No two DMs run the game in exactly the same way—and that’s how it should be! You’ll be most successful as a DM if you choose a play style that works best for you and your players. The Rule of Fun D&D; is a game, and everyone should have fun playing it. Everyone shares equal responsibility in moving the game along, and everyone contributes to the fun when they treat each other with respect and…

The Ruinbound are mutants that can be born to any humanoid species that has contact with the Daelkyr or their minions. A Ruinbound is born with a personal symbiont—an unnatural entity bound to the child. Unlike most symbionts, this entity cannot be separated from its host, and the two are permanently fused. Many Ruinbound have additional disturbing mutations; you can roll on the Ruinbound…

This section provides tools useful for adventures in Calimshan.

This section provides tools useful for Icewind Dale adventures, including guidance on renown, Bastions, and random encounters.

This section provides tools useful for adventures in the Dalelands.

This section provides tools useful for adventures in Baldur’s Gate.

Browse and create homebrew content for your games. You can also manage your saved homebrew and personal creations.

This chapter provides advice on rules for adventure elements such as poison and traps.

This section provides tools useful for adventures in the Moonshaes, including guidelines on renown, Bastions, and an encounter table for seagoing adventurers.

Residents of Rexcrown consider themselves the only true Darkonians due to their proximity to the capital, Il Aluk. Despite that prestige, Rexcrown is covered in deadly swamps, depleted mountains, and fields that produce disturbingly malformed crops. The city of Il Aluk is built in a bend in the Vuchar River and rises in countless gothic spires. These mark the homes of the city’s elite, severe…

If there are parts of the game you prefer not to handle yourself, assign them to players who enjoy them. If you don’t want to break your narrative stride by looking up a rule, designate another player to be the rulebook reference expert. If you don’t like tracking Initiative, ask another player to do so.

Armor (ring mail), very rare You have a +2 bonus to AC while wearing this armor. This armor is leather armor with heavy rings sewn into it. The rings help reinforce the armor against blows from swords and axes. Ring mail is inferior to chain mail, and it's usually worn only by those who can't afford better armor.

One of the best ways to learn how to run a D&D; game is to observe other DMs in action. Another DM can give you a solid foundation for understanding the role—as well as inspire you with cool things you can do in your games. You can use these questions to help you reflect on a game you observe: Beginning the Session. How did the DM start the session? Was there a recap? Body Language. What gestures…

Bring Light to Banish Darkness The Light Domain emphasizes the divine power to bring about blazing fire and revelation. Clerics who wield this power are enlightened souls infused with radiance and the power of their deities’ discerning vision, charged with chasing away lies and burning away darkness. The Light Domain is associated with gods of truth, vigilance, beauty, insight, and renewal. Some…

Some nefarious magic-users carry out forbidden necromantic rituals that sever their souls from their bodies to turn themselves into liches, masters of magic and undeath. With their souls preserved in hidden relics, liches puppet their own corpses as they pursue ambitions free from mortal bonds. Liches possess exceptional cunning and magical prowess, and they use their unnatural immortality to…

In some settings, laws prohibit the possession and use of poison, but an illicit dealer or unscrupulous apothecary might keep a hidden stash. Characters with criminal contacts might be able to acquire poison easily. Other characters might have to make extensive inquiries and pay bribes before they acquire the poison they seek.

Armor (ring mail), legendary You have a +3 bonus to AC while wearing this armor. This armor is leather armor with heavy rings sewn into it. The rings help reinforce the armor against blows from swords and axes. Ring mail is inferior to chain mail, and it's usually worn only by those who can't afford better armor.

You briefly slow time for a creature of your choice that you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be moved to last place in the Initiative order from the start of the next round onwards. Spell Tags: Chronomancy Available For: Bard (Legacy), Sorcerer (Legacy), Wizard (Legacy), Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard, Warlock - Future You Patron

Some groups don’t want a long campaign with sweeping plotlines; they prefer short, unconnected adventures. With that style of game, different players might take turns as DM for one to three sessions at a time, with each adventure standing as a self-contained story.

The tribex is a quadrupedal herbivore native to Khorvaire. While they were originally only found in the Talenta Plains and the western barrens of Breland, human settlers quickly domesticated the tribex, and they are now found throughout the Five Nations. Plains Tribex are the original form of the beast; they are large and powerful, and are usually found hauling heavy loads or being raised as…

Armor (leather), very rare You have a +2 bonus to AC while wearing this armor. The breastplate and shoulder protectors of this armor are made of leather that has been stiffened by being boiled in oil. The rest of the armor is made of softer and more flexible materials.

Each Dark Bargain is unique, and a character can enter into a given bargain only once. A character could be bound to multiple Dark Bargains at one time, but each one only once.

Weapon (club), rare (requires attunement) A demonglass shard is inlaid into this weapon, granting it magical properties. Though the fiendish presence embedded within cannot speak directly to its wielder, its presence is keenly felt by those whose blood it spills. You have a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. On a Critical Hit, the target is Frightened of you until…

Dark Bargains weave Druskenvald’s essence into the characters who dare to strike them. These ancient agreements bind the land, its magical energies, its creatures.. and you. The effects bring boon and bane alike. It may be best for some sinister characters to offer their bargains plainly, letting the lurking curses reveal themselves only when the time is right. Beware your entry into these…