Search Results
All Results
Characters
Compendium
Spells
Items
Monsters
Vehicles
Forums
Returning 35 results for 'build been device concept reason'.
Other Suggestions:
build been decide concept reasons
build been divine conceal reason
build been decide conceal reasons
build been desire conceal reasons
build been divine conceal reasons
Firbolg
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
Reason for Adventuring
1
Outcast for murder
2
Outcast for severely damaging home territory
3
Clan slain by invading humanoids
4
Clan slain by a dragon or demon
5
adopt elven names when they must deal with outsiders, although the concept of names strikes them as strange. They know the animals and plants of the forest without formal names, and instead identify the
Kobold
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
allows him to command the scaladar. He has put the constructs to work building a device he calls the Simulacrux. This device will, in theory, create a simulacrum of any scaladar that passes through
it. Zox’s intentions are not malevolent; he simply needs more scaladar in order to build all the things he has it in his head to build.
Warforged
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Eberron: Rising from the Last War
and crystal eyes embedded beneath a reinforced brow ridge. Beyond these common elements of warforged design, the precise materials and build of a warforged vary based on the purpose for which it was
deeper meaning.
The typical warforged has a sexless body shape. Some warforged ignore the concept of gender entirely, while others adopt a gender identity.
The more a warforged develops its
Tortle
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
The Tortle Package
dozen) in a fortified compound enclosed by stone walls that are easily defensible. If no such compound exists, they build one. The parents spend the remainder of their lives guarding the compound
prefer simple, non-gender-specific names that are usually no more than two syllables. If a tortle doesn’t like its name for whatever reason, it can change it. A tortle might change its name a dozen
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
the sewers below Sharn, a mad genius puts the final touches on a device that will turn the people of the city into undead monstrosities. All of these are eldritch machines. They are wondrous locations
coterminous or it might only be possible to build it in a manifest zone. Ultimately, eldritch machines are plot devices. Their powers are far beyond the standard level of what is possible in Eberron, but such
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
new monsters and customizing existing ones, if for no other reason than to surprise and delight your players with something they’ve never faced before. The first step in the process is coming up with
the concept for your monster. What makes it unique? Where does it live? What role do you want it to serve in your adventure, your campaign, or your world? What does it look like? Does it have any
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
sparkles.
If you use an arcane focus, it probably takes the form of an intricate device that could include metal gauntlets, glass canisters, copper tubing, and leather straps attaching it to your body
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
dangerous, she doesn’t build them with violence in mind. She’s particularly interested in devices for long-distance communication and inventions that mechanize the work of farm animals. Personality Trait
armor asked to purchase her weed-clearing device, but with some modifications to make it resemble a mythical dragon. She agreed. (Unbeknownst to her, the stranger was a Dragon Army agent and the device
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
the ordning in some mythic future. Giants on some worlds (including Eberron) have no concept of the ordning at all. Such giants might think of themselves as a single species, with the differences
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.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
in the wilderness (see “Black Cabin”). He says that if the characters find themselves nearby, he would appreciate it if they looked in on Macreadus, who’s trying to build a device that could end the Frostmaiden’s eternal winter and return summer to Icewind Dale.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
absolute evil, demons have no concept of empathy. Each demon believes that only its needs and desires matter. This self-centeredness applies even with regard to other demons. These fiends have no
particular affinity for their own kind, which is the biggest reason why they seldom cooperate with one another unless they are forced to submit to a demon lord or other leader. Going even farther, every
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
magic item that's meant to be worn can fit a creature regardless of size or build. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they magically adjust themselves to the wearer. Rare
exceptions exist. If the story suggests a good reason for an item to fit only creatures of a certain size or shape, you can rule that it doesn't adjust. For example, drow-made armor might fit elves only
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
, but they’re not the only set of assumptions that can do so. You can build an interesting campaign concept by altering one or more of those core assumptions, just as well-established D&D worlds have done
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
. There’s no rhyme or reason to what the Gray Merchants seek, and the merchants themselves never speak. They conduct business through gestures, making their unusual trades and plodding off into the shadows
, pseudammas turn tragedy into horror by snatching mortal children and attempting to raise them. However, the Returned have forgotten the needs of the living and they have no concept of how to care for a child.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
terrifying presence on the battlefield. They form no attachments, even to their parents and siblings, and have no concept of love or dedication. They worship the orc pantheon of gods — Gruumsh and Luthic
foremost — because they believe that the gods have strength beyond reason, and physical might is all they respect. Servants of Darkness. Mistrusted by orcs, some orogs form independent mercenary war
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
The Darklake To move their expeditionary force across the Darklake, the characters must build rafts or coracles from Underdark materials, or seek out duergar or kuo-toa ferries for hire. Each ferry
chapter 1) was not killed in a previous chapter of the adventure, the characters find him among Sloobludop’s survivors. He is the sole point of calm and reason in the ruined settlement, and the various
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
villains to add to their terrifying menagerie. To what end, no one knows. The Dark Powers don’t move in the shadows of Ravenloft; they are the shadows. They’re the Mists and the darkness. They’re the reason
. These diminished vestiges manipulate their realm to create negative forces that sustain their essence and build toward renewed apotheosis. Rudolph,
I write you in the throes of a most perplexing
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
them that it and its fellows are on a mission of supreme importance, though it doesn’t reveal the nature of that mission. A character can puzzle out the reason why the modrons might be here by making a
Labyrinth, explaining that a malfunctioning “Orderer” is there. The characters might know the device by its other name: the Maze Engine. Because the device was built on Mechanus, its magical energy
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
cases, a magic item that’s meant to be worn can fit a creature regardless of size or build. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they magically adjust themselves to the wearer. Rare
exceptions exist. If the story suggests a good reason for an item to fit only creatures of a certain size or shape, you can rule that it doesn’t adjust. For example, armor made by the drow might fit
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
at the touch of a child when they are unlocked. While some other races erect statues or build special structures to honor their heroes or commemorate momentous events, the dwarves live and work within
of art makes any stronghold a prime target for thieves and raiders. For that reason, the entrance to a stronghold doesn’t broadcast its presence by being a stellar example of dwarven stonework. The
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
learned to the constables there. Shortly thereafter, the characters receive a visit from Barnibus Blastwind and Saeth Cromley (see appendix B), who have no reason to suspect the characters are lying
, the nimblewright flees the estate with the Stone of Golorr (see chapter 4 for more information on its destination). If the characters are using Nim’s nimblewright detector to track the nimblewright, the device lets them know that the nimblewright has fled the scene, but not the direction it went.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
The Knight as Narrative Device The Dungeon Master’s Guide details how the nonplayer character summoned by the Knight card of a Deck of Many Things appears. But as discussed in chapter 2, the cards of
soon meet—and who could become a loyal ally. When the Knight card is used as a narrative device in this way, the ally it brings isn’t magically summoned or compelled to obey the characters; the deck
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
insight to build a detector that can sense portals or planar disturbances. A portalometer, if you will. The research or scrutineering activities can help the characters uncover the necessary information or
to show brief glimpses of possible locations, or any other device channeling suitable magic. If you really want to dig deep, you could experiment with the idea that the orrery’s power gives it a kind
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild
thessalheart construct is a strange magical-mechanical device that struts about like a chicken, and which features a human heart beating madly behind its glass front. The construct always wanders the zone
opposite to the thessalhydra’s zone, and for good reason. The human heart that sits within the construct is magically connected to the thessalhydra, tapping into the power of the Infernal Machine components
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
dean doesn’t seem like herself. Reaching Tullus. A character who tries to reason with Dean Tullus and succeeds on a DC 14 Charisma (Persuasion) check causes the dean to hesitate. This doesn’t affect
. Throughout the battle, Tullus clutches the green orb. The wicked mage Murgaxor controls her through this device, but separating her from the orb doesn’t break Murgaxor’s control. When Tullus is defeated or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
” — a heraldic device often borne on a shield, worn as a cloak pin, or affixed to a helmet. Others throughout the city, even foreign dignitaries, are permitted to retain only up to sixteen armed
charitable actions such as burial of the unknown dead. Their motives are manifold, but their actions — no matter the reason — earn them loyalty and high regard from those who benefit from their largesse
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Build Your Group Naturally, a large portion of the Boromar Clan’s members come from a criminal background. There’s no reason characters with other backgrounds can’t be part of the syndicate, though
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
beholder can kill them whenever it wants and it is in their best interest to stop resisting and just obey the beholder’s orders. Minions build walls in the beholder’s lair, distribute food to other
last line of defense against foes that threaten the inner sanctum. Pets A beholder often has one or more pets in its lair, mainly because (for whatever reason) it enjoys the company of such creatures
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
fear that any other guild might gain enough power to overwhelm all the others and impose its own values on everyone. For this reason, they focus their efforts on subverting other guilds’ schemes, by
undermining popular and powerful leaders and interfering — often violently — with any effort to build a centralized concentration of authority. The Azorius Senate currently stands as the greatest
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Build Your Group Newspapers employ a wide range of adventurers to bring news back to the home office. Consider some or all of these roles for the characters in your party: Voice of
BRELAND
’ wealth and influence. Whose interest, then, does the Chronicle serve?
All the more reason, loyal readers, to rely on the Voice of Breland for unbiased news you can use.
Civilian. Some groups include
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
, paladins might not swear their oaths to ideals, but instead swear fealty to powerful sorcerers. To capture this story concept, you could build a new paladin spell list with spells meant to protect
to help a player express a particular character concept, and any class feature you replace is also removing an aspect of that character. Substituting a class feature should be done only to fit a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
. You could build an entire campaign in the shadow of such a conflict, which is basically taking the ideas described under “Clash of Titans” earlier in this chapter and extending them through many
thousand years for good reason: neither giants nor dragons were ever particularly numerous, and actual skirmishes between giants and dragons were rare. For this reason, you could run a campaign where battles
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
innermost court — the wondrous realm that Gith discovered in her journeys, and where she awaits those who have proven themselves worthy. Imagine you lack any concept of family. You’re constantly told that
Vlaakith: she knows how to build fanatics. But alas, fanatics are good for nothing of lasting consequence.
The Bitter Truth In the time since Vlaakith made this promise to her people, she has called
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
against your best interests. More significant than negative personality traits, a flaw might answer any of these questions: What enrages you? What’s the one person, concept, or event that you are terrified
very personal reason to hate them with a fiery passion. Her bond might be phrased as “I will do whatever it takes to punish the dragonarmies for the destruction of the Inn of the Last Home.”
Artemis






