before becoming defeat continue rather

Rogue

Classes Player’s Handbook

skills that help them in a dungeon environment, such as climbing, finding and disarming traps, and opening locks. In combat, Rogues prioritize subtle strikes over brute strength. They would rather make

to the law, no common criminal or officer of the law can match the subtle brilliance of the greatest Rogues. Becoming a Rogue... As a Level 1 Character Gain all the traits in the Core Rogue

Biha Babir

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

typically presents as a marid crowned in coral, with her lower half lengthening into a sinewy, eel-like tail. History Before becoming ruler of Maran Saya, Biha Babir worked as a spy. She has

a cunning mind. Biha Babir is politically savvy and prefers to outsmart her opponents rather than battle them, though she doesn’t shy from combat if necessary. Biha Babir covets opulence, but

Water Weird Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

. However, a water weird bound to a sacred or befouled source of water begins to take on the nature of that site, becoming neutral good or neutral evil. A neutral good water weird tries to frighten away

interlopers rather than kill them, while a neutral evil water weird kills its victims for pleasure and might turn against its summoner. A water weird loses its evil alignment if its waters are cleansed

Aerisi Kalinoth

Monsters Princes of the Apocalypse

Fey Ancestry. Aerisi has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put her to sleep. Howling Defeat. When Aerisi drops to 0 hit points, her body disappears in a howling

, without using components or a spell slot. She can’t cast the same spell two rounds in a row, although she can continue to concentrate on a spell she previously cast using a lair action. Aerisi can

Thessalar

Monsters Infernal Machine Rebuild

of life, resulting in such creatures as the thessalhydra and the owlbear. In recent years, he has also researched the prolonging of life—namely his own. Thessalar hopes that by becoming a lich

, his research and experiments can continue indefinitely. Over time, Thessalar has subjected himself to so many of his own experiments that his blood has taken on alchemical and magical properties. He regularly uses it as the basis for many of the reagents used throughout his labs.Acid, Poison

Marlos Urnrayle

Monsters Princes of the Apocalypse

Earthen Defeat. When Marlos drops to 0 hit points, his body transforms into mud and collapses into a pool. Anything he is wearing or carrying is left behind. Earth Passage. Marlos can move in

its next turn, becoming petrified on a failure or ending the effect on a success. The petrification lasts until the creature is freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic. Unless surprised

Leather Golem Armor

Magic Items Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

resistance to lightning damage. Whenever you take lightning damage, you gain 5 temporary hit points. Curse. This armor is cursed, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. Until

object, with preference for an object smaller than yourself. Once the armor causes you to go berserk, it cannot be removed. You continue to attack until you are incapacitated or until another creature is

Demilich (Variant) Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

souls of the insolent intruders to his tomb, magically transferring them to his phylactery. Liches who follow Acererak’s path believe that by becoming free of their bodies, they can continue

its existence. Few liches seek to become demiliches, for it means an end to the existence they hoped to preserve by becoming undead. However, time can erode the lich’s reason and memory, causing

Winter Eladrin

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

":"cold"} cold damage.When sorrow distresses eladrin, they enter the winter season, becoming figures of melancholy. Frozen tears drop from their cheeks, and their palpable sadness emanates from them as icy

, provided they aren’t incapacitated. When the eladrin makes this change, they use the stat block of the new season rather than their old stat block. Any damage the eladrin sustained in their

Forlarren

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

bound to their fey lord and unable to bargain away their souls. So rather than claim them, Fierna warped and twisted them before returning them to the Feywild, content that the corruption of the satyrs

. Unfortunately, when it reaches that breaking point, its diabolical nature asserts itself, and it remains in this scheming, dominating mindset until its plans are foiled and it faces defeat. Then, overwhelmed

City Watch / Investigator

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

easily pick out the dens of criminal activity in a community, although you’re more likely to be welcome in the former locations rather than the latter. Variant: Investigator Rarer

Investigation rather than Athletics. Suggested Characteristics Use the tables for the soldier background below as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to

Yuan-ti Pureblood Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

cannibalizing their victims, and then performed a sorcerous ritual while writhing in pools filled with living snakes that enabled them to mix their flesh with that of serpents, becoming like the gods in

of evil that calls for them to butcher or eradicate all who oppose them. In keeping with their goal of domination, the yuan-ti would rather capture potentially useful opponents than kill them. They use

Soldier Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

forget the crushing defeat my company suffered or the enemies who dealt it. 5 Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for. 6 I fight for those who cannot fight for themselves

mistake in battle that cost many lives—and I would do anything to keep that mistake secret. 4 My hatred of my enemies is blind and unreasoning. 5 I obey the law, even if the law causes misery. 6 I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.

Baba Lysaga

Monsters Curse of Strahd

that Strahd would never accept her as his true mother, nor could she bear his rejection. As a result, she has never confronted him. She would rather exist in perpetual denial, whiling away the days

imparted to Lysaga the secret of longevity, which requires her to bathe in the blood of beasts on nights of the new moon. Failure to do so causes Lysaga to age rapidly, becoming mere dust and bones in a

Pidlwick II

Monsters Curse of Strahd

":"Dart","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage.After her husband died in battle, Duchess Dorfniya Dilisnya set her sights on becoming Count Strahd von Zarovich's bride, but she failed to win his

, instead assuming that the guests had died in their sleep. But Strahd was not fooled. He came to realize fairly quickly that the clockwork effigy had begun to display a murderous nature. Rather than have

Bugbear Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

rather than perform the work or confront the foe. Even when subsumed into a goblinoid host and drawn into war, bugbears must often be roused from naps and bribed to get them to do their duties. This

natural state. Thanks to Grankhul, they can use their size and strength to work as stealthy assassins rather than blundering around like ogres. Bullying, murder, and engaging in battle are all holy

Moonstone Dragon Wyrmling

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

others is often difficult because I’m so easily distr… oh my goodness, is that circlet made of silver? 7 I find the waking world tedious and mundane and would much rather spend my

trouble in the name of lifting the “curse.” 4 Ettercap;Ettercaps captured a moonstone dragon wyrmling, who has so far avoided becoming dinner by teaching the ettercaps to create wild

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

away in the night to seek the cold will of fate. In some ways, the goliath drive to outdo themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A goliath would much rather die in

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

aggression toward creatures that they could defeat in a fight and that can’t be dealt with in some other manner. They are aggressive toward prey they want to eat, creatures that want to harm them, and

pleasurable creatures and things are ones that allow lizardfolk to assess more situations as benign rather than fearsome. Cold and Calculating Most humanoids describe cold-blooded people as lacking in

Faction Agent

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

operated openly or secretly, depending on the faction and its goals, as well as how those goals mesh with your own. Becoming an adventurer doesn’t necessarily require you to relinquish membership

knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often proficient in Investigation, enabling them to be adept at snooping and spying. They often seek aid from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and

Mercenary Veteran

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

never leave a friend behind. 3 My honor is my life. 4 I’ll never forget the crushing defeat my company suffered or the enemies who dealt it. 5 Those who fight beside me are those

enemies is blind and unreasoning. 5 I obey the law, even if the law causes misery. 6 I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.

Soldier - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

life on the battlefield. To this day, I will never leave a friend behind. 3 My honor is my life. 4 I’ll never forget the crushing defeat my company suffered or the enemies who dealt it

keep that mistake secret. 4 My hatred of my enemies is blind and unreasoning. 5 I obey the law, even if the law causes misery. 6 I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.

Lady Illmarrow

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

","rollAction":"Rejuvenation"} days, regaining all her hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within two hundred miles of the location at which she was destroyed. Spellcasting. Illmarrow

Emerald Claw, but her motives for founding the order are buried in her past. Lady Illmarrow has no interest in ruling the living. Rather, she seeks to become Queen of the Dead. The Mark of Death

Anthropologist

Backgrounds Tomb of Annihilation

; Cultural Chameleon Before becoming an adventurer, you spent much of your adult life away from your homeland, living among people different from your kin. You came to understand these foreign cultures

. 2 I’m a stickler when it comes to observing proper etiquette and local customs. 3 I would rather observe than meddle. 4 By living among violent people, I have become

Re-created by the Doctor

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

Re-created by the Doctor If the characters oppose Dr. Mordenheim, they face droves of her bizarre creations. They also risk becoming her newest experimental subjects. Dr. Mordenheim’s experiments

. Mordenheim attack the party or their allies (at the doctor’s command or otherwise). These foes are more powerful than the characters, who might defeat the majority of the attackers before being overwhelmed

Through the Tunnels

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

Through the Tunnels As the characters travel between Illithinoch and Phandalin, they can clear out any dangerous areas they missed in the “Journey through the Deep” section in chapter 7. Continue to

roll on the Tunnel Encounters table in that chapter, as the route is never truly safe. However, since the characters have already faced several threats, roll every 2 hours of travel rather than every hour.

Druid Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

of nature itself or from a nature deity. Many druids pursue a mystic spirituality of transcendent union with nature rather than devotion to a divine entity, while others serve gods of wild nature

becoming a druid was part of your character’s destiny. Have you always been an adventurer as part of your druidic calling, or did you first spend time as a caretaker of a sacred grove or spring

The Lords of Dust and the War

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

goes on to tempt a good-hearted priest into becoming corrupted.) In the years since the Thronehold Accords, the Lords of Dust continue on as they ever have, advancing one small step at a time.

Valin's Vengeance

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

Valin’s Vengeance If Valin’s heart is not destroyed, the mummy lord re-forms 24 hours after her defeat, appearing in the sarcophagus in area T6. If the characters are still in the tomb at that point

sarcophagus to the characters’ location provided they’re still in the tomb. If the characters leave the tomb before Valin re-forms, the mummy lord oracle might hunt them down, becoming a recurring villain

Reaching the Tower

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

Reaching the Tower Lolth’s forces surround the tower, but they are focused on the spyder-fiends below rather than on defense. Hundreds of driders, Humanoids, and demons surround the tower, but the

driders, 1d6 giant spiders, and 1d4 assassins. Characters who defeat the squad can try again to infiltrate the tower.

Roleplaying a Yuan-ti

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

Personality Trait 1 I see omens in every event and action. The serpent gods continue to advise us. 2 I have very high standards for food, drink, and physical pleasures. 3 I prefer to be alone rather

1 Greed. I display my wealth as a sign of my power and prosperity. (Evil) 2 Aspiration. I strive to follow the path toward becoming an anathema. (Evil) 3 Unity. No leader shall put personal goals

Interesting Things About the Shadow Marches

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

druidic shrines. The Marches are the birthplace of the druidic tradition of the Gatekeepers. Long ago, this sect defeated the vile daelkyr; today, its last champions continue to protect Eberron from

aberrations and other extraplanar threats. Even in defeat, the daelkyr sowed seeds of madness in the Marches. Followers of the Cults of the Dragon Below remain scattered across the region. Some of these

Hazlik

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

one competitor Hazlik was unable to defeat: the Red Wizard Indreficus. Hazlik gradually came to fixate on Indreficus as his true rival. Indreficus shared Hazlik’s genius and arrogance, and they spent

impress his people’s rulers and gain their patronage. Instead, the zulkirs revealed that Indreficus had not betrayed him. Rather, the zulkirs had watched the pair’s ascent and, wary of their potential

Xanthoria's Defeat

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

Xanthoria’s Defeat Once Xanthoria is defeated, the characters find the last few pages of her notes among her possessions. They detail her growing obsession with undead and her success at turning

. Convincing Thunderwing to give up her life should be handled through roleplaying rather than ability checks, although you can require the characters to succeed on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) group

Returning War Band

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver

heads are trophies from the hobgoblins’ recent victory over an elf hunting party. Clever characters might try to reason with Targor by urging him to think of himself as Grol’s successor rather than

) check. Awarding Experience Points Divide 500 XP equally among the characters if they defeat the hobgoblin war band or come to terms with Targor.

D&D Beyond

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