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Returning 35 results for 'better bards diffusing career reason'.
Classes
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard’s reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason
Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling
Monsters
Acquisitions Incorporated
and earnest debate, he demonstrates an equal flair for planning and forethought, mad combat moves (involving leaping off high places whenever possible), and dark vengeance.
Viari's career as an
adventurer was nearly cut short during a battle of which the bards still sing. Unleashing a devastating attack with the aptly named Apocalypse Dagger, the rogue destroyed a giant single-handedly — and lost
Classes
Xanathar's Guide to Everything
against others through extortion and threats.
Many other bards hate the College of Whispers, viewing it as a parasite that uses a bard’s reputation to acquire wealth and power. For this reason
Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing songs, and telling
Equipment
The jagged vertebrae sword of a fishfolk warrior can barely be called a sword. Locals would say it’s better described as a makeshift weapon crafted from a fish skeleton and sea trash. Its poor
construction is the reason it’s not often a weapon seen on land, though when used by a skilled fighter, it most certainly can be a formidable tool.
When you successfully hit a creature with a
Bard
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
of song, speech, and the magic they contain. Bards say that the multiverse was spoken into existence, that the words of the gods gave it shape, and that echoes of these primordial Words of Creation
still resound throughout the cosmos. The music of bards is an attempt to snatch and harness those echoes, subtly woven into their spells and powers. The greatest strength of bards is their sheer
Monsters
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
to be cautious and avoid contact with other creatures that can harm her.
Auril’s worshipers know better than to disturb her self-imposed isolation. Terrible blizzards have cut off Icewind Dale
time). Thus, she has no reason to capitulate to mortals’ demands. As the embodiment of winter’s cruelty, she is incapable of showing mercy or compassion. Play her as a supremely cold and
Monsters
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
weak and vulnerable. In her self-inflicted weakened state, Auril is inclined to be cautious and avoid contact with other creatures that can harm her.
Auril’s worshipers know better than to
can’t truly die (although the characters can rid the world of her for a time). Thus, she has no reason to capitulate to mortals’ demands. As the embodiment of winter’s cruelty, she is
Charlatan
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
a born gambler who can’t resist taking a risk for a potential payoff.
5
I lie about almost everything, even when there’s no good reason to.
6
Sarcasm and insults are my
there, I have a child who doesn’t know me. I’m making the world better for him or her.
4
I come from a noble family, and one day I’ll reclaim my lands and title from those who
Firbolg
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
’ presence is marked by an absence of animals and a strange quiet, as if the forest wishes to avoid attracting attention to itself. The faster travelers decide to move on, the better.
If these
Reason for Adventuring
1
Outcast for murder
2
Outcast for severely damaging home territory
3
Clan slain by invading humanoids
4
Clan slain by a dragon or demon
5
Urchin
Legacy
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Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
recuperate. You’ve survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each.
You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but
securely for at least ten days. How did you come by that money? What allowed you to break free of your desperate circumstances and embark on a better life?
Skill Proficiencies: Sleight of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
Learning from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires
hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
Learning from Experience True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires
hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
provided. The following section, discussing possible homelands, includes some suggested reasons that are appropriate for each location.
d6
Reason
d6
Reason
1
Emissary
4
Pilgrim
hundreds of miles of the Great Glacier and the Great Ice Sea. No one from your nation makes the effort to cross such colossal barriers without a convincing reason. You must fear something truly
Lizardfolk
Legacy
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
quirk for a lizardfolk character or to inspire a unique mannerism.
Lizardfolk Quirks
d8
Quirk
1
You hate waste and see no reason not to scavenge fallen enemies. Fingers are tasty and
learned to laugh. You use this talent in response to all emotional situations, to better fit in with your comrades.
6
You still don’t understand how metaphors work. That doesn’t stop
Monsters
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
that can harm her.
Auril’s worshipers know better than to disturb her self-imposed isolation. Terrible blizzards have cut off Icewind Dale from the rest of the world, and a shroud of mist
might prove helpful:
So long as she has mortal worshipers, Auril can’t truly die (although the characters can rid the world of her for a time). Thus, she has no reason to capitulate to mortals
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
.
You begin your adventuring career with enough money to live modestly but securely for at least ten days. How did you come by that money? What allowed you to break free of your desperate
circumstances and embark on a better life?
Skill Proficiencies: Sleight of Hand, StealthTool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, thieves’ toolsEquipment: A small knife, a map of the city you grew up
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
inheritance that no one cares what you do, as long as you don’t embarrass the family? How does the head of your family feel about your adventuring career? Are you in your family’s good graces, or
visit prosperous Bloomridge to try a fashionable restaurant or boutique, or watch a spectacle at the Oasis Theater, the patriars have little reason to venture into the dirtier, more dangerous parts of the
Kobold
Legacy
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
undetected and don’t give their targets reason to harm them. For example, a group of city kobolds might sneak into a cobbler’s house at night to loot it of knives, leather bits, nails, and
provoke retaliatory attacks from the creatures they steal from. It’s better to be cautious and overlooked than to be considered dangerous and a threat.
In a couple of situations, kobolds might
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
organization, but who serve as its hands, head, and heart.
As a prelude to your adventuring career (and in preparation for it), you served as an agent of a particular faction in Faerûn. You might have
knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often proficient in Investigation, enabling them to be adept at snooping and spying. They often seek aid from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and
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
city, especially hard drink.
5
Secretly, I believe that things would be better if I were a tyrant lording over the land.
6
I have trouble trusting in my allies.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
secrets that might have better remained hidden, causing untold harm in the process. Whether true or false, stories like these tend to cling to inquisitive agencies and color their reputations. What
against you. 2 The Set Up. You uncovered evidence of a high-profile figure’s misdeeds. At trial, that evidence was deemed false, but by then the accused’s career was ruined. 3 Scandal. Your work uncovered
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
want.
4
I’m a born gambler who can’t resist taking a risk for a potential payoff.
5
I lie about almost everything, even when there’s no good reason to.
6
Sarcasm and
.
3
Somewhere out there, I have a child who doesn’t know me. I’m making the world better for him or her.
4
I come from a noble family, and one day I’ll reclaim my lands and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
don’t do is account for all the circumstances that shaped your character during the years between your birth and the start of your career as a member of a class. What did your character accomplish or
were the greatest influences on you during your formative years, for better or worse? To answer these questions and more, you can use the tables and the advice in this section to compose a well-developed
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
knowledge your group possesses, and how it might make life complicated for you. Secrets d6 Secret 1 Blackmail Material. You have evidence of a career-ending secret concerning an important figure
. 2 Hidden Agenda. You are party to a conspiracy that seeks to influence events to better suit your desires. 3 Careful Balance. You have damning information on your patron agency, but it has carefully
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Reporting Repercussions Your reporting changes lives—you like to think for the better. Sometimes, though, your work has drawn some fairly pointed criticism and earned you an enemy. Reference the
conspiracy. Most involved were arrested, but a few crooks remain free. 4 Politician. You ended a politician’s career, and they’ve sworn to return the favor. 5 Rival Newspaper. You got the scoop of a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
waste and see no reason not to scavenge fallen enemies. Fingers are tasty and portable! 2 You sleep best while mostly submerged in water. 3 Money is meaningless to you. 4 You think there are only two
species of humanoid: lizardfolk and meat. 5 You have learned to laugh. You use this talent in response to all emotional situations, to better fit in with your comrades. 6 You still don’t understand how
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
Customizing a Background You might want to tweak some of the features of a background so it better fits your character or the campaign setting. To customize a background, you can replace one feature
earliest years as street urchins. Tika’s later career as a barmaid didn’t really change her, so she might choose the urchin background, gaining proficiency in the Sleight of Hand and Stealth skills, and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
Customizing a Background You might want to tweak some of the features of a background so it better fits your character or the campaign setting. To customize a background, you can replace one feature
as street urchins. Tika’s later career as a barmaid didn’t really change her, so she might choose the urchin background, gaining proficiency in the Sleight of Hand and Stealth skills, and learning the
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
law-abiding citizens of Ravnica.
Personality Traits
d8
Personality Trait
1
I revel in mayhem, the more destructive the better.
2
When violence breaks out, I lose myself in
black at the spot), and I cherish it.
5
I want to be better at my chosen form of performance than any other member of my troupe.
6
I am devoted to Rakdos and live to impress him
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
of experience and science-driven deductive methods. As a young detective in Darkon, Alanik revealed his father’s criminal empire and oversaw its destruction. His success launched his career as a
published two volumes to date: The Life of Alanik Ray and The Casebook of Alanik Ray. Alanik Ray’s Traits Ideal. “Logic is a guide but also an illusion. Order and reason don’t supersede what is right
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
College of Whispers Most folk are happy to welcome a bard into their midst. Bards of the College of Whispers use this to their advantage. They appear to be like other bards, sharing news, singing
songs, and telling tales to the audiences they gather. In truth, the College of Whispers teaches its students that they are wolves among sheep. These bards use their knowledge and magic to uncover
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
with other art forms, which produces the complex dance of the bladesingers as well as the enchanting music of their bards and the meticulous craftwork of their artisans. Sun elf adventurers often bring
a feeling of noblesse oblige to their profession: they venture out into the world to challenge its dangers because someone must, and who could be better suited?
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Chapter 5: Spring Madness Xanathar has let its paranoia get the better of it, and the beholder trusts no one. The Stone of Golorr disappeared from its lair while it was brokering a deal that would
has access to lair actions, and characters might encounter the beholder’s regional effects as well. Characters who don’t visit Xanathar’s lair in the course of this adventure might have reason to do
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh
unique mannerism. Lizardfolk Quirks d8 Quirk 1 You hate waste and see no reason not to scavenge fallen enemies. Fingers are tasty and portable! 2 You sleep best while mostly submerged in water
to all emotional situations, to better fit in with your comrades. 6 You still don’t understand how metaphors work. This doesn’t stop you from trying to use them at every opportunity. 7 You appreciate
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
, and murder are severe, regardless of the reason for the crime. If the characters express interest in knowing more about crimes and punishments in Waterdeep, give them the Code Legal handout in
could end with one or more of the characters being exiled, sentenced to several years of hard labor, imprisoned, or put to death. If that’s how their adventure ends, so be it. Hopefully, your next group will fare better.