bad bards diffusing child run

Annis Hag

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

hag. Over time, “Granny” or “Grampy” convinces the child that it’s okay to do bad deeds—starting with breaking things or wandering without permission, then

especially cruel, the hag adopts the appearance of a kindly elder, approaches a child in a remote place, and gives them an iron token (described below), through which the child can magically confide in the

Charlatan Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

weakness and secure their fortunes. 4 I put on new identities like clothes. 5 I run sleight-of-hand cons on street corners. 6 I convince people that worthless junk is worth their hard

Charity. I distribute the money I acquire to the people who really need it. (Good) 4 Creativity. I never run the same con twice. (Chaotic) 5 Friendship. Material goods come and go. Bonds of

Mister Light

Monsters The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

nothing as a child, Urmius found himself surrounded by family members, caretakers, and teachers who were uniformly cold, callous, and mean-spirited. He grew tired of being seen as nothing more than the

Gloomwrought and asked Naeryx to help him run it. For Urmius, the carnival was a chance to emerge from under his family’s shadow and become the master of his own fate, but it also meant forsaking his

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

College of Swords

Classes Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Bards of the College of Swords are called blades, and they entertain through daring feats of weapon prowess. Blades perform stunts such as sword swallowing, knife throwing and juggling, and mock

have often run into trouble that makes maintaining their secret activities impossible. A blade caught stealing or engaging in vigilante justice is too great a liability for most troupes. With their

College of Swords (XGtE)

Classes Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Bards of the College of Swords are called blades, and they entertain through daring feats of weapon prowess. Blades perform stunts such as sword swallowing, knife throwing and juggling, and mock

have often run into trouble that makes maintaining their secret activities impossible. A blade caught stealing or engaging in vigilante justice is too great a liability for most troupes. With their

Urchin Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

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

will run away from a fight. 2 Gold seems like a lot of money to me, and I’ll do just about anything for more of it. 3 I will never fully trust anyone other than myself. 4 I&rsquo

Pirate Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

board—boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run? You spent your youth

you may roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook), a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp Feature: Bad Reputation No matter where

Sailor Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

board—boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run? Skill

more than one deserving soul to a briny grave. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town. Variant Feature: Bad

Criminal / Spy Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

. 4 I have a “tell” that reveals when I’m lying. 5 I turn 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.

Criminal - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

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.

ranks hoping to find out what happened to them. 7 You’ve always wanted to be a member of the Guild. As a child, you looked up to the Guild members’ swagger, their flashy dress, and

Haunted One

Backgrounds Curse of Strahd: Character Options

You are haunted by something so terrible that you dare not speak of it. You’ve tried to bury it and run away from it, to no avail. Whatever this thing is that haunts you can’t be slain

words and images are burned into your psyche. 9 A fiend possessed you as a child. You were locked away but escaped. The fiend is still inside you, but now you try to keep it bottled up. 10

Sailor - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

fellows, or on the run? Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Perception Tool Proficiencies: Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water) Equipment: A belaying pin (club), 50 feet of silk rope, a lucky

. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town. Variant Feature: Bad Reputation If your character has a sailor

Charlatan - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

. 5 I run sleight-of-hand cons on street corners. 6 I convince people that worthless junk is worth their hard-earned money. FEATURE: FALSE IDENTITY You have created a second

. (Lawful) 3 Charity. I distribute the money I acquire to the people who really need it. (Good) 4 Creativity. I never run the same con twice. (Chaotic) 5 Friendship. Material goods

Creating a Bard

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

Creating a Bard Bards thrive on stories, whether those stories are true or not. Your character’s background and motivations are not as important as the stories that he or she tells about them

a story. Some bards acquire their magical music through extraordinary means, including the inspiration of fey or other supernatural creatures. Did you serve an apprenticeship, studying under a master

Urchin - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

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

important person, and I’m wanted for it. 6 No one else should have to endure the hardships I’ve been through. d6 Flaw 1 If I’m outnumbered, I will run away

The Central Market

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

cloudy blue eyes. They run a flower stall in the market. Friendly and a bit wistful, Astra chats with anyone who stops at their stall, as happy to hear the recent news as to make a sale. Astra was a

child when their family left Vermeillon, so their knowledge of the forgotten village is clouded by time and the hazy memories of the very young. They remember the disaster at the mine, bits of

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

fraught with tests of strength, fierce competition and nothing in the way of maternal or paternal love. From the time a child can wield a stick or a crude knife, it asserts itself and defends itself

everywhere in the world around them, and the priests of a tribe are entrusted with the responsibility of identifying these signs and omens — both good and bad — and deciding how the tribe should

The Middle Path

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

between relying on their bonuses and abilities and paying attention to the game and immersing themselves in its world. Remember that dice don’t run your game — you do. Dice are like rules. They’re

bad die roll foiling the character’s plans. By the same token, a bad plan or unfortunate circumstances can transform the easiest task into an impossibility, or at least impose disadvantage.

Aarakocra Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

lies on the slopes of the Star Mounts’ southernmost mountains. At the headwaters of the Unicorn Run, the Last Aerie is home to several dozen aarakocra. Recently, aarakocra elders detected

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

Invidia

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

Invidia Darklord: Gabrielle Aderre Hallmarks: Bad parents, possessed children Gabrielle Aderre is convinced that her son, Malocchio, is destined for greatness. From her estate outside the village of

expectations or the deadly tricks and accidents that frequently occur around the child. Gabrielle isn’t content to leave her son’s grand destiny to chance, though. Using her precious bone spirit

Urban Bounty Hunter

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

If there’s a plan, I’ll forget it. If I don’t forget it, I’ll ignore it. 4 I have a “tell” that reveals when I’m lying. 5 I turn 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.

Cloistered Scholar

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

As a child, you were inquisitive when your playmates were possessive or raucous. In your formative years, you found your way to one of Faerûn’s great institutes of learning , where you

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

Halflings of the Five Nations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

Halflings of the Five Nations Quick and charming, many halflings put their natural talents to use as bards, barristers, merchants, and politicians throughout Khorvaire. Of course, these same talents

prove equally useful for burglars, grifters, and other criminals. Of particular note is the halfling-run criminal enterprise of the Boromar Clan, the most powerful crime syndicate in Breland. The

Umizu

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel

Umizu Residents of the city-state of Umizu enjoy their fair share of luck, but good fortune comes at a cost: a season of bad luck that arrives with the yearly monsoon. During this time, locals pray

-simmering tension. Daimyo Hogishi Takemi does his best to rein in crime, but the city’s lackluster bureaucracy is run by complacent samurai administrators and riddled with corruption. Crime syndicates

Annis Hag

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monsters of the Multiverse

, approaches a child in a remote place, and gives them an iron token (described below), through which the child can magically confide in the hag. Over time, “Granny” or “Grampy” convinces the child that it’s

okay to do bad deeds—starting with breaking things or wandering without permission, then graduating to pushing someone down the stairs or setting a house on fire. Eventually, the child’s terrified

Setessa

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

Setessa This city saved me when I was an orphaned child, sold into chains. Now is my turn to save it. —Kallias, Ophis Tower commander Setessa is the favored polis of Karametra, and its buildings

population, holding almost all of the leadership roles and carrying out most work. Men are few and far between, mostly performing roles at the polis’s edge. Children run freely around the polis. They’re so important, in fact, that Setessa’s people take in abandoned children from all over Theros.

Lords' Alliance

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

Halflings of the Five Nations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

Halflings of the Five Nations Halflings can be found in every city in Khorvaire. Quick and charming, halflings are often found as merchants, politicians, barristers, and bards. Of course, these same

, who occasionally pulls you into their problems. Or you could even be the reluctant heir of a powerful Boromar leader; you’ve gone on the run rather than taking your place in this criminal empire, but someday your past may catch up with you.

Caer-Dineval

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

because they have not received deliveries of mead from the town of Good Mead, and the taverns have run dry. As if things weren’t bad enough, the town’s harbor has frozen over, and the town’s speaker

Creating a Bard

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

Creating a Bard Bards thrive on stories, whether those stories are true or not. Your character’s background and motivations are not as important as the stories that he or she tells about them

a story. Some bards acquire their magical music through extraordinary means, including the inspiration of fey or other supernatural creatures. Did you serve an apprenticeship, studying under a master

Chasing the Children

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm Lord’s Wrath

finished stone building in the town. These children, some of them terrified and missing their parents, others mischievous and too young to understand consequences (much like adventurers), decide to run

or order them to behave. Whichever adventurer does the best job of corralling the children might gain an admirer. This child can be totally smitten or intrigued by the character, following them around

Day of Dread

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

progresses, run the following encounters, using the Dread in the Streets table to set the mood as the characters venture across the city. Dread in the Streets d6 Event 1 A makeshift aid camp has taken

over an alley, providing help to refugees recently arrived in the city. 2 A baker stands outside their bakery, handing out free bread to all passersby. 3 A lost child calls for their parents on a

2. All Work, No Play

compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->One-Shot Wonders: Holiday Adventure Pack

run-up to the holiday have been and gone. The only people left on the streets are hurrying home to their families. All except a small dwarven child who reaches up on tiptoes to pin a handwritten note

The Khoravar

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

The Khoravar When two half-elves conceive, the child is always a half-elf. Over the course of generations, families and communities of half-elves have developed their own cultural identity. Members

communication and cooperation between members of different cultures or species. Such Khoravar often become mediators, diplomats, translators, or bards. Others are fascinated by their distant connection to

D&D Beyond

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