before bad deciding call reason

Norker

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

and his followers the initial, unwilling recruits into his crusade. Today, hobgoblins chafe at the suggestion that creatures as lazy and untamed as norkers could claim such an honor. For that reason

' strength and ferocity.. For this reason, norkers are likely encountered away from their brethren. Their natural armor and weapons make them dangerous foes even when relegated to menial labor. Only

Cadaver Collector

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

of a conquering army on the Material Plane. These fearsome Constructs obey their summoners until they are dismissed back to Acheron, but if a summoner comes to a bad end, a cadaver collector might

can summon the spirits of these cadavers to battle against its enemies. Although these specters are individually weak, a cadaver collector can call up an almost endless supply of them, if given enough

Norker War Leader

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

norkers could claim such an honor. For that reason alone, hobgoblin warlords are loath to use these creatures, preferring to keep them around as disposable labor in mines and quarries. Nasty, Brutish

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

Cadaver Collector Legacy

Monsters Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

back to Acheron, but if a summoner comes to a bad end, a cadaver collector might wander the Material Plane for centuries, collecting corpses while searching for a way to return home. Sweeping the Dead

creatures for eventual impalement. Although these specters are individually weak, a cadaver collector can call up an almost endless supply of them, if given time. Constructed Nature. A cadaver collector

Barovian Witch

Monsters Curse of Strahd

attack. Brothers and Sisters of Strahd. Barovian witches have no scruples. They will deal with anyone in return for power. They will also betray anyone for the same reason. The only thing they fear is

spell component, a ritual object, or a potion ingredient. Barovian witches use the find familiar spell to call forth familiars. They are particularly fond of cats, though snakes and toads are also common. These animals lurk amid the clutter of the witches' lairs, seldom wandering far from their vile masters.

The Fathomless (TCoE)

Classes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

might have been shipwrecked and on the brink of drowning when your patron’s grasp offered you a chance at life. Whatever the reason for your pact, the sea and its unknown depths call to you

Darkling Legacy

Monsters Volo's Guide to Monsters

speak of a seelie fey who betrayed the Summer Queen. His true name has been stricken from history, but the stories call him Dubh Catha ("Dark Crow" in Common). So great was the Summer Queen's wrath

, and doing so wizens the creature, much like the effect of rapid aging. For this reason, darklings cover every part of their body with clothing when exposure to light is a risk. The light a darkling

Darkling Elder Legacy

Monsters Volo's Guide to Monsters

call him Dubh Catha ("Dark Crow" in Common). So great was the Summer Queen's wrath that she cursed every member of his house. Other fey refer to the descendants of Dubh Catha's house as the dubh sith-or

. The Killing Light. The Summer Queen's curse causes a darkling's body to absorb light, and doing so wizens the creature, much like the effect of rapid aging. For this reason, darklings cover every

The Fathomless

Classes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

might have been shipwrecked and on the brink of drowning when your patron’s grasp offered you a chance at life. Whatever the reason for your pact, the sea and its unknown depths call to you

Failed Merchant

Backgrounds Acquisitions Incorporated

Maybe you come from a long line of merchants. Perhaps you were an entrepreneur. Regardless, your ventures ended poorly. Whether it was because of outside influences, bad luck, or simply because your

clothes, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp Feature: Supply Chain From your time as a merchant, you retain connections with wholesalers, suppliers, and other merchants and entrepreneurs. You can call upon these connections when looking for items or information.

Hutijin

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

figure, known only to the most learned infernal scholars. He has no cults of his own, and his servants are few in number. The reason is simple: Hutijin hates mortals. When summoned from the Hells, he

rivals. Other archdevils know how much Hutijin despises mortals and have secretly disseminated the means to call him from the Nine Hells in the hope of distracting the archdevil long enough for them to

Firbolg Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

call home. Orphaned firbolgs are those whose clans or homelands have been destroyed. They become crusaders for nature, seeking to avenge their loss and prevent the further destruction of the natural

Reason for Adventuring 1 Outcast for murder 2 Outcast for severely damaging home territory 3 Clan slain by invading humanoids 4 Clan slain by a dragon or demon 5

Leonin

Species Mythic Odysseys of Theros

the leonin who call that land home. Leonin and the Gods d6 Attitude 1 I’m amused by the antics of the gods and their earnest, but ultimately deluded, mortal champions, and I

adversaries—incredibly clever and well-prepared to play a long game but ultimately doomed to lose their games. 4 I’m certain every bad thing that happens can ultimately be blamed on the

Moonblade Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

. 97–98 The moonblade functions as a ring of spell storing. 99 You can use an action to call forth an elfshadow, provided that you don’t already have one serving you. The elfshadow

this creature, deciding how it acts and moves. It remains until it drops to 0 hit points or you dismiss it as an action. 00 The moonblade functions as a vorpal sword. Sentience A

Aarakocra Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

changes in the prevailing winds that they regarded as a bad omen. Unlike the aarakocra of other worlds on the Material Plane, the aarakocra of the Realms rarely travel to the Elemental Plane of Air

. Great Purpose Aarakocra enjoy peace and solitude. Most of them have little interest in dealing with other peoples and less interest in spending time on the ground. For this reason, it takes an

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

hatred of the civilized races of the world and their need to satisfy the demands of their deities, the orcs know that if they fight well and bring glory to their tribe, Gruumsh will call them home to

Far Traveler

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

;t a native, your reason for leaving “home” probably has something to do with getting away from a bad situation. Feature: All Eyes on You Your accent, mannerisms, figures of

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

Dark Fantasy

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

and evil are blurred. Choices involve deciding which outcome is least bad. Corruption and suspicion flourish among organizations and individuals. Magic and magic items might be rarer or require a

keep in mind the role of heroes and ensure places for light in your dark fantasy domain. If a domain holds no place for hope, there’s also little call for resistance and meaningful plots. In addition

Hermit - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

a frivolous lark. You’ve maintained a solitary vigil outside the cavern entrance ever since. 2 You crossed the Guild in a bad way. Fortunately, its members think you’re dead. Less

past that could rewrite history. It might be information that would be damaging to the people who consigned you to exile, and hence the reason for your return to society. Work with your DM to

Ability Checks

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

creature’s efforts. In a contest, the ability checks are compared to each other, rather than to a target number. When you call for a contest, you pick the ability that each side must use, deciding

crowd, lie to someone convincingly INTELLIGENCE CHECK VS. WISDOM CHECK If you have trouble deciding whether to call for an Intelligence or a Wisdom check to determine whether a character notices

Tortle Legacy

Species The Tortle Package

I caught a big fish. Now I search for a good friend To share my lunch with. — Tortle haiku What many tortles consider a simple life, others might call a life of adventure. Tortles are

prefer simple, non-gender-specific names that are usually no more than two syllables. If a tortle doesn’t like its name for whatever reason, it can change it. A tortle might change its name a dozen

Ileuthra

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

knowledge, but the dragon is cagey on that point. Seeing good and bad in equal measure among the lesser races, Ileuthra recognizes that helping the humanoids is less a case of deciding whether they are worthy

of aid, and more about deciding whether these adventurer ambassadors can be trusted to properly lead the factions. Desire. Ileuthra has no preconceived sense of what might be the best course, and he

The Middle Path

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

The Middle Path Many DMs find that using a combination of the two approaches works best. By balancing the use of dice against deciding on success, you can encourage your players to strike a balance

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.

Ileuthra

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat

knowledge, but the dragon is cagey on that point. Seeing good and bad in equal measure among the lesser races, Ileuthra recognizes that helping the humanoids is less a case of deciding whether they are worthy

of aid, and more about deciding whether these adventurer ambassadors can be trusted to properly lead the factions. Desire. Ileuthra has no preconceived sense of what might be the best course, and he

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

. The kenku lack the talent to improvise or alter a plan, but a wise Master sets multiple plans in motion at once, confident that underlings can follow orders to the letter. For this reason, many

kenku make an easy living serving as messengers, spies, and lookouts for thieves’ guilds, bandits, and other criminal cartels. A network of kenku can relay a bird call or similar noise across the

Using Ability Scores

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

doesn’t normally need to make a Dexterity check to walk across an empty room or a Charisma check to order a mug of ale. Only call for a roll if there is a meaningful consequence for failure. When

deciding whether to use a roll, ask yourself two questions: Is a task so easy and so free of conflict and stress that there should be no chance of failure? Is a task so inappropriate or impossible — such

Adversary

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

1 The pirate captain on whose ship you once served; what you call moving on, the captain calls mutiny 2 A master spy to whom you unwittingly fed bad information, which led to the assassination of

deal with than the average member of the city watch. If your character’s backstory doesn’t already include a personage of this sort, you could work with your DM to come up with a reason why an

Quinn Hightopple

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sleeping Dragon’s Wake

. Personality. “Nice set of teeth you got there. Be a shame if something bad happened to ’em.” Ideal. “No challenge is too big to overcome. As Papa Bartho always says, the bigger they are, the harder

they fall.” Bond. “Nothing’s more important than friendship. That’s why I’ll never leave a friend behind.” Flaw. “I can’t resist punching tall folk in the groin. I call it the Halfling Hello.”

Quinn Hightopple

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Divine Contention

. Personality. “Nice set of teeth you got there. Be a shame if something bad happened to ’em.” Ideal. “No challenge is too big to overcome. As Papa Bartho always says, the bigger they are, the harder

they fall.” Bond. “Nothing’s more important than friendship. That’s why I’ll never leave a friend behind.” Flaw. “I can’t resist punching tall folk in the groin. I call it the Halfling Hello.”

Quinn Hightopple

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon of Icespire Peak

. Personality. “Nice set of teeth you got there. Be a shame if something bad happened to ’em.” Ideal. “No challenge is too big to overcome. As Papa Bartho always says, the bigger they are, the harder

they fall.” Bond. “Nothing’s more important than friendship. That’s why I’ll never leave a friend behind.” Flaw. “I can’t resist punching tall folk in the groin. I call it the Halfling Hello.”

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

undetected and don’t give their targets reason to harm them. For example, a group of city kobolds might sneak into a cobbler’s house at night to loot it of knives, leather bits, nails, and

, giving each individual and every generation a reason to feel pride and self-respect. The kobolds prefer to run away than fight, to live off the scraps of others, and they are often dominated by larger

Quinn Hightopple

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

. Personality. “Nice set of teeth you got there. Be a shame if something bad happened to ’em.” Ideal. “No challenge is too big to overcome. As Papa Bartho always says, the bigger they are, the harder

they fall.” Bond. “Nothing’s more important than friendship. That’s why I’ll never leave a friend behind.” Flaw. “I can’t resist punching tall folk in the groin. I call it the Halfling Hello.”

Existing Characters

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

Lord Neverember’s call for help in solving the disappearance of several nobles. The reason might range from the magical (an unexpected magical backlash transports them to the city) to the mundane (a

Realms campaign setting). If a character is from a different world or is from somewhere else in that setting, work with the player to devise a reason why that character is in Neverwinter and answers

Roleplaying Lorinda

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

“lostling,” “caterpillar,” or “sweetskin.” She insists that others call her some variation of “mother.” Lorinda relishes the worship of Viktal’s people but treats them as livestock, guarding them fiercely

to prevent the villagers from learning her true nature. Personality Trait. “I’m the greatest parent in the world. I just need children worthy of my love.” Ideal. “Good children get rewards. Bad

Orc Culture and Beliefs

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

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 react to them. As a race, orcs

stones, mushrooms, or any other kind of circle. Seeing a shooting star before a battle is bad luck. To ward it off, you must swallow a stone. A tribute of elf ears brings favor from Gruumsh. If you bury

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