broad before during clear rather

Water Weird Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

location, such as a pool or fountain. Invisible while immersed in water, its serpentine shape becomes clear only when it emerges to attack, using its coils to crush any creature other than its summoner and

interlopers rather than kill them, while a neutral evil water weird kills its victims for pleasure and might turn against its summoner. A water weird loses its evil alignment if its waters are cleansed

Vladimir Horngaard

Monsters Curse of Strahd

Strahd's armies time and again as they swept across the land. When it became clear that Strahd couldn't be stopped, the knights of the order led hundreds of refugees to Argynvost's valley, but Strahd

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

Spectral Cloud

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

’s appearance becomes clear: a skeletal cloud giant corpse. Tales suggest cloud giants sometimes seek this fate rather than accept the end of their naturally long lives. In such stories, a

Vedalken

Species Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

external ears, their noses are broad and flat, and they are partially amphibious. Cool Rationality Despite being talkative, vedalken keep their personal lives private, and they tend to engage more

with ideas than with people. They form close friendships based on mutual interests or compelling disagreements, and their interactions dwell on their thoughts about those issues rather than their

Tiefling Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

possible sense, they still look human. However, their infernal heritage has left a clear imprint on their appearance. Tieflings have large horns that take any of a variety of shapes: some have curling

three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language, passed down through generations, that

Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

empires on the foundation of conquest and trade. Whatever drives them, humans are the innovators, the achievers, and the pioneers of the worlds. A Broad Spectrum With their penchant for migration

, 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

Rogue Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

variety of skills as they do to perfecting their combat abilities, giving them a broad expertise that few other characters can match. Many rogues focus on stealth and deception, while others refine the

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

Reborn

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

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

sensations or visions of the past to come rushing back. Rather than sleeping, reborn regularly sit and dwell on the past, hoping for some revelation of what came before. Most of the time, these are dark

Feral Tiefling

Species Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

possible sense, they still look human. However, their infernal heritage has left a clear imprint on their appearance. Tieflings have large horns that take any of a variety of shapes: some have curling

three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language, passed down through generations, that

Province Scale

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

chapter) or any location where you expect to track the adventurers’ movement in hours rather than days. The ground cover of an area this size will include broad stretches of one predominant terrain type

travel in any direction from the center of the map, assuming clear terrain. As such, province scale is a useful scale for mapping a campaign’s starting area (see “Creating a Campaign,” later in this

Approaching the Badlands

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

glistening rope ascending twenty feet to a broad, winged kite. Characters approaching from the south get a clear look at the watchtowers (shown on map 6.2). The smaller, central tower has a lone

, unmoving sentry. Characters who observe the towers through a spyglass or succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check note that the “sentry” appears to be a mannequin wearing a broad-brimmed sun hat. The

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

Through the Tunnels

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

Through the Tunnels As the characters travel between Illithinoch and Phandalin, they can clear out any dangerous areas they missed in the “Journey through the Deep” section in chapter 7. Continue to

roll on the Tunnel Encounters table in that chapter, as the route is never truly safe. However, since the characters have already faced several threats, roll every 2 hours of travel rather than every hour.

Player's Handbook plus One

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

the characters in the campaign work. Since a DM in a shared campaign must deal with a broad range of characters, rather than the same characters each week, it can be difficult to track all the

Skill and Precision

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

Skill and Precision Rogues devote as much effort to mastering the use of a variety of skills as they do to perfecting their combat abilities, giving them a broad expertise that few other characters

comes to combat, rogues prioritize cunning over brute strength. A rogue would rather make one precise strike, placing it exactly where the attack will hurt the target most, than wear an opponent down

Skill and Precision

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

Skill and Precision Rogues devote as much effort to mastering the use of a variety of skills as they do to perfecting their combat abilities, giving them a broad expertise that few other characters

comes to combat, rogues prioritize cunning over brute strength. A rogue would rather make one precise strike, placing it exactly where the attack will hurt the target most, than wear an opponent down

The God-Brain's Powers and Dominion

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

knows anything that they know. The God-Brain delegates broad goals to its most effective servants, encouraging them to indulge all manner of radical experiments. Mist Vibrations. Through the awesome

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

Kenku Adventurers

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

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

they mean. Be clear about your character’s intentions unless you’re deliberately aiming for inscrutable or mysterious. You might say, “Snapper makes the noise of a hammer slowly and rhythmically

Sigil at a Glance

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands

behind observers, as if they stood in a bowl or valley, stretching upward and disappearing into an industrial haze. On a clear day, a creature that looks upward sees the other side of the city

edge are ever heard from again. Those who pass over the edge don’t end up in the Outlands; rather, they are flung to random corners of the planes.

Dragons

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

avoid contact with those they see as lesser creatures. They are obsessed with the Draconic Prophecy, which is a map of possible futures rather than a clear-cut prediction. Its paths are revealed in

The Attack

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

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

. 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

What's Going On?

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

to Nidalia, even though she has been dead for months. Rather than corrupting and tormenting others, Nidalia preferred to collect books and scrolls. Though she was peaceful and compassionate, she was

working on a way to resurrect Nidalia. It soon became clear that wouldn’t be a simple task. After all, the resurrection spell requires both a diamond worth at least 1,000 gp and the services of a

Darklake District

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

with drow, svirfneblin, orcs, and others — pay little attention to the characters unless they are looking to do business. Guards posted at the gates make it clear to the characters that non-duergar are

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

Across the Fungal Fields

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

rise up and attack the characters. Created by Araumycos to perfectly duplicate the abilities, traits, and actions of otyughs, these creatures are plants rather than aberrations. They attack until slain

defeated. The creature bursts like an overfull wineskin, releasing a clear ichor and a cloud of dusty spores. The deflating bulk of its body sinks back beneath the shimmering fungal field where you

Shadow of Soth

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

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

can retreat safely, telling the characters she has a few tricks in store for their pursuers. Make it clear the characters don’t need to rush their exploration of the city to return to their allies.

Perception

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

Passive Perception. Sometimes, asking players to make Wisdom (Perception) checks for their characters tips them off that there’s something they should be searching for, giving them a clue you’d rather

opening the desk drawer, suggesting the presence of a hidden compartment in the back or bottom of the drawer) or obvious (clear footprints lead across the room to a blank wall that is actually a

Daring Dancer

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

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

Siege Weapon Sabotage

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hold Back The Dead

. It’s immediately clear that they are destroying the siege weapon rather than taking it apart, which should alert the characters that something is wrong. Once the siege weapon is destroyed, or if the

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

they are more interested in grabbing plunder and food rather than in wanton slaughter. The elderly, children, and any who seem weak or meek enough might escape death. If they leave the population more

the gods has no clear explanation, the priests might have to meditate for hours or days to get a vision of its meaning. Every group of orcs has particular superstitions and recognizes certain omens

Targets

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

more subtle effect, such as an attempt to read a creature's thoughts, typically goes unnoticed, unless a spell says otherwise. A Clear Path to the Target To target something, you must have a clear path

such as detect magic or identify, they glimpse the Weave. A spell such as dispel magic smooths the Weave. Spells such as antimagic field rearrange the Weave so that magic flows around, rather than

Iroas as Campaign Villain

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

) to blunt Iroas’s anger, or even battle Iroas with the support of other gods. Iroas’s Divine Schemes Iroas isn’t much of a schemer. His view of the world is through the crystal-clear lens of battle

, forms a group in support of Mogis. Iroas, rather than accepting Heliod’s aid, launches a grand campaign of his own against his brother. 3 Mogis arms one of his champions with an axe capable of

Commodore Krux

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

creature with eyestalks and a watchful central eye tends bar in this establishment. Filling one side of a table meant for six is a broad-chested, hippo-headed man with a green parrot perched on one

astral elf ships visited the Rock of Bral a few days before launching the attack on your world. The elves gave fair warning to various captains on the Rock, urging them to steer clear of your world lest

Silver Dragon Lairs

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

visitors in grand style. Though this court is often surrounded by clouds, the dragon can clear them away with a moment’s thought, revealing a breathtaking view of the surrounding region. Majestic Temple

. Under Temple. A broad shaft in the temple opens into a treasury chamber below, where the dragon’s hoard is arranged in gleaming splendor. Additional Lair Action At your discretion, a legendary (adult or

Life in Akharin Sangar

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

for knowledge permeates Akharin Sangar. Its many independent schools are free to teach broad curricula that beget a well-read populace, although the long list of censored works constrains opportunities

curfew after sundown, and everyday interactions are tinged with restraint to steer clear of Atash’s forbiddances. Sangarians reserve intimacy for family and close friends, lowering their social guard

Derro Lair Locations

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase

clear a pile of stony rubble inside the derro’s lair The walls of this rough-hewn chamber have been painted with broad, jagged lines of black and white. On the west side of the room, fragments of a

black marble statue lie shattered on the floor. In the northeast corner of the room, four derro use hammers to clear rubble from a blocked passage. Four zombies accompany them, clawing mindlessly at the

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