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Elf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

insults with vengeance. Like the branches of a young tree, elves are flexible in the face of danger. They trust in diplomacy and compromise to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They

have been known to retreat from intrusions into their woodland homes, confident that they can simply wait the invaders out. But when the need arises, elves reveal a stern martial side, demonstrating

Inheritor

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

the most equitable solution to arguments. 5 I’m confident in my own abilities and do what I can to instill confidence in others. 6 Thinking is for other people. I prefer action

Selesnya Initiate

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

conclave has a deeper connection to the Worldsoul than I do. 6 I’m trying to atone for the life of crime I led before I joined the Selesnya, but I find it hard to give up my bad habits

Selesnya contact; you can decide if the contact is an ally or a rival. 10 I have a sibling in the Simic Combine, and we argue every time we see each other.

Simic Scientist

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

confident in my ability to adapt to any situation and handle any danger. 5 I’ll take any risk to earn recognition for my scientific brilliance. 6 I have a tendency to take shortcuts in

make a nice sideshow act. 9 I left the Selesnya — and a lover — behind when I joined the Simic. 10 Roll an additional Simic contact; you can decide if the contact is an ally or a rival.

House Rules

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

questions: Will the rule or change improve the game? Will my players like it? If you’re confident that the answer to both questions is yes, give the new rule a try. Present house rules as experiments

rule comes up in your game, record how you decide to interpret it. Add that to your collection of house rules so you and the players can reference it when the rule comes up again later.

Attack Rolls

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

Attack Rolls In combat, an attack roll is used to determine whether an attack hits. You can also use attack rolls to resolve noncombat activities that are similar to attacks in combat, such as an

archery contest or a game of darts. Assign an Armor Class to the target, decide whether the character is proficient with the weapon used, then have the player make an attack roll. (See also “Degrees of Success” in this chapter.)

A Timeless Perspective

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

branches of a young tree, elves are flexible in the face of danger. They trust in diplomacy and compromise to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They have been known to retreat

from intrusions into their woodland homes, confident that they can simply wait the invaders out. But when the need arises, elves reveal a stern martial side, demonstrating skill with sword, bow, and strategy.

A Timeless Perspective

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

branches of a young tree, elves are flexible in the face of danger. They trust in diplomacy and compromise to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They have been known to retreat

from intrusions into their woodland homes, confident that they can simply wait the invaders out. But when the need arises, elves reveal a stern martial side, demonstrating skill with sword, bow, and strategy.

The Middle Path

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

tools to help keep the action moving. At any time, you can decide that a player’s action is automatically successful. You can also grant the player advantage on any ability check, reducing the chance of a

bad die roll foiling the character’s plans. By the same token, a bad plan or unfortunate circumstances can transform the easiest task into an impossibility, or at least impose disadvantage.

House Rules

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

questions: Will the rule or change improve the game? Will my players like it? If you’re confident that the answer to both questions is yes, give the new rule a try. Present house rules as experiments

rule comes up in your game, record how you decide to interpret it. Add that to your collection of house rules so you and the players can reference it when the rule comes up again later.

Interacting with Objects

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

Interacting with Objects A character's interaction with objects in an environment is often simple to resolve in the game. The player tells the DM that his or her character is doing something, such as

moving a lever, and the DM describes what, if anything, happens. For example, a character might decide to pull a lever, which might, in turn, raise a portcullis, cause a room to flood with water, or

Interacting with Objects

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

Interacting with Objects A character's interaction with objects in an environment is often simple to resolve in the game. The player tells the DM that his or her character is doing something, such as

moving a lever, and the DM describes what, if anything, happens. For example, a character might decide to pull a lever, which might, in turn, raise a portcullis, cause a room to flood with water, or

Table Rules

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

. Here are some fundamentals: Foster respect. Don’t bring personal conflicts to the table or let disagreements escalate into bad feelings. Don’t touch others’ dice if they’re sensitive about it. Avoid

players wandering away from the table and back, but some players prefer planned breaks. Have snacks. Decide before a session who will bring food and drink. This is often something the players can handle.

Vistani Lore

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

prosperity, sharing their good fortune with friends and strangers alike. Vistani resolve disagreements through contests that end with reconciliatory singing, dancing, and storytelling. Vistani families can

believe that ravens carry lost souls within them. Hence, killing a raven is considered bad luck in Vistani culture.

Top Card: The Challenge

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

road, or a situation the characters are asked to resolve. You decide the scope of the decision the characters must make. You can ask them to make a simple choice (“Do you want to take the path along

ability checks (though another character can help, at your discretion). Whatever choice or challenge you decide the top card represents, the characters’ success or failure while dealing with that situation determines how you read the bottom card.

Saving Throws

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

Saving Throws In contrast to an ability check, a saving throw is an instant response to an effect and is almost never made by choice. A saving throw makes the most sense when something bad threatens

what kind of saving throw is involved and providing a DC for it. In other situations that call for a saving throw, it’s up to you to decide which ability score is involved. The Abilities, Ability Checks, and Saving Throws table offers suggestions.

Encounters

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

characters don’t need to take turns, but you need to give each player a chance to tell you what their character is doing so you can decide how to resolve everyone’s actions. In combat, everyone takes

the DM, you decide how much to tell the players and when. All the information the players need to make choices comes from you. Within the rules of the game and the limits of the characters’ knowledge

Encounters

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

bookshelf. Outside combat, the characters don’t need to take turns, but you need to give each player a chance to tell you what their character is doing so you can decide how to resolve everyone’s

sections offer more detailed information on how an encounter typically unfolds, in three steps. Step 1: Describe the Situation As the DM, you decide how much to tell the players and when. All the

Shadow of Soth

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

. Foreshadow that threat after characters decide where they’re headed by reading the following description: To the southwest, the crack of shearing stone sounds from a distant temple whose grounds teem with

get at whoever’s in charge in there!” Rookledust encourages the characters to find the Dragon Army’s leaders within the city rather than pursing Soth. The gnome is confident that Kalaman’s forces

Neighbors, Rivals, and Allies

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

. Baldur’s Gate joined the Lords’ Alliance, a coalition of independent cities that includes Neverwinter and Waterdeep, largely because of disputes with Amn. Should Amn decide to attack Baldur’s Gate

, the city can count on the other members of the Lords’ Alliance to come to its defense. This arrangement infuriates Amn, which is not prepared to test the alliance’s resolve. To the east, the nations of

Saving Throws

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

Saving Throws A saving throw is an instant response to a harmful effect and is almost never done by choice. A save makes the most sense when something bad happens to a character and the character has

decide which ability score is involved. The Saving Throws table offers suggestions. Saving Throws Ability Used For… Strength Opposing a force that would physically move or bind you Dexterity

Vellynne's Quest

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

the quest. (In other words, the characters are at least 7th level.) These conditions don’t account for any unfinished business that the characters are determined to resolve. For example, if Xardorok

Sunblight is still alive, the characters might want to finish him off before turning their attention elsewhere. Once she’s confident that the characters are ready for the challenges that lie ahead

Neighbors, Rivals, and Allies

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer

. Baldur’s Gate joined the Lords’ Alliance, a coalition of independent cities that includes Neverwinter and Waterdeep, largely because of disputes with Amn. Should Amn decide to attack Baldur’s Gate

, the city can count on the other members of the Lords’ Alliance to come to its defense. This arrangement infuriates Amn, which is not prepared to test the alliance’s resolve. To the east, the nations of

Talona

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

has gone bad, dripped into the handkerchief of someone beset by coughing, dropped into a fire made by burning a withered crop, dripped into the mouth of a plague sufferer, and so on. It’s common

prayers, Talona has almost no temples and few cults dedicated to her. A cult or a shrine to her might arise in an area after it suffers from pestilence, when some of those who survived decide to revere her or even become priests.

Concluding the Campaign

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

of Red Larch point out that “normal weather means bad weather around here, and unpredictable besides.” Some tavern talk can be overheard about occupying the Haunted Keeps to scare away unwanted

disperse within a tenday of the cults’ defeat. Bereft of leadership and reeling from the events, the cultists decide the Dessarin Valley isn’t the place for them. Some go to nearby cities, especially

Meeting the Captains

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm Lord’s Wrath

as advertised: competent but foolhardy, experienced but overly confident. Kristoffen, on the other hand, is hiding something. With a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Insight) check, a character can sense

that the dragonborn is nervous and hiding something. If confronted, he says that he just has a bad feeling about traveling to the Thunder Cliffs, but he is willing to do so for the payment and the

Beholders: Bad Dreams Come True

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

Beholders: Bad Dreams Come True To those who would seek to conquer beholders or merely understand them, nearly everything about their quarry is unfathomable. These bizarre creatures are possessed of

those of humans and other intelligent creatures. The difference is one of degree. For instance, where a prideful, confident human might be cowed by a serious threat, the arrogance of a beholder knows

Actions in Exploration

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

in action.) In such situations, have the characters take turns, though it’s usually not necessary to roll Initiative as you would in a combat encounter. Resolve one character’s actions before moving

something during exploration, you decide whether that action requires an ability check to determine success (as described in the earlier “Resolving Outcomes” section). Certain situations might call

Horror in Your Game

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

suspense and mystery with familiar features of D&D, creating gloom so your heroes’ light shines all the brighter. Genres of Horror. Horror comes in broad varieties. You and your players decide what

attention for both of us. We’ve found no trace of Vhorishkova since arriving, but I feel her watching. It’s like she’s everywhere. It’s bad here, Uncle. Not snake-headed hogs bad. Like, full Delmunster

Rival Explorers

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer

Morgrave’s bad reputation. They seek fame, wealth, and power by plundering the secrets of ancient civilizations and claiming the magic and money they find for themselves. On the other hand, if the

characters solve this problem by breaking the curse rather than killing the rivals, but either way, these foils no longer trouble the characters after they resolve this situation. (A rival group at these levels might consist of an Archmage, an Archpriest, a Spy Master, and a Warrior Commander.)

Individual Quests

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragons of Stormwreck Isle

the character to continue on their path: “If your destiny is not clear to you yet, I’m confident it soon will be.” The Paladin Disillusioned with the corruption of Neverwinter, the paladin comes to

Dragon’s Rest seeking rest and new resolve. Runara welcomes the character and encourages them to talk to Tarak and Varnoth, who both know about escaping lives of corruption and violence. She also

Large Groups

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

Information. If you tell the players what the Armor Class of their opponents is, you reduce the steps of interaction needed to resolve an attack. Instead of telling you a number and asking if it hits

know each character’s AC, you don’t need to ask whether a monster’s attack hits. Help Players Keep Up. If a player isn’t sure what to do on their turn in combat, help the player decide by offering a

Using the Tables

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

one-sided battle. Instead, the characters could witness the giants in an altercation from a distance, foreshadowing a conflict that will threaten all the smaller folk in the region. Or you could decide

the most suitable Giant opponents for characters in the first tier of play, and characters at level 4 might face a single hill giant. A lone hill giant can feel confident bullying (or eating) the

Consequences

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

archery contest, you might decide that the more an attack roll exceeds the target’s AC, the higher the character’s score. The archery target might have AC 11, but it has five concentric rings indicating

degrees of success. So you could decide that an attack roll of 11 or 12 lands in the outermost ring, a 13 or 14 hits the next ring closer to the center, a 15 or 16 hits the third ring, a 17 or 18

Mutual Respect

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

behavior is interfering with everyone else’s enjoyment, everyone has a stake in helping to resolve the issue. Setting Expectations Before you assemble a group around a game table, pitch the

inspired by, and which flavors of fantasy (outlined in chapter 5) interest you. Being transparent with your players allows them to decide if this is a game they want to play, which is best to know

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