build before defining cities receives

Gray Dwarf (Duergar) Legacy

Species Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

artistic value. Few duergar become adventurers, fewer still on the surface world, because they are a hidebound and suspicious race. Those who leave their subterranean cities are usually exiles. Check

obliterated by Moradin’s betrayal. The duergar lead bleak, grim lives devoid of happiness or satisfaction, but they see that as their defining strength — the root of duergar pride, as it were — rather than a drawback to be corrected.

Tlincalli

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

powerful hunter, such as a blue dragon, they carefully weigh whether to serve the superior hunter, move on, or fight to the death to remove it as competition. Tlincallis rarely build cities, make

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

cities, the hatred against warforged and Cyran refugees, the calls for a return to war — all these things bear the mark of Rak Tulkhesh's malign influence. Minions of Rak Tulkhesh. Any organization that

Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

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

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

Cleric Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

a simple life of temple service, carrying out their gods’ will through prayer and sacrifice, not by magic and strength of arms. In some cities, priesthood amounts to a political office, viewed

a troublemaker? What are your ultimate goals? Does your deity have a special task in mind for you? Or are you striving to prove yourself worthy of a great quest? QUICK BUILD You can make a cleric

Barbarian Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

, resilience, and feats of strength. Primal Instinct People of towns and cities take pride in their settled ways, as if denying one’s connection to nature were a mark of superiority. To a barbarian

violated, or a coup that removed you from a position of authority. QUICK BUILD You can make a barbarian quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Strength

Changeling Legacy

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

havens in major cities and communities, but most prefer to wander the unpredictable path of the god known as the Traveler. In creating a changeling adventurer, consider the character’s relationships

specific purpose and then might never be used again. However, many changelings develop identities that have more depth. They build an identity over time, crafting a persona with a history and beliefs. This

Wizard Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

knowledge and power calls even the most unadventurous wizards out of the safety of their libraries and laboratories and into crumbling ruins and lost cities. Most wizards believe that their counterparts

other wizard? Perhaps you’re simply eager to put your newfound magical skills to the test in the face of danger. QUICK BUILD You can make a wizard quickly by following these suggestions. First

Step 1: Assess the Characters

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

Step 1: Assess the Characters To build an encounter using this system, first take stock of the player characters. This system uses the characters’ levels to determine the numbers and challenge

saving throw modifiers, as well as how much damage the mightiest characters can deal with a single attack. Character level and challenge rating are good for defining the difficulty of an encounter, but

Chapter 1: Subclasses

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

the story. This chapter provides a variety of new options for them, focusing on additional subclasses for each of the classes in the Player’s Handbook. Each class offers a character-defining choice at

, the section for druids presents details on how the Wild Shape feature works, and the warlock receives a collection of new choices for the class’s Eldritch Invocations feature. Each of the class

Ranger Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

the creature while he readies his bow. Far from the bustle of cities and towns, past the hedges that shelter the most distant farms from the terrors of the wild, amid the dense-packed trees of

relief from solitude that they offer? QUICK BUILD You can make a ranger quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Dexterity your highest ability score, followed by Wisdom. (Some rangers who

Ephara's Influence

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

those who build new cities and those who free others from tyranny. Ephara knows that not all threats to a city come from outside it, and she encourages her followers to watch out for tyranny and

build a city. Ephara and Nylea are almost polar opposites, and there is no shortage of bad blood between the god of the cities and the god of the hunt. Nylea resents the construction of every

Atmosphere

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

your players. Settle on a single defining factor that sums up a settlement’s personality and extrapolate from there. Maybe a city is built around canals, like real-world Venice. That key element

cities present a distinct aesthetic, clearly identifiable in contrast to human-built ones. Soldiers patrol the streets to quell any hint of dissent in a city ruled by a tyrant, while a city fostering

Variety in All Things

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

settled. When they settle, though, they stay: they 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

Variety in All Things

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

settled. When they settle, though, they stay: they 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

Ephara as Campaign Villain

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

Ephara as Campaign Villain A campaign with Ephara as the villain might be well suited to a wilderness-based campaign. Many people of the wilds see the patron of cities as inherently villainous—a

see cities as inherently superior to other locations, they are unmoved by simple pleas to leave the wilderness as it is, and the characters likely must stop them by force. Ephara’s Divine Schemes

Parcels of Land

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

. A character who receives a parcel of land is free to build on it and is expected to safeguard it. He or she may yield the land as part of an inheritance, but can’t sell or trade it without permission

Welcome to Eberron

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

families controls much of the world’s economy thanks to the edge given them by the mysterious and rare dragonmarks. Its people harness magic as a tool—to build cities, to sail ships through the skies

unknown in either the modern world or any world of medieval fantasy. Great cities where castles scrape the sky prosper throughout the continent of Khorvaire, and a thriving aristocracy of merchant

Settlements

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

settlements as a home base, in or near which they can build their Bastions when they are of high enough level to do so (see chapter 8). The Settlements by Size table provides population ranges for

villages, towns, and cities as well as the value of the most expensive item the settlement is likely to have for sale. Adjust these numbers as you wish to account for special circumstances. For example, a

Human Traits

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

their late teens and live less than a century. Size. Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium

, halflings, and humans. In the cosmopolitan cities of the D&D multiverse, most people hardly look twice at folk they interact with. But the small towns and villages that dot the countryside are different

Settlements

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

Settlements The places where people live — bustling cities, prosperous towns, and tiny villages nestled among miles of farmland — help define the nature of civilization in your world. A single

characters care about the settlement? The guidelines in this section are here to help you build the settlement you want for whatever purpose you have in mind. Disregard any advice here that runs counter to your vision for a settlement.

Humans

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

many places the most dominant. Their cultural and societal makeup runs the gamut, from the cosmopolitan folk who reside in great cities such as Baldur’s Gate and Waterdeep to the barbarians who rage

Great Glacier to the fertile shores along rivers and seas. Humans find ways to survive and to thrive almost anywhere. In locations where elves and dwarves have withdrawn, humans often move in and build

A Subterranean Threat

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Netheril’s Fall: Tales of Terror, Treasure, and Time Travel

result. Using their abilities to siphon magic from the Weave, the phaerimm began to assault the mighty empire above. The phaerimm’s magic caused the fall of some flying cities. Additionally, groups

Anauroch’s desertification, further contributing to the underclass’s unrest. The phaerimm, once they’d dispatched Netheril, planned to build their own empire built on suffering and dominance over all

Merfolk

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

and cities. As a result, most live in small hunter-gatherer tribes, each of which holds unique values and creeds. Only occasionally do merfolk unite under the rule of a single leader. They do so to

face a common threat or to complete a conquest. Such unifications can be the beginning of undersea kingdoms with dynasties lasting hundreds of years. Merfolk Settlements. Merfolk build their settlements

Shield Dwarves

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

famous of the old shield dwarf cities is Citadel Adbar, north and east of Silverymoon. Many of these dwarfholds have changed hands over the centuries in a cycle of invasion by enemies, followed by

by their gold dwarf cousins. Shield dwarf crafters build to last, and each one’s signature mark placed upon an enduring masterpiece serves as a way of gaining immortality. DWARF CLANS OF THE NORTH

Creating Religions

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

temple of an agricultural deity in the evening. Cities and large towns can host numerous temples dedicated to individual gods important to the community, while smaller settlements might have a single

the focus of pilgrims who travel long distances to partake in the holy power assumed to linger there. Build Your Own Pantheon Most of the published D&D settings described in chapter 5 have their

Chapter 1: What Is Eberron?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

alignment. It’s a place where magic has been harnessed as a tool — used to build cities, to sail ships through the skies, to create both wonders and weapons. Eberron embraces swashbuckling action and pulp

entire nation, leaving terrible scars behind. Crime and corruption lurk in the great cities of Khorvaire. Hidden dragons shape the course of history. Sinister fiends influence the dreams of the unwary

Intrigue

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

Intrigue Stories in the noir tradition tend to start slowly and build gradually as the mystery gets deeper and more convoluted, until the situation erupts in a climactic confrontation. In contrast to

characters into the mystery. Story Opening d6 Event 1 The party receives a detailed reading from a street fortune-teller that lays out the start of the adventure. 2 A courier escorts the party to an

Exile

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

bustling cities full of Humanoid peoples where they might attract attention but not necessarily open hostility. Giants who live among smaller folk tend to gravitate to positions of importance. They

from outside threats. 4 An adventurer receives an exclusive invitation to study a topic of interest (perhaps giants’ sagas or religion), but the invitation seems suspicious—demanding secrecy, traveling

Expert Tunnelers

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

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 network of passages beneath the streets, connecting them to a nearby

waterway and greatly improving the town’s sanitation. If the kobolds like the area and aren’t mistreated by the humans, they might build a warren and make a permanent home there, while continuing to

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

continent’s cities. Gargoyle couriers are in high demand. Though monstrous workers of these sorts are still rare in many nations, their numbers are growing. Conversely, a visit to Droaam gives adventurers a

Build Your Group

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

Build Your Group A head of state like Prince Oargev requires a variety of adventurers to do the range of tasks they require. Depending on the kinds of work you do, your party might include some or

disasters jeopardizing the nation as a whole. Wardens are often rangers or druids, with proficiency in Nature and Perception. They might come from backgrounds as outlanders or hermits, making them more comfortable in the wilds than in cities or royal courts.

Welcome to Leilon

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

the town’s shallow mud flats) to be transferred to cities along the Sword Coast. Two hundred years ago, the wizard Thalivar made his home here and raised a tower at the town center to conduct his

attempt to build docks for barges, made to cross the marsh and meet merchant ships in the sea. Outside of town, a settler camp nestles under the trees alongside the High Road. At the center of town, the

Gond

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

large, linked metal medallions and enormous sun hats. A traveling priest of Gond offers services to distant villages as a tinker, a carpenter, and a civil engineer rolled into one, ready to help build

in their travels, and take great delight in meeting fellow priests and sharing their finds. In large cities, the Gondar construct temples that serve as great workshops and inventors’ labs. Wandering

It's Your World

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

a great empire, and magically aided travel between its cities is commonplace. Monsters Are Uncommon. What if monsters are rare and terrifying? In the Ravenloft setting, horrific domains are governed

D&D Beyond

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