before being deciding come relay

Involving the Characters

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

Involving the Characters Once you’ve identified what your campaign is about, let the players help tell the story by deciding how their characters are involved. This is their opportunity to tie their

a recent arrival? Where did you come from? Why did you come to this area? Are you tied to any of the organizations or people involved in the events that kick off the campaign? Are they friends or

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

kenku make an easy living serving as messengers, spies, and lookouts for thieves’ guilds, bandits, and other criminal cartels. A network of kenku can relay a bird call or similar noise across the

kenku, constant attempts to mimic noises can come across as confusing or irritating rather than entertaining. You can just as easily describe the sounds your character makes and what they mean. Be clear

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

area is at risk. If orcs come upon a target that is too large to assault directly, they will lurk along supply routes, taking out their frustration on caravans and travelers. Left unchecked, a tribe can

; their loyalty by turning them into slaves. If a tribe is defeated and driven from its lair, the survivors might come under the sway of a strong but dimwitted creature, such as a hill giant or an ogre

Ability Checks

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

adventurers are undercover agents of the king. If the rogue loses a contest of Charisma (Deception) against the guard’s Wisdom (Insight), the same lie told again won’t work. The characters can come up with a

creature’s efforts. In a contest, the ability checks are compared to each other, rather than to a target number. When you call for a contest, you pick the ability that each side must use, deciding

Need a Lift?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder

, expect the cultists to relay the following message to the characters when the two groups first meet. “We come to you on behalf of Klauth, the Great Dragon of the North! Klauth offers you this vessel

so. If they decline to board the vessel, the crew signals for them to come aboard. If they still decline, the airship lands so that the dragon cultists can reveal who sent them and why. The ship’s

Oracle

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

through you, and you can decide whether to use your own voice or to allow the god’s voice to come through your mouth to deliver the message, translated into any language you speak. Oracle’s Insight. The

roll the d20 before deciding to add the d10, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long

When Elves Attack

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis

Star’s opportunity to fire on the Moondancer. It then takes another minute for the two ships to come within boarding distance. Dealing with the Dark Star Once the ships are close enough, the three astral

use the Dark Star’s ballistae to fire on characters they can see. Captain Sartell fights alongside the characters, but Traevus and his thugs, if they are aboard, come to the Moondancer’s defense only if

Mire of Doubt

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

, yet will never COME closer than it is NOW?” Valsyx emphasizes the words “new troublemakers, come now” to signal Charnyz. If the characters want the riddle repeated, Valsyx repeats it at an even

the nodule as a significant clue. If the characters attack before Valsyx can relay his message, he shrieks for aid. Regardless of how Valsyx shouts his warning, Charnyz takes 1 round to understand

Unwelcome Party

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

of food and water has forced one group to abandon their refuge. Spotted by devils, these citizens are about to come under attack, and the characters are their only hope of survival. Read the following

silvered. Harkina can relay the following information regarding the current situation in the city: Many of Elturel’s citizens died when the city was drawn to this terrible place. Still more have died in the

Enter Flabbergast

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

(see “Dhargun Ironworks” below), he can relay that information as well. Flabbergast can also provide or reinforce the backstory regarding Acquisitions Incorporated’s well-known incursion of the

absolutely free to come up with other methods of seeking the final orrery component. Even though the dwarves of Clan Horn remain furious at Acquisitions Incorporated and the enclave’s defenses are

Camp Alertness

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hoard of the Dragon Queen

night tied to posts alongside the monk Leosin. Characters have one night to escape this fate. They might wriggle out of their bonds, bribe or charm a cultist to set them free, or come up with a clever

effect is the same as if they’d been recognized. If characters lie to Mondath — claiming they are new recruits and this is all a mistake, for example, or that they are studying the cult before deciding

Camp Alertness

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

posts alongside the monk Leosin. Characters have one night to escape this fate. They might wriggle out of their bonds, bribe or charm a cultist to set them free, or come up with a clever use for a

as if they’d been recognized. If characters lie to Mondath—claiming they are new recruits and this is all a mistake, for example, or that they are studying the cult before deciding whether to join

Citadel Felbarr

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

abandoned the citadel after nearly two millennia, whereupon a force out of Silverymoon occupied the fortress shortly thereafter. Within half a century, the orcs had come to realize the weakness of the

listen to what both have to say before deciding how to act on royal edicts. Most humans know Citadel Felbarr from a distance. They see only a great raised road winding through a vale of broken rock

Ruinous Citadel Locations

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

troops fighting elsewhere, and Jallizanx is deciding how to give directions the dim-witted kakkuus can be reasonably expected to convey. When they see the characters, the kakkuus rush into melee while

blocks, see appendix A). Uvonxu coordinates with Miska on strategy, while the phisarazu takes notes to relay to the troops. Both immediately attack intruders. The phisarazu tries to stun enemies and then

Climbing Kelvin's Cairn

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

. The goats turn hostile if the characters attack them. Avalanche Hundreds of feet up the mountain, you come to a glistening white expanse of packed snow. As you get about halfway across it, you hear a

the characters if they also refrain from combat and get it across to her that they’ve come to rescue the halfling. Perilou thanks her rescuers but is sad to have witnessed the death of her goliath

Skytower Shelter Locations

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

griffons circle above you, shrieking at your approach. They descend until they’re a few hundred feet away but come no closer. At the end of the entranceway is a ten-foot-tall barricade made of wood and

until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the runestone die, but must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once the runestone die is rolled, it is lost, and the

Tomb Locations

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

command me.” Ideal. “I yearn to see the best of all possible futures, so that I can help those futures come to pass.” Bond. “I faithfully serve Valin Sarnaster, the living embodiment of the divine will

ability check, attack roll, or saving throw it makes. The creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before deciding to use the number, but it must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds

World-Shaking Events

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

people under this person’s power. What important fact didn’t they realize about this person or his or her reign, which will later come to light? Name one person or group that tries to fill the

, gems, mithral) Once you have determined the type of discovery, flesh it out by deciding exactly what it is, who discovered it, and what potential effect it could have on the world. Ideally, previous

Fortune's Wheel Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Turn of Fortune’s Wheel

golden ring. “Come to mama,” giggles the hag as three writhing grubs wiggle from the dispensary slot and into a brass bucket at her feet. Axel Defois Duodrone Slot Machine Putrice, a friendly

Bounty. Named after a god of revelry, this game is played on a long table embroidered with a flat pattern of an unfolded, twenty-sided die. The game’s dealer is also its deciding piece: a spectator

Headquarters Features

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

players and the DM. Group Design When selecting a feature, the characters must make decisions together — meaning the players must do the same. Deciding on the features of a headquarters should be a team

true, the orcs won’t come back (probably). This abandoned lighthouse headquarters is strong enough to stand against any storm (probably), and many of the leaks have been fixed already. And just look at

Red Larch Locations

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

merchants. For some, it’s the reason they come to Red Larch. Chansyrl’s is a steady supplier for many a settlement up and down the Long Road. Key NPCs. Phaendra Chansyrl (female Tethyrian human scout

twenty workers, and he insists on keeping careful records. Key NPC. The Believers have no formal leader, but if they did, Dornen would be it. He is a longstanding member who serves as the deciding

NPCs by Guild

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

guildmasters of Ravnica. Without exception, these are powerful creatures. In most campaigns, the guildmasters will come into play more often in negotiations and other social settings than in combat. Thus, each

cells woven subtly throughout the fabric of Ravnica and across all the guilds. Dimir agents excel at information gathering, covert operations, and assassination. They collect secrets, relay intelligence

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