before being dealing concept rather - Search

Alter Self

Spells Player’s Handbook

), horns (Piercing), or hooves (Bludgeoning). When you use your Unarmed Strike to deal damage with that new growth, it deals 1d6 damage of the type in parentheses instead of dealing the normal damage for

your Unarmed Strike, and you use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls rather than using Strength.

Water Weird Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

those its summoner declares as off limits. When slain, a water weird becomes an inanimate pool of water. Good and Evil Weirds. Like most elementals, a water weird has no concept of good or evil

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

Swarmkeeper

Classes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

force in battle, as well as helpful company for the ranger. Some Swarmkeepers are outcasts or hermits, keeping to themselves and their attendant swarms rather than dealing with the discomfort of others

Vladimir Horngaard

Monsters Curse of Strahd

","rollDamageType":"bludgeoning"} bludgeoning damage. Instead of dealing damage, Vladimir can grapple the target (escape DC 14) provided the target is Large or smaller. +2 Greatsword. Melee Weapon Attack

witnessing Strahd himself slay Vladimir's beloved, his fellow knight Sir Godfrey Gwilym. With the battle won, Strahd surrounded Argynvostholt. Rather than cower in his lair, Argynvost emerged and

Jammer Leech

Monsters Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

defensive measure. If the crew of a ship becomes aware of leeches that have become attached, it’s customary for them to try to scrape the leeches off the hull rather than attack them with weapons

. The leech attaches itself to a ship’s hull in its space, dealing 2 (1d4);{"diceNotation":"1d4","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Attach to Hull","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage to

Swarmkeeper (TCoE)

Classes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

force in battle, as well as helpful company for the ranger. Some Swarmkeepers are outcasts or hermits, keeping to themselves and their attendant swarms rather than dealing with the discomfort of others

Firbolg Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

the group’s needs, but the effect each action will have on the forest and the rest of the natural world. Firbolg tribes would rather go hungry than strain the land during a famine. Hidden

Shepherds As caretakers of the land, firbolgs prefer to remain out of sight and out of mind. They don’t try to dominate nature, but rather seek to ensure that it prospers and survives according to its

Feral Tiefling

Species Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

reflect their fiendish heritage. And some younger tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, adopt a name that signifies a virtue or other concept and then try to embody that concept. For some

personality to any great degree. Years of dealing with mistrust does leave its mark on most tieflings, and they respond to it in different ways. Some choose to live up to the wicked stereotype, but others

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

peppered with a parental attitude toward strangers. Another is a mirthful sybarite with an unfettered love of food, drink, and romance. When dealing with the forlarren, the only constant is the malleable

City Watch / Investigator

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

experience in enforcing the law, and dealing with lawbreakers, gives you a feel for local laws and criminals. You can easily find the local outpost of the watch or a similar organization, and just as

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

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

the goliath concept of fair play. A permanently injured goliath is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a goliath dies attempting to keep up, or the goliath slips

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

Firbolg Names

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

Firbolg Names Firbolg adopt elven names when they must deal with outsiders, although the concept of names strikes them as strange. They know the animals and plants of the forest without formal names

, and instead identify the forest’s children by their deeds, habits, and other actions. By the same token, their tribe names merely refer to their homes. When dealing with other races, firbolgs refer

Yuan-ti Pureblood Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

get into places their normal forms couldn’t enter. Their immunity to poison gives all yuan-ti a tactical advantage in dealing with other creatures. A pureblood serving as a food taster for a

Character Names

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

names, that’s fine. If the group would rather take the characters and their names a little more seriously, urge Bob’s player to come up with a more appropriate name. Player character names should match

each other in flavor or concept, and they should also match the flavor of your campaign world — so should the nonplayer characters’ names and place names you create. Travok and Kairon don’t want to undertake a quest for Lord Cupcake, visit Gumdrop Island, or take down a crazy wizard named Ray.

Faction Agent

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

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

dealing with people in the outside world. d6 Ideal 1 Tradition. The ancient traditions of worship and sacrifice must be preserved and upheld. (Lawful) 2 Charity. I always

Feature: Watcher's Eye

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

Feature: Watcher’s Eye Your experience in enforcing the law, and dealing with lawbreakers, gives you a feel for local laws and criminals. You can easily find the local outpost of the watch or a

similar organization, and just as 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.

Dealing with the Soldiers

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

Dealing with the Soldiers If the characters confront the Dragon Army soldiers on the cliffs, the messenger attempts to retreat to the Dragon Army camp on her warhorse rather than aiding her allies

Survival of the Fittest

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

pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the goliath concept of fair play. A permanently injured goliath is still expected to

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

Who Dwells Here?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild

such figures have been included as NPCs, but you should not treat this adventure’s approach to those characters as canon. Rather, use them to flesh out this particular adventure in “what-if” fashion

their characters should treat with such legendary figures carefully — a warning that is repeated by whichever agent the characters are dealing with.

Origin of the Ordning

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

the ordning in some mythic future. Giants on some worlds (including Eberron) have no concept of the ordning at all. Such giants might think of themselves as a single species, with the differences

among giant kinds reflecting a cultural or geographical distinction rather than an inherent one. They might live in bands composed of multiple giant kinds or family groups of a single kind. Or giants of

Character Advancement

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

taking part in a play session. A character reaches 1 checkpoint for each hour an adventure is designed to last. Note that the award is based on the adventure’s projected playing time, rather than the

designed to take 2 hours, the character reaches 3 checkpoints. Playing time might seem like an odd way to measure experience awards, but the concept is in keeping with how a shared campaign is meant to

Alter Self

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook

to deal damage with that new growth, it deals 1d6 damage of the type in parentheses instead of dealing the normal damage for your Unarmed Strike, and you use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls rather than using Strength.

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

divination (to find raw materials and foresee threats to the tribe). The main reason why kobolds depend on arcane magic rather than divine is Kurtulmak’s imprisonment, which makes it difficult for

Secret

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

holy symbol that represents that divinity. Some clerics, especially in a world like Eberron, serve a whole pantheon, rather than a single deity. In certain campaigns, a cleric might instead serve a

cosmic force, such as life or death, or a philosophy or concept, such as love, peace, or one of the nine alignments. Chapter 1 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide explores options like these, in the section

Alter Self

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules

to deal damage with that new growth, it deals 1d6 damage of the type in parentheses instead of dealing the normal damage for your Unarmed Strike, and you use your spellcasting ability modifier for the attack and damage rolls rather than using Strength.

Water Weird

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

. Good and Evil Weirds. Like most elementals, a water weird has no concept of good or evil. 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

Darklords

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

adventures rather than saving them for distant climactic plots. Darklords Don’t Realize They’re Darklords. With a few exceptions, Darklords don’t realize they occupy a special place in the world. Their

concept of how long they’ve lived, how many times they’ve died, or why they returned to life. Should a Darklord fall, the temporary defeat lasts until they’re restored by the Dark Powers. In their

Yuan-ti Cities

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

yuan-ti content themselves with maintaining these ancient places rather than building new ones for their needs. Although these sites are hundreds or even thousands of years old, they don’t look or feel

reflects human ideas about art and beauty. Over time this perspective was skewed toward the concept that the snake is the perfect form, so serpents are a common theme in their aesthetic. The major

The Lords of Dust

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

operate as an alliance of like-minded cabals rather than a single monolithic organization. Each cabal serves its particular overlord above all others, and the conditions that release one overlord could

races is in directing them and their affairs down the paths necessary to release their overlords; aside from that, dealing with mortals is a tedious chore.

Confronting the Demon Lords

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

fight alongside them in this last battle. Most of the heroes’ allies are of limited use against the demon lords — creatures immune to many forms of attack, including nonmagical weapons. Rather than

dealing with the ineffectual attacks of allies or a dozen or more additional actions each round, give characters backed up by a group of allies the following benefits. Healing Support. A character regains

Demon Showdown

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

break cover to aid their allies against the demons. If they do, another demon sortie attacks them 1d4 rounds later. OPTION: PLAYING OUT THE BATTLE OPTION Rather than focusing on the adventurers

biding their time and dealing with the fallout of the titanic battle between the demon lords, you can shift focus for this part of the adventure. Consider having the players take control of the various

Introduction

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

you receive a cancer diagnosis or a similar health news, you probably appreciate that concept a little more than other people. Watching someone you love waste away is a terrible thing. You want a

magic button to bring things back to the way they should be, this person you love so much restored to who they really are rather than what cancer is grinding them down into. It’s easy to give in to

Appendix A: Shared Campaigns

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

hard to keep a campaign going. Enter the concept of the shared campaign. In a shared campaign, more than one member of the group can take on the role of DM. A shared campaign is episodic rather than

Modifying a Class

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

, paladins might not swear their oaths to ideals, but instead swear fealty to powerful sorcerers. To capture this story concept, you could build a new paladin spell list with spells meant to protect

opportunity to develop the character’s story and that of your world, rather than shutting down possibilities. Substituting Class Features If one or more features of a given class don’t exactly fit the theme

Magewrights

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

make a business out of predicting events that occur in the next 30 minutes. In dealing with a magewright, think about the form their magic takes. A locksmith can perform knock as a ritual. But they

don’t just snap their fingers. They may use lengths of wire or iron rods, tracing patterns around the lock they’re dealing with while murmuring incantations. An oracle might work with cards or dice, or

Search Results