beneath before deserve could rather

Aranea

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

a bulky, humpbacked spider with two short arms beneath its head. An aranea can shape-shift into a humanoid form or into a multiarmed humanoid-spider hybrid. Araneas live in insular communities, such

Skilled at Crafting … 1 Exceptionally comfortable bedding. 2 Furniture made of wood and canvas. 3 Poisons that are soporific rather than lethal. 4 Poultices and unguents

Edgin Darvis

Monsters Thieves’ Gallery

relies on charisma first—rather than magic or muscle—to escape trouble. Once a member of the Harpers, a spy organization dedicated to protecting Faerûn’s common folk, Edgin has

forsworn his oath and turned to thievery to support his family. Edgin’s strong moral compass compels him to steal only from people he believes deserve to lose both coin and face. Edgin’s

Isolde

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

archfey named Zybilna, who had forged secret pacts with some of the fiends Isolde and her companions had slain. Rather than be angry at Isolde, Zybilna was impressed by her. She enlisted a powerful fiend

than blood. Choose well who you share the road with, lest you carry them forever.” Flaw. “For my victories and scars, I deserve more than a nursemaid’s duty.”Cold, Fire, Lightning, Poison; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks

Urchin Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

;d rather kill someone in their sleep than fight fair. 5 It’s not stealing if I need it more than someone else. 6 People who can’t take care of themselves get what they deserve.

or hiding. d6 Ideal 1 Respect. All people, rich or poor, deserve respect. (Good) 2 Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it

Cradle of the Cloud Scion

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

a constantly overcast sky. Sapient creatures who live beneath this cloud often display superstitious and duplicitous behavior, almost unconsciously leaving gifts for “rain spirits” while

feet tall and wields a morningstar made from magically dense clouds. It tends to regard other creatures as toys rather than serious threats, and it uses its illusion magic to manipulate creatures into

Waterdhavian Noble

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

your name, and salt your fields. d6 Ideal 1 Respect. Respect is due to me because of my position, but all people regardless of station deserve to be treated with dignity. (Good

. It is my duty to protect and care for the people beneath me. (Good) d6 Bond 1 I will face any challenge to win the approval of my family. 2 My house’s alliance

Scion of Memnor

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

creatures who live beneath this cloud often display superstitious and duplicitous behavior, almost unconsciously leaving gifts for “rain spirits” while playing mischievous pranks on each

made from magically dense clouds. It tends to regard other creatures as toys rather than serious threats, and it uses its illusion magic to manipulate creatures into fighting each other. If seriously

Charlatan Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

them like they were children’s books. It’s a useful talent, and one that you’re perfectly willing to use for your advantage. You know what people want and you deliver, or rather

stole them from me. 5 A powerful person killed someone I love. Some day soon, I’ll have my revenge. 6 I swindled and ruined a person who didn’t deserve it. I seek to atone for my

Urchin - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

. d6 Ideal 1 Respect. All people, rich or poor, deserve respect. (Good) 2 Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it. (Lawful

from a fight. 2 Gold seems like a lot of money to me, and I’ll do just about anything for more of it. 3 I will never fully trust anyone other than myself. 4 I’d rather

Inheritor

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your inheritance right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your inheritance a secret

. 7 I misuse long words in an attempt to sound smarter. 8 I get bored easily. When am I going to get on with my destiny? d6 Ideal 1 Respect. People deserve to be treated

Triton Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

Ah, the tritons. Imagine if the elves spent a few centuries far beneath the sea, where their arrogance and pretension could grow undisturbed. At least the tritons spent that time fighting sahuagin

deserve their protection. Their attitude might grate, but when pirate fleets prowl the waves or a kraken awakens from its slumber, they are among the first to take up arms to protect others. Tritons

Selesnya Initiate

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

1 I never raise my voice or lose my temper. 2 I feel the pains and joys of everyone around me, friend or foe. 3 I would rather make a friend than thwart an enemy. 4 I’m

always straining to peer into another reality that seems to be just beyond my senses. 5 I’m uneasy if I can’t see plants growing or feel soil beneath my feet. 6 Seeing illness

Continent Scale

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

, huge lakes, and political boundaries. A map at this scale is best for showing how multiple kingdom-scale maps fit together, rather than tracking the movement of adventurers day by day. The same

process you use for mapping a region at kingdom scale works for mapping a whole continent. A continent might have eight to twelve large cities that deserve a place on the map, most likely major trade centers and the capitals of kingdoms.

Charlatan - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

one that you’re perfectly willing to use for your advantage. You know what people want and you deliver, or rather, you promise to deliver. Common sense should steer people away from things that

title from those who stole them from me. 5 A powerful person killed someone I love. Some day soon, I’ll have my revenge. 6 I swindled and ruined a person who didn’t deserve it. I

Criminal - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

, working for someone who has more than they deserve. But the Guild offered you a way to fix that. You keep doing what you’ve always done — guard work, dock labor, business accounting &mdash

could be hidden. 4 I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy. 5 I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide. 6 I don’t pay

Iroas

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

name can count on his support. Cowards and oath breakers are to be despised, and traitors don’t deserve mercy in battle. Iroas most often appears as a powerfully built centaur with a bull’s body

rather than a horse’s, clad in gleaming armor and wielding a spear and shield. He speaks in a booming baritone that projects power, confidence, and courage. He has been known to appear as a burly soldier

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

network of passages beneath the streets, connecting them to a nearby waterway and greatly improving the town’s sanitation. If the kobolds like the area and aren’t mistreated by the humans

hidden that the surface-dwelling citizens in the area often don’t know what lies beneath them. Because the kobolds make sure they stay out of the way of anyone more dangerous than themselves, grow

Ivlis

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Heroes of the Borderlands

Ivlis Secret Cult Leader Beneath a pretense of charity and goodness, Ivlis is a demon worshiper who leads a wicked cult. She uses deception and skulduggery to advance her power. Though she feigns

kindness and compassion in public spaces, Ivlis believes the poor and downtrodden deserve their wretched lot. In battle, her magic is unpredictable. Ivlis Medium Humanoid (Human), Chaotic Evil AC 13

Monsters as NPCs

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

Monsters as NPCs Named monsters that play a significant role in an adventure deserve the same attention you would give to a humanoid NPC, with mannerisms as well as ideals, bonds, flaws, and secrets

, though it understands the usefulness of its humanoid minions. The Xanathar uses the sewers beneath Waterdeep to access virtually any location within or under the city. The Xanathar’s ideal is greed

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

structures that would collapse beneath a human or an orc. Some thieves’ guilds use kenku as lookouts and messengers. The kenku dwell in the tallest buildings and towers the guild controls

kenku, constant attempts to mimic noises can come across as confusing or irritating rather than entertaining. You can just as easily describe the sounds your character makes and what they mean. Be clear

Edgin Darvis

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Thieves’ Gallery

Edgin Darvis Edgin Darvis has a talent for improvisation and strategy. He’s a musician and tale-teller who relies on charisma first—rather than magic or muscle—to escape trouble. Once a member of the

only from people he believes deserve to lose both coin and face. Edgin’s confidence and rakish demeanor make him a natural leader. With carefully chosen words, he inspires the members of his thieves

1. Spiral Staircase

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a4

1. Spiral Staircase The staircase is badly rusted but appears to be sturdy. The air inside the passageway is warm, humid, and rather foul. You reach the bottom of the stairs with a splash—the floor

is submerged beneath a foot of water! The spiral staircase descends about 100 feet before ending in area 1. Sensitive characters will feel it thrumming to a continuous low vibration (this vibration

Goblinoid NPCs

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

muut and atcha (honor and duty), but they believe that humans and their kin don’t deserve to be treated with honor. All the goblinoid races work together among the Dhakaani, and all are convinced of

Dhakaani strike force attacks a Deneith outpost built atop a goblin ruin. Are the goblins just angry about the desecration, or is something hidden beneath the outpost? 7 A bugbear of the Kech Sharaat, to

Across the Fungal Fields

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

behind this strange sensation. Then you feel the ground beneath you shift as something moves — a number of a thick, spiky tendrils bursting from the ground. Two fungal creatures resembling otyughs

rise up and attack the characters. Created by Araumycos to perfectly duplicate the abilities, traits, and actions of otyughs, these creatures are plants rather than aberrations. They attack until slain

Shrine of the Tender Oath

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

Shrine of the Tender Oath Revered sites within the Vale of Dancing Waters include temples and shrines positioned throughout the gorge, rather than a single consolidated structure. Most of these spots

. The fragmentary map sketches and journal entries they recovered suggested two possible entrances. One is in close proximity to the Shrine of the Tender Oath, and another is beneath the Sumber Hills

4. Elite Barracks

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

quaggoth is also present, carrying out chores such as cleaning up or delivering water. Either reacts hostilely to intruders, but they might choose to flee and warn the outpost rather than attack, depending

on the odds. Treasure The equipment of the resting drow warrior is stowed beneath his pallet: a shortsword, a hand crossbow with a case of 20 bolts, a chain shirt, and a 100-foot coil of silk rope

Wererat

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)

, wererats prefer light weapons and use ambush tactics rather than fighting as a pack. Although a wererat can deliver a nasty bite in its rat form, it favors that form for stealthy infiltration and escape

rather than combat. A wererat clan operates much like a thieves’ guild, with wererats transmitting their curse only to creatures they want to induct into the clan. Wererats that are accidentally cursed

Conflict without End

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

in a vicious assault that leaves few survivors. If robbery rather than murder is the goal, a duergar war party might surreptitiously dig for weeks to penetrate a dwarf treasure vault, hoping to seize

a clan’s riches from beneath its noses. For their part, the dwarves keep safety and defense uppermost in their priorities, realizing that there is little to be gained from trying to mount a large

Grimlock

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

individual’s former personality remains. Grimlocks have shallow depressions rather than eyes. A sixth sense allows grimlocks to perceive their surroundings. Psychic energies from their transformations

1d4 The Grimlock Serves Mind Flayers By... 1 Carving caves to serve as illithid outposts. 2 Hiding the threat of mind flayers beneath fake, purposefully crude dwellings. 3 Pretending to be helpful

Shadow of Soth

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

Shadow of Soth Lord Soth has brought the Cataclysmic flame from beneath Castle Kalaman to the ruins. In chapter 7, characters encounter the fruit of Soth’s efforts to reanimate dead dragons

get at whoever’s in charge in there!” Rookledust encourages the characters to find the Dragon Army’s leaders within the city rather than pursing Soth. The gnome is confident that Kalaman’s forces

Notable Locations

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

did this not from malice, nor even from fear that I would be ridiculed, but rather because I could not bear to revisit the horrors I had seen beneath the merciless Menechtarun sands. I force myself

in Sarlona known to Khorvairians are described below. The SHARN INQUISITIVE Beneath the Basalt Towers, Part 3 When I first spoke to the Morgrave board, I hid the details I share with you now. I

Bluetspur

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

Bluetspur, and none who witness them remember. This alien domain etches itself not upon the waking mind, but rather upon the body as inexplicable scars and on the psyche through nightmares. Not all the

dwell underground. Beneath the alien surface, the mind flayers of Bluetspur drift through the howling darkness of their ancient metropolis-laboratory. Within this sprawling installation, the illithids

Gnomish Deities

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

said to be the wiser of the two. Segojan Earthcaller is god of the wilds beneath the earth, rather than upon it, as well as god of burrows and the plants and animals found therein. Shadow and Stone

Jacqueline's Powers and Dominion

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

Chateau Delanuit and enforce her quarantines across Richemulot. Rather than the soldiers they appear to be, these troops are animated armor filled with rats that mindlessly and mercilessly enact Jacqueline

Renier’s will. If a guard is defeated, the armor collapses, releasing a swarm of rats. Plague Seasons. The Inverted Court beneath Chateau Delanuit holds hidden sewer laboratories where wererat

Noble

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

will crush you, ruin your name, and salt your fields. d6 Ideal 1 Respect. Respect is due to me because of my position, but all people regardless of station deserve to be treated with dignity. (Good

care for the people beneath me. (Good) d6 Bond 1 I will face any challenge to win the approval of my family. 2 My house’s alliance with another noble family must be sustained at all costs. 3

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