Have you ever heard of the Cult of the Dragon? That order of fanatics who seek to crown evil dragons as the world's true rulers? Well, every cult has an ideological founder—the one who mistook prophecy for destiny, or genius for godhood. For the Cult of the Dragon, this was Sammaster.

Once a prodigy among archmages, Sammaster relentlessly pursued any scrap of knowledge about the magic of dragons. After studying with some of the Realms' brightest minds, like Elminster and Alustriel Silverhand, he took a malevolent turn and devised the rite that could twist a living dragon into a Dracolich.

So, do you want to spotlight this dangerous archmage as your campaign's BBEG? If so, keep reading—this article gives you everything you need to make Sammaster one of the toughest and most memorable villains your party has ever faced.

• Tips for Running Sammaster
• Setting Up Sammaster as Your Big Bad
• Preview Sammaster's Stat Block
• Confronting Sammaster

Square Off Against Sammaster and the Cult of the Dragon

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Tips for Running Sammaster

OLIVIER BERNARD

While the scope of your Forgotten Realms adventures is yours to decide, here are some crucial points to consider when including Sammaster in your campaign:

Cult of the Dragon Leader. Sammaster united scattered dragon zealots under a single, terrifying vision: undead dragons will inherit the world once the living have been wiped out. Through his brilliance, arcane might, and tyrannical teachings, he created the Cult of the Dragon—a sect of zealots and wyrms devoted to raising dracoliches and bringing about an age of eternal dragon rule. Recently, this cult has splintered, with some committing themselves to Tiamat, the evil Queen of Dragons.

Hard to Vanquish. Death isn't the end for Sammaster because of his lichdom. Ever paranoid, he prepared contingencies that mirrored the warped “resurrection” of dracoliches. Rather than keep a standard soul jar like other liches, he set his essence in a soul gem. Slay Sammaster in his lich form and, after some days, his dracolich form rises. Slay his dracolich form and, unless the gem is destroyed in time, Sammaster's lich form reforms to scheme anew.

Roleplaying Sammaster. This megalomaniacal mastermind presents as charming and confident—that is, until his morbid fascination with undead dragons and tyrannical rule bubbles to the surface. He trusts only the inner circle of his cult and tends to personally inspect critical plots, appearing where least expected to correct, coerce, or kill in order to ensure they succeed.

Setting Up Sammaster as Your Big Bad

DOMENICO CAVA

Sammaster is an excellent campaign villain because his presence can be felt through all tiers of play. His plans typically ripple outward through the Cult of the Dragon, which is a great thread to follow for tier 1 adventures. Eventually, characters may notice rising unrest amongst dragonkind, which can carry the story through tier 2 and 3. Finally, as Sammaster enacts his final plan, characters may have to square off against this potent lich in all his necromantic might as a capstone to the campaign!

Foreshadowing Sammaster

Need some ideas to kick off your Sammaster-based adventures? You can use the seeds in the table below to announce the presence of Sammaster slowly throughout the course of your campaign.

Important Magic Items

COUPLEOFKOOKS

Sammaster's story can take many forms, but his lore centers on three pillars: the rite of dracolich transformation, the soul gem that helps him cheat death, and the Cult of the Dragon. The below items are tied to these pillars and may help you run thematic adventures:

The Dracolich Rite

The ritual that births a dracolich is a perfect quest anchor. It is contained within the Tome of the Dragon, which will likely be in Sammaster's or the Cult of the Dragon's possession. Though, perhaps another adventuring party managed to scatter the pages before they were defeated by Sammaster, causing the Cult of the Dragon to begin a frantic search.

The Soul Gem

Sammaster's soul gem replaces a lich's typical soul jar. While it endures, destroying his lich body eventually births his dracolich form; defeating that dracolich without destroying the gem lets his lich form reconstitute.

If the Cult of the Dragon is looking to resurrect Sammaster, his soul gem could be the key. Maybe its power has been extinguished and needs a ritual to reignite. Perhaps, after the party defeats Sammaster's Dracolich form, the gem manages to elude the characters, leading to a desperate chase across the Realms.

Anything Dragon Related

The Cult of the Dragon certainly has a flair for the dramatic and obsession with anything draconic. This gives you the chance to use tons of fun dragon-themed items, like Dragon Scale Mail, a Cube of Summoning (Dragon), or even bringing the Orb of Dragonkind over from the Dragonlance setting.

Preview Sammaster's Stat Block

Sammaster is a CR 22 mastermind whose is notoriously difficult to defeat, even for adventurers at the height of their power. His Magic Resistance and Legendary Resistance traits and Protective Magic Reaction make it easy for him to shrug off even the most powerful spells. Meanwhile, he is difficult to pin down because of his ability to cast Invisibility, Wall of Force, and his Deathly Teleport Legendary Action.

As if that wasn't enough, he has an offensive arsenal of spells and deadly necrotic-infused attacks, like his Corrosive Burst, Paralyzing Touch, and the Disintegrate and Power Word Kill spells.

If the characters manage to defeat Sammaster in his lich form, their job isn't done. He is resurrected into his dracolich form after 1d10 days as long as his soul gem is intact, which—spoiler alert—is just as terrifying.

Confronting Sammaster

Sammaster's Minions

Sammaster will likely surround himself with a hierarchy of minions to carry out his plans, which typically includes zealots, dragons, and undead terrors. As the party progresses through the campaign, they'll have to deal with tougher and tougher monsters:

Cult Hierarchy. Expendable followers serve as Cultists and Cult Fanatics who kidnap, smuggle, and spend their blood for the cause. An Archmage with a cadre of Mages could handle the more arcane tasks, such as rites or research. Assassination and theft fall to Assassins and Noble agents quietly embedded in guilds and courts.

Undead Army. Anything Undead is on the menu thanks to Sammaster's talents in the necromantic arts. Ghouls, Ghasts, Wights, Mummies, Skeletons, and Zombies are excellent cannon fodder for the cause. A perfect culmination to a tier 3 arc is a showdown with one of Sammaster's very own Dracoliches.

Dragons as Pawns. Living dragons could also make an appearance in these adventures as coerced allies to Sammaster's cause. These could be tragic metallic dragons who are victims of an enchanting ritual, or proud chromatic terrors eager to “graduate” after being enthralled by Sammaster's offer of everlasting life.

Ideas for the Final Encounter

Having trouble coming up with the perfect, climactic conclusion to your Sammaster campaign? You can use the table below to help stoke your imagination!

Sammaster Climaxes

Is Your Party a Match for Sammaster?

Sammaster's genius and unique mechanics make him endlessly renewable: defeat the lich, and the dracolich rises; defeat the dracolich, and the lich returns—unless your heroes learn his secret and put a stop to him once and for all.

He's perfect for a campaign that wants dragons, magic, and the destruction they can cause.

To help build your epic campaign, the Forgotten Realms Ultimate Bundle is the most expansive take on the Forgotten Realms in Dungeons & Dragons history, containing multiple stat blocks for Sammaster, ready to run Cult of the Dragon adventures, and rules to use the Cult of the Dragon as a living and breathing faction in your campaign.

Get your copy today and start crafting adventures that will shake the foundations of Faerûn to its core!

Mike Bernier is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.