before bursts diffusing combat roving

Action!

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

dramatic locations. Action doesn’t have to mean combat, but ensuring that the world is in constant motion around the player characters is a good way to keep their interest high. Kicking Off the Action When

-packed ways to get things moving. Story Kickoff d6 Event 1 On a quiet night, the tavern door bursts open and a group of soldiers calls for one of the party members by name. 2 An explosion rocks a

Flumph

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

to strangers. These tentacled, telepathic creatures jet through the air in short bursts, venting gases with a sound that gives them their name. Rather than speaking, flumphs communicate

often encounter dangerous beings such as aboleths and mind flayers. While flumphs generally avoid combat, they often help adventurers in peril. Such help might be of doubtful use, but flumphs mean well

By Land

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

Transients. The bullywugs are a roving band but they have set up a defensive camp here because they have happened upon a considerable treasure. Rather than risk traveling through the swamp with their

bullywugs arrive shortly after the first wave is defeated. They make a grand show of battling the characters, and Arrp grins at the king whenever he is effective in combat. Wave 3. Gulpa’Gor (bullywug

Parade Ambush

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

throwing something toward the cart. An instant later, a cloud of pink ashes bursts from a sachet, striking the two guards. Kala’s Attack The parade route appears on map 5.1. The characters are either at

farthest from the characters. Map 5.1: parade routeView Player Version Azra Nir. Azra uses the acolyte stat block and is surprised during the first round of combat. He seeks only to escape the chaos

Expanded Ziggurat

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase

characters of all levels, though unseasoned adventurers determined to face the Returner in combat are almost certainly doomed to fail. Characters killed by Zargon might be resurrected on the Infinite

even in combat—only death can separate the Zargonites from their goal. The cultist on the pedestal refrains from joining combat until the ritual is complete; if they are killed, another cultist takes

Bronze Dragon Lairs

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

vanishes. Salt Burst. The dragon chooses a point it can see in the lair. The air in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on that point bursts with abrasive salt crystals. Each creature in that area must

the dragon’s grim fate. After the wars, Fireflash faded from public view, but rumor holds that he continues his lifelong fight against evil, using his legendary skill in aerial combat to assist the Knights of Solamnia.

Upper Deck

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

— spiders of every size and type. If anyone other than the druid Krell spends more than a few moments in this room, one giant spider bursts from the webs on the port side, while an ettercap emerges from

maps, gaining surprise unless the creature has a passive Perception score of 17 or higher. Combat in this area arouses the hungry vermin in the decks below. Beginning 1d4 rounds after the giant spider’s

Sites and Ruins

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

proving grounds of the Cannith creation forges, cadres of newborn warforged learned the combat skills that would prepare them for active duty. Eston began as a successful mining settlement, extracting

Glass Plateau is mostly smooth and flat, though jagged spikes and spires jut up from the ground in seemingly random places. The central portion of the highland plain is obsidian, and bursts of fiery

Rampaging Giant

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

to look as a two-headed, gray-skinned giant bursts through a gate, howling madly and lashing out left and right, littering the plaza with rock and stone debris. As he bellows, one of his swings

with the giant’s threat, but they attempt to arrest them again after the combat is over. Once the crazed giant is put down, another stone giant comes through the shattered gate, but this one looks

Horror Pacing

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

, combat, and other types of encounters to create interesting and engaging pacing. Ensure that scenes are always somehow relevant to your story and move characters toward their goals. Logistics You often

bursts. Focus less on senses and more on descriptions of impact—a splash of crimson, who knows where it came from? Split the characters’ attention. Roleplay other creatures begging, panicking, and trying

Nautiloid Down

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

threatened, the ceremorphs react with deadly intent; otherwise, they shun combat. Roleplaying the Gnome Squidlings The gnome squidlings have a blind hunger for brains that often overrides their common sense

squelching and keening noises when excited or upset; otherwise, they communicate in bursts of emotion punctuated with short, simple words conveyed telepathically. The squidlings trust Vorryn and

Cult of the Crushing Wave

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

opportunistic in their overall philosophy than the earth cultists are. Like a flood that seeks the weak point in a levee and then bursts through with ever-growing strength, water cultists are quick to sense an

prizes and use their ill-gotten loot to develop their schemes. In combat, Crushing Wave cultists excel as skirmishers. They value mobility and opportunism, rarely making a stand in one place for long

Rogue Subclasses

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook

combat, you have Advantage on attack rolls against any creature that hasn’t taken a turn. If your Sneak Attack hits any target during that round, the target takes extra damage of the weapon’s type

techniques that aid your infiltrations. Masterful Mimicry. You can unerringly mimic another person’s speech, handwriting, or both if you have spent at least 1 hour studying them. Roving Aim. Your Speed

Centaur

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

resource-rich targets—be they humanoid traders or roving, greedy monsters. Bands also join together to defeat common threats or to hunt for game. The Pheres value physical strength, speed, and prowess in

both hunting and combat. Often a band is led by the strongest and most dominant warrior, called the charger. However, some bands elevate a tactician or strategist to this venerated position. The

Lower Level Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves

Sleep Breath on them from his hiding place, trying to catch as many characters in its area as possible. He then bursts from the rubble and fights any characters not put to sleep by the gas. In combat

insists the characters remain where they are while he fetches the bag.) Ylagan in Combat. If the characters say or do anything to suggest they intend to kill him or plunder his hoard, Ylagan uses his

Lair Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves

Hill Giants outside the dragon’s lair notice the sounds of rock tossing or combat in this cave. If the giants aren’t aware of the characters’ presence, one giant investigates, situating itself outside

feet. A Purple Worm has been drawn to Nakari’s lair by the dragon’s frequent excavation work. The worm bursts up through the floor of the cave when the characters arrive and attacks them. It retreats

Mortuary Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Adventure Atlas: The Mortuary

) has repeatedly used the orrery, which has attracted the spirit of a dead and vengeful god (use the planar incarnate [Fiend form] stat block; see the appendix). The spirit bursts forth from the orrery

and attacks the characters. Skall aids the characters in combat against the spirit but withholds his more potent abilities unless the characters are about to be defeated. If the spirit is reduced to 0

Tyrant's Spiral

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Turn of Fortune’s Wheel

this chapter, consider adding the following additional challenges after a round or two of combat: Additional Foes. If an encounter features several of the same creature, have one more of that creature or

bursts from above. This giant eyestalk uses the purple worm stat block, but instead of Tail Stinger, it has the following action: Eradication Gaze (Recharge 5–6). The eyestalk creates an area of magical

Torrents Locations

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

trip, the creature inside the globe can swim out of it as an action. The globe carries only the one creature and bursts upon reaching its destination. A globe is immune to damage, though dust of dryness

Wisdom (Perception) check to spot the submerged crabs, which climb their nets to attack any creatures that pass within reach. Once combat starts, all the crabs attack. Nets. Each net draped across

The Mountain Door

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a2

orcs claims leadership of the tribe. If at least half the orcs in the tribe are slain in addition to Ulfe, any survivors abandon the dungeon after the party leaves. They become roving bands of raiders

appears that a dozen or so humanoids might use this area as a sleeping quarters. Creatures. Only Old Yarrack the orog and four orcs are at home when the characters enter the chamber. They enter combat

Cottage Locations

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

investigate and report back to her. They avoid combat. B7. Hallway The spiral staircase in area B1 leads up to this hallway on the second floor. The walls of this dank hallway are covered with scores of

condition. On its first turn in combat or when it is reduced to 0 hit points, the cat expels a cloud of dust that acts as dust of sneezing and choking. Tiny Door. Characters who look underneath the potion

Tomb Locations

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

pillars are spaced throughout this musty room, the ceiling of which is only ten feet high. In the flickering light, you see two massive, rolling constructs roving the space. The room’s ceiling is 10

Wisdom (Insight) check without taking an action. On a successful check, the character discerns a melancholy tone to Rerak’s words, as if he loathed that he must kill them. During combat, a character can

NPCs by Guild

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

guildmasters of Ravnica. Without exception, these are powerful creatures. In most campaigns, the guildmasters will come into play more often in negotiations and other social settings than in combat. Thus, each

troops of the legion. They are adept at breaking up mobs and organized lines of defense. Sometimes described as living thunderstorms, reckoners charge their bodies with lightning that bursts forth in

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