ELCOME TO THE L ONG R OAD , ONE some trouble in the area.

These encounters

W of the North’s busiest trade routes.

It begins at the gates of Mirabar
and continues for hundreds of miles
southward through the Dessarin Valley,
meeting the High Road just north of
can happen as often as you like, though you
should keep in mind that using too many of
them can slow the story down significantly.
Consider checking for a random encounter
twice per adventuring day, once during the day
Waterdeep. and once during a long rest. If you do, roll a
This free supplement is an extract from d20. If the result is 18 or higher, a random
Veratrem’s Tribal Siege, designed to help you encounter occurs.
flesh out travel along the Long Road a bit more. The encounters presented below build upon
In the full adventure, two hill giants those presented in Chapter 3 of Storm King’s
(MM p.155) have taken over an old trading Thunder (SKT p.68). Feel free to mix and
post, which they are using to ambush traders match between the encounters listed there and
that move along the road. If you’re interested those below.
in getting the full story (plus an ambitious
young green dragon that has taken over a local Random Encounters on The Long Road
tribe of kobolds), check out the full adventure. d8 Encounter
Readers of this product get a 25% discount! 1 Bandits
For more free stuff, you can sign up to my 2 City patrols
mailing list. 3 Cloud castle
4 Fire giant pits
T HE L ONG R OAD 5
6
Goblins
Manticores
ANY TOWNS AND VILLAGES LIE along

M
7 Scared trader
the route of the Long Road, depending
8 Woodland creatures
on its relative safety. Unfortunately,
that safety has been disturbed by the
two hill giants and their ambush site. Adjusting the Encounters
Not all random encounters with monsters need to be
R ANDOM E NCOUNTERS resolved through combat. The random encounters
presented here do not need to be adjusted for parties
When the party travels the Long Road, they with different average party levels.
could potentially encounter a lot of things, as Of course, you are still free to do so by adjusting the
the arrival of the hill giants has stirred up type or number of monsters that the characters
encounter.
 B ANDITS warning he received from the planar entities he
The characters encounter a gang of bandits. spoke with using the contact other plane spell.
The gang consists of a bandit captain In case the characters haven’t met Zephyros,
(MM p.344) and 1d6 + 3 bandits (MM p.343), the castle poses no threat and ignores them as
all at half of their maximum hit points. it slowly drifts away from them.
Originally, the gang had more members, but
they were attacked by Rug and Zog (see F IRE G IANT P ITS
“Veratrem’s Tribal Siege” for more information) The characters come across a site near some
and suffered heavy losses. low hills where fire giants have recovered a
The gang confronts the party with the fragment of the Vonindod. There is no trace of
captain promising not to attack the party in the giants, but near the two 30-foot-wide,
exchange for a toll (no less than 100 gp worth 20-foot-deep craters are two toppled statues of
of treasure). A DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check dwarves.
reveals that the captain is bluffing and does The first is depicted with a large shield, while
not feel confident in their chances. the second is holding a warhammer.
Alternatively, a DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) A DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check
check reveals that the bandits don’t look to be reveals religious symbols, indicating that this
in fighting shape. If the characters pay up, the might have been a site of special spiritual
captain bids them a safe journey before importance.
departing peacefully. If they don’t and a fight
breaks out, the captain and bandits attempt to G OBLINS
flee after 1 round. A group of 1 goblin boss (MM p.166) with 2d4
If the characters capture any of the bandits goblins (MM p.166) attempt to surprise the
or the captain, they will attempt to trade characters.
information about the hill giant settlement for It has been hard for them to find food in the
their freedom. area since the arrival of the hill giants and
they are starving. They fight till the death.
C ITY P ATROLS
A city patrol is walking towards the characters M ANTICORES
from the direction of their destination. The City A group of 1d3 manticores come down from
Patrol table shows the makeup of the patrol, the sky to attack the party.
depending on the closest town.
S CARED T RADER
City Patrol The party encounters a scared trader running
their way. The trader, Kogren Visk (LG male
Closest Town Patrol makeup
Tethyrian human), is in shock and the
Amphail 1d4 nobles (MM p.348) on horseback
characters will have to find a way to calm him
Red Larch 2d4 - 1 scouts (MM p.349), young archers down before they can get some answers out of
Triboar 1 knight (MM p.347), one of the him.
Twelve (SKT p.53), with 2d6 - 1 guards When they do, the Kogren tells them he was
(MM p.347)
attacked by hill giants, who took all of his
Wealdham 1d4 commoners (MM p.345)
wares and his horse. Kogren is too shaken to
Westbridge 1 guard (MM p.347) and 1d4 commoners remember much about the encounter in detail,
(MM p.345)
but can describe the general location of the hill
The patrol members are friendly towards the giant settlement.
party and report that while they are aware that
the road is getting more dangerous by the day,
W OODLAND C REATURES
they have not seen anything of note on their Rounding a corner in the road, the characters
patrol. come upon a place when a pristine forest
stream runs closely to the path.
C LOUD C ASTLE Around the stream are 2d6 elk, 1d10
Above in the skies, the characters spot a giant badgers, 3d12 frogs, 1d4 tressym and other
castle. small woodland creatures. The beasts aren’t
If the characters have encountered Zephyros hostile and flee if attacked.
(SKT p.33) in Chapter 1 of Storm King’s
Thunder, it is his castle and they can recognize W HAT ’ S N EXT ?
it without effort. If the characters have some Enjoyed the encounters here? Why not check
way to signal to Zephyros, stairs made of out Veratrem’s Tribal Siege with a 25%
clouds begin to form underneath the castle discount to get the full story or sign up to my
and descend toward them. Zephyros is friendly mailing list.
and can offer advice, but is not traveling in the
direction that the characters wish to go and
does not offer to take them. He sticks to the