back bards dedicated calling rites

College of Lore

Classes Player’s Handbook

Plumb the Depths of Magical Knowledge Bards of the College of Lore collect spells and secrets from diverse sources, such as scholarly tomes, mystical rites, and peasant tales. The college’s

Book of Vile Darkness

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide

, foul rites that allow one to transform into a death knight or lich, or long-lost spells crafted by beings so evil their names ought never to be spoken aloud. Vile Speech. While the book is on your

damage unless the creature is a Fiend or an Undead. Destroying the Book. The Book of Vile Darkness allows pages to be torn from it, but any evil lore contained on those pages finds its way back into the

Cleric

Classes Player’s Handbook

associate themselves with temples dedicated to the deity or other immortal force that unlocked their magic. Harnessing divine magic doesn’t rely on specific training, yet Clerics might learn

prayers and rites that help them draw on power from the Outer Planes. Not every member of a temple or shrine is a Cleric. Some priests are called to a simple life of temple service, carrying out their

Edgin Darvis

Monsters Thieves’ Gallery

relies on charisma first—rather than magic or muscle—to escape trouble. Once a member of the Harpers, a spy organization dedicated to protecting Faerûn’s common folk, Edgin has

confidence and rakish demeanor make him a natural leader. With carefully chosen words, he inspires the members of his thieves’ crew to greatness. But when his past mistakes come calling, Edgin must

College of Whispers

Classes Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling

tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them

Gnoll Witherling

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

the remains back to a semblance of life in the form of a gnoll witherling. Witherlings travel with their comrades and try to kill anything in their path. They don’t eat and aren’t motivated

service to Yeenoghu or dedicated to the survival of their kin, gnoll war bands seek to soften up foes with surprise attacks and to leave no survivors alive.PoisonRampage. After the witherling reduces a

Acolyte Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

You have spent your life in the service of a temple to a specific god or pantheon of gods. You act as an intermediary between the realm of the holy and the mortal world, performing sacred rites and

offering sacrifices in order to conduct worshipers into the presence of the divine. You are not necessarily a cleric—performing sacred rites is not the same thing as channeling divine power

Aphemia

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

bonus action on her subsequent turns to continue singing. She can stop singing at any time. The song ends if Aphemia is incapacitated or dies. Grave Calling Song. Aphemia intones a low, growling

upon travelers or claw open fresh graves, stripping bodies of riches and flesh. Then they carry back any treasures or appealing bones they find to reeking nests situated in cramped caves or rotten trees.Necrotic

College of Whispers (XGtE)

Classes Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling

tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them

Ceremony

Spells Xanathar's Guide to Everything

You perform a special religious ceremony that is infused with magic. When you cast the spell, choose one of the following rites, the target of which must be within 10 feet of you throughout the

ability check, it can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the ability check. A creature can benefit from this rite only once. Dedication. You touch one humanoid who wishes to be dedicated to

Syndra Silvane

Monsters Tomb of Annihilation

maximum drops to 0, Syndra dies and can’t be brought back from the dead until the death curse has ended (and if her soul hasn’t been devoured). Destroying the Soulmonger is the only way to halt

) spellcasters dedicated to the study of the arcane arts. Benevolent ones counsel kings and queens, while evil ones rule as tyrants and pursue lichdom. Those who are neither good nor evil sequester

Eliphas Adulare

Monsters Keys from the Golden Vault

Shapechanger. Eliphas can use his action to polymorph into a Large bear-humanoid hybrid or into a Large bear, or back into his true form, which is humanoid. His statistics, other than his size and AC

magic, fog cloud 1/day each: phantasmal force, shatterEliphas is a gentleman and a tinkerer. For years, he offered his services to the Golden Vault, an organization dedicated to preserving historical

Jiangshi

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

that is Medium or Small or back into its true form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (the

their descendants and the communities they knew in life, sowing terror and taking retribution for the slights or neglected burial rites that led to their cursed resurrections. Rigor mortis notoriously

Bard Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

of song, speech, and the magic they contain. Bards say that the multiverse was spoken into existence, that the words of the gods gave it shape, and that echoes of these primordial Words of Creation

still resound throughout the cosmos. The music of bards is an attempt to snatch and harness those echoes, subtly woven into their spells and powers. The greatest strength of bards is their sheer

Cleric Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

to those chosen to fulfill a high calling. Harnessing divine magic doesn’t rely on study or training. A cleric might learn formulaic prayers and ancient rites, but the ability to cast cleric

his axe in wide swaths to cut through the ranks of orcs arrayed against him, shouting praise to the gods with every foe’s fall. Calling down a curse upon the forces of undeath, a human lifts

Kolyarut

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

their questions have been satisfied, they report back to their creator, allowing the Kolyarut to impose accurate judgments. Kolyaruts are four-armed beings of magic and machinery. Like maruts, they

are inevitables, beings dedicated to the smooth exaction of laws across the planes. Kolyaruts wield blades with deadly efficiency, allowing them to defend themselves on their excursions and slice

Reborn

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back. Rather than sleeping, reborn regularly sit and dwell on the past, hoping for some revelation of what came before. Most of the time, these are dark

of Dread (detailed in chapter 3): Har’Akir. You died and endured the burial rites of this desert realm, yet somehow a soul—yours or another’s—has taken refuge in your

Acolyte - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

between the realm of the holy and the mortal world, performing sacred rites and offering sacrifices in order to conduct worshipers into the presence of the divine. You are not necessarily a cleric&mdash

;performing sacred rites is not the same thing as channeling divine power. Choose a god, a pantheon of gods, or some other quasi-divine being, and work with your DM to detail the nature of your

Dwarf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

“Yer late, elf!” came the rough edge of a familiar voice. Bruenor Battlehammer walked up the back of his dead foe, disregarding the fact that the heavy monster lay on top of his elven

mountains they love, weathering the passage of centuries with stoic endurance and little change. They respect the traditions of their clans, tracing their ancestry back to the founding of their most

Dragonborn Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

foreign house. The sword at his back was the same, though, the one he had carried since even before he had found the twins left in swaddling at the gates of Arush Vayem. For all her life, Farideh had

calling in life. Proud Dragon Kin Dragonborn look very much like dragons standing erect in humanoid form, though they lack wings or a tail. The first dragonborn had scales of vibrant hues matching the

Crystal Dragon Wyrmling

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

their bodies and the spines and horns that hover close to their heads and backs. These horns shift with the dragon’s mood: bristling with anger, lying back with fear or suspicion, and rippling

rain from the sky in a beautiful but dangerous display. Rumors quickly spread that a crystal dragon is responsible. 3 A crystal dragon invites the greatest bards and philosophers to partake in

Ranger Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

whistles to the hawk that circles high above him, calling the bird back to his side. Whispering instructions in Elvish, he points to the owlbear he’s been tracking and sends the hawk to distract

of steel, cutting down one enemy after another. After tumbling away from a cone of freezing air, an elf finds her feet and draws back her bow to loose an arrow at the white dragon. Shrugging off the

Gnome Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

stare, then appeared to go back to sleep. — Richard Lee Byers, The Black Bouquet A constant hum of busy activity pervades the warrens and neighborhoods where gnomes form their close-knit

surprise and appreciation along the way. Though gnomes love jokes of all kinds, particularly puns and pranks, they’re just as dedicated to the more serious tasks they undertake. Many gnomes are

Learning from Experience

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

Learning from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires

hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent

Star Spawn Seer

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

often encountered as the leader of a cult dedicated to one or more Elder Evils. Usually, the seer is the only cult member that grasps the full extent of the horror the cult is venerating. The seer

’s goal is to tap into vast energy sources and perform the dire rites that will extend a bridge between the Material Plane and the squirming chaos of an Elder Evil’s realm. An entity that

Folk Hero - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

dozen adopted grandparents inviting you in for a meal. 3 Seeing a lost patriar after dark in the Outer City, you guided the wayward noble through back streets to safety. The patriar repaid your

for one last chance to win back the goodwill you’ve drunk away. 5 You once defeated a raging bugbear with a hand mirror, a mounted deer’s head, and two kicks to the groin. Later, you

Learning from Experience

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

Learning from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires

hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent

Young Crystal Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

starlight between their bodies and the spines and horns that hover close to their heads and backs. These horns shift with the dragon’s mood: bristling with anger, lying back with fear or

Prismatic shards rain from the sky in a beautiful but dangerous display. Rumors quickly spread that a crystal dragon is responsible. 3 A crystal dragon invites the greatest bards and philosophers

Cloistered Scholar

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

assume roles of greater responsibility and prominence. You might be one of Candlekeep’s own, dedicated to the curatorship of what is likely the most complete body of lore and history in all the

great deeds and win it back. d6 Flaw 1 I am easily distracted by the promise of information. 2 Most people scream and run when they see a demon. I stop and take notes on

Sage - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

Baldur’s Gate has a modest academic community centered around the libraries of the High Hall and the various temples dedicated to gods of learning and innovation. Lecturers, researchers, and

back. d6 Flaw 1 I am easily distracted by the promise of information. 2 Most people scream and run when they see a demon. I stop and take notes on its anatomy. 3

The Gods of Two Peoples

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

. Half-elves often revere the gods of the culture in which they were raised, although some rebel against their upbringing, seeking out the gods of the other aspect of their heritage, or feeling a calling

or need to do so. As with any people, half-elves often choose a favored deity based on their calling or profession: Corellon Larethian, Azuth, or Mystra for wizards, Solonor Thelandira or Mielikki

Bardic Colleges

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

Bardic Colleges In addition to the tradition of apprenticing with a master bard, the Sword Coast has some bardic colleges where masters teach students the bardic arts. They hark back to the great

the bards, each of which is named after one of the colleges. See chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the game statistics of these magic instruments. Long ago, bards who sought the rank of

Topaz Dragon Wyrmling

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

visibly in the gem-like spines that run in a ridge from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail. These spines hover above a living topaz dragon’s back, dancing and shifting with the dragon

creation, whether abstract or dedicated to practical applications. They are fascinated by magic that creates objects from nothing, animates Undead, destroys matter, or manipulates negative energy. And they

Young Topaz Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

spines that run in a ridge from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail. These spines hover above a living topaz dragon’s back, dancing and shifting with the dragon’s mood. Embodiment of

dedicated to practical applications. They are fascinated by magic that creates objects from nothing, animates Undead, destroys matter, or manipulates negative energy. And they are particularly intrigued

What Really Happened

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries

dedicated to Gaernoo. Lord Viallis, empowered by Gaernoo’s otherworldly magic and wanting to get away from talk of his family’s death, moved to the village of Greenfast, a day’s travel southeast of

years, Viallis has been building a cult to Gaernoo around himself, calling it the Burnt Tongue Cult for the sacrifice that new members must make before being accepted.

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