before battle diffusing counting risk

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep score, counting their deeds and tallying their accomplishments to compare to others. Goliaths love to win, but they see defeat as a prod to improve their

seek out a larger, more powerful wyrm to battle. Few goliath adventurers reach old age, as most die attempting to surpass their past accomplishments. Fair Play For goliaths, competition exists only

Cradle of the Fire Scion

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

lava. As the scion dreams of battle—perhaps a battle to rouse Annam from seclusion by uniting the giants or a war to conquer all in Surtur’s name—the volcano rumbles and spews molten

rage. If intruders disturb its resting place, the fire scion’s cradle rises as a bipedal juggernaut of molten rock. Sometimes miners risk their lives to find rich veins of ore in a scion&rsquo

Draegloth

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

faithful consider it worth the risk, as the resulting creature is gifted with innate magic and physical might. The draegloth usually serves its creator, lending its thirst for destruction to the creator

to strike at its rivals when the draegloth is fully grown. These plans use the draegloth in a significant role, because its abilities can turn the tide in a battle against a house that doesn’t

Red Abishai

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

abishais when it comes to leadership ability and raw power. Red abishais lead other devils into battle or take charge of troublesome cults to ensure that they continue to carry out Tiamat’s commands

Tiamat’s orders or Asmodeus’s. There is inherent risk in countermanding an order given by Tiamat, but interfering with Asmodeus’s plans invites certain destruction.Fire, PoisonCold; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered

Scion of Surtur

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

plume of smoke to rise, sometimes lit from below by fiery bursts of lava. As the scion dreams of battle—perhaps a battle to rouse Annam from seclusion by uniting the giants or a war to conquer

molten rock. Sometimes miners risk their lives to find rich veins of ore in a scion’s volcano, or misguided fire cultists offer sacrifices meant to appease or awaken the volcano, and the awakened

Choldrith

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

spiderlike creatures originally created to serve Lolth. They rule colonies of chitine;chitines and lead them into battle in Lolth’s war against her enemies. When devotees of Lolth created the first

supervisors. The choldriths continually jockey for position, although they rarely confront one another in a way that puts the colony at risk. The colony is ruled by a sovereign, who determines which colony

Deck of Many Things Legacy

Magic Items Basic Rules (2014)

, discard this card, and draw from the deck again, counting both draws as one of your declared draws. If losing that much XP would cause you to lose a level, you instead lose an amount that leaves you

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

Kobold Legacy

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

where the townsfolk would try to hunt down all kobolds and put the tribe’s survival at risk. Some aggressive individual kobolds and tribes do exist, but in general kobolds don’t purposely

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

Crook of Rao

Magic Items Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

wizard Tasha). Although she was defeated, Iggwilv managed to damage the crook during the battle, infecting it with an insidious curse—and the potential for future victory. In the aftermath, the

crook was again lost. Occasionally it reappears, but the famed artifact is not what it was. Whether or not the artifact’s bearers realize its full threat, few risk using the Crook of Rao&mdash

Deck of Several Things

Magic Items Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

, counting both draws as one of your declared draws. Gem. The 1,000 gp hoard of the leprechaun from the Wilderness Encounters table (see appendix A) appears at your feet. If that treasure has

tattered black robe. It appears in a space of the DM’s choice within 10 feet of you and attacks you, warning all others that you must win the battle alone. The avatar fights until you die or it

Driven Competitors

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

individual’s heroic effort can ensure the entire group’s survival. Goliaths thus place a premium on self-sufficiency and individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep score, counting their deeds and

competitors, but above all else they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a goliath slays a dragon, he or she might seek out a larger, more powerful wyrm to battle. Few goliath adventurers reach old age, as most die attempting to surpass their past accomplishments.

Companion Creatures

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Flee, Mortals! Rule Primer

to control in the heat of battle and just might bite the hand that feeds. Don’t fret too much, though! A companion gelatinous cube or owlbear is worth the risk of an occasional wild rampage.

23. Main Entrance

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

enemies to minimize the risk of giving them the “gift” of wererat lycanthropy. If the characters kill two of the wererats, the survivors retreat to area 25. Development Sounds of battle here alert every other wererat in the warrens. Thereafter, the wererats can’t be surprised.

Narrative Combat

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

Narrative Combat Instead of resolving the battle with miniatures, you’ll guide your players through a series of tough dilemmas, each leading to a different battlefield encounter. Their actions on the

field determine the overall success or failure of the battle. Use the Battle Flowchart provided nearby to guide your players through the conflict. Each box on the chart introduces a different mission

Battle for Blingdenstone

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

Battle for Blingdenstone Once the characters see how overwhelming the opposition is inside the Pudding Court, they have little choice but to retreat and report their findings to the Diggermattocks

defeat this threat if the settlement stands divided. That means counting the Goldwhisker wererats as allies and recognizing their right to rejoin the community. Give the characters a chance to ask

Chapter 1: Port Nyanzaru

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation

traders backed by the Ytepka Society (pronounced yeh-TEP-kah), or risk a bloody conflict that probably would have ended with the city winning its independence anyway. Seven Chultan traders have since

business that unfolds here and the cash that moves through its counting houses would make any merchant of Baldur’s Gate or Waterdeep jealous. It’s also a colorful, musical, aroma-filled, vibrant city in

Miniatures

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

having visual aids or physical props, the most common of which are miniatures and a battle grid. Miniatures are typically used in conjunction with model terrain, modular dungeon tiles, or maps drawn

while keeping the easy counting of a grid. Dungeon corridors with straight walls and right angles don’t map easily onto hexes, though. Creature Size and Space A creature’s size determines how much space

Blingdenstone Factions

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

lurking, any elemental brought to the battle runs the risk of being driven insane. Nomi and Gurnik agree that if the Steadfast Stone is cleansed and Ogrémoch’s Bane is banished, the Stoneheart Enclave

Blingdenstone Factions The following sections describe what each deep gnome faction has to offer in the Battle of Blingdenstone. The Diggermattocks If the characters don’t suggest it, the deep gnome

Removing the Rod

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

infighting to determine who among them will lead. The spyder-fiend battle lines falter. The characters don’t encounter any more raklupises in Pandesmos—the raklupises are too busy jockeying for power to risk

Mogis

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

. Akroan soldiers are warned that to give in to his seductive battle rage is to risk becoming an androphage—a bloodthirsty killer wholly consumed by Mogis’s fury. Mogis cuts a terrifying figure

Survival of the Fittest

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

themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A goliath would much rather die in battle, at the peak of strength and skill, than endure the slow decay of old age. Few folk

have ever meet an elderly goliath, and even those goliaths who have left their people grapple with the urge to give up their lives as their physical skills decay. Because of their risk-taking, goliath

Facing Manshoon

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Facing Manshoon A head-on battle with Manshoon isn’t likely to go well for the characters. That said, the wizard’s greatest weakness is that he has powerful enemies in Waterdeep. The risk of exposure

By Land

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh

when the mist inhibits visibility. As long as the characters move at this rate, the route is easily followed — there is no risk of straying in a wrong direction. From the ford, the characters can see in

Transients. The bullywugs are a roving band but they have set up a defensive camp here because they have happened upon a considerable treasure. Rather than risk traveling through the swamp with their

Recent Events in Phandalin

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated

commotion of a battle. No one was really keen to investigate, wanting to avoid any trouble that the Fellowship of the Golden Mongoose had brought on themselves. (Adventurers, right?) But after a few days

bloodstains. He failed to discover the single franchisee left alive in the manor, who was unconscious at the time. The townsfolk have given the ruins a wide berth since then, not wanting to risk

Battle Prawn Challenge

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel

Battle Prawn Challenge Jagged Koi Prawns are just one unexpected danger of the games at the Dyn Singh Night market Sid Squid’s Trusty Leek sponsors Battle Prawns: The Shrimpening. Sid’s shrimp cakes

invite visitors to participate in Battle Prawns. If characters ask, Sid explains the challenge is simple: assist in making a gigantic shrimp cake in record time. Participants must rapidly prepare prawn

Fighter

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated

you’ll take that risk. If you had to choose between entering a battle without your favorite combat gear or without the party’s bard, Singy McLuteface can sit this one out. You and your equipment have

code, a faith, or an ideal. But a true pragmatist fights only for coin, understanding that battle is a means to an end and not an end in itself. A fighter in an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign

Bards

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

that fire the blood of warriors in battle, and composers of the new songs and sagas relating the mighty deeds of heroes and villains. However, spellcasting is taboo among Reghed and Norhtlanders unless

it is considered a gift of their gods. Characters with the bard class who rise to prominence among these folk must align themselves with their clan’s priests and shamans or risk being outcast. Most

12. Drow Battle

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

12. Drow Battle Characters who approach this 50-foot-high cavern for the first time hear the sounds of battle ahead. Demons. In the narrower section between the north and south halves of the cavern

cavern is the site of a heated battle between House Freth (to the north) and House Auvryndar (to the south). House Freth’s forces are nine male drow led by a male drow mage named Spirreth Dalambra. The

Setup

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse

wagons to hunt down attackers, and they assist the characters in battle only if doing so offers minimal risk to what the thugs consider to be their primary duties. If characters decry this behavior

17. Sauna

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation

combat, and he values his bodyguards too much to risk their lives in a pointless battle. Unless the characters provoke a fight, he tries to find out more about them and learn any secrets they might

Orogs

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

view, is to take a risk that the orog won’t one day rise up and usurp power from the chief. Because of this sentiment, orogs are secreted away by priestesses of Luthic and raised out of the sight of the

by the schism. At the other extreme, an orog might accept a role in battle or leadership under special circumstances. If a tribe finds itself up against formidable or unexpected resistance, the

Idyllglen Events

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

disappear when they reach the edge of the map. Garoknul stops its chase to battle the characters. If reduced to 50 hit points or fewer, Garoknul uses its next action to teleport away. Next Event. When

battling demons in the fields when they suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to consume humanoid flesh. These guards are eager to return to the battle in the fields, disappearing as they pass through the

Initiative Variants

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

remembering where you are in the list can bog the game down. If you want quicker combats, at the risk of those combats becoming unbalanced, try using the side initiative rule. Under this variant, the

completed their turns. If more than two sides take part in a battle, each side rolls for initiative. Sides act from the highest roll to lowest. Combat continues in the initiative order until the battle

Curst

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands

mistakes or counting down the days until they can exact vengeance on those who wronged them. Cracked, dried-up soil pervades the town and its rusted structures, rising as clouds of dust with every

. However, those who commit crimes within Curst risk a fate called Second Exile, in which the offender is bound and thrown into the gate, never to return. Second Exile is typically reserved for gruesome

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