both back descent career rites

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

damage unless the creature is a Fiend or an Undead. Destroying the Book. The Book of Vile Darkness allows pages to be torn from it, but any evil lore contained on those pages finds its way back into the

Draconic Bloodline Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

Your innate magic comes from draconic magic that was mingled with your blood or that of your ancestors. Most often, sorcerers with this origin trace their descent back to a mighty sorcerer of ancient

Black Viper

Monsters Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

who died a century ago, after a long and nefarious career. Esvele Rosznar, a brash young noble, has recently adopted the Black Viper's persona to lead a secret life of crime. Like many other nobles

. When she throws back her cloak to reveal the costume she has put together, most folk toss their purses and flee. If that doesn't work, she usually needs only to draw her dagger. Of course, some of the

Jiangshi

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

that is Medium or Small or back into its true form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (the

their descendants and the communities they knew in life, sowing terror and taking retribution for the slights or neglected burial rites that led to their cursed resurrections. Rigor mortis notoriously

Halfling Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

Regis the halfling, the only one of his kind for hundreds of miles in any direction, locked his fingers behind his head and leaned back against the mossy blanket of the tree trunk. Regis was short

wide and wonder-filled world. For them, adventuring is less a career than an opportunity or sometimes a necessity. Halfling Names A halfling has a given name, a family name, and possibly a nickname

Reborn

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back. Rather than sleeping, reborn regularly sit and dwell on the past, hoping for some revelation of what came before. Most of the time, these are dark

of Dread (detailed in chapter 3): Har’Akir. You died and endured the burial rites of this desert realm, yet somehow a soul—yours or another’s—has taken refuge in your

Sorcerer Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

Golden eyes flashing, a human stretches out her hand and unleashes the dragonfire that burns in her veins. As an inferno rages around her foes, leathery wings spread from her back and she takes to

the air. Long hair whipped by a conjured wind, a half-elf spreads his arms wide and throws his head back. Lifting him momentarily off the ground, a wave of magic surges up in him, through him, and out

Urchin Legacy

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

of questions. 3 I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me. 4 I sleep with my back to a wall or tree, with everything I own wrapped in a bundle in my arms. 5

Verdan

Species Acquisitions Incorporated

. Reality is a descent into chaos punctuated by brief flashes of order, whence we arose and so imagine it to be the norm rather than a distant outlier. That-Which-Endures held entropy back for a mere instant

spontaneous alterations over their lifetime, from the typical range of point and peak seen among the elves, to huge ears that sweep back from the head like wings, and which are often pierced behind

Cleric Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

her holy symbol as light pours from it to drive back the zombies crowding in on her companions. Clerics are intermediaries between the mortal world and the distant planes of the gods. As varied as the

to those chosen to fulfill a high calling. Harnessing divine magic doesn’t rely on study or training. A cleric might learn formulaic prayers and ancient rites, but the ability to cast cleric

Ranger Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

of steel, cutting down one enemy after another. After tumbling away from a cone of freezing air, an elf finds her feet and draws back her bow to loose an arrow at the white dragon. Shrugging off the

whistles to the hawk that circles high above him, calling the bird back to his side. Whispering instructions in Elvish, he points to the owlbear he’s been tracking and sends the hawk to distract

Criminal - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

No career criminal in Baldur’s Gate operates without being aware of the Guild. Some studiously keep a low profile, carrying just the occasional smuggled load in with legitimate merchandise, or

realizing the connection. You got the Guild to back off demands for your death by offering to make amends by working for the criminals, but even so the kingpin still plots a personal revenge. 2 The

Urchin - Baldur's Gate

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

. 3 I like to squeeze into small places where no one else can get to me. 4 I sleep with my back to a wall or tree, with everything I own wrapped in a bundle in my arms. 5 I eat like

1. Entrance Room

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

descending 20 feet to a landing. Set into the back wall of the landing is a Netherese calendar stone. Beyond this landing, the staircase resumes its descent, stopping at three more landings of bare stone and descending a total of 100 feet before arriving at area 2.

Changing Gods

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

Changing Gods If events in your character’s adventuring career warrant doing so, you can abandon the service of one god and turn to a different one. Once you abandon a god’s service, you can rarely

go back without performing some act of contrition. Your DM decides whether your new god will accept you as a champion and what you might have to do to prove your commitment. When you change gods, you

New Race: Verdan

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated

. Reality is a descent into chaos punctuated by brief flashes of order, whence we arose and so imagine it to be the norm rather than a distant outlier. That-Which-Endures held entropy back for a mere instant, and the Verdan emerged. I’m sorry, was that the question? — K’thriss Drow’b

Mortuary Basement

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Turn of Fortune’s Wheel

, wheeling corpses to embalming chambers or to the crematorium. The Heralds of Dust treat the dead with reverence and dignity, granting them last rites in accordance with the beliefs of the deceased

book’s introduction. If all the characters die at once, they reappear back in the morgue. Morte heckles them on their return.

Deathly Interludes

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

character’s dead rivals could have known. Whatever a character learns during their temporary death, they can carry with them back into the mortal world. Such might make dying one of the most helpful things to happen in a character’s greater heroic career.

be quite sudden—or to give them a way to continue engaging in the quest while their companions attempt to bring them back to life. These interludes can be played as brief scenes where the player of

K6. Overlook

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd

dusty tomb beyond (area K88). Characters who try to reach the windows from the overlook must descend 110 feet and move 20 feet back under the platform. This descent can’t be accomplished without the

University Contacts

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

what to make of you but gives you work to keep you busy 2 A career bureaucrat who insists you file paperwork in multiple offices in order to get anything done 3 A junior professor who might be more

7 A tired senior professor whose only joy in academia is seeing what you bring back from your adventures 8 An eager researcher who wants to come with you on every adventure because second-hand reports are always incomplete and unsatisfying

Aundair Spire

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer

academic knowledge exceeds that of many colleagues, and students call him an excellent lecturer. But his lack of significant field experience has held him back. Word is circulating that he plans a truly

ambitious expedition to the far south of Xen’drik, which almost certainly will either make or break his career. He might hire the characters or their rivals to accompany him on this expedition. Cullen Cole

Embarrassment

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

few small difficulties early in your career, or maybe it took you a while to restore your reputation after one agonizing night when the fates conspired to bring about your theatrical ruin. The ways

on with the show (if possible) or promising to come back tomorrow with a new performance that’s guaranteed to please. Embarrassments d6 Embarrassment 1 The time when your comedic song, “Big Tom’s

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

they were demigods — mighty beings of divine descent. This isn’t a casual sort of worship or lip service; kobolds are awed in the presence of a dragon, as if an actual avatar of a deity

some other convenient way (or, in a cannibalistic tribe, eaten). Kobolds believe that if they die in service to their tribe, Kurtulmak immediately sends each of them back to life as the next egg laid in

Dakra Isles

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

disaster. In truth, generations of hapless humans raised their city, realizing too late that they’d done so upon the back of a titanic kraken. When the kraken Arixmethes awakened, its throes devastated the

city upon its back and wiped out the residents. Since returning to its slumber, Arixmethes drifts where it will, still bearing the ruins of a legendary city upon its back. Cronemouth Cove This tiny

Why Are You Here?

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

Why Are You Here? As a resident of Clifftop, you’ve got a reputation. What is it, and how did you earn it? Are you a new prodigy, or an old retired hero who’s just getting back into the game? As

always, consider your background. If you’re a soldier, you might have had a celebrated career. As an entertainer, you might perform at one of the theaters of Upper Menthis between adventures. If you’re a

Tall Tales

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

Tall Tales Some folks are content to merely listen to stories of giants and other enormous peoples and creatures. For others, these tall tales become the basis of their entire adventuring career

says giants and other enormous creatures are stories for children. You hope to slay such a creature and bring back proof of their existence out of spite.

T11. Ritual Chamber

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves

an eye patch. It clutches a whip in one bony hand. Along the east wall are three rusty gates with mold-covered cells beyond them. Cultists used to perform ghastly rites here. Human prisoners were

confined to the cells (see below) until they were sacrificed. After death, they would be brought back to this room, where the high priest would animate them as zombies. Cells. All three cell doors

8. Library

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd

8. Library The master of the house used to spend many hours here before his descent into madness. Red velvet drapes cover the windows of this room. An exquisite mahogany desk and a matching high-back

T3. Steam and Steel

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Order of Armorers, Locksmiths, and Finesmiths. Embric tends the forge and is an expert weaponsmith. He claims descent from the efreet of Calimshan and is prone to extreme mood swings. He has the

hot steel. He is an expert armorsmith. Avi is laid back and speaks plainly. He has the statistics of a priest, with these changes: Avi is neutral good. He has these racial traits: At will, he can

People of Akros

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

Akroan society are the lektoi, the large warrior class of Akros. Members of this class claim descent from the seven warriors who first established the Kolophon after the fall of the archons. Though the

ornamentation, and some lektoi even wear their hair braided into stylized ram horns. Although the lektoi claim descent from heroes, membership in this noble class isn’t strictly hereditary. Anyone can earn

Worshiping Mogis

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

Mogis and regularly hold bloody rites in his honor. Warchanters, the minotaur clergy of Mogis, whip their marauders into a near-mindless frenzy before battle; the ensuing slaughter gives glory to

such, whispers among the servants of other gods claim that there might be a way to piece the fractured god back together. Doing so would require an incredible feat, though, likely involving the

Worshiping Erebos

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

assassins congregate in secret in communities across Theros, engaging in campaigns of violence. The only major festival dedicated to Erebos, called the Katabasion or “the Descent,” features a ceremony

in which worshipers make a symbolic journey into the Underworld. The supplicants enter a cave, offer prayers and sacrifices to Erebos in utter darkness, and slowly make their way back to the surface

Wilderness Encounters

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a1

descent into the earth. With the cultists dead, goblins and other creatures moved in, and they have survived here for hundreds of years. The goblins, which belong to the Durbuluk tribe (“Dominator” in

fall back to take a long rest before dealing with the leaders of an attacked community allow the creatures time to make preparations. Alerted monsters reinforce cleared rooms with forces previously

Athreos's Champions

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

think or feel as others do, finding emotions messy and confusing. 3 In a brazen or desperate moment, you dared death to take you—and in a way, it has. 4 You sent a Returned back to the

stands for. (Any) 2 Tradition. Honor the dead through rites of respect and by continuing their ways. (Lawful) 3 Dread. Mortals put their fear out of mind, but through me, they will remember the

Yuan-ti Abomination

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

intended it. They mastermind elaborate schemes and perform dark rites in the hope of one day ruling the world. Yuan-ti Abomination Large monstrosity (shapechanger, yuan-ti), neutral evil Armor Class 15

) Shapechanger. The yuan-ti can use its action to polymorph into a Large snake, or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed

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