Dragon Encounters

How to use: The Cyclops’ Single Eye

The first thing I would like to note is that the one eye is a weakness. The original cyclops in The Odyssey was given one eye as a weakness for Ulysses to exploit, and its only significant function in the story is Ulysses taking advantage of it.

What does this mean for you? Aside from the very limited range of the cyclops’ rock throwing due to poor depth perception, I would be very sympathetic to any ideas your players might come up with to take advantage of it, or to hinder the cyclops eyes in general. For example, if they use their shields to reflect light into the cyclops’ eyes, I would let it blind him for a round (at least the first time.) I would also think that the cyclops would have disadvantage on the saving throw for Color Spray, and any other blindness inducing spells.

[Note: The 2024 edition of the Monster Manual turned the cyclops’ vision into an ability with which it can predict the future. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have problems with non-mystical sight. In fact, while the poor depth perception no longer appears as a trait, it’s still clearly part of its build, as seen in the range of its ranged attack.]

Combat Encounter 1: Rock Throwing Cyclops(difficulty 7)

Encounter Setup

The players spot an opening in the cliff face and decide to enter. The room inside was once, a very long time ago, some type of temple, but that time is long past. There are still several [I suggest four] pillars holding up the ceiling, and perhaps the players will spot fragments of mosaics, all that’s left of the mosaics that once decorated its walls. Aside from that the room is empty, except for a number of animal droppings, and perhaps a large sack of straw, so large that it would take at least eight people to carry it if you didn’t want it dragging on the floor (the cyclops’ bedroll.)

It could be that the entire party will enter, especially if it’s near the end of the day. Alternately, you can have them discover a large chest, easily their own height, tucked away in a corner of the cave. Due to difficulty in opening it, the rest of the party will probably be called in.

Not long after the party enters, the cyclops arrives. He rolls a huge boulder into the entrance, they preventing them from leaving easily (there is still some room between the top of the boulder and the roof, so they could climb up and out,) and he stands on the far side of the boulder. As soon as it’s his turn in the initiative order, he picks up a boulder and hurls it at them.

Cyclops’ Action Turn

While his chances of hitting them aren’t high (assuming they’re more than thirty feet back. The cavern goes at least sixty feet back) any stones that miss are going to smash straight into the back wall, or even worse, into one of the pillars. The first time that a stone hits the back wall, the cave shakes, but there is no actual effect. After that, though, pieces of the wall and the roof will collapse each time.

I would say that each miss reduces the size of the battlefield by a little, [say five feet (1 square) by 2-3 squares in length to start with, perhaps a bit more as the battle progresses,] and a pillar being knocked down turns the area around the destroyed pillar into difficult terrain and increases the amount of cave destroyed by later rocks.

If a PC is standing in the area that’s going to get destroyed, they take 2-3 d8 bludgeoning damage from falling stones and they become pinned to the ground. They can spend an action to try to get out on their turn, but will take a STR check [I would suggest DC 10 the first time, and increasing it each time as the battle progresses.] If they pass the check by five or more, it only costs them a bonus action instead of an action. Other players can also take an action to remove the stones, thereby freeing the trapped PC or reducing the check by five.

When a pillar is destroyed it won’t pin them, but they might take an extra d8 of damage. If most of the pillars are destroyed, the room caves in. [See below.]

Player Constraints

If they want to climb onto the boulder at the entrance and fight the cyclops in melee, there are a couple of ways you can run it. To start with, as the boulder is high, climbing it might take an action and require a skill check to achieve. (Either athletics or acrobatics, their choice. DC 10 with both hands free, DC 12 with one hand free, DC 14 with both hands full.)

Further complications can be: 1) Unstable footing, if the cyclopes hits them they have to make a save [STR or DEX, their choice. DC following the rules on concentration checks.] to avoid falling right back down. 2) The entrance is only so big, and if one player stands on the stone, nobody else has line of sight on the cyclops. (At higher levels, you could have two cyclopes as another option, one of whom stands back and continues to throw. That would raise the encounter level to difficulty 9.)

Handling Scenario Failure

If the cave collapses, everybody takes significant bludgeoning damage [probably around 6d8]. At least one of the characters should avoid being trapped by rocks, and he’ll have to find a way to dig the others out. The cyclops is in the area, but not actively looking for them, so they’ll have to be careful not to make too much noise. Alternatively, perhaps one player will distract the cyclops while another digs them out. In the end of the day, both the DM and the players will need to improvise somewhat.

Combat Encounter 2: Battle of the Cliff Face (difficulty 8)

This can be used as its own encounter, or as a continuation of the previous encounter. If they drove the cyclops back during the previous encounter, possibly with a spell or by destroying the barricade, you may want to have the cyclops retreat and move on to this encounter. Alternatively, if they killed the cyclops in the last encounter, you could have his brother show up for revenge the next day.

Scenario Battlemap

The cave opens onto a ledge, 10 feet from the ground. The ledge runs in both directions, but it’s somewhat narrow, so that one PC can’t stand behind another.

The cyclops is standing in front of the ledge, but he can hit them while they’re on the ledge due to his height. (Don’t believe me? The hill giant is 16’ feet tall, according to the Monster Manual. Since the cyclops is one CR higher, it seems logical that he’d be at least as tall.)

You could have the cyclops stand five feet back from the ledge, in which case most melee attacks wouldn’t be able to hit him. Personally, I prefer not to use this strategy here [we’ll say that the cyclops doesn’t realize this.] Partially, this is because I don’t want the players to be motivated to jump down. Partially, this is because the encounter is already hard enough. And partially, I have plans to use this strategy once the blog gets up to giants.

The cyclops isn’t standing right in front of the cave, so they can’t hit him with a ranged attack or spell from inside the cave (I would consider stating that the sun’s glare gives them disadvantage if they try to make a ranged attack from just inside the cave. Alternatively, you can have the cave entrance at an angle, pointed the wrong way.) If they decide to run in and out, the cyclops can use one of its attacks to smash the ledge in front of the cave. Entering and exiting will still be possible, but it will take some careful climbing to reach the ledge.

To prevent them from jumping down, let them know that the area at the bottom is covered by water. [It’s possible that when they entered, the tide wasn’t in, but it is now.] Jumping down will mean making a DEX save [DC 14] to keep their feet, with 2d6 slashing damage from the rocks and them being dragged out by the tide for 5-10 feet before they regain their footing. They’ll also be fighting in water if they do that. [This doesn’t give the cyclops disadvantage, as his arms are above the water.] 

There is no obvious way down from the ledge. Getting to the cave will have involved climbing. (If this is the cyclops’ home from the previous encounter, provide him with a very large rock outcropping that he uses as a stepping stone to get up. Both during the last encounter and when entering or exiting his home.)

Cyclops’ Actions

In addition to the difficulties from the ledge, the cyclops isn’t fighting carefully. Perhaps because of his poor depth perception, perhaps because he’s so angry at the PCs (whether for invading his home, killing his brother, or other.) Sometimes his blows hit the back of the cliff, causing either rubble to fall [and inflict damage] or for sand to fall, blinding the PC for a turn. Other times he hits the ledge, smashing bits of it and leaving missing pieces that the players will have to jump over if they want to cross.

(If the players have the idea of hiding in the cave and waiting for the tide to go down, or for the cyclops to leave, you could switch to the previous encounter, assuming they haven’t already fought that. Another thing the cyclops might do is to go back to the shore, take something flammable, light it and put in into the cave, to smoke the PCs out. Before you do this, you might want to have him waiting outside for a while, and have him pace back and forth, so the players don’t run away while he’s getting the wood.)

Combat Encounter 3: Reaching Shore While Under a Rock Attack (Difficulty 8)

Scenario Setup

The players are trying to reach an island, for whatever reason. They have a small sailboat or rowboat that they’re using, probably bought or rented, with nobody on board except themselves. As they approach the island, the cyclops that is there sees them and takes exception to their coming [or maybe he just decided that this is the easiest way to capture them] and begins throwing boulders at their boat.

I would suggest a sea that isn’t stormy, but neither is it completely calm. There is a good beach for them to land on, but that’s where the cyclops is standing, and attempting to land there will give the cyclops 3-4 rounds in which to attempt to sink them. [He won’t even have disadvantage on the last 1-2 rounds.] (What happens if he does sink them will be discussed below.)

The other option is around the side of the island*. Unfortunately, this isn’t a nice sandy beach. In fact, it is basically a rocky outcropping. Landing the boat here will require great skill.

Steering the Boat: Waves or Boulders?

Ask the players to choose between concentrating on guiding the boat through carefully and concentrating on avoiding the cyclops’ boulders. They can’t do both, as guiding the boat safely means keeping it going straight and watching that it shouldn’t get caught on the rocks, while avoiding the boulders means steering the boat away from the general area of where the boulder is going to land. By the time someone can work out whether the boulder is going to hit them or going to miss, it’s too late to steer the boat away.

It’s up to you whether you want to let them know about the cyclops poor depth vision. This will undoubtably affect the decision, but it won’t necessarily make the decision. I am running this encounter with the assumption that they won’t reach 30 feet of the cyclops until they land. The beach is small, but not that small, and it makes no sense to beach at the cyclops feet.

Focus on Steering: If they focus on steering the boat, you’ll roll for the cyclops’ boulders each turn. The cyclops has disadvantage on throws more than 30 feet away, but their movements are more predictable than during a normal battle, so cancel out the disadvantage. Decide before the encounter on the boats AC and HP, but I’d keep them low enough that 1-2 hits will sink the boat. (2-3 with the 2024 Monster Manual, as the cyclops is getting an extra rock attack.)

They can choose between landing fast and landing carefully. If they choose fast, they land that turn, with a – 2 on the STR check to land successfully.  If they choose carefully, the cyclops gets two rounds in which to throw boulders, but they won’t have a penalty. Everything else is the same. Landing details will be discussed soon.

Focus on Dodging: If they concentrate on trying to avoid boulders, the cyclops will have its normal disadvantage on its rock attacks, but it will take them at least two rounds to reach land. Use a STR check if rowing, a DEX check if sailing, and add proficency bonus if they have knowledge or background experiance with boats. The DC is 15.

A single failure means that they don’t get to choose between landing on the beach or the rocks, unless they want to spend an extra turn to reach shore. The current carried them off target, and the decision is now in the hands of fate, also knows as the DM. Two failures means that they’ll have to spend an additional turn in the boat, with a third failure causing them to capsize. See Scenario Failure below. 

Landing the Boat: Beach or Waves?

Landing on the Beach: If they aim for the beach where the cyclops is, they won’t require any rolls to land, but they will need to roll if they want to avoid capsizing on the landing. This capsizing won’t sink them offshore, but will make it harder to not lose the boat. and force them to use the first turn of combat to swim ashore and stand up, with a prone status until the end of that turn. The DC is 14.

Landing on the beach means having to moor it immiediatly, while the cyclops immediately charges. I’d suggest that mooring the boat requires a STR check of 13 if they landed successfully, 16 if they capsized. Each player who joins the attempt adds either + 2 or plus STR modifier to the roll, whichever is higher. A failure means that they have to try again next turn. If nobody attemps to moor it for 1-2 turns, their boat gets washed out to sea. They’re going to have to find a different way off the island.

Landing on the Rocks: If they aimed for the rocks, landing will be harder. If you don’t want to use an anchor, which will make them far too vulnarable, they’ll need to send a PC onto the rocks ahead of them with a rope to pull them up.

That PC will have to make a DEX skill check [acrobatics] followed by a STR skill check [athletics]. Both checks are DC 13. If they fail the DEX check, they fall against the rocks, taking 2d6 damage and falling prone, unable to pull the boat up that turn. If they fail the STR save, they fail to pull up the boat, and have to try again next turn. On the other hand, an additional one PC per round can join them on the rocks, and spend their action to add + 2 to the STR save. The – 2 penalty for going fast applies to both rolls.

The entire time they’re pulling up the boat, and while they’re on the rocks afterwards, the cyclops will be throwing rocks. The rocks can hit them, hit the boat, and smash away at their footing, and the waves and unstable footing can force them to make DEX saves to avoid falling prone and taking damage.

Scenario Failure: If the Boat Sinks

If their boat gets sunk, you have several options to choose from.

1) They have to make a successful STR check [athletics, DC 12-14] to swim to shore. Every turn that they fail, they gain a level of exhaustion. If they fail three times in a row, they either automatically succeed or they get washed out to sea, your choice. [If you choose washed out to sea, you might want to send a merfolk or a dolphin to rescue them, eventually. They probably won’t rejoin the party until after the cyclops encounter, and possibly it will take even longer.]

2) They have to make the previous skill check to stay together. Anyone that fails ends up on a random spot on the beach, possibly with one level of exhaustion. [If exactly one person succeeds, ask him who he’d like to end up next to.] Other possible penalties would be to take a few d8 damage from the rocks, if they chose the rocky shore, and/or to miss the first round of combat as they get their breath back.

3) They get to the beach without incident. Possibly the cyclops is waiting for them, and possibly he left.

Of course, regardless of which option you chose, they have no food, little to no fresh water, and no way to get off the island.