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Returning 35 results for 'before building driven clever rules'.
Monsters
Vecna: Eve of Ruin
powerful as their black dragon progenitors, though, and they often drain the enclaves’ resources with their selfish demands.
Uninterested in building lairs, spiderdragons weave powerful webs and
particularly clever, though some of them understand their significance to Lolth worshipers and exploit their positions for as long as possible.Poison, PsychicStifling Webs (Recharge 5–6);{"diceNotation":"1d6
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
killed or driven away.
Calculating Masters. When a fog giant accumulates followers, it sets them to the task of rebuilding the giant’s collection of wondrous, expensive treasures. Its favored
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
have no personalities or memories; they’re driven only by the desire to commit evil. The amnizus that patrol here drill the rules of the Nine Hells into the new arrivals’ minds and marshal
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
, where it flows through Dis and Stygia. They collect the souls arriving in the form of lemure;lemures (see the Monster Manual). Lemures have no personalities or memories; they’re driven only by the
desire to commit evil. The amnizus that patrol here drill the rules of the Nine Hells into the new arrivals’ minds and marshal them into legions.Fire, PoisonCold; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered
Species
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
to Khorvaire over the years and have integrated with the cultures of the Five Nations.
As a whole, elves are driven by tradition and respect for the past. Where humans value innovation, elves strive
or clever? Whatever their nature, it’s your duty to follow their example. Is this something you proudly embrace, or do you resist it? Each patron ancestor is tied to many Valenar: do you have a
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
Guild took over your family business, ran it into the ground, and burned the building for insurance money. You were driven into crime yourself, but you’ll never work for the Guild. You take
underbelly of civilization, and you have survived up to this point by flouting the rules and regulations of society.
Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Stealth
Tool Proficiencies: One
Species
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
to Khorvaire over the years and have integrated with the cultures of the Five Nations.
As a whole, elves are driven by tradition and respect for the past. Where humans value innovation, elves strive
or clever? Whatever their nature, it’s your duty to follow their example. Is this something you proudly embrace, or do you resist it? Each patron ancestor is tied to many Valenar: do you have a
Species
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
Hobgoblins trace their origins to the ancient courts of the Feywild, where they first appeared with their goblin and bugbear kin. Many of them were driven from the Feywild by the conquering god
fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.
Ability Score Increases
When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score
Goliath
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Elemental Evil Player's Companion
the responsibility to earn a place in the tribe or die trying.
Driven Competitors
Every day brings a new challenge to a goliath. Food, water, and shelter are rare in the uppermost mountain reaches. A
skills.
This dedication to competition has a dark side. Goliaths are ferocious competitors, but above all else they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a goliath slays a dragon, he or she might
Monk
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
seriously, approaching their adventures as personal tests of their physical and spiritual growth. As a rule, monks care little for material wealth and are driven by a desire to accomplish a greater
important mission beyond the cloister? Perhaps you were cast out because of some violation of the community’s rules. Did you dread leaving, or were you happy to go? Is there something you hope to
Triton
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
and worse, so you know you can count on them in a fight.
— Brego Stoneheart, sea captain
Tritons guard the ocean depths, building small settlements beside deep trenches, portals to the
the depths revealed that krakens, sahuagin, and far worse foes had fled the Plane of Water for the Material Plane.
The tritons, driven by a sense of duty and responsibility, would not allow their foes
Kenku
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
at the burned-out building, a sudden cacophony erupted around us. Birds squawked, cats hissed, and dogs growled. Lidda hustled us back to the city’s safer avenues. Only when we were back within
a talent for learning and memorizing details. Thus, ambitious kenku can excel as superb spies and scouts. A kenku who learns of clever schemes and plans devised by other creatures can put them to use
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Zox Clammersham A clever rock gnome, Zox Clammersham is the sole survivor of his former party’s failed Undermountain expedition. Since the demise of his friends, Zox has managed to secure a ring that
allows him to command the scaladar. He has put the constructs to work building a device he calls the Simulacrux. This device will, in theory, create a simulacrum of any scaladar that passes through
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
Master’s Guide. This approach uses the same math that underlies the rules presented in that book, but it makes a few adjustments to the way that math is presented to produce a more flexible system. This
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Mutated Apprentices Halaster handed over this level to his fervent pupils, almost all of whom were driven mad by their studies and mutated by the magic they wrought, becoming gibbering mouthers and
nothics. A mezzoloth summoned from the Lower Planes to serve as a wizard’s assistant now rules over them all.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
run a special session—colloquially called session zero—to establish expectations, outline the terms of a social contract, and share house rules. Making and sticking to these rules can help ensure
that the game is a fun experience for everyone involved. Often a session zero includes building characters together. As the DM, you can help players during the character creation process by advising them to select options that will serve the adventure or campaign that awaits.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
an upper ward noble.
2 You’ve crafted the identity of a prophet driven by holy visions. If you are a divine spellcaster, your actual faith may be entirely different from the one you profess
You’re a covert operative working for another nation, or for a powerful agency (a dragonmarked house, the City Watch, a criminal organization). Are you carrying out missions, or are you a sleeper agent building a deep cover?
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver
General Features Many of Thundertree’s buildings have crumbled in the years since the town was abandoned, even as nature threatens to swallow what remains. Buildings. A building in Thundertree is
terrain (see “Difficult Terrain” in the Basic Rules). Intact buildings are rundown, ramshackle stone cottages that are otherwise still standing. Their wooden doors are swollen and require a successful
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
some free time to exercise your creativity as you invent compelling plots, create new NPCs, craft encounters, and think of clever ways to foreshadow story events yet to come. Part 2 of these rules is
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
. Only a special escape route—a secret passage known only to a palace’s most trusted servants, for example—should come as a surprise to the cultists and Red Wizards. Frontal Assault Because clever ruses
. When they finally face off against the adventurers, the attackers fight to kill. If the characters try to stay inside and under cover, the dragons attack whatever building they hide in, setting it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
describes what happens. Sometimes, however, rules govern what you can do with an object, as detailed in the following sections. What Is an Object? For the purpose of the rules, an object is a discrete
, 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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
describes what happens. Sometimes, however, rules govern what you can do with an object, as detailed in the following sections. What Is an Object? For the purpose of the rules, an object is a discrete
, 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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
cut from the slopes of the Spine of the World or the depths of the Lonelywood Forest. Stone from the hills and valleys surrounding Kelvin’s Cairn supplements wood as a building material in Ten-Towns
, one resident looks very much the same as another. Outdoors, it’s hard to tell the people of Ten-Towns apart—and easy for clever monsters to hide in their midst. The Easthaven ferry is trapped in ice, just like the rest of Ten-Towns..
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
before the wall does. For the purpose of these rules, an object is a discrete, inanimate item like a window, door, sword, book, table, chair, or stone, not a building or a vehicle that is composed of many other objects.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
before the wall does. For the purpose of these rules, an object is a discrete, inanimate item like a window, door, sword, book, table, chair, or stone, not a building or a vehicle that is composed of many other objects.
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
unexpected direction? How did the DM handle it? Rules Adjudication. To what extent did the DM lean on the rules to adjudicate outcomes? Did the DM adjudicate situations wisely or in ways that made the
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
unexpected direction? How did the DM handle it? Rules Adjudication. To what extent did the DM lean on the rules to adjudicate outcomes? Did the DM adjudicate situations wisely or in ways that made the
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
you. It gives you new rules options, as well as some refined tools for creating and running adventures and campaigns. It is a supplement to the tools and advice offered in the Dungeon Master’s Guide
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat
Assault Because clever ruses and ambush have failed in previous attacks, the cult’s third assault opts for overwhelming force. The dragons attack the characters from the air, attempting to draw them outside
if they are indoors. When they finally face off against the adventurers, the attackers fight to kill. If the characters try to stay inside and under cover, the dragons attack whatever building they
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
history. When this race died out, the nagas deemed themselves the rightful inheritors of their masters’ treasures and magical lore. Industrious and driven, nagas occasionally venture out from their
days, ready to continue its eternal work. Benevolent Dictators and Brutal Tyrants. A naga rules its domain with absolute authority. Whether it rules with compassion or by terrorizing its subjects, the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
the rules for monster customization and encounter building in the Dungeon Master’s Guide—to build your own adventures. Consult appendix B for monster lists that will help your adventure building. What’s
New in the 2025 Version?
This is the 2025 version of the fifth edition Monster Manual. If you’ve read the 2014 version, much of this book will feel familiar, since the fundamental rules and variety
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm Lord’s Wrath
the planar beacon and are refurbishing the tower for use as a garrison building. These efforts are led by Gallio Elibro, a powerful wizard and ranking member of the Order of the Many-Starred Cloak
, which have driven away his military work crew. Gallio is unaware that Thalivar’s spirit haunts the tower and possesses him each night to carry on its research!
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
Halflings Folk think of elves as aloof and graceful, dwarves as fierce and hardy, and of gnomes — if they think of them at all — as clever and shy. Halflings, in contrast, have the reputation of
travelers as a rule, with tongues and hearts as nimble as their feet. Whereas if strongheart halflings are on the move, it always seems driven by a desire to return to home or find and settle in a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
influence of the Lords of Dust. Over time they drifted away from their duties, building an empire in western Khorvaire and clashing with the Dhakaani goblinoids. This came crashing down when one of the
dragonborn believe they’re some exotic type of lizardfolk. If you’re a dragonborn PC, what has caused you to emerge from Q’barra? Are you on a quest to help your people or to oppose the Lords of Dust? Are you driven by wanderlust or curiosity? Did you serve as a mercenary in the Last War?
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
all. Rules for Everything Devils are evil schemers by nature, but they must operate within the bounds of the Nine Hells’ intricate legal code. A devil’s attitude toward the law is in part driven by its
and specific circumstances. A clever upstart that wants to annihilate its superior could manipulate events to bring about one such circumstance, then look on as the commander succumbs while it cites the






