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Returning 35 results for 'before bad during contested run'.
Urchin
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
I eat like a pig and have bad manners.
6
I think anyone who’s nice to me is hiding evil intent.
7
I don’t like to bathe.
8
I bluntly say what other people are hinting at
will run away from a fight.
2
Gold seems like a lot of money to me, and I’ll do just about anything for more of it.
3
I will never fully trust anyone other than myself.
4
I&rsquo
Pirate
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
board—boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run?
You spent your youth
you may roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook), a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp
Feature: Bad Reputation
No matter where
Sailor
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
board—boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run?
Skill
more than one deserving soul to a briny grave. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town.
Variant Feature: Bad
Criminal / Spy
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Backgrounds
Basic Rules (2014)
.
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.
Kobold
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
other useful items, but if they are at risk of discovery, they run away rather than attack anyone in the house. By fleeing before they can be seen or identified, they avoid getting into a situation
, 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
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
fellows, or on the run?
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Perception
Tool Proficiencies: Navigator’s tools, vehicles (water)
Equipment: A belaying pin (club), 50 feet of silk rope, a lucky
. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town.
Variant Feature: Bad Reputation
If your character has a sailor
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
a pig and have bad manners.
6
I think anyone who’s nice to me is hiding evil intent.
7
I don’t like to bathe.
8
I bluntly say what other people are hinting at or hiding
important person, and I’m wanted for it.
6
No one else should have to endure the hardships I’ve been through.
d6
Flaw
1
If I’m outnumbered, I will run away
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
between relying on their bonuses and abilities and paying attention to the game and immersing themselves in its world. Remember that dice don’t run your game — you do. Dice are like rules. They’re
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.
Aarakocra
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Elemental Evil Player's Companion
lies on the slopes of the Star Mounts’ southernmost mountains. At the headwaters of the Unicorn Run, the Last Aerie is home to several dozen aarakocra. Recently, aarakocra elders detected
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
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
If there’s a plan, I’ll forget it. If I don’t forget it, I’ll ignore it.
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.
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
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.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
Umizu Residents of the city-state of Umizu enjoy their fair share of luck, but good fortune comes at a cost: a season of bad luck that arrives with the yearly monsoon. During this time, locals pray
-simmering tension. Daimyo Hogishi Takemi does his best to rein in crime, but the city’s lackluster bureaucracy is run by complacent samurai administrators and riddled with corruption. Crime syndicates
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
combat, and the party might go for several sessions without seeing a monster. Again, make sure your players know ahead of time that you want to run this kind of campaign. Otherwise, a player might
setting, from the backstabbing politics of the Nine Hells to the contested succession of Cormyrean royalty.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
follow Droki into this chamber, they see him sneaking carefully along the eastern path. They can attempt to follow him with a group Dexterity (Stealth) check contested by the water weird’s passive
Wisdom (Perception) score. If more than half the characters fail the check, the water weird notices them and attacks. If the characters are attacked by the water weird while following Droki, the wily derro realizes he’s being shadowed and makes a run for it.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
because they have not received deliveries of mead from the town of Good Mead, and the taverns have run dry. As if things weren’t bad enough, the town’s harbor has frozen over, and the town’s speaker
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
cloudy blue eyes. They run a flower stall in the market. Friendly and a bit wistful, Astra chats with anyone who stops at their stall, as happy to hear the recent news as to make a sale. Astra was a
. “Gossip nourishes me like a spring rain, but I hate to hear or pass on bad news.” Ideal. “People are like flowers: Some grow best when left alone, others must be carefully cultivated—and some need to be
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
. What better way to think of the big bad monster at the center of a web of even bigger and badder plans than as the CEO of a megacorporation, using every resource to dominate the market? What is an
present them with even more hurdles to overcome. The often bizarre, unfeeling, and surreal elements of corporate and business life can add a degree of danger or absurdity to even the most run-of-the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
was fun for a while, but the zombie started to smell real bad, so we doused it in oil and set it on fire. Beek would’ve found that hilarious.”
— Fonkin Hoddypeak, on friendship
Hideous Forms
. Zombies appear as they did in life, showing the wounds that killed them. However, the magic that creates these vile creatures often takes time to run its course. Dead warriors might rise from a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
that keeps the townsfolk from leaving is the beer at the local tavern, which never seems to run out. As if things weren’t bad enough, the town has suffered several mysterious break-ins recently, with
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
on board — boatswain, captain, navigator, cook, or some other position? Who were the captain and first mate? Did you leave your ship on good terms with your fellows, or on the run? Skill Proficiencies
the Bad Reputation feature (see sidebar) instead of the Ship’s Passage feature. Variant Feature: Bad Reputation
If your character has a sailor background, you may select this background feature
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
character astray, especially if the object of the research is known to the rival. The rival might plant false information, bribe sages to give bad advice, or steal key tomes needed to find the truth. In
addition, a character might run into other complications during research. Every workweek spent in research brings a 10 percent chance of a complication, examples of which are on the Research
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
, moderate, or hard?” If the only DCs you ever use are 10, 15, and 20, your game will run just fine. Keep in mind that a character with a 10 in the associated ability and no proficiency will succeed at an
say a door requires a successful DC 15 Strength check to be battered down. A fighter with a Strength of 20 might helplessly flail against the door because of bad die rolls. Meanwhile, the rogue with a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
knows that demons at large in the world are bad for business. The organization thus views the possible presence of the demon lords in the Underdark with the same concern as any other external threat
let them run the NPCs. The thugs’ names are Nero Kelvane, Lenora Haskur, Aligor Moonwhisper, Gorath Torn, Saliyra Dalnor, Primwin Halk, Iandro Alathar, and Lhytris Ilgarn. All of them know the route
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
sown with too many traps, and if the characters are victimized over and over again as a result, they are likely to take steps to prevent further bad things from happening. Because of their recent
experience, the characters can become overly cautious, and you run the risk of the action grinding to a halt as the players search every square inch of the dungeon for trip wires and pressure plates
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
useful: DM Screen. Many DMs like to use a screen to shield their notes and dice rolls from players. It’s bad manners to peek over the screen! Miniatures and Battle Grid. Some DMs use a battle grid and
miniatures to run combat encounters, since they help everyone visualize the action. A battle grid can be anything marked out in 1-inch squares, from disposable sheets of paper to poster maps. And
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
, you can offer to let the character succeed at the cost of a complication or hindrance. Such complications can run along any of the following lines: A character gets her sword past an enemy’s defenses
automatic failure is bad enough. And characters typically make so many attack rolls that they’re bound to roll dozens of natural 1s over time. What might seem like an interesting consequence, like breaking the weapon used for the attack, will quickly get tiresome.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
Darklake Creature Encounters The sections that follow the table provide additional information to help you run each creature encounter. d12 Encounter 1 1 aquatic troll 2 2d4 darkmantles 3 1d4 + 2
contested by the merrow’s Strength check. If the merrow wins the contest, the vessel capsizes. Stirges These stirges cling to the ceiling like bats. If the party is aware of the stirges, the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
contested by the character’s Charisma (Deception) check to see through the deception. A character who is caught lying to the dragon can never win back its trust. If the dragon is incapacitated, a
. It craves gemstones and seeks out better ones with which to adorn itself. Most of all, it longs to return to the forests around Myth Drannor, where it was created. If its wielder’s goals run counter
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
, used a speak with animals spell to panic the dragonfly. Characters can spot Kettlesteam before she slips away with a successful Wisdom (Perception) check contested by the kenku’s Charisma (Deception
Mister Light aren’t the carnival’s original owners, y’know. They’re not even from the Feywild! But it matters not an inch! We’re all one big, happy family here!” “The carnival can’t run without Mister
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
tricky situation, such as when you’re trying to run across a sheet of ice, balance on a tightrope, or stay upright on a rocking ship’s deck. The DM might also call for a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to
a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check’s total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
ascertain that the orange glow around the crate is a bad sign, for it suggests the crate’s contents might have been damaged in a dangerous way. The crate explodes if it is moved or jostled. If the
) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Dealing with the Crate. A character who realizes the crate’s orange glow is a bad sign can gently shake the crate to rearrange
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
Small Stalls Catch the Dragon by the Tail The fair boasts several small stalls, each run by a Witchlight hand (variable alignments; see the stat block earlier in the chapter). Some of the stalls
participant has to pin an unarmed goblin (lawful good), while a Medium participant has to pin one goblin while wrestling two of them. Winning the game requires a successful Strength (Athletics) check contested
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
. If you want your campaign to move at a quick pace, run only these encounters. In doing so, you don’t have to worry about random encounters and setting up details of the journey such as who keeps
party. When using the Random Encounter table below, roll once for travel during the day and once while the characters are resting at night. Or if you see an encounter that tickles your fancy, just run it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
tricky situation, such as when you're trying to run across a sheet of ice, balance on a tightrope, or stay upright on a rocking ship's deck. The DM might also call for a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to
hiding, that check's total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence.
You can't hide from a creature that can see you clearly, and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
money. 3 If there’s a plan, I’ll forget it. If I don’t forget it, I’ll ignore it. 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






