when it arises, troubles him greatly. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
Story Ideas. The stories of Festan’s unsanctioned 9 (-1) 16 (+3) 11 (+0) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 15 (+2)
campaigns against elves are well-known. Most hobgoblins, Saving Throws Dex +5, Int +4
including the guards, are inclined to forgive desertion for Skills Deception +4, Perception +5, Performance +4, Persuasion +6
such a good cause. Festan, therefore, enjoys soft treatment by Senses passive Perception 15
Languages Common, Goblin, Orc
the guards. This could lead to him enjoying unfair advantages Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)
in the arena.
As a potential source of conflict, Festan’s hatred of elves
Cunning Action (1/Turn). (PHB96) Gertrude can use a bonus action to
could be turned to any other race to suit your adventure and take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action (PHB192).
the PCs in it.
Weapons. Prisoners are generally unarmed. A variety of Sneak Attack (1/Turn). (PHB96) Gertrude deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage
when she hits a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the
weapons are presented here for arena combat. Don’t forget to
attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally of Gertrude that
remove the AC bonus for a shield if you choose a two-handed isn’t incapacitated and Gertrude doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack
weapon. roll.

ACTIONS
Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 7 (d8
+ 3) slashing damage.

Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft. or range

20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.

EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE

Rapier, four daggers, (PHB149), common clothes (PHB150), flute
(PHB154), thieves’ tools (PHB154), playing card set (PHB154).
Individual Treasure: Challenge 0 – 4 (DMG136).

Gertrude Greger is the adult daughter of the Gladwin

family. Her main job is operating the Amorous Octopus
Tavern.
A stout young human woman with unkempt shocks of red hair. She
wears the outfit of a bar maid, though heavy leather boots and several
sheathed blades confuse the look.
Mannerisms. She is constantly brushing aside her
unkempt hair. She speaks loudly but hesitantly, over-using
“umms” and “erms”.
Interaction Traits. She is friendly while still being
assertive.
Ideal. Kind and compassionate, she likes to make others
happy and dislikes seeing people suffer.
Bond. She is dedicated to her family and her tavern.
Flaw. She is troubled by the criminal elements around her;
she worries she is complicit in their nasty deeds because she
takes their questionably-sourced coin.
As Editor. She offers encouragement to the underdogs,
and may alter rules if she feels one side has a particular
advantage. She is uninterested in the crowd’s opinion. Her

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 43

compassion means she rarely orders death to downed
combatants, though she is less kind to any combatant she
believes takes pleasure in killing.
Story Ideas. Gertrude might request some prisoners to
clean up after a particularly violent or messy night in the
tavern, and she might request humans prisoners specifically.
If Gertrude gets to know and like the PCs, she may gift
them small luxuries like food or even just temporary respite
from prison conditions. Her family members would not
approve of such association with the prisoners, so she’s likely
to be secretive about it.
Ultimately, the PCs may be able to convince her to assist in
their escape, potentially to the point where she abandons her
family and becomes an NPC Party Member (DMG92) at the
end of the adventure.
EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE
Two longswords, (PHB149), fine clothes, vial of perfume (PHB150), a
key to room [5N], Individual Treasure: Challenge 0 – 4 (DMG136) (roll
twice).
Gillian Greger is Gladwin’s wife and business partner.
A tall, lean and athletic human woman with long waves of red hair.
She wears a curious combination of loose, full-length dress and leather
armour. Two longswords dangle from her belt.
Mannerisms. She speaks in a loud, melodic voice. She is
fond of bawdy jokes and double entendres.
Interaction Traits. She is a confident, playful
conversationalist.
Ideal. Part hedonist, part narcissist, all socialite. She
wants to live the high life and be noticed and respected by

GILLIAN GREGER everyone.

Bond. She is dedicated to her family.
Medium humanoid (human), neutral Flaw. She is easily bored. She can turn nasty when she
doesn’t get her way, especially if there are no witnesses
Armour Class 15 (leather armour)
Hit Points 25 (3d8 + 8) around to see her less-than-charming side.
Speed 30 ft. As Editor. She excels in creating and building drama over
the happenings in the arena. She craves the crowd’s approval,
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
12 (+1) 17 (+3) 11 (+0) 13 (+1) 9 (-1) 13 (+1) and can be beholden to their fickle desires.
Story Ideas. Gillian loves to show off, and she has no
Saving Throws Dex +5, Int +3 qualms using prisoners to this end. If any of the PCs have any
Skills Acrobatics +5, Athletics +3, Deception +3, Persuasion +3
Senses passive Perception 9 sort of crowd appeal – from their reputation in the arena or
Languages Common other extraordinary qualities – she may summon them to
Challenge 2 (450 XP) social events to be “displayed”.
If the PCs prove themselves useful in this regard, Gillian
Assassinate. (PHB97) During her first turn, Gillian has advantage on may grant them special privileges and go easy on them in the
attack rolls against any creature that hasn't taken a turn. Any hit Gillian arena.
scores against a surprised creature (PHB189) is a critical hit.

Cunning Action (1/Turn). (PHB96) Gillian can use a bonus action to take
the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action (PHB192).

Dual Wielder. (PHB165) Gillian gains a +1 bonus to AC while she wields

two longswords, one in each hand (this is included in the AC above). She
may use two weapon fighting (PHB195) with longswords, even though
they are not light. She may draw or stow both longswords when she
would normally be able to draw or stow only one.

Sneak Attack (1/Turn). (PHB96) Gillian deals an extra 7 (2d6)

damage when she hits a target with a weapon attack and has
advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5
feet of an ally of Gillian that isn’t incapacitated and Gillian doesn’t have
disadvantage on the attack roll.

ACTIONS
Multiattack. Gillian makes two longsword attacks, one with each hand.

Longsword (Main Hand). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one
target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage.

Longsword (Off Hand). Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one
target. Hit: 4 (1d8) slashing damage.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 44

 Flaw. His anger is extreme; he becomes violent and
GLADWIN GREGER irrational (though not indiscriminate). Normally very slow to
anger, there are two “short-cuts” that push his buttons: harm
Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral
to his family (including the family wealth) and treachery.
Armour Class 16 (breastplate) As Editor. Gladwin is quite generous to the prisoners,
Hit Points 28 (3d10 + 12) preferring to keep them alive where feasible. He has enough
Speed 30 ft.
respect from the crowd to get away with bending the rules on
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA the fly, which he will do to save lives. One thing he does not
10 (+0) 16 (+3) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) tolerate well is cheating, especially from longer-term
Saving Throws: Str +2, Con +4 prisoners. He will order harsh punishments for anyone
Skills Insight +3, Persuasion +4 caught.
Senses passive Perception 11 Story Ideas. The PCs’ escape plan may be bloody and
Languages Common, Dwarvish, Goblin, Orc
Challenge 2 (450 XP) violent, with them storming their way out. In such a scenario
Gladwin will let Drusus Skull-Skewer and his guards handle
the situation first. But if it appears they’re likely to fail,
Action Surge (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). (PHB72) On his
turn, Gladwin can take one additional action. Gladwin might attempt to raise a militia of independents (see
Part 5), most probably by promising them coin. It’s better that
Archery. (PHB72) Gladwin gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls made with he be in debt than lose all his money-generating prisoners or
ranged weapons (included in the attack information below).
even the grotto itself.
Second Wind (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). (PHB72) On his He’ll use his makeshift army as a last stand – you should
turn, Gladwin can use a bonus action to regain d10 + 4 hitpoints. ensure its size is a suitable challenge for the PCs.
Superiority Die x4 (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). (PHB73)
Gladwin knows these maneuvers: Evasive Footwork, Parry, Rally. The
maneuver save DC is 13.

ACTIONS
Light Crossbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one
target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage.

Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 7
(1d8 + 3) slashing damage.

EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE

Light crossbow, rapier (PHB149), breastplate (PHB145), crossbow bolt
case containing 4d6 bolts, fine clothes (PHB150), a keyring containing
keys to doors in [5J] [5N], Individual Treasure: Challenge 0 – 4
(DMG136) (roll twice).

Gladwin Greger is the head of the Greger family. The grotto

is named after his ancestors.
A bald human male with a thick black beard, tall and barrel-chested.
His outfit combines the fine clothing of a nobleman with the colourful
trimmings and polished breastplate of a buccaneer.
Mannerisms. He speaks in a booming, almost operatic,
voice.
Interaction Traits. His hospitality pervades his whole
character: he is gracious, flattering and jocular even with his
enemies. When he becomes truly angry, though, he speaks
plainly.
Ideal. He combines business with pleasure; he seeks to
amass wealth and security but would rather do it through
honest dealings and mutual benefit. He is a man of his word.
Bond. He is determined to provide for his family at all
costs.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 45

GOBLIN PRISONER
Wild Magic Surge. (PHB103) Immediately after Godrick casts a spell of
1st level of higher, roll a d20. If you roll a 1, roll on the Wild Magic Surge
table (PHB104) to create a random magical effect.
Small humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil
Armour Class 14 (shield) ACTIONS
Hit Points 7 (2d6)
Speed 30 ft. Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit:
4 (1d6 + 1) bludgeoning damage, or 5 (1d8 + 1) bludgeoning damage if
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA used with two hands to make a melee attack.
8 (-1) 14 (+2) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 8 (-1) 8 (-1)

EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE

Skills Stealth +6
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 9
Languages Common (25%), Goblin
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP) Arcane focus staff (PHB149), robe (PHB150), Individual Treasure:
Challenge 0 – 4 (DMG136).

Nimble Escape (1/Turn). The goblin can take Disengage or Hide

(PHB192) action as a bonus action. Godrick Greger is the adult son of the Gladwin family. He is
a self-taught magic-user, and is somewhat reclusive and
eccentric.
ACTIONS A tall, thin young man with a thick black beard and closely-shaven

Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft. or range head. He wears a simple black robe.
20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. Mannerisms. He rarely speaks, and when he does he uses
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: as few words as possible.
5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage. Interaction Traits. He is blunt and often rude. He uses
insults as a way to avoid conversation, but also because he
Whip. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10ft., one target. Hit: 4 enjoys them.
(1d4 + 2) slashing damage.
Ideal. He believes in his own importance wants others to
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 1 see it too.
bludgeoning damage. Bond. He thinks only of himself: every one else is
unimportant.
Goblin Prisoners aren’t tough and they aren’t brave, but Flaw. He’s unsatisfied with his current life, and is having
they strike with accuracy and can be a nuisance to catch. trouble figuring out how to improve it. He hurts others (when
Weapons. Prisoners are generally unarmed. A variety of he can get away with it) for a sense of power.
weapons are presented here for arena combat. As Editor. He is cruel, and loves to cause misery to those
in the arena. His cruelty is tempered only by the thought of
his father’s anger should he take things too far. He does not
GODRICK GREGER care much for the crowd’s whims, though he lacks the
courage to make them furious.
Medium humanoid (human), neutral evil
Story Ideas. Godrick’s interest in magic may mean his
Armour Class 11 attention is drawn to magic-using PCs. He is especially
Hit Points 19 (2d6 + 12) interested in formal places of magic learning (academies,
Speed 30 ft.
schools, temples) which he was denied due to life in a
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA criminal family. He may develop the delusion all that stands
13 (+1) 13 (+1) 13 (+1) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) between him and greatness as a magic-user is a little bit of
Saving Throws Con +3, Cha +4 formal curricula.
Skills Arcana +4, Religion +4 Being an unsavoury sort, Godrick may threaten nasty
Senses passive Perception 12 punishments to a magic-using PC or her friends if co-
Languages Common
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) operation isn’t forthcoming. On the other hand, Godrick may
develop a genuine (and for him, rare) friendship with his
“tutor” if the relationship is more amiable. Being somewhat
Spellcasting. Godrick is a 3rd-level spellcaster that uses
Charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC12, +4 to lost in life, Godrick’s ambitions could easily be shaped by a
hit with spell attacks). Godrick has the following spells prepared strong mentor. Godrick could wind up being an NPC Party
from the sorcerer spell list: Member (DMG92) suitable for neutral- or evil-aligned
Cantrips (at will): blade ward (PHB218), light (PHB255), mending
parties.
(PHB259), ray of frost (PHB271)
1st level (4 slots): charm person (PHB221), ray of sickness (PHB271)
2nd level (2 slots): mirror image (PHB260), phantasmal force (PHB264)

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 46

 lives of others, and while he does not slay others without
HAGUUR cause, he can kill with a chilling ease.
Story Ideas. Haguur makes a potential ally for the PCs. He
Medium humanoid (orog), neutral
is skilled in combat, and reliable enough to follow a plan. But
Armour Class 16 (shield) his utter lack of charisma could derail any scheme involving
Hit Points 31 (2d12 + 18) deception.
Speed 30 ft.
While Haguur and the PCs share a common goal in escape,
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA they may oppose his ideas for revenge. Haguur will wish to
14 (+2) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 9 (-1) 11 (0) 7 (-2) slay everyone in the Grotto who isn’t a prisoner. He will not
Saving Throws: Str +4, Con +4 hide this fact from the PCs if the topic arises, but won’t
Skills Nature +2, Survival +2 mention it otherwise. Whether the bloody truth emerges in
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10 the planning or execution of an escape, the PCs may become
Languages Common, Orc
Challenge 1 (200 XP) conflicted about supporting such an ally.
(Haguur’s desire for revenge does not override his sense of
self-preservation. If he cannot realistically kill everyone
Aggressive. As a bonus action, Haguur can move up to his speed toward
a hostile creature that he can see. immediately, he will attempt to escape so he might return at a
later date.)
Danger Sense. (PHB48) Haguur gains advantage on Dexterity saving Optionally, you may allow Haguur’s cold, heartless nature
throws against effects he can see.
to be warmed by the PC’s actions. Can they show him the
Reckless Attack. (PHB48) Haguur may gain advantage on a melee benefits of friendship and teamwork? If they can, Haguur
weapon attack roll using Strength. If Haguur opts to use this, all attack could be a potential NPC party member (DMG92) or contact
rolls against him have advantage until his next turn. (DMG93); you may need to rework Haguur’s Ideal and Bond
Totem Spirit, Bear. (PHB50) While raging Haguur gains resistance to reflect a new outlook on life.
(PHB197) to all damage except psychic damage. Weapons. Prisoners are generally unarmed. A variety of
weapons are presented here for arena combat. Don’t forget to
remove the AC bonus for a shield if you choose a two-handed
ACTIONS weapon.
Mace. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6
+ 2) bludgeoning damage.

Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 3
bludgeoning damage.

Rage (x3, Recharges after a Long Rest). (PHB48) Haguur may enter a
barbarian rage as a bonus action.

Long ago, Haguur was a wandering sell-sword. At some

point he crossed the wrong people and ended up in slavery.
The first thing you notice about this orc prisoner is his hair. Jet-black
and long, it has formed into thick dreadlocks both from his scalp and
beard. Cold, steady eyes stare out from beneath this dark mane. His
muscled body is more wiry than hulking.
Mannerisms. Still and stoic, he seems always calm and
without emotion.
Interaction Traits. He speaks only when necessary, and
with few words as will suffice. His tone is always flat.
Ideal. Revenge and freedom, in that order. Haguur wishes
to kill everyone involved in the slavery business – even those
tangentially related. His fellow prisoners are not considered
targets because they, too, are victims.
Bond. Almost counter-dependent, he prefers a solitary
wanderer’s lifestyle, only dealing with others out of necessity.
He tolerates being the “leader” of the orc prisoners but feels
no special obligation to them.
Flaw. He is anti-social and uncharismatic, and incapable
of deception or flattery. He holds no special regard for the

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 47

 him when civilised society wouldn’t.
HARRY DODDS Flaw. He is impulsive and has an addictive personality.
Most notably, he is a problem gambler.
Medium humanoid (human), neutral
Story Ideas. Dodds may see potential in the PCs as arena
Armour Class 15 (leather armour) champions and bet heavily on them. Mounting winnings (or
Hit Points 19 (2d8 + 10) increasing debts) may inspire Dodds to do anything to ensure
Speed 30 ft.
his team wins; including but not limited to smuggling
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA equipment, giving advice, swaying opinions of the spectators
10 (+0) 16 (+3) 14 (+2) 14 (+2) 8 (-1) 12 (+1) and/or the editor.
Saving Throws: Dex +2, Int +2 Assume Dodds has paid off a small number of guards to
Skills Deception +5, Persuasion +3, Sleight of Hand +4, Stealth +4 help in such plans. While Drusus’ hobgoblin guards are too
Senses passive Perception 9 professional to neglect their duty as prison guards, a few can
Languages Common, Goblin, Halfling
Challenge 1 (200 XP) be bribed to do “harmless” things, like smuggling small
packages or arranging secret visits.
Dodds might not not reveal his identity to the PCs – he
Cunning Action (1/Turn). (PHB96) Harry can use a bonus action to take
the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action (PHB192). could be an anonymous benefactor. If he does make himself
known, the PCs may wish to bargain: maybe they can get
Lucky. (PHB167) Harry has 3 luck points which he may use to modify Dodds to help them with an eventual escape?
rolls he makes, and rolls made against him.
Of course, Dodds’ schemes, if discovered, could attract the
Sneak Attack (1/Turn). (PHB96) Harry deals an extra 7 (2d6) ire of the Greger family or Drusus Skull-Skewer.
damage when he hits a target with a weapon attack and has
advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5
feet of an ally of Harry that isn’t incapacitated and Harry doesn’t have
disadvantage on the attack roll. HOBGOBLIN GUARD
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), lawful evil
ACTIONS Armour Class 15 (studded leather, shield)
Hit Points 11 (2d8 + 2)
Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 7 Speed 30 ft.
(1d8 + 3) slashing damage.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
Bags of Tricks. Harry carries a number of items that may be useful in 13 (+1) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 9 (-1)
combat (see equipment, below).
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common (25%), Goblin
EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Rapier (PHB149), leather armour (PHB150), traveller’s clothes
(PHB150), Potion of healing (PHB153), bag of ball bearings, bag of
caltrops (PHB151), flask of oil (PHB152), thieves’ tools (PHB154), dice
set (PHB154), key to the general store [5G], key to the chest in his
quarters [5V], Individual Treasure: Challenge 0 – 4 (DMG136) (roll
twice).
Harry Dodds is a merchant and criminal black marketeer. He
runs the Grotto’s general store but dreams of greater things.
He is a big gambler and frequent spectator of arena games,
where he typically bets away any profit made from his store.
A human male, just entering into middle age, dressed to a style but
without great expense. He bears a grin that is equal parts sly and jovial.
Mannerisms. He has a habit of grinning and joking, even
when it is not appropriate.
Interaction Traits. Lacking in self-confidence, he
compensates by being cheerful and always willing to joke. He
is quite charming.
Ideal. He believes in living an adventurous and hedonistic
lifestyle, and seeks to elevate himself in any way that gets
him more of this.
Bond. He feels tied to the criminal world that tolerated
Martial Advantage (1/Turn). The hobgoblin can deal an extra 7 (2d6)
damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that creature is
within 5 feet of an ally of the hobgoblin that isn’t incapacitated.
ACTIONS
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit:
4 (1d6+1) piercing damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one
target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) piercing damage.
Hobgoblin Guards are more lightly equipped than they
would be out on the battlefield, but they haven’t lost an ounce
of their martial training.
80% of guards carry a sword and shield (though the shield
is only equipped for serious threats). The remaining 20%
carry a sword and bow. Those serving as archers in the arena
stands [5c] always carry a bow.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 48

HOBGOBLIN PRISONER
Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit:
3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage, or 4 (1d8) bludgeoning damage if used
with two hands to make a melee attack.
Medium humanoid (goblinoid), lawful evil Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 1
Armour Class 13 (shield) bludgeoning damage.
Hit Points 11 (2d8 + 2)
Speed 30 ft. Human Prisoners needn’t be human: this stat block can be
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA used to represent a prisoner of any Medium-sized “civilised”
13 (+1) 12 (+1) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 9 (-1) race such as elves or dwarves. You can add racial traits if you
wish (PHB17, MM342), but such accuracy is probably not
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common (25%), Goblin warranted for such minor characters.
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) Weapons. Prisoners are generally unarmed. A variety of
weapons are presented here for arena combat. Don’t forget to
Martial Advantage (1/Turn). The hobgoblin can deal an extra 7 (2d6) remove the AC bonus for a shield if you choose a two-handed
damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that creature is weapon.
within 5 feet of an ally of the hobgoblin that isn’t incapacitated.

ACTIONS JISTHELEK THE GRASPING

Small humanoid (goblinoid), chaotic neutral
Net. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 5/15 ft., one target. Hit:
special (PHB148). Armour Class 13
Hit Points 17 (2d8 + 8)
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: Speed 30 ft.
4 (1d6+1) piercing damage.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft. or range 6 (-2) 17 (+3) 10 (+0) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 13 (+1)
20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) piercing damage, or 5 (1d8 + 1)
piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack. Saving Throws Dex +5, Int +4
Skills Deception +5, Perception +3, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +5
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 2 Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 13
bludgeoning damage. Languages Common, Dwarvish, Goblin, Orc
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Hobgoblin Prisoners lack soldiers’ equipment but
remember their military training well. Cunning Action (1/Turn). (PHB96) Jisthelek can use a bonus action to
take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action (PHB192).
Weapons. Prisoners are generally unarmed. A variety of
weapons are presented here for arena combat. Don’t forget to Sneak Attack (1/Turn). (PHB96) Jisthelek deals an extra 7 (2d6)
remove the AC bonus for a shield if you choose a two-handed damage when he hits a target with a weapon attack and has
weapon. advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5
feet of an ally of Jisthelek that isn’t incapacitated and Jisthelek doesn’t
have disadvantage on the attack roll.

HUMAN PRISONER ACTIONS

Medium humanoid (human), neutral
Dagger. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft. or range
Armour Class 12 (shield)
20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage.
Hit Points 7 (2d6)
Speed 30 ft.
Shortsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit:
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage.
10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0)
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: -2 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 1
Senses passive Perception 10 bludgeoning damage.
Languages Common
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP) Jisthelek the Grasping was the gang leader of a small but
fairly effective criminal gang until his scheme against a pirate
ACTIONS gang went awry. He avoided death by convincing his captors
that another member of his gang was the leader; as a mere
Mace. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 3 accomplice he was sold into slavery instead.
(1d6) bludgeoning damage. This goblin has an ornate tattoo of various symbols and letters that
covers much of his torso and right shoulder. He wears a grin; it’s hard
Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft. or range
20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d6) piercing damage. to decide if it’s merry or malicious.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 49

 Mannerisms. He is seemingly always happy; always Story Ideas. Jisthelek’s roguish talents and seemingly
grinning and quick to laugh. He talks quickly and is often friendly attitude may make him an ally of the PCs. Jisthelek
making jokes of mixed quality. will gladly go along with such efforts and will even seem like
Interaction Traits. He rarely gives straight answers. He is a solid ally.
street-smart, cunning, deceptive and manipulative. But when he spies an opportunity to “prank” the PCs he
Ideal. Always positive, he believes comedy and mirth can will do so. For example, he might lock them in a room, attract
be extracted from any situation. Even imprisonment. He is the attention of extra guards, trip them up in combat, or
something of a prankster, and his tastes can wander into the purposefully misdirect them into dangerous situations.
macabre. (While he has no problem with endangering the PCs, or even
Bond. He cares only for himself, though this is not always himself to a small degree, he won’t do a prank that will get
apparent as his cheerful manner can look like friendship. himself killed.)
Unlike other goblins, he does not feel any special deference to If confronted about these pranks, he will lie and concoct an
hobgoblins (though he may pretend otherwise). excuse. If there’s no plausible excuse, he will go with an
Flaw. Unlike most of his kin, he is largely unaffected by absurd one for his own amusement.
fear. He doesn’t exactly have a death-wish, but he will Weapons. A variety of weapons are presented here for
needlessly skirt with danger. arena combat. While in prison, Jisthelek usually keeps a
Tattoos. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana), stolen dagger hidden about his person.
(History) or (Religion) can identify Jisthelek’s tattoos. They
are arcane markings to ward against magic, illness, bad luck
and various other maladies. They’re from a wide range of
sources and practices and have been artfully added to over
ORC PRISONER
Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil
the years.
By default, the tattoos have no actual powers, though you Armour Class 13 (shield)
could always override this. Perhaps give Jisthelek some luck Hit Points 15 (2d8 + 6)
Speed 30 ft.
points as per the Lucky feat (PHB167)?
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
16 (+3) 12 (+1) 16 (+3) 7 (-2) 11 (+1) 10 (+0)

Skills Intimidation +2
Senses darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common (25%), Orc
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Aggressive. As a bonus action, the orc can move up to its speed toward a
hostile creature that it can see.

ACTIONS
Scimitar. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 6
(1d6 + 3) piercing damage.

Spear. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft. or range

20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) piercing damage, or 7 (1d8 + 3)
piercing damage if used with two hands to make a melee attack.

Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 4
bludgeoning damage.

Orc Prisoners make up for a lack of sophisticated tactics by

being strong, tough and aggressive in combat.
Weapons. Prisoners are generally unarmed. A variety of
weapons are presented here for arena combat. Don’t forget to
remove the AC bonus for a shield if you choose a two-handed
weapon.

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 50

 spells. She keeps her full spell-casting abilities secret from
XANTHE JONQUIL everyone outside the human group. Other prisoners are
aware of her healing “skills” and in exceptional circumstances
Medium humanoid (human), neutral good
may request or demand treatment. Xanthe may give her holy
Armour Class 10 symbol to the PCs if she trusts them enough.
Hit Points 11 (2d8 + 2)
Speed 30 ft.

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA

5 (-3) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0) 10 (+0)

Saving Throws Wis +5, Cha +4

Skills Medicine +5, Persuasion +4
Senses passive Perception 13
Languages Common, Elven, Goblin, Orc
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Spellcasting. Xanthe is a 3rd level spellcaster that uses Wisdom as her

spellcasting ability (spell save DC13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). Xanthe
has the following spells prepared from the cleric spell list:

Cantrips (at will): light, mending, spare the dead

1st level (4 slots): bless, create or destroy water, cure wounds, detect
poison and disease, purify food and drink
2nd level (2 slots): calm emotions, lesser restoration, prayer of healing

Disciple of Life. (PHB60) Xanthe’s healing spells are more effective by 2

+ spell level.

ACTIONS
Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: -1 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 1
bludgeoning damage.

Preserve Life. (PHB60) Xanthe can Channel Divinity to restore hit points.

EQUIPMENT AND TREASURE

Ragged clothes, holy symbol amulet (PHB151).

Xanthe Jonquil, an elderly human cleric, is the kindly

leader of the human clique of prisoners.
An elderly human lady, frail and stooping but still projecting an air of
confidence. She wears her long grey hair in a ponytail.
Mannerisms. She fidgets with her holy symbol.
Interaction Traits. She is polite, well-spoken, confident
and always calm. She is prone to giving unwanted advice to
the point of nagging.
Ideal. She dislikes taking life or causing injury unless
absolutely necessary.
Bond. She feel responsible for the group of prisoners she
leads. She attempts to minimise their suffering and ideally
would like to see them free. She may recognise the PCs as her
best hope and hint that (or later outright entreat that) they
should plan an escape.
Flaw. Her desire to heal the injured sometimes overcomes
pragmatic reason. She may heal unfriendly prisoners,
stabilise hostiles, and seek peaceful alternatives even at
increased risk.
Spellcasting. Xanthe has a holy symbol and is able to cast

APPENDIX A: NPCS AND MONSTERS 51

 APPENDIX B: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE AUTHOR
This adventure was written by Joel Kelley.
I am eager to hear any and all feedback:
• Reports of typos or other mistakes.
• Game tales, short or long.
• Aspects of the adventure that were liked or disliked.
Getting feedback strongly motivates me to keep creating.
You can contact me by visiting:
• http://deck16.net/contact
ART
All art in this document was created by “Setvasai”. You can
find more of his work at:
• http://setvasai.deviantart.com/
• https://www.artstation.com/artist/setvasai
LEGAL
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast,
Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand, Player’s
Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D
Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product
names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards
of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters
and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the
Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws of
the United States of America. Any reproduction or
unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein
is prohibited without the express written permission of
Wizards of the Coast.
©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA
98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-
Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro
Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex,
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APPENDIX B: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 52