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Returning 35 results for 'back bards diffusing career ruin'.
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Monsters
The Book of Many Things
. A ruin spider is easily recognizable by anyone familiar with the Deck of Many Things because the pattern on the back of the cards is duplicated on the spider’s carapace.Acid
remains in one place for a long time.
Ruin spiders arise when the magic of the deck transforms giant spiders into even more dangerous monsters whose acidic venom disintegrates everything it touches
Monsters
Acquisitions Incorporated
and earnest debate, he demonstrates an equal flair for planning and forethought, mad combat moves (involving leaping off high places whenever possible), and dark vengeance.
Viari's career as an
adventurer was nearly cut short during a battle of which the bards still sing. Unleashing a devastating attack with the aptly named Apocalypse Dagger, the rogue destroyed a giant single-handedly — and lost
Bard
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
Humming as she traces her fingers over an ancient monument in a long-forgotten ruin, a half-elf in rugged leathers finds knowledge springing into her mind, conjured forth by the magic of her song
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
Monsters
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
who died a century ago, after a long and nefarious career. Esvele Rosznar, a brash young noble, has recently adopted the Black Viper's persona to lead a secret life of crime. Like many other nobles
. When she throws back her cloak to reveal the costume she has put together, most folk toss their purses and flee. If that doesn't work, she usually needs only to draw her dagger. Of course, some of the
Ancient Brass Dragon
Legacy
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Monsters
Basic Rules (2014)
damage or someone uses an action to wake it.
Change Shape. The dragon magically polymorphs into a humanoid or beast that has a challenge rating no higher than its own, or back into its true form. It
speed.A Brass Dragon’s Lair
A brass dragon’s desert lair is typically a ruin, canyon, or cave network with ceiling holes to allow for sunlight.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing
Halfling
Legacy
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Species
Basic Rules (2014)
Regis the halfling, the only one of his kind for hundreds of miles in any direction, locked his fingers behind his head and leaned back against the mossy blanket of the tree trunk. Regis was short
wide and wonder-filled world. For them, adventuring is less a career than an opportunity or sometimes a necessity.
Halfling Names
A halfling has a given name, a family name, and possibly a nickname
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
Urchin
Legacy
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Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
recuperate. You’ve survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each.
You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but
of questions.
3
I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me.
4
I sleep with my back to a wall or tree, with everything I own wrapped in a bundle in my arms.
5
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
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
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
Ranger
Legacy
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Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
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
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
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
No career criminal in Baldur’s Gate operates without being aware of the Guild. Some studiously keep a low profile, carrying just the occasional smuggled load in with legitimate merchandise, or
realizing the connection. You got the Guild to back off demands for your death by offering to make amends by working for the criminals, but even so the kingpin still plots a personal revenge.
2
The
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
few small difficulties early in your career, or maybe it took you a while to restore your reputation after one agonizing night when the fates conspired to bring about your theatrical ruin. The ways
on with the show (if possible) or promising to come back tomorrow with a new performance that’s guaranteed to please. Embarrassments d6 Embarrassment 1 The time when your comedic song, “Big Tom’s
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
and ruin. But for the last few generations, some bands among the tribes were tempted to settle, make peace, trade, and even to build towns. Perhaps this is why Uthgar chose to raise up the totems
among the people as living embodiments of his power. Perhaps they needed a reminder of who they were and from whence they came. The Chosen of Uthgar led bands back to the old ways, and most of your people
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
organization, but who serve as its hands, head, and heart.
As a prelude to your adventuring career (and in preparation for it), you served as an agent of a particular faction in Faerûn. You might have
knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often proficient in Investigation, enabling them to be adept at snooping and spying. They often seek aid from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
.
You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but securely for at least ten days. How did you come by that money? What allowed you to break free of your desperate
.
3
I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me.
4
I sleep with my back to a wall or tree, with everything I own wrapped in a bundle in my arms.
5
I eat like
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
emerge from a nearby ruin to attack the camp and attempt to knock characters unconscious. They then drag those characters back to the yellow musk creeper.
Yellow Musk Creeper and Zombies The characters pass close to a ruin inhabited by 3d6 yellow musk zombies (see appendix D). The zombies might be spread across the area or bunched together, depending
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
; scales. It glows like 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
bards and philosophers to partake in “the Great Dialogue” in the dragon’s mountaintop lair. But only the dragon knows that the Great Dialogue has no end, and no one can leave the lair
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
anger, lying back with fear or suspicion, and rippling in side-to-side waves with amusement or joy.
Visions in Starlight
Many crystal dragons study the stars, recording their observations of the night
the greatest bards and philosophers to partake in “the Great Dialogue” in the dragon’s mountaintop lair. But only the dragon knows that the Great Dialogue has no end, and no one can
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
Changing Gods If events in your character’s adventuring career warrant doing so, you can abandon the service of one god and turn to a different one. Once you abandon a god’s service, you can rarely
go back without performing some act of contrition. Your DM decides whether your new god will accept you as a champion and what you might have to do to prove your commitment. When you change gods, you
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Scions of Elemental Evil
spread, trade ended, and evil creatures congregated at the temple to plot destruction. The forces of good repeatedly beat back the evil that festered in the temple. The temple lay in ruin for five years until Ulsedra Vox awakened the evils once again.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
of Many Things because the pattern on the back of the cards is duplicated on the spider’s carapace. I lost my favorite necklace to a ruin spider; the pendant had a large bead I could spin whenever I
Ruin Spider The potent magic of a Deck of Many Things can have unpredictable effects on its environment, especially when the deck remains in one place for a long time. Ruin spiders arise when the
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild
blood was said to possess dire magical properties. The artificer’s mad plots, thirst for power, and pursuit of lichdom eventually left the temple a ruin long ago. But the characters now find
themselves back in that long ago, facing off against the artificer and his host of monstrous guardians in pursuit of the missing components of the Infernal Machine of Lum the Mad. Having come back in time
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands
Mausoleum of Chronepsis The sands of time trickle in the Mausoleum of Chronepsis, a once-great city from the age of dragons that has long fallen to ruin. Here, surrounded by hundreds of hourglasses
be left alone, and he seldom leaves his sanctum. In times of great need, he relies on seasoned adventurers to recover stolen hourglasses, speed the sands of a troublesome wyrm, or travel back in time to mend a past wrongdoing.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
what to make of you but gives you work to keep you busy 2 A career bureaucrat who insists you file paperwork in multiple offices in order to get anything done 3 A junior professor who might be more
7 A tired senior professor whose only joy in academia is seeing what you bring back from your adventures 8 An eager researcher who wants to come with you on every adventure because second-hand reports are always incomplete and unsatisfying
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer
academic knowledge exceeds that of many colleagues, and students call him an excellent lecturer. But his lack of significant field experience has held him back. Word is circulating that he plans a truly
ambitious expedition to the far south of Xen’drik, which almost certainly will either make or break his career. He might hire the characters or their rivals to accompany him on this expedition. Cullen Cole
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
, and career. Maybe a rampaging dragon or another monster wiped out everything you had in a single calamitous afternoon. Or you might have sought out a Deck of Many Things, hoping to make your
successful life even more glorious—only to draw a destructive card that changed your destiny forever. Your desperation has driven you to the career of adventurer. You don’t seek out dark dungeons and their
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
Tall Tales Some folks are content to merely listen to stories of giants and other enormous peoples and creatures. For others, these tall tales become the basis of their entire adventuring career
says giants and other enormous creatures are stories for children. You hope to slay such a creature and bring back proof of their existence out of spite.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
townsfolk. Chaotic neutral (CN) creatures follow their whims, holding their personal freedom above all else. Many rogues and bards are chaotic neutral. Lawful evil (LE) creatures methodically take what
, Artemis is not an ideal adventurer. He began his career as a villain, and only cooperates with heroes when he must — and when it’s in his own best interests. In most games, evil adventurers cause
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
Why Are You Here? As a resident of Clifftop, you’ve got a reputation. What is it, and how did you earn it? Are you a new prodigy, or an old retired hero who’s just getting back into the game? As
always, consider your background. If you’re a soldier, you might have had a celebrated career. As an entertainer, you might perform at one of the theaters of Upper Menthis between adventures. If you’re a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
vengeance. Viari’s career as an adventurer was nearly cut short during a battle of which the bards still sing. Unleashing a devastating attack with the aptly named Apocalypse Dagger, the rogue destroyed a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
is safe again. How the Casques Silencieux know is a mystery, but their judgment always proves correct. And so the cycle goes, from ruin to relief and back again, with de facto ruler Mademoiselle
Jacqueline Renier ever above it all, tirelessly working to pull her realm back from the brink of total collapse.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
Gruumsh, the one-eyed god of slaughter, and must satisfy his hunger for carnage lest he visit ruin upon them. When a particularly strong orc chieftain unites multiple clans under one banner, the
such conflict, saw orcs fighting alongside white dragons and frost giants. Though the orcs and their mighty allies were defeated and sent scurrying back to their mountain lairs, numerous settlements






