both build daring corrupt rather

Sammaster (Dracolich Form)

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

for his demise. He drew on the warped resurrection of dracoliches to become a lich himself. He continues to lead the Cult of the Dragon from the shadows, developing new ways to control and corrupt

efficiently as he can. Sammaster personally checks in on the cult’s most important plots, often surprising his minions with his presence. Rather than keep a soul jar as liches do, Sammaster keeps

Sammaster (Lich Form)

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

. He drew on the warped resurrection of dracoliches to become a lich himself. He continues to lead the Cult of the Dragon from the shadows, developing new ways to control and corrupt dragonkind

can. Sammaster personally checks in on the cult’s most important plots, often surprising his minions with his presence. Rather than keep a soul jar as liches do, Sammaster keeps a magical soul

Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

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

build cities to last for the ages, and great kingdoms that can persist for long centuries. An individual human might have a relatively short life span, but a human nation or culture preserves

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

known only as “the Caller” to corrupt and slay all of Isolde’s companions, leaving Isolde alone, bitter, and vulnerable. The insidious archfey then befriended Isolde and offered to

Pidlwick II

Monsters Curse of Strahd

return the courtesy, the duchess commissioned the legendary toymaker Fritz von Weerg to build a clockwork effigy of Pidlwick as a gift for Strahd's family. Although the duchess's heart was in the right

, instead assuming that the guests had died in their sleep. But Strahd was not fooled. He came to realize fairly quickly that the clockwork effigy had begun to display a murderous nature. Rather than have

Criminal / Spy Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

; specifically, you know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for you. Variant Criminal: Spy Although your capabilities are not much different

new place is note the locations of everything valuable—or where such things could be hidden. 4 I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy. 5 I am incredibly slow to trust. Those

Young Moonstone Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

… oh my goodness, is that circlet made of silver? 7 I find the waking world tedious and mundane and would much rather spend my time asleep, in the realm of dreams. 8 I find the

1 A young moonstone dragon on the cusp of adulthood refuses to settle down and build a lair. To protect the local populace from the dragon’s chaotic activities, a minor deity sends a deva

Halfling Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

treasures locked in a cellar rather than on display for all to see. They have a knack for finding the most straightforward solution to a problem, and have little patience for dithering. Kind and

communities are threatened. Pastoral Pleasantries Most halflings live in small, peaceful communities with large farms and well-kept groves. They rarely build kingdoms of their own or even hold much

Rogue Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

would rather make one precise strike, placing it exactly where the attack will hurt the target most, than wear an opponent down with a barrage of attacks. Rogues have an almost supernatural knack for

. QUICK BUILD You can make a rogue quickly by following these suggestions. First, Dexterity should be your highest ability score. Make Intelligence your next-highest if you want to excel at

Faction Agent

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often proficient in Investigation, enabling them to be adept at snooping and spying. They often seek aid from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and

relic of my faith that was lost long ago. 2 I will someday get revenge on the corrupt temple hierarchy who branded me a heretic. 3 I owe my life to the priest who took me in when my

Criminal - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

to and from your contact, even over great distances; specifically, you know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for you. BALDUR’S GATE

could be hidden. 4 I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy. 5 I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide. 6 I don’t pay

Exemplars of Ambition

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

Exemplars of Ambition Humans who seek adventure are the most daring and ambitious members of a daring and ambitious race. They seek to earn glory in the eyes of their fellows by amassing power

, wealth, and fame. More than other people, humans champion causes rather than territories or groups. EVERYONE’S SECOND-BEST FRIENDS Just as readily as they mix with each other, humans mingle with members

Exemplars of Ambition

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

Exemplars of Ambition Humans who seek adventure are the most daring and ambitious members of a daring and ambitious race. They seek to earn glory in the eyes of their fellows by amassing power

, wealth, and fame. More than other people, humans champion causes rather than territories or groups. EVERYONE'S SECOND-BEST FRIENDS Just as readily as they mix with each other, humans mingle with members

Bard Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

necessary, using their magic to bolster their swords and armor. Their spells lean toward charms and illusions rather than blatantly destructive spells. They have a wide-ranging knowledge of many

, making a bargain for a musical gift in addition to your life and freedom, but at what cost? QUICK BUILD You can make a bard quickly by following these suggestions. First, Charisma should be your

Warlock Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

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

their patrons in dreams or waking visions, or deal only with intermediaries. QUICK BUILD You can make a warlock quickly by following these suggestions. First, Charisma should be your highest ability

Soldier - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

the behaviors common to corrupt guards and military officers a mile away. While awareness of such corruption doesn’t equate to evidence of it, and your sense certainly isn’t foolproof, your

keep that mistake secret. 4 My hatred of my enemies is blind and unreasoning. 5 I obey the law, even if the law causes misery. 6 I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

adventurers are usually the survivors of a flock that has sustained heavy losses, or a rare kenku who has grown weary of a life of crime. These kenku are more ambitious and daring than their fellows

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

Druid Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

of nature itself or from a nature deity. Many druids pursue a mystic spirituality of transcendent union with nature rather than devotion to a divine entity, while others serve gods of wild nature

? Perhaps your homeland was befouled by evil, and you took up an adventuring life in hopes of finding a new home or purpose. QUICK BUILD You can make a druid quickly by following these suggestions

Izzet Engineer

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

protocols will lead us toward progress more surely than any belief system. (Lawful) 5 Fun. I love my job! Despite the dangerous working conditions, there’s nothing I’d rather do

it was sabotage that destroyed my first laboratory and killed many of my friends, and I seek revenge against whoever did it. 4 I have the schematics for an invention that I hope to build one day

Quest for the Sword

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

hollyphant offers the characters a choice of paths. Both paths eventually lead to the Bleeding Citadel, but only through a combination of deal making, daring, and dumb luck. Diagram 3.2 and diagram 3.3

rather a sequence of locations that the characters must visit in order. If the characters wander off these paths, use optional encounters to pull them back (see “Other Locations,” and “Roaming

Kenku Adventurers

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

daring than their fellows. Others strike out on their own in search of the secrets of flight, to master magic, or to uncover the secret of their curse and find a method to break it. Kenku adventurers

you’re playing a 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

Coins

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

wealth for the benefit of a charity or a just cause. On the side of evil, it embodies the worst aspects of greed. It speaks to the power of gold, and how that power can build or destroy nations. Coins

, innocence, friendship, or reputation Eight of coins Tax Collector Corruption; honesty in an otherwise corrupt government or organization Nine of coins Miser Hoarded wealth; those who are irreversibly unhappy or who think money is meaningless

Phenax's Champions

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

the new moon. 2 One of your parents is a champion of Phenax. 3 You pulled off a daring theft or escaped from confinement at a young age. 4 You have proven yourself a capable liar

and teller of tall tales. 5 You dedicated your life to upsetting the balance of power in a corrupt polis. 6 You have no idea why Phenax showed interest in you, and you might sometimes wish

Zariel's Fall

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

weapon and hide it, so that the devils would not destroy or corrupt it. Yael took the sword and fled, along with Zariel’s faithful hollyphant companion, Lulu. Zariel’s other two generals, Olanthius

grace. Haruman followed his master into damnation willingly and was transformed into a narzugon devil, while Olanthius, who took his own life rather than bow before Asmodeus, was brought back to serve as a death knight under Zariel’s burning gaze.

Daring Dancer

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

Daring Dancer Ollin As the characters are leaving Xoxotla, an impossible figure to ignore hails them. This is Ollin, a tiefling performer with turquoise patterned skin. They’re headed the same

keeps their distance only if threatened or rebuffed in extremely clear terms. Ollin Ollin is a chaotic good tiefling. They use the priest stat block but have Performance +3 rather than Persuasion, and

Types of Hags

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

, and most are stout or have a medium build rather than being thin or emaciated. Night hags enjoy corrupting the dreams of good people, compromising the ideals of their victims to get them to

form and seeks to attack, deface, or corrupt it so it has the opposite effect on its viewers. One is more likely to defile the inspiring statue in a town square, making it into a symbol of fear and

Hazlik's Powers and Dominion

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

items rather than his own spells. Glory Taker. At any given time, Hazlik permits dozens of apprentices to study at his feet. His lessons are infrequent, demanding, and filled with mocking examples

wizard. His favorite—or least disappointing—apprentices include the masked wizard Yhal the Skygazer, shadow-cloaked Ruzelo, and the daring genius Eleni. Inside the Experiment. Hazlik realizes that

Adventures in Barovia

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

domain’s innumerable evils all ultimately tie back to Strahd. Any corrupt individual, sinister cult, or rampaging monster might have been inspired by the Darklord, their evil ultimately furthering

deposit strangers to Barovia within sight of the fortress, daring the unwary to approach. Ultimately, only the bravest lay siege to the castle or accept the count’s invitations to visit him there. But

Origin of the Ordning

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

among giant kinds reflecting a cultural or geographical distinction rather than an inherent one. They might live in bands composed of multiple giant kinds or family groups of a single kind. Or giants of

different kinds might not recognize each other as kindred at all. All these giants build a range of social structures in the same manifold ways other peoples do, without regard to an overarching ordning.

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 was impressed by her. She enlisted a powerful fiend known only as “the Caller” to corrupt and slay all of Isolde’s companions, leaving Isolde alone, bitter, and vulnerable. The insidious archfey

Seven Things to Know

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

with the trade guilds each family controls. Lands of Intrigue. The war is over, and the nations of Khorvaire now try to build a new age of peace and prosperity. Ancient threats linger, however, and the

by any means short of all-out war. Dragonmarked houses, churches both pure and corrupt, crime lords, monster gangs, psionic spies, arcane universities, secret societies, sinister masterminds, dragons

Creating a Rival

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

the others might be neutral or good; conflicts with those rivals might be social or political, rather than manifesting as direct attacks. The best rivals have a connection with their adversaries on a

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

sewer tunnels, paying them with food and tools the kobolds wouldn’t have access to on their own. If they are treated well and left alone to do the job, the kobolds work industriously and build a

, they might build a warren and make a permanent home there, while continuing to expand the town’s sewers as the community grows. These so-called “city kobolds” live underground but

Let This Be Their Battlefield

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

, you can add some action for those who remain behind by having a small number of the demons summoned by the ritual attracted to the site of the ritual rather than the location of the dark heart

myconids of their need for a place to stage a daring last battle, Sovereign Basidia or another myconid representative might offer Neverlight Grove. The ranks of the myconids have been decimated by

Droaam

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

Droaam are learning to work together and finding ways to use their supernatural gifts to help build and sustain society. A medusa might use its petrifying gaze to preserve the life of an injured ally

until medical attention can be obtained. Harpies in the taverns of Droaam use their hypnotic songs to entertain rather than to harm. When you bring creatures from Droaam into the campaign, consider how

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