beings before death carry rites

Geas

Spells Player’s Handbook

You give a verbal command to a creature that you can see within range, ordering it to carry out some service or refrain from an action or a course of activity as you decide. The target must succeed

death. Should you issue a suicidal command, the spell ends. A Remove Curse,Greater Restoration, or Wish spell ends this spell. Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. If you use a level 7 or 8 spell slot

Book of Vile Darkness

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide

, foul rites that allow one to transform into a death knight or lich, or long-lost spells crafted by beings so evil their names ought never to be spoken aloud. Vile Speech. While the book is on your

attuned to the book, you can cast the following spells (save DC 18) from it: Animate Dead Circle of Death Dominate Monster Finger of Death Once you use the book to cast a spell, you can’t

Deck of Many Things

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide

combat, you have Advantage on Death Saving Throws for 1 year. If someone else reduces your chosen foe to 0 Hit Points or you don’t choose a foe, this card has no effect. Donjon. You disappear

yourself. The knight has the same alignment as you and serves you loyally until death, believing the two of you have been drawn together by fate. Work with your DM to create a name and backstory for this NPC

Kraul Death Priest

Monsters Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

, with little grasp of metaphor or nuance. The death priests occupy the highest roles in kraul society. They lead the buzzing chants of the kraul rites. Their inscrutable clicks and buzzing can summon

Feed on Death. When a creature within 30 feet of the kraul drops to 0 hit points, the kraul or another creature of its choice within 30 feet of it gains 5 (1d10);{"diceNotation":"1d10","rollType

Geas Legacy

Spells Basic Rules (2014)

You place a magical command on a creature that you can see within range, forcing it to carry out some service or refrain from some action or course of activity as you decide. If the creature can

result in certain death. Should you issue a suicidal command, the spell ends. You can end the spell early by using an action to dismiss it. A remove curse, greater restoration, or wish spell also

Skeletal Knight

Monsters Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

damage.Skeletal knights are powerful Undead that arise to serve even more wicked beings—often death knight;death knights. Those who become skeletal knights were typically virtuous in life but betrayed

Reborn

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

veins making it clear that they’ve been touched by death. Other reborn are marvels of magic or science, being stitched together from disparate beings or bearing mysterious minds in manufactured

Death isn’t always the end. The reborn exemplify this, being individuals who have died yet, somehow, still live. Some reborn exhibit the scars of fatal ends, their ashen flesh or bloodless

Living Portent

Monsters The Book of Many Things

the living portents impact the earth, they carve great craters, yet miraculously, none who live in the impact zone are harmed. These beings of light then assume Humanoid forms to blend in with the

inhabitants of the world. Living portents seek out beings who will play a part in the prophecies they serve, and as the living portents search, they relate fragments of the prophecies to those they

Deck of Many Things Legacy

Magic Items Basic Rules (2014)

30 feet of you. The fighter is of the same race as you and serves you loyally until death, believing the fates have drawn him or her to you. You control this character. Moon. You are granted the

it. Nothing less than a wish spell or divine intervention can end the NPC's hostility toward you. Ruin. All forms of wealth that you carry or own, other than magic items, are lost to you. Portable

The Undead (VRGtR)

Classes Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

firsthand the paths of ambition and the routes past the doors of death. They eagerly share this profane knowledge, along with other secrets, with those who work their will among the living. Beings of this

You’ve made a pact with a deathless being, a creature that defies the cycle and life and death, forsaking its mortal shell so it might eternally pursue its unfathomable ambitions. For such

Equinal Guardinal

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

powerful, hocked legs carry them over great distances. These good-natured, boisterous Celestials boast their might in contests of strength and rarely back down from a challenge. Tough and courageous

supernatural virtue puts them at odds with the evil beings of the Lower Planes. Guardinals abhor wickedness and strike out against injustice and villainy without hesitation, determined to eradicate forces that threaten beauty and peace.Radiant

Dracophage Subject

Monsters Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

Death Throes. When the draconian is reduced to 0 hit points, it dissolves into acid that splashes on those around it. Each creature within 5 feet of the draconian must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity

saving throw or be covered in acid for 1 minute. A creature covered in the acid takes 7 (2d6);{"diceNotation":"2d6", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Death Throes", "rollDamageType":"acid"} acid

The Undead

Classes Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

firsthand the paths of ambition and the routes past the doors of death. They eagerly share this profane knowledge, along with other secrets, with those who work their will among the living. Beings of this

You’ve made a pact with a deathless being, a creature that defies the cycle and life and death, forsaking its mortal shell so it might eternally pursue its unfathomable ambitions. For such

Spawn of Kyuss

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Orcus who plundered corpses from necropolises to create the first spawn of Kyuss. Even centuries after Kyuss’s death, his malign disciples continue performing the horrific rites he perfected

Lady Illmarrow

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

island domain. Long ago, it was revealed that the elven line of Vol — a house that practiced the art of necromancy and bore the Dragonmark of Death — was engaged in secret blood rites

, polymorph 5th level (3 slots): cloudkill, cone of cold, hold monster, scrying 6th level (2 slot): chain lightning, circle of death, create undead 7th level (2 slot): finger of death, forcecage

The Undying (SCAG)

Classes Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

lifetimes pass like the seasons, like the flicker of endless days and nights. It has the secrets of the ages to share, secrets of life and death. Beings of this sort include Vecna, Lord of the Hand and

Death holds no sway over your patron, who has unlocked the secrets of everlasting life, although such a prize—like all power—comes at a price. Once mortal, the Undying has seen mortal

The Undying

Classes Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

lifetimes pass like the seasons, like the flicker of endless days and nights. It has the secrets of the ages to share, secrets of life and death. Beings of this sort include Vecna, Lord of the Hand and

Death holds no sway over your patron, who has unlocked the secrets of everlasting life, although such a prize—like all power—comes at a price. Once mortal, the Undying has seen mortal

Strahd, Master of Death House

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

, Strahd takes 20 radiant damage at the start of his turn, has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and can’t use his Change Shape bonus action.Multiattack. Strahd makes two Death Strike

attacks. He can replace one of these attacks with Blighted Fire if available. Death Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: +9;{"diceNotation":"1d20+9", "rollType":"to hit", "rollAction":"Death Strike"} to hit

Cloud Giant Destiny Gambler

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

treasures—often by gambling. While many cloud giants are content with risking their wealth in games with each other, those who aim for the top of their ordning challenge all manner of beings in

games of chance and wit. A destiny gambler is a cloud giant who has won increasingly high-stakes wagers against other giants, smaller folk, and even beings from the Outer Planes. Destiny gamblers wear

Giff (Gunpowder Keg Variant)

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

until death, each has a military rank. Promotions don’t depend on age but are granted by a superior as a reward for valor. Muskets and grenades are the specialties of many giff regiments. The

gunpowder in preference to gold, gems, or other currency. Gunpowder by the Keg In addition to their personal gunpowder weapons, giff ships and mercenary companies carry spare gunpowder in kegs. In an

Leucrotta

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

cover up the stink of death. The first leucrottas came into being alongside some gnolls during the rampages of Yeenoghu on the Material Plane. While many of the hyenas that ate Yeenoghu’s

agree to carry the leader into battle and offer advice during the fight. Followers of Yeenoghu also see leucrottas as a form of entertainment. They enjoy watching a leucrotta work almost as much as they

Eater of Hope

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

them. Twister of Wills. Being obsessed with wealth and dominating lesser beings, eaters of hope hoard treasure for the sole purpose of tempting and manipulating mortals. They revel in using creatures

death. The worst of these hateful dead, through ages of bitterness, gradually transform into fiends, the tormentors of the Underworld. The people of Theros know these fiends as demons. Immortal Nature

Returned Kakomantis

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

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

, which manifest as separate beings known as eidolons. The experience of escaping the Underworld also causes them to lose their faces, which become expressionless surfaces with empty eye sockets and gaping

Tomb Tapper

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Petrified Death. A tomb tapper reduced to 0 hit points turns into a lifeless stone statue. Anything it's wearing or carrying is not transformed. Sense Magic. The tomb tapper senses magic within 30

tombs, temples, and caves in search of magic items, which they bear off. They usually try to seize magic from beings that they encounter. Magic is sacred to tomb tappers. They don't use any magic items

Vampiric Mind Flayer

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

dementia and death. The results were vampiric mind flayers, feral atrocities spawned from mind flayer tadpoles infected with vampirism. These specialized but flawed terrors serve a single purpose: to drain

grotesque balm stalls the elder brain’s degeneration but is far from a cure. Vampiric mind flayers are physically and mentally unstable beings. Ghoulish creatures, they let nothing stand between

Deadbark Dryad

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

great evil and is unable to forgive itself, the dryad might transform into a wicked Fey monster called a deadbark dryad. Such dryads relinquish any compassion they once felt for living beings and

, it becomes stronger and more violent, and it typically gains a renewed dedication to protecting its now-fetid domain. Most deadbark dryads would rather fight to the death than allow any intrusion into

Deck of Several Things

Magic Items Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

. All forms of wealth that you carry or own, other than magic items, are lost to you. This wealth can be recovered either in the treasury of the Monastery of the Distressed Body (area M10) or

Kwalish’s lab in Daoine Gloine (area O7), whichever comes later in the adventure. Skull. You summon an avatar of death — a mechanical skeleton (use bone naga statistics) clad in a

Returned Palamnite

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

(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

expected—not that they remember what it was they expected. As a result of having followed the Path of Phenax (see chapter 4), the Returned lose their identities, which manifest as separate beings

Genasi Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

Those who think of other planes at all consider them remote, distant realms, but planar influence can be felt throughout the world. It sometimes manifests in beings who, through an accident of birth

, carry the power of the planes in their blood. The genasi are one such people, the offspring of genies and mortals. The Elemental Planes are often inhospitable to natives of the Material Plane

Rak Tulkhesh

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

death until the children of Eberron and Siberys rose up against them. Armies of dragons fought against the fiends of Khyber. And though the overlords couldn't be destroyed, the couatl sacrificed

can't die permanently. Upon its death, it reforms elsewhere in the multiverse and becomes active again at a time set by the DM. Rak Tulkhesh Called the Rage of War, Rak Tulkhesh is the incarnation of

Loxodon

Species Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

appendage. In addition to providing a keen sense of smell, the trunk can be used to lift and carry even heavy objects. The trunk can be used to carry both food and liquid to the mouth and can even act as a

guilds is their sense of the size of the community they belong to. For loxodons in the Selesnya Conclave, their community is the world and all living beings in it—everything valuable, meant to live

Storm Giant Quintessent

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

end of their natural life spans seek an escape from death. They plumb the depths of their powerful connection to the elements and disperse themselves into nature, transforming into semiconscious storms

for the giant to communicate with a mortal, carry out a short task, or defend their home against aggressors.A Quintessent’s Lair A storm giant quintessent has no need for castles or dungeon

Giff Legacy

Monsters Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

of giff society is organized along military lines. From birth until death, every giff has a military rank. It must follow orders from those of superior rank, and it can give orders to those of lower

, giff ships and mercenary companies carry spare gunpowder in kegs. In an emergency, or any time a large explosion is needed, a whole keg can be detonated. A giff lights the fuse on the keg and can then

Book of Vile Darkness Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

, such as lore about demons. When you do so, double your proficiency bonus on that check. Dark Speech. While you carry the Book of Vile Darkness and are attuned to it, you can use an action to recite

, plus whatever else you choose: Vile Apotheosis. The book could hold a ritual that allows a character to become a lich or death knight. True Names. The true names of any number of fiends might be in

Red Abishai

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

abishais when it comes to leadership ability and raw power. Red abishais lead other devils into battle or take charge of troublesome cults to ensure that they continue to carry out Tiamat’s commands

somehow won Tiamat’s favor before death and, as a reward, found its soul transformed into a draconic devil to serve at her pleasure in the Nine Hells. Each type of abishai is associated with

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