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Returning 35 results for 'bards both down cunning reason'.
Classes
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard’s reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason
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
Classes
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard’s reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason
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
backgrounds
Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn
you’re just good at getting the job done by any means necessary. Whatever your reason, you enlisted with the Zhentarim, the most notorious mercenary guild in the Realms. Though the Zhentarim&rsquo
;s leaders insist the organization is more like a family than a shadowy syndicate, few families exhibit as much dishonesty, nepotism, and corruption as this one. You’ve honed your cunning, reflexes, and blade to climb the guild’s ranks.
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
provided. The following section, discussing possible homelands, includes some suggested reasons that are appropriate for each location.
d6
Reason
d6
Reason
1
Emissary
4
Pilgrim
hundreds of miles of the Great Glacier and the Great Ice Sea. No one from your nation makes the effort to cross such colossal barriers without a convincing reason. You must fear something truly
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
born in the wild, and your wits and your weapons helped you survive. Talenta warriors are often barbarians or rangers, relying on speed and skill. However, cunning and charisma are equally important
, and bards and rogues certainly have a place on the plains. Outlander is a logical background, but you could easily be a bold folk hero, a dashing entertainer, or a clever charlatan. You could even be an
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
. Har’Akir’s people say this oasis’s waters are poison, as the oasis was given by the gods to the beasts of the land. Prides of cunning lions hunt nearby, frequently washing their kills here. Sek’s Tears
to die soon, for one reason or another, and seek to cleanse themselves with the White Oasis’s waters before meeting their end.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
Helmed Horror This construct possesses intelligence, the ability to reason and adjust its tactics, and an unswerving devotion to its maker that persists even after its maker’s demise. Resembling an
understand the difference between an order’s intent and its exact wording. Unlike many constructs, it seeks to fulfill the former rather than slavishly follow the latter. Tactical Cunning. A helmed horror
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Build Your Group Naturally, a large portion of the Boromar Clan’s members come from a criminal background. There’s no reason characters with other backgrounds can’t be part of the syndicate, though
give them a broad range of knowledge to support their schemes. Bards, rogues, and wizards are often drawn to this role. Safecracker. The “breaking” part of “breaking and entering” is the Safecracker’s
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
horrors — a variety of things that lurk in the dark and embody the deepest fears of Ravnica’s people. All are evil creatures with dim reason and preternatural cunning. At least three guilds have been
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
of food often brings them to the surface to hunt. Orcs respect an orog’s strength and cunning, and a lone orog might command an orc war band. Stronger and Smarter. An orog uses its strength to bully
foremost — because they believe that the gods have strength beyond reason, and physical might is all they respect. Servants of Darkness. Mistrusted by orcs, some orogs form independent mercenary war
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
the ruler of Darguun, and many fear that his death could throw the region into chaos. Among the Ghaal’dar, you hold your place through cunning and strength. As a Ghaal’dar goblinoid, you may have been
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Bladesinging When faced with the endless onslaught of magical possibilities, many wizards suffer identity crises. Some overcome, some break, and some become sword-bards.
Tasha
Bladesingers master
, a bladesinger uses a series of intricate, elegant maneuvers that fend off harm and allow the bladesinger to channel magic into devastating attacks and a cunning defense. Many who have observed a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
assassins kill for a reason, perhaps hiring themselves out to wealthy patrons or slaying for an unscrupulous cause. They use poisons and other deadly tools, and they might carry equipment to help them
) Piercing damage plus 21 (6d6) Poison damage.
Bonus Actions
Cunning Action. The assassin takes the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
Awakened Plants Vegetation Given Magical Life
Habitat: Forest
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
goals — of which there are many — often still prefers to use trickery and cunning rather than the unreliable tools of honesty or brute force. Most Zil gnomes belong to the forest gnome subrace. Their
Zilargo: why you have left, and what ties do you still have to it? Your scheme could provide a good reason for you to leave. Or you could be a sage gathering information for the Library of Korranberg or an
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
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
, the fang, the claw, the wing, and the eye, representing endurance, ruthlessness, savagery, speed, and cunning, respectively. You could also create factions based around the damage types dealt by
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
losses of the war, or the lack of leadership shown by our new king, or mere war-weariness, but for whatever reason Adbar’s gates are even harder to move with soft words than they have been in the past
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->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
priesthood depends on the tenets of that god: the cunning rogues who venerate Mask have little in common with the upright law-keepers of Tyr, and the delightful revelers who revere Lliira are different from
marriages and funerals. Temples are places where worshipers go either to spend personal or family time in a space consecrated to a deity or to seek the aid of the priests for some reason. Small
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
do so, they become cringing, fawning things, eager to please and thereby escape the cold gaze of the being who brought them so low. All of the original thirteen remain alive, thanks to their cunning
power, barring them from any source except for the ruins left behind from fallen civilizations and great calamities. For this reason, nagpas turn their efforts to bringing about such ends, so they
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
demon lords rule through cunning or brute force, hoping to one day claim the prize of absolute control over all the Abyss. Reward for Outsiders. Although most demon lords rise up from the vast and
matriarch when she manifests to her followers in the mortal realm, which she does with unusual frequency. When battle breaks out — or if she has a reason to remind her followers to fear her — Lolth’s lower
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
live as the gods demand. Rich fields and the bounty of the sea support most people throughout Meletis. The people have reputations for being accomplished weavers, skilled sailors, and cunning
. Nyklean philosophers teach that reason or destiny underlies all of reality, so that everything that takes place must unfold just as it does. These philosophers train themselves to accept and endure
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
. You might primarily attempt to convince others through charismatic arguments, or through force of will or intellectual cunning. You might lead by example, or by extolling the examples of other people
Decisionist? d8 Reason
1 It’s always you who picks where everyone has lunch.
2 Roughly half your choices are the right ones. You might as well just toss a coin for it.
3 You have
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
destruction by the marauding dragonarmies gives Tika a very personal reason to hate them with a fiery passion. Her bond might be phrased as “I will do whatever it takes to punish the dragonarmies for
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
others await death at the hands of the drow or their pets. Regardless of what they might think of the adventurers — and each other — outside the slave pens, all the NPCs have good reason to cooperate in
order to escape and survive. Prisoners of the Drow Buppido Talkative and cunning derro Prince Derendil Quaggoth who claims to be a cursed elf prince Eldeth Feldrun Shield dwarf scout from Gauntlgrym
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
Serpent Hills, where we were taken prisoner by yuan-ti patrolling the borders of their domain. The half-elf was hauled away in slaver’s chains, but for some reason I was taken to the court of Jarant
escape, and I know he has done likewise for others in the past. I owe him a debt I intend to repay one day. Another figure of note in the court is the cunning green dragon Emikaiwufeg, often called the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh
believable, Sgothgah offers and promises anything — because the cunning creature has no intention of ever delivering. All it wants is for at least three promising victims to come close enough to the pool
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
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
his sister. He doesn’t like making enemies, so he tries to reason with adventurers who cross his path. If all they want is Sansuri’s conch of teleportation, he will divulge that Sansuri keeps the
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->Volo's Guide to Monsters
is Gruumsh One-Eye, who created the orcs and continues to direct their destiny. He is aided and abetted by the other warrior deities, Bahgtru and Ilneval, who bring strength and cunning to the
their emotions and instincts rather than out of reason and logic. Only certain charismatic orcs, those who have been directly touched by the will and might of Gruumsh, have the capacity to control the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
their tongues to emulate their deity, for a reason similar to why an eye of Gruumsh puts out one of its eyes. Orc Hand of Yurtrus
Medium humanoid (orc), chaotic evil
Armor Class 12 (hide armor)
Hit
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Cunning Action. On each of its turns, the orc can use a bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
Hand of Shargaas. The orc deals an 2 extra dice of damage when it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
towers closest to the bridge. If the characters approach the gatehouse and give a sound reason for being here, the erinyes open the way (see “Doors” and “Portcullises” below), escort the characters to
hammocks here, resting between shifts patrolling the walls. The erinyes are immediately suspicious of the characters, as visitors don’t usually come here. Unless the characters provide a compelling reason
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
controlled by a demon lord, goristros make formidable living siege engines and prized pets. Goristros possess preternatural cunning when navigating labyrinthine passages and shifting corridors
cunning. Nalfeshnees are devastating in combat, using their wings to soar above the front ranks and reach vulnerable adversaries that can be dispatched with little effort. From the thick of battle, they
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
cunning — a trait that drow attach more importance to than they do to sanity. Give no quarter to drow, for none shall be given to you. Capture by drow means certain death, either as a sacrifice or after
surface on raids to retreat if they can see the moon — practical advice, it would seem. But an equally important reason is that Eilistraee is known to work her wiles under the light of the moon, so that
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a5
joined their ranks. He worries that some of his peers who are loyal to Szass Tam might suspect him. Aware of Szass Tam’s cunning, Lahnis first assumes the characters are testing his allegiance. Around the
Barracks The light in this room can be seen from area 34. Unless the creatures here have a reason to be quiet, they are talking loudly. Three bonfires light this vast chamber, their smoke rising to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh
, died, or for some other reason never reclaimed their belongings. The loft is also the lair of the three manticores and the red slaad that guard the warehouse at night. The manticores have no love for the
cunning and clever. If combat breaks out here, he remains hidden in the water while the skum do the fighting. He makes a Dexterity (Stealth) check in an attempt to hide. As long as he remains unnoticed






