concept remaining give to have retain

Living Bigby's Hand

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

serves as a guardian, attacking creatures that cross its path while remaining loyal to its caster. Areas of wild magic and sites that have been ravaged by powerful eldritch forces can give rise to spell

Swarm of Cranium Rats

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

of its hit points remaining, the swarm casts one of the following spells, requiring no spell components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13): At will: command

constituents. The rats become smarter as a result, and retain their heightened intelligence for as long as the swarm persists. The swarm also awakens latent psionic abilities implanted within each cranium

Necrichor

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

dealt to it (round down), and the target takes the remaining damage. The necrichor can attach to only one creature at a time. The attached necrichor can telepathically control the target’s move

sludge in the crypts of failed liches. Despite the loss of a solid physical form, these foul creatures retain their terrible intellects and aspire to megalomaniacal goals—the first of which

Dhampir

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

Poised between the worlds of the living and the dead, dhampirs retain their grip on life yet are endlessly tested by vicious hungers. Their ties to the undead grant dhampirs a taste of a vampire

restraint. In any case, temptation haunts dhampirs, and circumstances conspire to give them endless reasons to indulge. While many dhampirs thirst for blood, your character might otherwise gain

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

goliath, and fewer still can claim friendship with them. Goliaths wander a bleak realm of rock, wind, and cold. Their bodies look as if they are carved from mountain stone and give them great

the goliath concept of fair play. A permanently injured goliath is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a goliath dies attempting to keep up, or the goliath slips

Adult Emerald Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

treasures in a smaller chamber just above the great hall on the map. Watery Caves. Near the bottom portion of the map, the vaults give way to natural stone caves; these caves slope down to a subterranean

hatchery. Visitors might discover an egg or an emerald dragon wyrmling in one of the chambers. Preserved Vaults. The dragon has left most of the remaining areas of the vaults as they were when their

Ancient Emerald Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

find a way through. Treasury. The dragon stores the finest treasures in a smaller chamber just above the great hall on the map. Watery Caves. Near the bottom portion of the map, the vaults give way

of the remaining areas of the vaults as they were when their creators abandoned them, taking great interest in the artifacts and architecture they left behind. Visitors who manage to convince the

Firbolg Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

offering food and other supplies to aid their departure. If those who insist on remaining respect nature, take only what they need, and live in harmony with the wood, firbolgs explore the possibility

adopt elven names when they must deal with outsiders, although the concept of names strikes them as strange. They know the animals and plants of the forest without formal names, and instead identify the

Gnome Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

unlikely to find the burrows in the first place. Gnomes who settle in human lands are commonly gemcutters, engineers, sages, or tinkers. Some human families retain gnome tutors, ensuring that their pupils

most have half a dozen or so. A gnome’s mother, father, clan elder, aunts, and uncles each give the gnome a name, and various nicknames from just about everyone else might or might not stick

Hobgoblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

Maglubiyet, the greater god allows them to retain a measure of their influence over the hobgoblins because their philosophies are in line with his own. Hobgoblins don’t build temples to their gods, lest

will result in death if the act will bring glory to the banner or the legion. Honor the Gods. Hobgoblins give regular recognition to the deities left to them after Maglubiyet’s conquest. Idols

Chapter 2: Downtime Revisited

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

downtime activities that take weeks or even months to complete, you can give your campaign a longer time line — one in which events in the world play out over years. Wars begin and end, tyrants come

they amass on their adventures. The system presented here consists of two elements. First, it introduces the concept of rivals. Second, it details a number of downtime activities that characters can

The Returned

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

separated from their memories, which become wandering eidolons (see chapter 6). They retain their personalities and skills, but each Returned tends to be a very different being from who they once were

might once have held meaning. Other Returned visit anographers and describe what scraps of memory they retain. Some believe hidden wisdom lies upon these scrolls, clues to ancient mysteries, or hints

Firbolg Names

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

Firbolg Names Firbolg adopt elven names when they must deal with outsiders, although the concept of names strikes them as strange. They know the animals and plants of the forest without formal names

to their lands by whatever name the surrounding folk use, as a matter of tact and hospitality, but among their own kind they simply call it “home.” Sometimes firbolgs adopt the nicknames or titles outsiders give them under the assumption that those who need names can call them whatever they wish.

The Soul's Shape

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

The Soul’s Shape Before tasking characters with retrieving it, determine what form the pharaoh’s ka takes. It might be a physical object, a living creature, or a spiritual concept that needs to be

remaining loyal Children of Ankhtepot 4 A blessing granted to those who survive both the Breath of the Forgotten and the Breath of the False 5 A set of relics holy to the old gods of Har’Akir

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

undetected and don’t give their targets reason to harm them. For example, a group of city kobolds might sneak into a cobbler’s house at night to loot it of knives, leather bits, nails, and

lack of emotional bonding means they have no concept of marriage or permanent family relationships. Their eggs are placed in a common tribal hatchery with no effort to keep track of who each one

4. Describe Your Character

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

. Your DM might offer additional backgrounds beyond the ones included in chapter 4, and might be willing to work with you to craft a background that’s a more precise fit for your character concept. A

background gives your character a background feature (a general benefit) and proficiency in two skills, and it might also give you additional languages or proficiency with certain kinds of tools. Record this information, along with the personality information you develop, on your character sheet.

The Year's End

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

The Year’s End The academic year soon draws to a peaceful close. Give the characters an opportunity to wrap up any remaining plans they still have, but in a scant few days classes end, the

Survival of the Fittest

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

pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the goliath concept of fair play. A permanently injured goliath is still expected to

have ever meet an elderly goliath, and even those goliaths who have left their people grapple with the urge to give up their lives as their physical skills decay. Because of their risk-taking, goliath

Character Advancement

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

designed to take 2 hours, the character reaches 3 checkpoints. Playing time might seem like an odd way to measure experience awards, but the concept is in keeping with how a shared campaign is meant to

checkpoints to do so. The required number of checkpoints is expended, and any remaining checkpoints are applied toward the next opportunity for advancement.

Conclusion

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Giants of the Star Forge

doesn’t return home safely, Evin and other members of the city’s royalty build a funerary pyre to honor the smith and mourn his loss. Evin thanks the characters for their efforts but cannot give them

a reward; the city must preserve all the wealth it can now that its prized smith is gone. The fate of Brimskarda has a ripple effect on the region. Should the fire giant survive and retain control of

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

, orcs breed prodigiously (and they aren’t choosy about what they breed with, which is why such creatures as half-orcs and ogrillons are found in the world). Females that are about to give birth are

battle or illness, but an orc can live to about 40, remaining healthy almost up until the end. Luthic’s divine blessing can further extend an orc’s life, though Gruumsh is never happy when

Area Information

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rrakkma

temple marked the tenants of their faith upon these walls, but the writing has been virtually scoured from the walls. Only vague markings in certain places here and there give testimony that the

remaining, but it only wastes time. Feel free to make up bits of mad ramblings if you would like to encourage them further.

It's Your World

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

element and give details on how to flesh out your world with gods, factions, and so forth. The assumptions sketched out above aren’t carved in stone. They inspire exciting D&D worlds full of adventure

, 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

Tale of Gnoll Betrayal

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

take care of Chyzka for them. Once the fang of Yeenoghu is dead, the gnolls will allow Chyzka’s slayers to leave the chasm unmolested while they dine on Chyzka’s remains. The characters’ actions give

them a window of time to take what they want and flee the chasm before the remaining gnolls turn against them.

Nobility

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

of the city, this means not merely the ability to carry a weapon, but the right to retain up to seventy equipped soldiers. These soldiers always wear a house’s colors and the house’s “arms of grace

” — a heraldic device often borne on a shield, worn as a cloak pin, or affixed to a helmet. Others throughout the city, even foreign dignitaries, are permitted to retain only up to sixteen armed

Last Stand

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh

mayhem across the region should give them pause. An undead assault against the coast could come at any number of locations and be all but impossible to defend against. Because the drowned ones are

await the fall of night, Janore and the others insist on remaining in the bolt-hole — it’s been safe so far and they’re not eager to risk compromising their sanctuary. None of the survivors know exactly

Necrichor

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

retain their terrible intellects and aspire to megalomaniacal goals—the first of which involves regaining a body. To do this, they seek servants to exact their will, coercing even the most stubborn

minute. While attached, the necrichor takes only half damage dealt to it (round down), and the target takes the remaining damage. The necrichor can attach to only one creature at a time. The attached

9. Boss Hark's Cave

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder

with Hark Characters can try to negotiate with Hark instead of attacking him. He agrees to release the remaining villagers if the characters do one of the following things (and leave the goblin lair in

peace): Pay a ransom of 1 gold piece per villager. (The total amount is 31 gp, minus 1 gp for each villager who has died since the characters arrived at the caves.) Give Hark a working lock. Hark

Surprise! Dragon Cultists!

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

Surprise! Dragon Cultists! If the characters rid the dungeon of the worshipers of Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, any remaining followers of the Dead Three avoid the dungeon and the bathhouse once they

, they wear strange masks and cloaks that give each of them a vaguely dragon-like appearance. All five brandish curved steel blades reminiscent of dragon claws. The figures are four human cultists

Introduction

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

you receive a cancer diagnosis or a similar health news, you probably appreciate that concept a little more than other people. Watching someone you love waste away is a terrible thing. You want a

magic button to bring things back to the way they should be, this person you love so much restored to who they really are rather than what cancer is grinding them down into. It’s easy to give in to

Cranium Rats

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monsters of the Multiverse

form a swarm, they merge their minds into a single intelligence with the accumulated memories of all the swarm’s constituents. The rats become smarter as a result, and retain their heightened

. Spellcasting (Psionics). As long as it has more than half of its hit points remaining, the swarm casts one of the following spells, requiring no spell components and using Intelligence as the spellcasting

Necrichor

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

retain their terrible intellects and aspire to megalomaniacal goals—the first of which involves regaining a body. To do this, they seek servants to exact their will, coercing even the most stubborn

. While attached, the necrichor takes only half damage dealt to it (round down), and the target takes the remaining damage. The necrichor can attach to only one creature at a time. The attached necrichor

Cranium Rats

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

retain their heightened intelligence for as long as the swarm persists. The swarm also awakens latent psionic abilities implanted within each cranium rat by its mind flayer creators, bestowing upon

13). As long as it has more than half of its hit points remaining, the swarm can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components: At will: command, comprehend languages, detect thoughts

Modifying a Class

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

faith, making them proficient with the quarterstaff and nothing else. You could give them a benefit to make up for the loss of proficiencies—something like the monk’s Unarmored Defense class feature, but

, paladins might not swear their oaths to ideals, but instead swear fealty to powerful sorcerers. To capture this story concept, you could build a new paladin spell list with spells meant to protect

Warlock

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

weapons appear in a campaign. Does this versatility extend outside the melee theme of the feature? It sure does, but we’re willing to occasionally bend a design concept if doing so is likely to increase

, but the feature doesn’t give that creature the ability to telepathically reply. In contrast, the telepathy ability that some monsters have (MM , "Telepathy") does make two-way communication possible

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