Contents
Running the Adventure
This is for the Dungeon Master. It contains a complete Dungeons & Dragons adventure, as well as descriptions for the magic items and creatures in the adventure. It also teaches you how to run a D&D game.
Overview
A D&D adventure is a collection of locations, quests, and challenges that inspire you to tell a story. The outcome of that story is determined by the actions and decisions of the adventurers—and the luck of the dice.
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle draws the characters into the midst of an ancient war among dragons as they explore an island that has long been a battlefield in that conflict. Here's an overview of what you'll find:
- Running the Adventure. The adventure starts with an overview. Then it takes a look at the role of the Dungeon Master in a game of D&D, and some tips to help you in this role.
- Adventure Sites. The four chapters of the adventure describe locations on Stormwreck Isle where characters can explore, interact with various creatures, and pursue their goals. The first site, Dragon's Rest, serves as the characters' home base during the adventure, where they can rest and get supplies between their visits to the other sites.
- Magic Items and Monsters. Two appendixes describe rules for magic items and monsters that characters might find in the course of the adventure.
Getting Started
Before you get started, get familiar with the contents of this adventure. If you think there are elements your players might find scary or might make them uncomfortable, check in with the players before you start playing. Without giving away the story that awaits them, talk about the potentially troubling aspects and discuss how you'd like to handle them. This check-in is an important part of making sure everyone has a safe and fun time playing the game.
To get started, have each player choose one character to play.
- Hill Dwarf Cleric
- Human Paladin
- Wood Elf Fighter
- Lightfoot Halfling Rogue
- High Elf Wizard
Tell the players to read over the character sheets; give their characters names; and invent the details of their characters' personality and appearance. Encourage the players to write on the character sheets to make these characters their own.
The Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a world of high fantasy, populated by elves, dwarves, halflings, humans, and other folk—one of many such worlds in the vast multiverse of the D&D game. In the Realms, fighters dare the crypts of the fallen dwarf kings of Delzoun, seeking glory and treasure. Rogues prowl the dark alleyways of teeming cities such as Neverwinter and Baldur's Gate. Clerics in the service of gods wield mace and spell, defending against the terrifying powers that threaten the land. Wizards plunder the ruins of the fallen Netherese empire, delving into secrets too sinister for the light of day.
The roads and rivers of the Realms carry minstrels and peddlers, merchants and guards, soldiers and sailors. Bold adventurers follow tales of strange, glorious, faraway places. Good maps and clear trails can take even an inexperienced youth with dreams of glory far across the world, but these paths are never safe. Travelers in the Realms face fell magic and deadly monsters. Even farms and freeholds a day's walk from a city can fall prey to monsters, and no place is safe from the wrath of a dragon.
This adventure takes place on Stormwreck Isle, a small island in a region called the Sword Coast. This region is a place of adventure, where daring souls delve into ancient strongholds and explore the ruins of long-lost kingdoms. Amid a lawless wilderness of jagged, snow-capped peaks, alpine forests, bitter winds, and roaming monsters, the coast holds renowned bastions of civilization such as the city of Neverwinter, in the shadow of the fuming volcano known as Mount Hotenow.
Adventure Background
According to legend, two families of dragons came into being in the very first days of the world's creation. Bahamut, the noble Platinum Dragon, made the metallic dragons—gold, silver, bronze, brass, and copper. Cruel, five-headed Tiamat made the chromatic dragons—red, blue, green, black and white. The metallic and chromatic dragons share a mutual animosity that originates in the enmity between Bahamut and Tiamat (Bahamut is often called the King of Metallic Dragons in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and Tiamat the Queen of Chromatic Dragons. In other worlds they have different names, and like all gods, they are beyond gender.)
The origin of Dragon's Rest is rooted in that animosity. Ages ago, a fire-breathing red dragon called Sharruth rampaged up and down the Sword Coast. Three metallic dragons joined forces to battle Sharruth and imprisoned her beneath the ocean floor, believing seawater would quench her fire and keep her bound forever. But Sharruth's fury, legend says, caused the undersea volcanic activity that formed Stormwreck Isle.
In all likelihood, Sharruth is long dead and entombed beneath the island, but chromatic dragons whisper that she still lives and will one day emerge from her prison. One fact is undeniable: the powerful magic embodied in such an ancient dragon has left a permanent mark on Stormwreck Isle. That magic has drawn other dragons to the island throughout the centuries, making it a recurring battlefield in the conflict between chromatic and metallic dragons. Several of these dragons have died there, each leaving behind a spiritual scar that causes unpredictable magical effects.
A hundred years ago, a blue dragon tried to harness this destructive magic. A bronze dragon named Runara pleaded with him to abandon his schemes. When he refused, Runara killed him, adding one more dragon grave to the island.
Runara has grown weary of strife, and Stormwreck Isle's wounds are a constant reminder to her of the cost of such conflict. Devoting herself to peace and reconciliation, she established the cloister of Dragon's Rest as a safe haven from violence. Living in human guise, Runara now serves as the leader of a tiny group of hermits and ascetics.
But the ageless conflict between chromatic and metallic dragons threatens to disrupt the serenity of Dragon's Rest—and this is where the adventure begins!
Adventure Outline
In Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, the characters experience the magical scars left behind by the death of dragons. Faced with the evil schemes of one living dragon and the righteous anger of another, they'll have the chance to explore whether peace between the feuding dragon families is possible—or if they must resort to violence to resolve the conflict on this isle.
This adventure has four chapters:
Chapter 1, "Dragon's Rest," introduces Runara's cloister and its inhabitants and provides the characters the opportunity to learn about the problems facing the island. It also describes additional encounters you can use in the course of the adventure, including a magical hot spring with mysterious guardians at the site of a brass dragon's death.
Chapter 2, "Seagrow Caves," describes how the grave of Sharruth spawns magical connections to the Elemental Plane of Fire that threaten a community of mushroom-like myconids.
Chapter 3, "Cursed Shipwreck," details a ship that crashed alongside the bones of a gold dragon and the horrible curse within the ship's hold.
Chapter 4, "Clifftop Observatory," brings the characters to the site where Runara killed a blue dragon—and where that blue dragon's grandson has made his lair. There they'll also find a bronze wyrmling who rejected Runara's teachings of peace, now held prisoner in the blue dragon's lair.
Adventure Maps
The maps in this adventure are for the DM's eyes only. These maps show secret doors and other elements the players aren't meant to see.
When the characters arrive at a location marked on a map, describe it to give them a clear mental picture of the location. You can also draw what they see on paper, copying what's on your map while omitting secret details. It's not important that your hand-drawn map perfectly match what's in the adventure. Try to get the basic shape and dimensions correct and leave the rest to the players' imaginations.
The Dungeon Master
The Dungeon Master has a special role in D&D games.
The DM is a storyteller. The DM presents the challenges and encounters that the characters must overcome. The DM is the players' interface to the D&D world, who reads (and sometimes also writes) the adventure and describes what happens in response to the characters' actions.
The DM is a referee. When it's not clear what ought to happen next, the DM decides how to apply the rules and keep the story going.
The DM is a roleplayer. The DM plays the monsters in the adventure, choosing their actions and rolling dice for their attacks. The DM also plays all the other people the characters meet, including helpful ones.
DM Tips
The most important part of being a good DM is facilitating the fun of everyone at the table. Keep these tips in mind to help things go smoothly:
Embrace the shared story. D&D is about telling a story as a group, so let the players contribute to the outcome through the words and deeds of their characters. If some players are reluctant to speak up, ask them what their characters are doing.
It's not a competition. The DM isn't competing against the player characters. Your job is to referee the rules, run monsters, and keep the story moving.
Be fair and flexible. Treat your players in a fair, impartial manner. The rules help you do this, but you can make your own rulings to ensure everyone is having fun.
Modify the adventure to suit your tastes. The adventure has no prescribed outcome. You can alter any encounter to make it more interesting and fun for your players.
Keep a notepad handy. Use it to track details such as the characters' and monsters' initiative order.
Sharing Information
As Dungeon Master, one of your most important tasks is figuring out how much to tell the players and when. All the information the players need to make choices comes from you. Within the rules of the game and the limits of the characters' knowledge and senses, tell players everything they need to know.
You don't have to reveal every aspect of a situation or hazard in one go. Boxed text typically describes everything the characters see, hear, or smell at first glance. As characters search rooms, make Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) checks, open drawers and chests, and generally examine things more closely, give players more details about what their characters find.
Creature Stat Blocks
Whenever the adventure text presents a creature's name in bold type, that's a visual cue directing you to the creature's stat block in appendix B. Those stat blocks are intended for your eyes only. However, as the characters fight monsters, you can reveal certain information to help them make smart choices in combat:
- Hit Points. You can give players a sense of how well they're doing against a creature by describing, in narrative terms, how hurt the creature is. For example, if the creature has fewer than half its hit points remaining, you can describe it as being badly wounded. Such information gives the players a sense of progress and might spur them to press the attack. On the other hand, if the characters aren't damaging the creature much, let the players know that the creature looks like it can take a lot more punishment. That might encourage the players to change their plan.
- Abilities, Strengths, and Weaknesses. As they fight a creature, characters should learn more about the creature's abilities. Share information with the players as it becomes apparent. For example, if the wizard casts flaming sphere (a spell that deals fire damage) against a fire snake (a creature that's immune to fire damage), let the wizard's player know the spell doesn't seem to bother the creature at all. Players might correctly guess that a fire snake probably isn't harmed by fire; feel free to subtly confirm their guesses (perhaps smiling and saying, "That sounds reasonable").
Story Information
A location description might include important information not in boxed text. Often you're meant to reveal such information when the characters examine particular areas or interact with creatures.
As the DM, you roleplay the creatures that the characters encounter. The adventure offers guidance to help you decide what these creatures know and how willing they are to share information with the characters. Beyond that, improvise and bring these creatures to life as best you can. For example, the adventure describes Runara (the disguised bronze dragon who leads the cloister of Dragon's Rest) as wise and peace-loving, but you get to decide what her voice sounds like and how she reacts to a given situation. You can also ignore what the text says and roleplay Runara or any other creature as you see fit.
Treasure
When characters find treasure, tell them how many coins they find and how much any gems and art objects are worth. Sometimes treasure includes magic items, whose names are presented in italic type. Appendix A describes these items and their properties, as well as the rules for how characters figure out what a magic item does.
Making Mistakes
Dungeon Masters are fallible, just like everyone else, and even experienced DMs make mistakes. If you overlook, forget, or misrepresent something, correct yourself and move on. No one expects you to memorize every part of this adventure and all the rules in the Basic Rules. As long as your players are having fun, everything will be just fine.
Improvising Ability Checks
The adventure often tells you what ability checks characters might try in certain situations and the Difficulty Class (DC) of those checks. But sometimes characters try things that the adventure can't anticipate. In that case, you decide how to handle it.
Ability checks are for situations where a character's success or failure isn't guaranteed. If anyone can easily accomplish a task, don't ask for an ability check. Just tell the player what happens. And if there's no way anyone could accomplish the task, just tell the player it doesn't work.
When you decide an ability check is required, consult the "Ability Checks" section of the Basic Rules and the table of Typical Difficulty Classes. Most of the time, choose a DC that is easy (DC 10), moderate (DC 15), or hard (DC 20).
Voyage to Stormwreck Isle
This "Voyage to Stormwreck Isle" section was originally distributed as part of an in-store introductory pack for Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, and later digitally published. It is included here for convenience.
Before play starts, introduce yourself and welcome the players:
Read this text to set the scene:
Show the players the illustration of their ship at sea.
Show the players the illustration of the merrow and adopt a different voice for it. You can use any voice you like, but try to sound intimidating! Read this text in the merrow's voice:
Explaining the Game
Read or paraphrase this boxed text:
Run the Encounter
Let the players take the lead! They can try anything they can imagine.
Encourage the players to tell you their ideas. Ask them to let you know what they are thinking, and then run with it!
Whatever the characters try and whatever their die rolls indicate, use vivid descriptions to keep things exciting.
Here are some of the most likely approaches.
Negotiate with the Merrow
The players might agree to pay tribute to the Scaled Queen. The merrow initially demands a payment of 400 gold pieces (gp) or its equivalent in goods. This is the value of all the goods in the hold. The characters can use Charisma checks (applying Persuasion, Intimidation, or perhaps Deception skills, as appropriate) to get it to accept a lower amount; each successful DC 15 check reduces the amount he asks for by 100 gp.
If the players ask about the Scaled Queen, the merrow says that she is a huge, two-headed merrow who carries the special blessing of the Prince of Demons, Demogorgon.
Attack the Merrow
Lots of players will attack first. Other players will decide their characters attack if other approaches fail. When a player decides that their character attacks, their character acts first in combat. Then play passes to the right. Take the merrow's turn when it passes around to you.
On each player's turn, talk through the different actions their character can take, such as attacking with weapons and casting spells. Explain the character's different weapons and spell attacks.
This merrow looks fearsome but doesn't present too much of a threat to the characters. They should be able to defeat it in 1–2 rounds.
Shenanigans
The players might think of creative ideas for dealing with the merrow:
- Can I roll a barrel to push the merrow overboard?
- Can I drop a sail on it so it can't see?
- Can I persuade the crew to rush it?
- Can I...
Whatever the players ask, the answer should (almost) always be something like, "You can try!" If a character has a specific spell or ability that will let them accomplish what they want to do, help the player use that spell or ability. Otherwise, ask the player to make an ability check that's appropriate to their character's tactics, such as a Strength (Athletics) check for trying to roll the barrel at the merrow, a Dexterity check to fling a sail over it, or a Charisma (Intimidation) check to convince it that the crew is about to attack.
Wrap Up
When the characters have dealt with the merrow, one way or another, read this text to wrap up: