better before death compound races

Wand of Orcus

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide

some fell goal. The wand is topped with a skull that once belonged to a human hero slain by Orcus. The wand can magically change in size to better conform to the grip of its user. All Holy Water

from it (save DC 18). The table indicates how many charges you must expend to cast the spell. Spell Charge Cost Animate Dead 1 Blight 2 Circle of Death 3 Finger of

Tortle Legacy

Species The Tortle Package

test, and make new acquaintances. Life of a Tortle A tortle hatches from a thick-shelled egg and spends the first few weeks of its life crawling on all fours. Its parents, old and near death, spend

dozen) in a fortified compound enclosed by stone walls that are easily defensible. If no such compound exists, they build one. The parents spend the remainder of their lives guarding the compound

Grim Champion of Pestilence

Monsters The Book of Many Things

Spellcasting.Aleron was once a tiefling adventurer, but unlike so many victims of the Deck of Many Things, he never drew the Skull card. Instead, when one of his allies drew the card and faced the avatar of death

, Aleron came to his ally’s aid. A second avatar of death appeared, and Aleron was slain; soon after, his Undead corpse crawled from Withered Vineyard, tainted with plague. Aleron resents his fellow

Princess Serissa

Monsters Storm King's Thunder

thumb have abandoned her court and set out to impress the gods in ways that could all but destroy the civilizations of the small folk. Serissa fears warfare among the six giant races as they strive to

her that they were involved in their mother’s death or their father’s kidnapping. Other than Iymrith and her Uncle Uthor, there are few giants Serissa feels she can trust. Hekaton left

Skabatha Nightshade

Monsters The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

Hourglass Coven. Better known as Granny Nightshade, she offers her assistance to those who are haunted by regret. Her deals often result in cruel twists; for example, a petitioner who asks to be reunited

. Personality Trait. “When dealing with outsiders, I present myself as a kindly old grandmother.” Ideal. “Children are better off working for me than picking up lots of bad habits

Orcus Legacy

Monsters Out of the Abyss

tampering with the dead in my search to better understand death.” 61–80 “I want to achieve the everlasting existence of undeath.” 81–00 “I am awash in

with dead. Alternatively, he can expend 1 or more of the wand’s charges to cast one of the following spells from it: circle of death (1 charge), finger of death (1 charge), or power word kill (2

Mark of Shadow Elf

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

Thuranni, Regalport (Lhazaar Principalities) Elves have carried the Mark of Shadow for thousands of years. The mark’s bearers left Aerenal after the conflict that wiped out the Mark of Death

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

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

like doing their own killing, since leucrottas are meticulous in their cruelty and able to draw out kills for better and longer sport. And when there are no victims to be had, a leucrotta can mimic the

Wand of Orcus Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

. Made from bones as hard as iron, the wand is topped with a magically enlarged skull that once belonged to a human hero slain by Orcus. The wand can magically change in size to better conform to the

or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells (save DC 18) from it: animate dead (1 charge), blight (2 charges), circle of death (3 charges), finger of death (3 charges), power word kill

Golgari Agent

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

You are a member of a teeming horde — one small part of a sprawling organism. Just as you are part of the swarm, the swarm is part of a larger ecosystem, a never-ending cycle of life, death

Golgari, no fear of death or taboo about the dead, just a fierce affirmation of the cycle. Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Survival Tool Proficiencies: Poisoner’s kit Languages

Urchin Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

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

shaped by lives of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better

Aereni High Elf

Species Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

godlike power and has protected your island home for thousands of years. The greatest heroes of your people join the Undying Court after death; if you achieve great things in your life, you too could

master of these skills? Do you have ancestors in the Undying Court, and if so, what’s your relationship with them? Do you find dealing with the short-lived races to be a challenge, or are you patient with them?

Urchin - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

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

of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better life &mdash

Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

reckonings of most worlds, humans are the youngest of the common races, late to arrive on the world scene and short-lived in comparison to dwarves, elves, and dragons. Perhaps it is because of their

shorter lives that they strive to achieve as much as they can in the years they are given. Or maybe they feel they have something to prove to the elder races, and that’s why they build their mighty

Shadar-kai

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Material Plane to forge their own destinies. Once shadar-kai were Fey like the rest of their elven kin; now they exist in a state between life and death, thanks to being transformed by the Shadowfell

multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race

Life of a Tortle

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation Supplement

Life of a Tortle A tortle hatches from a thick-shelled egg and spends the first few weeks of its life crawling on all fours. Its parents, old and near death, spend what little time they have left

skills. When a tortle nears the end of its natural lifespan, it seeks out a mate and procreates. Tortles lay their eggs (numbering as few as one or as many as a dozen) in a fortified compound enclosed

Gith Legacy

Species Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

distanced themselves from one another to pursue their separate agendas. They remain bitter enemies today, each side willing to fight to the death whenever they cross paths. The githyanki were motivated

pacifists by nature, they share the githyanki’s racial hatred for mind flayers, and from time to time they send out squads to destroy illithid outposts. If the two races were ever to team up

Aberrations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Morte’s Planar Parade

Aberrations found on the Outlands. Outlands Aberrations d4 Encounter 1 An aboleth travels in a muck-filled, orbicular carriage, seeking to better understand the Outer Planes in preparation for a future

world-domination scheme. 2 A beholder influenced by the Abyss has compound eyes and looks like a floating, cyclopean fly head. It promises not to destroy the characters if they bring it a corpse it has

Hobgoblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

death becomes a hero eternal. Young hobgoblins start soldiering when they can walk and heed the mustering call as soon as they can wield their weapons capably. Every legion in the hobgoblins&rsquo

little to conceal an underlying brutality that hobgoblins practice on each other and perfect upon other races. Punishment for infractions of hobgoblin law are swift and merciless. Beauty is something

Keresta Delvingstone

Monsters Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

4th level (3 slots): blight, death ward, divination 5th level (1 slot): antilife shell, destructive waveMultiattack. (Vampire Form Only). Keresta makes two attacks, only one of which can be a bite

stranger to hardship. Hoping to make a better life for herself, she became an adventurer and sought fame and fortune in Undermountain. Keresta met her end in the lair of a vampire and became a vampire spawn

Auril (Second Form)

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

her to explode and die. A mephit that dies in this way does not use its Death Burst. Instead, each creature within 10 feet of the exploding mephit must succeed on a DC 21 Dexterity saving throw, taking

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

Rakdos Cultist

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

guild is all that really matters. (Any) 2 Hedonism. Death comes for everyone, so take as much pleasure as you can from every moment of life. (Neutral) 3 Creativity. I strive to

Humanoids and the Gods

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

Humanoids and the Gods When it comes to the gods, humans exhibit a far wider range of beliefs and institutions than other races do. In many D&D settings, orcs, elves, dwarves, goblins, and other

. A single charismatic prophet can convert an entire kingdom to the worship of a new god. With that prophet’s death, the religion might wax or wane, or the prophet’s followers might turn against one

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

away in the night to seek the cold will of fate. In some ways, the goliath drive to outdo themselves feeds into the grim inevitability of their decline and death. A goliath would much rather die in

, committed by the goliath. Goliaths assign and use nicknames with their friends of other races, and change them to refer to an individual’s notable deeds. Goliaths present all three names when

Firbolg Legacy

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

forest’s children by their deeds, habits, and other actions. By the same token, their tribe names merely refer to their homes. When dealing with other races, firbolgs refer to their lands by

Aereni Wood Elf

Species Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

godlike power and has protected your island home for thousands of years. The greatest heroes of your people join the Undying Court after death; if you achieve great things in your life, you too could

master of these skills? Do you have ancestors in the Undying Court, and if so, what’s your relationship with them? Do you find dealing with the short-lived races to be a challenge, or are you patient with them?

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

smooth-skins is far greater. Despite their alien outlook, some lizardfolk make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races. Such lizardfolk make faithful 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

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

races have little good to say about kobolds, but they do admit that the little reptilians do respectable tunnel work using simple tools. If a band of kobolds is enslaved by more powerful creatures

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

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

hatred of the civilized races of the world and their need to satisfy the demands of their deities, the orcs know that if they fight well and bring glory to their tribe, Gruumsh will call them home to

gather and celebrate, dwell the followers of Yurtrus, the god of disease and death, and Shargaas, the god of darkness and the unknown. Orcs too weak for battle (because of bodily weakness, malformation

Sun Elves

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

Sun Elves Sun elves, also known as gold elves, or Ar’Tel’Quessir, have a reputation for being arrogant and self-important. Many of them believe they are Corellon’s chosen people and that other races

, or noteworthy other races’ accomplishments might be, there is an inherent superiority to all things elven. This attitude colors sun elves’ relations with other elves, whom they see as diluted or

Nonhuman Deities

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

Nonhuman Deities Certain gods closely associated with nonhuman races are revered on many different worlds, though not always in the same way. The nonhuman races of the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk

share these deities. Nonhuman races often have whole pantheons of their own. Besides Moradin, for example, the dwarf gods include Moradin’s wife, Berronar Truesilver, and a number of other gods thought

Nonhuman Deities

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

Nonhuman Deities Certain gods closely associated with nonhuman races are revered on many different worlds, though not always in the same way. The nonhuman races of the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk

share these deities. Nonhuman races often have whole pantheons of their own. Besides Moradin, for example, the dwarf gods include Moradin’s wife, Berronar Truesilver, and a number of other gods thought

Bronze Dragon Treasures

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

weapons, armor, and magic items built for the battlefield—the more unique, the better. Stories matter to a bronze dragon, who would rather have the humble spear that felled a tyrant than a jeweled

compound eyes 10 An elaborate clockwork zoetrope that, when activated, displays a moving picture of a bronze dragon fighting a red dragon over a burning city

Welcome to Eberron

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

Welcome to Eberron In an ancient ruin beneath the Demon Wastes, a band of heroes races to claim the Reaper’s Heart. If the agents of the Emerald Claw reach it first, they’ll reignite the Last War and

, and to create both wonders and weapons. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, all classes and races. They travel the world, battling villains in instants of over-the-top action. And they unearth fabulous

Running This Chapter

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

Running This Chapter In this chapter, the characters explore the halls of Lavoglia, better known as the Palace of Heart’s Desire. Most likely, they’ve learned of Zybilna’s betrayal at the hands of

’ experience as entertaining as possible: Read the description of Iggwilv’s Cauldron in appendix A. Read this chapter in its entirety, and reacquaint yourself with the “Rules of Conduct” and “Death in

D&D Beyond

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