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Returning 32 results for 'bards both down career rather'.
Monsters
Acquisitions Incorporated
and earnest debate, he demonstrates an equal flair for planning and forethought, mad combat moves (involving leaping off high places whenever possible), and dark vengeance.
Viari's career as an
adventurer was nearly cut short during a battle of which the bards still sing. Unleashing a devastating attack with the aptly named Apocalypse Dagger, the rogue destroyed a giant single-handedly — and lost
Soldier
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Backgrounds
Basic Rules (2014)
, work with your DM to determine which military organization you were a part of, how far through its ranks you progressed, and what kind of experiences you had during your military career. Was it a
bearer
8
Support staff (cook, blacksmith, or the like)
FEATURE: MILITARY RANK
You have a military rank from your career as a soldier. Soldiers loyal to your former military
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often proficient in Investigation, enabling them to be adept at snooping and spying. They often seek aid from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and
organization, but who serve as its hands, head, and heart.
As a prelude to your adventuring career (and in preparation for it), you served as an agent of a particular faction in Faerûn. You might have
Urchin
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
recuperate. You’ve survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each.
You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but
;d rather kill someone in their sleep than fight fair.
5
It’s not stealing if I need it more than someone else.
6
People who can’t take care of themselves get what they deserve.
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
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
military organization you were a part of, how far through its ranks you progressed, and what kind of experiences you had during your military career. Was it a standing army, a town guard, or a village
, blacksmith, or the like)
FEATURE: MILITARY RANK
You have a military rank from your career as a soldier. Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
. 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 versatility. Many bards prefer to stick to the
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
.
You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but securely for at least ten days. How did you come by that money? What allowed you to break free of your desperate
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’d rather
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your inheritance right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your inheritance a secret
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don’t embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career? Are you in your family’s good graces, or
wish to use the background’s standard feature might have gained their standing in Baldur’s Gate from business rather than inheritance.
Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion
Tool
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
No career criminal in Baldur’s Gate operates without being aware of the Guild. Some studiously keep a low profile, carrying just the occasional smuggled load in with legitimate merchandise, or
could be hidden.
4
I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy.
5
I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide.
6
I don’t pay
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
to begin your career as a mere attendant, you can aspire to become a skilled mage or alchemist, a laboratory supervisor, or even a flamethrower-wielding scorchbringer tasked with defending Izzet
protocols will lead us toward progress more surely than any belief system. (Lawful)
5
Fun. I love my job! Despite the dangerous working conditions, there’s nothing I’d rather do
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
College of Lore Bards of the College of Lore know something about most things, collecting bits of knowledge from sources as diverse as scholarly tomes and peasant tales. Whether singing folk ballads
in taverns or elaborate compositions in royal courts, these bards use their gifts to hold audiences spellbound. When the applause dies down, the audience members might find themselves questioning
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
knowledge your group possesses, and how it might make life complicated for you. Secrets d6 Secret 1 Blackmail Material. You have evidence of a career-ending secret concerning an important figure
them. 5 Deep Cover. You know the secret identity of a seemingly innocent but powerful person who would rather remain anonymous. 6 Empty Threats. Rumors say you collect damaging secrets on anyone, and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Espionage Agency Contacts Your assignments come from a superior in the agency who typically works at a desk rather than in the field—compiling intelligence into reports for their superiors and
receive. Agency Contacts d8 Contact 1 A condescending career desk agent who views you as expendable tools 2 A bitter former field agent, now confined to a field office, who envies your work 3 A
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
vengeance. Viari’s career as an adventurer was nearly cut short during a battle of which the bards still sing. Unleashing a devastating attack with the aptly named Apocalypse Dagger, the rogue destroyed a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
Life in the Sensa Empire Those who live in the Sensa Empire or who travel through the land experience its wealth, both in riches and deep traditions. Aurum Guild Gold mining is a respected career
. Historically, rather than a single imperial line controlling the throne, each empress or emperor selects an heir from among the eldest children of each city-state’s monarch. While no law prevents rulers
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
concerned with basic needs and simple pleasures and have little use for ostentation. Even the wealthiest of halflings keep their treasures locked in a cellar rather than on display for all to see. They have
them, adventuring is less a career than an opportunity or sometimes a necessity. AFFABLE AND POSITIVE
Halflings try to get along with everyone else and are loath to make sweeping generalizations
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
humanoid rather than reflecting the creature’s physical form. Sages postulate that the first perytons were humans transformed by a hideous curse or magical experiment, but bards tell a different tale
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
unable to locate an elusive foe, or have been captured by the cult and need inside help to escape, a Harper can offer up a secure hideout, a whispered clue, or a smuggled knife. Bards, rogues, and wizards
are always dissatisfied if the characters kill important cultists rather than capturing them—or at least trying to extract information from them beforehand.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
check, you can expend a use of your Second Wind to push yourself toward success. Rather than regaining Hit Points, you roll 1d10 and add the number rolled to the ability check, potentially turning it
, and Psi Warrior subclasses are detailed after this class’s description. A subclass is a specialization that grants you features at certain Fighter levels. For the rest of your career, you gain each of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
certain Ranger levels. For the rest of your career, you gain each of your subclass’s features that are of your Ranger level or lower. Level 4: Ability Score Improvement You gain the Ability Score
for which you qualify. Boon of Dimensional Travel is recommended. Level 20: Foe Slayer The damage die of your Hunter’s Mark is a d10 rather than a d6.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
your career, you gain each of your subclass’s features that are of your Ranger level or lower. Level 4: Ability Score Improvement You gain the Ability Score Improvement feat (see “Feats”) or another
nature grants you Blindsight with a range of 30 feet. Level 19: Epic Boon You gain an Epic Boon feat (see “Feats”) or another feat of your choice for which you qualify. Boon of Dimensional Travel is recommended. Level 20: Foe Slayer The damage die of your Hunter’s Mark is a d10 rather than a d6.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
, but given the extent of the losses against the orcs, it would be little surprise if their newer recruits were more smiths than warriors, serving their realm out of a sense of duty rather than a desire
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
. 4 I decided to turn my natural lucky streak into the basis of a career, though I still realize that improving my skills is essential. 5 I took up with a group of ruffians who showed me how to get what
I want through sneakiness rather than direct confrontation. 6 I’m a sucker for a shiny bauble or a sack of coins, as long as I can get my hands on it without risking life and limb. Sorcerer d6 I
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->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
choose, as long as their way of contributing combines with the others to form a grand display of reverence. Such a gathering has the atmosphere of a festival rather than of an organized worship service
be with. Stories of Hanali’s romantic adventures among elves and other mortals are perennial favorites when sung by elf bards and poets. In Arvandor, Hanali maintains a hidden pool called Evergold
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
precarious situations when he has an audience, confident that his speed and cunning will see him through danger. He leads by example rather than by dictate.
Alignment. Chaotic evil.
Personality Trait
afterward, rather than continue the search on his own. When he’s not straining at some feat of athleticism, he’s reading books of poetry.
Alignment. Neutral good.
Personality Trait. “I treat my
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Domains of Delight: A Feywild Accessory
precarious situations when he has an audience, confident that his speed and cunning will see him through danger. He leads by example rather than by dictate.
Alignment. Chaotic evil.
Personality Trait
afterward, rather than continue the search on his own. When he’s not straining at some feat of athleticism, he’s reading books of poetry.
Alignment. Neutral good.
Personality Trait. “I treat my
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
actors. The Everwyvern’s condescending peacock of a proprietor, Draven Millovyr (NE male Illuskan human mage), tried and failed to gain membership in the Arcane Brotherhood. When that career path
as Gwaeron Windstrom. The oni cleans up after itself, leaving little evidence of its victims behind. This “tidiness” has led others to believe that sometimes Gwaeron, rather than sending prophetic
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
treasure as do their evil chromatic kin, but they aren’t driven as much by greed in their pursuit of wealth. Rather, metallic dragons are driven to investigate and collect, taking unclaimed relics and
tricks with good humor. Copper dragons are particularly fond of bards. A dragon might carve out part of its lair as a temporary abode for a bard willing to regale it with stories, riddles, and music. To






