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Epic Encounters-Swamp of The Hydra
Epic Encounters-Swamp of The Hydra
6 Lore
7 Hooks
8 Lair
10 Co mb at Da sh bo ar d
15 Approach
16 Hydra Attack Pa tte rn
18 Hydra Abilities
19 Lair Abilities
20 Cinematic M om en ts
22 Treasure
St at s
24 Bloodwood Goblin
25 Seedling Hydra
JI L':> Burgeoning Hydra
Blooming Hydra
I
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tak e you r
Welcome to Epic Encounters , de'signed to help you
fantasy roleplaying gam es to the nex t level.
unter. tips on making sure
In this booklet. you'll find guidance on running an enco
ensuring that you'll keep your
every turn builds jeopardy and excitement, and for
battle. of course!
players on their toes - if they have any left after this
plotting this moment for years. Choose what works for you!
✓ The local forest is dying; trees wither. ✓ The Merchant Guild has offered an
hunters report tales of a malevolent extremely lucrative payout to any
creature spreading decay and adventurers who can find a path
disease...someone must venture through the dense forest of the
into the shadows of those blighted Deathwood. The main problem is
boughs and drive this darkness out. the hydra living at its center. It loves
people passing through its territory...
✓ A number of local hunters have the problem is they don't tend to
disappeared, though children claim come out on the other side. Or at
they can still hear their voices - least, not all of them. Bits of them
calling to them, pleading with them occasionally turn up in the beaks of
to enter the forest. crows and ravens.
4
~r'f:'.
ThingisYou
Might Find Tactics
✓ A rich, red velvet cloak that once Possessed of formidable natural weaponry
belonged to a duke's son, long - claws, teeth and their half-dozen heads
missing; it is ragged, ripped by - hydras are amongst the most deadly of
hundreds of sharp teeth. creatures. Such an armoury combined with
their speed and ferocity, makes hydras lethal,
✓ The unhatched eggs of over a dozen particularly when confronted in their own lair.
different species of bird, reptile
and other animals; each has been The hydra is never entirely still, each head
carefully collected and preserved. posing its own lethal threat Magic-users,
rogues and rangers are especially tempting
✓ A series of ears - elf, human, dwarf, targets for a hydra, striking at them from
gnome - all badly chewed but angles they don't anticipate. While they may
recognizable...as though they had appear to be solely bestial, this is not the
been eaten, digested and then
regurgitated.
case. There is something more than animal
intelligence to the hydra, and as a result, a
their tactics are unusually intelligent.
✓ The bones of a long dead creature,
bearing horrific mutations and the The moment an enemy begins to anticipate
peculiar markings of an ancient and a hydra's strategy, it changes it If the party
forgotten script. has begun to protect its weaker members,
then the hydra pushes forwards, trying
✓ A spellbook, ragged and torn, to scatter its foes and disrupt their new
studded with hydra teeth but still, formation. Hydras are the epitome of
just readable. savage animal cunning...and something,
unsettlingly, more.
✓ A horse's shaffron, retaining its
sheen, and carefully propped up,
used as a mirror:
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The fallowing section gives you a range of different elements you can
introduce into an encounter to make it as memorable as possible. Feel
free to use this as a checklist, referring to it throughout the fight, or just
pick and choose the bits you like the best
, Encounter As
A forest clearing should be an idyllic. even restful place. This is certai
nly not true
I whenever a hydra is in residence. Then, the forest becomes some
thing dangerous,
n with.
I twisted, increasing the dangers the player characters must recko
II I
, dar k
Using the terrain to your advantage is ✓ The hydra's cave looms before you
always a sm art move. The forest enclave and shallow. The area around it is an
of the hydra offers a num ber of suc h ossuary, hundreds of bones collected in
opportunitie~ to the canny adventurer; uneven piles - yellowing in the putrid air.
whether that be scr ub in which a canny
✓ The ground festers, steaming as it
rots
ranger can hide, or hefty trees which a
well-placed blow with an axe can bring under your feet. Sickly looking flowers
bloom from the diseased ground.
crashing down.
The Birds!
The carrion birds flock to this
~~evarc
•
l
The hydra's prey all end up
i~= f ft
Dark things stir in the soi /
I
area of the forest, waiting as a mas; of~ ~ y-white where a hydra lurks, dra I n
for the hydra's scraps. Alone bone~ ~uts~ its ca~e. up by the toxic corruptio n
among the creature s of the Thesef ortn a strange kmd that the beast exudes. These
forest. they seem immune to of/fefno/ ;round ~ e cave worms streak through
the hydra's corruptio n. They entrance, and proYide the earth, seeking out the
excellent c~~ver. !lfambering scent of blood a~ ging
wait and watch above the ~
fray, their impatien ce for food overthb if". a
e o' es 11equ1res thems~ ~eneverthey
sometim es getting the better Dexterity (Acrobatics) check; find~~ enever a eJayer
of them...some things don't a failure results1ij, standard cha~acte r or the h~ ra take
have to be all that dead for the piercing dama~e as t~ player more than 8/15/25 claf!lage
ravens to descend, cawing characte r~~ tchJsTue mselves in a single hit while stood on
and tearing with savage ont~ s~g ed~ a patch of taintedI earth, the
to the
beaks. Whenever a creature broken fibuJa.
,,,,;,,,-
'Any creature worms ..... surge
/: beneatt,,•
is knocked prone within
10 ft. of the edge of the battle
taking shelter behind the piles
of bones gains +2AC against
____ -
surfac~ to _n-yand drag them
down-and suckthem d ry
,
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Flowers of Disease
The corr1,1ption<V?ii@·o~~es D6 Result
fj~ ~liydr-:a1<ilts'ffi1o~ hings
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-it,i6fc~ -fio
. ~b t ,&01>
-
hideou~ e ~~ ,ers bloom
uces
1-2 Nothing happens.
'
a player, cbaraoter t~ hey are
~ --.. .
unnautral. "f-hett cot~ s~too
the toxic pollen of the
flowers.
bright to be nat~ a scinti1r nt
The player character
purple, like the b~ isilg arou/ ,d
takes standard poison
a ~ n-li~ -: '!l'e nap~o/ damage and are
c~ar~ s~ n m ~ f the S-G poisoned until they make
flowers, hav~ r-wroll on the a successful Constitution
following table.
saving throw.
*GM TIP: The hydra is fully aware of the effects of the flowers and
does its best to force player characters back towards the flowers, or
use its Drag and Drop (see page 18) Hydra Ability to drop a player
character into their midst.
The player characters get to choose how they approach this battle,
but they don't get to do so without some form of response from
their foe! Detqiled below are the frost giant's tactics, based on the
three potential approaches the player characters might take.
If the player characters attempt *GM TIP: If the player characters are
a direct assault: The hydra is able to successfully avoid the hydra's
certainly not going to allow itself to be notice, then they earn a surprise round.
surrounded and quickly dismembered.
As the player characters approach, it If the player characters try to
hisses in fury, its teeth bared, and rushes surround the hydra and kill it at
forward, ready to crush bone and rend range: The hydra's first move is to hide.
flesh. The hydra keeps moving, trying to It takes cover either behind the piles of
pull the player characters towards it and bones or within the mouth of the cave.
into difficult terrain. It keeps its distance, As soon as the player character's take
snapping at the players with its multiple a pause in their fusillade it attacks the
heads and launching multiple attacks nearest of them, swarming forward and
at a single foe to ensure that player attempting to negate any magic-users
characters need to be constantly as quickly as it can. It tries to inflict
healing themselves. enough damage on these that they need
to focus on healing, over any offensive
*GM TIP: This approach results in the stratagem. Once it has dealt enough
player characters and the hydra rolling damage to the magic-users to ensure
initiative as usual. that they retreat or are unable to hurt
it, it immediately descends upon any
If the player characters attempt a martial player characters and uses its
tactical advance: Sneaking up to the teeth and claws to deliver a significant
hydra's lair is extremely difficult. The injury before retreating to cover. . '
beast chose the place for its wide field
of visibility and, as its corruption has *GM TIP: The hydra's speed and
sunk into the land, the earth itself makes cunning should make this an especially
steaJth harder and, potentially, more difficult tactic to implement, and the
dangerous. The excited cawing of the GM should ensure that the player
carrion birds in the trees overhead, the characters can't settle into a routine.
ground which can be marsh or as solid The hydra uses its Hydra Abilities
as rock from moment to moment... to move the player characters into
even the most skilled ranger or agile positions from which it can attack them
rogue may struggle to keep themselves with impunity.
concealed. All Stealth checks made in the
hydra's lair are made at disadvantage as
a result of the adverse conditions.
Target: Everyone.
Hydra Behaviour: A furious raised
head, eyes bloodshot and yellowed,
glaring at any who dare enter its lair.
.. .'>. ('~~c/'
Target: Itself.
Cunning, malicious and possessec:Pqf
Hydra Behaviour: Asudden shiver
animal's desire to cling to life1no,;,atte ·
seizes its whole body, it flesh changing
with each paroxysm.
how desperate tfiings mi ht-'s e
hydra is a d~ J· ..&t · ·· · '
' GM TIP: The hydra uses any time it has player chara
gained from the Roar of the Dead to ready
itself for incoming attacks, and to prepare to
use the atta" ,_:;:j:. · -~
-~ .;:•:t' .
take down its first target.
11lti~ ~r
E...ll,,........:.,.....,;...._........._......,,.:..~
martial character.
Hydra Behaviour: An almost
seductive turn of the head, half-
conceale d by the branches of trees.
\ NeckSmash Costume
With a violent sweep of its long, serpentine
necks, the hydra seeks to knock the player
Change
It's hide shifting and changing, both in
characters from their feet Each player
colour and texture, the hydra makes its
character within 10 ft of the hydra must
flesh thick and scaly, impervious to all but
make a standard Strength saving throw
the most ferocious of blows. It adds +2 to
or be knocked prone.
its AC until the start of its next tum.
*GM TIP: The hydra uses this attack to both
keep player characters from getting too *GM TIP: Thickening its hide, making it
close and to bring the carrion birds (see harder to hurt, the hydra uses this ability
The Birds! on page 13) into play, ensuring frequently, especially if it is about to attack a
that the player characters are always under martial player character.
attack from somewhere!
Drag and Drop Taillash With a brutal twist of its body, the
Seizing a player character in one of its hydra lashes out at one of the player
mouths, the hydra lifts the struggling characters with its tail. Any player
victim into the air before smashing character targeted with this attack
them to the earth. The hydra makes a must succeed on a standard Dexterity
Bite attack on one player character. If saving throw or suffer double standard
successful. the hydra has seized its prey; bludgeoning damage. The tail wraps
the player character may make a standard itself around the player characters body
1 DC Strength saving throw to try and and holds them in place, restraining
wrestle free. Should they fail, the hydra them until they wrestle free - requiring
I
lifts them 10 ~ in the air and brings the a standard DC Strength saving throw.
player character smashing into the earth.
They suffer double standard bludgeoning *GM TIP: The hydra comb~nes this ability
'\~1
'>-~ damage from the fall and are left prone.
with its Drag and Drop ability, if it can. Ideally,
it ~eeks to take two opponents out of the
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~f
:'f, ~GM TIP: This attack gives the hydra a
chanc~ to deliver serious damage to a player
character and begin dividing the party,
allowing it to pick them off individually. It
fi~ht, leaving the party divided and exposed.
"-
\
'! Rip it Up
Two of its heads descen d upon a single player character, seizing limbs
in each mouth ,
I the hydra attem pts to tear the unfort unate victim in half!
ter.
WHAT: As an action, the hydra makes a Multiattack agains t a single player charac
vely grappl ed
If two or more of the Bite attack s are succes sful, the hydra has effecti
, makin g a
the target player charac ter. The player charac ter can attem pt to escape
ter's taking
standa rd DC Streng th saving throw. A failure results in the player charac
as the hydra
doubl e standa rd slashi ng damag e and suffering the grappl ed condition
turn, they
attem pts to rip them in two. At the start of the player charac ter's next
e in the
are releas ed from the hydra's reeking maws if the hydra took 25+ damag
If not, they can
preced ing turn, as one of the heads grippi ng the victim is destro yed.
ous damag e
make a final Streng th saving throw. If they fail, the hydra delivers enorm
a Death saving
to the target, reduci ng them to O hit points, and forcing them to make
throw.
( I ,, player
• I WHEN: This is the hydra's last big gambl e, an attem pt to take out a single
It waits until it
' j charac ter with the most vicious and damag ing attack it can manag e.
can see a player charac ter is seriou sly injure d and then target s them.
?/;/~
l
1
V
The la st
Jllt~?f:ad
Funnelling air into its lungs, the hydra
makes the air and earth shake with the
Stana-
Spitted with arrow s and spears,
slashe d with sword s and pulver ised
force and ferocity of its roar. with maces, the hydra is near death. It
retrea ts toward s its cave, roaring, and
WHAT: Once per encounter, as an prepar es to make its final stand.
action, the hydra can make the Roar of
the Dead. Each player charac ter must WHAT: The hydra bellows in agony, its
succee d on a standa rd DC Wisdom many mouth s split open. teeth painte d
saving throw or becom e frightened black with its own blood. When the
until the start of their next turn. hydra reache s O hit points, it makes one
final Multiattack agains t every player
WHEN: The hydra often begins the charac ter within 10 ft. before it finally
comba t with this, letting its enemi es succu mbs to its wound s.
know that it intend s to savou r eating
their flesh from broken bones. WHEN: At the very end of the fight, the
hydra is near death and begins its
death throes.
The hydra's cave isn't filled with treasure , but certain
objects and items can be found amidst the detritus
and the scraps of rotting flesh - not to mention the
bones which litter the floor.
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Challenge
1.ll i
(56XP)
Blooclwood
Goblin
Small hum anoi d (goblin). neutral evil
Special Abilities
Nimble Esca pe
as a
Onc e per turn , the goblin can dise ngag e or hide
bonu s actio n
A ct io ns
Scimitar
~~ rf, ~~ ~- -- Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reac h 5 ft..
one targe t. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) slash ing dam age
Short Bow
Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, rang e
80/3 20 ft., one targe t. .
Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing dam age
Special Abilities
Hold Breath
The hydra can hold its breath for 1 hour
Multiple Heads
The hydra begins the encounter with five heads. For
every 25 or more damage the hydra takes in a single
turn. one of its heads dies. At the end of its turn. unless it
took fire damage in the preceding turn, the hydra grows T,>2'1'1',.11\
,. Actions
Multiattack
The hydra makes a Bite attack for each head it
currently has
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1.,
21
Special Abilities
Hold Breath
The hydra can hold its breath for 1 hour
Multiple Heads
every 25 or more
The hydra begins the encounter with five heads. For
s dies. At the end
damage the hydra takes in a single turn, one of its head
g turn, the hydra
of its turn, unless it took fire damage in the precedin
g turn, regaining
grows two heads for each head it lost in the precedin
10 hit points for each head grown in this way.
g throws
While it has two or more heads, the hydra makes savin
ned and knocked
against blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened , stun
no heads, it dies
unconscious at advantage. If the hydra at any point has
Reactive Hea ds
For each head the hydra has beyond one, it gets an extra
ks
reaction that can be used only for opportunity attac
Wakeful
e
While the hydra sleeps, at least one of its heads is awak
0
Blooming
Hydra
Gargantuan hydra, chaotic evil
Actions
Multiattack
The hydra makes a Bite attack for each head it
currently has
Bite
Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft.. one target.
Hit: 49 (8d10 +5) piercing damage
Legendary Actions
The hydra can take three Legendary Actions. choosing
from the options below. Only one Legendary Action
can be used at a time, and only at the end of
another creature's turn. Spent Legendary Actions are
regained at the start of each turn.
Costum e Change
The hydra uses the Costume Change Hydra Ability
Multiattack
(costs two Legendary Actions )
The hydra makes a Multiatta ck
Neck Smash
(costs two Legenda ry Actions)
The hydra uses the Neck Smash Hydra Ability
29
Special Abilities
Lege ndar y Resistance (3/D ay)
inste ad
If the hydr a fails a savin g throw, it can choo se to succ eed
Hold Breath
The hydr a can hold its brea th for 1 hour
g throw s
While it has two or more heads, the hydra make s savin
ed and knoc ked
again st blinded, charm ed, deafe ned, frightened , stunn
has no head s, it dies
unco nscio us at adva ntage. If the hydra at any point
Reactive Heads
react ion that
For each head the hydr a has beyo nd one, it gets an extra
can be used only for oppo rtuni ty attac ks
Wakeful
e
Wrule the hydr a sleep s, at least one of its head s is awak
)
-
I ·pIC
, I i/;;,
I
Game Design Writer Art Graphic Design
Mat Hart Richard August Doug Telford &Layout
Cristina Ruiz Michael Ruocco
Game Editing Cristina Ruiz
Development Nicholas Johnson Sculpting
Richard August Matthew Elliott Ben Charles Playtesting
Russ Charles Dominic Westerland
Project Samantha Layton
Tom Lishman
Management
Holly Woolford
Matthew Elliott
~ ..
C,
~
fl,_.' .
_lt I
Steamforged G am es H
Develop ment Production Human Resour ces
Co-Fou nders
Richard August Ben Clapper ton Gareth Reid
Rich Loxam (CEO)
Mat Hart (CCO) Steve Margets on Matthew Elliott
Fraser Mcfetrid ge Nicolas Lu Operat ions & Fulfilm ent
Jamie Perkins Mike Appleto n
Executive Chairman
Simon Spalding Finance &IT Alex Black
Sculpting & Art John Higham David Fear '~
Non-Executive Directo r Ben Charles Vanessa O"Brien
Adam King
Judy Guan
Alex Hobbs
✓-~ ,
Ron As hitiani Russ Charles
Ian Livingstone CBE Tom Lishman John Hockey
Doug Telford Marketing & Community Lee Hughes
Investment Director Holly Woolford Manage ment Richard Jenning s
Rob Jones Derek Baker
Graphic Design & Layout Sean Dooley Licensi ng & Comme rcial
Design & Product Owners Abigail Thornto n Jamie Giblin Emma Be nfield
Alex Hall Cristina Ruiz Chynna-Blue Haycastle Toby Davies
Sherwin Matthew s Charlott e Cloud Firoz Rana
32.
Licensinq t
J{greemen
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast. Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards").
TNOTICE
. ht 2000. Wizards of the
15. COPYRIGH. ense v 1.0a Copy• ig
Game Lie
· d of
Open c
CoasL LL -1 Copyright 2016. W1zarChs.
Document ~- I Jerem ys Craw ford. ns
f~
Wyatt. Robe rtJ.
rem Referencethors Mike Mea rte Jame shend.
mes ·and Steve Town
CoasL Inc.: A~hompson. P~tSi
Perkm1s.bR; :ci R Cordeallj ;Yh ~.5Gary Gygax
Schwa · . inal maten
based onon g
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by any m . by
Epic erve •
!' ~t~d ·eval ;~';;;
:;;~~ical.
0%pyinhg~:Ce~~~mp~;
syste m wit
°;
writt en
mechan
inform a_tion me
rem 0
permission.
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PRODUCT IDENTITY
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12 Bloodwood Goblins
Tokens
Hydra
6 Unstable Sturf
Tokens