If the characters played Dragon of Icespire Peak, they have already saved the area around Phandalin from many threats, large and small, and they are likely 7th level, ready for their next challenge. The Sword Coast is a region of the Forgotten Realms teeming with danger and intrigue. Just a short ride west of Phandalin on the Triboar Trail, where it meets the High Road, more nefarious schemes and terrible monsters await.
Storm Lord’s Wrath is a D&D adventure designed for 7th-level characters. You can run this adventure for as few as one or as many as six players. By the time the characters complete the challenges presented, they will be 9th level and ready to take on the challenges of the next adventures in this series: Sleeping Dragon’s Wake and Divine Contention.
Running the Adventure
To run this adventure, you need the D&D fifth edition core rulebooks: Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide is helpful but not necessary. The Monster Manual contains stat blocks for most of the creatures found in this adventure. All the necessary stat blocks are included there or in appendix A. When a creature’s name appears in bold type, that’s a visual cue for you to look up the creature’s stat block in the Monster Manual, unless the adventure’s text instead refers you to the monster appendix in this adventure.
Spells and equipment mentioned in the adventure are described in the Player’s Handbook. Magic items are described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
At various places, the adventure presents descriptive text that’s meant to be read or paraphrased aloud to the players. This read-aloud text is offset in boxes like this one. Boxed text is most commonly used to describe locations or present bits of scripted dialogue.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations appear in this book:
- hp = hit points
- AC = Armor Class
- DC = Difficulty Class
- XP = experience points
- pp = platinum piece(s)
- gp = gold piece(s)
- ep = electrum piece(s)
- sp = silver piece(s)
- cp = copper piece(s)
- NPC = nonplayer character
- LG = lawful good
- CG = chaotic good
- NG = neutral good
- LN = lawful neutral
- N = neutral
- LE = lawful evil
- CN = chaotic neutral
- CE = chaotic evil
- NE = neutral evil
- DM = Dungeon Master
Running for One Player
If you’re running this adventure for a single player, you can give that player a sidekick as a secondary character. Let the player choose one of the pregenerated sidekicks that come with this adventure. If a sidekick is lost or no longer needed, the player character can return to Leilon and acquire a new one.
Using Sidekicks
Make sure the player understands the roles and limitations of sidekicks in this adventure:
- Sidekicks are stalwart companions who can perform tasks both in and out of combat, including things such as setting up camp and carrying gear.
- Ideally, a sidekick’s abilities should complement those of the main character. For example, a spellcaster makes a good sidekick for a fighter or rogue.
Adjusting Encounters
This adventure contains advice for adjusting encounters based on the number of characters in the party. You are empowered to modify the number of enemies in an encounter and their hit point totals as you see fit. If you need to adjust the difficulty of an encounter during combat, you can alter hit point totals without the player characters ever knowing and have enemies retreat or reinforcements arrive as needed.
Map of the Sword Coast
The DM’s Sword Coast map shows a region of the Forgotten Realms called the Sword Coast. This map is for the DM’s eyes only, as it indicates the locations of places described later in this adventure or the adventures that follow. A player-friendly version of the map is also included with this adventure. It can be shared freely with the players as their characters explore the region.
Geographical locations marked on both the DM’s map and the players' map are described below in alphabetical order. This information is not secret and can be shared with players if they request details about a location.
High Road
This highway hugs the coast, connecting Neverwinter to the coastal cities of Luskan to the north and Waterdeep to the south. For years, the stretch of road south of Neverwinter fell into disuse because of frequent monster attacks. Recently, efforts have been made to keep the road safe, with light patrols of guards on horseback moving between Neverwinter and Leilon.
Kryptgarden Forest
This ancient forest tucked behind the Sword Mountains contains the ruins of bygone dwarven civilizations. The lair of the ancient green dragon Claugiyliamatar, nicknamed the Old Gnawbone, is found in these woods.
Leilon
This small town along the High Road is in the midst of rebuilding itself after being abandoned for years. It serves as the main base of the characters during this adventure.
Mere of Dead Men
Travelers on the High Road, which skirts the mere to the east, must resist being lured into the cold and desolate waters. Many have perished in the mere, drawn by tales of ruined castles half-sunk in the mire. For more information on this location, see “Missing Patrol.”
Neverwinter
This city was badly damaged when Mount Hotenow erupted some fifty years ago. Now, the City of Skilled Hands works to rebuild under the watchful eye of its Lord Protector, Dagult Neverember, who rules in the absence of an heir to Neverwinter’s crown. At present, no legitimate heirs to the old Alagondar royal line are known to exist, and many believe that the line is ended. Lord Neverember, taking no chances, quietly pays off or disposes of anyone claiming a connection to the rulers of old.
Neverwinter Wood
The forest east of Neverwinter seems to have a magical quality about it, or at least an air of mystical secrecy. Reclusive spellcasters are rumored to dwell deep within.
Phandalin
Nestled in the foothills of the Sword Mountains, Phandalin is a nondescript mining settlement that recently had dealings with a white dragon named Cryovain. The dragon was dispatched by a group of adventurers. For more information, see Dragon of Icespire Peak in the D&D Essentials Kit and “Aid from Phandalin” in this adventure.
Starmetal Hills
This range of rocky knolls is so named because the area has been the impact site of a number of meteor showers over millennia. The hills are haunted by ruthless barbarian tribes, giving others little reason to visit the area.
Sword Mountains
These steep, craggy, snow-capped mountains are home to scattered tribes of orcs as well as many monsters. Icespire Peak is the tallest among them. Their foothills are strewn with the ruins of bygone kingdoms, and more than a few half-forgotten dungeons and tombs.
Triboar Trail
This path south of Neverwinter Wood is the safest route between Neverwinter and the town of Triboar, located in the Dessarin Valley to the east. The trail is not patrolled, and monster attacks are commonplace.
The Adventure Begins
The adventure begins as the characters travel toward the town of Leilon. The settlement has been destroyed and rebuilt many times in its long history, and it is currently in an early stage of a rebuilding period.
The settlers tasked with rebuilding Leilon are funded by the Lord Protector of Neverwinter, Dagult Neverember. Lord Neverember hopes the town can act as a safe waypoint between the cities of Neverwinter and Waterdeep, as well as protect travelers from threats originating in the swampy Mere of Dead Men.
As the adventure progresses, the characters become embroiled not only in the rebuilding of Leilon, but also in the power struggle that unfolds between the settlers of Leilon and terrible forces that seek their destruction.
Adventure Background
As the settlers of Leilon bend their backs to the arduous task of creating a defensible settlement in the dangerous wilds of the Sword Coast, even larger threats loom all around them.
Two forces of evil rise nearby, eager to control the region around Leilon and eventually the Sword Coast. The first is a cult of Talos, god of storms, led by the priestess Fheralai Stormsworn. The cult’s headquarters are inside a death knight-dreadnaught, an undead battleship beached near a temple of Talos called the Tower of Storms.
At the same time, Ularan Mortus, a priest of the god of death Myrkul, and his followers are raising an army of undead to lay siege to the city of Neverwinter. The spirit of the dead black dragon Chardansearavitriol, also known as Ebondeath, aids Ularan Mortus in exchange for help finding and seizing the body of a living dragon to inhabit.
The people of Leilon are completely unaware of these threats, as they focus on more immediate dangers, like the wild animals and monstrous beasts lairing in the Mere of Dead Men. As the adventurers interact with the villagers, helping them rebuild and fighting off the immediate dangers, the specters of these two larger threats begin to grow and take shape.
Over the course of the trilogy (Storm Lord’s Wrath, Sleeping Dragon’s Wake, and Divine Contention), the adventurers must deal with the two main forces of evil, as well as many smaller threats, not to mention the many little dramas of a group of settlers trying to work in harmony on a project that might be too big for them. With the help of the heroes, however, the settlers of Leilon just might survive.
This adventure begins at a modest roadside inn, where the characters can make some friends and get the first taste of the larger battle in which they are about to become embroiled.
Leilon as a Home Base
If you run Storm Lord’s Wrath, Sleeping Dragon’s Wake, and Divine Contention as a full campaign, the town of Leilon should become an important focal point of play. This gives you a unique opportunity, because the adventurers can put their own stamp on the town in a very real and personal way.
In this initial adventure, the town is little more than a few ramshackle buildings and foundations. The people and locations of Leilon can be altered or wholly created anew by you, the DM, based on the interests of the adventurers.
For example, the Shrine of Lathander is being built by Merrygold Brightshine, priest of the Morninglord. If any of the characters revere Lathander, they might use their resources (wealth, downtime days, connections, etc.) to assist in its construction, making the shrine more grandiose than it might otherwise be.
Alternatively, if one of the characters worships a different deity, they might decide to invest in a temple to their god, in which case a temple of some other power might replace the Shrine of Lathander, bringing a new NPC to town to oversee it.
Adventure Hooks
Mercenaries for Lord Neverember
Dagult Neverember knows that the rebuilding of Leilon requires protection. He could hire the adventurers to defend the town from attacks and track down any threats.
Spies for Waterdeep
Dagult Neverember’s enemies in Waterdeep do not trust the man—and rightfully so. Representatives of the ruling council of Waterdeep, known as the Lords of Waterdeep, might hire the adventurers to pose as settlers in Leilon, all the while reporting anything suspicious to the rulers of the city. Before long, the adventurers will be embroiled in the action. (Or, instead of spying for the Lords of Waterdeep, the adventurers could be hired by any powerful group in the Sword Coast area.)
Friends and Family
Friends and family of one or more of the adventurers could be among the settlers of Leilon. Those acquaintances might ask the adventurers for assistance in a general sense, to protect the area. Or those connections might call upon the adventurers to perform specific tasks.
A Stake in Leilon
Land and property is valuable along the Sword Coast. For their service, someone with a vested interest in Leilon might offer the characters their own land. They could use this land to build a business, a stronghold, a tower, or any other structure that they like.
Love of Adventure
Some adventurers—those brave and foolish do-gooders—may just follow adventure, wherever it might lead. When these characters witness and thwart the attack on the Wayside Inn, the natural course of events leads them next to Leilon, and from there into the larger plots and machinations of the antagonists in the campaign.