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Returning 35 results for 'before building down combat relate'.
compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
Chapter 13: Building Combat Encounters
When creating a combat encounter, let your imagination run wild and build something your players will enjoy. Once you have the details figured out, use
this section to adjust the difficulty of the encounter.
Combat Encounter Difficulty There are four categories of encounter difficulty.
Easy. An easy encounter doesn’t tax the characters’ resources
Equipment
Combat
Utility
Whimsy
3
3
3
Used in everything from building material to drinking vessels and musical instruments, bamboo is perhaps the most versatile material on the
Equipment
Combat
Utility
Whimsy
7
8
4
Dorrin plate is a naturally occurring stone that can be broken off in large sheets and used as roof tiles, crockery, or building material. Potion
Tortle
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
The Tortle Package
Yondalla relate to tortles most of all.
Tortles believe that night and day watch over them and other creatures. The moon is the eye of night that watches over them in darkness, and the sun is the
watch a frog croaking on a lily pad, or to stand in a crowded human marketplace.
Tortles like to learn new skills. They craft their own tools and weapons, and they are good at building structures and
Monsters
Vecna: Eve of Ruin
are to spread kindness, reward virtue, and promote a culture of compassion throughout the multiverse. She is good at building alliances and quick to intervene when she senses a threat to the forces of
Weave favors those who act with mercy and compassion, seeks to deliver lives of security for all, and bolsters people’s efforts when they seek to right wrongs and combat evil.
Nowhere are
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
again in ruins, Dove Falconhand decided to reform the group with the primary goal of building alliances and friendship between the civilized races of the world and goodly people in order to combat evil
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
Combat. I despise most other dragons, but I meet them face to face without resorting to the base trickery I use on lesser creatures. (Lawful)
Topaz Dragon Adventures
The Topaz Dragon
to ask for help getting home.
6
A topaz dragon is building a tableau of desiccated creatures and has grown obsessed with catching one treasure hunter who escaped the dragon’s clutches
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
ocean. (Good)
6
Code of Combat. I despise most other dragons, but I meet them face to face without resorting to the base trickery I use on lesser creatures. (Lawful)
Topaz Dragon
, but the dragon is too proud to ask for help getting home.
6
A topaz dragon is building a tableau of desiccated creatures and has grown obsessed with catching one treasure hunter who escaped the
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
coins
Feature: Undercity Paths
You know hidden, underground pathways that you can use to bypass crowds, obstacles, and observation as you move through the city. When you aren’t in combat, you
the moss-covered building where I took part in my first reclamation mission.
5
I found something in the sewer that must never come to light.
6
I am forever grateful to the reclaimer who
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Encounter Building This section introduces new guidelines on building combat encounters for an adventure. They are an alternative to the rules in “Creating Encounters” in chapter 3 of the Dungeon
encounter-building system assumes that, as DM, you want to have a clear understanding of the threat posed by a group of monsters. It will be useful to you if you want to emphasize combat in your
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
. The chapter opens with optional rules meant to help you run certain parts of the game more smoothly. The chapter then goes into greater depth on several topics — encounter building, random encounters
, traps, magic items, and downtime — which largely relate to how you create and stage your adventures. The material in this chapter is meant to make your life easier. Ignore anything you find here that
Ancient Deep Dragon
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
far-off lands. Many seek out new insights and tricks that they can use against other denizens of the Underdark, preferring social manipulation and crafty dealmaking to exerting themselves in combat
, they use local settlements—and any competent visitors—as pawns in their struggle.
4
An ancient deep dragon has put the folk of a city to work building the dragon a metropolis to rule
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Flee, Mortals! Rule Primer
Companion Encounter Balance Unless a caregiver has the beastheart class (found in Beastheart and Monstrous Companions), the GM should consider a companion as akin to a powerful combat-focused magic
item when building encounters. A companion gives a party a significant power boost, not just by dishing out more damage and providing more hit points for enemies to target, but also by creating
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Flee, Mortals! Rule Primer
Retainer Encounter Balance When building encounters, the GM should consider a retainer as akin to a powerful combat-focused magic item. A retainer gives a party a significant power boost; they not
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
Silverymoon. Both trails converge on the south side of the bathhouse building and the double doors leading into area T1. If the characters put off entering the bathhouse building to first wander the grounds
anyone tries to forcibly enter the abandoned shrine or the tower. If the characters are intent on starting this part of the adventure with combat, you might lead off with a challenging fight against the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
agreement with a clan of surly dwarves, or successfully navigate the Chasm of Doom, you might decide that they deserve an XP reward.
As a starting point, use the rules for building combat encounters in
Noncombat Challenges You decide whether to award experience to characters for overcoming challenges outside combat. If the adventurers complete a tense negotiation with a baron, forge a trade
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
. Gather any maps you’ll need for the definite and possible encounters, then focus the remainder of your prep time on the definite encounters, as outlined below. For combat encounters, review the monsters
, a combat encounter could open with a tense negotiation designed to appeal to players who enjoy social interaction. Step 5. Skim the encounters you flagged as possible. Two-Hour Preparation With
Goblin
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
goblin tribe has to nobility is the caste of lashers — families of goblins trained in the ways of battle, and also possessed of key skills such as strategy, trap-building, beast taming, mining
and know the most about the territory farthest from the tribe’s lair. These individuals hunt game in peaceful times, and in combat they serve as scouts, foot soldiers, and cavalry.
Gatherers
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
revealed to relate to a larger plot in the campaign. If most of your adventures are dungeon expeditions, shift gears with a tense urban mystery that eventually leads the party into a dungeon crawl in
an abandoned building or tower. If you run horror adventures week after week, try using a villain who turns out to be ordinary, perhaps even silly. Comic relief is a great variation on almost any D&D campaign, though players usually provide it themselves.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
. Gather any maps you’ll need for the definite and possible encounters, then focus the remainder of your prep time on the definite encounters, as outlined below. For combat encounters, review the monsters
encounter. Step 4. Consider how each definite encounter relates to the players’ motivations. Think about elements you can add to interest them. For example, a combat encounter could open with a tense
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
enjoy or the DMs trading focus from session to session. One DM might run combat description and keep a battle moving while the other focuses on miniatures and music. The two DMs can play two different
NPCs in a social interaction encounter. Between sessions, they can collaborate or divide up world-building, encounter creation, and other tasks.
CoupleofKooks
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
2, five 13th-level characters for tier 3, and five 18th-level characters for tier 4. Use that assumption when creating combat encounters, whether you use the encounter-building rules in the Dungeon
Combat Encounters Design your adventure for one of the four tiers, as set forth in chapter 1 of the Player’s Handbook: tier 1 includes levels 1–4, tier 2 is levels 5–10, tier 3 is levels 11–16, and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
point, use the rules for building combat encounters in chapter 4 to gauge the difficulty of the challenge. Then award the characters XP as if it had been a combat encounter of the same difficulty
NPCs made the challenge easier. (See also “Nonplayer Characters” in chapter 3.) Noncombat Challenges You decide whether to award XP to characters for overcoming challenges outside combat. If the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
rogue who likes hand-to-hand combat, or a sharpshooter who picks off enemies from afar. Do you like fantasy fiction featuring dwarves or elves? Try building a character of one of those races. Do you
information you need and how you use it during the game. BUILDING BRUENOR
Each step of character creation includes an example of that step, with a player named Bob building his dwarf character, Bruenor.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
the DM change the pitch or tempo of narration in different situations? Player Participation. Did the players participate in the world-building or make decisions that seemed to send the adventure in an
game fun to watch? Three Pillars. How much of the session was taken up by combat, exploration, or social interaction? Tone and Mood. How would you describe the tone and mood of the game? Did it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
the DM change the pitch or tempo of narration in different situations? Player Participation. Did the players participate in the world-building or make decisions that seemed to send the adventure in an
game fun to watch? Three Pillars. How much of the session was taken up by combat, exploration, or social interaction? Tone and Mood. How would you describe the tone and mood of the game? Did it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
rogue who likes hand-to-hand combat, or a sharpshooter who picks off enemies from afar. Do you like fantasy fiction featuring dwarves or elves? Try building a character of one of those races. Do you
place to start until you know what information you need and how you use it during the game. BUILDING BRUENOR
Each step of character creation includes an example of that step, with a player named Bob building his dwarf character, Bruenor.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm Lord’s Wrath
. At the center of the ruins, a tall tower, mostly collapsed, rests atop a bluff. The only intact stone building sits at the bottom of the bluff, its white façade bearing the mark of Lathander
.
There is an intact wooden building closer to the water marsh at the southwest side of town, smoke rising from two chimneys.
In front of this building stands a tiefling dressed in blue robes. She raises
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
, inanimate item like a window, door, sword, book, table, chair, or stone. It isn’t a building or a vehicle, which are composed of many objects. Time-Limited Object Interactions When time is short, such
as in combat, interactions with objects are limited: one free interaction per turn. That interaction must occur during a creature’s movement or action. Any additional interactions require the Utilize
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
, inanimate item like a window, door, sword, book, table, chair, or stone. It isn’t a building or a vehicle, which are composed of many objects. Time-Limited Object Interactions When time is short, such
as in combat, interactions with objects are limited: one free interaction per turn. That interaction must occur during a creature’s movement or action. Any additional interactions require the Utilize
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild
found themselves unable to leave. The sculptors seek assistance to escape the tomb, and provide whatever information they know in exchange for aid. They can relate how the rest of the sculptors (in
one of Moghadam’s magical passes. In combat, it uses the implements it holds as weapons. Use the statistics for the girallon’s claw attack, but a hammer attack deals bludgeoning damage and a chisel
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
beauty of the ocean. (Good)
6
Code of Combat. I despise most other dragons, but I meet them face to face without resorting to the base trickery I use on lesser creatures. (Lawful)
Topaz
from the sea, but the dragon is too proud to ask for help getting home.
6
A topaz dragon is building a tableau of desiccated creatures and has grown obsessed with catching one treasure hunter
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
unsettling forms to frighten foes. A doppelganger’s agenda might relate to its mysterious magical origins or to more mercenary goals. Roll on or choose a result from the Doppelganger Deceptions table
the first round of each combat), reach 5 ft. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) Bludgeoning damage.
Read Thoughts. The doppelganger casts Detect Thoughts, requiring no spell components and using Charisma as the
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
the sight of the vast beauty of the ocean. (Good)
6
Code of Combat. I despise most other dragons, but I meet them face to face without resorting to the base trickery I use on lesser creatures
injured and stranded far from the sea, but the dragon is too proud to ask for help getting home.
6
A topaz dragon is building a tableau of desiccated creatures and has grown obsessed with catching
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
guards are posted on the balcony and one guard patrols around the outside of the building at ground level. A character can avoid the notice of the exterior guards with a successful DC 12 Dexterity
, characters can resolve encounters without resorting to combat. Some examples are listed below, though the characters may come up with creative alternatives: Bluffing. A character can lie their way






