an exclusive D&D® next previewGHOsts Of DraGOnspear castle™

NOW IN 3D!

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CreditsProject LeadsJeremy Crawford, Christopher PerkinsD&D R&D TeamGreg Bilsland, Bruce R. Cordell, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Dupuis, Peter Lee, Mike Mearls, Kim Mohan, Tom Olsen, Christopher Perkins, Ben Petrisor, Robert J. Schwalb, Matt Sernett, Chris Sims, Rodney Thompson, Steve Winter, James Wyatt, Chris YoungsD&D Brand and Marketing TeamChris Lindsay, Shelly Mazzanoble, Hilary Ross, Liz Schuh, Nathan Stewart, Laura TommervikSenior Creative DirectorJon SchindehetteArt DirectorKate IrwinGraphic DesignerEmi TanjiPublishing Production SpecialistJessica DubeyPrepress ManagerJefferson DunlapImaging TechnicianCarmen CheungProduction ManagerCynda CallawayCover IllustrationKekai KotakiCartographyJason A. EngleInterior IllustrationsDave Allsop, Kalman Andrasofszky, Steve Argyle, Dave Arneson, Den Beauvais, Ralph Beisner, Eric Belisle, Greg Bell, Noah Bradley, Sam Burley, Milivoj Ćeran, Conceptopolis, Stephen Crowe, Ned Dameron, Diesel, Tony DiTerlizzi, Vincent Dutrait, Jeff Easley, Jesper Ejsing, Wayne England, Emily Fiegenschuh, Gonzalo Flores, Ken Frank, Dan Frazier, Lars Grant-West, Paul Guzenko, Des Hanley, Jared von Hindman, Tyler Jacobson, Michael Kaluta, Jorge Lacera, Roger Loveless, Howard Lyon, Victoria Maderna, Slawomir Maniak, Will McLean, Christopher Moeller, Lee Moyer, Jim Nelson, William O’Connor, Erol Otus, Patrick Thomas Parnell, Darlene Pekul, Steve Prescott, David Rapoza,Scott Roller, Richard Sardinha, Craig J Spearing, David C. Sutherland III, Gabor Szikszai, Stephen Tappin, David A. Trampier, Beth Trott, Eva Widermann, and Sam Wood

ContentsForeword .................................................................................3

Chapter 1: DaggerForD Campaign ..................4running the Campaign .....................................................4adventure 1: Fane of the Sun Swallower .....................6adventure 2: the Cursed Crypts of ambergul ......32adventure 3: the Fall of illefarn .................................65adventure 4: Dragonspear Castle ............................ 109Daggerford and Beyond ............................................... 133

Chapter 2: how to play ....................................... 144Basic rules ........................................................................ 144ability Scores ................................................................... 145exploration ....................................................................... 152Combat ............................................................................... 155

Chapter 3: magiC ........................................................ 166Spell Descriptions ...........................................................170

Chapter 4: equipment ............................................ 190wealth ................................................................................ 190armor and Shields ......................................................... 191weapons ............................................................................ 193adventuring gear .......................................................... 197

Chapter 5: Dm guiDelineS .................................. 202miscellaneous rules ...................................................... 211encounters and rewards ............................................. 212

Chapter 6: BeStiary ................................................. 218

appenDix: pregenerateD CharaCterS ............................. 267

620A6898000001 EN ISBN: 978-0-7869-6531-1

First Printing: August 2013

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Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, 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.

Published by Wizards of the Coast LLC. Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 2 Roundwood Ave, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1AZ, UK.

Printed in the USA. ©2013 Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Visit our website at DungeonsandDragons.com

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Forewordthe book you hold in your hands is not the next edi-tion of the Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game. it’s a snapshot of a game still in the throes of develop-ment and extensive public playtesting (over 140,000 playtesters as of this writing). it’s also a self-contained gaming experience—something you can pick up and play with your friends immediately. all you need are some dice. the book is titled Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle™. why? Because “D&D® next gen Con hotness” isn’t particularly evocative. also, this product is an adven-ture first and foremost—or rather, four adventures that string together to form a thrilling mini-campaign. if you’re curious about what a D&D next campaign might feel like, then this product should satisfy your curiosity. lots of dungeon exploration, roleplaying opportunities, and awesome surprises await! By the way, if you’re a player, Don’t reaD the aDVen-tureS! trust me when i say this: they’re a lot less fun if you know what happens. i will say this much: the adventures take place in a relatively small corner of the Forgotten realms® campaign world called the Sword Coast, which, it turns out, is just a fun place to explore. here, the char-acters’ decisions and actions can have far-reaching consequences. it’s also a great place to show players and Dms how much fun it can be to discover what made the Forgotten realms setting so popular in the first place: the unabashed love of detail. as you’re probably aware, the Forgotten realms has been with us for a long time, and over the years we’ve seen a lot of big events wreak untold havoc on the world, from the time of troubles to the Spellplague. the latest über-event is called the Sun-dering, which, ironically, is as much about restoration as it is about pulling things apart. like other world-spanning events in the setting’s history, the Sundering is what happens when gods try to set things right (or wrong, depending on their disposition) and, even better, when gods decide to use mortals as their agents of change. Speaking of change, by the time this book is released, the D&D next rules will have changed slightly based on the latest playtest feedback. if you’re a playtester, you might discover some inconsisten-cies between what’s written in these pages and what appears in the latest playtest documents on the D&D website. Such is the nature of print publishing! From the time this book goes to the printer to the time it arrives at the gale Force nine booth at gen Con, four months will have passed. you wouldn’t believe how much playtest feedback we receive and process in four months; it’s truly awesome and terrifying. whatever the differences might be, we don’t expect them to have

a profound effect on the adventures in this book or the overall quality of your play experience. as you f lip through the pages, you’ll notice that we’re having a bit of fun with the visual presentation. By no means is this design indicative of what D&D books will look like in the future. we’re experiment-ing with some ideas, but we’re still a long way from setting the look and feel of our books going forward. all i can say is that we’re trying to learn from our past successes and failures. the art appearing in this book comes from all past editions of the D&D game, and we mixed in some D&D next concept art just to keep things fresh. it’s really a chance for us to say, “look where D&D has gone before!” and “let’s see where we can go from here!” on pages 280–281 is one of my favorite works of art: the winning entry from our recent D&D next Character Sheet Contest, as voted by the fans and a select panel of judges. anyone who thinks character sheet design isn’t an art form clearly hasn’t tried to create one! props to Brian morgen for taking top prize. let me conclude by saying: a lot of wood elves died to bring you this product. (a lot of treants, too.) we hope you put it to good use and have a rollicking good time stomping around the Sword Coast. give isteval my regards!

Christopher perkinsD&D Senior producermay 2013

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Chapter 1: daggerFord CampaignDaggerford is a small but important Sword Coast town where f ledgling adventurers can make names for themselves. it’s a great starting point for a campaign because there’s so much territory around Daggerford to explore, and the town is within reasonable traveling distance of three very important cities: neverwinter and waterdeep to the north, and Baldur’s gate to the south. in short, the Sword Coast is where the action is. players can choose from the pregenerated charac-ters starting on page 267 or create their own using the D&D next rules. Some of the player characters might be lifelong residents of Daggerford or hail from farms or estates within the surrounding Delimbiyr Vale (also known as the Shining Valley). you can use the mate-rial in the “town of Daggerford” section (page 134) to help players f lesh out interesting backgrounds for their local characters and forge ties with npCs who can serve as mentors and trainers. other characters might be travelers passing through town, on their way to some other destination when they are drawn to Dag-gerford by the promise of adventure. Daggerford is, in many ways, the quintessential rural town, complete with monster-infested hills, spooky forests, ruined castles and mansions, and for-lorn swamps. what makes Daggerford stand out are the colorful npCs and the memorable dungeons that the player characters get to explore. to get a feel for what this mini-campaign has to offer, here are the parts you should review first:F the “running the Campaign” section below.F the “personalities of Daggerford” section (page

135), which introduces several npCs that could have interesting ties to f ledgling adventurers.

F the map of Delimbiyr Vale on page 141.

running the CampaignDaggerford contains all the trappings of a typical medieval settlement built on the shore of a river that f lows out to the sea. it’s an excellent kick-off point for a D&D® campaign because of its proximity to thrill-ing adventure locations such as the lizard marsh, the high moor, the dwarven dungeons under mount illefarn, and the ruins of Dragonspear Castle. Dag-gerford is situated along a well-traveled trade road that connects two of the Sword Coast’s greatest cities:

waterdeep and Baldur’s gate. a lot of caravans and gossip pass through town, creating even more opportu-nities for adventure and intrigue. at the end of this long chapter, you’ll find a com-plete description of Daggerford and its inhabitants, including colorful nonplayer characters (npCs) that can serve as trainers and mentors for f ledgling clerics, fighters, rogues, and mages. as the Dm, you are free to develop these npCs or substitute them as you see fit. the end of this chapter also includes information on other areas of interest near Daggerford, along with random encounter tables you can use in case the play-ers want to explore other locations and pick up some extra experience points (xp) or loot! the bulk of this chapter is devoted to adventures. the four adventures in this book are designed to take characters from 1st level to 10th level. each adventure requires at least 8 hours to play, and ideally you’ll have a reliable group of players with whom you can run the adventures in sequence, creating a short but memo-rable D&D next campaign. everything you need to run the adventures is included in this book, including the basic game rules and character creation rules. you’ll find magic item descriptions at the end of chapter 5 and monster statis-tics in chapter 6. while each adventure has its own story to tell, there are some overarching plot elements that connect them. these are described in the next section (“what the players Don’t Know”). when you’re ready to begin the campaign, go to the “where to Begin . . .” section.

what the players don’t KnowSomewhere along the Sword Coast, far from their homeland, the red wizards of thay are building a secret fortress. the fortress includes an academy built atop magical portals connected to four elemental nodes—vaults of immense elemental power. the red wizards intend to harness this energy and use it to threaten and subjugate the cities of the Sword Coast. the elemental portals were built many years ago by a secret society of bored, wealthy, unscrupulous netherese nobles who founded a cult dedicated to the elemental princes of evil. when the cult’s activities began attracting unwanted attention, its leaders sealed the portals with four elemental keys, dismantled the cult and its temple, and f led. the keys were hidden in scry-proof altars dedicated to the elemental princes of air, earth, Fire, and water and buried underground. the red wizards researched the dead elemen-tal cult, spoke to the spirits of former members, and tracked the four elemental keys to the Sword Coast, where the leaders of the elemental cult had retired long ago. the red wizards dispatched operatives to

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The elemenTal Keys and Princes of elemenTal evil

The Red Wizards of Thay are after four elemental keys scattered in various locations around Dagger-ford. The adventures in this book are structured in a way that makes it difficult for the characters to obtain the four elemental keys. Even if the players do everything right, most or all of the keys are likely to end up in the Red Wizards’ hands, and that’s fine. The elemental keys play pivotal roles in the early 2014 seasons of the D&D Encounters™ in-store play program. It’s okay if players think it’s important to keep the elemental keys out of the Red Wizards’ clutches. Even if they fail to do so, they will have accomplished many other things of great impor-tance, such as earning Isteval’s trust and defeating the evil rakshasa Nadir. The Princes of Elemental Evil are not widely known or worshiped in Faerûn. The Red Wizards know of them through extensive research, but few other possess such knowledge. Although they attract their fair share of demented cultists, the princes are more like powerful monsters than gods. The four main elemental princes are Imix (the Prince of Evil Elemental Fire), Ogrémoch (the Prince of Evil Elemental Earth), Olhydra (the Princess of Evil Elemental Water), and Yan-C-Bin (the Prince of Evil Elemental Air).

retrieve the four keys and return them to their secret stronghold. the red wizards have already obtained the air Key, and they’re close to retrieving the other three. however, they’ve suffered a major setback: the author-ities in Daggerford have captured arvik Zaltos, the red wizards’ main operative in the area. his loss puts the entire operation in jeopardy. worse, due to a fault in the red wizards’ communication network, arvik’s superiors aren’t even aware he’s been arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang. the red wizards aren’t the only threat to Dagger-ford. a rakshasa named nadir has arrived in town to exact revenge on his old nemesis, Sir isteval (see page 135). the paladin, along with several companions, slew the rakshasa years ago in Cormyr. the rakshasa’s disembodied spirit languished in the nine hells for years before reincarnating, and nadir has spent the past several months tracking down isteval. nadir knows his old foe is working with the Daggerford authorities to eradicate the red wizard threat, and the rakshasa has decided to aid the red wizards without their knowledge while also plotting isteval’s ruin.

where to Begin . . .you can begin the campaign by reading the following text aloud to the players:

every year around midsummer, the population of Daggerford swells as people come from up and down the Sword Coast to partake in the town’s annual festival of games. while merchants hawk their wares along crowded boulevards, crowds gather to witness all manner of contests, from archery and tug-o’-wars to wrestling and pie eating. But alas, ill weather has dampened this year’s fes-tivities. torrential rain falls from thick black clouds as wild coastal winds howl through the darkened streets. guests pack the local inns and taverns, hoping for some reprieve while keeping their spirits high with drinking games and music, but the storm has been relentless, and there’s no end in sight. not surprisingly, the storm has given rise to lots of gossip about recent events in town, namely the cap-ture of a tattooed man believed to be a red wizard of thay. what would a red wizard be doing so far from home, you ask? well, according to the local gossip mongers, he was magically disguised and working for lord Floshin as a gardener, of all things! that’s right, the same lord Floshin whose estate was attacked and looted by orcs and half-orcs a fortnight ago. they say the red wizard was behind it, and that’s why he’s doomed to hang after the festival. it’s a good thing lord Floshin wasn’t home during the attack. he could’ve been captured and taken away by the orcs. that’s what happened to his ser-vants, gods protect them! one can only imagine their horrible fate.

if the players haven’t already done so, now would be a good time to have them introduce their characters. a player character might be a longtime resident of Daggerford or a visitor who has come for the summer festival. it would be nice, however, if one or more party members have strong ties to the town. at the end of this chapter, you’ll find descriptions of Daggerford and several important npCs who might have ties to the player characters. Feel free to describe these npCs to your players if they’re having trouble f leshing out their characters’ backgrounds. many of these npCs make excellent mentors for 1st-level adventurers.

The red Wizarda red wizard named arvik Zaltos hired the Clotskull tribe of orcs and half-orcs to attack the Floshin (pro-nounced f low-shin) estate, creating a distraction so that arvik could raid the Floshin family crypts. within one sealed crypt, arvik found a stained-glass altar

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dedicated to yan-C-Bin, the prince of evil elemental air (see “the elemental Keys and princes of elemental evil” sidebar). arvik smashed the altar, retrieved the air Key hidden within, and gave it to an apprentice in Daggerford. meanwhile, the Clotskulls took several of lord Floshin’s servants back to their lair in the hills north of Daggerford, to be used as breeding stock to replenish their dwindling numbers. unfortunately for arvik, one of lord Floshin’s maids managed to escape her captors and f lee back to town, whereupon she told local authorities that arvik and the orcs were in cahoots. armed with a detailed description of arvik (albeit a magical disguise to hide his true appearance), the authorities had no trouble finding him. news about the attack on lord Floshin’s estate and the captured red wizard set the stage for the first adventure. most locals have no additional information to share, since details have been kept under wraps. Characters who ask around and succeed at a DC 15 Charisma check to gather information unearth the fol-lowing tidbits:F Sightings of orcs in the hills north of town are more

common nowadays. the duke has vowed to “bol-ster” patrols of the northern countryside.

F a local paladin of amaunator named Sir isteval is friends with lord Floshin and has taken an interest in the red wizard matter.

F the tattooed man was captured in Daggerford a couple days after the attack on the Floshin estate. Before his arrest, he was seen in the company of other shady characters whose identities are unknown.

F the tattooed man’s name is arvik Zaltos—at least, that’s what he was called when he worked (albeit briefly) for lord Floshin.

adventure 1: Fane oF the sun swallowerBy Christopher Perkins, Robert J. Schwalb, and James Wyatt

this adventure is designed for four to six 1st-level char-acters, and the adventuring party should reach at least 4th level by its conclusion. if the characters don’t have enough xp to advance to 4th level, consider adding a few random encounters (see page 12) between this adventure and the next one, or consider allowing the characters to train with their mentors in Daggerford and advance to the appropriate level. “Fane of the Sun Swallower” begins in Daggerford, during the public hanging of a red wizard, and ends in the lizard marsh, with the characters storming the underground lair of a black dragon that thinks it’s the Chosen of talona (goddess of rot and corrup-tion). along the way, they match wits with a devious rakshasa, contend with a vile lizard queen and her cursed lizardfolk thralls, and cross swords with an inbred family of swamp-dwelling half-orc bandits who are also meddling in the black dragon’s business.

setting the stagelike most black dragons, thoss Fyurnen is thoroughly wicked and rapacious. however, he has too many problems in his reptilian life to concern himself with conquering the lizard marsh (or Daggerford, for that matter). For one thing, he’s on the “outs” with his black dragon mate, Cheleen. thoss Fyurnen has taken custody of their unborn brood—four dragon eggs in all—while Cheleen tends to some important business of her own. Should anything happen to the eggs, thoss Fyurnen would find himself the target of his mate’s unbridled wrath. unfortunately, one of the eggs disappeared while “daddy” was out hunting. in his anger, thoss Fyurnen devoured several of the lizardfolk who worship him as the Chosen of talona. eventually, their vile queen per-suaded the dragon to consider other possibilities. the

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