battle both defeat close rather

Biha Babir

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

a cunning mind. Biha Babir is politically savvy and prefers to outsmart her opponents rather than battle them, though she doesn’t shy from combat if necessary. Biha Babir covets opulence, but

Sammaster (Dracolich Form)

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

rule Faerûn. His Cult of the Dragon devotes itself to helping evil dragons become dracoliches to bring this evil new age to fruition. Sammaster was killed in battle, but had prepared contingencies

efficiently as he can. Sammaster personally checks in on the cult’s most important plots, often surprising his minions with his presence. Rather than keep a soul jar as liches do, Sammaster keeps

Sammaster (Lich Form)

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

. His Cult of the Dragon devotes itself to helping evil dragons become dracoliches to bring this evil new age to fruition. Sammaster was killed in battle, but had prepared contingencies for his demise

can. Sammaster personally checks in on the cult’s most important plots, often surprising his minions with his presence. Rather than keep a soul jar as liches do, Sammaster keeps a magical soul

Norker

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

. They were always few in number, and their god was a cruel, merciless tyrant who kept his children close and the outside world at a distance. This long-lost god may have been Maglubiyet's first conquest

, as hobgoblins place the norkers at the bottom of the goblinoid ranks, yet the norkers' ferocity, tough hides, and sharp fangs allow them to rise up and defeat goblinoids that underestimate the norkers

Norker War Leader

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

days, norkers were found deep within the earth. They were always few in number, and their god was a cruel, merciless tyrant who kept his children close and the outside world at a distance. This long

defeat goblinoids that underestimate the norkers' strength and ferocity.. For this reason, norkers are likely encountered away from their brethren. Their natural armor and weapons make them dangerous

Zarak

Monsters The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

prefers to hurl daggers from a distance. When targeting a lone individual, especially someone he has been hired to kill, he prefers the up-close-and-personal garrote, so that he can hear the dying breath

of his hapless prey. If defeat seems likely, he quaffs his potion of invisibility and flees. League of Malevolence The League of Malevolence is an odious assemblage of villains united in one purpose

City Watch / Investigator

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

easily pick out the dens of criminal activity in a community, although you’re more likely to be welcome in the former locations rather than the latter. Variant: Investigator Rarer

Investigation rather than Athletics. Suggested Characteristics Use the tables for the soldier background below as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to

Female Steeder

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

domesticate steeders, particularly duergar. Typically the females serve as steeds in battle, while the males are used as draft animals. Steeders attempt to tear apart perceived threats—and consider

begins shortly after the steeder hatches. As it grows, its rider works with it to direct its predatory instincts. Rather than spinning webs, steeders excrete a viscous substance from their legs. This goo allows them to creep along walls and ceilings and to grapple prey.

Hill Giant Avalancher

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

10 feet away from the giant.Hill giants who master rune magic discover a close connection to the natural forces of earth and stone. Their magic, combined with their size and strength, helps them

, combined with their ability to defeat and devour their prey as quickly as a torrent of boulders cascades down a mountain, leads other giants to call them avalanchers.

Bugbear Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

natural state. Thanks to Grankhul, they can use their size and strength to work as stealthy assassins rather than blundering around like ogres. Bullying, murder, and engaging in battle are all holy

. Shiftless, Savage Layabouts When they’re not in battle, bugbears spend much of their time resting or dozing. They don’t engage in crafting or agriculture to any great extent, or

Soldier Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

mistake in battle that cost many lives—and I would do anything to keep that mistake secret. 4 My hatred of my enemies is blind and unreasoning. 5 I obey the law, even if the law causes misery. 6 I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.

forget the crushing defeat my company suffered or the enemies who dealt it. 5 Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for. 6 I fight for those who cannot fight for themselves

Mercenary Veteran

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

behind the life of a soldier for hire, but your skills are undeniably suited for battle, so now you fight on in a different way. MERCENARIES OF THE NORTH Countless mercenary companies

-states in the North are willing to field an army alongside the Chill, but several are happy to quietly pay the Chill to battle the Uthgardt, orcs, trolls of the Evermoors, and other threats to

Returned Kakomantis

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

. Returned Masks. Adventurers who defeat Returned foes might marvel at their fortune in claiming such rich spoils after a battle. The mask of a Returned is worth approximately 100 gp, based on its

Male Steeder

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

domesticate steeders, particularly duergar. Typically the females serve as steeds in battle, while the males are used as draft animals. Steeders attempt to tear apart perceived threats—and consider even

begins shortly after the steeder hatches. As it grows, its rider works with it to direct its predatory instincts. Rather than spinning webs, steeders excrete a viscous substance from their legs. This goo allows them to creep along walls and ceilings and to grapple prey.

Steel Predator

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

bounds away in search of its prey. It senses the location of its target across planar boundaries, but such detection is accurate only to within a thousand yards; to close the remaining distance, the steel

predator locates its prey by sight and smell. Once battle is joined, the predator ignores every other threat to attack its target, unless other creatures prevent it from reaching the target. In that

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep score, counting their deeds and tallying their accomplishments to compare to others. Goliaths love to win, but they see defeat as a prod to improve their

seek out a larger, more powerful wyrm to battle. Few goliath adventurers reach old age, as most die attempting to surpass their past accomplishments. Fair Play For goliaths, competition exists only

Tempest Spirit

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

energy and doesn’t disperse into the elements. Rather, it absorbs the elemental energy around it, and its lower body becomes a storm cloud. The resulting tempest spirit is similar in appearance

path of destruction. Massive hailstones and lightning infused with necrotic energy rain from tempest spirits on those that get too close to them.Lightning, ThunderCold, Necrotic, Poison; Bludgeoning

Soldier - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

life on the battlefield. To this day, I will never leave a friend behind. 3 My honor is my life. 4 I’ll never forget the crushing defeat my company suffered or the enemies who dealt it

. 5 Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for. 6 I fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. d6 Flaw 1 The monstrous enemy we faced in battle still

Vladimir Horngaard

Monsters Curse of Strahd

witnessing Strahd himself slay Vladimir's beloved, his fellow knight Sir Godfrey Gwilym. With the battle won, Strahd surrounded Argynvostholt. Rather than cower in his lair, Argynvost emerged and

Barovia would fade, allowing the spirits of Vladimir and his knights to enter the afterlife. Nevertheless, Vladimir would rather savor Strahd's torment than bring peace to his fallen order or peace

Returned Drifter

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

shadow plays without weight or substance. Returned Masks. Adventurers who defeat Returned foes might marvel at their fortune in claiming such rich spoils after a battle. The mask of a Returned is worth

Returned Sentry

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

. Returned Masks. Adventurers who defeat Returned foes might marvel at their fortune in claiming such rich spoils after a battle. The mask of a Returned is worth approximately 100 gp, based on its

Vampiric Mist

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

without squeezing. Each foot of movement in water costs it 2 extra feet, rather than 1 extra foot. The mist can’t manipulate objects in any way that requires fingers or manual dexterity. Sunlight

. In battle, a mist focuses its attacks on injured targets, since open wounds are a more ready source of blood.PoisonAcid, Cold, Lightning, Necrotic, Thunder; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

aggression toward creatures that they could defeat in a fight and that can’t be dealt with in some other manner. They are aggressive toward prey they want to eat, creatures that want to harm them, and

pleasurable creatures and things are ones that allow lizardfolk to assess more situations as benign rather than fearsome. Cold and Calculating Most humanoids describe cold-blooded people as lacking in

Vedalken

Species Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

with ideas than with people. They form close friendships based on mutual interests or compelling disagreements, and their interactions dwell on their thoughts about those issues rather than their

Draegloth

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

to strike at its rivals when the draegloth is fully grown. These plans use the draegloth in a significant role, because its abilities can turn the tide in a battle against a house that doesn’t

training, they typically take out their frustration on their creator’s enemies, rather than on their creator. A draegloth that can’t suppress its ambitions might abandon its creator and

Kelubar Demodand

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

;shators. They are squat, and their skin drips with a foul-smelling, acidic slime. Kelubars revel in the subservience of others, and they prefer to do battle with words—or at least to send in their

farastu minions—rather than fight directly. Demodands Demodands, also called gehreleths, are Fiends from the Tarterian Depths of Carceri. Cast into the prison plane long ago for forgotten

Grippli Warrior

Monsters Candlekeep Mysteries

are raised by the community rather than by a single set of parents, and all of a community’s eggs are kept in freshwater pools until they mature. Protecting their eggs is a major concern for

grippli, since lizardfolk, yuan-ti, and other creatures are known to have a taste for them. Close to Nature. Most grippli care more about survival than they do about abstract ideals such as good and evil

Young Deep Dragon Legacy

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

skin, especially around the head and neck. Their wings are attached to their front legs and can fold in close to the body, allowing deep dragons to easily maneuver through relatively narrow tunnels

seeing the deepest places in the ocean. 8 I find I rather enjoy the company of people—as long as they remain unaware of my true nature. Deep Dragon Ideals d6;{"diceNotation

Forlarren

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

bound to their fey lord and unable to bargain away their souls. So rather than claim them, Fierna warped and twisted them before returning them to the Feywild, content that the corruption of the satyrs

. Unfortunately, when it reaches that breaking point, its diabolical nature asserts itself, and it remains in this scheming, dominating mindset until its plans are foiled and it faces defeat. Then, overwhelmed

Needle Lord

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

dormant until a humanoid dies near it or a humanoid corpse is dragged close by, whereupon the pod burrows into the corpse's decaying flesh and sprouts ropey vines covered in long, sharp needles. The vines

wrap around the corpse to animate it, causing it to rise and lurch about like a zombie. Invasive Species. When a great battle is fought in a fey woodland, the plants of the wood sometimes take on the

Catoblepas

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

of carrion, and wallowing in mire. A catoblepas might be found with the one mate it chooses for life and, on occasion, with a calf. A catoblepas attacks anyone that moves too close, especially if

, drinking the monsters’ milk and using them as guardians or pets. Other legends say that those of impure heart can tame a catoblepas and whisper of malevolent warlocks and wicked knights who ride them into battle.

Deep Dragon Wyrmling Legacy

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

wings are attached to their front legs and can fold in close to the body, allowing deep dragons to easily maneuver through relatively narrow tunnels. Deep dragons often hoard secrets, delighting in

I rather enjoy the company of people—as long as they remain unaware of my true nature. Deep Dragon Ideals d6;{"diceNotation":"1d6","rollType":"roll","rollAction":"Ideal

Swarmkeeper

Classes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

force in battle, as well as helpful company for the ranger. Some Swarmkeepers are outcasts or hermits, keeping to themselves and their attendant swarms rather than dealing with the discomfort of others

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

the plane of Acheron. It is there in the afterlife where the chosen ones will join Gruumsh and his armies in their endless extraplanar battle for supremacy. Gods of the Orcs Orcs believe their gods

gather and celebrate, dwell the followers of Yurtrus, the god of disease and death, and Shargaas, the god of darkness and the unknown. Orcs too weak for battle (because of bodily weakness, malformation

Oath of Conquest

Classes Xanathar's Guide to Everything

conquest seared on the upper arm. Douse the Flame of Hope. It is not enough to merely defeat an enemy in battle. Your victory must be so overwhelming that your enemies’ will to fight is shattered

The Oath of Conquest calls to paladins who seek glory in battle and the subjugation of their enemies. It isn’t enough for these paladins to establish order. They must crush the forces of chaos

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