build before desire complex rival

Reborn

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

, silent stretches. Occasionally, though, in a moment of peace, stress, or excitement, a reborn gains a glimpse of what came before. When you desire to have such a dreamlike vision, roll on the Lost

alongside complex designs for clockwork organs. 6 You were released after being petrified for generations. Your memories have faded, though, and your body isn’t what it once was. 7 Your

Orrery of the Wanderer

Magic Items Acquisitions Incorporated

This delicate and exquisitely crafted clockwork orrery features multiple geared components whose sweeping hands and dials represent the complex interplay of planar and magical realms. Standing two

planes. Eventually, it would impress upon its owner a desire to open portals into the most cursed and dangerous worlds, including the Far Realm. To prevent the orrery from ever being so used, Lottie

Tabaxi Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

mull over the stories and rumors they collected like a miser counting coins. Although material wealth holds little attraction for the tabaxi, they have an insatiable desire to find and inspect ancient

. Fleeting Fancies Wandering tabaxi are mercurial creatures, trading one obsession or passion for the next as the whim strikes. A tabaxi’s desire burns bright, but once met it disappears to be

Geryon (Variant)

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

use this opportunity to replace his hated rival. Among the archdevils, Geryon is known for his martial prowess. He is a ferocious hunter and a relentless tracker. He often joins his troops in battle

competent replacement for both.Geryon’s Lair Geryon has recently reclaimed his ancient fortress, Coldsteel, a sprawling complex that rises from the ice and snow at the center of Stygia. He roams

Geryon

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

opportunity to replace his hated rival. Among the archdevils, Geryon is known for his martial prowess. He is a ferocious hunter and a relentless tracker. He often joins his troops in battle; he loves

replacement for both.Geryon’s Lair Geryon has recently reclaimed his ancient fortress, Coldsteel, a sprawling complex that rises from the ice and snow at the center of Stygia. He roams the

Adult Topaz Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

sun and have no desire to get wet, beyond enjoying a bit of sea spray in the air. But they love being able to see the water, so they build their lairs on the heights of seaside cliffs or near perfect

almost never show them to anyone else. Topaz Dragon Lairs Topaz dragons are happiest by the sea. They spend most of their time basking in the sun and have no desire to get wet, beyond enjoying a bit of

Barbarian Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

fraught with peril: rival tribes, deadly weather, and terrifying monsters. Barbarians charge headlong into that danger so that their people don’t have to. Their courage in the face of danger makes

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

Selesnya Initiate

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

fervent desire to share the joy you have experienced with Ravnica. Along with the rest of the conclave, you are committed to resisting the ambitions of the other guilds — with military force if

guilds, and often these new guild members maintain friendships with former guild mates. Roll twice on the Selesnya Contacts table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Selesnya Contacts table

Klauth

Monsters Storm King's Thunder

might rival him in power, in a fighting style marked by sudden attacks and just as sudden disappearances. Klauth spends many waking hours scrying Faerûn with his spells, and he probably knows more

heights of the world are the throne from which it can look out to survey all it controls—and the wider world it seeks to control. Throughout the lair complex, servants erect monuments to the

Monk Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

seriously, approaching their adventures as personal tests of their physical and spiritual growth. As a rule, monks care little for material wealth and are driven by a desire to accomplish a greater

lawful in alignment. QUICK BUILD You can make a monk quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Dexterity your highest ability score, followed by Wisdom. Second, choose the hermit background

Rogue Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

an angry thieves’ guild master? Or did you leave your guild in search of bigger risks and bigger rewards? Is it greed that drives you in your adventures, or some other desire or ideal? What

. 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

Izzet Engineer

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

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

even the lowliest attendant to make friends (and enemies) in laboratories across Ravnica. Roll twice on the Izzet Contacts table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Izzet Contacts table

Bard Legacy

Classes Basic Rules (2014)

set bards apart from their fellows. Only rarely do bards settle in one place for long, and their natural desire to travel—to find new tales to tell, new skills to learn, and new discoveries

, 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

Ancient Topaz Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

threatens shipping and caravans around a major city. Topaz Dragon Lairs Topaz dragons are happiest by the sea. They spend most of their time basking in the sun and have no desire to get wet

, beyond enjoying a bit of sea spray in the air. But they love 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

Topaz Dragon Lairs

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

Topaz Dragon Lairs Topaz dragons are happiest by the sea. They spend most of their time basking in the sun and have no desire to get wet, beyond enjoying a bit of sea spray in the air. But they love

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

The Challenge

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

to participate in this challenge, the Rival tries to compel the character to participate. This could include any of the following coercions: Offering the characters something they desire or important

and challenge them. Who Are the Rivals? Determine who issues the challenge. If one or more of the characters have Rivals, pick a Rival to be the challenger. The challenger leads a group the same size

Arcane Traditions

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

its complex study. The most common arcane traditions in the multiverse revolve around the schools of magic. Wizards through the ages have cataloged thousands of spells, grouping them into eight

of Enchantment. In other institutions, the schools are more like academic departments, with rival faculties competing for students and funding. Even wizards who train apprentices in the solitude of

Arcane Traditions

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

its complex study. The most common arcane traditions in the multiverse revolve around the schools of magic. Wizards through the ages have cataloged thousands of spells, grouping them into eight

Enchantment. In other institutions, the schools are more like academic departments, with rival faculties competing for students and funding. Even wizards who train apprentices in the solitude of

Dungeon Master's Tools

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

variety of situations. The chapter also includes a selection of ready-to-use puzzles, which you can drop into any campaign. The tools herein build on the material in the Dungeon Master’s Guide and

the Monster Manual. You may use some, all, or none of these tools, and feel free to customize how they work. Your group’s enjoyment is paramount, so make these rules your own, aiming to match your group’s tastes. Tasha prepares to win another game of wizardly chess against her rival Mordenkainen.

Key Plot Points

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves

Elakdras’s remains, but they’ve had a falling-out in Challidax’s lair, splitting their followers into rival factions. Into the Ice Caves. The adventurers enter the frosty cave complex where the

Creating a Rival

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

Creating a Rival In essence, a rival is a somewhat specialized NPC. You can use chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide to build a new NPC for this purpose, or pick one from your current cast of

created for themselves. Example Rivals d20 Rival 1 Tax collector who is convinced the characters are dodging fees 2 Politician who is concerned that the characters are causing more trouble than they

Artificer Legacy

Classes Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

Masters of invention, artificers use ingenuity and magic to unlock extraordinary capabilities in objects. They see magic as a complex system waiting to be decoded and then harnessed in their spells

look at the Artificer table to see which features you get at each level. The descriptions of those features appear in the “Artificer Features” section. QUICK BUILD You can make an

Monsters and Motivations

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

adventurers. Characters might be able to appease a hungry beast by offering it food, and smarter creatures have complex motivations. The Monster Motivation table lets you use a monster’s goals to define its

d20 Goals 1–2 Find a sanctuary 3–5 Conquer the dungeon 6–8 Seek an item in the dungeon 9–11 Slay a rival 12–13 Hide from enemies 14–15 Recover from a battle 16–17 Avoid danger 18–20 Seek wealth

Complications

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild

other agent might also have sent their own operatives back to collect the missing components, the characters’ agent invites them to help break into the rival agent’s workshop to steal those components

from the rival’s version of the Infernal Machine. Reverse the general setup of this section to have the characters on the side that breaks into the workshop. There, they see the rival agent holding Lum

Coins

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd

Coins This suit symbolizes avarice and the desire for personal and material gain. It is also symbolic of gluttony, lust, and obsession. On the side of good, this suit can suggest the accumulation of

wealth for the benefit of a charity or a just cause. On the side of evil, it embodies the worst aspects of greed. It speaks to the power of gold, and how that power can build or destroy nations. Coins

Background

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

recent Shankha Trials has attracted the attention of a sinister figure from Shankhabhumi’s past. This is the ancient, fiend-tainted athlete Jijibisha Manivarshi, a wicked soul whose desire for

eternal honor directly caused the destruction of Manivarsha. Having lived a cursed life as a pride-obsessed fiend in the depths of the swamps for centuries, Jijibisha has recently heard of a rival that

Using This Source

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse

area, the Sumber Hills, has become the stronghold where the elemental cults build their bases of power. Chapter 3 begins the adventure in earnest. In this chapter, the characters learn that trouble

, the characters discover that the four cults occupy a sprawling dungeon complex beneath the Sumber Hills. The temples serve as the base for the cultists’ insidious attacks against the Dessarin Valley

Campaign Events

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

Campaign Events If you don’t want to build a world that focuses on the presence or absence of giants, you can instead build a campaign around world-shaking events that are instigated by giants. Storm

neighbors, secretly motivated by the desire to access an ancient ruin in neighboring territory. 5 Humanoids mobilize to overthrow their giant oppressors, but the Humanoids are hopelessly outmatched in

Phenax's Champions

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

one of the necropoleis in expanding or dealing with various threats. Plots and schemes are Phenax’s lifeblood, suggesting a complex, shifting campaign full of surprises and twists. For example, a

simple heist could be the triggering event for a series of major conflicts between two rival temples that ends in a citywide conflagration. Champions of Phenax could also serve as a bulwark against more

Dungeon History

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

, Halaster tapped into his immense power to summon beings from other planes of existence to help him build a wizard’s tower to dwarf all other wizard’s towers. But as the seasons wore on, the Seven saw

his underground dealings a secret from the Seven. Eventually, Halaster’s exploration broke into the Underhalls, a complex of tunnels and rooms built by the dwarves around a mithral mine beneath Mount

Creating an Artificer

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

Creating an Artificer When creating an artificer, think about your character’s relationship with the artisan who taught them their craft. Does the character have a rival? Talk to your DM about the

, perhaps, by the tinker gnomes of Krynn. Quick Build You can make an artificer quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Intelligence, followed by Constitution

House Cannith

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer

rival the old house headquarters in Whitehearth as a hotspot of innovation. Additional cells in Breland, Zilargo, Darguun, and even Stormreach (in Xen’drik) carry out Merrix’s plans and produce

inventions to fill the house’s coffers. Rumor has it the Sharn enclave conceals the last creation forge capable of producing warforged—and that Merrix plans to build another one in Stormreach, where the

Iroas as Campaign Villain

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

victory or by cleaving to stubbornly held ideas. Although a campaign against Iroas might be straightforward in how the action plays out, the underlying causes of conflict could be quite complex

, involving attacks on people who may seem unrelated to the initial conflict. As a campaign villain, Iroas is most likely driven by his desire to win in battle, to confront Mogis, or to avenge an insult to

17. Sauna

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation

temple, Yahru knows the following: Ras Nsi commands the yuan-ti of Omu, but his command is tenuous. The high priest, Fenthaza, is Ras Nsi’s chief rival. Ras Nsi is slowly being eaten away by a magical

an obelisk. (Yahru can provide directions.) Acererak slew the nine gods of Omu before enslaving the city’s human and minotaur inhabitants, which he used to build his tomb.

Story Overview

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

, a rival goblin gang that often deals in illicit arms. Rumors swirled that Krenko killed Dargig, the youngest of the three brothers, after a weapons drop went bad. The remaining two brothers, Rikkig

Krenko’s freedom, and are desperate to make him pay. GUILDLESS VILLAINS Not every villain in a Ravnica campaign is a member of a guild, and not every scheme originates in the guildhalls. As you build

D&D Beyond

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