bards bitter diffusing calling reality

College of Whispers

Classes Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling

tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them

College of Whispers (XGtE)

Classes Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling

tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover secrets and turn them

Fog Giant

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

wealth and power with a bitter mix of longing, regret, and shame, seeking always to replace the grandest treasures they once possessed. Simple coins, gems, or trade goods do nothing to satisfy the

down the gate of a backwater duke’s castle, slaying a dozen or more guards, then calling for parley is a typical fog giant strategy—followed by an offer to leave the duke alive in return

Bard Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

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

still resound throughout the cosmos. The music of bards is an attempt to snatch and harness those echoes, subtly woven into their spells and powers. The greatest strength of bards is their sheer

Learning from Experience

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

Learning from Experience

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

The Gods of Two Peoples

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

. Half-elves often revere the gods of the culture in which they were raised, although some rebel against their upbringing, seeking out the gods of the other aspect of their heritage, or feeling a calling

or need to do so. As with any people, half-elves often choose a favored deity based on their calling or profession: Corellon Larethian, Azuth, or Mystra for wizards, Solonor Thelandira or Mielikki

Psychological Horror

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

Psychological Horror Psychological horror stories create suspense by heightening or calling into question characters’ states of mind, emotions, and perceptions. They often highlight the difference

. Uncertainty, paranoia, and blurred lines between reality and fiction also shape psychological horror stories. In your adventures, this might take the form of unreliable information. Characters might experience

Adventure Background

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault

—until thirty guards suddenly surrounded the pair of thieves. Vidorant nimbly escaped via the roof with the diadem in hand, but Goldenbeard was caught. He avoided imprisonment by calling in favors

. Meanwhile, Vidorant claimed innocence, insisting Goldenbeard was covering for his own inability to escape the situation. Whatever the truth, she kept the diadem, the once-friendly rivalry turned bitter, and

Star Spawn

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

cultists hasten to gather together, read aloud their blasphemous texts, and conduct the mind-searing rituals that guide the blazing star spawn into the world. The cultists who blaspheme reality by

calling out to Elder Evils often speak of a Far Realm from which these entities hail. In truth, there is no one place or space from which they come. There is the multiverse of things that are, and there is the multiverse of things that shouldn’t be.

Testing Phase

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

sometimes assume that “slaad” is a misspelling or mispronunciation. Calling these creatures “salads” is frowned upon. Frogs are common on campus and are often kept as pets

Playing During the Last War

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

political intrigue, tenuous alliances, and brutal conflicts. Consider these ways to make the Last War a present reality in your campaign: The players create new characters who live during a specific phase of

in a memorable battle? Do they take actions they’ll later regret? Do they make a bitter enemy who comes back to haunt them years later, when the campaign continues in the present day? A magical

College of Whispers

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

College of Whispers Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing

songs, and telling tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover

Build Your Group

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

cloak or disguise one’s appearance), and proficiency with skills such as Deception, Performance, and Sleight of Hand all greatly benefit the Chameleon. Bards and rogues, as well as characters with

thronged by reporters, judge Haliss ir’Cronn took her seat for the first session in what some are calling the “trial of the century.” Barath Drinn, a Karrn who has been living in Wroat since the end of

Redcloak Battalion

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

Battalion. This elite unit fought at the forefront of the Last War, and Brelish bards still sing of the exploits of Khandan the Hammer and Meira the Huntress. At the end of the war, the battalion was split

bitterly. Thrane. In the waning years of the Last War, the Redcloaks played a major role in the devastating Battle of Cairn Hill between Brelish and Thrane forces. Thanks to heavy losses on both sides, veterans of that battle tend to nurse bitter grudges against their enemies.

Goblinoids

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

years. It was crippled by a long and bitter conflict with the daelkyr and their aberrant armies; even though the daelkyr were defeated, the seeds of madness took root in the empire and tore it apart

Dhakaani. The Heirs of Dhakaan are an agnostic society and don’t have clerics, paladins, or druids. Their focus is on martial excellence, and their spiritual leaders are bards, who inspire their warriors

Build Your Group

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

the Church and the nation in pursuit of the highest ideals of the faith, as they crusade against the forces of evil across Khorvaire. But are they fulfilling that high calling? Or are they just as

Persuasion (or sometimes Intimidation) and Religion can be useful for this character. Many clerics fill this role, but devout bards can also be effective Teachers. Some Teachers bring skills from the

Dragon Factions

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

their services to dragons in exchange for membership in a draconic faction. By joining one dragon’s faction, characters might end up locked in bitter strife with a different faction—and characters who

to the highest standards of behavior, and wields cold magic. The Brass Order could be a loose affiliation of good-hearted scoundrels, including rogues and bards, who favor fire magic and trickery. An

Giant, Fog

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

former wealth and power with a bitter mix of longing, regret, and shame, seeking always to replace the grandest treasures they once possessed. Simple coins, gems, or trade goods do nothing to satisfy the

down the gate of a backwater duke’s castle, slaying a dozen or more guards, then calling for parley is a typical fog giant strategy—followed by an offer to leave the duke alive in return for a treasure

Cult of the Black Earth

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse

cruel, an extreme narcissist who delights in surrounding himself with objects of beauty and luxurious comforts. Beneath this sneering self-assurance lies a bitter being who loathes himself and holds

suspicious of the Cult of Howling Hatred. They believe that the air cultists are mercurial, unreliable, and generally out of touch with reality. The earth cultists respect the strength and ferocity of the

Warlock

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

Warlock No, you don’t understand. My magic exists outside of any known reality. I wield the power of an entity that dwells beyond space and time. Clearly, none of the profits created by that magic

Idiom As a warlock, you bring every dark aspect of your dark path and darker calling to bear darkly on your franchise’s operations. Wrapping yourself in mysterious defensive power or tagging an enemy in

Mages of High Sorcery

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

apprentice will honor the laws of their order, no matter the circumstance. To this end, the test confronts an apprentice with bitter moral and emotional choices as well as magical challenges. Illusion and

Reality. Friends, enemies, and loved ones might appear in the test, along with all manner of hazards and puzzles. The applicant has no way of knowing which challenges are illusory and which are real. In

Classes

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

character’s calling. Class shapes the way you think about the world and interact with it and your relationship with other people and powers in the multiverse. A fighter, for example, might view the world in

Wizard A scholarly magic-user capable of manipulating the structures of reality d6 Intelligence Intelligence & Wisdom Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows

Citadel Adbar

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

Citadel Adbar In the extreme north of Faerûn, near the Cold Wood, lie the Ice Mountains. There, in the bitter cold, stands the eternal fortress of Citadel Adbar, the last great remnant of the

known written copies have ever been reported. Only a privileged few non-dwarves have ever heard the Dirge in its entirety, and dwarf bards who want to perform this epic must demonstrate great skill in

Ascendant Factions

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

unknowable. The Athar are led by Factol Terrance (neutral good, human Athar null; see Morte’s Planar Parade). While many Defiers become bitter, Terrance remains compassionate, pointing wayward souls

Doomguard holds leverage in many interfactional negotiations. The Doomguard bears a long, bitter, mutual enmity toward the Harmonium, and the Fraternity of Order rejects the Doomguard’s philosophy

Manor Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries

ballroom’s stage is filled with set pieces, props, and costumes. Treasure. Among the many other instruments stored here is Quill’s instrument of the bards (Cli lyre), which is kept in an ornate wooden case

ability to warp reality and bring to life things from their imagination. Renekor dreamed itself into Wisteria Vale from the Underdark. The beholder believes that the village and its residents are its own

Tour of the Planes

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

manipulators that can inhabit the dreams of others. Tens of thousands of years ago, the quori fought a bitter war with the giants of Xen’drik. The giants ended the war by severing the connection between

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

Screaming Devilkin

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

—broken and consumed by the march of eternity. It has no sense of empathy or compassion, driven only to unmake so that the resulting base elements of reality can fuel the multiverse’s endless cycles of

Locations A - D

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

. Cairn Road The Cairn Road is a well-worn wagon trail that crosses the Dessarin Valley between the village of Red Larch and the Bargewright Inn trading post. Calling Horns Calling Horns was nothing more

settlers to the region, giving rise to a small village whose citizens pay monthly “tithes” for Tamalin’s protection. Still spry at sixty, Tamalin is “the law” in Calling Horns — an irony that never ceases to

Lyn Armaal, Level 3

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

. Two magic items are displayed here as well. Anstruth Harp. An exquisitely crafted harp sized for a human rests on a shelf. This instrument of the bards was acquired from a human bard who counseled

conch in her tower bedchamber (area 33), though he doesn’t know exactly where. If the characters seem intent on running amok, Thullen tries to defeat them quickly for the good of his family, calling on

Temple of Tharizdun

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh

faithful of the dark god hide their true calling and live otherwise normal lives as dock workers, fishers, or sailors. For years, they gathered once a month at the temple to venerate the dark god through the

a tightly sewn oilcloth — an instrument of the bards (Cli lyre) found by a cultist years before. The lyre is the cult’s greatest treasure, and has been kept as a gift for the leader that the cultists

Annam and the Ordning

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

describe Annam as a sleeping god whose dreams formed the substance of reality and allowed other gods to create within it. Annam is often described as an all-knowing god whose deep learning, profound

remaining aloof from a bitter war against dragons, spurring her to prove herself a valiant warrior as well as a champion of peaceful giants. Priests and Rites. Giants of all kinds offer prayers to

A Long History (in Brief)

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

events to me, but I must confess that much of what he said made little sense. It was a long lecture having something to do with stars, “crystal spheres,” and “demiplanar reality mirrors.” Suffice it to

most obvious of Waterdeep’s so-called splendors. After the Spellplague came the Sundering. Elf scholars insist on calling it the Second Sundering, asserting that the creation of Evermeet thousands of

Stage 3: Feeling Small

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

advantage on the check. At their reduced size, the characters can easily slip through the mouse hole to escape Onyx. My mother must be getting new cats and just calling them Onyx. Otherwise, Onyx

versions of the Test Market. Advancing to Stage 4 Shortly after finding Propha, reality shimmers around the characters and they are returned to the default inn of stage 1. The characters are once again

Eileanar Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Netheril’s Fall: Tales of Terror, Treasure, and Time Travel

that know no higher calling than pure knowledge and academic glory. Reasons to Visit. Adventurers might visit the Last Academies for one of the following reasons: Magical Training. Any adventurer seeking

by mages are frigid cracks in reality leading to the Plane of Ice, Stygia (the frozen fifth layer of the Nine Hells), Limbo, and other distant planes. Adventurers might be asked to deal with monsters

D&D Beyond

Search Results