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The Drowned

They Do Not Need to Breathe

“I swear on my life, we sank the boat. They shouldn’t be here. They shouldn’t be here.”

Many years ago, when the first signs of the Blight appeared, the people of Faulmoor sought ways to contain it. They thought water would be its tomb.

They were wrong.

The Drowned are water-adapted Blightborn associated with rivers, flooded ruins, marsh channels, lakes, harbors, and coastal waters. Many are believed to be the remains of thosepeople who weredeliberately thrown into Faulmoor’sdeep rivers,water lakes,during andearly coastalattempts waters,at weighted down with chains or cast overboard from doomed vessels. Some were criminals, some were the infected, some were simply sacrifices in the name of survival. But rather than finding peace in the depths, they rose again.containment.

u5795667575_Beneath_the_dark_stagnant_waters_of_a_long-forgotte_51768146-11bf-482a-8d9d-29f09737f096.png

Appearance

Drowned bodies are bloated, split, and discolored by long immersion. Hair, cloth, rope, weeds, fishing line, chains, and fragments of wreckage commonly trail from them. Some still carry the weights used to sink their bodies.

Their hands and forearms are often badly damaged. Hooks, broken chain, gaffs, nails, jagged bone, or debris may remain embedded in the corpse and become part of the way it catches prey.

They domove notpoorly float.on Theydry doland. notIn drift.water, Theythe same body becomes fast enough to make distance disappear frighteningly quickly.

Ambush Behavior

Drowned frequently remain beneath the surface,surface waiting,rather theirthan bodiesfloating. bloatedStill water therefore offers little reassurance. They wait below docks, ferry crossings, flooded roads, bridge ruins, reed beds, and splitthe fromsides prolongedof decay.boats.

Their mouthsattacks hangare open,built endlesslyaround drippingpulling prey toward water. A Drowned may hook clothing, flesh, armor, or equipment with blackenedwhatever water,is theircaught movementsin eerilyits slow—untilruined theybody, strike.then haul the victim toward itself with sudden force. Once close, it bites and tears while continuing to drag downward.

This behavior makes the edge of the water almost as dangerous as the water itself.

In the Water

The Drowned are notdifficult creaturesto youescape once they establish control of a fight in deep water. They do not need to surface for air, and the open—theyweight and decay that make them clumsy ashore do not hinder them below the surface.

Boats are creaturesnot youcomplete neverprotection. fightAccounts atdescribe all.Drowned Ifclimbing theyhulls, dragstriking youfrom directly below, catching oars, and using embedded chain or wreckage to pull people over gunwales.

Field Knowledge

Crossings with poor visibility are treated cautiously even when no Blighted are visible. Travelers favor poles, raised banks, bridges with clear approaches, and places where anyone pulled into deepthe water,water youcan willbe notreached escape.quickly.

The keymost repeated advice remains simple: if a Drowned can be made to survival is staying out of their reach. Never fight them while in or near deep water, and never assume that still waters are empty. They are slow and sluggish on dry land—lure them ashore if you must engage. Once out ofleave the water, they become vulnerable to fire, which dries them out and weakens them. If caught, do not struggle directly against their grip—instead, strike their arms or fingers to break free before they pull you under. Above all, if you hear water moving when the wind is still, leave immediately.

The worst partmuch of theits Drownedadvantage is that they never let go. When they take hold of a victim, they do not claw or bite—they drag them down, deeper and deeper, until their thrashing stops. Their fingers clamp like iron, their bodies press downward, and their victims are left to drown in the same fate they once suffered.

Should you ever need to cross the waters of Faulmoor, do so quickly. The dead are waiting below, and they are always hungry.disappears.

Stat

See Block

Medium Undead, unaligned

Armor Class: 14 Hit Points: 40 (5d8 + 15) Speed: 30 ft., swim 60 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (+2) 10 (+0) 16 (+3) 8 (-1) 8 (-1) 8 (-1)

Damage Resistances: Fire
Damage Immunities: Poison
Condition Immunities: Poisoned, Exhaustion
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 8
Challenge: 1 (200 XP)

Traits
Also

DraggingSilver Grasp:
Ifand aits Drowned successfully grapples a target, the target is pulled 5 feet toward water or deeper into it.

Importance
Actions

    Lunge.
    Melee Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
    Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage; the target must succeed on a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check contested by the Drowned’s Strength (Athletics) or be grappled (escape DC 14).
    While grappled, the Drowned may use its next action to attempt a Bite.

    Bite.
    Melee Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one grappled target.
    Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage and the target must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or become infected.
    Underwater, this bite automatically inflicts the poisoned condition until the end of the target’s next turn due to necrotic sludge entering the wound.