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Returning 35 results for 'bad blades diffusing complex reality'.
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
of creation.
5
To experience a thing is to truly understand it. Direct and personal experience is the most valuable form of knowledge.
6
I see a far more kaleidoscopic reality than you do
"}
Ideal
1
Balance. Everything is a complex interaction of forces that must be kept in a delicate and carefully maintained balance. (Neutral)
2
Knowledge. We are the whole of creation
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
experience a thing is to truly understand it. Direct and personal experience is the most valuable form of knowledge.
6
I see a far more kaleidoscopic reality than you do … or than any of
. Everything is a complex interaction of forces that must be kept in a delicate and carefully maintained balance. (Neutral)
2
Knowledge. We are the whole of creation, seeking to understand itself
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
. Direct and personal experience is the most valuable form of knowledge.
6
I see a far more kaleidoscopic reality than you do … or than any of your selves do, really.
7
It is not my place
than this one.
Amethyst Dragon Ideals
d6;{"diceNotation":"1d6","rollType":"roll","rollAction":"Ideal"}
Ideal
1
Balance. Everything is a complex interaction of forces that
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
foundations of creation.
5
To experience a thing is to truly understand it. Direct and personal experience is the most valuable form of knowledge.
6
I see a far more kaleidoscopic reality than
"}
Ideal
1
Balance. Everything is a complex interaction of forces that must be kept in a delicate and carefully maintained balance. (Neutral)
2
Knowledge. We are the whole of creation
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->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Example Complex Traps The following complex traps can be used to challenge characters or to inspire your own creations. Path of Blades Complex trap (level 1–4, dangerous threat) Hidden within a
and initiative count 10. Active Elements. The Path of Blades includes a set of whirling blades along the first 80 feet of the trap, crushing pillars that slam down from the ceiling to the floor before
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a2
smith’s mark, and tells them that it was discovered near a rocky hill called the Stone Tooth. Baron Althon provides directions and promises to reward the characters richly for each of Durgeddin’s blades
they recover. He will pay the characters 20 gp each just for bringing back information about the dwarven complex, and an additional 100 gp if they provide detailed maps.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat
carelessly strewn around matted heaps of furs, which would undoubtedly smell as bad as they look if not for the cold.
The chamber holds 12 kobolds when the characters enter. A few are sleeping but
most are tossing knucklebones, sharpening blades, sewing clothing, carving whalebone, or picking on each other. See “Random Encounters” (above) for guidelines on how the kobolds respond to intruders
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
carelessly strewn around matted heaps of furs, which would undoubtedly smell as bad as they look if not for the cold.
The chamber holds 12 kobolds when the characters enter. A few are sleeping but
most are tossing knucklebones, sharpening blades, sewing clothing, carving whalebone, or picking on each other. See “Random Encounters” (earlier in the chapter) for guidelines on how the kobolds
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a2
come to the Stone Tooth in search of a reputed cache of Durgeddin’s superior blades and find the stronghold inhabited by dangerous monsters. The complex consists of the following five sections: The
Mountain Door. The Mountain Door comprises the uppermost level of the cavern complex. It is currently inhabited by a tribe of fierce orcs, led by a brutal ogre known as Great Ulfe. The Glitterhame. The
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Complex Traps A complex trap poses multiple dangers to adventurers. After a complex trap activates, it remains dangerous round after round until the characters avoid it or disable it. Some complex
traps become more dangerous over time, as they accumulate power or gain speed. Complex traps are also more difficult to disable than simple ones. A single check is not enough. Instead, a series of
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->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
more kaleidoscopic reality than you do … or than any of your selves do, really.
7 It is not my place to interfere. I merely seek to observe, learn, and understand.
8 With a true
understanding of metaphysics, anything is possible—including the creation of a more orderly and perfect cosmos than this one.
Amethyst Dragon Ideals d6 Ideal
1 Balance. Everything is a complex
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
General Features The areas that make up the Lykortha Expanse have several common physical features, summarized here: Light. The complex is dimly lit by bioluminescent fungi growing in patches on the
into the distance for long stretches.” 41–60 “I see an altered version of reality, with my mind convincing itself that things are true even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.” 61–80
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Xanathar, who has turned the forlorn settlement into a haven for its criminal organization. (The beholder inhabits a dungeon complex under Skullport that is described in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.) Few folk
since its founding, are all that remain of the Sargauth Enclave, a settlement of Netherese wizards. The flameskulls consider themselves the true rulers of Skullport, but they have lost touch with reality
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->Basic Rules (2014)
inconvenient to deadly, making use of elements such as arrows, spikes, blades, poison, toxic gas, blasts of fire, and deep pits. The deadliest traps combine multiple elements to kill, injure, contain
24d10 Complex Traps Complex traps work like standard traps, except once activated they execute a series of actions each round. A complex trap turns the process of dealing with a trap into something more
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
from inconvenient to deadly, making use of elements such as arrows, spikes, blades, poison, toxic gas, blasts of fire, and deep pits. The deadliest traps combine multiple elements to kill, injure
18d10 24d10 Complex Traps Complex traps work like standard traps, except once activated they execute a series of actions each round. A complex trap turns the process of dealing with a trap into something
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->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
umber hulk under the effect of a polymorph spell made permanent with a wish spell. The umber hulk reverts to its true form and attacks when its scorpion form is reduced to 0 hit points. 23b. Bad
Blades A corroded steel helm rests atop a pile of rusty swords in the middle of the room. When another creature enters the room, the pile of swords gathers into a vaguely humanoid form with the helm
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
, the duergar have a culture as rich and complex as any other, and nowhere is this so evident as in Gracklstugh. Work never stops in the City of Blades, and the gray dwarves take pride in efficiency
Life in the City of Blades The duergar are called gray dwarves not only because of the color of their skin, but also because of their drab and joyless lifestyle. While they make no time for merriment
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
capability. The goal of the adventure is to remove the psychic lock, which might take the form of a complex trap or maze in the dream. The actual objective of the adventure lies in Dal Quor. The
construction of an eldritch machine in Dal Quor that will give the quori physical access to the Material Plane again. Dying in Dreams Death in dreams is less severe than in reality, but it’s not without
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
colors, lamps, and chandeliers, but elaborate waxwork constructions that depict all sorts of subjects from personages of note, to dragons, to complex and abstract lattices — all represented as fantastical
, such that Azuth, god of wizards, was forced to appear and set things right. He is said to have stitched reality and the Weave back together, but a wrinkle in the fabric remains. To this day, magic
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->Quests from the Infinite Staircase
room has become the den of an ankheg, drawn to the tomb complex to feast on giant rodents and Cynidiceans who come to pay their respects. A character who examines the dead rat and succeeds on a DC 13
clouded eyes shuffle about the room.
This burial room was looted during Cynidicea’s fall. In the years following, trespassers fell prey to the dangers of the tomb complex. They rose again as five
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->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
reality. New arrivals are subject to forced conscription when encountered (whether by angel, demon, or devil), if they aren’t summarily dispatched. Amid the constant strife, windstorms of blades scour
Feature 1 Blades crafted here have a reputation for being especially fine and sharp. When a creature in the zone scores a critical hit with an attack that deals piercing or slashing damage, the attack
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
your side, you can use complex terms like ex injuria jus non oritur and cogitationis poenam nemo patitur to frighten people into thinking you know what you’re talking about. With common folks who don’t
bad situation.
4 The law doesn’t protect the honest and the hard working. I’m going to do whatever needs to be done to make things right.
5 I’m always in the wrong place at the wrong time
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
Welcome to the City of Blades Entering the city is the first major hurdle the characters must surmount in Gracklstugh. Unless they heed Buppido’s advice to arrive by way of the Darklake (or come up
can be shackled and shipped beyond the Darklake District. Resisting arrest is a truly bad idea; every duergar around is reinforcement. If the characters get arrested, you can interrupt their transfer
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands
gate-towns come knocking on their doors, residents feign ignorance or offer up false clues to throw off the nose of justice. Residents remain smugly aloof, fending off bounty hunters like bad suitors
Junk Wyrm, an eccentric adult copper dragon who reeks of garbage. The dump’s artistic guardian, Tudhog fashions three-dimensional pieces from once-magic blades, battle-damaged suits of shimmering armor
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
The Ordning As described in the Monster Manual, the giants of many worlds organize themselves in a complex social ranking called the ordning. At the largest scale, the ordning establishes the
betting on the outcome—and at least one giant is meddling behind the scenes to increase the likelihood of one side winning. 5 A cloud giant who recently lost a large amount of money on bad bets tries to
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->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->Acquisitions Incorporated
clockwork components spinning rapidly, glowing with power. Behind Splugoth is a rift in reality — a purple wound in the world, beyond which you can see goblins with purple eyes, extra limbs, and other
Rift. The rift tearing reality apart hovers a few feet above the mesa and pulses with eldritch power. A character who reaches the top can see more details behind the Far Realm friends and the army of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a2
caverns and forgotten storerooms before connecting with the Black Lake. None of the monsters that inhabit the complex regularly visit this place. The black dragon Nightscale sometimes swims through
salted meat gone bad, sacks of flour or grain covered in russet-colored mold, tuns of cider turned to vinegar.
Two open archways in the east wall lead to a similar room, and two more openings are dimly






