before beauty diffusing cunning reason

Darkling Legacy

Monsters Volo's Guide to Monsters

, and doing so wizens the creature, much like the effect of rapid aging. For this reason, darklings cover every part of their body with clothing when exposure to light is a risk. The light a darkling

for the beauty of art. A darkling might risk taking a peek at a sunset or lighting a tiny candle to glimpse the colors in a painting or a jewel. Elder Transformation. A wise and respected darkling can

Darkling Elder Legacy

Monsters Volo's Guide to Monsters

. The Killing Light. The Summer Queen's curse causes a darkling's body to absorb light, and doing so wizens the creature, much like the effect of rapid aging. For this reason, darklings cover every

much of its possessions. Love of Art. Despite their curse, darklings retain a fondness for the beauty of art. A darkling might risk taking a peek at a sunset or lighting a tiny candle to glimpse

Drow Favored Consort

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

, including the powerful drow matron mother, takes an attractive drow as consort. Chosen as much for beauty as for magical might, a drow favored consort can hold their own in both conversation and combat

claim the throne themselves. Those favored consorts who prove their cunning gain the ear, and perhaps even the heart, of their priestess and are relied on to provide useful advice. No position of

Half-Orc Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

orc comrades didn’t last long among the Bloody Skulls or any other orc tribe for that matter. But it was often true that a bit of human blood gave a warrior just the right mix of cunning

shared elements among these folk. Orcs regard battle scars as tokens of pride and ornamental scars as things of beauty. Other scars, though, mark an orc or half-orc as a former prisoner or a disgraced

Zhentarim Mercenary

backgrounds Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn

you’re just good at getting the job done by any means necessary. Whatever your reason, you enlisted with the Zhentarim, the most notorious mercenary guild in the Realms. Though the Zhentarim&rsquo

;s leaders insist the organization is more like a family than a shadowy syndicate, few families exhibit as much dishonesty, nepotism, and corruption as this one. You’ve honed your cunning, reflexes, and blade to climb the guild’s ranks.

Far Traveler

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

provided. The following section, discussing possible homelands, includes some suggested reasons that are appropriate for each location. d6 Reason d6 Reason 1 Emissary 4 Pilgrim

hundreds of miles of the Great Glacier and the Great Ice Sea. No one from your nation makes the effort to cross such colossal barriers without a convincing reason. You must fear something truly

Tortle Legacy

Species The Tortle Package

feeling homesick. Tortles embrace a simple view of the world. It is a place of wonder, and tortles see beauty in the ordinary. They live for the chance to hear a soft wind blowing through palm trees, to

prefer simple, non-gender-specific names that are usually no more than two syllables. If a tortle doesn’t like its name for whatever reason, it can change it. A tortle might change its name a dozen

Duergar Warlord

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

can add the number rolled to the d20 by taking 3 (1d6);{"diceNotation":"1d6", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Scouring Instruction", "rollDamageType":"psychic"} psychic damage.A warlord is cunning

infused with powerful psionic abilities but also a profound gloom. In some, this strain of sorrow inspires works of grand but melancholic beauty, while in others, it manifests as rage. Like many who

Auril (Third Form)

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

;Divine Rank” sidebar in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.) Auril’s beloved ice grasps all things in her clutches, preserving them against the ravages of time. She hoards beauty in

time). Thus, she has no reason to capitulate to mortals’ demands. As the embodiment of winter’s cruelty, she is incapable of showing mercy or compassion. Play her as a supremely cold and

Auril (First Form)

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

clutches, preserving them against the ravages of time. She hoards beauty in all forms, from art objects and flowers to skilled artisans and their wondrous works, freezing them in magical ice for her

can’t truly die (although the characters can rid the world of her for a time). Thus, she has no reason to capitulate to mortals’ demands. As the embodiment of winter’s cruelty, she is

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

beauty have little meaning for them. A sharp sword serves a useful and good purpose, while a dull sword is a dead weight without a whetstone. Lizardfolk see little need to plan more than a season or so

quirk for a lizardfolk character or to inspire a unique mannerism. Lizardfolk Quirks d8 Quirk 1 You hate waste and see no reason not to scavenge fallen enemies. Fingers are tasty and

Auril (Second Form)

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

;s Guide.) Auril’s beloved ice grasps all things in her clutches, preserving them against the ravages of time. She hoards beauty in all forms, from art objects and flowers to skilled

might prove helpful: So long as she has mortal worshipers, Auril can’t truly die (although the characters can rid the world of her for a time). Thus, she has no reason to capitulate to mortals

Auril's Everlasting Rime

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

nightly quest to hold the sun at bay stems from a need to preserve the beauty of things by freezing them. There is no way to reason with a being so bereft of compassion as Auril, but in her weakened

Temple of the Restful Lily

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

The Price of Beauty, Sylvarie Silversong, after visions bestowed by Sune led her to a hot spring infused with fey magic. Ten years ago, a coven of green hags calling themselves the Fetid Gaze tricked

Sylvarie into a bargain that allowed them to take over the bathhouse. These cruel and cunning fey now use the temple to lure wealthy, greedy, and vain nobles and adventurers, preying on their

Adventure Background

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault

speculated to maintain covert ties with occult or nefarious organizations. Serious academics often write off the Cognoscenti Esoterica as charlatans or pranksters, and with good reason: the

cultural significance, the aesthetics of masculine beauty, and its influence on society. They also planned to research the portrait’s magical properties (see the end of this adventure for a description

Suggested Characteristics

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

) 2 Reserved. As someone new to these strange lands, I am cautious and respectful in my dealings. (Lawful) 3 Adventure. I’m far from home, and everything is strange and wonderful! (Chaotic) 4 Cunning

fascinated by the beauty and wonder of this new land. 6 Though I had no choice, I lament having to leave my loved one(s) behind. I hope to see them again one day. Flaws d6 Flaw 1 I am secretly (or not

The Oases

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

. Har’Akir’s people say this oasis’s waters are poison, as the oasis was given by the gods to the beasts of the land. Prides of cunning lions hunt nearby, frequently washing their kills here. Sek’s Tears

to die soon, for one reason or another, and seek to cleanse themselves with the White Oasis’s waters before meeting their end.

Grasslands of Oreskos

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

Grasslands of Oreskos Unspoiled by roads or buildings, Oreskos is a land of striking natural beauty, where the plains and sky appear to go on forever. Craggy stone formations and ancient ruins dot

. At night, the movements of Nyx are striking, but images of the gods seem to keep their distance from this land where few pay them honor. Yet most non-leonin will never see this beauty. The leonin

Helmed Horror

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

Helmed Horror This construct possesses intelligence, the ability to reason and adjust its tactics, and an unswerving devotion to its maker that persists even after its maker’s demise. Resembling an

understand the difference between an order’s intent and its exact wording. Unlike many constructs, it seeks to fulfill the former rather than slavishly follow the latter. Tactical Cunning. A helmed horror

Roleplaying Strahd

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd

, especially if a person is clever or attractive. Men and women of beauty and cunning amuse Strahd for a time—playthings to possess or discard as he desires. If he senses a lack of cohesion in a party of

Loviatar

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

because it best emulates the Scourge Mistress, and for the same reason her faithful appreciate beauty, cultural refinement, and a certain adeptness at manipulation. Though temples to Loviatar are rare

Elysium

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

Elysium Elysium is home to creatures of unfettered kindness and a refuge for planar travelers seeking a safe haven. The plane’s bucolic landscapes glimmer with life and beauty. The River Oceanus

contentment seep into the bones and souls of those who enter Elysium. The longer a visitor remains on the plane, the less reason they find to ever leave. An adventure in Elysium can challenge

Orog

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

of food often brings them to the surface to hunt. Orcs respect an orog’s strength and cunning, and a lone orog might command an orc war band. Stronger and Smarter. An orog uses its strength to bully

foremost — because they believe that the gods have strength beyond reason, and physical might is all they respect. Servants of Darkness. Mistrusted by orcs, some orogs form independent mercenary war

Horrors

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

horrors — a variety of things that lurk in the dark and embody the deepest fears of Ravnica’s people. All are evil creatures with dim reason and preternatural cunning. At least three guilds have been

The Long View

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

humans to comprehend. An elf seldom becomes sentimentally attached to physical objects such as manufactured structures and furnishings, except those of personal significance, for the simple reason that

fascinated by any thing of beauty — an object, creature, scene, or event — that might be experienced only once, but which can be captured in an elf’s memory and revisited during trance for the rest of their

Drow Favored Consort

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monsters of the Multiverse

Drow Favored Consort Nearly every priestess of Lolth, including the powerful drow matron mother in this book, takes an attractive drow as consort. Chosen as much for beauty as for magical might, a

ambitious consorts aspire to be the power behind the throne—or even to claim the throne themselves. Those favored consorts who prove their cunning gain the ear, and perhaps even the heart, of their

Assassin

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual

assassins kill for a reason, perhaps hiring themselves out to wealthy patrons or slaying for an unscrupulous cause. They use poisons and other deadly tools, and they might carry equipment to help them

) Piercing damage plus 21 (6d6) Poison damage. Bonus Actions Cunning Action. The assassin takes the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. Awakened Plants Vegetation Given Magical Life Habitat: Forest

Gnomes of Zilargo

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

goals — of which there are many — often still prefers to use trickery and cunning rather than the unreliable tools of honesty or brute force. Most Zil gnomes belong to the forest gnome subrace. Their

Zilargo: why you have left, and what ties do you still have to it? Your scheme could provide a good reason for you to leave. Or you could be a sage gathering information for the Library of Korranberg or an

Meazel

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

war between the gods. She stripped them of their beauty, turning them into scabrous, birdlike monstrosities. The nagpas now plot as they ever did, but they now strive to bring about terrible, world

do so, they become cringing, fawning things, eager to please and thereby escape the cold gaze of the being who brought them so low. All of the original thirteen remain alive, thanks to their cunning

Setessa's Surroundings

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

the fortress when there is reason to suspect danger from the east. More than once, though, patrols have reached the fort only to find something else has taken up residence, whether it be rowdy satyrs

the road from Meletis known as the Guardian Way, the ruins of a round tower lie beside a rushing stream. This marks the greatest extent of ancient Setessa’s reach. A site of rich natural beauty, with

Evermeet

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

Evermeet What I tell you now is truth as pure as Garl’s nugget, and the only reason I’ve written it in a book for all to see is that no one else shall ever achieve the feat: I stowed away on a ship

perfect homeland for their people. (That was the problem there, of course. You’ll miss out on a wealth of beauty it you’re always looking for the perfect gem.) Not finding it in the world, some elves (sun

Harpy

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

outcast god, then taught that song of beauty and seduction to the elf. When her singing failed to draw Fenmarel Mestarine to her side, the elf cursed the gods, invoking a dreadful power and transforming

have no interest in a fair fight, and they never attack unless they have a clear advantage. If a fight turns against a harpy, it lacks the cunning to adapt and will flee and go hungry rather than risk

Nylea's Champions

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

devotion to my god is more important to me than what she stands for. (Any) 2 Nature. The beauty of the natural world fills me with serenity. (Neutral) 3 Freedom. I yearn to run wild

undead Your piety score to Nylea decreases if you diminish Nylea’s influence in the world, fail to defend nature, or offend her sensibilities through acts such as these: Killing an animal for any reason

I'Cath

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

I’Cath, Darklord Tsien Chiang rules a golden vision of the city—a place of ultimate beauty and efficiency where all things move according to her design. For her, it is near perfection. For her people

? Did you discover a secret way out of the city? Did a family member make a bargain with Tsien Chiang that gave you a chance at a better life? Did Tsien Chiang send you forth for a reason? Whom did

Darklings

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

darkling’s body to absorb light, and doing so wizens the creature, much like the effect of rapid aging. For this reason, darklings cover every part of their body with clothing when exposure to light is a

, darklings retain a fondness for the beauty of art. A darkling might risk taking a peek at a sunset or lighting a tiny candle to glimpse the colors in a painting or a jewel. Elder Transformation. A wise

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