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Returning 35 results for 'before battle diffusing changing relatively'.
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
skirmishers boast great skill in battle, honed over centuries of endless conflict on the battlefields of Ysgard. They also wield elemental magic of earth and stone. True to their giant heritage, they
Ysgard: creatures slain on that plane return to life the next dawn. Thus, the giants’ incursion became a part of the eternal battle that rages across the plane. The trolls, whose fundamental
Monsters
Quests from the Infinite Staircase
wielding a melee weapon.Warriors are the foot soldiers of the faction. They thank Madarua for each battle they see and train daily with spears to follow her to victory.
Warriors of Madarua
Members
the inside of their left wrist.
Warriors of Madarua recognize and respect the ever-changing complexity of life. In combat, they strive to be as fierce and unpredictable as nature itself.
Monsters
Quests from the Infinite Staircase
see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.Champions of Madarua represent the most skilled warriors in the faction. Hardened by battle, they lead the charge into the fray and inspire their
, death, and the seasons. Each member bears a small tattoo of a sickle on the inside of their left wrist.
Warriors of Madarua recognize and respect the ever-changing complexity of life. In combat
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
Ysgard: creatures slain on that plane return to life the next dawn. Thus, the giants’ incursion became a part of the eternal battle that rages across the plane. The trolls, whose fundamental
appearance. They retain prominent noses and a hint of green in their skin but otherwise resemble relatively small frost or stone giants. They use armor and weapons similar to what other combatants on Ysgard
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
behind the life of a soldier for hire, but your skills are undeniably suited for battle, so now you fight on in a different way.
MERCENARIES OF THE NORTH
Countless mercenary companies
called the Chill. Unlike most of their kind, the Chill refrains from raiding the people of the North and maintains relatively good relations so that they can hire themselves out as warriors. Few city
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 22):
At will: alter self (can become Medium when changing his appearance), animate dead, detect magic, hold monster
lord of Cania, but he has never wavered in his support for his master—suggesting, perhaps, that Mephistopheles has some hold over him.
Outside the Nine Hells, Hutijin is a relatively obscure
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
: alter self (can become Medium when changing his appearance), detect magic, ice storm, invisibility (self only), locate object, suggestion, wall of ice
1/day: banishment
Teleport. Geryon magically
opportunity to replace his hated rival.
Among the archdevils, Geryon is known for his martial prowess. He is a ferocious hunter and a relentless tracker. He often joins his troops in battle; he loves
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
: alter self (can become Medium when changing his appearance), detect magic, ice storm, invisibility (self only), locate object, suggestion, wall of ice
1/day: banishment
Teleport. Geryon magically
use this opportunity to replace his hated rival.
Among the archdevils, Geryon is known for his martial prowess. He is a ferocious hunter and a relentless tracker. He often joins his troops in battle
Human
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Basic Rules (2014)
build cities to last for the ages, and great kingdoms that can persist for long centuries. An individual human might have a relatively short life span, but a human nation or culture preserves
, striving to leave a lasting legacy. Individually and as a group, humans are adaptable opportunists, and they stay alert to changing political and social dynamics.
EVERYONE’S SECOND-BEST FRIENDS
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
seeks adventurers to lead into battle against the mind flayer;mind flayers that usurped the dragon’s lair.
4
Powerful infernal creatures have opened a portal in the middle of a city square
their army in battle centuries ago.
3
An ancient sapphire dragon guards the phylactery of a lich who helped the dragon establish a lair centuries before becoming Undead.
4
Lolth the Spider
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
Loose Threads The conclusion of Out of the Abyss can be relatively quick and straightforward if Vizeran’s scheme is successful and the heroes are victorious. The survivors of the battle against the
demon lords can make their way out of the Underdark to report to a grateful alliance of surface-world factions that the threat is ended. Major loose threads left hanging at the end of the final battle include the following.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
settled. When they settle, though, they stay: they build cities to last for the ages, and great kingdoms that can persist for long centuries. An individual human might have a relatively short life span
also plan for the future, striving to leave a lasting legacy. Individually and as a group, humans are adaptable opportunists, and they stay alert to changing political and social dynamics.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
settled. When they settle, though, they stay: they build cities to last for the ages, and great kingdoms that can persist for long centuries. An individual human might have a relatively short life span
also plan for the future, striving to leave a lasting legacy. Individually and as a group, humans are adaptable opportunists, and they stay alert to changing political and social dynamics.
Kobold
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
populated areas, practice cannibalism, believing it is foolish to waste good meat.
In any case, kobolds that eat humanoids don’t simply start consuming corpses or prisoners right after a battle
gnomes and other humanoids, the kobolds instinctively attack the gnomes. Kobolds in battle with gnomes are much less likely to run away because their hatred overrules their sense of self-preservation
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
Fleeing with the Heart If the characters had a relatively easy time getting their hands on Jhaeros’s heart, use the following encounter to complicate their escape. Two ashen knights mounted on ashen
warhorses (see the “Ashen Creatures” sidebar) catch up to the characters as they make their way through the dead city of Ghalasine toward their rendezvous with Naevys. While the characters battle the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat
— one that not only exceeds what the cult is paying but covers the damage to reputation that comes from changing sides in the middle of battle. A good starting offer is 10,000 gp, or 2,000 gp per
She shall return!” As with the first assault on the adventurers, try to ensure that if the attackers are defeated, at least one escapes to report the outcome of the battle. Most easily, the dragon can
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
—one that not only exceeds what the cult is paying but covers the damage to reputation that comes from changing sides in the middle of battle. A good starting offer is 10,000 gp, or 2,000 gp per
She shall return!” As with the first assault on the adventurers, try to ensure that if the attackers are defeated, at least one escapes to report the outcome of the battle. Most easily, the dragon can
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
poorly to changing circumstances. They can’t read, speak, emote, or communicate in any way except to nod, shake their heads, or point. Still, skeletons are able to accomplish a variety of relatively
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Lords and Their Thralls While the demons fight for domination among their own kind in the Abyss, the Material Plane is the most fertile ground for demons to acquire followers. Even a relatively weak
advantage of that same reverence, a demon might send its cultists into battle to soften up an enemy before the demon enters the fray itself. Many cultists gravitate to a demon lord out of a desire for
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
the monsters advance toward the characters, decrease their numbers. Adjust the Grid Scale. If you’re using a battle grid, take a section of that grid and use it to track position, changing the scale so
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin
the demon-god. In a battle against the characters, these fanatics always fight to the death. Ceilings The ceilings in most areas of Web’s Edge are 20 feet high, with stalactites occasionally jutting
down a few feet. The ceilings in the fodder chamber (area W9) and Sacred Web Hall (area W12) are 50 feet tall and relatively smooth. Doors The doors in Web’s Edge are made of iron. The doors to areas W3
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
. Warding the castle entrance are thick, battle-hardened wooden doors. Four cylindrical guard towers have wind-worn flags bearing the town’s heraldry fluttering above their tiled, conical roofs. These
castle is lit by torches regardless of the time of day. Doors inside the castle aren’t locked unless the text states otherwise. Castle Defenders The castle’s relatively small size makes it possible
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
Battle Balloon Through the winter clouds that surround the castle on this desolate hill, you see a shape emerge. Something so gigantic, you can’t believe it can actually fly. Airships are relatively
battle balloon a much-coveted upgrade for any franchise. Origins and Operations. Professional secrecy and aggressive marketing make it unclear where the airship originated. Some say battle balloons were
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
, the Talons are terrifying. Their numbers are relatively few, but they’re organized enough to oppress Lekar’s ragged survivors and enforce Drakov’s totalitarian laws. In the face of zombie hordes
, though, they’re fighting a losing battle against foes whose numbers only grow. And every time a Talon falls, Lekar’s final defeat grows closer. Talon soldiers use the guard stat block, while commanders
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
ancient pact to advise a monarchy on matters of defense—until someone bests the dragon’s security measures.
3
A sapphire dragon seeks adventurers to lead into battle against the mind
by way of two sections of relatively thin crystal walls. The dragon can use a lair action to open or close passages through these walls throughout the lair.
Cobweb-Choked Tunnels. Adventurers who
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis
Gargenhale’s Fleet Whether the characters head for Gargenhale’s fleet or immediately set sail for Doomspace, their course takes them toward the wreckage of a recent battle: Dead ahead, you see a
battle clamber onto the deck and ask to speak to the captain. They say they’re looking for a new commission and are eager to serve. Krux won’t have them under his command, however, and orders that
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
lose the faith of their followers, the source of their magic and a power they will not relinquish. Nyx can be perceived in the night sky, with its ever-changing brilliance marked by constellations and
home. Tovian Fields Nyxborn legends battle here in ceaseless, glorious war. Unlike any mortal environment, the Tovian Fields are an expanse of energies, the clash of opposing philosophies manifesting
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
maintains relatively good relations so that they can hire themselves out as warriors. Few city-states in the North are willing to field an army alongside the Chill, but several are happy to quietly pay
the Chill to battle the Uthgardt, orcs, trolls of the Evermoors, and other threats to civilization.
Silent Rain. Consisting solely of elves, Silent Rain is a legendary mercenary company operating
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
Find a long-lost artifact that bestows oracular visions upon the user.
5 Defeat the champion of another god in a battle of wits (perhaps Phenax, Mogis, or Klothys).
6 Find and restore a
prophecies, potentially drawing in secrets of the other gods or of reality itself. It is relatively easy for a mortal to lose Keranos’s favor because the god is quick to anger and doesn’t suffer failure
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer Academy
. Boatswain Tarto (Spelljammer Corps Training Officer)
Hadozee Seasoned Boatswain
The scars that Boatswain Tarto (pronounced BOE-sun TAR-toe) bears are testament to her status as a battle-hardened
they hail. Although relatively inexperienced in comparison to some of the other instructors at the academy, Saerthe is an experienced spelljammer. Their eyes shimmer like pools of quicksilver, allowing
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
elementals gather clouds and winds into ever-changing bodies with indistinct limbs and vague features. Beyond their home plane, these elementals might serve magic-users who conjure them, or they might
congregate around nexuses of unbridled planar energy, such as wind-scoured mountain peaks or endless storms. In battle, air elementals batter enemies with powerful gusts or transform into whirlwinds to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer
Age of Demons The Age of Demons is shrouded in myth, and explorers rarely find ruins from that ancient era. But a few sites remain, particularly in the Demon Wastes and Q’barra, kept relatively
no sound striking against each other 11 A metal scepter topped with a monstrous head much denser than the rest of the scepter, which makes it unbalanced 12 A medallion or sculpture depicting a Fiend locked in battle with a Celestial or Dragon
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
Diancastra’s Saga Battle-worn and weary, bruised from her journey,
Diancastra entered the All-Father’s hall.
With calm confidence she claimed her due
Under the birthright of her blood:
Her
storms of chaos
And claimed a mote of matter,
Shapeless, unformed, and ever-changing.
The All-Father mocked her and easily shaped it,
Making a fertile field.
But soon he scowled, not
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
. See “Fight or Flight” later in this chapter for more suggestions. Add a Combatant To add excitement to a battle, consider adding a combatant. Maybe a monstrous predator wanders onto the scene where the
characters are locked in battle with another foe. Or maybe the noise of the ongoing combat attracts the attention of nearby dungeon denizens. The new combatant might attack both the characters and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis
meet in battle, the Xaryxia singles out the characters’ ship while the rest of the armada engages the other ships in the characters’ fleet. The Xaryxia and the characters’ ship are 1,000 feet apart at
characters’ ship and the Xaryxia. In between actions, you can narrate glimpses of what’s going on in the larger battle—for example, stray ballista bolts whizzing past the characters’ ship or an aartuk