cunning ready great to have rarely

Blue Abishai

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

, wall of forceSeekers of forgotten lore and lost relics, blue abishais are the most cunning and learned of their kind. Their research into occult subjects gleaned from tomes plundered from across the

, ready to lay down their lives if needed. Abishais stand outside the normal hierarchy of the Nine Hells, having their own chain of command and ultimately answering to Tiamat (and Asmodeus, when he

Harengon Sniper

Monsters The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

, ready to pick off targets from a safe distance. These snipers are so adept with their crossbows that their targets gain no benefit from less than total cover against ranged attacks the harengons make

Material Plane. They love to travel on foot and rarely stay in one place for long. Not all harengons are mean-spirited bullies like the ones presented here. Every harengon follows their own path through

Deep Gnome Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

Forest gnomes and rock gnomes are the gnomes most commonly encountered in the lands of the surface world. There is another subrace of gnomes rarely seen by any surface-dweller: deep gnomes, also

known as svirfneblin. Guarded, and suspicious of outsiders, svirfneblin are cunning and taciturn, but can be just as kind-hearted, loyal, and compassionate as their surface cousins. When you create a

Black Abishai

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

armies. In all cases, abishais are fanatically loyal to Tiamat, ready to lay down their lives if needed. Abishais stand outside the normal hierarchy of the Nine Hells, having their own chain of command

and ultimately answering to Tiamat (and Asmodeus, when he chooses to use them). Other archdevils can command abishais to work for them, but most archdevils do so rarely, since it is never clear

Green Abishai

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

responsibilities, such as leading large groups, assassinating targets, and serving in armies. In all cases, abishais are fanatically loyal to Tiamat, ready to lay down their lives if needed. Abishais stand

work for them, but most archdevils do so rarely, since it is never clear whether an abishai follows Tiamat’s orders or Asmodeus’s. There is inherent risk in countermanding an order given by

White Abishai

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

groups, assassinating targets, and serving in armies. In all cases, abishais are fanatically loyal to Tiamat, ready to lay down their lives if needed. Abishais stand outside the normal hierarchy of the

do so rarely, since it is never clear whether an abishai follows Tiamat’s orders or Asmodeus’s. There is inherent risk in countermanding an order given by Tiamat, but interfering with

Meletian Hoplite

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

use a combination of cunning, faith, and magic to defend their coastal home. Most of these skilled soldiers serve in the Reverent Army, the defenders of Meletis, which uses an array of proven strategies

typically work in groups and use coordinated tactics to win victories. The three Hoplite Unit Names tables present the sorts of titles used by hoplite contingents hailing from Theros's great poleis. Consider

Vargouille

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

or a dretch, fears vargouilles only if they appear in great numbers. In the Lower Planes, vargouilles rarely get the chance to eat live prey other than vermin. More often, they lap up the ichor left

vargouille along for the ride, attached like a tick. The precautions a mortal takes to control a summoned demon rarely account for a stowaway, enabling the vargouille to escape into the world. Vargouilles

Equinal Guardinal

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

powerful, hocked legs carry them over great distances. These good-natured, boisterous Celestials boast their might in contests of strength and rarely back down from a challenge. Tough and courageous

Kakkuu Spyder-Fiend

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

is their favorite pursuit. They spin durable webs and are ingenious in how they employ their webs against prey. Spyder-fiends are organized into a hierarchy based on might and cunning, with higher

. Spyder-fiends loyally serve their general, Miska the Wolf-Spider. While they were rarely seen during Miska’s imprisonment in Pandemonium, they have become increasingly active as Miska struggles to free himself in Pandesmos.PoisonCold, Fire, Lightning

Maw of Yeenoghu

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

relief, but the teeth quickly regrow. Cunning maws use this phenomenon as a ready supply of weaponry, throwing clusters of teeth at their foes. A maw of Yeenoghu charges at its prey on all fours with its mouth wide open, scraping the ground like a plow.

Shago

Monsters Tomb of Annihilation

having a great fear of being turned into a zombie or ghoul. Despite his fears, Shago knows that the undead must be defeated. This is why he works with the Flaming Fist; the merchant princes bemoan the

Fist, but his sympathies are with the mercenaries and he rarely provides her with any secret or useful information. Shago is 6 feet 3 inches tall and 220 pounds, with rippling muscles and a friendly

Hexton Modron

Monsters Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

Axiomatic Mind. The hexton can’t be compelled to act in a manner contrary to its nature or its instructions. Combat Ready. The hexton has advantage on initiative rolls. Disintegration. If the

endeavors outside Mechanus, with the most notable example being the Great Modron March. Hextons have solid frames that bristle with six shining flanges. They boast a pair of arms and tentacles, both of

Shifter Legacy

Species Eberron: Rising from the Last War

also be a cunning rat who darts through the shadows. Wildhunt shifters are born from any creature that tracks its prey. While the beast within certainly has a physical impact on a shifter, it has a

to friends and kin, shifters place great value on self-reliance and freedom. It’s a shifter proverb to “always be prepared for the journey yet to come,” and most shifters strive to be

Phisarazu Spyder-Fiend

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

into a hierarchy based on might and cunning, with higher-ranked spyder-fiends dominating lower ranks. Spyder-fiends of equivalent rank scheme against each other for advancement and eagerly turn against

one another if treachery can improve their position. Spyder-fiends loyally serve their general, Miska the Wolf-Spider. While they were rarely seen during Miska’s imprisonment in Pandemonium

Tlincalli

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

sun sets, the newly hatched young emerge from the lair to eat the captives alive. These predators see themselves as great hunters, and respect others with such skills. If a tlincalli encounters a more

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

Quavilithku Spyder-Fiend

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

brutal killing is their favorite pursuit. They spin durable webs and are ingenious in how they employ their webs against prey. Spyder-fiends are organized into a hierarchy based on might and cunning

position. Spyder-fiends loyally serve their general, Miska the Wolf-Spider. While they were rarely seen during Miska’s imprisonment in Pandemonium, they have become increasingly active as Miska

Raklupis Spyder-Fiend

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

pursuit. They spin durable webs and are ingenious in how they employ their webs against prey. Spyder-fiends are organized into a hierarchy based on might and cunning, with higher-ranked spyder-fiends

serve their general, Miska the Wolf-Spider. While they were rarely seen during Miska’s imprisonment in Pandemonium, they have become increasingly active as Miska struggles to free himself in

Genasi Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

of savage humanoids and weird cults in untamed lands. Others gain positions of great influence, especially where elemental beings are revered. A few genasi leave the Material Plane to find refuge in

the households of their genie parents. Wild and Confident Genasi rarely lack confidence, seeing themselves as equal to almost any challenge in their path. This certainty might manifest as graceful

Nagpa

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

fallen civilizations and great calamities. Nagpas still fear the Raven Queen and do their best to avoid her and her agents. When it’s impossible to do so, they become cringing, fawning things, eager

to please and thereby escape further attention from her cold gaze. All the original thirteen remain alive, thanks to their cunning and their willingness to do whatever is necessary to survive

Red Abishai

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

, abishais are fanatically loyal to Tiamat, ready to lay down their lives if needed. Abishais stand outside the normal hierarchy of the Nine Hells, having their own chain of command and ultimately answering

to Tiamat (and Asmodeus, when he chooses to use them). Other archdevils can command abishais to work for them, but most archdevils do so rarely, since it is never clear whether an abishai follows

Ulitharid

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

, plane shift (self only), project image, scrying, telekinesisVery rarely, when a tadpole from the brine pool of an elder brain is implanted into a creature, that creature transforms into an ulitharid

staff; when the ulitharid is ready to give up its life, it attaches the staff to the back of its head, and the staff cracks open its skull, enabling its brain to be extracted. The brain and the staff

Gray Render

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

protect that creature. Great strength and a ferocious nature make gray renders fierce guardians, but they lack a shred of cunning. Gray renders reproduce by forming nodules on their bodies that, on

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

goliaths. If a king lacks the intelligence or leadership to lead, then clearly the most talented person in the kingdom should take his place. Goliaths rarely keep such opinions to themselves, and

Baphomet Legacy

Monsters Out of the Abyss

. Although filled with bestial bloodlust, there lies within a cruel and cunning intellect devoted to subverting all of civilization. Baphomet wields a great glaive called Heartcleaver. He sometimes

minotaur—considered the greatest gift of the Prince of Beasts. Baphomet himself appears as a great, black-furred minotaur, 20 feet tall with six iron horns. An infernal light burns in his red eyes

Ki-rin

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

of evil. Having one horn is most common, but a particularly fierce ki-rin might have two horns or a set of antlers like those of a great stag. In many lands, common folk view ki-rins as heralds of

coronation, everyone present understands that the creature is telling them the person so honored could become a great force for good. Ki-rins have also been known to appear at the sites of great battles

Duergar Warlord

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

can add the number rolled to the d20 by taking 3 (1d6);{"diceNotation":"1d6", "rollType":"damage", "rollAction":"Scouring Instruction", "rollDamageType":"psychic"} psychic damage.A warlord is cunning

passion rarely manifests as mirth. They bring an emotional intensity to their lives, whether they’re exploring neighboring tunnels, defending their homes, engaging with their families, or crafting

Marine

Backgrounds Ghosts of Saltmarsh

;You enabled the escape of your fellow soldiers, but at great cost to yourself. Some of your past comrades may think you’re dead. 4 Juggernaut. No reasonable explanation can explain

who rarely lose composure on the battlefield. Marines who leave the service tend to work as mercenaries, but their combat experience also makes them excellent adventurers. Though they are self-reliant

Amethyst Dragon Wyrmling

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

affect them. They defy gravity with flight that doesn’t rely solely upon their great wings, and gravitational force empowers both their devastating breath weapon and the exploding amethyst

swapping back. 5 A cult devoted to a Great Old One of the Far Realm seeks an alien monolith that can summon its master, but the site is guarded by an amethyst dragon. 6 An amethyst dragon

Cloistered Scholar

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

As a child, you were inquisitive when your playmates were possessive or raucous. In your formative years, you found your way to one of Faerûn’s great institutes of learning , where you

were apprenticed and taught that knowledge is a more valuable treasure than gold or gems. Now you are ready to leave your home—not to abandon it, but to quest for new lore to add to its storehouse

Claugiyliamatar (possessed)

Monsters Divine Contention

up to half its flying speed.The most cunning and treacherous of true dragons, green dragons use misdirection and trickery to get the upper hand against their enemies. A green dragon is recognized by

earned her nickname from her habit of gnawing on old kills, and is often seen with a mangled corpse hanging from her mouth. Other dragons rarely remain in Kryptgarden Forest for long, because

Titivilus

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

travels farther than the sprawling city that lies outside his palace. Dispater is correct to fear, but the true threat comes not from without. The lord’s great error was allowing himself to be

archdevils, he compensates with cunning. A shrewd politician, he has clawed his way up through the ranks to become the second-most powerful devil in Dis, entirely by saying the right thing at the right time

Young Amethyst Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

upon their great wings, and gravitational force empowers both their devastating breath weapon and the exploding amethyst crystals they spit at their foes. Royal Purple When first hatched, an

adventurers to psychically trade bodies with adventurers from another world, so that each can carry out certain tasks before swapping back. 5 A cult devoted to a Great Old One of the Far Realm

Strahd, Master of Death House

Monsters Vecna: Eve of Ruin

legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Strahd regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn. Cunning Escape. Strahd moves up to

. Little happens there without the Darklord’s knowledge, although Strahd rarely pays attention to what he considers the uninteresting dealings of lesser beings. History In life, Strahd von

Outlander - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

Coming to Baldur’s Gate might seem like a good idea for a spectrum of reasons. Profit, excitement, and cosmopolitan opportunities all present tempting prospects, but rarely does one start on

You’ve always been fascinated by the glitter and glamor of city life, so different from the slow pace of life in your homeland. Now you’re here, ready to make your mark in the world, but

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