before beings driven calling religious

Hermit Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

seclusion. d8 Life of Seclusion 1 I was searching for spiritual enlightenment. 2 I was partaking of communal living in accordance with the dictates of a religious order. 3 I

seclusion. It might be a great truth about the cosmos, the deities, the powerful beings of the outer planes, or the forces of nature. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen. You might have

Fog Giant

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

cloud giants in the ordning—the set of values and expectations that determines their rank in giant society—is driven by wealth. Those cloud giants foolish or unlucky enough to have their

down the gate of a backwater duke’s castle, slaying a dozen or more guards, then calling for parley is a typical fog giant strategy—followed by an offer to leave the duke alive in return

Sword of Zariel

Magic Items Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

following tables. These traits override any conflicting personality trait, ideal, bond, or flaw. Personality Traits D8 PERSONALITY TRAIT 1 I treat all beings, even enemies, with respect

misquote) religious texts. 6 I anger quickly when I witness cruelty or injustice. 7 My praise and trust are earned and never given freely. 8 I like everything clean and organized

Hermit - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

a collection of religious texts stuffed into an attic and forgotten when a believer’s patron deity died. In this solitary work, you’ve learned secrets no one else knows. 5 You killed

powerful beings of the outer planes, or the forces of nature. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen. You might have uncovered a fact that has long been forgotten, or unearthed some relic of the

Paladin Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

sacred glade before nature spirits and fey beings, or in a moment of desperation and grief with the dead as the only witness, a paladin’s oath is a powerful bond. It is a source of power that

of the world, but even fewer people can claim the true calling of a paladin. When they do receive the call, these warriors turn from their former occupations and take up arms to fight evil. Sometimes

Warlock Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

pacts made with mysterious beings of supernatural power, warlocks unlock magical effects both subtle and spectacular. Drawing on the ancient knowledge of beings such as fey nobles, demons, devils

relationship between warlock and patron is like that of a cleric and a deity, though the beings that serve as patrons for warlocks are not gods. A warlock might lead a cult dedicated to a demon

Star Spawn Hulk

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

seer nearby. A hulk appears to have little will of its own and is driven to protect its master. Star Spawn The Material Plane represents only one small part of the multiverse. Beyond the best

-known planes of existence lie realms alien to mortal life. Some are so hostile that even a moment’s contact is enough to break a mortal’s mind. Yet beings do exist that are native to these

Genasi Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

Those who think of other planes at all consider them remote, distant realms, but planar influence can be felt throughout the world. It sometimes manifests in beings who, through an accident of birth

, seeing them as accidents. Many feel nothing for their genasi children at all. Some genasi live as outcasts, driven into exile for their unsettling appearance and strange magic, or assuming leadership

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

have more in common with iguanas or dragons than they do with humans, dwarves, or elves. Lizardfolk possess an alien and inscrutable mindset, their desires and thoughts driven by a different set of

; Instead, aggressive, stronger creatures register to the lizardfolk as fearsome beings to be avoided if possible. If such creatures attack, lizardfolk flee, fighting only if cornered. Lizardfolk aren

Dwarf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

up the adventuring life might be motivated by a desire for treasure—for its own sake, for a specific purpose, or even out of an altruistic desire to help others. Other dwarves are driven by the

command or inspiration of a deity, a direct calling or simply a desire to bring glory to one of the dwarf gods. Clan and ancestry are also important motivators. A dwarf might seek to restore a clan

Anthropologist

Backgrounds Tomb of Annihilation

, rituals, religious beliefs, languages, and art, you have learned how tribes, empires, and all forms of society in between craft their own destinies and doom. This knowledge came to you not only through

survive—or why they did not. Some anthropologists are driven by intellectual curiosity, while others want the fame and recognition that comes with being the first to discover a new people, a

Walking a Different Path

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

the Ancestral Guardian Rather than calling upon the spirits of your ancestors, you are in communion with the franchise executives and corporate raiders who have traveled your path before. These paragons

clerks reminding you of expense accounts and budgets. Other times, they are fellow heavies and knee breakers who died in the line of duty, sarcastically calling out your mistakes in a misguided effort

The Gods of Two Peoples

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

The Gods of Two Peoples There are no half-elven gods, so half-elves follow elven or human deities of their choosing — although just as many religious half-elves believe that their gods choose them

. Half-elves often revere the gods of the culture in which they were raised, although some rebel against their upbringing, seeking out the gods of the other aspect of their heritage, or feeling a calling

Elder Elementals

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

creatures they have devoured to their own until they become something extraordinary. When summoned, these elder elementals manifest as beings of apocalyptic capability, entities whose mere existence

. Only casters of superlative skill have even the faintest chance of calling forth one of these monsters, and the spellcaster is often destroyed by the effort. Thus, only the most unhinged and nihilistic

Personal Motives

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

Personal Motives Not every conflict involves a fight between light and darkness. The vast majority of people are driven by simple motives: greed, fear, pride, or ambition. One person just wants to

better off under their rule. Primordial forces strive to change or destroy Eberron. But more often, characters encounter misguided patriots, religious extremists, dragonmarked houses looking to wring a

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

; animosity, gnomes tend to avoid or abandon settlements that have a severe infestation of kobolds, and conversely kobolds are usually driven out of communities that have a large gnome population

they were demigods — mighty beings of divine descent. This isn’t a casual sort of worship or lip service; kobolds are awed in the presence of a dragon, as if an actual avatar of a deity

Religious Order

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

, foes whose rivalry with your order emulates the conflict between your respective gods. Some religious orders also hunt and destroy fiends, undead, or other beings they consider abominations, seeking to

Religious Order Sure, serve that religious order, and soon you’ll be doing a thousand loads of your high priest’s laundry, because—conveniently—it’s divine will. Tasha Your group acts in the

Star Spawn

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

moment’s contact with such a place is enough to plunge a mortal mind into madness. Yet beings do exist that are native to these realms: beings that are eternally hungering, searching, warring, sometimes

calling out to Elder Evils often speak of a Far Realm from which these entities hail. In truth, there is no one place or space from which they come. There is the multiverse of things that are, and there is the multiverse of things that shouldn’t be.

Dark Sun

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

planes — and they lost. The gods were slain or driven into exile, leaving Athas under the dominion of elemental beings who took little interest in the affairs of mortals. In the grim age that

Hermit

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

crash and spent years in a remote location until you were found. In that time, you experienced a remarkable revelation. Did you have a religious experience, or did you have an arcane insight into the

—something so big that it’s driven you from your beloved books and into a life of adventure. Is it a fragment of the Draconic Prophecy? A complex puzzle leading to an ancient treasure?

Beyond the Mundane Life

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

front lines of the cosmic struggle against evil. Fighters are rare enough among the ranks of the militias and armies of the world, but even fewer people can claim the true calling of a paladin. When

a quest driven by a higher purpose than the acquisition of treasure. Evil lurks in dungeons and primeval forests, and even the smallest victory against it can tilt the cosmic balance away from oblivion.

Beyond the Mundane Life

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

front lines of the cosmic struggle against evil. Fighters are rare enough among the ranks of the militias and armies of the world, but even fewer people can claim the true calling of a paladin. When

a quest driven by a higher purpose than the acquisition of treasure. Evil lurks in dungeons and primeval forests, and even the smallest victory against it can tilt the cosmic balance away from oblivion.

Delvers into Secrets

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

Delvers into Secrets Warlocks are driven by an insatiable need for knowledge and power, which compels them into their pacts and shapes their lives. This thirst drives warlocks into their pacts and

student’s mind is opened to realities beyond the material world and to the alien beings that dwell in the outer void. Once a pact is made, a warlock’s thirst for knowledge and power can’t be slaked with

Heirs to Elemental Power

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

their mortal offspring, seeing them as accidents. Many feel nothing for their genasi children at all. Some genasi live as outcasts, driven into exile for their unsettling appearance and strange magic

, or assuming leadership of savage humanoids and weird cults in untamed lands. Others gain positions of great influence, especially where elemental beings are revered. A few genasi leave the Material Plane to find refuge in the households of their genie parents.

Tieflings

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

Tieflings "The Chieftain Who Leads them," Thuel asked, "what do we know of him?" “His name is Kathrik Mel. He inspires tremendous loyalty in the barbarians, an almost religious fervor.” “He’s a

Demesne has had no significant contact with the Five Nations and few know it exists. Your character could be an envoy or exile from it, or simply an adventurer driven by a desire to see what lies beyond your homeland.

Delvers into Secrets

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

Delvers into Secrets Warlocks are driven by an insatiable need for knowledge and power, which compels them into their pacts and shapes their lives. This thirst drives warlocks into their pacts and

is opened to realities beyond the material world and to the alien beings that dwell in the outer void. Once a pact is made, a warlock’s thirst for knowledge and power can’t be slaked with mere study

Assignments

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

you assignments or reward you for achieving certain objectives, but it doesn’t dictate your activities. Adventurers’ guilds, heads of state, immortal beings, inquisitive agencies, religious orders

Build Your Group

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

Build Your Group Religious orders attract people from all walks of life. It can be fun to play against type—to make a devout character with the criminal or charlatan background, for example

the Church and the nation in pursuit of the highest ideals of the faith, as they crusade against the forces of evil across Khorvaire. But are they fulfilling that high calling? Or are they just as

Notable Kuo-toa in Sloobludop

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

Blibdoolpoolp the Sea Mother Bloppblippodd (“Blopp”) Ploopploopeen’s daughter, now calling herself the archpriest of Leemooggoogoon the Deep Father; demon tainted Glooglugogg ("Gloog") Ploopploopeen’s son, kuo

religious obsessions as anything other than “dangerous illusions,” combined with his preference for nonviolent solutions.

Dragons

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

Chamber. A dragon in Khorvaire that isn’t part of the Chamber could be an exile driven from Argonnessen for some crime or a scholar pursuing independent research. Some orphaned dragons grow up in

don’t consider the impact of their actions on lesser beings; if a Chamber dragon must destroy a human village to foil the plans of a demon, it will do so without hesitation.

Slaadi

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

of Limbo Unpredictable slaadi devour and multiply across the Ever-Changing Chaos of Limbo. These toad-like, extraplanar beings embody the endless potentiality of their home plane of existence

. While slaadi aren’t inherently evil, their impulses are wild and often destructive. Many are driven to propagate through supernatural processes. Unfortunately, these processes typically are fatal for

Loose Pantheons

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

hunting. Some individuals feel a calling to a particular deity’s service and claim that god as a patron. Particularly devoted individuals become priests by setting up a shrine or helping to staff a holy

site. Much more rarely, those who feel such a calling become clerics or paladins invested with the responsibility of true divine power. Shrines and temples serve as community gathering points for

Chapter 3: Classes

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

Chapter 3: Classes Adventurers are extraordinary people, driven by a thirst for excitement into a life that others would never dare lead. They are heroes, compelled to explore the dark places of the

calling. Class shapes the way you think about the world and interact with it and your relationship with other people and powers in the multiverse. A fighter, for example, might view the world in pragmatic

Band

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

purpose. These are often warriors engaged in raiding, hunting, or a mission on behalf of the leader of their home community. Sometimes these bands are religious in nature—a small community dedicated to

corruption spreading through the local flora and turning animals into Aberrations. 5 A band of hunting giants has driven its prey—enormous beasts—into pastureland. The local farmers seek help. 6

Keeper Societies

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

visitations involving giant raven-like beings that appear, speak some prophecy or deliver some message, then vanish, often presaging either wonder or disaster. The wereravens take little issue with these

emblem worn as a pin or amulet. Drawn from esoteric writings, this mark is a recreation of the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, a storied religious artifact from Barovia. Though these reproductions carry no

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