build before domains comment rather

Reborn

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

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

itchy straw stuffing inside you. Reborn in the Domains of Dread When creating a reborn, consult with your DM to see if it’s appropriate to tie your origins to one of the following Domains

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

Welcome to Ravenloft

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

evils claimed you, drawing you into the mists of Ravenloft? In hidden corners of the Shadowfell are nightmare domains that hunger for the brave and the innocent, the ambitious and the wicked. Some call

this collection of eerie realms the Land of the Mists, but monster hunters know it as Ravenloft. Terror, magic, mystery, and suspense fill these fractured domains, an infinite gallery of unfolding

Using This Book

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

Using This Book This book explores the Domains of Dread, the mysterious expanses of the Shadowfell that serve as backdrops for excitement and terror. It guides players and Dungeon Masters through the

process of creating characters, domains, and stories ripe for chilling D&D adventures. Chapter 1 details how players can create characters primed for fright-filled adventures. It presents options for

Mount Makab

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

its form occupies the periphery of viewers’ attention no matter which direction they look. Mount Makab is not a natural feature, but rather part of a colossal, illithid-designed device. Its purposes

remain largely mysterious to outsiders, but one thing is certain: it amplifies psionic energy, allowing Bluetspur’s mind flayers to project their thoughts into other Domains of Dread.

Seven Secrets of Ravenloft

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

1. Ravenloft Is Not a World. The lands and characters of Ravenloft don’t share a planet. Rather, the Domains of Dread consist of innumerable demiplanes hidden amid the Plane of Shadow. Mysterious

Seven Secrets of Ravenloft Countless mysteries pervade the Domains of Dread, but these strange truths underpin the setting: Ez d’Avenir braves the Mists, her path haunted by past and future terrors

Magic and Metaphysics

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

Magic and Metaphysics Eerie vendors such as those at the Carnival’s Litwick Market deal in unique Mist talismans The Dark Powers manipulate the domains and creatures within their grasp in the most

fundamental ways, controlling magic, the nature of life and death, and the means of escaping from their nightmare realms. Mysterious Magic In some domains, magic is an everyday part of life, while in

Life in the Domains of Dread

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

domains, locals measure time by “moons” rather than months. As a measurement of time, each moon begins on the first night of a full moon and lasts a full lunar cycle. A year consists of twelve moons, or

Life in the Domains of Dread The realities of the Domains of Dread seem strange or impossible to individuals from other worlds, but for those who live among the Mists, they’re facts of life. With no

The Dark Powers

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

The Dark Powers Unfathomable, hidden forces manipulate life, death, and reality within Ravenloft. These mysterious, deathless beings are the architects of the Domains of Dread, and have secreted

Ravenloft, but they are unknown to mortals and desire no worship. Despite the control the Dark Powers exert, these beings remain distant from the domains they manipulate. Although some of their names

Gods and Religion

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

don’t typically exalt themselves and demand worship from lesser beings. Rather, they are often drawn to follow gods—and sometimes other powerful beings—who help them live out their part in that epic

saga. Gods of the Ordning Name Alignment Suggested Cleric Domains Symbol Annam LN Knowledge Two hands, wrists crossed, with fingers pointing downward Diancastra CN Trickery Journey rune Grolantor CE

Prepare to Be Scared

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

rules every time something frightening occurs, but your group might use them as a way to highlight individual fears and build an adventure’s overarching sense of dread. FROM THE MISTS OR BEYOND

? Not everyone exploring the Domains of Dread comes from those grim lands. Work with the DM to determine your character’s origins. Has your character lived their entire life among the Mists? Or do they

Darklords

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

. Darklords Are Prisoners. Darklords cannot leave their domains. If a Darklord enters the Mists or uses another method to attempt an escape, the Dark Powers return them to their domain. Even death rarely

. Darklords Influence Domains. Although Darklords hate their domains, they exert considerable control over them. This might be the influence of a governmental leader, the magic of a supernatural

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

Keep Features

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

, and 4 feet high. Ceilings. Most ceilings are 12 feet high. Defenders. Jolliver Grimjaw is known as “Jolly” to his followers, as a shortening of his first name and an sarcastic comment on his demeanor

. He leads bandits, who work for money rather than ideology, and water cultists. Only some of the commoner servants lack loyalty to Grimjaw and the cult. Doors. Interior doors are made of wood. It

The Carnival

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

the wise know strangers are intrinsically dangerous. The Carnival doesn’t exist to entertain its visitors. Rather, it’s a traveling domain, capable of visiting other domains and lands beyond the Mists

Loose Pantheons

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

gods the locals revere. To quickly build a pantheon for your world, create a single god for each of the eight domains available to clerics: Death, Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery

default pantheon in the fourth edition Player’s Handbook (2008). The pantheon is summarized in the Dawn War Deities table. Dawn War Deities Deity Alignment Suggested Domains Symbol

Bluetspur

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

Bluetspur, and none who witness them remember. This alien domain etches itself not upon the waking mind, but rather upon the body as inexplicable scars and on the psyche through nightmares. Not all the

Domains of Dread are drawn from worlds hospitable to life. Bluetspur’s scale and impossible geometry induce instinctual anxiety. Gaseous tempests whirl upon the hooked peaks of gravity-defying mountains

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

Roleplaying a Hag

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

wants. She might casually comment about how easily a visitor would fit in her cauldron or make a blunt sexual comment about a guest. When a mortal visits a hag, the experience should be nerve-wracking

to tear them apart from the inside. She is older, smarter, and more shrewd than any mortal who dares to threaten her. Hags prefer to cajole and bargain rather than confront someone with actual

Keeper Societies

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

truth and the tools wereravens have long used to combat evil. Among these are spirit boards (detailed in chapter 4), tarokka decks, Mist talismans, and piecemeal occult writings from various domains

don’t reveal themselves to those not of their kind. Rather, they infiltrate Keeper societies as reclusive members, traveling experts, or foreign scholars. Some Keepers also tell of sightings or

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.

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

Build Your Group

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

Build Your Group Religious orders attract people from all walks of life. It can be fun to play against type—to make a devout character with the criminal or charlatan background, for example

demons they are hunting. Characters with access to divination magic (including clerics with the Knowledge domains as well as wizards) might excel at this role. Many Scholars come from the sage background

History

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

strength measured in fields and pastures. It prospered for a time but was plagued by trolls and giants. The dwarves were obliged to build a stronghold underground, carving out the fortress-city of Tyar

returned again and again, eventually founding strongholds of their own to safeguard the hidden entrances to the sprawling dungeon. The knights had some success in clearing small domains in the wild Sumber

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

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