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Returning 35 results for 'both before death carries reading'.
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both before death canaries relying
Magic Items
Dungeon Master’s Guide
book must spend 80 hours reading and studying it to digest its contents and use its Adjusted Ability Scores, Tireless Form, Spells, Vile Lore, and Vile Speech properties.
The Book of Vile Darkness
attuned to the book, you can cast the following spells (save DC 18) from it:
Animate Dead
Circle of Death
Dominate Monster
Finger of Death
Once you use the book to cast a spell, you can’t
Species
Lorwyn: First Light
’s death knell, its people’s self-importance and unwillingness to collaborate with other species had already led to the empire’s decline.
In Shadowmoor
Shadowmoor elves’ horns
heroism and self-sacrifice the highest forms of beauty.
Bloomseekers are Shadowmoor elves who study and explore Lorwyn. Each one carries a Reliquary of Twilight (see Lorwyn: First Light). Alongside
Monsters
Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn
, Prestidigitation
2/Day Each: Animate Dead, Plane Shift
1/Day Each: Cone of Cold (level 8 version), Finger of Death, Power Word Kill, ScryingProtective Magic. Valindra casts Counterspell or Shield in response
disastrous confrontations with enemies of her temporary allies, she’s elected to keep her personal lair secret. Deep within her lair is a hidden reading room where she usually keeps her spirit gem
Monsters
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Special Equipment. Barnibus carries a wand of magic detection.
Spellcasting. Barnibus is a 7th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 13, +5;{"diceNotation":"1d20
inherited from his grandmother. When not serving the Watchful Order, he spends his days reading and writing books in his library.
Barnibus uses spells that help him investigate crimes, pry secrets
Death Dog
Legacy
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Monsters
Basic Rules (2014)
. Hate burns in a death dog's heart, and a taste for humanoid flesh drives it to attack travelers and explorers. Death dog saliva carries a foul disease that causes a victim's flesh to slowly rot off the bone.
failure. This reduction lasts until the disease is cured. The creature dies if the disease reduces its hit point maximum to 0.A death dog is an ugly two-headed hound that roams plains, and deserts
Magic Items
Acquisitions Incorporated
finish a long rest.
Ways to Read the Kill
d6
Reading
1
Using a tiny bellows to pump one last breath into a corpse.
2
Reading the entrails with special reading-the-entrails
death of a creature has unintended consequences. Within seven days of a creature’s death, you can use your occultant abacus to divine ways to reverse or mitigate events resulting from that death. As
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
bluish hue of a person who has frozen to death. The hag’s hair is white, and the hag is emaciated, with pale eyes surrounded by bruise-colored flesh. A bheur hag carries a twisted gray wooden
Control Weather (1/Day). The hag can cast the control weather spell, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability.
Graystaff Magic. The hag carries a graystaff, a
Book of Vile Darkness
Legacy
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Magic Items
Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
powder if the book rests on it long enough.
A creature attuned to the book must spend 80 hours reading and studying it to digest its contents and reap its benefits. The creature can then freely modify
reading and studying the book, one ability score of your choice increases by 2, to a maximum of 24. Another ability score of your choice decreases by 2, to a minimum of 3. The book can’t adjust your
Monsters
Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1
tasty, refined metal their victim carries, they quickly flee—and will flee before that rather than risk death.
Stealthy Couriers. A number of clans among the dwarves, duergar, and azers have trained
, digesting the dust but leaving the message lodged in its digestive tract. Trained over long years and with plentiful treats to learn the direction to different underground strongholds and outposts, the khargra carries its burden to its destination, then coughs up the message on command.
Species
Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Death isn’t always the end. The reborn exemplify this, being individuals who have died yet, somehow, still live. Some reborn exhibit the scars of fatal ends, their ashen flesh or bloodless
veins making it clear that they’ve been touched by death. Other reborn are marvels of magic or science, being stitched together from disparate beings or bearing mysterious minds in manufactured
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
immune to this ghost dragon’s Terrifying Breath for the next 24 hours.A dragon’s attachment to a hoard can be strong enough to bind the dragon’s spirit to existence after death. Such
incorporeal version of the original dragon. Though its breath weapon resembles ghostly flames, lightning, or acid, it carries an otherworldly curse. The breath’s shadowy mist can induce waking nightmares.Acid, Cold, Necrotic, PoisonBludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing
Monsters
Vecna: Eve of Ruin
as a guardian. Its name derives from the preserved black rose the bearer carries inside a delicate bell jar. The slightest jostle can cause the bearer to lose its grasp on the bell jar, destroying
black rose bearer bursts into furious violence, attacking indiscriminately.
A bearer’s black rose is an homage to the tyrannical Lord Soth, the most powerful death knight on Krynn, who was once a Solamnic Knight of the Order of the Rose.Poison
Monsters
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
keep them roaming the wilds for years after their murderers are slain.
A frostmourn looks like a desiccated corpse mummified by exposure to bitter cold. It carries the marks of its death on its body: a
Monsters
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
hulking shadow that glares from its perch, rains down death in the form of long black arrows, and slinks off without so much as a whisper. Where he comes from — if he even has a home — remains a mystery, as
does the question of where he might show up next.
Treasure. Ziraj wears leather,+2;+2 leather armor and carries an oversized longbow. This unique weapon can be used only by a Medium or larger
Magic Items
Keys from the Golden Vault
powder if the book rests on it long enough.
A creature attuned to the book must spend 80 hours reading and studying it to digest its contents and reap its benefits. The creature can then freely modify
great evil claims your soul. You can’t be restored to life by any means while your soul remains imprisoned.
The Book of Vile Darkness has the following properties:
Circle of Death. While attuned
Monsters
Mythic Odysseys of Theros
destroyed. They disappear when the shepherd dies.A nightmare shepherd is a gaunt, ashen fiend with leathery wings. It carries a shepherd’s crook, which it uses to direct a flock of wandering
miserable lives they had. Having been despicable in life, these spirits fester in death. The worst of these hateful dead, through ages of bitterness, gradually transform into fiends, the tormentors of
Symbol
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Spells
Basic Rules (2014)
common triggers are opening the object, approaching within a certain distance of it, or seeing or reading the glyph.
You can further refine the trigger so the spell is activated only under certain
sphere for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there.
Death. Each target must make a Constitution saving throw, taking 10d10 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
Monsters
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Equipment. Smiler wears leather, +2;+2 leather armor. He carries seven soul coin;soul coins in a bag and a shortsword, +1;+1
shocking recklessness. Smiler thinks he can accomplish anything with a positive attitude and some death-defying stunt. Although he admits others might end up getting killed by his actions, he believes he
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
the colony.
This process doesn’t work on the brain of an ulitharid that dies a natural death, as such brains are too decrepit to be used. Instead, each ulitharid carries a psionically enhanced
, taking a group of mind flayers with it, and moves to another location to form a new colony. After the death of the ulitharid’s body, a special process transforms its brain into a new elder brain for
Monsters
Tomb of Annihilation
Special Equipment. Acererak carries the Staff of the Forgotten One. He wears a talisman of the sphere and has a sphere of annihilation under his control.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Acererak
, hold monster, wall of force
6th level (3 slots): chain lightning, circle of death, disintegrate
7th level (3 slots): finger of death, plane shift, teleport
8th level (2 slots): maze, mind blank
9th
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
Special Equipment. In addition to his sword cane, Rictavio wears a hat of disguise and a ring of mind shielding, and he carries a spell scroll of raise dead.
Spellcasting. Rictavio is a 9th-level
): augury, lesser restoration, protection from poison
3rd level (3 slots): magic circle, remove curse, speak with dead
4th level (3 slots): death ward, freedom of movement
5th level (1 slot): dispel
Monsters
Candlekeep Mysteries
Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If Bak Mei fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Special Equipment. Bak Mei carries a staff of striking with 10 charges.
Unarmored Defense. While Bak
death, Bak Mei became obsessed with living an unending life. He began collecting texts on the subject, consulting with practitioners of the necromantic arts, and seeking audiences with dark forces.
The
Paladin
Legacy
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Classes
Basic Rules (2014)
. Although the class features related to your oath don’t appear until you reach 3rd level, plan ahead for that choice by reading the oath descriptions at the end of the class. Are you a devoted
angel of death by the gods or driven by your need for revenge? The Gods of the Multiverse section lists many deities worshiped by paladins throughout the multiverse, such as Torm, Tyr, Heironeous
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd
that are represented by a special card reading detailed in chapter 1, “Into the Mists.” Before you run the adventure, you need to conduct that reading to determine the location of several items that
realm of Barovia. If the characters are 1st level, the character background in appendix A is available to them, and consider starting their time in Barovia with the mini-adventure “Death House” in
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
. A female githyanki gish (see appendix A) named Vheza sits in one chair, reading a tome.
If Vheza sees intruders, she flees to area 17b with her book and makes her stand there. Treasure. The book
that Vheza is reading is written in Gith and titled The Ascension of Vlaakith. It chronicles Vlaakith the Lich-Queen’s rise to power in githyanki society and postulates that her absolute rulership
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
patron. 3 A fortune teller’s reading for one of the characters points to a quest and offers hints about challenges that lie ahead. 4 Flames, clouds, smoke, or huge flocks of birds take distinct shapes
that portend the adventure situation. 5 Animals or animated objects speak clearly to direct the adventurers toward the situation. 6 Someone who died returns as a ghost and haunts the characters. The ghost prompts the characters to investigate the cause of the ghost’s death and put it to rest.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
explorers. Death dog saliva carries a foul disease that causes a victim’s flesh to slowly rot off the bone. Death Dog
Medium monstrosity, neutral evil
Armor Class 12
Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12
Death Dog A death dog is an ugly two-headed hound that roams plains, deserts, and the Underdark. Hate burns in a death dog’s heart, and a taste for humanoid flesh drives it to attack travelers and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
. This is no accident, for the locals purposefully deafen themselves so they won’t hear the shrieking of the banshee Tristessa, a mournful spirit who roams Mount Lament and whose wail carries through
the night. In life, Tristessa dwelled under Mount Arak in Tepest (detailed earlier in this chapter), but she was exiled for crimes against her people. In death, she endlessly seeks to be reunited with the family slain by her misdeeds.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
chapter as the characters join them by reading the following text: Kalaman’s surviving soldiers made camp on a bluff east of the City of Lost Names—or what remains of it. In the distance, a
citadel and the Dragon Army aren’t immediate threats so long as the characters and Kalaman’s forces keep their distance. If the characters draw near, they attract the attention of one or more lesser death dragons (see appendix B) that attack until the characters retreat.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
grandmother. When not serving the Watchful Order, he spends his days reading and writing books in his library. Barnibus uses spells that help him investigate crimes, pry secrets from the minds of suspects, and
Equipment. Barnibus carries a wand of magic detection.
Spellcasting. Barnibus is a 7th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). He has
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd
), though not very well. The wolves are huddled behind him and go where he goes. Though well past his prime, he fights to the death to defend the den, and he takes umbrage at anyone who kills any of his
, read: The old man cackles. “When Kiril returns,” he says to you with his last breath, “he’ll skin you alive.” Treasure Skennis’s electrum flute is nonmagical and worth 250 gp. Skennis also carries a pouch containing four 50 gp gemstones.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
occluded her memories of the details of the ritual and of her own death.) The book that Sarah observed Viallis reading was the source of the ritual, and a work of evil. The souls of Lady Maria, Malik
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves
Redwood Grove Features The grove has the following features. Haunted Ever since Sunset-Is-Nigh hatched, the spirits of the elves who died fighting Death-at-Sunset have been restless. At night
, harmless shadows flit strangely among the trees. The breeze carries whispers of “Beware, beware!” and “Her legacy returns!” An additional haunting is described in area R8. Light Sunlight fills the grove
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
living and the dead Position Proficiency: In addition to the proficiencies noted below, you can add your proficiency bonus to an ability check to intimidate a creature close to death, assess what disease
enemy of every enterprise.
Ways to Read the Kill d6 Reading
1 Using a tiny bellows to pump one last breath into a corpse.
2 Reading the entrails with special reading-the-entrails
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
.”
Bak Mei doesn’t hesitate to kill. He attacks ferociously and chides the characters for their lack of martial refinement. When he’s near death and victory for his order looks unlikely, he begs for
. Death is a fitting end for one who feared death so much that he inflicted great pain on others, but Bak Mei was once a kind man devoted to justice, so perhaps he could find a path to redemption. Treasure






