build both during confidence rather

Edgin Darvis

Monsters Thieves’ Gallery

relies on charisma first—rather than magic or muscle—to escape trouble. Once a member of the Harpers, a spy organization dedicated to protecting Faerûn’s common folk, Edgin has

confidence and rakish demeanor make him a natural leader. With carefully chosen words, he inspires the members of his thieves’ crew to greatness. But when his past mistakes come calling, Edgin must

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

Inheritor

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

your adventuring career, you can decide whether to tell your companions about your inheritance right away. Rather than attracting attention to yourself, you might want to keep your inheritance a secret

the most equitable solution to arguments. 5 I’m confident in my own abilities and do what I can to instill confidence in others. 6 Thinking is for other people. I prefer action

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

Iroas

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

rather than a horse’s, clad in gleaming armor and wielding a spear and shield. He speaks in a booming baritone that projects power, confidence, and courage. He has been known to appear as a burly soldier

Variant: Customizing Ability Scores

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

Variant: Customizing Ability Scores At your Dungeon Master’s option, you can use this variant for determining your ability scores. The method described here allows you to build a character with a set

) Charisma Measures: Confidence, eloquence, leadership Important for: Bard, sorcerer, warlock Racial Increases: Half-elf (+2) Drow (+1) Lightfoot halfling (+1) Dragonborn (+1) Tiefling (+2

Running Wilderness Encounters

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Encounters table—assumes the characters are 4th, 5th, or 6th level. It’s okay for some encounters to be easy and others to be hard or deadly. Easy encounters build players’ confidence; hard and deadly

College of Lore

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

monarch or following the tenets of a deity. A noble who keeps such a bard as a herald or advisor knows that the bard would rather be honest than politic. The college’s members gather in libraries and

Also at 3rd level, you learn how to use your wit to distract, confuse, and otherwise sap the confidence and competence of others. When a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack

Edgin Darvis

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Thieves’ Gallery

Edgin Darvis Edgin Darvis has a talent for improvisation and strategy. He’s a musician and tale-teller who relies on charisma first—rather than magic or muscle—to escape trouble. Once a member of the

only from people he believes deserve to lose both coin and face. Edgin’s confidence and rakish demeanor make him a natural leader. With carefully chosen words, he inspires the members of his thieves

College of Lore

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

monarch or following the tenets of a deity. A noble who keeps such a bard as a herald or advisor knows that the bard would rather be honest than politic. The college’s members gather in libraries and

Also at 3rd level, you learn how to use your wit to distract, confuse, and otherwise sap the confidence and competence of others. When a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack

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

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

Roleplaying

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

that best describe the creature. Knowing the creature’s alignment can also help with your portrayal. The classic advice for writers holds true: show, don’t tell. For example, rather than describe an

your head and chin high conveys confidence. Use Voices. Changing the volume of your voice and borrowing speech patterns from real life, movies, or television can make NPCs distinctive. Engaging the

Ability Checks

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

creature’s efforts. In a contest, the ability checks are compared to each other, rather than to a target number. When you call for a contest, you pick the ability that each side must use, deciding

, decode an encrypted message Wisdom Perceptiveness and willpower Spot a hidden creature, sense that someone is lying Charisma Social influence and confidence Persuade a creature to do something, cow a

Amberdune Pack

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

Amberdune Pack The jackalweres of the Amberdune Pack were the servants of Nidalia, an unusually kind and learned lamia. The jackalweres’ alignment is neutral evil rather than chaotic evil, and their

confidence in her allies and fear in her enemies. Though normally calm and composed, Korvala becomes angry and combative when recalling the struggles she and her pack have experienced, including Nidalia’s

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

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

The Guild

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer

confidence games. Patriars might even hire Guild members to gain (or plant) information about their rivals, involving the Guild in Upper City politics. Only the most talented criminals dare to burgle

illusion magic. She appears to the world as she is: an unassuming woman of middling age and build. Her forgettable looks have proven her greatest asset as a thief, as her victims have trouble recognizing

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 Guild

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

confidence games. Patriars might even hire Guild members to gain (or plant) information about their rivals, involving the Guild in Upper City politics. Only the most talented criminals dare to burgle

illusion magic. She appears to the world as she is: an unassuming woman of middling age and build. Her forgettable looks have proven her greatest asset as a thief, as her victims have trouble recognizing

3. Determine Ability Scores

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

your ability scores. The method described here allows you to build a character with a set of ability scores you choose individually. You have 27 points to spend on your ability scores. The cost of

Measures Awareness, intuition, insight Important for Cleric, druid Racial Increases Hill dwarf (+1), Wood elf (+1), Human (+1) Charisma Measures Confidence, eloquence, leadership

Villains

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

pawn in a position of power 3 Magic (d6) 1 Obtain an ancient artifact 2 Build a construct or magical device 3 Carry out a deity’s wishes 4 Offer sacrifices to a deity 5 Contact a lost deity or power

5 Confidence scams (d6) 1 Breach of contract 2 Cheating 3 Fast talking 4 Fine print 5 Fraud or swindling 6 Quackery or tricks 6 Defamation (d4) 1 Framing 2 Gossiping or slander 3 Humiliation 4 Libel

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

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