TEXT:  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  by Ruslan Kim 
   
   
   
   
   
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards 
  of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work contains 
  material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement 
  for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2019 by Ruslan Kim and published under the Community Content 
  Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. 
  
   
  About this Guide 
  Combat is one of three main pillars of the game, 
  apart from exploration and interaction. And it 
  takes a lot of time to prepare and run good 
  combat encounter. The goal of this guide is to 
  help DMs who are running Waterdeep: Dungeon 
  of the Mad Mage adventure to get better 
  understanding on how to run combat encounters, 
  how to make them coherent, memorable and fun! 
   
  Preparation process divided into 3 steps: 
  1. Determining Encounter Difficulty. 
  2. Determining Surprise. 
  3. Determining Creatures’ Tactics. 
   
  First step will give you general understanding 
  about how difficult combat encounter might be 
  for your player characters. Each level of WDMM is 
  designed for PCs of particular level. I use a 
  guideline from Encounter Building section in 
  Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (XGE, p. 88) to 
  evaluate how many PCs of corresponding level 
  should be in the party to overcome the encounter. 
  Math is simple. If you have the same number of 
  PCs – it is good fight. If you have more PCs (2/3 of 
  number of PCs is needed) – they will pass it with 
  ease, but it still be challenging. If you have less 
  PCs (3/2 of number of PCs is needed) – encounter 
  will be hard, but still winnable. Also, I put notes 
  about combat difficulty, which I think is 
  important. Depending on this information you 
  can adjust the encounter for your group, skip it 
  entirely or think about possible defeat 
  consequences. 
   
  Second step is always up to DM, so you should be 
  prepared in advance. General guidance is written 
  in Player’s Handbook (PHB, p. 189). Basically, you 
  should determine who is surprised when the first 
  round of combat begins. To do so, you should 
  know answers for these questions: 
  Are creatures trying to hide? They roll Stealth. 
  Are they successful? Compare results to PC’s 
  Passive Perception score. 
  Are PCs trying to hide? They roll Stealth.  
  Are they successful? Compare results to 
  creatures’ Passive Perception score. 
  Based on the results you will understand who 
  will take actions in the first round of combat and 
  who will not. I also put my notes for the 
  encounters when circumstances may differ from 
  the standard procedure. 
   
  Third step will help you to understand how to use 
  creatures in combat. Where should they stand? 
  What course of action will be most efficient and 
  logical depending on the lore? Who do they need 
  to attack? Will they fight to the death? Will they 
  flee or surrender? I also put more detailed 
  explanation on how some creature’s abilities and 
  traits work. 
   
  Abbreviations and Font Styles 
  The following abbreviations are used throughout this 
  guide: 
  PHB = Player’s Handbook 
  MM = Monster Manual 
  DMG = Dungeon Master’s Guide 
  SCAG = Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide 
  XGE = Xanathar’s Guide to Everything 
  VGTM = Volo’s Guide to Monsters 
  MTOF = Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes 
  WDMM = Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage 
  WDH = Waterdeep: Dragon Heist 
  PC(s) = Player Character(s) 
  AC = Armor Class 
  DC = Difficulty Class 
  CR = Challenge Rating 
  hp = hit points 
  gp = gold piece(s) 
  AoE = Area of Effect 
  RAW = Rules as Written 
   
  The following font styles are used throughout this 
  guide: 
  Bold style is used for the creatures’ names 
  Italic style is used for the Spells. 
  Bold Italic style is used for the Abilities and Traits. 
  
   
  Level 18: Vanrakdoom 
  This level is designed for four 15th level PCs. If 
  you have more than 4 PCs, you can add more 
  creatures or maximize their hp to make combat 
  encounters more challenging. If you have less 
  PCs, you can decrease the number of creatures in 
  combat or use less optimal tactics. All creatures 
  in Encounter Difficulty section are compared to 
  15th level PCs. 
   
  Area 7a 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  1 Cult Fanatic (CR 2, MM, p. 345) = 1 PC 
  1 Swarm of Rats (CR 1/4, MM, p. 339) = 1 PC 
  6 Cultists (CR 1/8, MM, p. 345) = 1 PC 
  Note. Fight in this area alerts creatures from 
  Area 7b and Area 7c. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. Note that Keen Smell trait gives +5 to 
  the Swarm of Rats Passive Perception score. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  Cultists are intelligent humanoids. They can 
  negotiate, flee, surrender or take captives. 
   
  Make the Cult Fanatic cast Hold Person on 
  martial PC. On the next turn, if PC is Paralyzed, 
  make the Cult Fanatic cast 2nd level Inflict 
  Wounds to have a chance to deal 8d10 damage. If 
  PC isn’t Paralyzed, make the Cult Fanatic cast 
  Hold Person again. If the Cult Fanatic has no 2nd 
  level spell slots, make it cast Command: Grovel 
  against martial PC. If the Cult Fanatic is out of 
  spell slots, make it use Multiattack against less 
  armored PC.  
   
  Make the Cultists use Scimitar against less 
  armored, Paralyzed or Prone PC. 
   
  Rats are beasts, so they can’t surrender, take 
  captives or communicate without Speak with 
  Animals spell or similar abilities, but they can flee. 
   
  Make the Swarm of Rats use Bite against nearest 
  PCs. 
   
  Area 7b 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  2 Cultists (CR 1/8, MM, p. 345) = 1 PC 
  Note. Fight in this area alerts creatures from 
  Area 7a. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 7a. 
   
  Area 7c 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  2 Vampire Spawn (CR 5, MM, p. 295) = 2 PCs 
  Note. Fight in this area alerts creatures from 
  Area 7a. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  Vampires are intelligent undead creatures with 
  insatiable hunger for the blood of the living. They 
  can negotiate, flee, surrender or take captives to 
  drink their blood later. 
   
  The Vampire Spawn have Spider Climb trait 
  which allow them to climb on the walls or ceiling 
  to avoid melee attacks or set ambushes. Make the 
  Vampire Spawn use Multiattack against less 
  armored PC using Claw to inflict Grappled 
  condition instead of dealing damage and be able 
  to use Bite right after that. The Vampire Spawn 
  can move grappled target up to half of its speed 
  or 1/4 if moving vertically. Next turns the 
  Vampire Spawn can deal damage with both 
  Claw and Bite until PC escapes grapple. 
  
   
  Area 9 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  12 Cultists (CR 1/8, MM, p. 345) = 1 PC 
  4 Swarm of Rats (CR 1/4, MM, p. 339) = 1 PC 
  Note. Fight in this area alerts creatures from 
  Area 10. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. Note that Keen Smell trait gives +5 to 
  the Swarm of Rats Passive Perception score. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 7a. 
   
  Area 10 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  6 Shadow Assassins (CR 9, WDMM, p. 316) = 12 PCs 
  6 Cult Fanatics (CR 2, MM, p. 345) = 2 PCs 
  Note. Fight in this area alerts creatures from 
  Area 7b and Area 9. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 7a for the tactics of Cult Fanatics. 
   
  Shadow assassins are undead creatures who exist 
  only to slay the living. They won’t negotiate, flee, 
  surrender or take captives. 
   
  If the party doesn’t use light sources, make the 
  Shadow Assassins Hide as Bonus Action using 
  Shadow Stealth trait to get Advantage on next 
  attack roll. Make the Shadow Assassin use 
  Multiattack against less armored, Paralyzed or 
  Prone PC. Note, that PC died because of loss of 
  Strength will die right after Revivify or Raise Dead 
  cast on him or her if Strength wasn’t restored by 
  Greater Restoration first. According to Jeremy 
  Crawford’s Twitter, magic items like Potion of 
  Giant Strength and Gauntlets of Ogre Power grant 
  immunity to Strength loss. 
  Area 13a 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  1 Vampire Spawn (CR 5, MM, p. 295) = 1 PC 
  Note. Fight in this area might alert creatures 
  from Area 13b. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 7c. 
   
  Area 13b 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  3 Vampire Spawn (CR 5, MM, p. 295) = 3 PCs 
  Note. Fight in this area might alert creatures 
  from Area 13a. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. According to the book these Vampire 
  Spawn are sleeping, which means that PCs can 
  use Vampire Weakness: Stake to the Heart to 
  kill them outright. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 7c. 
   
  Area 15 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  2 Shadow Assassins (CR 9, WDMM, p. 316) = 4 PCs 
   
  Surprise 
  As a DM you can make PCs surprised when the 
  Shadow Assassins appear. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 10. 
   
  
   
  Area 18 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  6 Wraiths (CR 5, MM, p. 221) = 6 PCs 
   
  Surprise 
  As a DM you can make party surprised when the 
  Wraiths appear. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  Wraiths hate all the living and won’t negotiate, 
  flee, surrender or take captives. 
   
  The Wraith can fly and have Incorporeal 
  Movement trait, so make it use hit and run 
  tactics. Use Life Drain against less armored PC 
  and then hide inside the wall or under the floor. 
  This tactic forces the party to use Ready action 
  and lose benefits of Extra Attack or keep 
  Concentration on readied spells in exchange of 
  1d10 force damage. Don’t forget, that maximum 
  hit points reduction lasts until long rest is 
  finished. Make the Wraith use Create Specter if 
  there is a chance. 
   
  Area 25a 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  3 Vampire Spawn (CR 5, MM, p. 295) = 3 PCs 
  Note. Fight in this area might alert creatures 
  from Area 26. 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 7c. 
   
  Area 25b 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  1 Champion (CR 9, WDMM, p. 312) = 2 PCs 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  Champion is intelligent enough to negotiate, flee, 
  surrender or take captives. 
   
  Make the Champion use Multiattack with 
  Gratsword against less armored PC. Use 
  Shortbow only if there is no chance to attack in 
  melee. The Champion has very high bonus to 
  Athletic skill, so it can Grapple and Shove 
  effectively. Make the Champion use Second 
  Wind as Bonus Action once it loses more than 20 
  hp and use Indomitable when it fails saving 
  throw. 
   
  Area 26 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  1 Vampire (CR 13, MM, p. 295, with changes) = 5 PCs 
  1 Abominable Yeti (CR 9, MM, p. 305) = 2 PCs 
  9 Vampire Spawn (CR 5, MM, p. 295) = 9 PCs 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. Keen Smell trait gives +5 to the 
  Abominable Yeti’s Passive Perception score. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  Vampires are intelligent undead, so they can 
  negotiate, flee, surrender or take captives. 
   
  The Vampire has Legendary Actions so even if it 
  loses Initiative it can act right after first PCs turn. 
  It can’t use Bite until it grapples or charms the 
  target, but it can use Move or Unarmed Strike if 
  PC is within 5 ft. Charm is the most powerful 
  ability the Vampire has, so make it use it against 
  martial PC because spellcasters tend to have 
  higher Wisdom saves. Charm isn’t a spell, so 
  Dispel Magic can’t end it, but Greater Restoration 
  and Dispel Evil and Good will work. Charmed PC 
  isn’t dominated, so don’t force him or her to 
  attack other party members. Charmed PC can’t 
  attack the Vampire and the Vampire can use 
  
   
  Bite against PC without need of grapple. Make the 
  Vampire cast Spiritual Weapon as Bonus action 
  for additional damage. Best course of actions for 
  the Vampire is to successfully use Charm on as 
  many PCs as possible, convince them to give up 
  their weapons and armor and deal with them one 
  after another. Don’t forget that every time the 
  Vampire deals damage to Charmed PC, he or she 
  makes new saving throw, so it’s not auto-win. If 
  this tactic doesn’t work, because of high Wisdom 
  saves, spells or class features such as monk’s 
  Stillness of Mind, you can make the Vampire 
  fight. Make it cast 4th level Command: Grovel on 
  the party to give Advantage to its allies. Once the 
  Vampire is out of 4th level spell slots make it cast 
  Destructive Wave targeting as many PCs as 
  possible. Next turns make the Vampire focus on 
  less armored PC using Multiattack and Spiritual 
  Weapon and continue with Unarmed Strike or 
  Bite using Legendary actions. If there is PC 
  attuned to Sun Blade make the Vampire focus its 
  Charm and Command on him or her. Make it use 
  Command: Drop or Command: Flee in order to 
  avoid starting turn inside sunlight area. Assume, 
  that the fog it thick enough to block the sunlight. 
  Also, don’t forget that Shadowfell affects light 
  sources. Bright light is reduced to dim light, and 
  dim light to darkness. If you decide that it’s time 
  to flee make the Vampire use Dodge and run 
  away using its regular movement and Move 
  Legendary action after each PC’s turn. 
   
  See Area 7c for the tactics of Vampire Spawn. 
  Assume, that the fog it thick enough to block the 
  sunlight, so they can crawl under its protection. 
  Make the PC wielding Sun Blade their main 
  priority. 
   
  Yetis are savage hunters stalking alpine peaks. 
  They won’t negotiate, surrender or take captives 
  but they can flee. 
   
  Make the Abominable Yeti use Multiattack 
  against PC wielding Sun Blade or less armored 
  PC. Don’t forget that Paralyzed PC (PHB, p. 290) 
  loses Concentration automatically and all hits 
  became Critical Hits. Make the Abominable Yeti 
  use Cold Breath only if all PCs within reach are 
  immune to Chilling Gaze. 
  Area 28c 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  3 Shadow Assassins (CR 9, WDMM, p. 316) = 6 PCs 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  See Area 10. Bright light in Shadowfell is reduced 
  to dim light, and dim light to darkness, so make 
  the Shadow Assassins use Shadow Stealth as 
  Bonus Action before Multiattack. 
   
  Area 32 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  1 Adult Bronze Shadow Dragon (CR 15, MM, p. 86, 
  with changes, see Shadow Dragon, MM, p. 84) = 6 PCs 
  4 Shadow Assassins (CR 9, WDMM, p. 316) = 8 PCs 
  11 Shadows (CR 1/2, MM, p. 269) = 1 PC 
   
  Surprise 
  Follow the standard procedure to determine 
  surprise. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  A dragon affected by dark magic of Shadowfell 
  (PHB, p. 300) becomes shadow dragon. It’s up to 
  DM if shadow dragon will negotiate, flee, 
  surrender or take captives. 
   
  Shadowfell affects light sources. Bright light is 
  reduced to dim light, and dim light to darkness. 
  This means that Living Shadow trait will always 
  work on the Shadow Dragon and it can always 
  use Shadow Stealth before or after attack as 
  Bonus Action. The Shadow Dragon can fly so 
  make it stay out of melee reach between its turns. 
  Make the Shadow Dragon use Legendary 
  Resistance to succeed on saves against Hold 
  Monster, Web and other movement restricting 
  spells or abilities. The Shadow Dragon has 
  Legendary Actions so even if it loses Initiative it 
  can act using them after first PC’s turn. If any PC 
  is within 10 ft. reach, make the Dragon use Tail. 
  
   
  If the Dragon is surrounded by two or more PCs 
  make it use Wing Attack and fly away. Once the 
  Dragon’s turn is started make it use Multiattack 
  against PC with strong ranged attacks and make it 
  Hide as Bonus action after that using Shadow 
  Stealth. Successful Frightful Presence gives 
  Disadvantage on attacks against the Dragon, so 
  you can focus on spellcasters until Frightened 
  condition remains. Don’t forget that Sun Blade 
  creates sunlight and activates Sunlight 
  Sensitivity trait. On the next turn make the 
  Dragon use Shadow Breath targeting as many 
  PCs as possible and repeat this attack whenever 
  it’s available. 
   
  See Area 10 for the tactics of Shadow Assassins. 
  Bright light in Shadowfell is reduced to dim light, 
  and dim light to darkness, so make the Shadow 
  Assassins use Shadow Stealth as Bonus Action 
  before Multiattack. 
   
  Shadows feed on living creature’s vitality. They 
  prefer to attack good creatures, so you can make 
  them focus on good aligned PCs. Shadows can’t 
  negotiate or surrender, but they can flee.  
   
  Bright light in Shadowfell is reduced to dim light, 
  and dim light to darkness, so make the Shadow 
  use Shadow Stealth as Bonus Action before 
  Strength Drain attack. It is optimal to focus on 
  one PC at a time until it dies, but it is very 
  dangerous for PCs with low Strength score. 
   
  Area 33 
  Encounter Difficulty 
  4 Cloakers (CR 8, MM, p. 41) = 8 PCs 
   
  Surprise 
  As a DM you can make PCs surprised when the 
  Cloakers appear. 
   
  Creatures’ Tactics 
  Cloakers are stealthy and patient underground 
  predators. They can communicate and flee but 
  won’t surrender or take captives. 
   
  The Cloakers have above-average Intelligence 
  score and can use advanced tactics. They easily 
  surprise the party because of False Appearance 
  trait. While the party is surprised make the 
  Cloakers use Phantasms. It is very good 
  defensive ability. Each time PC attacks the 
  Cloaker or uses harmful spell against it, roll a die 
  to determine the target. If it has 3 duplicates roll 
  d4, if 2 – roll d6 and divide result by 2, if one – 
  any die will work, you should only assign even or 
  odd number for the real Cloaker. Note, that 
  duplicate disappears only if it failed save against 
  damaging spell, but not when it takes damage on 
  successful save. After using Phantasms make the 
  Cloaker use Multiattack against less-armored 
  PC. With first successful Bite attack the Cloaker 
  attaches to the PC and gets Advantage on 
  subsequent Bite attacks. While attached to the PC 
  the Cloaker also gets only half damage because of 
  Damage Transfer trait and PC takes other half. 
  Successful Bite attack with Advantage inflicts 
  Blinded condition (PHB, p. 292) and PC can’t 
  breathe (PHB, p. 183). According to Jeremy 
  Crawford’s Twitter, PC can hold breath when 
  affected by such kind of abilities, which makes 
  them less dangerous. Moan doesn’t look like 
  effective attack, so it isn’t recommended to use it. 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/MGtCE of DotMM 1-23/Monsters' Guide to Combat Encounters - For Dungeon of the Mad Mage Level 18 - Vanrakdoom.pdf