Search Results
All Results
Characters
Compendium
Spells
Items
Monsters
Vehicles
Forums
Returning 35 results for 'bad bards diffusing career renown'.
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.
Learn More
Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
experience earns renown among other bards. Indeed, after telling so many stories about heroes accomplishing mighty deeds, many bards take these themes to heart and assume heroic roles themselves
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
experience earns renown among other bards. Indeed, after telling so many stories about heroes accomplishing mighty deeds, many bards take these themes to heart and assume heroic roles themselves.
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
experience earns renown among other bards. Indeed, after telling so many stories about heroes accomplishing mighty deeds, many bards take these themes to heart and assume heroic roles themselves.
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
character has worked with or for that group for most of the character’s career. The Level-Based Renown table shows equivalencies between Renown Score and character level. Level-Based Renown Renown Score Character Level 1 1 3 3 10 5 25 11 50 17
Level-Based Renown If you want to use the benefits of renown without tracking Renown Scores, you can use a character’s level as a shorthand for the character’s Renown Score with a group, assuming the
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
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
like these exist in your world. Wizards (and bards and druids) might be so rare that a player character learns from a single mentor and never meets another character of the same class, in which case
for organizations presented earlier in this chapter. A player character necromancer might cultivate renown within the Cabal of Thar-Zad, while a bard seeks increasing renown within the College of Mac-Fuirmidh.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves
Fill Flourforge Fill Flourforge, a retired dwarf brigand, loves to bake. Fill’s criminal career came to a halt when a gold dragon burned the rest of his band of thieves to a crisp during their
, Fill’s pastries have achieved local renown. This is especially true of his cinnamon rolls, which are toasted to perfection with dragon fire. Fill keeps Briochebane’s existence secret. He worries that others would fear the dragon or, worse, try to trap or slay her.
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
Bigby Bigby (BIG-bee) is a former apprentice of Mordenkainen. Though he began his career determined to use magic to dominate and control others, Bigby eventually changed his ways and has worked hard
soft-spoken, Bigby was often eclipsed by his mentor, who taught Bigby how to control his ambitions. After years of adventuring, Bigby crafted a handful of spells that gained him widespread renown. Of
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->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
they don’t, they join groups of another sort, such as mercenary companies or cults. Simic hybrids are all created within the Simic Combine, so it’s rare for them not to be part of it.
Renown As you
right hand of the guildmaster — or even becoming the master yourself! Your status in your guild is measured by your renown score. As you increase that score, you gain the opportunity to advance in the
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->Acquisitions Incorporated
completely reasonable and plausible explanation. Singing songs and strumming lutes might be fine for most bards. Who doesn’t like a rousing shanty now and then? But standing in a crowded tavern playing for
copper pieces tossed by commoners isn’t for everyone — and it certainly isn’t for bards in the Acq Inc world. The power and magic tied up in the voice of a franchise bard is meant for greater things
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer
Morgrave’s bad reputation. They seek fame, wealth, and power by plundering the secrets of ancient civilizations and claiming the magic and money they find for themselves. On the other hand, if the
university deserves more renown than the “institute of relic hunting and grave robbing” that is Morgrave University. A Rival Explorers Arc The rivalry between the characters and their foils might
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->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->Acquisitions Incorporated
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
skulls as a child. Nobody ever told you there was a career in that sort of thing.
4 You watched someone close to you die, and were overcome by the feeling that you should be making money off it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Bad Time to Be a Zhent Within days after the events that local broadsheets dub the “Gralhund Villa Bloodbath,” the City Watch cracks down on the Black Network. Even members of the Zhentarim who have
one comes looking for her, but the longer she stays hidden, the more testy and demanding she becomes. If the characters tolerate her bad behavior, Istrid leaves at the end of the tenday as promised and
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->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->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
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
can challenge Captain Athgar. The (mostly) good members of the crew can handle the bad apples backing Athgar. Certainly, with such aid, the adventurers can handle the captain and his priest! Belle
job or a last-resort career. This is remarkably shortsighted, as the gig has a startling number of upsides. For example, it’s a job that allows you to wear a lot of scarves and sashes. That’s rare
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
patriars, traveling nobles, famed bards, and socially ambitious Lower City residents hoping to rub shoulders with the elite. The inn is unfussy, but conducts its service with flawless technique and the
of the early knights achieved renown for their heroics. Today, the Knights of the Unicorn continue to call the Helm and Cloak their informal headquarters. The establishment is even run by two retired
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer
patriars, traveling nobles, famed bards, and socially ambitious Lower City residents hoping to rub shoulders with the elite. The inn is unfussy, but conducts its service with flawless technique and the
of the early knights achieved renown for their heroics. Today, the Knights of the Unicorn continue to call the Helm and Cloak their informal headquarters. The establishment is even run by two retired
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
. Although some of the dancing is wanton and performed for show, large-scale ring dances in the street for all ages are also popular. All the dancing ends at dusk, after which bards and minstrels perform at
, on his statue in the City of the Dead, and atop the altars of the House of Wonder. Bards perform songs in honor of the wizard all over the city. The Open Lord visits taverns and inns throughout
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands
multiversal renown. Rarely spotted in the common areas of the gambling hall, the arcanaloth is the picture of wealth, power, and influence, always dressed to the nines and crowned with a spidery razorvine
, supposedly impartial magistrate appointed by the Guvners. Punishments are tailored to fit the crime, and advocates are strongly encouraged. Lawyers and orators, these civil servants include bards
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Domains of Delight: A Feywild Accessory
Zybilna is the archmage Iggwilv in a new form—a change for the better, in his estimation. He would never cross Zybilna, to whom he owes his career.
Shon and his “hump” (a giant wolf spider named Gray
loyal vassal of the Summer Queen. Many of Sir Talavar’s squires have gone on to become knights of great renown. The venerable faerie dragon has an encouraging, can-do demeanor and an unwavering sense of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
Zybilna is the archmage Iggwilv in a new form—a change for the better, in his estimation. He would never cross Zybilna, to whom he owes his career.
Shon and his “hump” (a giant wolf spider named
loyal vassal of the Summer Queen. Many of Sir Talavar’s squires have gone on to become knights of great renown. The venerable faerie dragon has an encouraging, can-do demeanor and an unwavering sense
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
Cragmaw band that waylaid Sildar. The goblin gave Sildar a bad feeling, but the Cragmaws didn’t seem to know the creature. The goblin whispered “you’re not what Ruxithid wants” to Sildar before leaving the
”) and his mangy pet wolf, Ripper. The bugbear is filled with delusions of grandeur and views himself as a mighty king just beginning his career of conquest. He refers to himself in the third person
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse
used. Over a long career of shepherding caravans and pack trains from one end of the North to the other, Ironhead (male half-orc veteran) decided that there was money to be made by keeping guards-for
resale. His true talent is a keen eye for ordinary weapons and armor that can stand up to hard use and bad weather. Ask him which of his battleaxes is best, and Ironhead offers an honest (and accurate
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
passes herself off as an accomplished mage and merchant, though she’s actually a career rogue — and a member of an Acquisitions Incorporated franchise. After looting the treasury of a religious order
Zardak appears to notice something odd about one of the characters or the body they inhabit, but this ends up just being his bad eyesight. Fifteen minutes after they arrive, the two take their leave






