before build define come realizes

Giant Space Hamster

Monsters Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

they can be trained to serve as mounts and beasts of burden. Gnomes have tried to build spelljamming ships powered by giant space hamster wheels, so far without success. Space Hamsters Space

hamsters resemble their terrestrial kin, both in their appearance and general demeanor, and they come in a variety of colors.

Goliath Werebear

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Build (Humanoid Form Only). The werebear counts as one size larger when determining its carrying capacity and the weight it can push, drag, or lift. Shapechanger. The werebear can use its action to

, Oyaminartok is not a monster but a force of good in the region, and she passes her curse only to goliaths whose hearts are pure. Oyaminartok and others of her kind try to help creatures they come across, for

Tlincalli

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

tlincalli parents come to investigate. Tlincallis eat what they kill, whether their hunt nets desert animals or a caravan, but when they have new mouths to feed, they are careful to take some of their prey

powerful hunter, such as a blue dragon, they carefully weigh whether to serve the superior hunter, move on, or fight to the death to remove it as competition. Tlincallis rarely build cities, make

Entertainer Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

routines or roll on the table below to define your expertise as an entertainer. d10 Entertainer Routine 1 Actor 2 Dancer 3 Fire-eater 4 Jester 5 Juggler

1 I know a story relevant to almost every situation. 2 Whenever I come to a new place, I collect local rumors and spread gossip. 3 I’m a hopeless romantic, always searching

Wizard Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

the fey) that are steeped in magic. The Lure of Knowledge Wizards’ lives are seldom mundane. The closest a wizard is likely to come to an ordinary life is working as a sage or lecturer in a

. Creating a Wizard Creating a wizard character demands a backstory dominated by at least one extraordinary event. How did your character first come into contact with magic? How did you discover you had

Owlin

Species Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

Distant kin of giant owls from the Feywild, owlin come in many shapes and sizes, from petite and fluffy to wide-winged and majestic. Owlin have arms and legs like other Humanoids, as well as wings

increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your

Barbarian Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

by walls and crowds. They thrive in the wilds of their homelands: the tundra, jungle, or grasslands where their tribes live and hunt. Barbarians come alive in the chaos of combat. They can enter a

character, think about where your character comes from and his or her place in the world. Talk with your DM about an appropriate origin for your barbarian. Did you come from a distant land, making you a

Entertainer - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

; Entertainer Routines A good entertainer is versatile, spicing up every performance with a variety of different routines. Choose one to three routines or roll on the table below to define your expertise as an

high-minded ideals about the practice of art and the appreciation of beauty. d8 Personality Trait 1 I know a story relevant to almost every situation. 2 Whenever I come to a new

Adult Crystal Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

the signs written in starlight. They read these signs as omens, giving them glimpses of what is to come, and they eagerly examine the potential futures of any creatures who come to them in peace

above to build their lairs. Then, like gem cutters seeking the perfect diamond, they spend much of their lives refining, polishing, and enhancing the beauty of their lairs. Crystal dragons&rsquo

Ancient Crystal Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

sky and tracking the signs written in starlight. They read these signs as omens, giving them glimpses of what is to come, and they eagerly examine the potential futures of any creatures who come to

seek out frigid, picturesque locations with clear views of the sky above to build their lairs. Then, like gem cutters seeking the perfect diamond, they spend much of their lives refining, polishing

Shifter Legacy

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

different in personality. With any shifter, identifying the beast within is a crucial part of understanding the character. Similar and Diverse Shifters are similar to humans in height and build but are

hair on nearly every part of their bodies. The traits of the beast within affect a shifter’s appearance as well. A swiftstride shifter may have catlike eyes and delicate build, while a beasthide

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

sewer tunnels, paying them with food and tools the kobolds wouldn’t have access to on their own. If they are treated well and left alone to do the job, the kobolds work industriously and build a

, they might build a warren and make a permanent home there, while continuing to expand the town’s sewers as the community grows. These so-called “city kobolds” live underground but

Fairy

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

a special physical characteristic that sets the fairy apart. For your fairy, roll on the Fey Characteristics table or choose an option from it. You’re also free to come up with your own

regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The “Quick Build” section for your character’s class offers suggestions on which scores to increase

21. Clean Air Station

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

21. Clean Air Station The duergar come here to shake off the effects of the poison gas. Runes are chiseled into the smooth gray walls. A character who studies the runes and succeeds on a DC 15

Intelligence (Arcana) check realizes they are part of an ancient spell that continually and perpetually freshens the air in this room while hedging out poisonous gases and similar effects, magical or otherwise.

Uthgardt Tribe Member

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

and ruin. But for the last few generations, some bands among the tribes were tempted to settle, make peace, trade, and even to build towns. Perhaps this is why Uthgar chose to raise up the totems

abandoned that path, you find yourself adrift. Or you might come from a segment of the Uthgardt that adheres to tradition, but you seek to bring glory to your tribe by achieving great things as a

Character and Party Creation

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

relevant story lines into the larger campaign. Party Formation During session zero, your role is to let the players build the characters they want and to help them come up with explanations for how their

include multiple backgrounds, as sometimes it’s fun to play an all-soldier party or a troupe of adventuring entertainers. The backgrounds they choose define who their characters were before becoming

Settlements

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

Settlements The places where people live — bustling cities, prosperous towns, and tiny villages nestled among miles of farmland — help define the nature of civilization in your world. A single

characters care about the settlement? The guidelines in this section are here to help you build the settlement you want for whatever purpose you have in mind. Disregard any advice here that runs counter to your vision for a settlement.

Chapter 1: This Is Your Life

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

Chapter 1: This Is Your Life The character creation rules in the Player’s Handbook provide all the information you need to define your character in preparation for a life of adventuring. What they

backstory for your character — an autobiography of sorts — that you can use to inform how you roleplay the character. Your DM can draw from this material as the campaign proceeds, creating situations and scenarios that build off your previous life experiences.

Adult Topaz Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

come into conflict with bronze dragons when their coastal territories overlap, and they can nurture an inexplicably intense hatred of these metallic dragons. They can also draw the ire of druids and

sun and have no desire to get wet, beyond enjoying a bit of sea spray in the air. But they love being able to see the water, so they build their lairs on the heights of seaside cliffs or near perfect

Gaining a Bastion

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

Gaining a Bastion If you allow Bastions in your campaign, characters acquire their Bastions when they reach level 5. You and the players can decide together how these Bastions come into being. A

character might inherit or receive a parcel of land on which to build their Bastion (see “Marks of Prestige” in chapter 3), or they might take a preexisting structure and refurbish it. It’s fair to assume

Orcs (p. 71)

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice & Errata

Orcs (p. 71) The first paragraph of this random encounter has been replaced with “The characters come across 2d6 + 2 orcs. There is a 75 percent chance that the orcs are friendly and looking for a

suitable place to build a homestead. Otherwise, the orcs are hostile and have prisoners in tow. A sample group of prisoners is presented here, but you can create others.”

S19. Barracks

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

” (area S13), Ezmerelda realizes the Abbot is insane. The Abbot told her that he is expecting Strahd to visit his bride-to-be. Ezmerelda has decided to wait for the vampire to come, so that she can

destroy him away from Castle Ravenloft, far from his resting place. She is planning to create a magic circle in this room as an added precaution. As the Abbot’s guest, Ezmerelda is free to come and go as

Starting the Adventure

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel

the city of Yeonido come into view. Atop the walls, tall, colorful flags and ribbons flutter from poles. Traders, guards, and workers come and go through a grand gate, passing from the surrounding

on a DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check realizes. The detect magic spell also reveals that the fog emanates an aura of enchantment magic. As the characters near the city gate, they notice the guards

First Session: Character Creation

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon of Icespire Peak

, congratulate them on building their characters and begin the adventure with the next session. During character creation, your role as the DM is to let your players build the characters they want, and to help

them come up with explanations for how their characters came together to form an adventuring party. If you have only one player, work with that player to come up with their character’s backstory, then

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

to be invincible. They see the principles that define them and their deities at work every day in the world around them — nature rewards the strong and mercilessly eliminates the weak and the

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

Izzet Engineer

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

Ideal 1 Guild. My guild is all that really matters. (Any) 2 Creativity. Half the world’s troubles come from stodgy thinking, stuck in the past. We need innovative

it was sabotage that destroyed my first laboratory and killed many of my friends, and I seek revenge against whoever did it. 4 I have the schematics for an invention that I hope to build one day

Fire Giants

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Fire Giants Emberosa, a fire giant, has come to Undermountain with six of her kin on a mission to raise fire giants to the top of the giant ordning, dethroning the mighty storm giants. Emberosa hopes

and hid it in on level 23, but he has agreed to part with it if the fire giants use their exceptional metal-forging abilities to build a giant construct for him. Work is under way, with the construct

Chapter 3: Dwarves and Duergar

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

duergar are joyless, hateful creatures who create their works out of an urge to build and acquire. They come closest to feeling true joy when they raid dwarven strongholds to satisfy their lust for blood and treasure.

Chapter 5: Isle of the Abbey

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh

Chapter 5: Isle of the Abbey A local mariners’ guild would like to claim a small, strategically located island and build a lighthouse there. But so far, its representatives have not been able to

land safely on the island — every attempt to come ashore has been met by a horde of undead. The guild posts a lucrative contract offer in nearby coastal communities, seeking adventurers willing to secure

Duties in Leilon

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm Lord’s Wrath

the settlers who they have come to know. For those characters, the tasks of the town may draw more attention. Below are some longer-term tasks that the characters might perform before moving on to the

next part of the story: Build a home. With the characters (hopefully) proving themselves to be the heroes that Leilon needs, the town council might offer one or more of them a parcel of land. They can

7. Crypt Raiders

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

7. Crypt Raiders This 12-foot-high cave contains six duergar, three males and three females, who have come up from level 21 to loot the shrine of Laduguer (area 6c). The male duergar are Klom

, green-skinned giant with glowing eyes and white-feathered wings.” Any character who succeeds on a DC 18 Intelligence (Religion) check realizes, based on this description, that Fazrian is a planetar

2. Choose a Class

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

: armor, weapons, skills, saving throws, and sometimes tools. Your proficiencies define many of the things your character can do particularly well, from using certain weapons to telling a convincing lie

required to reach that level (see “Beyond 1st Level” later in this section). QUICK BUILD Each class description in the Classes section includes a section offering suggestions to quickly build a

Encounter Pace and Tension

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

that structure in an adventure where the players control their characters’ actions, but you can use the encounters you plan to build tension toward a climax. Each encounter in an adventure is an

limited resources. Variety also contributes to a sense of escalating tension. Build variety into your encounters in three ways: Vary Encounter Type. Use a mix of social interaction, exploration, and

Arena Battles

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

the spectacle to come. Vocath acknowledges the throng from his private balcony. The characters have 1 minute to prepare before the first challenge begins. The characters roll initiative at the start

a moment to assess their foe—a space guppy (see Boo’s Astral Menagerie)—before Vocath realizes, to his dismay, that he has released the wrong creature. Realizing his mistake, Vocath throws his arms

Time Gates' Environments

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Netheril’s Fall: Tales of Terror, Treasure, and Time Travel

(Arcana or Investigation) check. On a successful check, the character realizes the signs of a nearby time gate. Spellcasters can also seek knowledge about the time gate and where it leads by casting

spells such as Commune with Nature, Speak with Animals, or Speak with Dead. Severe Temporal Effects The closer characters come to a time gate, the stronger its temporal magic swirls, creating even more

D&D Beyond

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