bad burden diffusing concept run

Tiefling Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

is the burden of every tiefling. Some break under it, some make it the millstone around their neck, some revel in it.” He tilted his head again, scrutinizing her, with that wicked glint in his

reflect their fiendish heritage. And some younger tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, adopt a name that signifies a virtue or other concept and then try to embody that concept. For some

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

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

with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its

Feral Tiefling

Species Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

is the burden of every tiefling. Some break under it, some make it the millstone around their neck, some revel in it.” He tilted his head again, scrutinizing her, with that wicked glint in his

reflect their fiendish heritage. And some younger tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, adopt a name that signifies a virtue or other concept and then try to embody that concept. For some

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.

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

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.

Creating Encounters

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

Creating Encounters Encounters are the individual scenes in the larger story of your adventure. First and foremost, an encounter should be fun for the players. Second, it shouldn’t be burden for you

to run. Beyond that, a well-crafted encounter usually has a straightforward objective as well as some connection to the overarching story of your campaign, building on the encounters that precede it

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

Origin of the Ordning

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

they proved themselves incapable of governing the world. The ordning might be necessary, or a burden giants are expected to bear, but giants who hold these views often look forward to Annam abolishing

the ordning in some mythic future. Giants on some worlds (including Eberron) have no concept of the ordning at all. Such giants might think of themselves as a single species, with the differences

Servitor Thrull

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

Servitor Thrull The most wretched of thrulls are the servitors, small and slender, that serve as playthings for their Orzhov masters. They run trivial errands, transport small items, caper and dance

, and keep their masters’ expensive robes from trailing on the dirty street. They are utterly loyal, lacking any concept of thinking for themselves. Servitor Thrull Small construct, unaligned Armor

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

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.

Missing Players

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

should strive to keep the character alive and use resources wisely. Run the character yourself. It’s an extra burden for you, but it can work. Decide the character isn’t there. Invent a good reason for

Missing Players How should you deal with the characters of missing players? Consider these options: Have another player run the missing player’s character. The player running the extra character

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

Haunted One

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd

Haunted One 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

with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its

Approaching the City

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

noisy or repugnant for more genteel citizens. Here travelers must leave any sizable mounts or beasts of burden at one of countless stables and caravanserais before paying the fees to pass through the

gates into the city proper. Travelers from the south are twice blessed in this regard, paying once for the bridge at Wyrm’s Crossing and again once they’ve run the gauntlet of Outer City neighborhoods

Approaching the City

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer

noisy or repugnant for more genteel citizens. Here travelers must leave any sizable mounts or beasts of burden at one of countless stables and caravansaries before paying the fees to pass through the

gates into the city proper. Travelers from the south are twice blessed in this regard, paying once for the bridge at Wyrm’s Crossing and again once they’ve run the gauntlet of Outer City neighborhoods

Haunted One

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

Haunted One 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

with a sword or banished with a spell. It might come to you as a shadow on the wall, a bloodcurdling nightmare, a memory that refuses to die, or a demonic whisper in the dark. The burden has taken its

Vistani Lore

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.)

Running NPC Party Members

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

sessions. If roleplaying that NPC becomes a burden to you, see if one of your players is willing to run the NPC as a secondary character. If a player agrees to take control of a friendly NPC, provide that

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

Introduction

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

you receive a cancer diagnosis or a similar health news, you probably appreciate that concept a little more than other people. Watching someone you love waste away is a terrible thing. You want a

among my colleagues tell me that an informed multiverse is a safer multiverse. After all, why should we unhappy few endure the burden of protecting the multiverse from itself? I am also told that this

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

Suggested Characteristics

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd

d8 Personality Trait 1 I don’t run from evil. Evil runs from me. 2 I like to read and memorize poetry. It keeps me calm and brings me fleeting moments of happiness. 3 I spend money freely and live

life to the fullest, knowing that tomorrow I might die. 4 I live for the thrill of the hunt. 5 I don’t talk about the thing that torments me. I’d rather not burden others with my curse. 6 I expect

Evil Inchoate

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

absolute evil, demons have no concept of empathy. Each demon believes that only its needs and desires matter. This self-centeredness applies even with regard to other demons. These fiends have no

status, and they typically don’t set impossible goals — a lesser demon, for instance, might simply run amok when unleashed into the world, its only desire to spread chaos, but a marilith or other

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

Finding Iymrith

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder

Finding Iymrith The storm giants bear the burden of finding the dragon so that the characters can focus on preparing themselves for the final showdown. Hekaton and Serissa know that blue dragons

your control. You can have your players run the other storm giants if you prefer (and if they would enjoy doing so). Photocopy the storm giant stat blocks at the end of this chapter and distribute them

Appendix A: Shared Campaigns

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

hard to keep a campaign going. Enter the concept of the shared campaign. In a shared campaign, more than one member of the group can take on the role of DM. A shared campaign is episodic rather than

how to run a shared campaign and seeing how the Adventurers League handles certain issues, then the rest of this appendix is meant for you. CODE OF CONDUCT Time and time again, the core rulebooks

D&D Beyond

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