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Returning 35 results for 'both before driven corrupt rival'.
Monsters
Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn
rival and an equal. The Zlan Liches table gives a brief description of each component.
Zlan Liches
Name
History
Argent Black
Emerged from the Negative Plane, fed on hate and
through the accumulation of chardalyn from across Icewind Dale. Zlan’s affinity with chardalyn allows it to access information across the region and use chardalyn to corrupt those who could
Species
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
to Khorvaire over the years and have integrated with the cultures of the Five Nations.
As a whole, elves are driven by tradition and respect for the past. Where humans value innovation, elves strive
particular rival who channels the same ancestor, or one who channels a rival of your ancestor?
It’s also important to think about why you are traveling with a group of player characters
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
thoughts of its dragon rival can become deeply obsessive, eventually pervading the beholder;beholder's dreams. If the rivalry lasts long enough, these fevered dreams can manifest as an eyedrake—a
;beholder's eye rays.
An eyedrake left to its own devices exhibits much of the stereotypical behavior of a young dragon, attempting to establish a lair and a hoard. Driven by instinct to jealously
Species
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
to Khorvaire over the years and have integrated with the cultures of the Five Nations.
As a whole, elves are driven by tradition and respect for the past. Where humans value innovation, elves strive
particular rival who channels the same ancestor, or one who channels a rival of your ancestor?
It’s also important to think about why you are traveling with a group of player characters
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
chaos, confusion, and destruction, seeking to corrupt all that is good and undermine order in the multiverse, to see everything dragged howling into the infinite depths of the Abyss.
The demon lord is
Demogorgon’s followers are typically lone killers driven by the whispering voice of their master. His most blessed followers gain the Two Minds of Chaos trait.
Two Minds of Chaos. This creature
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
the flesh as long as possible, and as a spirit afterward. (Any)
Bonds
d6
Bond
1
The unbearable weight of my debt has driven me to desperation.
2
I’m duty-bound
activities in crime, banking, or debt collection could tie you to members of other guilds.
Roll twice on the Orzhov Contacts table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Orzhov Contacts table
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
Guild took over your family business, ran it into the ground, and burned the building for insurance money. You were driven into crime yourself, but you’ll never work for the Guild. You take
; but what you learn you pass on to the Guild.
4
The inequality of Baldur’s Gate has driven you to take matters into your own hands. You steal from patriars and rich Lower City residents
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
Adventure Conflict A premise can be a good starting point, but before you can turn it into an adventure, it needs a conflict worthy of the heroes’ attention. The conflict might be driven by a single
treasure, what conflict awaits the characters when they enter the dungeon? That might be as simple as “hostile monsters want to eat the characters” or “two rival factions of monsters inhabit the dungeon
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer
Rival Explorers Morgrave University teems with unscrupulous adventurers and researchers driven by avarice. Additionally, the university itself has academic rivals—the University of Wynarn in Aundair
, the Library of Korranberg, and others—whose scholars might become personal foils to adventurers associated with Morgrave. Goals of Rival Explorers Create a team of rival explorers who oppose the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Creating a Rival In essence, a rival is a somewhat specialized NPC. You can use chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to build a new NPC for this purpose, or pick one from your current cast of
created for themselves. Example Rivals d20 Rival 1 Tax collector who is convinced the characters are dodging fees 2 Politician who is concerned that the characters are causing more trouble than they
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
the Jhorash’tar, a clan of orcs. The Jhorash’tar have been slowly driven into the least hospitable regions of the mountains. A few of the clans are seeking to incorporate the Jhorash’tar into Mror
work of the Jhorash’tar, a rival clan, or some force from below the mountains. Other clans have tried to claim the Noldrun lands, but this has always met with disaster.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
been a former mercenary now seeking adventure. You could be working as an emissary for one of the Ghaal’dar tribes or even Lhesh Haruuc himself. Or you could have been driven from your tribe by the actions of a rival; perhaps you’re seeking allies to reclaim your birthright.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
heretical beliefs. A variation of this is that you’re hiding. As a devout cleric or paladin, you may have made enemies of the corrupt authorities in the local churches. If you use the haunted one background
, you may have seen something in the upper wards that has driven you into the darkness. Any character could have run afoul of the Sharn Watch, a powerful noble, or a sinister conspiracy; if you leave
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Concordian tries to acquire prized relics through less honorable means; adventurers could be employed to acquire an exotic prize from a rival through any means necessary, legal or otherwise. All of these
by binding the current barons and monarchs to their will or by tearing down the current systems and creating something new. In stories driven by action, the Aurum can fund expeditions to exotic lands
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
. Is this something you proudly embrace, or do you resist it? Each patron ancestor is tied to many Valenar: do you have a particular rival who channels the same ancestor, or one who channels a rival of
your ancestor? It’s also important to think about why you are traveling with a group of player characters instead of serving in a Valenar warband. Are you driven by visions from your patron ancestor
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild
those adventurers driven to seek and destroy him — and partly to claim those adventurers’ souls to feed his phylactery. Even after Acererak eventually became an archlich whose dark plots would threaten
, the balor Tarnhem. Over the years of the tomb’s construction, Moghadam and his rival artificer, Thessalar, have competed fiercely against each other’s endeavors. Moghadam takes pleasure in having lured
Yuan-ti Pureblood
Legacy
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
keen intellect and magic to discover the secrets of making steel. Its military shattered rival tribes and developed advanced tactics for fighting in forests and open plains.
The civilization grew into a
rather than among other creatures, including my own kind.
4
I sometimes become consumed by philosophy.
5
I believe I am superior to others of my caste.
6
I am driven by wanderlust
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
Calamity d20 Calamity 1 Suspected vampire infestation 2 New cult seeks converts 3 Important figure died (murder suspected) 4 War between rival thieves’ guilds 5–6 Plague or famine (sparks riots) 7
Corrupt officials 8–9 Marauding monsters 10 Powerful wizard has moved into town 11 Economic depression (trade disrupted) 12 Flooding 13 Undead stirring in cemeteries 14 Prophecy of doom 15 Brink of war 16
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
can rise to infest and corrupt the surrounding forest. Its evil spreads through root and soil to other plants, which perish or transform into blights. As those blights spread, they poison and uproot
blights, trees and plants grow with supernatural speed. Vines and undergrowth rapidly spread through buildings and overrun trails and roads. After blights have killed or driven off their inhabitants
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
manipulator. No more devout than I in the service of the Spider Queen, he arranged for my disgrace and exile. Deprived of my considerable skills, my house fell to our rival, House Do’Urden. Gromph became
insanity of the demon lords spreads. Gromph Baenre vanished following the ritual. Vizeran has not been able to detect any trace of his rival archmage using any of the resources at his command. Demogorgon
Orc
Legacy
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
; their loyalty by turning them into slaves.
If a tribe is defeated and driven from its lair, the survivors might come under the sway of a strong but dimwitted creature, such as a hill giant or an ogre
rival orcs first and foremost as competitors for food and victims.
On some occasions, though, tribes that have a common concern band together. The result is an orc horde — a sea of slavering
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
rank-and-file foot soldiers, to the goblins that find themselves driven into the front lines at spear point. A legion is headed by a warlord with several captains serving under its command. A hobgoblin
, rival legions compete constantly for reputation and status. Meetings between legions erupt in violence if troops aren’t restrained, and only exceptionally powerful leaders can force legions to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
of a man whose infidelity caused his scorned wife to cut out the heart of her younger, more beautiful rival and consume it in a ritual intended to forever win her husband’s heart. The ritual succeeded
peryton is somehow driven away, it stalks lost prey from afar, attacking again when the opportunity arises.
Bane of the Mountains. Perytons roost atop mountain ridges and lair in high caves. They prey
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
form of several people who beg loans or donations from them: Emmek Frewn (see “Business Rival: Emmek Frewn,” chapter 2) needs 1,500 gp to pay off a loan with interest. If he doesn’t repay the coin in a
Doom Raiders’ coffers. If the characters refuse, the Doom Raiders are driven out of the city, yielding control of the Zhentarim in Waterdeep to Manshoon (if he’s alive). Floon Blagmaar (see appendix B
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
Eyedrake When a beholder contends with a dragon for power and wealth, its thoughts of its dragon rival can become deeply obsessive, eventually pervading the beholder’s dreams. If the rivalry lasts
and a hoard. Driven by instinct to jealously defend its hoard, an eyedrake fights to the death if anything threatens even the smallest trinket it claims as its own. Eyedrake
Large Aberration
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
by creatures it can catch in the open, including the travelers that enter and exit the place. On occasion, this state of (relatively) peaceful coexistence is shattered when a devious rival dragon with
designs on a white dragon’s territory enters the picture. Taking advantage of the dragon’s limited mental faculties, the rival secretly sends its minions out to harass the dragon. Convinced that the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
a former mercenary now seeking adventure. You could be working as an emissary for one of the Ghaal’dar tribes, or even Lhesh Haruuc himself. Or you could have been driven from your tribe by the
actions of a rival; perhaps you’re seeking allies to reclaim your birthright. The Marguul The Marguul bugbears threw off the yoke of the Ghaal’dar long ago, seizing territory in the Seawall Mountains in the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
Motives. Not every conflict is a fight between light and darkness. In Eberron, the vast majority of people are driven by simple motives: Greed. Fear. Pride. Ambition. One person just wants to get some
gold in their pocket. Another wants to impress their paramour. A leader forcing the Five Nations into war is driven both by fear of their neighbors and the sincere belief that Khorvaire would be
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
at such beauty, one can easily overlook the terrible force bound within it. Gargauth is, I believe, its name, though it calls itself the Hidden Lord. It was a pit fiend sent by Asmodeus to corrupt
mortals on the Material Plane, and there it amassed such a following as to rival that of gods. In that way, Gargauth became a sort of demigod, and having worshipers increased its power exponentially. My
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
stave off otherworldly invasions, to protect the powerless from oppression, or to spread the teachings of your religion in a hostile land. Or perhaps you serve a corrupt hierarchy by making its
deity. Religious Order Contact d6 Contact 1 Shadow Tongue. A mysterious speaker for your order advises your next steps but fears being discovered by a powerful rival faith. 2 Inspired Creator. A
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
hero’s firsthand account of a battle with a unique monster among the temple’s records before a rival group of adventurers does.
Sun Temple Map The sun temple shown in map 4.4 presents a common design
champion of Heliod, seeks to destroy all sun temples in the hopes of bringing about everlasting night.
4 A corrupt oracle (see chapter 6) of Heliod sells counterfeit heroic artifacts to those he can’t
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
undead champions from the Grim Harrow, and infiltrating the Solar Bastion (see chapter 10) before Hilarion discovered her. Asteria is driven to protect innocent people who accidentally stumble across
their power doesn’t fall into corrupt hands; however, she’s only one person, and things slip her notice. Asteria might task the characters with locating a wayward deck and—if it’s in the hands of someone
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
. 2 A rival gang is encroaching on the giant’s territory. Spy on these rivals, and identify the best place for the giant to strike to shut them down for good. 3 Somebody who works for the giant is
or ocean. 3 Delve into the Underdark in search of deposits of rare magical crystal, and map your route so miners can retrace it. 4 Sabotage the business of a rival giant. 5 Guard a wagon or caravan
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
someone from another house, but such relationships are forbidden.
3 Someone I love was killed by a rival faction within my house, and I will have revenge.
4 I don’t care about the house as
societies and hidden demons.
3 I believe that my house and bloodline makes me better than everyone else.
4 I’m concealing a secret that could get me driven from my house.
5 I have
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
spraying an alchemical defoliant on local farmland to push people living in the area away from the dragon’s lair. The resulting famine is devastating the countryside.
3 Rival realms are
secretly being driven to war by the machinations of a black dragon, who hopes to revel in the resulting carnage.
4 When swamplands shrink due to a prolonged drought, two black dragons form a temporary






