Rain pummeled Berdem’s hood. The dull, wet thuds of the thick droplets created a steady rhythm. He looked over at his hunting partner, Aelar, and nodded. The two silently stalked forward toward a herd of deer. Luckily for the deer, they were not the quarry of the two hunters; however, they were not free from danger. Berdem took his position near the edge of a glade and nocked an arrow and waited.
The rain stopped above Berdem before the downfall resumed its dull, wet symphony as the sky darkened above him for just a moment. A deep, cackling squawk filled the air, and a thin barbed tail darted down, piercing a deer through its abdomen. Berdem drew his bow and released the readied arrow. Time seemed to slow as Bedrem watched the arrow fly and glanced over to Aelar. He was aiming high above himself and wore an expression of terror. He loosed an arrow directly above himself as branches fell around a Wyvern crashing down through the trees. Aelar was always reckless; it came to no surprise to Berdem that his companion was discovered.
His attention turned back to the herd of deer scattering. The lead Wyvern had landed in the glade and had begun to feast on the deer, but had no arrow in it. Of course he missed by pulling his attention away, but where was the third Wyvern? They always hunted in trios.
He felt a blast of hot air on the back of his neck.
Berdem had never been hunted, and never would be again.
Overview
Well, it’s in the name — Dungeons and Dragons — so I think it’s high time we get a dragon in one of these breakdowns. Wyverns, while not “true” dragons1, are still a draconic monster that we can use to temper our players into thinking how to fight the bigger, badder, meaner dragons. Now, let’s discuss what a Wyvern is and how they should be used.
First thing of note. I cannot remember where I read this, but I am fairly certain it was a DnD source book2 that stated Wyverns are pack hunters. This idea has stuck with me and I feel it is fitting for a lesser type of Dragon; they hunt in small packs of three to four and take down larger prey that the pack can feast on. Also, it makes them more menacing — your players won’t be fighting them alone, which is the worst kind of combat encounter you can design, as it won’t last long enough to be meaningful but will burn enough resources to be annoying.
Next, Wyvern are aerial hunters. We can take this to heart and make it so they will never land unless forced, or we can make something a little more fair for the players, which I will cover more in the Combat Examples. However, knowing this, we can get an idea of how they hunt. My initial thought is to treat them like falcons, diving from great heights and surprising their prey. However, instead of landing, they will swipe at their prey with their tails and attempt to fly off with them. Let them use this to be surprise hunters; the temptation to describe a large shadow passing overhead might be fun to play out, but keeping the shadow small and describing a shadow growing three times in size as the wings spread out and making an attack in a surprise round will prime the players' fear of the new enemy.
Third, they are described as aggressive and reckless, leaving a hunt only if they sustain lots of injuries. Or staking out a hiding spot their prey has fled to, waiting for the best opportunity to strike with their tail. Have a pack of Wyvern harass the players through the entire length of their journey, especially if it crosses through the Wyvern’s territory. Have the Wyvern cycle which of the pack is stalking and which is striking, then switch it up and have the entire pack spring into an attack after a moment's respite.
Finally, they can be tamed. This may be scary for some DM’s, especially newer ones, who come to the sudden realization that they just gave the party a baby creature that they have to consider for combat, direct attacks, AoEs, and the like, as well as some non-combat situations. If you don’t feel comfortable with it, then that is fine, you can omit this information.3 Or simply deny them the opportunity to encounter a clutch of Wyvern Eggs. Afterall, it can’t become a pet if it's already a full-grown adult hunting the players.
Stats
Now that we have covered the overview, let’s see what our beastie can do.
With a low Armor Class and average Hit Points for CR 6, the wyvern is correctly labeled not to be a brawler, but a skirmisher.
They got the zoomies with an 80’ fly speed. This will line up to be well used for ambushing prey or players.
With a 19 (+4) in strength, you can have some creativity here with grappling the prey of the Wyvern.
“i HaVe DaRkvIsIoN”
Ah, Multiattack. A vast majority of the time, I feel that this one ability gives too much perceived power to monsters. Here, this isn’t quite the case, but it is still a point that needs to be discussed each time a monster has Multiattack. Unlike some creatures4 I’ve covered, I feel Multiattack adds to the Wyvern’s capabilities, as it uses the best attack as the base of the Multiattack.
Both the Bite and Claw are good options for harassing an opening to use the Tail attack. (Quick note: the Bite has a 10’ reach, letting you stay out of most melee characters' attacks while your beastie can rough them up.)
Now, the Tail attack. My God, this is golden for the Wyvern. With a 10’ reach, you can keep the Wyvern in the air and attack the melees — this is delicious. It follows up with 2d6+4 damage and then a Con Save for 7d6 Poison damage (half on a successful save). The Con Save is sufficiently high (15)5 to guarantee it will happen a couple of times, and may actually happen each time it hits. This is a deliciously hurtful attack to spring on players who may be on a success high, only to suddenly be smacked for an average of 35 damage. This Poison is also highly valued by many people, making the Wyvern a potential target for late Tier 1 early Tier 2 money making.6
Combat Example
On to our combat encounters. We are going to have a combat with one Wyvern, and a combat with Multiple of them. For our first combat, we are going to have 3 Wyverns against 5 eighth level adventurers.
Our adventurers are traveling on the King’s Road, going south through the Harrenback Mountain trail. Being ever vigilant, they keep watch for bandits, goblins, or orcs waiting in ambush among the rocky crags and caves that dot the mountain side. An echoing shriek breaks their concentration as a small pack of Wyvern descend from the skies, beginning their hunt.
In the set up for the encounter, the Wyverns will be attacking from three different directions; ultimately, it's up to you, but I would recommend the Left and Right flank, and from the Rear. On their first turn, the Wyverns will flyby and make a Bite and Tail attack against the adventurers. They are going to keep their distance and only land if they can separate an adventurer from the rest of the group. The attacks will continue until one of the Wyverns dies or until two of them are under 40 Hit Points. However, the Wyverns will go recuperate and attack the party again before they can leave the Wyvern’s territory.
Additionally, if the party has pack animals7 with them, a Wyvern can fly down and make a grapple check. If successful (go ahead and make it succeed), the Wyvern flies off with the animal and the party watches as it attacks the animal with its tail mid-flight. If you plan to do this, have there be a fourth Wyvern that uses its first turn to do this. This will not only seem to be a more dynamic fight, but will put the players on guard for a Wyvern attempting to grapple them.8
Our next combat encounter will include 1 Wyvern against 4 fourth level adventurers.
Following a trail of blood and bribes, our adventurers have charged their way into the corrupt underbelly of the Yrmar’s merchant republic. Chasing down the Merchant Lord Hyrinth Colne, our adventurers unwittingly fell into a pit leading to his prized monstrous trophy: a chained up Wyvern. The bones scattered around the pit resemble humanoid bones; clearly, this pit is used to dispose of the Merchant Lord’s enemies.
The combat will include a feature that makes the Wyvern’s flight ability moot: a 15’ chain is connected to a collar around the Wyvern neck. There is enough chain for the Wyvern to walk around the 20’ radius pit and still attack most of the area with its Tail and Bite, as well as take flight if the melees prove to be a nuisance. However, if the players are clever, they can grab the chain and attempt to bring the Wyvern back into melee range. Following a similar style to the first combat, the Wyvern will primarily use its Bite and Tail to attack, and, if needed, you can have it grapple a character and just keep it under its foot, pinning the adventurer in place until they break free to kill the Wyvern.
Final Thoughts
The Wyvern is a lesser Dragon that has the potential to wreck someone's whole ass day. With their hunting instincts keeping them from falling into bad attack habits and their poison being a big hitter, they can make formidable road encounter enemies or even a mount for your Big Bad’s Lieutenant. The Wyvern can also be a good indicator for a “here be dragons”9 moment as the party wanders into territory that could house True Dragons.
A true dragon being one that has a Breath Weapon, at least in my opinion.
May have been an older edition book that I no longer have access to.
Just a reminder: while the books are the “Rules” of the game, they act more as guidelines and baselines for DMs to take and alter as they need.
>.> Looking at you again Kuo-toa Monitor <.<
Using the hit formula ((21-R+B)/20)*100 we have ((21-15+0)/20)*100=30% as the baseline for success, OR a 70% chance of failure each time it is rolled. You can change the +0 to a player's Constitution Modifier to get their specific odds, but unless they are a Barbarian with Con as their highest at an 18 or 20, your players are probably going to float around 40-50% chance of success, and remember — 50/50 odds favor the House.
A vial of Wyvern poison is valued at 1,200 gp, according to page 258 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
And I mean specifically pack animals (mules, oxen, yaks, draft horses, etc.), not a party pet or mount.
If there is a caster with fly or feather fall, then absolutely attempt this on them, so you can have the Wyvern drop them, allowing them to use one of their utility spells. However, make sure they have the spell prepared and the slots for it.