Search Results
All Results
Characters
Compendium
Spells
Items
Monsters
Vehicles
Forums
Returning 35 results for 'bad bards diffusing career reason'.
Classes
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard’s reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason
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
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
Classes
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard’s reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason
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
Bard
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
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
Urchin
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
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
I eat like a pig and have bad manners.
6
I think anyone who’s nice to me is hiding evil intent.
7
I don’t like to bathe.
8
I bluntly say what other people are hinting at
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
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
;t a native, your reason for leaving “home” probably has something to do with getting away from a bad situation.
Feature: All Eyes on You
Your accent, mannerisms, figures of
provided. The following section, discussing possible homelands, includes some suggested reasons that are appropriate for each location.
d6
Reason
d6
Reason
1
Emissary
4
Pilgrim
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
a frivolous lark. You’ve maintained a solitary vigil outside the cavern entrance ever since.
2
You crossed the Guild in a bad way. Fortunately, its members think you’re dead. Less
past that could rewrite history. It might be information that would be damaging to the people who consigned you to exile, and hence the reason for your return to society.
Work with your DM to
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don’t embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career? Are you in your family’s good graces, or
visit prosperous Bloomridge to try a fashionable restaurant or boutique, or watch a spectacle at the Oasis Theater, the patriars have little reason to venture into the dirtier, more dangerous parts of the
Aarakocra
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Elemental Evil Player's Companion
changes in the prevailing winds that they regarded as a bad omen.
Unlike the aarakocra of other worlds on the Material Plane, the aarakocra of the Realms rarely travel to the Elemental Plane of Air
.
Great Purpose
Aarakocra enjoy peace and solitude. Most of them have little interest in dealing with other peoples and less interest in spending time on the ground. For this reason, it takes an
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
a pig and have bad manners.
6
I think anyone who’s nice to me is hiding evil intent.
7
I don’t like to bathe.
8
I bluntly say what other people are hinting at or hiding
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
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
tail and run when things look bad.
6
An innocent person is in prison for a crime that I committed. I’m okay with that.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Embarrassment Almost every bard has suffered at least one bad experience in front of an audience, and chances are you’re no exception. No one becomes famous right away, after all; perhaps you had a
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
agents include sophisticated bards, zealous paladins, talented mages, and grizzled warriors. They are chosen primarily for their loyalty and are experts in observation, stealth, innuendo, and combat
’ Alliance fights the things that the shopkeeper in his bed has never even heard of. We remove threats before the town mayor even knows about it. We make bad things go away. That’s what we’re good at.”
Rameel Jos
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
College of Whispers 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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
dawn seven days later. I don’t really understand occultants, and to be honest, they scare the Abyss out of me.
— Jim Darkmagic
Why Be an Occultant? d8 Reason
1 You believe in karmic
balance, but hate the idea that “balance” means good and bad things can both happen to you. Good things happening to you and bad things happening to other people seems perfectly reasonable.
2 You
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
deal with than the average member of the city watch. If your character’s backstory doesn’t already include a personage of this sort, you could work with your DM to come up with a reason why an
1 The pirate captain on whose ship you once served; what you call moving on, the captain calls mutiny 2 A master spy to whom you unwittingly fed bad information, which led to the assassination of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Build Your Group Naturally, a large portion of the Boromar Clan’s members come from a criminal background. There’s no reason characters with other backgrounds can’t be part of the syndicate, though
give them a broad range of knowledge to support their schemes. Bards, rogues, and wizards are often drawn to this role. Safecracker. The “breaking” part of “breaking and entering” is the Safecracker’s
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin
, the characters need a reason for Lord Neverember to request their help in chapter 1, even if it’s simply because their heroics are widely known. Regardless, 10th-level characters have already had long
-Level Backstories d6 Deeds Accomplished 1 The character began their adventuring career investigating zombies that rose from a once-peaceful graveyard. Their investigations revealed a cult. The
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
boastfulness and has a fear of heights resulting from a bad fall during her career as a thief. Artemis Entreri is always prepared for the worst and moves with a quick, precise confidence.
Consider their
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
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->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
some respects this area has never truly deserved its bad reputation. Yes, aside from the Field Ward, this is the area where most of Waterdeep’s poor reside. Yes, it is home to some of the least
often have no sign at all. You either know where you are going and have reason to be there — or you are lost, and a likely mark for pickpockets or worse. Streetlamps don’t fare well in the Dock Ward
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->Volo's Guide to Monsters
itself to give its fellows time to collapse a nearby tunnel and prevent invaders from getting to the rest of the tribe. All kobolds know that fleeing from danger, especially against bad odds, is the smart
sacrifice when it presents itself. This practice contributes to the reason why most common folk (and adventurers) think kobolds are stupid as well as weak; they’ve seen or heard of a lone kobold trying to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse
. “Not a bad place to die,” the mage says with mild amusement. The doppelganger posing as Gargosh doesn’t take part in the fight, remaining on the fringes of the battle and rooting for the characters to
to make haste and catch up with him!”
Characters who have reason to suspect Gargosh might be lying or holding back information can make a DC 16 Wisdom (Insight) check. A character who succeeds on
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
bad fall during her career as a thief. Artemis Entreri is always prepared for the worst and moves with a quick, precise confidence.
Consider their ideals. Tika Waylan is innocent, almost childlike
very personal reason to hate them with a fiery passion. Her bond might be phrased as “I will do whatever it takes to punish the dragonarmies for the destruction of the Inn of the Last Home.”
Artemis
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
fight in the war, how and why did they remain on the sidelines? Did they oppose the war? Did they do something to avoid conscription, or was there a reason they were considered unsuitable for service
of Cyre, or do they have other ideas for the nation’s future? For example, when an Aundairan player character meets a group of Eldeen druids, it’s an opportunity to exploit the bad blood between
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
Gambler All you need to make a lot of gold is a little gold. Except at those times when all you need to have no gold at all is a little gold. Whether you’re a good gambler or a bad one rarely matters
be repaid.
2 I’m loyal to the friend or family member who taught me how to gamble.
3 The person who saved me from my gambling addiction is the only reason I’m alive today.
4 A patron
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
briny grave. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town. If you decide that your sailing career involved piracy, you can choose
the Bad Reputation feature (see sidebar) instead of the Ship’s Passage feature. Variant Feature: Bad Reputation
If your character has a sailor background, you may select this background feature
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
of experience and science-driven deductive methods. As a young detective in Darkon, Alanik revealed his father’s criminal empire and oversaw its destruction. His success launched his career as a
published two volumes to date: The Life of Alanik Ray and The Casebook of Alanik Ray. Alanik Ray’s Traits Ideal. “Logic is a guide but also an illusion. Order and reason don’t supersede what is right
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
Constitution Stamina and health Endure a marathon, grasp hot metal without flinching, win a drinking contest Intelligence Memory and reason Recall a bit of lore, recognize a clue’s significance
something, think of it in terms of what a very high or low score in those two abilities might mean.
A character with a high Wisdom but low Intelligence is aware of the surroundings but is bad at
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
goal is to prevent the gold from falling into the hands of the bad guys. If all goes well, some of the gold will find its way into the characters’ pockets. Characters will have a hard time claiming it
all for themselves, however. Chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8 describe the lairs of the story’s villains and can be used at any time, in any order, or not at all. The characters might have reason to visit one
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Scholars, wizards, druids, and bards of other races have different ideas about how halflings escape peril, suggesting that by virtue of something in their nature, they occupy a special place in the
off bad luck or to bring good fortune. Villages or even families might have superstitions observed by no one else, such as the following:
For a safe journey through a forest, leave a few seeds or a