Search Results
All Results
Characters
Compendium
Spells
Items
Monsters
Vehicles
Forums
Returning 33 results for 'bards bad diffusing court relatively'.
Monsters
The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
.
Personality Trait. “When dealing with outsiders, I present myself as a kindly old grandmother.”
Ideal. “Children are better off working for me than picking up lots of bad habits
returned, the hags used this power to trap Iggwilv and her court in temporal stasis. The hags then carved up Iggwilv’s domain, splitting it between them. The sisters couldn’t agree on which
Bard
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires hard study
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
Learning from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires
hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
Learning from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires
hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Radiant Citadel
Court of Whispers The denizens of the Court of Whispers barter for current knowledge. Heralds, criers, bards, and griots buy and sell information from the fifteen founding civilizations active in the
Citadel, as well as other lands. Skilled scouts and spies can also be hired for short-term reconnaissance or long-term infiltration. The Court is a mixed outdoor-indoor space with quiet alcoves and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
Court of Whispers The denizens of the Court of Whispers barter for current knowledge. Heralds, criers, bards, and griots buy and sell information from the fifteen founding civilizations active in the
Citadel, as well as other lands. Skilled scouts and spies can also be hired for short-term reconnaissance or long-term infiltration. The Court is a mixed outdoor-indoor space with quiet alcoves and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
, the Talons are terrifying. Their numbers are relatively few, but they’re organized enough to oppress Lekar’s ragged survivors and enforce Drakov’s totalitarian laws. In the face of zombie hordes
executions serve the greater good and impose necessary order, but make it clear that zombies aren’t the realm’s only monsters. Only Bad Decisions. There is one simple truth in Falkovnia: the dead are
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
lap—Bavlorna’s Big Book of Bad Blood—in which the hag’s displeasure with her enemies is spelled out in detail. He procured the book from a darkling merchant (see area B10), who stole it from Bavlorna
of the Soggy Court are allowed to speak with Bavlorna (a falsehood he knows to be untrue), and he invites the characters to join the group. If they accept, he instructs them to proceed to the palace
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
filled with Janyans enraptured by the low-toned, hypnotic music of a group of bards. Xoese-Addae leads the characters to a private audience suite overlooking the quad, occupied by a single Janyan wearing
fine, billowing robes—this is Zisatta. Zisatta Zisatta The aloof Zisatta is a member of the High Court and commands Janya’s security forces, called the Billowing Patrol for their sable robes that
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
these hired helpers to prominence for their importance to the campaign story. And, of course, for comic effect. When the characters are relatively low level, an Acquisitions Incorporated style of play can
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis
, most of them astral elves. The few non-elves are diplomatic envoys to the court, traders, and skilled crafters whose work is esteemed by the emperor. The imperial guard, which provides security within
citadel’s air envelope and serves as a bucolic refuge. Discreet conversation away from the prying eyes of the court often takes place here. Great Orrery The Great Orrery is the center of scholarship
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
resemble relatively small frost or stone giants. They use armor and weapons similar to what other combatants on Ysgard use in the eternal battle. The transformation that created fensirs left them with an
seems like a transparently bad idea. What were those giants thinking?
—Bigby
And yet, can we fairly say that the existence of fensirs is “transparently bad”? Some might argue they are a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Scholars, wizards, druids, and bards of other races have different ideas about how halflings escape peril, suggesting that by virtue of something in their nature, they occupy a special place in the
off bad luck or to bring good fortune. Villages or even families might have superstitions observed by no one else, such as the following:
For a safe journey through a forest, leave a few seeds or a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
perfectly still and pose no threat as long as the tomb remains relatively quiet. If any character talks loudly, steps on a piece of broken pottery, or makes any other equivalent noise while in the tomb, read
heaped around Shagambi’s bones: 200 gp, five moonstones (50 gp each), the fine music box activated by the trap (250 gp), and an instrument of the bards (Canaith mandolin). The instrument turns to dust and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
17. Arcturia’s Court Characters who listen at the doors to this room hear harp music beyond. The room has a vaulted ceiling 20 feet high and contains the following: Arcturia. Arcturia — a gaunt
butterfly swarm is an instrument of the bards (Anstruth harp). The yellow sapphires carried by the animal-headed guards fit into the pillars in area 8. Each gemstone is worth 1,000 gp.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
House of Naelax—is rumored to have fiendish advisers as well as a noble court infested with evil. Ruling from the Malachite Throne in Rauxes, Ivid commands an unmatched army currently embroiled in two
Kingdom, ruled by a cousin of the overking; its court is rife with debauchery and intrigue Ahlissa Herzogin Seprenna Calyn (human) South province of the Great Kingdom, ruled by a cousin of the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
, skimming from the coffers of either temple, running illegal gambling at the Sleeping Giant — any of these activities could net a nice profit with relatively limited risk. Staying on the Good Side If
-work miners. Doing so makes acquiring ongoing concessions or information from townsfolk much easier, but puts the characters in the bad graces of Sharna Quirstiron at the Miner’s Exchange. Leads to the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
lavishly decorated, with many halls used by government officials, guildmasters, and nobles for meetings and court proceedings. If you have reason to be invited (not compelled, I should hope!) to meet with
parted ways. Mirt kept on with a life of adventure, while Durnan built the tavern called the Yawning Portal over the Well and now, almost two centuries later, charges coin to descend into it. Not a bad
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
receive relatively cordial treatment from those other hags instead. Every hag has a particular status relative to others of her kind and to hags of all sorts, based on age, abilities, influence
on rare magic to the hag’s daughter. THE RULE OF THREE
They say that things come in threes. Good things. Bad things. Strange things. Hags and purveyors of witchcraft embrace the Rule of Three, as it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
Battle Balloon Through the winter clouds that surround the castle on this desolate hill, you see a shape emerge. Something so gigantic, you can’t believe it can actually fly. Airships are relatively
franchises. The versatility of an airship allows for the rapid shipping of goods, mercenaries, and loot. Such a vessel also allows a quick escape from sticky developments and deals gone bad. Battle
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
, since no one in Mirabar wishes to see the surface city wiped out. It would simply be bad for business. Mirabar spares no expense in defending its wealth, and hires as many mages and adventurers as
dust. Still, despite the city’s overall wealth, there are rich and (relatively) poor Mirabarrans. Not everyone shares in the coin the city’s sales bring in, and wage workers whose income is
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
townsfolk. Chaotic Neutral. (CN) creatures follow their whims, holding their personal freedom above all else. Many rogues and bards are chaotic neutral. Lawful Evil. (LE) creatures methodically take
boastfulness and has a fear of heights resulting from a bad fall during her career as a thief. Artemis Entreri is always prepared for the worst and moves with a quick, precise confidence.
Consider their
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1
believe that their appearance derives from the primal fear inspired by fiendish creatures, while bards assert that panic, being such a repulsive emotion, is embodied by an equally ugly creature
creatures in the court of a cruel noble or foul necromancer. Should a minor bandit chief or low-ranking acolyte of evil gain the service of these creatures, take care. When the devilkin take notice of such
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
authority in Sigil’s court system, though he casts verdicts in only the most important cases. Hashkar is as long winded as he is knowledgeable, and any inquiry sparks an impromptu lecture. Outside legal
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
storytelling has another outlet, in the form of gatherings in which an elder holds court or several tale-tellers try to outdo one another as they pass on their experiences. Witnessing a halfling
. Halfling settlements survive wars because halflings are so irritating. Why conquer something you want nothing to do with?
Bad Apples Although most halflings are energetic and jovial, as with any
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands
, they plead with the characters to represent them in court. 5 When the coast is clear, a shady-looking Doomguard rot blade (see Morte’s Planar Parade) opens their long overcoat in front of the characters
, supposedly impartial magistrate appointed by the Guvners. Punishments are tailored to fit the crime, and advocates are strongly encouraged. Lawyers and orators, these civil servants include bards
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
. Although some of the dancing is wanton and performed for show, large-scale ring dances in the street for all ages are also popular. All the dancing ends at dusk, after which bards and minstrels perform at
, on his statue in the City of the Dead, and atop the altars of the House of Wonder. Bards perform songs in honor of the wizard all over the city. The Open Lord visits taverns and inns throughout
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
few wealthy estates. Upper Dura Hope’s Peak A relatively new temple district, with shrines and churches that have relocated from Fallen in Lower Dura. Hope’s Peak includes several monasteries and a
includes a variety of businesses specializing in Aereni goods, as well as a temple of the Undying Court. Upper Northedge High Hope A center for worship for the people of Northedge, High Hope includes
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
threat) The court jester devised a deadly trap to foil anyone who sought to steal his magic fool’s cap. The jester’s tomb is located at the end of a 10-foot-wide, 150-foot-long hallway that descends
. Heavily damaging a statue is a bad idea, for doing so leaves the gas vents open. Reducing a statue to 0 hit points (AC 17; 20 hp; resistance to fire, piercing, and slashing damage; immune to poison
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
here when he isn’t conducting business in area B25 or entertaining visitors in area B26. Treasure. The lyre is an instrument of the bards (Cli lyre) decorated with carvings of phoenixes. Jarazoun
and cracked, and the room’s walls are veined with narrow fissures that disappear into darkness.
The Book of Vile Darkness If the characters had a relatively easy time getting here, add two
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
. Despite how strong the doors and magic of the vaults are, the walls between adjacent vaults are relatively thin. Dealing 40 bludgeoning or force damage to an inner wall creates a hole wide enough for a
Zardak appears to notice something odd about one of the characters or the body they inhabit, but this ends up just being his bad eyesight. Fifteen minutes after they arrive, the two take their leave
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse
doesn’t have a jail or court. The shop is the closest thing. Harburk employs four trusties, who bunk in the fourth building. The trusties are assistant constables (human guards) who also work for Jalessa as
resale. His true talent is a keen eye for ordinary weapons and armor that can stand up to hard use and bad weather. Ask him which of his battleaxes is best, and Ironhead offers an honest (and accurate






