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Returning 35 results for 'dark and learning'.
monsters
toward colonizing worlds and controlling the inhabitants. They work with bizarre precision, learning all they can about how other creatures think and define identity. To this end, mi-go extract
results from afar.
Mi-go aren’t impeded by light, but they prefer the dark. They typically lurk in secluded caverns and amid remote heights.Acid, Lightning
Monsters
Storm King's Thunder
that image until the strangers can be disarmed and taken prisoner.
In their seemingly idyllic hideaways, the yakfolk rule with iron fists, and for all their learning and culture, they are enormously
that yakfolk are lazy—quite the contrary. They simply consider most menial tasks beneath them.
Yakfolk have a drive for learning, particularly when it comes to the secrets of elemental magic
Monsters
Storm King's Thunder
, and the yakfolk foster that image until the strangers can be disarmed and taken prisoner.
In their seemingly idyllic hideaways, the yakfolk rule with iron fists, and for all their learning and
laboring oneself. It’s not that yakfolk are lazy—quite the contrary. They simply consider most menial tasks beneath them.
Yakfolk have a drive for learning, particularly when it comes to the
Elf
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Basic Rules (2014)
learning a new skill or art, elves can be focused and relentless. They are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. They reply to petty insults with disdain and to serious
(Moonbrook), Xiloscient (Goldpetal)
Subrace
Ancient divides among the elven people resulted in three main subraces: high elves, wood elves, and dark elves, who are commonly called drow. Choose one of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
product of insidious magic, a purposefully terrifying creation of the Dark Powers, or a being with an even more unsettling background. Use the tips for creating Darklords and drawing inspiration from
different genres of horror in chapter 4 to create unique origins for the most important threats in your adventures. Different origin stories suggest diverse paths for adventurers to follow when investigating these creatures, learning their weaknesses, and ensuring nothing like them ever menaces again.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
experiments revealed a malignant truth of the multiverse. This secret manifested in the elder brain’s mind as an alien disease. Terrified of learning this pernicious, devouring knowledge themselves, the
other illithid elder brains banished their peer from existence. In actuality, the Dark Powers claimed the afflicted elder brain and granted it an alien domain. Now called the God-Brain by the mind
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
inquisitive individuals simply vanish, the Mists delivering them to deadly domains from which they never return. But others manage to band together, learning the ways of the Mists, how to travel through them
, and how to survive their dangers. Those who travel between domains might have the Mist Walker Dark Gift (see chapter 1) or know how to employ Mist talismans (detailed at the start of this chapter
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice & Errata
yakfolk are lazy—quite the contrary. They simply consider most menial tasks beneath them.
Yakfolk have a drive for learning, particularly when it comes to the secrets of elemental magic and dark
that image until the strangers can be disarmed and taken prisoner.
In their seemingly idyllic hideaways, the yakfolk rule with iron fists, and for all their learning and culture, they are enormously
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd
hidden from the rest of the world until the end of time. Unfortunately for the wizards, even the will of a god couldn’t prevent other evil creatures from learning the temple’s location. The wizards
Amber Temple is a cold, dark place carved out of the snowy slope of Mount Ghakis. The temperature throughout the complex is −10 degrees Fahrenheit (−23 degrees Celsius). Characters who don’t have
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
their lives, humiliate their rivals, and figure out what to wear to the Crystalfall dance. You can play up the humor in this scenario, but it can be just as dark as Callestan if you choose. A Morgrave
relationships and in learning. Can you earn a professor’s trust? Can you get unrestricted access to the library stacks? Can you impress that mysterious stranger? At the DM’s discretion, accomplishing
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
ranks of those who seek pleasure above all else. He promises dark delights and forbidden ecstasies, in return for total submission to him. His cult gathers new members by circulating tracts, poems, and
learning more about the demon lord. When a cult beseeches him during the induction of new members, Graz’zt sends an emissary or an avatar to preside over the proceedings, which conclude with the new followers being treated to a night of debauchery.
Orc
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
while learning to fight, to survive in the wild, and to fear the gods.
The children that can’t endure the rigors of a life of combat are culled from the main body of the tribe, taken into the
who serve Yurtrus and Shargaas. Some are sent forth into the cities dominated by humans, on dark missions. Beware them.
— Elminster
Search, Destroy, Repeat
When a tribe is on the move, orc
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
frightening member of the Daughters of Sora Kell!
When I could set aside my sheer terror, I was learning a great deal about this strange nation. The Daughters invested power in warlords, each of whom rules a
grow larger and more organized every day, and the rest of Khorvaire is uneasy with the potential power of a fully realized Droaam. The monsters that inhabit Droaam retain their racial subcultures. Most worship the Dark Six, but other religious traditions flourish as well.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
respect authority or hierarchy, and they are notoriously difficult to enslave, let alone control. Cults of the Horned King. Minotaurs are the dark descendants of humanoids transformed by the rituals of
for humanoid sacrifice — sometimes an inductee that tried to escape the cult after learning its secrets. These labyrinths become blood-soaked halls of slaughter, echoing to the cultists’ savagery
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
local townsfolk, learning that the members of the “C” Team entered the inn but have not returned. Likewise, the inn’s co-owner and proprietor, Propha Dran, has not been seen since the planar strangeness
been subsequently bested, the characters can open a final door leading to a dark series of dimensional caverns — and the lair of an ancient deep crow. That terrible creature is sure to defeat the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
their unfathomable intellects toward colonizing worlds and controlling the inhabitants. They work with bizarre precision, learning all they can about how other creatures think and define identity. To
creatures, then observe the results from afar.
Mi-go aren’t impeded by light, but they prefer the dark. They typically lurk in secluded caverns and amid remote heights.
Diana Franco
Mi-Go Medium
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
Yakfolk Priest Yakfolk have a drive for learning, particularly when it comes to the secrets of elemental magic and dark knowledge that might serve to corrupt or dominate others. Knowledge that the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin
dark robes. Sarusanda kneels in one corner, wrapping a linen bandage around her leg. She startles at your intrusion, then relaxes.
The robed bodies belong to two priests of Osybus (see appendix A
before they encounter Strahd. Sarusanda stands in the middle of the room. Her shoulders are slumped beneath her grimy armor, and dark circles underline her weary eyes. She doesn’t turn to face you, but
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
treasures.
Second Entry. Sorvina’s digging revealed strange standing stones. Mirabel worries about her sister, who’s started whispering to herself as she obsesses over learning more about the stones
ancient curse. Doing so destroys the skeleton and grants the character the Second Skin Dark Gift (see chapter 1). A character who already has a Dark Gift can’t accept the curse. Returning to Urwin. If the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
traditions, many Vistani travel between domains, learning much of hidden lands, the many faces of evil, and the strange wonders of the Mists. A people unto themselves, Vistani refuse to be captives of a
same world as Barovia, many Vistani look toward the future, learning from their traditions and from one another to better face whatever lies ahead. Vistani bands consist primarily of one or more
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
unfulfilled, so I intend to finish that work. 3 The world is a dark and terrible place. I decided to serve as a beacon of light shining out against the gathering shadows. 4 I served as a paladin’s squire
, learning all I needed to swear my own sacred oath. 5 Evil must be opposed on all fronts. I feel compelled to seek out wickedness and purge it from the world. 6 Becoming a paladin was a natural
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands
awaiting the chance to plunge their daggers into each other’s backs. They vie against each other to supplant the archlector, a position prized for its access to demon lords and their dark gifts. The
outside the keep, the Fiends swear tenuous fealty to Archlector Bex so long as he furthers the interests of the Abyss. The whims of demon lords creep from the dark well to the ears of the archlector, an
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
your needs, which has the added benefit of challenging your players’ expectations. The D&D Settings table describes several established campaign settings. D&D Settings Setting Description Dark Sun
visit worlds floating in the majestic oceans of Wildspace. Strixhaven* Strixhaven, a school of magic, serves as a hub of learning and adventure. Theros* Heroic destinies wait to be fulfilled in this
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse
control the wind and go wherever she liked, and to punish those who offended her. The childlike fantasies of her youth became dark visions where she ruled the storms and the air itself. She dreamed
of an old mystic with brown skin and white hair, who promised to teach her all she desired to know — a vision of Yan-C-Bin, the Prince of Evil Air. Aerisi turned her study to elemental air, learning
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh
, learning their ways. Cursed Cursed islands are steeped in dark magic from a ritual cast by necromancers, hag covens, evil spellcasters, foul deities, or worse. The island might still hold some hint as to
off their brutality. 3 The leader needs humanoid remains to perform a ritual with a dark purpose. 4 The leader never ages because it consumes the souls of creatures its followers kill. Hostile
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
they call forth in the hope of learning secrets. They record their stories on the bones that once belonged to these creatures, thus preserving the information they gain. Spectral Spy. The pursuit of
speared, a creature is pulled into the darkness to be sliced apart or teleported elsewhere to be tortured to death.
Dark Reflections. A boneclaw’s master might not want such a servant or even know it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
the museum 10 Clark Jonathan Vanth(lawful good human), a young and naive individual 11 Sareena Shu(chaotic neutral tiefling), an overeager lover of history and learning 12 Maryam Bikram(lawful neutral
characters could pick the lock on the skylight to enter the building. Grappling hooks and ropes are required to scale the building. By the end of the gala, it is dark enough to allow characters to enter
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
help Phandalin by learning more about them. Pip wants to be a hero just like the characters, whom he idolizes. After Pip followed the gemmules for a while, the creatures dropped from sight. They fell
dark and tells his parents about his adventure. The Stonehills ask the party to investigate the ruin their son described. Finding Pip. The most direct way to find Pip is to follow his tracks in the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
into the tavern, laughing bombastically. The crowd, including Zenia, responds with great enthusiasm.
“That’s Diva Luma and the Elucidarium Divas!” Zenia says, nodding to the dark-skinned woman
Proud Edun to break the bargain. After calling the witch to a secret meeting, they murdered her. Learning about Kala Mabarin When the effects of the poison end, Diva Luma and her fellow entertainers
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
Philosophy/learning/magic Political leaders are monarchs, nobles, and chiefs. Religious leaders include deities’ avatars, high priests, and messiahs, as well as those in charge of monasteries and leaders of
, or sculptor. A major leader in philosophy, learning, or magic is a genius philosopher, a counselor to emperors, an enlightened thinker, the head of the highest institution of learning in the world, or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer
unbelievable stage production. 8 A bleary-eyed astronomer stumbles into the party, while fearfully watching the heavens. If asked, she points toward the sky and whispers, “The stars aren’t right. The dark times
tribute to the great man — until one morning several months later when passersby noticed that one of the statue’s hands had risen to shade its eyes. Scholars immediately began studying the statue, learning
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
, she points toward the sky and whispers, “The stars aren’t right. The dark times are coming.”
9 Several cackling, half-dressed gnomes are covered in body paint and drive a wheeled contraption down
later when passersby noticed that one of the statue’s hands had risen to shade its eyes. Scholars immediately began studying the statue, learning that at sunrise on the first day of each new year, the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
chandeliers fill a huge open chamber with brilliant light. The floors are carpeted, the walls decorated with scrollwork and painted with images of golden coins bearing the letter L. Dark wooden beams
gambling to talk to any characters who aren’t also in the game. A character who gambles can strike up a conversation at the table, learning three pieces of information for each game they play, chosen
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
+3, Insight +5, Perception +5, Religion +4
Senses passive Perception 15
Languages Common, Elvish, Infernal
Challenge 1/8 (25 XP)
Dark Devotion. Thurstwell has advantage on saving throws
Master’s Guide). This tainted bottle is set aside for guests whom the duke intends to eliminate. V10. Gallery Black curtains are drawn over the windows to the south, keeping this hall dark and cool. Unless
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
memories, might also reveal secrets. Such truths might be hidden, but the Dark Powers ensure they survive to torment the Darklord. Jane Katsubo The Tome of Strahd recounts the
tale of Strahd von
involve them in some broader plot? Or was the Darklord’s defeat truly inconsequential, with the characters learning of the villain’s return only well afterward?