both build debt could rather

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

Urchin Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

. 3 I owe my survival to another urchin who taught me to live on the streets. 4 I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me. 5 I escaped my life of poverty by

;d rather kill someone in their sleep than fight fair. 5 It’s not stealing if I need it more than someone else. 6 People who can’t take care of themselves get what they deserve.

Criminal / Spy Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

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

everyone. (Good) d6 Bond 1 I’m trying to pay off an old debt I owe to a generous benefactor. 2 My ill-gotten gains go to support my family. 3 Something

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

Charlatan Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

them like they were children’s books. It’s a useful talent, and one that you’re perfectly willing to use for your advantage. You know what people want and you deliver, or rather

misdeeds but might never be able to forgive myself. d6 Flaw 1 I can’t resist a pretty face. 2 I’m always in debt. I spend my ill-gotten gains on decadent

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

Courtier

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

In your earlier days, you were a personage of some significance in a noble court or a bureaucratic organization. You might or might not come from an upper-class family; your talents, rather than the

looking for someone worthy. 3 I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today. 4 I pursue wealth to secure someone’s love. 5 One day I will return to my

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

Tabaxi Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

of the world beyond their home. Barterers of Lore Tabaxi treasure knowledge rather than material things. A chest filled with gold coins might be useful to buy food or a coil of rope, but it’s

hand, which you constantly fidget with. 7 You are always in debt, since you spend your gold on lavish parties and gifts for friends. 8 When talking about something you’re obsessed

Urban Bounty Hunter

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

. 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 attention to the risks

take a trip down the Styx for all I care. (Neutral) 6 Redemption. There’s a spark of good in everyone. (Good) d6 Bond 1 I’m trying to pay off an old debt I owe

Selesnya Initiate

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

1 I never raise my voice or lose my temper. 2 I feel the pains and joys of everyone around me, friend or foe. 3 I would rather make a friend than thwart an enemy. 4 I’m

public argument with an Izzet chemister, and neither of us is allowed back into that restaurant. 7 I paid off my debt to the Orzhov Syndicate, but my good friend was not so lucky and remains

Urchin - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

owe my survival to another urchin who taught me to live on the streets. 4 I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me. 5 I escaped my life of poverty by robbing an

from a fight. 2 Gold seems like a lot of money to me, and I’ll do just about anything for more of it. 3 I will never fully trust anyone other than myself. 4 I’d rather

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

Charlatan - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

one that you’re perfectly willing to use for your advantage. You know what people want and you deliver, or rather, you promise to deliver. Common sense should steer people away from things that

seek to atone for my misdeeds but might never be able to forgive myself. d6 Flaw 1 I can’t resist a pretty face. 2 I’m always in debt. I spend my ill-gotten

Criminal - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

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

old debt I owe to a generous benefactor. 2 My ill-gotten gains go to support my family. 3 Something important was taken from me, and I aim to steal it back. 4 I will become the

Lethal Leverage

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

adventurers. Once they have such leverage, the noble contact is no longer a friend, but rather the characters’ debt holder or blackmailer. Most such treacherous individuals try to ensure that threats or

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

Roleplaying Vishtai

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

Roleplaying Vishtai Vishtai is Alden’s confidant and knows all about the situation with Daask. He hates bullies and pushes for Alden to try to rescue his son rather than to keep giving in to Daask’s

actions. Please, save Caden and return him to his father. House Orien would owe you a great debt, and you see how broken the man is. There is an enclosed lift five buildings north of this estate. Look

What If Everyone Dies?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide

—rather, it presents an opportunity to take the game in a new direction. Consider these possibilities. A Fresh Start Everyone makes new characters, and the campaign starts anew. This might be the most

and has them raised from the dead, putting the adventurers in the debt of their rescuer. What if the adventurers wake up decades after their death, returned to life by a Resurrection spell cast by

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

not lost. I’ve learned that the factions are in debt to a mercane named Vocath. He might be willing to help us … for a price.” Questioning Warwyck Characters who have questions about Vocath can get

Minions and Pets

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

she might be under her command, working off the debt of a bargain for itself or someone else. Favors beget favors, and under duress a hag might speak a magic word to call upon a blood debt from a

considers beneath her personal attention. Hags prefer to employ clever, cruel creatures rather than dumb oafs. Servants d8 Servant(s) * See chapter 3 of this book for statistics. 1 1d4 flameskulls 2 1d2

Character and Party Creation

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

character’s bond is, “I’m trying to pay off an old debt I owe to a generous benefactor.” If that’s the character’s bond, you should work with the player to decide who that generous benefactor is and build

relevant story lines into the larger campaign. Party Formation During session zero, your role is to let the players build the characters they want and to help them come up with explanations for how their

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.

Centaur

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

basic physiology, the centaur bands are commonly associated with their own distinct traits. Lagonna band centaurs tend to be sleek and muscular, with powerful legs built for endurance rather than

the red mud of the eldest river, Pheres trompers taught them how to corner and kill prey. The story tells that, to repay this debt, humans owe the centaurs a portion of what they catch. While humans

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

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

Paladin

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

squishier members of your party come to rely on your presence and protection. Things Best Left Unsaid Every character has a few private matters they’d rather not share, but the truth-and-honesty stakes

to tell you that the paperwork regarding the debt you owe is temporarily lost, but they’re working on it. 6 You owe an enormous amount of money to a forgetful and amoral person. So far, that

Life in the Sensa Empire

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

and craftspeople to build social and professional connections, better their craft, and organize for improved labor conditions. Each city-state has its own chapter of the guild that pushes back when

. Historically, rather than a single imperial line controlling the throne, each empress or emperor selects an heir from among the eldest children of each city-state’s monarch. While no law prevents rulers

The Attack

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm Lord’s Wrath

. Three-sided battles can sometimes take longer because of the number of combatants participating. Use your discretion as the DM to have the excitement of the battle build up rather than fizzle out

recover and regroup. Encourage tactical thinking. If one of the sides of the battle consists of savage monsters or mindless undead, give clues that they attack the nearest enemy rather than thinking

NPC Stat Blocks

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

can build the NPC as you would a player character, as discussed in the Player’s Handbook. If you decide to build an NPC the same way you build a player character, you can skip choosing a background and

affect a monster’s challenge rating are listed in the Monster Features table. The NPC’s proficiency bonus is determined by its level, just like a character, rather than by its challenge rating. If the

Fire Snake

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

emerges as a fire snake. A fire snake matures into a salamander adult within a year. Enslaved by the Efreet. Long ago, the efreet hired azer to build the fabled City of Brass, but then failed in

salamanders dedicated to the cults of Elemental Evil, they slay them rather than enslaving them. Domineering Nobles. Although salamanders follow the destructive impulses of their fiery nature

Mogis's Villains

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

Mogis’s Villains Unquestionably, Mogis makes an excellent villain. His lust for bloodshed and willingness to fight all comers makes him easy to build a campaign around if you want a straightforward

associated with vicious monsters bent on wholesale destruction. He isn’t at all concerned with subtlety, but rather with creating mayhem. Adventures that bring characters into conflict with agents of

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