Creature: Javelin Soldier

Often times I find myself looking for more challenges to throw towards my players. Sometimes, this challenge comes in the form of combat. Maybe it's the fact that I never got over that Roman era campaign I was a part of, but I often find myself making use of javelin wielding fighters with heavy armor. Below I give an example of one such fighter for Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition.

Tactics

This type of fighter typically holds their javelins in the same hand as their shield, allowing easy access to their weapons. When met in close quarters, unless out of javelins, they will prefer to continue fighting with the javelin as if it was a spear (this allows them to throw it as a range weapon if necessary). Only when they are completely out of javelins will they draw their swords for combat. Due to their range ability and high Armor Class, they can be very deadly for a 1^st level party.

Appearance

The most obvious example of the type of fighter created here is of the heavily armored roman soldier with their multiple javelins. Because of the wide use of javelins across history, they are far from the only ones that fit this archetype. This kind of fighter is easily used in just about any situation and can make sense in just about any appearance. The type of armor and side arm can also be changed quite easily (changing the side arm to a higher damage one handed weapon will give a reason for this kind of troop to draw that weapon in close combat instead of a javelin, though a javelin still gives a range option without losing actions to change weapons), but changing the armor type will also change the difficulty they pose to the player characters.

5^th Edition Stats

Hit points 12

Armor Class 18 (Chain mail & Shield)

STR 16  (+3)

CON 15 (+2)

DEX 14 (+2)

INT 10 (+0)

WIS 10 (+0)

CHA 10 (+0)

Attacks

• +5 Javelin (30/120) x4
• +5 Short sword (melee)

Proficiency (+2)

• Athletics
• Perception
• Survival
• Insight/Animal Handling (pick one)

Fighting Style: Defense (+1 to Armor Class), Protection or Dueling from the fighter class (see basic rules).

Variant 1: The rules above assume human was used. 1 feat can be added to add further challenge (recommended).

Variant 2: Change race from human to any other by removing 1 from two abilities (STR & CON or STR & DEX recommended). Then apply new race as listed in the rules.

Variant 3: You can use the basic rules to level these fighters to a higher level. This is usually done for officers or more highly skilled members.

Variant 4: Changing the armor type will change the Armor Class and make the situation easier or harder for the player party.