When you take the Search action, you make a Wisdom check to discern something that isn’t obvious. The Search table suggests which skills are applicable when you take this action, depending on what you’re trying to detect.

The party can search the suspects. Challenge. None of the suspects will agree to this, as they all have secrets they don’t want revealed. Solutions. Characters must make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check opposed by the target’s Passive Perception. If successful, the character discovers which group the suspect works for as a secret agent. If the target is the spy, the character finds the…

You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: Bat, Cat, Frog, Hawk, Lizard, Octopus, Owl, Rat, Raven, Spider, Weasel, or another Beast that has a Challenge Rating of 0. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend (your choice) instead of a Beast. Your…

The characters search the suspect’s rooms at the inn. Challenge. Ostler refuses to permit this without proof. The party will need a distraction to keep the suspects out of their rooms, or be very stealthy and search while the suspect is asleep. Solutions. The party can steal Ostler’s master key. He keeps the key ring on his belt during the day and hangs it on a hook in his bedroom at night. This…

Gargantuan Dragon, typically lawful good AC 22 (natural armor) Initiative +2 (12) HP 546 (28d20 + 252) Speed 50 ft., swim 40 ft.

When successful, the party finds a logbook and the Secret Note implicating the spy. Logbook. The logbook is a small book containing cryptic notes. A character can take the Study action for 10 minutes and make a DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check. On a success, the character realizes the notes record the departure days of the wagons and the number of wagons involved. Secret Note. The…

Second Floor This children’s bedroom has a pair of tiny beds flanking a darkened window. Toys are strewn carelessly across the floor. A large, weathered toy chest sits against the wall, facing a child’s armoire, while in the corner, the closet door hangs slightly ajar. Suddenly, from a pile of letter blocks, a small wooden doll clambers forward, its painted face chipped and its yarn hair frayed.…

Level 2 Divination (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard) Casting Time: Action Range: Self Components: V, S, M (a forked twig) Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes Describe or name an object that is familiar to you. You sense the direction to the object’s location if that object is within 1,000 feet of you. If the object is in motion, you know the direction of its movement. The…

Fungous Alien Body Swapper Yithians are cosmos-traveling scholars with distinctive, conical bodies and four limbs that end in pincers, sensory structures, and flute-like communication organs. They search for secrets to add to their vast libraries, conducting research by swapping minds with the inhabitants of other worlds—sometimes indefinitely. When a yithian swaps minds with a creature, it traps…

Once the undisputed regent of Thay, Szass Tam is an old and powerful lich who plots to regain control over the nation. Although he still wields great power as the zulkir of necromancy and the tharchion of Thaymount (see chapter 1), Szass Tam believes it’s his destiny to rule Thay and use its living people as fodder for his undead armies.

The people of Knock Glad have come together to begin the wake of Aislynn Fearghus, a beloved seamstress, who was the last living relative of one of the characters. The largest public hall in the central square is well lit, packed with a few dozen patrons, and cookfire smoke curls from the stacked-stone chimney. The characters arrive at the perfect time to investigate and socialize with the…

A bodytaker podling is a near-perfect replica of a creature consumed by a bodytaker plant. A podling possesses the appearance and memories of the being it duplicates, but it is entirely loyal to the bodytaker plant that created it. Fundamentally, a podling isn’t its own creature but an expendable appendage of a bodytaker plant. Bodytaker podlings frequently exhibit behaviors that suggest their…

The wyrmling’s tracks are distinctive; as a Search action, any character can look for tracks and make a DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) check. On a successful check, the character finds the wyrmling’s trail to and from area L6.

When your character searches for hidden things, such as a secret door or a trap, the DM typically asks you to make a Wisdom (Perception) check, provided you describe the character searching in the hidden object’s vicinity. On a success, you find the object, other important details, or both. If you describe your character searching nowhere near a hidden object, a Wisdom (Perception) check…

Level 4 Divination (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Wizard) Casting Time: Action Range: Self Components: V, S, M (fur from a bloodhound) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you. You sense the direction to the creature’s location if that creature is within 1,000 feet of you. If the creature is moving, you know the direction of its movement.…

Diviner archmages spy on distant lands and peer into the future. These archmages often anticipate others’ actions and react seconds before events occur.

Evoker archmages wield unbridled destructive magic with surgical precision. They can carve out safe areas in an explosive blast, shielding themselves and allies while obliterating foes.

Necromancer archmages use necrotic magic to siphon life from their enemies and empower the undead. Many necromancers think nothing of raising the dead and sending them into battle.

Vengeful Banshee The thirst for vengeance festers within the shadowy heart of Sylvanas Windrunner, the Banshee Queen. Her hatred is first for the Lich King, Arthas Menethil, who slew her and bound her soul into eternal servitude, then for the Scourge who slaughtered her people. And last, for all the living. The Dark Lady of the Forsaken has committed terrible atrocities in the name of revenge.…

Medium Undead, Neutral Evil AC 16 Initiative +4 (14) HP 82 (11d8 + 33) Speed 30 ft., Fly 30 ft. see Dark Archangel Form

Darklord of Desperation and Magical Disaster “You’re new, I can tell. Impress me, and maybe I’ll let you be my newest apprentice.” —Hazlik The paranoid, egomaniacal archmage Hazlik clings to his power despite his magical ambitions being supernaturally smothered. Since Hazlik entered Hazlan, his magic has become unstable. Spells he casts behave erratically and fade swiftly—most lasting no more…

Gargantuan Dragon, chaotic evil AC 20 (natural armor) Initiative +0 (10) HP 351 (18d20 + 162) Speed 40 ft., burrow 40 ft., climb 40 ft

Huge Dragon, Lawful Neutral AC: 19 Initiative: +14 (24) HP: 162 (18d12 + 54) Speed: 40 ft, climb 40 ft

Medium Humanoid (Human), Lawful Evil AC 16 Initiative +9 (19) HP 130 (20d8 + 40) Speed 30 ft.