before battle diffusing combatants race

Sahuagin Priestess Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

the sahuagin hunting horn — a call to raid and battle. Coastal settlers refer to sahuagin as “sea devils,” for sahuagin have no compassion in them, slaughtering the crews of ships and decimating coastal

villages. Devils of the Deep. Sahuagin are a predatory, piscine race that ventures from the ocean's black depths to hunt the creatures of the shallows and shore. Though they dwell in the deepest

Sahuagin Baron Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

it. This is the sound of the sahuagin hunting horn — a call to raid and battle. Coastal settlers refer to sahuagin as “sea devils,” for sahuagin have no compassion in them

, slaughtering the crews of ships and decimating coastal villages. Devils of the Deep. Sahuagin are a predatory, piscine race that ventures from the ocean’s black depths to hunt the creatures of the

Fensir Skirmisher

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

Hound Archon

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

subdue foes. However, against Fiends, archons are wrathful combatants, manifesting the righteous vengeance of Mount Celestia to strike down the wicked. Each archon’s form corresponds to its place

within the Celestial hierarchy. When faced in battle, archons radiate the full fury of the Upper Planes, bolstering their allies and cowing their foes.LightningChange Shape. The archon magically

Fensir Devourer

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

Armanite

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

", "rollAction":"Lightning Lance", "rollDamageType":"lightning"} lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.Great herds of armanites race across the blasted fields of

the Abyss, bent on slaughter and death, driven by unrestrained bloodlust. Whether they’re controlled by more powerful demons or charging into battle for the sake of it, armanites use their

Duergar Soulblade

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

invisible with it.Soulblades are duergar combatants whose mastery of psionics allows them to manifest blades of psychic energy to slice apart their foes. Duergar Duergar are dwarves of the deep

Underdark, duergar must constantly be on guard against the raids and plots of their neighbors. To this end, duergar warriors fulfill a variety of combat roles, often marrying their fury in battle with

Lantern Archon

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

to subdue foes. However, against Fiends, archons are wrathful combatants, manifesting the righteous vengeance of Mount Celestia to strike down the wicked. Each archon’s form corresponds to its

place within the Celestial hierarchy. When faced in battle, archons radiate the full fury of the Upper Planes, bolstering their allies and cowing their foes.Lightning, RadiantBludgeoning, Piercing

Warden Archon

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

, archons are wrathful combatants, manifesting the righteous vengeance of Mount Celestia to strike down the wicked. Each archon’s form corresponds to its place within the Celestial hierarchy

. When faced in battle, archons radiate the full fury of the Upper Planes, bolstering their allies and cowing their foes.Lightning

Bugbear Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

. Shiftless, Savage Layabouts When they’re not in battle, bugbears spend much of their time resting or dozing. They don’t engage in crafting or agriculture to any great extent, or

. Gang Mentality Since bugbears aren’t a particularly fecund race, their overall population is small and spread over a wide area. Bugbears live in family groups that operate much like gangs. The

Minotaur

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

carve their horns to sharpen their edges, etch symbols of power into them, or sheathe them in bronze to prevent them from shattering during battle. Thick hair extends down minotaurs’ necks and

choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases

Hobgoblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

; entire society forever stands prepared for war. Brutal Civility Hobgoblins hold themselves to high standards of military honor. The race has a long history of shared traditions, recorded and retold

gods unique to their race, the only survivors of a pantheon that was decimated by Maglubiyet so long ago that hobgoblins don’t remember the names of the fallen. Nomog-Geaya is the greater of the

Deck of Many Things Legacy

Magic Items Basic Rules (2014)

30 feet of you. The fighter is of the same race as you and serves you loyally until death, believing the fates have drawn him or her to you. You control this character. Moon. You are granted the

you, warning all others that you must win the battle alone. The avatar fights until you die or it drops to 0 hit points, whereupon it disappears. If anyone tries to help you, the helper summons its

Dwarf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

industrious labor, skill in battle, and devotion to the forge. Individual dwarves are determined and loyal, true to their word and decisive in action, sometimes to the point of stubbornness. Many dwarves

field of battle centuries ago. SLOW TO TRUST Dwarves get along passably well with most other races. “The difference between an acquaintance and a friend is about a hundred years,” is

Running the Battle

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

Running the Battle This quest is an epic battle involving hundreds of rival combatants. Use the following rules to resolve the conflict.

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

the plane of Acheron. It is there in the afterlife where the chosen ones will join Gruumsh and his armies in their endless extraplanar battle for supremacy. Gods of the Orcs Orcs believe their gods

gather and celebrate, dwell the followers of Yurtrus, the god of disease and death, and Shargaas, the god of darkness and the unknown. Orcs too weak for battle (because of bodily weakness, malformation

Archons

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Morte’s Planar Parade

wrathful combatants, manifesting the righteous vengeance of Mount Celestia to strike down the wicked. Each archon’s form corresponds to its place within the Celestial hierarchy. When faced in battle, archons radiate the full fury of the Upper Planes, bolstering their allies and cowing their foes.

Goblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

appreciation for the finer things! — Volo Goblins occupy an uneasy place in a dangerous world, and they react by lashing out at any creatures they believe they can bully. Cunning in battle and

. Beast Masters and Slave Drivers Goblins know they are a weak, unsophisticated race that can be easily dominated by bigger, smarter, more organized, more ferocious, or more magical creatures. Their god

A Rotten Way to Die

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

the area shows up, looking for dinner. If the adventurers slaughtered the lizardfolk combatants without trying to parley, they have no assistance in fighting the rot troll. If the battle is still

going on, all the remaining lizardfolk combatants immediately turn their attention to the troll. This new situation might be the impetus for a peaceful resolution to hostilities between the lizardfolk

Carapace Ridge

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

spyder-fiend combatants of the battle linger near the characters: a quavilithku spyder-fiend and three kakkuu spyder-fiends (stat blocks for both appear in appendix A). They’re busily hollowing out the

ichor oozing from holes in its carapace. A war between thousands of demonic combatants rages throughout the ridge. The forces organized around the tower include driders and monstrous spiders, which

Chapter 10 Summary

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

demonic forces of Kas, who is attempting to free Miska the Wolf-Spider from his prison in the nearby Ruinous Citadel, and the demon-god Lolth, who is allied with Vecna. The characters can manipulate the battle, or they can race straight to Kas, who eventually reveals the location of Vecna’s ritual.

Chapter 10 Summary In chapter 10, the characters follow Kas through Pandemonium toward the Ruinous Sea, an ocean of swirling, impassable, chaotic magic. On the coast, a battle rages between the

The Order of Combat

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

encounter rolls initiative, determining the order of combatants' turns. 4. Take turns. Each participant in the battle takes a turn in initiative order. 5. Begin the next round. When everyone involved in the combat has had a turn, the round ends. Repeat step 4 until the fighting stops.

cycle of rounds and turns. A round represents about 6 seconds in the game world. During a round, each participant in a battle takes a turn. The order of turns is determined at the beginning of a combat

The Order of Combat

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

encounter rolls initiative, determining the order of combatants’ turns. Take turns. Each participant in the battle takes a turn in initiative order. Begin the next round. When everyone involved in the combat has had a turn, the round ends. Repeat step 4 until the fighting stops.

cycle of rounds and turns. A round represents about 6 seconds in the game world. During a round, each participant in a battle takes a turn. The order of turns is determined at the beginning of a combat

Morale

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

Morale Some combatants might run away when a fight turns against them. You can use this optional rule to help determine when monsters and NPCs flee. A creature might flee under any of the following

circumstances: The creature is surprised. The creature is reduced to half its hit points or fewer for the first time in the battle. The creature has no way to harm the opposing side on its turn. A

Gith

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)

single race enslaved by the mind flayers. Although they attempted to overthrow their masters many times, their rebellions were repeatedly crushed until a great leader named Gith arose. After much

bloodshed, Gith and her followers threw off the yoke of their illithid masters, but another leader named Zerthimon emerged in the aftermath of battle. Zerthimon challenged Gith’s motives, claiming that her

Retreat!

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss

Retreat! If the adventurers retreat from the sounds of battle, they barely escape from a partial collapse of their local section of Araumycos’s cavern complex. They race ahead of a small horde of

The Great Dance

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

The Great Dance We measure ourselves by those we fight, and my company faces the greatest threat to the cosmos. — Veritus Wrath, commander, Flawless Execution The battle lines in the Blood War

unreliable. Despite the difficulty of escaping the Lower Planes, combatants on both sides find their way to the Material Plane and other realms from time to time. Although the conflicts on these

Tracking Position at Long Range

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

combatants on a piece of paper, and keep a running tally of each creature’s distance from the party’s starting point (the party starts at 0 feet). As the characters advance, increase their numbers; as

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

Instructor

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

Instructor Some fighters are natural-born combatants who have a talent for surviving in battle. Others learned the basics of their combat prowess in their formative years from spending time in a

Assigning Assets

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

Well of Dragons, and their voices carry tremendous weight. As such, make sure the players know they have a key role to play in planning the battle. The simplest approach is a one-to-one matchup, with

beneath the caldera. Certain matchups are obvious. The metallic dragons are instinctive foes of the chromatic dragons, and those two forces can be expected to keep each other occupied during the battle

Battle of High Hill

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

Battle of High Hill The unexpected sound of metal clashing on armor rings across the field, silencing laughter and melodramatic boasts. A ribbon of red splashes over the grassy hill, followed by

shocked screams. Any pretense of a reenactment shatters—High Hill is the site of a true battle once more. Within moments, all around you, armed mercenaries attack unprepared villagers fighting for their

Factional Assets

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

battle. Skyreach will be assaulted by chromatic dragons the moment it appears above the Well of Dragons, drawing those powerful combatants away from defending the caldera. Arcane Brotherhood. Members

moment or prevent a crucial order from reaching its destination. Harper Agents. Intercepting intelligence during battle is a Harper specialty, and Harper agents can provide key information about cult

Kobold Legacy

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

Chapter 2: Character Races

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

Chapter 2: Character Races Heroes come in many shapes and sizes. This chapter presents character races that are some of the more distinctive race options in the D&D multiverse. They supplement the

consider the implications for their world before adding a new race. Your DM may say yes or no to you using a race or may modifiy it in some way. The following races are detailed in this chapter: Aasimar

Keeping Combat Moving

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

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