before bad decide core related

Criminal / Spy Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

sold the secrets you uncovered to the highest bidder. Suggested Characteristics Criminals might seem like villains on the surface, and many of them are villainous to the core. But some have an

. 4 I have a “tell” that reveals when I’m lying. 5 I turn tail and run when things look bad. 6 An innocent person is in prison for a crime that I committed. I’m okay with that.

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

inheritor. Your bond might be directly related to your inheritance, or to the person from whom you received it. Your ideal might be influenced by what you know about your inheritance, or by what you

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.

Criminal - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

Characteristics Criminals might seem like villains on the surface, and many of them are villainous to the core. But some have an abundance of endearing, if not redeeming, characteristics. There might be honor

tail and run when things look bad. 6 An innocent person is in prison for a crime that I committed. I’m okay with that.

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

or less intact, the orcs leave themselves the option of returning to raid the community over and over. When orcs fight elves, all of that changes. The enmity between the two races cuts to the core

everywhere in the world around them, and the priests of a tribe are entrusted with the responsibility of identifying these signs and omens — both good and bad — and deciding how the tribe should

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.

Paladin Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

. Although the class features related to your oath don’t appear until you reach 3rd level, plan ahead for that choice by reading the oath descriptions at the end of the class. Are you a devoted

while you were at prayer? Did another paladin sense the potential within you and decide to train you as a squire? Or did some terrible event—the destruction of your home, perhaps—drive you to

Dragonmark Focus Items

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

in order to use or attune to a dragonmark focus item. Many dragonmark focus items have unique effects related to their marks, as described in this section. Alternately, a dragonmark focus item can

duplicate the power of an existing magic item with a power closely related to the mark. For example: A cape of the mountebank or boots of speed tied to the Mark of Passage, or horseshoes of speed that

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.

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.

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

Advantage and Disadvantage

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

, or other features of their classes or species. In other cases, you decide whether a circumstance would merit Advantage or Disadvantage. As described in the Player’s Handbook, if different

Consider granting Advantage when... Circumstances not related to a creature’s own capabilities provide it with an edge. Some aspect of the environment improves the character’s chance of success. A

Testing Phase

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Testing Phase On the day of the Exam, each character makes two ability checks related to parts of the test: Slaad Facts. Choosing the correct multiple choice answers to questions about red, blue

fireballs and magical flames at its foes. Death slaadi are rumored to have a stench so bad it can be deadly. In reality, they can cast the cloudkill spell. Inexperienced scholars and adventurers

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

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.

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

Studies and Philosophy

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Studies and Philosophy The curriculum of Witherbloom College focuses on various sciences, revolving around the life sciences. Biology, ecology, botany, chemistry, and related sciences combine with

of framing the core division in the college’s philosophy: is growth or decay the driving force in nature? The philosophy of the root (growth) focuses on life and its irrepressible drive to thrive. This

Tymora

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

might say words to Tymora before any endeavor in which a little good luck would help, but not when an incidence of bad luck might occur. (On such occasions folk pray to Beshaba to spare them from bad

left with the stranger as payment for Tymora’s favor. If it’s not, the stranger can choose to keep it (and the bad luck) or return it. Those who favor Tymora — as distinct from folk who invoke her name

Choosing a College

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Choosing a College At Strixhaven, students choose their colleges at the start of their second year. But even during a character’s first year, you make college-related decisions for your character

, such as a background choice. From the start, your character is making decisions that will lead to their eventual college choice. Chapter 1 describes each of the colleges. How do you decide which of

If It Exists In D&D, There's A Place for It in Eberron

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

If It Exists In D&D, There’s A Place for It in Eberron … But It May Not Be the Place You’re Used To. Eberron draws on the core elements of D&D. It’s a world of wizards and rogues, a setting with

Eberron. For example, if you wanted to use Gruumsh in Eberron, you could re-imagine him as one of the demon overlords of the first age. You could decide that he’s the classic Gruumsh, who has recently

Horror Content Survey

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

Horror Content Survey Take advantage of the time before your first game session to learn about your players’ thoughts related to horror adventures. To do this, create a brief list of questions

Romantic in-character dialogue Themes of mental and physical health involving the body and the mind Real-world religion and politics, or analogs of them Topics related to real-world social or cultural

Personal Characteristics

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

related to each. Either one could be positive or negative: you might work hard to overcome a low score, for example, or be cocky about your high score. Ideals Describe one ideal that drives your

your core belief system. Ideals might answer any of these questions: What are the principles that you will never betray? What would prompt you to make sacrifices? What drives you to act and guides

Sharn Watch Divisions

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

also includes a few special divisions that could cross the paths of the adventurers. The Blackened Book is an elite core of abjurers and diviners, charged with investigating and containing magical

threats. These wizards are highly dedicated to their work and their city, and generally don’t take bribes. It’s up to the higher-ups, however, to decide what missions to assign to the Blackened Book; if

Character and Party Creation

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

character’s bond is, “I’m trying to pay off an old debt I owe to a generous benefactor.” If that’s the character’s bond, you should work with the player to decide who that generous benefactor is and build

. Here are some questions you can ask the players as they create characters to get a sense of the party’s relationships: Are any of the characters related to each other? What keeps the characters together

Advantage and Disadvantage

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

, actions, spells, or other features of their classes or backgrounds. In other cases, you decide whether a circumstance influences a roll in one direction or another, and you grant advantage or impose

disadvantage as a result. Consider granting advantage when… Circumstances not related to a creature’s inherent capabilities provide it with an edge. Some aspect of the environment contributes to 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

Creating a Portal

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands

Creating a Portal You can create portals quickly by choosing or rolling on the Planar Portals table. First, decide whether the portal’s destination resides in Sigil or on another plane. Then, roll on

the table twice: once to generate a portal anchor—the physical location in Sigil where the portal exists—and again for a destination and its thematically related portal keys. Sigil destinations

Creating a Paladin

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

Creating a Paladin The most important aspect of a paladin character is the nature of his or her holy quest. Although the class features related to your oath don’t appear until you reach 3rd level

call to serve as a paladin? Did you hear a whisper from an unseen god or angel while you were at prayer? Did another paladin sense the potential within you and decide to train you as a squire? Or did

Payback

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons

word “Oathbreaker” painted on his forehead. The buried human is in bad shape from exposure and dehydration. Any healing magic or some water and a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check revives him

were willing to leave him buried in the road and “let providence decide the man’s fate.” Amoffel has Harper contacts in Waterdeep and knows his way around the city. He can be a useful ally when this caravan reaches its destination.

Payback

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hoard of the Dragon Queen

word “Oathbreaker” painted on his forehead. The buried human is in bad shape from exposure and dehydration. Any healing magic or some water and a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check revives him

they were willing to leave him buried in the road and “let providence decide the man’s fate.” Amoffel has Harper contacts in Waterdeep and knows his way around the city. He can be a useful ally when this caravan reaches its destination.

Acquisition as a Holy Chore

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

campaign, but a few select gods, goddesses, and otherworldly powers might play a larger role. Abbathor This dwarven deity of greed gets a bad rap. Because seriously, greed is just another form of the

-related, secrets are an important component of gaining leverage over others. Moreover, your successful franchise will eventually have many secrets of its own that you desperately need to keep quiet

Chapter 1: What Is Eberron?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

worse. This chapter explores these core themes and the ways that they can affect the stories or characters you create in Eberron. Here’s a quick overview of what lies ahead. A Magical World. From

. These elements are all part of Eberron, but you don’t have to use all of them in every story. As you go through this chapter, decide which themes appeal to you and best fit the stories you want to tell.

Life or Death

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis

Life or Death When the characters have at least one ring of shooting stars in their custody, they must decide whether to destroy Xaryxis (to save their world and others like it) or to spare it (thus

all-consuming core. Death of a Star When Xaryxis is destroyed, read: The star flares, becoming a thousand times brighter. Moments later, it is gone. The exploding star destroys everything within

Skill Variants

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

feature, the player defines aspects of his or her background to which the benefit applies. Continuing the noble example, the player might decide to apply Expertise to “situations where courtly manners

proficiencies. Instead, a character can add his or her proficiency bonus to any ability check directly related to the character’s positive personality traits. For example, a character with a positive

Ability Checks

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

different way to get past the guard or try the check again against another guard at a different gate. But you might decide that the initial failure makes those checks more difficult to pull off

something, think of it in terms of what a very high or low score in those two abilities might mean. A character with a high Wisdom but low Intelligence is aware of the surroundings but is bad at

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