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Simic Scientist

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

. 3 I’m eager to explain every detail of my most intricate experiments and theories to anyone who shows the least bit of interest. 4 I assume that everyone needs even the most basic

Everything I do is an attempt to impress someone I love. Flaws d6 Flaw 1 I have a rather embarrassing mutation that I do everything I can to keep hidden. 2 I’m more

Preparing to Use the Deck

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things

detail two ways to head off potential complications before the characters draw their first card. “Customizing Your Deck” suggests strategies for stacking the deck with only cards that will be fun for

your group. Meanwhile, “The Deck as Narrative” discusses having cards foreshadow future events, rather than triggering instantaneous effects, so you can incorporate the effects into your campaign when

Xanthoria's Defeat

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

Xanthoria’s Defeat Once Xanthoria is defeated, the characters find the last few pages of her notes among her possessions. They detail her growing obsession with undead and her success at turning

. Convincing Thunderwing to give up her life should be handled through roleplaying rather than ability checks, although you can require the characters to succeed on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) group

Getting Players Invested

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide

back favorites from earlier in the campaign for the occasional cameo. Player Favorites It’s often easier to describe people and places that are hostile or frightening than it is to detail a feature

a character’s player directly, but instead consider handing over your narrative reins and letting a player describe the perfect detail. For example, say you have a peaceful village you plan to feature

Rangers

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

responded with a whoo, then went off into a complicated series of chattering hoots and whoos. Montolio took it all in, weighing every detail. With the help of his friends, particularly this rather

Kinds of Treasure

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

Kinds of Treasure Use these guidelines in conjunction with the information in the Dungeon Master’s Guide to detail the treasures in a dragon’s hoard. Feel free to swap coins, gems, and art objects in

the Player’s Handbook) rather than coins 2–3 Coins from an ancient culture local to this region, ancestral to the people who live here now 4–5 Coins from an ancient culture in a distant

Baphomet

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

his personality. Baphomet studies every detail of the mazes he creates and exults in the dread that overcome those who become lost in them. He tracks them at his leisure, striking only after the

of Spiders and her brood rarely take part directly in the Blood War; rather, her agents in the Abyss contrive to lure her enemies into throwing themselves into the struggle. Her servitors spy on both

Respect for the Players

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide

talking, and make sure you check in about what every character is doing, especially during periods of exploration and social interaction, rather than focusing just on one player’s character. Sometimes

seeing the people and places they care about threatened or destroyed. Other players gleefully detail a backstory full of beloved NPCs, fully expecting the DM to use those people as bait, tragic

Respect for the Players

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules

talking, and make sure you check in about what every character is doing, especially during periods of exploration and social interaction, rather than focusing just on one player’s character. Sometimes

seeing the people and places they care about threatened or destroyed. Other players gleefully detail a backstory full of beloved NPCs, fully expecting the DM to use those people as bait, tragic

Special Features

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

table entries make more sense for certain items than for others. Some magic items are made only by certain kinds of creatures, for instance; a cloak of elvenkind is made by elves, rather than dwarves. If

you roll something that doesn’t make sense, roll again, choose a more appropriate entry, or use the rolled detail as inspiration to make up your own. Who Created It or Was Intended to Use It? d20

1: Outer Gatehouse

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Heroes of the Borderlands

Guard Stat Block: Guard This gullible recruit spends more time dreaming than patrolling. Distractable. Bartho is easily distracted from his post because he’d rather be doing anything else. Sleepy

daydreaming, might involve you pretending to yawn mid-sentence or getting distracted by a butterfly. Perhaps he confides with the characters that he’d rather be doing something else. Descriptive

28. Withers's Office

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation

some regret, he finally announces that it’s time for them to die. Withers would rather escape than be destroyed or captured, so he uses his spells to retreat if the battle goes against him, saving wall

of fire to cut off pursuers when he flees. Journals Withers is a diligent scribe. His moldy journals track the history of Omu and the Tomb of the Nine Gods, and detail the arrival of the atropal and

Staff

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

creating nonplayer characters in chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to detail the majordomo, giving this individual a vibrant personality and backstory. The majordomo’s goals should be aligned

(sailors for a seagoing franchise, engineers for a giant hollow statue, and so on). Crew do not leave a franchise and cannot perform franchise tasks. They typically run rather than fight back when attacked

Inside the League

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

the guild’s laboratories. Some vedalken are so obsessive about their work that they like to see to every detail themselves, rather than delegating any task to underlings or assistants. This attitude

Creating a Rival

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

the others might be neutral or good; conflicts with those rivals might be social or political, rather than manifesting as direct attacks. The best rivals have a connection with their adversaries on a

worried that recent misdeeds will be revealed To add the right amount of detail to a rival you want to create, give some thought to what that NPC is trying to accomplish and what resources and

Event-Based Adventures

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

repetitive in nature, rather than escalating to greater heights of depravity. The trick to catching such a villain lies in determining the pattern underlying the crimes. Though serial killers are a

characters you need to create, as well as how much detail you need to generate for each one. NPCs unlikely to become involved in combat don’t need full combat statistics, for example, just as characters

Tips for New Dungeon Masters

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

to use one of this adventure’s random encounters, you can have a player roll to determine what the characters encounter, rather than making the roll yourself. Story Information Important information

which a creature will share what it knows. The adventure describes important creatures in detail, while creatures of little consequence get no more than a passing reference. As such, you have enough

Currency

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

coins of long-lost, legendary lands and centers of great magic are honored, though those who find them are wise to sell them to collectors rather than merely spending them in markets. The coins of the

moons of Silverymoon, provides another level of detail. As long as you keep the value of these new coins simple (in other words, don’t invent a coin worth 1.62 gp), you add local flavor to key locations in your world without adding undue complexity.

Magic Item Special Features

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide

, roll again, choose a more appropriate entry, or use the rolled detail as inspiration to make up your own special feature. On the Magic Item’s Minor Property table and the Magic Item’s Quirk table, “you

exquisitely crafted from the finest materials and glows with a pale radiance in moonlight, shedding Dim Light in a 5-foot radius. Any metal in the item is silver or mithral rather than iron or steel

Recurring Villains

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

). Organizations as Villains. Rather than use an individual as a recurring villain, you could think in terms of the organization the villain belongs to or represents. For example, low-level adventurers

some depth and detail to the actions and motivations of a villain who plagues the characters on a regular basis. Villain You Know d6 Villain 1 A con artist takes advantage of people who fall for

Obviator

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

choice, it cannot be changed until the next dawn. LOK Dwarf Obviator (Cleric) Like many Obviators, “Lok” chooses to use a working name rather than her actual name out of an abundance of caution

again until the next dawn. Obviate the Opposition Also at rank 4, when you use your Read the Opposition feature and fail the check, you still learn one detail about the target creature, as chosen by

Modifying a Class

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

your world might worship a patron deity, performing secret missions in that deity’s name. To reflect this cultural detail, you could add Religion to the list of skills that a rogue character can choose

opportunity to develop the character’s story and that of your world, rather than shutting down possibilities. Substituting Class Features If one or more features of a given class don’t exactly fit the theme

Palace of Spires Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase

. The keys are metal replicas of the required leaves in lifelike detail. Unlike normal leaves, these keys aren’t consumed by the sundial and travel with the user to the destination. Treasure. The 20-foot

in lifelike detail. Unlike normal leaves, these keys aren’t consumed and travel with the user to the destination. The couple also keeps sets of spare key leaves in a secret closet (see the “Treasure

Neverdeath Catacomb Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin

. Notes. The papers detail plans to kidnap a Neverwinter aristocrat named Indrina Lamsensettle. The notes include a map of her estate, schedules of her movements, and suggestions that she knows an important

has kept this research to himself so other scholars don’t beat him to publication; Umberto knows he’s a slow writer. The gnome’s chattering should be endearing rather than irritating, and you can use

Tomb Locations

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

and destroying it, rather than submit to the oracle’s dark will. Turning the body over reveals the horrible abdominal wound that killed Mayastan. Any character who has proficiency in the Medicine skill

use the room to replay up to 10 minutes of any past event they are aware of, whether personal or historical. The event plays back in perfect detail along the wall of the chamber for all to see and

Daoine Gloine

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

poses and petrified (or, rather, vitrified) by the cult of the medusa. Many of the statues above the ooze show chips and cracks from long years of weathering. But below the ooze, most of the well

disturbing impression that this glass piping is not manufactured, but rather resembles intestines. (The piping derives from the bodies of glass statues — former high priests partially revived by Kwalish so

Metallic Dragons

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

form, he is usually accompanied by seven golden canaries — actually seven ancient gold dragons in polymorphed form. Bahamut seldom interferes in the affairs of mortal creatures, though he makes

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