before blocking death contested read

Cairnwight

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

exclusion of all other tasks, retreating into a spacious cavern and blocking out all distractions. Creating a masterwork can become such a driving obsession that death can’t stop it: a giant who dies

Detect Thoughts Legacy

Spells Basic Rules (2014)

For the duration, you can read the thoughts of certain creatures. When you cast the spell and as your action on each turn until the spell ends, you can focus your mind on any one creature that you

creature’s thoughts, the creature can use its action on its turn to make an Intelligence check contested by your Intelligence check; if it succeeds, the spell ends. Questions verbally directed at

Sword of Kas Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

) from it: call lightning, divine word, or finger of death. Once you use the sword to cast a spell, you can’t cast that spell again from it until the next dawn. Sentience. The Sword of Kas is a

its wielder and can speak, read, and understand Common. Personality. The sword’s purpose is to bring ruin to Vecna. Killing Vecna’s worshipers, destroying the lich’s works, and

Snicker-Snack

Magic Items The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet. It can speak, read, and understand Common, and its voice sounds silvery and melodic. Snicker-Snack craves the destruction of evil Dragons and urges

finish a long rest after that happens, you can attempt to regain the sword’s trust by making a contested Charisma check against Snicker-Snack. If you win the contest, your attunement to the weapon is instantly restored. Your attunement to the weapon can’t be restored in any other way.

Occultant Abacus

Magic Items Acquisitions Incorporated

Head office grants you the use of a unique item known as an occultant abacus (sometimes just referred to as an occultant), whose beads resemble tiny skulls. Read the Kill Also at rank 1, your

finish a long rest. Ways to Read the Kill d6 Reading 1 Using a tiny bellows to pump one last breath into a corpse. 2 Reading the entrails with special reading-the-entrails

Wave Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

, and a Charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet. The weapon communicates telepathically with its wielder and can speak, read, and understand Aquan. It can also speak

from sea chanteys to sacred hymns of the sea gods. Wave zealously desires to convert mortals to the worship of one or more sea gods, or else to consign the faithless to death. Conflict arises if the

Returned Kakomantis

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

throws against any effect that turns undead. Unreadable Face. The Returned is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its thoughts. Wisdom (Insight) checks to ascertain the

Bolt","rollDamageType":"necrotic"} necrotic damage.Although the dead typically recall little of their lives, some have an obsession with magic that survives both death and rebirth as a Returned. These

Bheur Hag

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

’t read, and speaks only in gibberish. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is

bluish hue of a person who has frozen to death. The hag’s hair is white, and the hag is emaciated, with pale eyes surrounded by bruise-colored flesh. A bheur hag carries a twisted gray wooden

Wand of Orcus Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells (save DC 18) from it: animate dead (1 charge), blight (2 charges), circle of death (3 charges), finger of death (3 charges), power word kill

to a range of 120 feet. The wand communicates telepathically with its wielder and can speak, read, and understand Abyssal and Common. Personality. The wand’s purpose is to help satisfy Orcus

Returned Palamnite

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

throws against any effect that turns undead. Unreadable Face. The Returned is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its thoughts. Wisdom (Insight) checks to ascertain the

(3d6);{"diceNotation":"3d6","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Shortsword","rollDamageType":"poison"} poison damage.Even death and the loss of their identities can’t erase the rage that inspires

Symbol Legacy

Spells Basic Rules (2014)

sphere for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there. Death. Each target must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 10d10 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a

Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the target is driven insane for 1 minute. An insane creature can't take actions, can't understand what other creatures say, can't read, and speaks only in

Shadar-kai

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Material Plane to forge their own destinies. Once shadar-kai were Fey like the rest of their elven kin; now they exist in a state between life and death, thanks to being transformed by the Shadowfell

character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is

Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

sang from every page. Long into the night Liriel read, lighting candle after precious candle. She’d never given much thought to humans, but these stories fascinated her. In these yellowed

(except for those few who seek undeath or divine ascension to escape death’s clutches) they achieve it by ensuring that they will be remembered when they are gone. Although some humans can be

Into Neverwinter's Catacombs

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Nest of the Eldritch Eye

. Read or paraphrase the following: The withered eyeball aims its empty gaze down an alley strewn with rubble. Rats scurry between chunks of old stone and dusty crates. At the back of the alley is a set of

moldering wood boards, propped up just enough to block a dark tunnel leading below the surface. The boards blocking the entrance to the catacombs can be moved easily, revealing a sloping tunnel (area N1).

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

gather and celebrate, dwell the followers of Yurtrus, the god of disease and death, and Shargaas, the god of darkness and the unknown. Orcs too weak for battle (because of bodily weakness, malformation

, injury, or age) often join these cults instead of facing daily humiliation, exile, or death. Serving as the bridge between the two parts of the tribe are the priestesses of Luthic, the orc goddess who

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

responsible for blocking tunnels to deter pursuit. Kobolds feel a cool affinity or something like kinship for other members of their tribe, but they are rarely affectionate with each other. Two kobolds

moves its tribe to another area, ceding the contested territory to its more successful neighbors. As demonstrated by their hatred of gnomes, kobolds have a persecution complex and easily take offense

Acquisitions

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

description of the different locations throughout the outpost as a guide to opportunities. Taking something without being noticed requires a successful Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the

of death. What equipment and treasures the characters claim during their escape depend on how much of the outpost they are able to explore before fleeing. For some characters, it might be a fun

Snicker-Snack

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

good greatsword with an Intelligence of 9, a Wisdom of 14, and a Charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet. It can speak, read, and understand Common, and its voice sounds

if you miss on attack rolls with the weapon three times in a row. Each time you finish a long rest after that happens, you can attempt to regain the sword’s trust by making a contested Charisma check

Detect Thoughts

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

Detect Thoughts 2nd-level divination Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self Components: V, S, M (a copper piece) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute For the duration, you can read the thoughts of

Intelligence check contested by your Intelligence check; if it succeeds, the spell ends. Questions verbally directed at the target creature naturally shape the course of its thoughts, so this spell is

Strahd's Presence

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

Strahd’s Presence Strahd has finally deemed Death House worthy of attention. Once the party retrieves the rod piece in the ritual chamber, read the following to describe Strahd’s arrival at Death

House. The characters won’t yet see Strahd, but they’ll feel his presence. A gust of wind blasts through the halls of Death House, and the temperature drops precipitously. Candles and lamps snuff out and

Areas of the Heart

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

of purple flesh dimly lit by pinkish, bioluminescent orbs. The air reeks of death. An opening in one wall leads to another chamber. A character holding the first rod piece divines that the next

book’s introduction. Caved-In Artery. A 10-foot-wide petrified artery leads from this chamber. The artery has caved in, blocking that exit from the chamber. A character who uses an action to dig through

Appendix B: Friends and Foes

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

Appendix B: Friends and Foes This appendix describes creatures that appear in the adventure, presenting them in alphabetical order. The introduction of the Monster Manual explains how to read a

Sivak draconian Undead Anhkolox Caradoc Greater death dragon Lesser death dragon Lord Soth Skeletal knight Wersten Kern

Detect Thoughts

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

Detect Thoughts 2nd-level divination Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self Components: V, S, M (a copper piece) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute For the duration, you can read the thoughts of

Intelligence check contested by your Intelligence check; if it succeeds, the spell ends. Questions verbally directed at the target creature naturally shape the course of its thoughts, so this spell is

Dealing with Amrik

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

paying it back. Characters who plan to rip off Amrik must succeed on a Charisma (Deception) check contested by Amrik’s Wisdom (Insight) check, as described under “Contests” in chapter 7 of the

the death, and he surrenders if he can’t fight, talk, or slither his way out of a perilous situation. If the characters defeat Amrik’s bodyguards and take him prisoner, he does what he’s told until an

X14. North Staircase

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

X14. North Staircase When the characters open the secret door at the top of the stairs, read: A dusty corridor heads north, then bends to the east, descending a dark staircase. The air is thin, but

heavy with the stench of death. Three 10-foot-long staircases with landings between them descend a total of 30 feet to area X14a. The stench grows stronger down the stairs.

Running This Chapter

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

’ experience as entertaining as possible: Read the description of Iggwilv’s Cauldron in appendix A. Read this chapter in its entirety, and reacquaint yourself with the “Rules of Conduct” and “Death in

Sword of Kas

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

) from it: call lightning, divine word, or finger of death. Once you use the sword to cast a spell, you can’t cast that spell again from it until the next dawn. Sentience. The Sword of Kas is a sentient

and can speak, read, and understand Common. Personality. The sword’s purpose is to bring ruin to Vecna. Killing Vecna’s worshipers, destroying the lich’s works, and foiling his machinations all help

Torm's Bridges

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

characters approach either bridge, they can make out the initial details of the rift and can see the guards blocking the path. Read the following to set the scene: A rift in the earth divides Elturel into

Oozing Royalty

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

. The characters must contend with Princess Ebonmire and Prince Livid (see the “Royal Oozes” sidebar). These dimly intelligent oozes defend their master to the death, blocking the characters from

Need a Lift?

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

Need a Lift? Jas (neutral evil changeling; see chapter 6) approaches the characters in the guise of Sergeant Vilroy sometime after they leave Mithral Tower. Read or paraphrase the following boxed

character who suspects that “Vilroy” is hiding something can make a Wisdom (Insight) check contested by the changeling’s Charisma (Deception) check. A character who wins the contest detects slight

Inquisitive

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

Inquisitive As an archetypal Inquisitive, you excel at rooting out secrets and unraveling mysteries. You rely on your sharp eye for detail, but also on your finely honed ability to read the words and

a Wisdom (Insight) check against a creature you can see that isn’t incapacitated, contested by the target’s Charisma (Deception) check. If you succeed, you can use your Sneak Attack against that

Trouble at the Docks

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

Trouble at the Docks When the characters arrive at the docks, read: The scene at the docks is chaotic. Hundreds of people swarm the piers, trying to push their way onto three vessels that haven’t yet

ten thugs blocking her path work for him. Traevus and his thugs are indifferent toward the party but turn hostile if the characters try to force their way onto the Moondancer with Captain Sartell in

L1. Entry Cave

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

L1. Entry Cave The cave mouth opens into darkness from which a breezes blows, carrying the faint odor of death. Inside is a natural cave, its floor and ceiling uneven. The passage leads to the west

, narrowing as it proceeds. A body is sprawled on the floor 60 feet into the passage. When the characters get close enough to take a good look at the body, read the following: The corpse of a human

Cairnwight

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

tasks, retreating into a spacious cavern and blocking out all distractions. Creating a masterwork can become such a driving obsession that death can’t stop it: a giant who dies while creating art might

Campaign Events

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

powerful dragon establishing a new lair in a region can be a singularly impactful event. Likewise, the death of an ancient dragon can cause dramatic changes in the world. The balance of power shifts

. Established territories are suddenly contested or might be undefended against other perils. The dragon’s hoard represents tremendous wealth flowing through a single region. Entire populations of

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