better barriers diffusing contrast rule

Soulknife Legacy

Classes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

Most assassins strike with physical weapons, and many burglars and spies use thieves’ tools to infiltrate secure locations. In contrast, a Soulknife strikes and infiltrates with the mind

, cutting through barriers both physical and psychic. These rogues discover psionic power within themselves and channel it to do their roguish work. They find easy employment as members of thieves&rsquo

Half-Elf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

Flint squinted into the setting sun. He thought he saw the figure of a man striding up the path. Standing, Flint drew back into the shadow of a tall pine to see better. The man’s walk was

contrast, throw themselves into the thick of society, putting their charisma and social skills to great use in diplomatic roles or as swindlers. Half-Elf Names Half-elves use either human or elven

Mark of Handling Human

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

were born to rule it. —Dalin d’Vadalis The Mark of Handling gives its bearer a primal connection to beasts and the natural world, granting the power to calm and coax. This extends beyond

rumors claim that Vadalis has crafted monsters of its own. Some rumors even insist that Vadalis is trying to magebreed better humans.

Mark of Shadow Elf

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

espionage in the lands west of the Mournland, while Thuranni operates in the eastern lands. As a rule, Phiarlan elves are the better spies and Thuranni agents are superior assassins. Thuranni and Phiarlan

Far Traveler

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

here as part of some such delegation, then decided to stay when the mission was over. Mulhorand. From the terrain to the architecture to the god-kings who rule over these lands, nearly everything

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

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

hold and controls their actions. In contrast, lizardfolk see emotions as traits assigned to other creatures, objects, and situations. A lizardfolk doesn’t think, “I’m scared.&rdquo

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

Polearm Master

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice Compendium

weapon, and if you hit, you add the same ability modifier to the damage roll, which is normal for weapon damage rolls. A specific rule, such as the rule for two-weapon fighting, might break the general

rule by telling you not to add your ability modifier to the damage. Polearm Master doesn’t have such a rule. Does Polearm Master let me make an opportunity attack against a target that is being forced

Yuan-ti Pureblood Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

the blood, as it once did. Because their population is so small, the yuan-ti are aware they are vulnerable in open warfare. Instead, their current plans assume they will never rule outwardly in

odds aren’t in their favor. A short retreat might be just the thing to reach a better tactical position, find allies, or to allow the yuan-ti the opportunity to study their opponents and

Azorius Functionary

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

5th dominate person Your magic often takes the form of blue or golden runes floating and glowing in the air in circular patterns or of shimmering azure barriers of magical energy. If you

best at everything in my legal training, and now I work with the person who was always just a little bit better. 6 A good friend was promoted into work they can’t tell me about. 7 I

Mapping a Wilderness

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

Mapping a Wilderness In contrast to a dungeon, an outdoor setting presents seemingly limitless options. The adventurers can move in any direction over a trackless desert or an open grassland, so how

uneven ground. Valleys and ridges channel travel in certain directions. Mountain ranges present forbidding barriers traversed only by remote passes. Even the most trackless desert reveals favored

Flying Creatures and Falling

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

being held aloft by magic, such as the fly spell. If you’d like a flying creature to have a better chance of surviving a fall than a non-flying creature does, use this rule: subtract the creature’s

current flying speed from the distance it fell before calculating falling damage. This rule is helpful to a flier that is knocked prone but is still conscious and has a current flying speed that is

Ancient Deep Dragon Legacy

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

1 Understanding. True power comes from the ability to discern other creatures’ motivations better than they can discern yours. (Any) 2 Kindred. All dragons are kin to one another, and

, they use local settlements—and any competent visitors—as pawns in their struggle. 4 An ancient deep dragon has put the folk of a city to work building the dragon a metropolis to rule

City of Skophos

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

fortress-palaces of tyrants, the lairs of monstrous oracles, and cavernous indoor markets also stand as destinations at the end of confounding avenues. Priests and warlord champions of Mogis rule the

starting point, they pursue their vision of a better way of life, aspiring to nobler principles than senseless slaughter and better governance than iron-fisted tyranny. Under the leadership of the temple’s

Simic Scientist

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

against the schemes and ambitions of the other guilds, so much the better. Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Medicine Languages: Two of your choice Equipment: A Simic insignia, a set of

offer bribes, favors, or other incentives to induce people to reveal their secrets. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an inaccessible place, or that it simply can

Mount Celestia

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

the purest souls can. Gazing toward that peak fills even the most jaded of travelers with awe. Optional Rule: Blessed Beneficence In contrast to the dissonance experienced by evil creatures here, good

Game Customization

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

zero that turns out to have an adverse effect on people’s enjoyment of the game, you may jettison or revise the house rule to create a better gaming experience for everyone. Don’t feel bad if a house

discuss those rules with the players and solicit their input. House rules are best presented as experiments, and time will tell if they’re good for your game. If you introduce a house rule in session

Personal Motives

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

better off under their rule. Primordial forces strive to change or destroy Eberron. But more often, characters encounter misguided patriots, religious extremists, dragonmarked houses looking to wring a

Doppelganger

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild

spread fear, suspicion, and deceit better than doppelgangers. Found in every land and culture, they can take on the guise of any individual of any race. Doppelganger Medium monstrosity

creature within 60 feet of it. The effect can penetrate barriers, but 3 feet of wood or dirt, 2 feet of stone, 2 inches of metal, or a thin sheet of lead blocks it. While the target is in range, the

Halflings

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

Goblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

new leader can act as the real boss. If the creature brushes aside such manipulation, the tribe falls into line behind the new tyrant—better to abide the new rule than conspire against it and be

opportunity to supervise and dominate such creatures, which have no status at all. WHO'S THE BOSS? Goblins pattern the rule of their tribes after the whip-cracking rule of their god, Khurgorbaeyag

Developments

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat

grieve, but they won’t take any action against the characters. In contrast, the kobolds are furious with grief, throwing themselves at the characters in frenzied, suicidal attacks. The ice trolls

they can, while the ice toads demonstrate the same impassive stoicism they show if the dragon is killed. The ice trolls shy away from Arauthator’s treasure as long as he is alive, knowing better than

Creating a Gold Dragon

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

to help select spells for a spellcasting dragon. Gold Dragon Personality Traits d8 Trait 1 I prefer to parley before combat. If villains can be reformed without violence, all the better

the motivation to overcome my barriers, then their matter is unworthy of my attention. 8 On a long enough timescale, all actions are meaningless. So why should I deny myself anything? Gold

Gith Tables

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

they keep. 2 Power. The weak rule the strong. 3 Duty. It is by Vlaakith’s will alone that I act. 4 Freedom. No strong soul should be enslaved. Better to die first than live as another’s puppet

Zar’ryth Githyanki Personality Traits d4 Trait 1 When I’m bored I make my own excitement, and I’m always bored. 2 I treat others as if they were animals that simply don’t know any better. 3 Violence is

Developments

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons

grieve, but they won’t take any action against the characters. In contrast, the kobolds are furious with grief, throwing themselves at the characters in frenzied, suicidal attacks. The ice trolls

they can, while the ice toads demonstrate the same impassive stoicism they show if the dragon is killed. The ice trolls shy away from Arauthator’s treasure as long as he is alive, knowing better than

The Horror of Defeat

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat

. The Red Wizards who freed her are devoured or driven away, hunted by the forces of Szass Tam. The cultists who orchestrated Tiamat’s return fare little better, with the Dragon Queen not caring which

mortals her draconic subjects hunt, consume, and enslave. The glorious reign of dragons that Severin hoped to usher in and rule becomes a brutal world where evil dragons dominate all. This need not mean

Duergar Despot

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

gathering on the fringes of Icewind Dale. Adventurers are much better equipped to deal with such threats, particularly in the dead of winter. One recent arrival in the area is Xardorok Sunblight, a

duergar warlock formerly of the Underdark. His patron, Deep Duerra, has urged Xardorok to fulfill his destiny and become the first duergar to rule a kingdom on the surface. Icewind Dale is cold, dark

The Horror of Defeat

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons

. The Red Wizards who freed her are devoured or driven away, hunted by the forces of Szass Tam. The cultists who orchestrated Tiamat’s return fare little better, with the Dragon Queen not caring which

mortals her draconic subjects hunt, consume, and enslave. The glorious reign of dragons that Severin hoped to usher in and rule becomes a brutal world where evil dragons dominate all. This need not mean

The Houses of Shadow

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

rule, Phiarlan elves are the better spies and Thuranni agents are superior assassins. On the surface Thuranni and Phiarlan maintain a peaceful relationship, but rivalries run deep.

Multiclassing

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice Compendium

strikes? The Sneak Attack feature works with a weapon that has the finesse or ranged property. An unarmed strike isn’t a weapon, so it doesn’t qualify. In contrast, a rogue/ monk can use Sneak Attack with a

they are on the sorcerer spell list, or do they have to gain them from sorcerer to trigger? From the multiclassing rules: “Each spell you know and prepare is associated with one of your classes”. This rule means only the spells gained from levels in sorcerer trigger Wild Magic Surge.

Fierna and Belial

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

, Fierna and Belial rule in strange tandem. They are variously thought of by mortals as mother and son, daughter and father, wife and husband, or ruler and consort, but none of those terms can capture

Belial, but his contingency plans rescue him from possible disaster. Other devils might gain a brief advantage over the two lords because of their infighting, but whenever any true threat to their rule

The Houses of Shadow

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

operates in the eastern lands. As a rule, Phiarlan elves are the better spies and Thuranni agents are superior assassins. Thuranni and Phiarlan maintain a peaceful relationship, but rivalries run deep

Where Are You From?

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

the god-kings who rule over these lands, nearly everything about Mulhorand is alien to someone from the Sword Coast. You likely experienced the same sort of culture shock when you left your desert

the north and bounded on its other sides by 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

Knights of Solamnia

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

, called Solamnia in his honor. King Solamnus sought above all to rule this new society justly. On the Isle of Sancrist, at a black granite stone in a secluded glade, he prayed to the gods for guidance

internal feud: Is it better to maintain their strict codes even in the face of obsolescence, secure in the knowledge they were true to themselves? Or should they embrace a changing world and fight to

Hosts of the Nine Hells

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons

. Avernus is a boulder-strewn desolation where fiery comets streak across the sky and devil aristocrats rule from dismal iron fortresses. The River Styx saws a jagged course through Avernus’s basalt cliffs

, and though Asmodeus can bend these laws, he seldom does. Most devils in the Material Plane were summoned there by mortal mages who expended tremendous amounts of magical power to breach the barriers

Moving Around Other Creatures

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

Moving Around Other Creatures You can move through a nonhostile creature’s space. In contrast, you can move through a hostile creature’s space only if the creature is at least two sizes larger or

, there’s little room for anyone else. In contrast, as many as twenty Medium creatures can surround a Gargantuan one. Squeezing into a Smaller Space A creature can squeeze through a space that is

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