both both distant curses rather

Vladimir Horngaard

Monsters Curse of Strahd

Order of the Silver Dragon at a young age and quickly earned the friendship of its founder, the silver dragon Argynvost. When he became a knight of the order, he traveled to distant lands to wage war

witnessing Strahd himself slay Vladimir's beloved, his fellow knight Sir Godfrey Gwilym. With the battle won, Strahd surrounded Argynvostholt. Rather than cower in his lair, Argynvost emerged and

Isolde

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

archfey named Zybilna, who had forged secret pacts with some of the fiends Isolde and her companions had slain. Rather than be angry at Isolde, Zybilna was impressed by her. She enlisted a powerful fiend

comfort to Isolde and quelled her thirst for vengeance. Zybilna and Isolde enjoyed a strong partnership for years, but as time wore on, they grew distant until their relationship finally soured

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

provoke awe and dread, lay curses of plague or poison, and even call down flames from heaven to consume their enemies. For those evildoers who will benefit most from a mace to the head, clerics depend on

Far Traveler

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

few miles from where they were born. You aren’t one of those folk. You are from a distant place, one so remote that few of the common folk in the North realize that it exists, and chances are

discussed here are all sufficiently distant from the North and the Sword Coast to justify the use of this background. Evermeet. The fabled elven islands far to the west are home to elves who have never

Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

pages were tales of bold heroes, strange and fierce animals, mighty primitive gods, and a magic that was part and fabric of that distant land. — Elaine Cunningham, Daughter of the Drow In the

, humans champion causes rather than territories or groups. Human Names and Ethnicities Having so much more variety than other cultures, humans as a whole have no typical names. Some human parents

Tabaxi Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

lazy, but when Linene came around looking for a missing broach, she was out the door before I could blink an eye. — Toblen Stonehill, innkeeper Hailing from a strange and distant land

tabaxi rarely stay in one place for long. Their innate nature pushes them to leave no secrets uncovered, no treasures or legends lost. Wandering Outcasts Most tabaxi remain in their distant

Warlock Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

stars overhead, a wild-eyed tiefling chants the mystic ritual that will open a doorway to a distant world. Warlocks are seekers of the knowledge that lies hidden in the fabric of the multiverse. Through

gained. Rather, the vast majority of warlocks spend their days in active pursuit of their goals, which typically means some kind of adventuring. Furthermore, the demands of their patrons drive

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

pleasurable creatures and things are ones that allow lizardfolk to assess more situations as benign rather than fearsome. Cold and Calculating Most humanoids describe cold-blooded people as lacking in

emotion and empathy. The same label serves as an apt depiction of lizardfolk. Lacking any internal emotional reactions, lizardfolk behave in a distant manner. They don’t mourn fallen comrades or

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

Order of the Emerald Claw NPCs

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

embrace the order, promising eternal life through undeath. 3 A noble with sympathies toward the order hides a cell’s library vault within the grounds of their estate. 4 A suave vampire would rather charm

its enemies than crush them in battle. 5 An artificer is obsessed with infusing necromantic curses into their construct creations. 6 A changeling necromancer often poses as a vampire or a mummy, even though it’s still alive.

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

enact it. Enraged, the entity imposed three dreadful curses upon them. First, the kenku’s beloved wings withered and fell away from their bodies, leaving them bound to the earth. Second, because

kenku, constant attempts to mimic noises can come across as confusing or irritating rather than entertaining. You can just as easily describe the sounds your character makes and what they mean. Be clear

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

Kruphix as Campaign Villain

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

the gods rely on mortals for their existence, rather than the other way around. When this idea gains adherents, Kruphix curses the polis so that no one can speak or read. 4 After a minor

status quo rather than overturn it, so his schemes often begin as reactions to the activities of another god. The Kruphix’s Divine Schemes table presents a few examples of how Kruphix’s inflexible

Who Dwells Here?

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

Who Dwells Here? This version of the Tomb of Horrors takes place in the distant past, when various legendary figures of in-game history (Acererak included) still operate as mere mortals. Several of

such figures have been included as NPCs, but you should not treat this adventure’s approach to those characters as canon. Rather, use them to flesh out this particular adventure in “what-if” fashion

Halflings of the Five Nations

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

influence can be felt across the nation and even in the distant city of Stormreach. If you decide to play a halfling rogue—or any character with a criminal or charlatan background—you should decide if you

, who occasionally pulls you into their problems. Or you could even be the reluctant heir of a powerful Boromar leader; you’ve gone on the run rather than taking your place in this criminal empire, but someday your past may catch up with you.

Halflings of the Five Nations

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

Boromars are based in Sharn, but their influence reaches across the nation and even to the distant city of Stormreach. If you decide to play a halfling rogue, or a character with a criminal or charlatan

the syndicate, who occasionally pulls you in to criminal affairs. Or you could even be the reluctant heir of a Boromar leader; perhaps you’ve gone on the run rather than take your appointed place in

Goals

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things

locations, so knights travel widely in pursuit of even faint leads. Inevitably, many of these leads turn out to be the effects of curses and corrupt magic. Rather than ignore these situations, knights

), who seek to use the original Deck of Many Things to destroy the multiverse. Combat Curses and Wicked Magic Decks of Many Things are notoriously resistant to divination magic that would reveal their

Darklake District

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

here, as you spy drow, svirfneblin, derro, orcs, and other races in the crowds. The shouting of people blends with the sound of distant hammering to create a constant, distracting din. Behind the

restricted to the Darklake District, and the characters have better luck asking other outsiders for directions rather than trying to engage the duergar locals. They are directed to the Blade Bazaar if

The God-Brain's Powers and Dominion

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

is wracked by extreme electrical storms, and alien vapors rise at the domain’s distant edges and within its hidden tunnels. Rather than barring creatures’ escape, these Mists repress memories. Any non

Shadow of Soth

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

. Foreshadow that threat after characters decide where they’re headed by reading the following description: To the southwest, the crack of shearing stone sounds from a distant temple whose grounds teem with

get at whoever’s in charge in there!” Rookledust encourages the characters to find the Dragon Army’s leaders within the city rather than pursing Soth. The gnome is confident that Kalaman’s forces

Using This Book

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

on the characters and adventures found in these haunted lands. Chapter 4 offers tools for Dungeon Masters running frightening adventures, from rules for creating curses and running out-of-body

place. The crimes and tragedies that transpired here. I know we’d both rather forget them—this whole accursed land—but the Mists drew me back. Now that I’m here, I know. The past we both hoped to bury

What Coalition?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis

interest in battling the Xaryxian Empire, which seems only a distant threat to them. They would rather fight among themselves. You saw for yourselves how prickly the aartuks were. My peaceful entreaty

Giantkind

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

them a distant and distorted connection to Annam. Oni are often said to be distantly related to ogres, but at this point they are more fiendish than Giant. Cyclopes. Contradictory legends explain the

and the resulting corruption of their physical forms. One myth suggests cyclopes are descendants of Karontor like the fomorians, but stemming from a line that began after Karontor’s banishment rather

Sphinx of Secrets

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual

Study action to make a DC 15 Intelligence check, solving the riddle and ending the curse on a success. The curse ends early if the sphinx curses another target. Spellcasting. The sphinx casts one of the

presence, creating the following effects: Distant Sight. While in its lair, the sphinx can cast Clairvoyance, requiring no spell components and using the same spellcasting ability as its

During the Siege

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

During the Siege Run the siege as a series of encounters rather than one extended battle. As terrible events unfold around the characters, it’s up to them to determine who and how they’ll help. Begin

the siege with zombies approaching Lekar’s walls. The characters might pick off distant zombies or enact plans to destroy dozens at a time. The characters’ strategies are likely successful, but the

Isolde

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

other threats. In time, her heroics caught the eye of an archfey named Zybilna, who had forged secret pacts with some of the fiends Isolde and her companions had slain. Rather than be angry at Isolde

Zybilna hoped it would do: it brought comfort to Isolde and quelled her thirst for vengeance. Zybilna and Isolde enjoyed a strong partnership for years, but as time wore on, they grew distant until their

Vladimir Horngaard

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

the order, he traveled to distant lands to wage war against the forces of evil. The dragon stayed home and, in the guise of a human noble named Lord Argynvost, brought new initiates into the order

tide and was killed, only after the heartbreak of witnessing Strahd himself slay Vladimir’s beloved, his fellow knight Sir Godfrey Gwilym. With the battle won, Strahd surrounded Argynvostholt. Rather

Darklords

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

adventures rather than saving them for distant climactic plots. Darklords Don’t Realize They’re Darklords. With a few exceptions, Darklords don’t realize they occupy a special place in the world. Their

Lynx Creatlach

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

with precious stones and metals. In truth, Lynx is an active agent of Zariel but is no longer among the living. Rather, she’s a lawful evil undead tiefling, with her skeleton specially crafted to retain

manor library. If the characters accept Lynx’s invitation, she meets them while strolling the long hallways of her manor, the walls of which are filled with fine paintings. Rather than noting their

Kinds of Treasure

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

the Player’s Handbook) rather than coins 2–3 Coins from an ancient culture local to this region, ancestral to the people who live here now 4–5 Coins from an ancient culture in a distant

H3. Hall of Rainbows

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries

. The inscription reads: “Here the Sapphire Sentinel is destroyed in the terrible battle against the dragon Zikzokrishka, who curses Hamukai.” Mural E This mural shows the young man being entombed in a

the mural, three wizards wearing curious hats flee toward a distant series of caves. An inscription below the painting is accompanied by a rough map. The inscription reads: “Here the dragon returns

Vallaki Lore

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

, and shelter to visitors. A stranger with pointed ears is staying there. He came to Barovia from a distant land, riding into town on a carnival wagon. The burgomaster, Baron Vargas Vallakovich, has

rather serve the devil than a madman.” She owns an old house in town (area N4) but rarely leaves her estate. Her two adult sons, Nikolai and Karl, are local troublemakers. Lady Wachter also has a mad

Eyes of Blood

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel

acting strangely. Read or paraphrase the following: As part of the crowd begins another verse of the Awakening Song, four people wearing the garb of farm folk wander into their midst. Rather than singing

to tend to the wounded. The farmers are known to many in the crowd, prompting confusion over their strange appearance and what caused them to attack. Talk of curses begins to spread. Investigating the

Type

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

types, which have no rules of their own. Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature's alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world

that are not ordinary, not truly natural, and almost never benign. Some are the results of magical experimentation gone awry (such as owlbears), and others are the product of terrible curses (including

Roleplaying a Hag

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

use dangerous treasures as bribes, not telling about their curses or side effects. She will lie and deceive and try to turn her enemies against each other, playing up their guilt and fear and jealousy

to tear them apart from the inside. She is older, smarter, and more shrewd than any mortal who dares to threaten her. Hags prefer to cajole and bargain rather than confront someone with actual

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