bad bone diffusing contested run

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

Leonin

Species Mythic Odysseys of Theros

gold to black. While their hands prove as nimble as those of other humanoids, leonin have retractable feline claws, which they can extend instantly. This, along with their ability to produce bone

adversaries—incredibly clever and well-prepared to play a long game but ultimately doomed to lose their games. 4 I’m certain every bad thing that happens can ultimately be blamed on the

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

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

other useful items, but if they are at risk of discovery, they run away rather than attack anyone in the house. By fleeing before they can be seen or identified, they avoid getting into a situation

, giving each individual and every generation a reason to feel pride and self-respect. The kobolds prefer to run away than fight, to live off the scraps of others, and they are often dominated by larger

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.

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

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 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

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

ward off diseases if they are worn. Don’t stand inside a ring of stones, mushrooms, or any other kind of circle. Seeing a shooting star before a battle is bad luck. To ward it off, you must

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.

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.

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

Intrigue

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

combat, and the party might go for several sessions without seeing a monster. Again, make sure your players know ahead of time that you want to run this kind of campaign. Otherwise, a player might

setting, from the backstabbing politics of the Nine Hells to the contested succession of Cormyrean royalty.

Mordentshire

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

countryside visit as little as possible. A cold wind blows in constantly from the sea, frequently escalating into howling storms. When the winds die down, they’re replaced by a shroud of bone-chilling

, his shop is run by local mystery enthusiast Beatrice Polk or by twin sisters Gennifer and Laurie Weathermay-Foxgrove (see “Travelers in the Mist” for information on van Richten and the Weathermay-Foxgroves).

Running the Adventure

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

Running the Adventure To run this adventure, you need the D&D fifth edition core rulebooks (Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual). Text that appears in a box like this is

and challenges that should keep a group entertained for multiple sessions. However, you can easily run a shorter version of the adventure, or even an exciting one-shot, by making the following

9. Fountain of Evil

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss

follow Droki into this chamber, they see him sneaking carefully along the eastern path. They can attempt to follow him with a group Dexterity (Stealth) check contested by the water weird’s passive

Wisdom (Perception) score. If more than half the characters fail the check, the water weird notices them and attacks. If the characters are attacked by the water weird while following Droki, the wily derro realizes he’s being shadowed and makes a run for it.

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

18. Library

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

18. Library The githyanki keep a modest library of books and maps on shelves carved into the asteroid’s rock walls. These shelves run from the floor to the 15-foot-high ceiling of each chamber. Most

. Map Room The shelves along the walls of this cavern are piled high with leather and bone tubes holding maps of planar locations and small, unnamed dungeons. A character who searches through the maps

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

. “Gossip nourishes me like a spring rain, but I hate to hear or pass on bad news.” Ideal. “People are like flowers: Some grow best when left alone, others must be carefully cultivated—and some need to be

It's Just Business

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated

. What better way to think of the big bad monster at the center of a web of even bigger and badder plans than as the CEO of a megacorporation, using every resource to dominate the market? What is an

present them with even more hurdles to overcome. The often bizarre, unfeeling, and surreal elements of corporate and business life can add a degree of danger or absurdity to even the most run-of-the

Zombie

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)

was fun for a while, but the zombie started to smell real bad, so we doused it in oil and set it on fire. Beek would’ve found that hilarious.” — Fonkin Hoddypeak, on friendship Hideous Forms

. Zombies appear as they did in life, showing the wounds that killed them. However, the magic that creates these vile creatures often takes time to run its course. Dead warriors might rise from a

Caer-Konig

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

that keeps the townsfolk from leaving is the beer at the local tavern, which never seems to run out. As if things weren’t bad enough, the town has suffered several mysterious break-ins recently, with

Life and Outlook

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

carnivores, kobolds are actually omnivores, and can eat just about anything, including meat, fruit, tree bark, bone, leather, and eggshells (a newly hatched kobold’s first meal is usually its own shell). A

instinctively attack the gnomes. Kobolds in battle with gnomes are much less likely to run away because their hatred overrules their sense of self-preservation. A kobold’s cautious nature doesn’t mean it

Hopeless

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands

, passing a host of dull establishments selling even duller sundries. Castle of Bone Said to be the quietest—or least depressing—inn in Hopeless, the Castle of Bone is run by Roric Witherblade

archway of red stone carved in the shape of a howling face. Crimson streaks of chipping paint run from its wide, empty eyes like pained tears on either side of an elongated mouth. It’s the only pop of

Sailor

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

on 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 Proficiencies

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

Research

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

addition, a character might run into other complications during research. Every workweek spent in research brings a 10 percent chance of a complication, examples of which are on the Research

Difficulty Class

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

, moderate, or hard?” If the only DCs you ever use are 10, 15, and 20, your game will run just fine. Keep in mind that a character with a 10 in the associated ability and no proficiency will succeed at an

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

The Zhentarim

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss

knows that demons at large in the world are bad for business. The organization thus views the possible presence of the demon lords in the Underdark with the same concern as any other external threat

let them run the NPCs. The thugs’ names are Nero Kelvane, Lenora Haskur, Aligor Moonwhisper, Gorath Torn, Saliyra Dalnor, Primwin Halk, Iandro Alathar, and Lhytris Ilgarn. All of them know the route

Simple Traps

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

sown with too many traps, and if the characters are victimized over and over again as a result, they are likely to take steps to prevent further bad things from happening. Because of their recent

experience, the characters can become overly cautious, and you run the risk of the action grinding to a halt as the players search every square inch of the dungeon for trip wires and pressure plates

What You Need

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook

useful: DM Screen. Many DMs like to use a screen to shield their notes and dice rolls from players. It’s bad manners to peek over the screen! Miniatures and Battle Grid. Some DMs use a battle grid and

miniatures to run combat encounters, since they help everyone visualize the action. A battle grid can be anything marked out in 1-inch squares, from disposable sheets of paper to poster maps. And

Consequences

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

, you can offer to let the character succeed at the cost of a complication or hindrance. Such complications can run along any of the following lines: A character gets her sword past an enemy’s defenses

automatic failure is bad enough. And characters typically make so many attack rolls that they’re bound to roll dozens of natural 1s over time. What might seem like an interesting consequence, like breaking the weapon used for the attack, will quickly get tiresome.

Hags

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

place, and gives it an iron token that it can use to confide in her. Over time, “Granny” convinces the child that it’s okay to have bad thoughts and do bad deeds — starting with breaking things or

wandering outside without permission, then graduating to pushing someone down the stairs or setting a house on fire. Sooner or later, the child’s family and community become terrified of the “bad seed” and

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