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Returning 35 results for 'bards back diffusing combatants rites'.
Classes
Player’s Handbook
Plumb the Depths of Magical Knowledge
Bards of the College of Lore collect spells and secrets from diverse sources, such as scholarly tomes, mystical rites, and peasant tales. The college’s
Magic Items
Dungeon Master’s Guide
, foul rites that allow one to transform into a death knight or lich, or long-lost spells crafted by beings so evil their names ought never to be spoken aloud.
Vile Speech. While the book is on your
damage unless the creature is a Fiend or an Undead.
Destroying the Book. The Book of Vile Darkness allows pages to be torn from it, but any evil lore contained on those pages finds its way back into the
Monsters
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
that is Medium or Small or back into its true form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (the
their descendants and the communities they knew in life, sowing terror and taking retribution for the slights or neglected burial rites that led to their cursed resurrections. Rigor mortis notoriously
Species
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back.
Rather than sleeping, reborn regularly sit and dwell on the past, hoping for some revelation of what came before. Most of the time, these are dark
of Dread (detailed in chapter 3):
Har’Akir. You died and endured the burial rites of this desert realm, yet somehow a soul—yours or another’s—has taken refuge in your
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
their bodies and the spines and horns that hover close to their heads and backs. These horns shift with the dragon’s mood: bristling with anger, lying back with fear or suspicion, and rippling
rain from the sky in a beautiful but dangerous display. Rumors quickly spread that a crystal dragon is responsible.
3
A crystal dragon invites the greatest bards and philosophers to partake in
Cleric
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
her holy symbol as light pours from it to drive back the zombies crowding in on her companions.
Clerics are intermediaries between the mortal world and the distant planes of the gods. As varied as the
to those chosen to fulfill a high calling.
Harnessing divine magic doesn’t rely on study or training. A cleric might learn formulaic prayers and ancient rites, but the ability to cast cleric
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
starlight between their bodies and the spines and horns that hover close to their heads and backs. These horns shift with the dragon’s mood: bristling with anger, lying back with fear or
Prismatic shards rain from the sky in a beautiful but dangerous display. Rumors quickly spread that a crystal dragon is responsible.
3
A crystal dragon invites the greatest bards and philosophers
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Bard Subclass A Bard subclass is a specialization that grants you features at certain Bard levels, as specified in the subclass. Bards form loose associations, which they call colleges, to preserve
their traditions. This section presents the College of Lore subclass. College of Lore Plumb the Depths of Magical Knowledge Bards of the College of Lore collect spells and secrets from diverse sources
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
; scales. It glows like starlight between their bodies and the spines and horns that hover close to their heads and backs. These horns shift with the dragon’s mood: bristling with anger, lying back
bards and philosophers to partake in “the Great Dialogue” in the dragon’s mountaintop lair. But only the dragon knows that the Great Dialogue has no end, and no one can leave the lair
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
anger, lying back with fear or suspicion, and rippling in side-to-side waves with amusement or joy.
Visions in Starlight
Many crystal dragons study the stars, recording their observations of the night
the greatest bards and philosophers to partake in “the Great Dialogue” in the dragon’s mountaintop lair. But only the dragon knows that the Great Dialogue has no end, and no one can
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
Shapechanger. If Strahd isn’t in running water or sunlight, he can use his action to polymorph into a Tiny bat, a Medium wolf, or a Medium cloud of mist, or back into his true form.
While in
the reach of melee combatants and spellcasters, or he flies away (using summoned wolf;wolves or swarm of bats;swarms of bats or swarm of rats;rats to guard his retreat).
Strahd observes the characters
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Turn of Fortune’s Wheel
, wheeling corpses to embalming chambers or to the crematorium. The Heralds of Dust treat the dead with reverence and dignity, granting them last rites in accordance with the beliefs of the deceased
book’s introduction. If all the characters die at once, they reappear back in the morgue. Morte heckles them on their return.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
boil up from below to repel the invaders out of Avernus, back to the juncture where the Styx enters the Hells. This drive by the devils attracts the attention of more demons from the Abyss, which pushes
the front line back into Avernus. The process repeats itself time and time again. To the good fortune of the rest of the multiverse, almost all the battles in the Blood War take place in the Abyss and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
Bardic Colleges In addition to the tradition of apprenticing with a master bard, the Sword Coast has some bardic colleges where masters teach students the bardic arts. They hark back to the great
the bards, each of which is named after one of the colleges. See chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the game statistics of these magic instruments. Long ago, bards who sought the rank of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat
, legendary actions, and lair actions indiscriminately. He tries to push powerful melee combatants back to the walls, then creates a wall of thorns to fence them in. Because this is only a small portion
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin
ichor oozing from holes in its carapace.
A war between thousands of demonic combatants rages throughout the ridge. The forces organized around the tower include driders and monstrous spiders, which
spyder-fiend combatants of the battle linger near the characters: a quavilithku spyder-fiend and three kakkuu spyder-fiends (stat blocks for both appear in appendix A). They’re busily hollowing out the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
, legendary actions, and lair actions indiscriminately. He tries to push powerful melee combatants back to the walls, then creates a wall of thorns to fence them in. Because this is only a small portion
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
Bard Subclasses A Bard subclass is a specialization that grants you features at certain Bard levels, as specified in the subclass. Bards form loose associations, which they call colleges, to preserve
Harmony with the Cosmos Bards of the College of Dance know that the Words of Creation can’t be contained within speech or song; the words are uttered by the movements of celestial bodies and flow
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
guerrilla tactics, using only as many combatants as necessary to get a job done, never staying in one place too long, and quickly retreating back to their turf. Though the Boromars still control much
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
disaster. In truth, generations of hapless humans raised their city, realizing too late that they’d done so upon the back of a titanic kraken. When the kraken Arixmethes awakened, its throes devastated the
city upon its back and wiped out the residents. Since returning to its slumber, Arixmethes drifts where it will, still bearing the ruins of a legendary city upon its back. Cronemouth Cove This tiny
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
respond by putting things back to the way they were before. For example, if a character takes the Disengage action to move away from a group of monsters, don’t respond by having those same monsters
their foes, or it might join one side or the other. Each time one or more new combatants join the encounter, roll Initiative for them and weave them into the Initiative order. Change the Terrain Consider
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves
an eye patch. It clutches a whip in one bony hand.
Along the east wall are three rusty gates with mold-covered cells beyond them.
Cultists used to perform ghastly rites here. Human prisoners were
confined to the cells (see below) until they were sacrificed. After death, they would be brought back to this room, where the high priest would animate them as zombies. Cells. All three cell doors
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
Mogis and regularly hold bloody rites in his honor. Warchanters, the minotaur clergy of Mogis, whip their marauders into a near-mindless frenzy before battle; the ensuing slaughter gives glory to
such, whispers among the servants of other gods claim that there might be a way to piece the fractured god back together. Doing so would require an incredible feat, though, likely involving the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
before you can see if blood is drawn, a crowd of spectators clusters around the brawl. What do you do?
The human combatants are five members of the Xanathar Guild (CE human bandits). The one with
in this scene. If he survives, the characters might meet him again in one of the Xanathar Guild’s sewer hideouts (see area Q5). Hanging Back If the characters don’t interfere in the brawl, Yagra
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
think or feel as others do, finding emotions messy and confusing.
3 In a brazen or desperate moment, you dared death to take you—and in a way, it has.
4 You sent a Returned back to the
stands for. (Any)
2 Tradition. Honor the dead through rites of respect and by continuing their ways. (Lawful)
3 Dread. Mortals put their fear out of mind, but through me, they will remember the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
attract. She is the patron of rangers in the same way that Milil is the patron of bards, but even rangers rarely pray to her directly. They instead pray to Gwaeron Windstrom, who they believe will
Unicorns and the actual goddess of their kind. But most tales depict Mielikki as a beautiful woman whom Lurue allows upon her back as a rider, and the two are thought to be boon companions. Mielikki’s
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Giants of the Star Forge
Battle on the Crater Rim On the rim of the Star Forge’s crater, four fire giants harry the adult red dragon Akaanvaerd. The five combatants move around the crater’s rim while fighting, effectively
are with the party, the wrestlers rush off to distract the giants, and the characters automatically succeed on their group Dexterity (Stealth) check. “We’ll hold them off,” one wrestler yells back
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
hits in favor of reducing the number of die rolls. As the number of combatants dwindles, switch back to using individual die rolls to avoid situations where one side can’t possibly hit the other. Mob
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
. See appendix D for these creatures’ statistics. The grungs on the roof unleash arrows to ward off intruders. If the intruders fight back, more green-skinned grungs close in from nearby buildings
the combatants.
The inscriptions are written in Old Omuan. The one above the mosaic reads, “Nangnang teaches us to serve only ourselves.” The inscriptions below tell how Nangnang (a grung) stole a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
intended it. They mastermind elaborate schemes and perform dark rites in the hope of one day ruling the world. Yuan-ti Abomination
Large monstrosity (shapechanger, yuan-ti), neutral evil
Armor Class 15
)
Shapechanger. The yuan-ti can use its action to polymorph into a Large snake, or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
trying to pry information out of a prisoner, convincing street thugs to back down from a confrontation, or using the edge of a broken bottle to convince a sneering vizier to reconsider a decision
, rumors, and gossip Blend into a crowd to get the sense of key topics of conversation Spellcasting Ability Bards, paladins, sorcerers, and warlocks use Charisma as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of spells they cast.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
imparts the following information: Grave Theft. Two halflings dug up his grave in the dead of night and stole his Canaith mandolin (an instrument of the bards). Frody wants it back. (“It was a gift
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
trying to pry information out of a prisoner, convincing street thugs to back down from a confrontation, or using the edge of a broken bottle to convince a sneering vizier to reconsider a decision
, rumors, and gossip Blend into a crowd to get the sense of key topics of conversation Spellcasting Ability Bards, paladins, sorcerers, and warlocks use Charisma as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of spells they cast.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
completely reasonable and plausible explanation. Singing songs and strumming lutes might be fine for most bards. Who doesn’t like a rousing shanty now and then? But standing in a crowded tavern playing for
copper pieces tossed by commoners isn’t for everyone — and it certainly isn’t for bards in the Acq Inc world. The power and magic tied up in the voice of a franchise bard is meant for greater things
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
firmly in the world by associating the class with a particular race or culture. For example, you might decide that bards, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards represent the magical traditions of four
. You could break that down still further: bards of the College of Lore could be high elves, and bards of the College of War could be wood elves. Gnomes discovered the school of illusion, so all wizards