Every year, on the cursed night of Draugate’s Hallow, the grounds of the Black-Stave Church stir and tear open as Draugar rise to fall upon the realm once more. Yet the Norn of the Hammerlands are prepared and stand ready to keep the risen dead confined to the rotten holy site, lest they sweep across the realm in a mindless, violent flood of death and decay.
In this post, I want to provide you with a variety of assets that you can craft into an exciting encounter for your level 6-10 party! The post will include creature stats, magic items, battle maps, and plot hooks, but the implementation of these things will be down to you.
Draugate’s Hallow
Draugate’s Hallow is a time of fear and shame within the Hammerlands. Occurring annually, on the 21 June, this dreadful night and its rotten history call the dead to rise once more.
In the year 466, the Dwarven Necromancer Rethmire was slain and her rampant magical curses were sealed within the once divine Black-Stave Church. The combined efforts of the realm’s finest heroes resulted in Rethmire’s body being torn asunder and destroyed within the church’s grounds. However, in this process, the destructive magic needed to unmake the necromancer’s body went awry and the realm quaked as death magic spilled forth, cursing the hallowed grounds of the holy church. Panic ensued as the dead rose again, as monstrous Draugar surged from the church. Many lives were lost as the realm struggled to contain the undead, yet after a few months of fighting, the main body of the host was slain, and the threat subsided.
Time passed and the Draugar became nothing more than a painful memory. People returned to their lives, safe in the knowledge that the danger had been resolved. But on the anniversary of Rethmire’s death, the dead poured forth from within the church once more. This pattern has continued every year since, on the day now known as Draugate’s Hallow.
Black-Stave Church
This monumental building was once known as Borgund Stave Church and was the resting place of many a Norn hero. The dark, oak wood and gilded golden decal made it a stunning sight to behold. Old Norse runes ran throughout the structure, offering Thor’s blessing to those that lay rest here. Below the surface, a cavernous tomb stretched for miles into the earth of the Hammerlands. Innumerable people were buried within this blessed catacomb at the height of its popularity.
It was this reason, however, that drew the attention of Rethmire. A single building, containing near-limitless dead was a too greater prize for the necromancer to ignore. And so she fell upon the church, like an axe against wood, sundering its protectors and warping the landscape into a defendable mire. The wood turned black, the gold became dull and corroded, and the once blessed land become rotten and vile. It was after this change that the church came to be known as the Black-Stave Church.
The Draugar
In the Hammerlands, the undead appears in the form of Draugar. Many of these long-dead warriors are rotten, shambling corpses, wielding the same rusted weapons they employed in life. However, Draugar can be raised under many different circumstances, and stronger, more dangerous variations are common.
They are simple-minded, yet devious and supernaturally committed to the destruction of life. They employ a variety of unholy powers to overwhelm their enemies. Their bodies contain cursed ice magic which causes them to freeze into fragile, icy statues upon their destruction. They are also known to employ undead beasts as both mounts and weapons against their foes.
Draugar Stat Blocks
Below you will find the stat blocks of 5 Draugar variations, an undead mount, and an undead war-beast. You are free to implement these creatures however you see fit. Click the stat block to download it.
Running Draugar in Combat
The Draugar have many variations, which all have their own tools and powers. However, they are intended to be hoard monsters. Encounters involving Draugar should use a combination of the variations, with the majority being made up of lower challenge options. Using the Shamblers, Warriors, and Misthunters as the bulk of your encounter, while including just a few of the stronger options will force the party to split their focus and keep them from focusing down your strongest creatures. If they ignore the ‘minions’ they’ll soon find themselves overwhelmed and struggle to regain control over an escalating danger.
Battle map
Day and Night Versions Download link: Click Here
This battle map is the Black-stave Church and the surrounding area. A fun way of using it could involve having the Draugar swarm up from stairs in the back room and let the players fight throughout the church and the trenches beyond.
Loot and Rewards
Rethmire’s body was destroyed in the Black-Stave Church, yet her powerful, necromantic crown remains hidden within the church and could prove to be a powerful reward for a high-level party. If you introduce this encounter through the party being hired, you could gift the party some consumable magic items to make the encounter more manageable.
Crown of the Damned:
The Crown of the Damned is the magical crown worn by Rethmire during her reign of evil. The crown was suffused with dark necromantic energy and still holds the necessary magic needed to summon and control the undead. It is a very rare magic item that requires attunement.
The scarred metal crown is a black tungsten band with several asymmetrical spikes towering heavenward. Deep green gems sit sporadically throughout the crown and release wisps of green mist that cascade down the wearer’s face like a ghostly veil. Deep cracks connect the gems to one another and glow with a pulsing, sickly green aura.
While wearing this crown you gain proficiency in the language, Old Norse and you become an undead-type creature for the purposes of spells and abilities.
Release the Hoard: As an action, you can invoke the Crown of the Damned and summon 1 Draugar Shambler, and each time you use this feature, the number of Draugar summoned is increased by 1.
Upon summoning the Draugar, you must roll a D20. If you roll lower than the number of Draugar summoned, you lose control of them and the next time you use this feature, the number of summoned Draugar resets to one. If you use this feature whilst within 120ft of an undead-type creature, you have disadvantage on this roll.
The Draugar remains for a number of minutes equal to your wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus x 10, or until their HP is reduced to 0.
Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until the following sunset.
Raise the Past: The Crown of the Damned has 3 charges. You may expend 1 charge to cast the Animate Dead spell without expending a spell slot.
When using this item to cast the Animate Dead spell, the created undead can only be a Draugar Norn.
The Crown regains 1 charge whenever a Draugar Shambler or Draugar Norn under your control lands a critical hit on an enemy creature.
Undead Cage:
An Undead Cage is a small rune carved onto the scalp of a humanoid skull. As an action, you can place the rune on the ground and speak the command word to activate it. While active, a 15ft wide, 50ft high pillar of crackling light appears centred on the rune.
If an undead type creature of CR 6 or lower enters this light they become unable to exit it and take 1d4 radiant damage at the beginning of their turn.
The rune remains active for 1 minute, after which the rune becomes inert.
Plot Hooks
When adding these assets to your game you can either establish it as a planned quest or have it be something the party stumbles across. Below you can find some example scenarios that may lead to an encounter with the Draugar and the Black-Stave Church:
| D6 | Scenario |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Norn prepare to repel the Draugar on Draugate’s Hallow and request support from the party. |
| 2 | A steady stream of the undead has been ravaging nearby settlements and the population is desperate for someone to put a stop to them. |
| 3 | The answer to the party’s problem lies interned with the body of a famous Norn hero. One that happens to be buried deep within the Black-Stave Church’s crypts. |
| 4 | An overzealous warrior seeking glory has disturbed the long-silent undead of the Black-Stave Church. Now someone must prevent the awakened Draugar from traveling beyond the confines of the cursed building. |
| 5 | A great evil seeks the Crown of the Damned. The party must reach the Black-Stave Church first and prevent anyone from claiming the artefact’s dreaded power. |
| 6 | Nidhogg’s gaze has fallen upon the Black-Stave Church and the dragon is making fiendish plans to exploit the evil there. The party must put a stop to his plans before Nidhogg can claim its dark power for himself. |
Final Thoughts
Thank you for reading and (hopefully) enjoying this asset encounter pack! I hope you found something that you’re excited to use in your own games or are at least inspired by one of the ideas here! These encounter asset packs are a lot of work but it’s really fun to build a bunch of homebrews that all focus on a single theme. I’m a sucker for thematic content!
More so than the last encounter asset pack, I feel like the creatures, magic items and even the lore should be easier to adapt to your own games. It’s a broader concept that should let you just pull out the bits you want and ignore the rest without feeling like you’re missing something.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog! I surely enjoyed writing it! Many of the creatures and magic items used in this post were designed on my Twitch stream which you are welcome to join! You can also contact me and join the community through my discord server!
Veneon Reforged 
Leave a comment