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Returning 21 results for 'bad bards diffusing caution reality'.
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
always straining to peer into another reality that seems to be just beyond my senses.
5
I’m uneasy if I can’t see plants growing or feel soil beneath my feet.
6
Seeing illness
conclave has a deeper connection to the Worldsoul than I do.
6
I’m trying to atone for the life of crime I led before I joined the Selesnya, but I find it hard to give up my bad habits
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
Beholders: Bad Dreams Come True To those who would seek to conquer beholders or merely understand them, nearly everything about their quarry is unfathomable. These bizarre creatures are possessed of
alien intelligence, inhuman forms of perception, and the ability to shape reality through force of will — or even by their mere presence. Inside the comfortable confines of its subterranean lair, a
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->Curse of Strahd
another Vistana. It is the burden of the Vistani’s great gift that their own fates can’t be divined. Vistani curses are potent, but they are invoked with great caution. Vistani know that to curse one
who is undeserving of such punishment can have grave consequences for the one who utters such a curse. Ravens carry lost souls within them, so killing one is bad luck. (The ravens don’t carry souls within.)
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
fireballs and magical flames at its foes.
Death slaadi are rumored to have a stench so bad it can be deadly. In reality, they can cast the cloudkill spell.
Inexperienced scholars and adventurers
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
lair are difficult for characters of lower than 5th level to overcome. You can gently steer characters in a different direction, drop hints that urge them to use extreme caution, or make deadly
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
hurt. If you find yourself thinking, “This task is especially hard,” you can use a higher DC, but do so with caution and consider the level of the characters. A DC 25 task is very hard for low-level
say a door requires a successful DC 15 Strength check to be battered down. A fighter with a Strength of 20 might helplessly flail against the door because of bad die rolls. Meanwhile, the rogue with a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
creatures for scouting or guard duty, or using dimension door to slip away from a deal gone bad. The hard part of that last one is always figuring out which of your franchise mates you’ll bring with you
nightmare of franchise-branded zombies running amok. Still, if things get bad, there’s nothing like a general marketing campaign reminding local folk that necromancy means raise dead. Even if you can’t cast
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
character astray, especially if the object of the research is known to the rival. The rival might plant false information, bribe sages to give bad advice, or steal key tomes needed to find the truth. In
would have opened it. 4 A sage becomes obsessed with convincing you of a number of strange theories about reality.* 5 Your actions cause you to be banned from a library until you make reparations.* 6 You uncovered useful lore, but only by promising to complete a dangerous task in return. *Might involve a rival
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->Acquisitions Incorporated
Failed Merchant Maybe you come from a long line of merchants. Perhaps you were an entrepreneur. Regardless, your ventures ended poorly. Whether it was because of outside influences, bad luck, or
forward. (Good)
3 Excitement. Caution got me nowhere in my previous business. I’m not going to let it hold me back now. (Chaotic)
4 Wealth. With enough coin, I can buy comfort, power, knowledge
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin
Reality Dawns When Kas reveals himself, a cacophony erupts downstairs. Sleeping characters are awakened, and otherwise occupied characters hear the following: Violent slamming and terrible crashes
. Alustriel correctly supposes that Kas plans to find Vecna and co-opt the lich-god’s ritual to become the most powerful being in existence. This outcome is as bad as Vecna ruling the multiverse, as far as
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
damage is a bad wound for the enemy, say: “You swing wildly, and the knight brings his shield up just a second too late. Your blade catches him along the jaw, drawing a deep gash. He recoils, bleeding
fictional reality of the game and in terms of the rules of the game. This means that when an enemy with a Crossbow takes the Ready action to cover the area in front of a door, the players should have a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
ballroom’s stage is filled with set pieces, props, and costumes. Treasure. Among the many other instruments stored here is Quill’s instrument of the bards (Cli lyre), which is kept in an ornate wooden case
ability to warp reality and bring to life things from their imagination. Renekor dreamed itself into Wisteria Vale from the Underdark. The beholder believes that the village and its residents are its own
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands
animosity. They have bad blood with the Harmonium, who view the Fated as wrongheaded and dangerous, and Factol Darkwood and Factol Montgomery of the Society of Sensation are bitter rivals. Fraternity of
laws of Sigil, all the while searching for hidden truths that dictate reality. Guvners gather detailed records of every portal and key they find in Sigil and pay well for such information
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (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
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
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
this world and the faerie realm of the Feywild is thought to be weak on this day. Though this phenomenon provokes caution in rural areas (with folk avoiding woodlands, putting offerings of food on
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1
believe that their appearance derives from the primal fear inspired by fiendish creatures, while bards assert that panic, being such a repulsive emotion, is embodied by an equally ugly creature
—broken and consumed by the march of eternity. It has no sense of empathy or compassion, driven only to unmake so that the resulting base elements of reality can fuel the multiverse’s endless cycles of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
end of each of its turns until it exits the cylinder. While in a psipod, an unconscious creature finds itself drawn into a simulated reality created by the ulitharid (see the “Alterdeep” sidebar) and
city limits, Extremiton creates situations to dissuade them: bad weather, a city-wide lockdown, a festival — whatever it takes. The ulitharid hasn’t researched areas outlying the city. Consequently
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves
in this cave. They are desperate to avoid the unwelcome attention of Lashlo, the djinni in area N10, and try to remain as silent as possible. Development. The galeb duhr’s caution is unwarranted
clasps an Instrument of the Bards (Ollamh harp), which she acquired in her youth. Taking the harp, plucking one of its strings, or removing the glass key from around Yemi’s neck ends the Sequester spell
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
. Refugees are pouring into Loudwater, and those who can’t afford to stay at the local inns are being herded like cows into warehouses overlooking the harbor. As if that weren’t bad enough, stone giants have
of the hat. In reality, Luskan is anything but that. It’s a dirty dive with filthy streets, squat buildings, ramshackle docks, creaky old longships, and crass pirates thinly disguised as sea traders






