build before deceased carrion rather

Rak Tulkhesh

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

their lives to build a prison of celestial light: a silver flame that bound the overlords in Khyber once more. These bonds have held for countless generations, but the overlords still yearn to break free

fosters hatred unwittingly serves Rak Tulkhesh, and countless soldiers in the Five Nations are devoted to the Rage of War. Many of the Carrion Tribes of the Demon Wastes likewise serve Rak Tulkhesh

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

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

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

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

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

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

Evolving the Encounter Deck

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

progressively harder, or you can change the flavor of encounters, such as adding creatures from a particular environment. One way to accomplish this is to build two encounter decks. Draw cards from the

has a markedly different theme. You might start with an encounter deck featuring mostly dungeon scavengers, like rats and carrion crawlers, then slowly add in cards from a deck made up of Undead

What's Going On?

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

What’s Going On? The gingwatzim that attacks the characters was created by a jackalwere named Korvala, using a ritual taught to her by a now-deceased lamia named Nidalia. Korvala is the leader of the

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

Hill Giants

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

unleashed during a battle or a raid. The stench that exudes from a hill giant den might attract monstrous scavengers such as oozes, ropers, carrion crawlers, or otyughs. Hill giants don’t domesticate

or tend these creatures but do tolerate their presence. A visit from a gelatinous cube or a carrion crawler probably is the only “housekeeping” a hill giant’s den ever sees. Ghouls are known to lurk

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

Life in San Citlán

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

—believed to be death herself—is the patron spirit of the city. She is a capricious figure who wishes to be celebrated rather than feared. While numerous festivals are held throughout the year, the most

splendid and anticipated is the Night of the Remembered, a celebration that evolved from ancient funerary rites and draws on the magic of the city. During this night, people can be visited by deceased

Crimes and Punishment

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

deceased elf’s ambitions and current life goals are cut short; the soul will eventually receive another chance at life and fulfillment. Because elves are reincarnated, their society treats the family

. Justice in such cases is geared toward their benefit rather than toward avenging the individual whose life was ended. Punishment for the murderer depends to some extent on the nature of the crime and

Other Military Forces

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

the threat of the Lords of Dust, it draws significant numbers of orc barbarians from the Shadow Marches, human scouts from the Eldeen Reaches, and even youths from the Carrion Tribes that live deeper

contain members of races other than elves and perhaps half-elves, but such a band could make an interesting military party. Running Your Own. Rather than join an existing force, you might choose to form

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->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

passed down through family lines. The name bestowed on a new foal is typically the name of the most recently deceased family member of the same gender, keeping alive the memory — and, the centaurs

feet. Fey. Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid. Charge. If you move at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a melee weapon attack on the same turn, you can immediately

21. Archpriest's Chambers

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

spider, to be fashioned into wings Enough wood to build a chariot (a large raft or a zurkhwood mushroom would suffice) A weapon worthy of a kuo-toa god If the characters refuse to help, the

carrion crawler swarming with maggots. 21b. Kuo-toa Carnage Stench. The air in this cave is fantastically foul. Kuo-toa. Four poisoned kuo-toa guard this area. Two of them are using spears to cut the head

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

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

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

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

Peryton

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

humanoid rather than reflecting the creature’s physical form. Sages postulate that the first perytons were humans transformed by a hideous curse or magical experiment, but bards tell a different tale

until the woman’s villainy was exposed. She was hanged for her crime, but the lingering magic of her foul ritual caused the carrion birds that feasted on her corpse to transform into the first

Nylea's Influence

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

, blaming her fellow gods for the spread of civilization rather than the mortals themselves. Divine Relationships Nylea seldom comes into open conflict with the other gods, and she would say that all her

. Nylea acknowledges death as a crucial part of the life cycle, but scorns Erebos’s obsession with the afterlife. What matters is that nature takes nourishment from the bodies of the deceased, not from

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

Copper Dragon Adventures

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

copper dragon working through various intermediaries. 5 An adult copper dragon wants griffons nesting near the dragon’s lair gone but hopes to have the griffons—and their eggs—relocated rather than

animals. A group of druids wants the wyrmling captured and relocated, rather than killed. 4 A ruined manor house being reclaimed by a newly titled noble is the lair of a copper dragon wyrmling

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

Mortuary Encounters

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Adventure Atlas: The Mortuary

never received one in life. Merle lies in the casket but occasionally sits up to hear his own eulogies. The Dusters ask the characters if they’d like to say anything on behalf of the deceased. 6 A lost

Mortuary toward his orrery (detailed later in this supplement). 2 Two guardian nagas slither up to the party. The nagas are collecting stories about those who have passed. 3 A death tyrant, eager to build

Topaz Dragon Lairs

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

being able to see the water, so they build their lairs on the heights of seaside cliffs or near perfect sunbathing beaches where they can best accomplish this. Their preference for lair sites

. Her desire is born not of greed, though, but rather from her study of the Material Plane, its magic, and dragons’ interconnection with both. Dragons on many worlds acknowledge Astilabor as they establish new lairs to host their hoards, linking them to the magic of the surrounding region.

The Role of Rules

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice & Errata

The Role of Rules Why even have Sage Advice when a DM can just make a ruling? Rules are a big part of what makes D&D a game, rather than simply improvised storytelling. The game’s rules are meant to

direction we took for fifth edition was to lay a foundation of rules that a DM could build on, and we celebrate the DM as the bridge between the things the rules address and the things they don’t. In a

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

Graveyard Temple

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

level of the temple contains a chapel with benches and a raised dais, which holds an altar and a viewing table for bodies of the deceased. The other chambers of the temple’s first floor contain the

removes limbs from corpses to build an congregation of flesh golems he can’t control. 4 A gate to the Underworld releases a bloodthirsty Underworld cerberus (see chapter 6) into the graveyard. 5

D&D Beyond

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