before bard driven common reality

Instrument of the Bards

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide

An Instrument of the Bards is superior to an ordinary instrument in every way. Seven types of these instruments exist, each named after a bard college. The Instruments of the Bards table lists the

spells common to all instruments, as well as the spells specific to each one and its rarity. A creature that attempts to play the instrument without being attuned to it must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom

Bard Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires hard study

, ensuring that her companions’ words will be well received. Whether scholar, skald, or scoundrel, a bard weaves magic through words and music to inspire allies, demoralize foes, manipulate minds

Arrant Quill

Monsters Candlekeep Mysteries

charismatic bard who carries himself with a quiet confidence that doesn't hint at the full extent of his skills or powers. A scar cuts across his handsome face, curving from the top of his left

past. Although outwardly friendly, Quill is driven by three selfish desires: to preserve his well-being, to alleviate his boredom, and to escape Wisteria Vale. He holds a grudge against the Harpers

Instrument of the Bards Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

An instrument of the bards is an exquisite example of its kind, superior to an ordinary instrument in every way. Seven types of these instruments exist, each named after a legendary bard college. The

following table lists the spells common to all instruments, as well as the spells specific to each one and its rarity. A creature that attempts to play the instrument without being attuned to it must

Humanoid Mutate

Monsters Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

as smooth as a salamander’s. Some intelligent Humanoid mutates retain their personalities from before they were exposed to the Far Realm. Some, driven by the allure of otherworldly powers, seek

have tried to create armies of mutates to sweep through the Underdark. However, their efforts always proved fruitless, and eventually the mind flayers gave up their schemes. Several common types of

Ygorl, Lord of Entropy

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

of eternity. It has no sense of empathy or compassion, driven only to unmake so that the resulting base elements of reality can fuel the multiverse’s endless cycles of creation and destruction

to parley with Ygorl are known to have been driven to madness in the process. Death and Destruction. Ygorl’s most notable possession is an adamantine scythe with the slaad word for death

Demogorgon

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

long to delirium. As a result, all followers of the Prince of Demons break with reality sooner or later.Demogorgon’s Lair Demogorgon makes his lair in a palace called Abysm, found on a layer

Demogorgon’s followers are typically lone killers driven by the whispering voice of their master. His most blessed followers gain the Two Minds of Chaos trait. Two Minds of Chaos. This creature

Symbol Legacy

Spells Basic Rules (2014)

common triggers are opening the object, approaching within a certain distance of it, or seeing or reading the glyph. You can further refine the trigger so the spell is activated only under certain

Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the target is driven insane for 1 minute. An insane creature can't take actions, can't understand what other creatures say, can't read, and speaks only in

Investigator

Backgrounds Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

the mysteries you’re embroiled in are local crimes or realm-spanning conspiracies, you’re driven by a personal need to hunt down even the most elusive clues and reveal what others would

, evidence from a past case (choose one or roll for a trinket from the Horror Trinkets table after this background), a set of Clothes, Common;common clothes, and 10 gp Path to Mystery Your first case

Urchin Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

Hand, StealthTool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieves’ toolsEquipment: A small knife, a map of the city you grew up in, a pet mouse, a token to remember your parents by, a set of common clothes

shaped by lives of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better

Hobgoblin

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Hobgoblins trace their origins to the ancient courts of the Feywild, where they first appeared with their goblin and bugbear kin. Many of them were driven from the Feywild by the conquering god

above 20. Languages Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of

Criminal - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

type of gaming set, thieves’ tools Equipment: A crowbar, a set of dark common clothes including a hood, and a pouch containing 15 gp Criminal Origins Criminals are pervasive in Baldur

Guild took over your family business, ran it into the ground, and burned the building for insurance money. You were driven into crime yourself, but you’ll never work for the Guild. You take

Zargon the Returner

Monsters Quests from the Infinite Staircase

another plane—or another reality entirely. When Asmodeus ascended the infernal hierarchy, he and his legions wiped out most of the plane’s earlier inhabitants, but Zargon proved beyond even

Hells in disgust, banishing the elder evil to the Material Plane. The horn was driven deep into the earth where it fell, entombing Zargon below. Eventually a civilization arose above Zargon’s

Half-Elf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

, wandering the wilds as trappers, foresters, hunters, or adventurers and visiting civilization only rarely. Like elves, they are driven by the wanderlust that comes of their longevity. Others, in

. EXCELLENT AMBASSADORS Many half-elves learn at an early age to get along with everyone, defusing hostility and finding common ground. As a race, they have elven grace without elven aloofness and

Deck of Several Things

Magic Items Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

adventure. The Fates. Reality’s fabric unravels and spins anew, allowing you to avoid or erase one event as if it never happened. You can use the card’s magic as soon as you draw the card

common or uncommon magic weapon with which you are proficient, or a spell scroll featuring a spell of a level you can cast, appears in your hands. The DM chooses the weapon or spell, which you

Spellcasting

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

Spellcasting You have learned to untangle and reshape the fabric of reality in harmony with your wishes and music. Your spells are part of your vast repertoire, magic that you can tune to different

situations. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 for the bard spell list. Cantrips You know two cantrips of your choice from the bard spell list. You learn additional

Selesnya Initiate

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

Sylvan Equipment: A Selesnya insignia, a healer’s kit, robes, a set of common clothes, and a belt pouch containing 5 gp (Azorius 1-zino coins) Feature: Conclave’s Shelter As a

always straining to peer into another reality that seems to be just beyond my senses. 5 I’m uneasy if I can’t see plants growing or feel soil beneath my feet. 6 Seeing illness

Spellcasting

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

Spellcasting You have learned to untangle and reshape the fabric of reality in harmony with your wishes and music. Your spells are part of your vast repertoire, magic that you can tune to different

situations. See chapter 10 for the general rules of spellcasting and chapter 11 for the bard spell list. Cantrips You know two cantrips of your choice from the bard spell list. You learn additional

Urchin - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

in, a pet mouse, a token to remember your parents by, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp FEATURE: CITY SECRETS You know the secret patterns and flow to cities and

of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better life &mdash

Dwarf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

picks and hammers in deep mines and blazing forges, a commitment to clan and tradition, and a burning hatred of goblins and orcs—these common threads unite all dwarves. Short and Stout Bold

common shades are light brown or deep tan, like certain tones of earth. Their hair, worn long but in simple styles, is usually black, gray, or brown, though paler dwarves often have red hair. Male

Shifter Legacy

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

personality: a feline shifter may be cool and distant, driven by predatory instincts, while a shifter with a lupine spirit might be drawn to find and protect a pack. When a shifter fully embraces this beast

within they physically transform for a short time. A shifter’s beast within is reflected by the shifter’s subrace. Four subraces are especially common: Beasthide often signifies the

Anthropologist

Backgrounds Tomb of Annihilation

survive—or why they did not. Some anthropologists are driven by intellectual curiosity, while others want the fame and recognition that comes with being the first to discover a new people, a

culture—even one in need of aid. (Lawful) 3 Knowledge. By understanding other races and cultures, we learn to understand ourselves. (Any) 4 Power. Common people crave strong

Cults of the Dragon Below

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

. Drive all doubt from your heart and you will see reality through new eyes. The Cults of the Dragon Below are wildly diverse. The tenets above describe the beliefs of three different cults, and the

image of the holy symbol is one common example—a piece of volcanic glass—not something shared by all cults. There are warlocks who draw power from demon overlords and daelkyr cultists who serve mind

Cosmic Horror

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

emerges through imagination and the indescribable, not details. At its best, cosmic horror makes characters feel gradually unmoored from their familiar reality. Cosmic horror is about ineffable forces

driven by motivations humans can’t understand. Cults, forbidden books, and strange symbols form the cornerstones of cosmic horror. The genre has a history of framing marginalized demographics as monstrous and stigmatizing mental illness. Be aware and avoid those tropes.

Dragonmarked Characters

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

Dragonmarked Characters Here are examples of characters who carry the Mark of Scribing. House Agent Bard. The Draconic Prophecy is one of the greatest mysteries of all. You’re an observer tasked to

, spellbooks, and ancient lore. Hermit Warlock (Great Old One). The Mark of Making allows you to read the code of reality itself, to understand voices no one else can hear. You have no interest in the business

Path of Light

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

are the tool you will use to change reality. Practiced by many kalashtar, the Path of Light seeks to change reality by first bringing change within, using meditation to focus the mind and athletic

light. Violence is never the answer, and the only way to defeat evil is to redeem it. Lightbringers seek to inspire those who live in fear and enlighten those whose evil is driven by ignorance. The

History

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

first iteration of physical reality, which was subsequently sundered into the innumerable realities that now make up the Material Plane. The first inhabitant of this First World was Sardior, a ruby

is worshiped as a god, with clerics at her disposal. Mortals who covet wealth and power pledge their lives to the dragon queen. Tiamat can send a fragment of her power to the Material Plane, which manifests as a titanic, five-headed dragon driven by rampaging greed.

The Curious Tale of Wisteria Vale

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

Curious Tale of Wisteria Vale is the script of a play written in Common. It is split up into three acts, telling the story of a heroic bard before he becomes corrupted by evil. A wizard named Ryllia Liadon

bard named Arrant Quill until they could free him from the influence of an evil artifact. The book has been hidden in the Candlekeep archives for three years, but the Harpers have finally discovered a cure for Quill’s corruption, and the time has come to visit Wisteria Vale once more.

Instrument of Illusions

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

Instrument of Illusions Wondrous item, common (requires attunement) While you are playing this musical instrument, you can create harmless, illusory visual effects within a 5-foot-radius sphere

centered on the instrument. If you are a bard, the radius increases to 15 feet. Sample visual effects include luminous musical notes, a spectral dancer, butterflies, and gently falling snow. The magical

Genasi Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

, seeing them as accidents. Many feel nothing for their genasi children at all. Some genasi live as outcasts, driven into exile for their unsettling appearance and strange magic, or assuming leadership

bloodlines of those genasi have spread into other lands. Though far from common, air and fire genasi are more likely to be found in the western regions of Faerûn, along the coast from Calimshan north

Triton Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

the depths revealed that krakens, sahuagin, and far worse foes had fled the Plane of Water for the Material Plane. The tritons, driven by a sense of duty and responsibility, would not allow their foes

readily sacrifice themselves for the common good. They will fight and die for humans, merfolk, and other creatures without question. Their self-absorbed nature makes them overlook the history of other

Psychological Horror

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

between what characters think and how they behave. When creating adventures rooted in psychological horror, consider common fears and anxieties. These readily become metaphors for villains and monsters

. Uncertainty, paranoia, and blurred lines between reality and fiction also shape psychological horror stories. In your adventures, this might take the form of unreliable information. Characters might experience

Silverquill Scholars

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

demoralize. Silverquill Students Stylish and driven, the students of Silverquill College—first as apprentices and then as pledgemages—cut imposing figures on campus. Dressed in smartly trimmed black-and

Apprentice Silverquill Apprentice Medium or Small Humanoid (Bard), Any Alignment Armor Class 12 (15 with mage armor) Hit Points 44 (8d8 + 8) Speed 30 ft. STR 10 (+0) DEX 14 (+2

The Harpers

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

. Even though most bards in the region aren’t Harpers (and many who are don’t advertise that fact), common folk in the North often behave as if all bards are legendary wandering heroes, and are as

likely to ask a bard for the solution to a problem troubling their community as they are a wandering fighter or wizard. This reputation cuts both ways, however, as some enemies of the Harpers suspiciously assume any humble minstrel might secretly be a Harper agent.

Learning from Experience

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

Learning from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires

, decipher old tomes, travel to strange places, or encounter exotic creatures. Bards love to accompany heroes to witness their deeds firsthand. A bard who can tell an awe-inspiring story from personal

D&D Beyond

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