Drona

Medium humanoid (human), lawful neutral bard (college of swords) 5/fighter (battlemaster) 11

Armor Class 15 (studded leather, fighting style)
Hit Points 115 (5d8+11d10+32)
Speed 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	14 (+2)	14 (+2)	12 (+1)	12 (+1)	16 (+3)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Cha +8
Skills Athletics +13, History +6, Insight +11, Perception +6, Religion +6; artisan’s tools (any two) +6, any one instrument +8
Senses passive Perception 16
Languages Sanskrit
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP)

Special Traits

• Action Surge (1/short Rest). Once on his turn, Achilles can take an additional action on top of his regular action and a possible bonus action.
• Bardic Inspiration 1d8 (3/short Rest). As a bonus action on his turn, Drona can choose one other creature within 60 feet who can hear him. That creature gains one Bardic Inspiration die, a d8. Once within the next 10 minutes, the creature can roll the die and add the number rolled to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the Bardic Inspiration die, but must decide before the GM says whether the roll succeeds or fails.
  • Flourishing Blade (1/turn). Drona’s speed increases by 10 feet on any turn that he takes the Attack action. When he hits a creature with a weapon attack, he can choose one of the following.
  • Defend. Drona spends a Bardic Inspiration die, dealing 1d8 extra damage. Until the start of his next turn, Drona‘s AC increases by the same amount as the extra damage.
  • Maneuver. Drona spends a Bardic Inspiration die to deal 1d8 extra damage. The target is also pushed a number of feet away equal to 5 + the extra damage, at which point Drona can use his reaction to move up to 40 feet to a space within 5 feet of the target that is not occupied.
  • Slash. Drona spends a Bardic Inspiration die to deal 1d8 extra damage and he deals the same amount of extra damage to another creature within 5 feet of him.
• Indomitable (1/long Rest). Drona can reroll a saving throw that he fails but must use the new roll.
• Jack of All Trades. Drona adds +2 to any ability check he makes that doesn’t already include his proficiency bonus.
• Maneuver Master (5d10/short Rest). Drona can expend a maneuver dice to perform a single maneuver with an attack.
  • Command. Drona uses his bonus action to forgo one of his attacks and direct a friendly creature who can see or hear him. The creature uses its reaction and makes a weapon attack, dealing 1d10 additional weapon damage on a successful hit.
  • Disarm. A creature Drona has hit with an attack takes 1d10 additional damage and makes a DC 16 Strength saving throw or drops one held item of his choice.
  • Feint. Drona can use his bonus action to feint against one creature within 5 feet. He has advantage on his next attack roll against that creature as long as it before the end of his turn. On a hit he deals 1d10 additional damage.
  • Sweep. Drona chooses a creature adjacent to him target and within his reach and on a hit, the adjacent creature takes 1d10 damage (of the same type as the weapon attack).
  • Trip. Drona deals 1d10 additional damage and if the target is a creature of Large size or smaller, it makes a DC 16 Strength saving throw or is knocked prone.
• Second Wind (1/short Rest). On his turn, Drona can use a bonus action to regain 1d10+11 hit points.
• Song of Rest. After a short rest, Drona or any friendly creatures who can hear his performance regain hit points by spending one or more Hit Dice, each of those creatures regains an extra 1d6 hit points.
• Spellcasting. Drona is a 5th-level spellcaster that uses Charisma as his spellcasting ability for spells (spell save DC 16; +8 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following spells prepared from the bard’s spell list and can use a bladed weapon as his spellcasting focus:
  • Cantrips: message, true strike, vicious mockery
  • 1st-level (4 slots): bane, healing word, longstrider, thunderwave
  • 2nd-level (3 slots): enhance ability, zone of truth
  • 3rd-level (2 slots): bestow curse, fear
• Mobility. Drona can Dash through difficult terrain without requiring additional movement. Whenever he makes an attack against a creature, he doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature until the end of his turn.
• Soldier Tactics. A creature hit by Drona’s opportunity attack reduces its Speed to 0 until the beginning of the next round and disengaging from Drona still provokes opportunity attacks. In addition, Drona can use his reaction to make a melee weapon attack against a creature within 5 feet when it makes an attack against a target other than Drona.

Actions

• Multiattack. Drona attacks three times when he takes the Attack action.
• Asi (Defender Longsword). Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (1d8+8)
• Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) slashing damage or 8 (1d10+3) slashing damage if wielded in two hands.
• Longbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage.

About

Drona’s name means “vessel made of leaf” because that’s what he was born from! An overexcited sage saw a beautiful apsara (female spirit of the clouds and waters) in the Ganga River, catching his expulsion in a leaf that Dronacharya sprang out of.

Drona grew up poor but trained in the military arts, showing a talent for weaponry, and grew close to a local prince named Drupada. He married and had a son, Ashwatthama.

Drona heard that Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu, was giving his possessions away to priests but that unfortunately only weapons were left. Drona claimed those weapons along with the knowledge of their use, gaining the title of ācārya.

When Drona’s childhood friend Prince Drupada became a king and wished for his son to know a better life, Drona tried to make good on a childhood promise. His former friend claimed that because they now had different statuses in life that the pledge was void, only agreeing to provide Drona some wealth if he asked as a priest instead—which he refused to do, walking away in silence and vowing revenge.

Drona started his own school to continue Parashurama’s legacy, taking his family across northern India until he crossed paths with Kuru princes, who he helped out by solving some problems. They recognized Drona, asking him to become their guru. Before long they were joined by other royal progeny, and Drona became a teacher of princes.

A favorite pupil, Ajruna, emerged and impressed Drona, who taught him the mantras needed to invoke the supernatural weapons known as Brahmāstra with the promise they would not be used against ordinary warriors. Arjuna became a second son to Drona, and promised that one day he’d become the world’s finest archer.

Ekalavya was a prince who Drona refused to teach archery because the boy’s father was a general in the army of another empire. Despite that, Ekalavya trained hard and claimed he was taught by Drona, a lie that came to light when he shot a dog’s mouth shut using arrows. When Drona found out he demanded the thumb on Ekalavya’s right hand.

Drona is frequently made to take on apprentices, training them in the military arts. His subordinates obey his commands and believe what he tells them (within reason). slay Drona, and Draupadī, a daughter that would marry Arjuna and see the Kuru fall.

Notably, Drona held Asi: the sword of Lord Vishnu, a primordial weapon forged by the gods to destroy evil, and the personification and primary energy behind all weapons ever created. Just having it meant certain victory. That didn’t help him in the end however, and on the 15th day of battle in the Kurukshetra War—after pretty much everyone mentioned above had been murdered or thought to be dead—Drona lost the will to fight upon hearing that his son died and lay down on the battlefield to allow one of the Pandava princes to decapitate him.