defeat instead are birth

Oculorb

Monsters Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

;beholders. The Far Realm’s strange power can pervade a beholder’s dreams, resulting in the birth of an oculorb. Oculorbs resemble a slimy conglomeration of eyes in many sizes and shapes

. They are dreaded even by the beholders that birth them. An oculorb is a tangle of negative emotions—the fury, melancholy, and obsession of its creator, all given gruesome, corporeal form. Like

Skitterwidget

Monsters Candlekeep Mysteries

Lightning Absorption. Whenever the skitterwidget is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt. Unusual Nature

. Skitterwidgets have the ability to mate and breed, producing kiddywidget;kiddywidgets that are even cuter than their parents. A skitterwidget strives to protect nearby kiddywidgets, whether it gave birth to them

Aerisi Kalinoth

Monsters Princes of the Apocalypse

Fey Ancestry. Aerisi has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put her to sleep. Howling Defeat. When Aerisi drops to 0 hit points, her body disappears in a howling

whirlwind that disperses quickly and harmlessly. Anything she is wearing or carrying is left behind. Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If Aerisi fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead

Returned Kakomantis

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

until the start of the Returned’s next turn. If the target is missing any of its hit points, it instead takes 17 (2d12 + 2);{"diceNotation":"2d12+2","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Underworld

’t build meaningful relationships or establish new lives. Instead, most experience fleeting emotions and follow hollow routines, their existences reduced to shadow plays without weight or substance

Zargash

Monsters The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

Cling to Life (Recharges after a Long Rest). The first time Zargash would drop to 0 hit points as a result of taking damage, he instead drops to 1 hit point. Special Equipment. Zargash wears a bat

defeat seems inevitable, he casts gaseous form on himself and flees, leaving his allies to fend for themselves. League of Malevolence The League of Malevolence is an odious assemblage of villains

Marlos Urnrayle

Monsters Princes of the Apocalypse

Earthen Defeat. When Marlos drops to 0 hit points, his body transforms into mud and collapses into a pool. Anything he is wearing or carrying is left behind. Earth Passage. Marlos can move in

shunted into the nearest space he last occupied. Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If Marlos fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead. Petrifying Gaze. When a creature that can see Marlos&rsquo

Returned Drifter

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

long-term memories, they generally can’t build meaningful relationships or establish new lives. Instead, most experience fleeting emotions and follow hollow routines, their existences reduced to

shadow plays without weight or substance. Returned Masks. Adventurers who defeat Returned foes might marvel at their fortune in claiming such rich spoils after a battle. The mask of a Returned is worth

Returned Sentry

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

’t build meaningful relationships or establish new lives. Instead, most experience fleeting emotions and follow hollow routines, their existences reduced to shadow plays without weight or substance

. Returned Masks. Adventurers who defeat Returned foes might marvel at their fortune in claiming such rich spoils after a battle. The mask of a Returned is worth approximately 100 gp, based on its

Ki-rin

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the ki-rin fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Magic Resistance. The ki-rin has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical

good fortune. They consider seeing a ki-rin fly overhead a blessing and events that happen on such a day especially auspicious. If a ki-rin alights during a ceremony such as a birth announcement or a

Returned Palamnite

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

relationships or establish new lives. Instead, most experience fleeting emotions and follow hollow routines, their existences reduced to shadow plays without weight or substance. Returned Masks. Adventurers

who defeat Returned foes might marvel at their fortune in claiming such rich spoils after a battle. The mask of a Returned is worth approximately 100 gp, based on its composition and craftsmanship

Polukranos

Monsters Mythic Odysseys of Theros

","rollDamageType":"acid"} acid damage. Hold Breath. Polukranos can hold its breath for 1 hour. Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Polukranos fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Multiple

the minds and lore of a people that, even after a hydra’s defeat, the beast might reappear as a Nyxborn being and begin its legend anew.Acid

Relentless Slasher

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

Legendary Resistance (1/Day). If the slasher fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Shrouded Presence. The slasher is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its

’s bargain with sinister forces. 3 It was marked by a fiend before its birth, and its wicked nature emerged over time. 4 A wicked place or magic relic seeped into its being, turning it

Zikzokrishka

Monsters Candlekeep Mysteries

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Zikzokrishka fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Magic Resistance. Zikzokrishka has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical

Zikzokrishka hid her phylactery deep within the Scimitar Spires, a mountain range to the east of the necropolis of Azumar. If the characters defeat her, Zikzokrishka uses her phylactery to rematerialize

Relentless Juggernaut

Monsters Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the juggernaut fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Regeneration. The juggernaut regains 20 hit points at the start of its turn. If the juggernaut

its birth, and its wicked nature emerged over time. 4 A wicked place or magic relic seeped into its being, turning it into a monster. 5 The killer used its body to contain an evil entity

Keresta Delvingstone

Monsters Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

can choose to succeed instead. Misty Escape. When she drops to 0 hit points outside her resting place, Keresta transforms into a cloud of mist (as in the Shapechanger trait) instead of falling

);{"diceNotation":"1d8+4","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Unarmed Strike","rollDamageType":"bludgeoning"} bludgeoning damage. Instead of dealing damage, Keresta can grapple the target (escape DC 18). Bite

Red Slaad (control gem variant) Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

acquire the gem. If the slaad fails its saving throw against imprisonment, the spell can transfer the gem to the spellcaster's open hand, instead of imprisoning the slaad. A wish spell, if cast in

egg. A humanoid host can carry only one slaad egg to term at a time. Over three months, the egg moves to the chest cavity, gestates, and forms a slaad tadpole. In the 24-hour period before giving birth

Noble Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

Privelege Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every

effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep score, counting their deeds and tallying their accomplishments to compare to others. Goliaths love to win, but they see defeat as a prod to improve their

wisdom in their leadership, for they can rarely count on a wisdom grown with age. Goliath Names Every goliath has three names: a birth name assigned by the newborn’s mother and father, a nickname

Noble - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every

effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to. Baldur

City Watch / Investigator

Backgrounds Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

You have served the community where you grew up, standing as its first line of defense against crime. You aren’t a soldier, directing your gaze outward at possible enemies. Instead, your

defeat my company suffered or the enemies who dealt it. 5 Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for. 6 I fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. d6 Flaw

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

; Instead, aggressive, stronger creatures register to the lizardfolk as fearsome beings to be avoided if possible. If such creatures attack, lizardfolk flee, fighting only if cornered. Lizardfolk aren

’t scared of a troll; instead, they understand that a troll is a fearsome, dangerous creature and react accordingly. Lizardfolk never become angry in the way others do, but they act with

Yuan-ti Pureblood Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

advisor in human society. The very rare offspring of such a union are always purebloods, although they may appear fully human at birth and for several years afterward. The yuan-ti know rituals that

the blood, as it once did. Because their population is so small, the yuan-ti are aware they are vulnerable in open warfare. Instead, their current plans assume they will never rule outwardly in

Deck of Many Things Legacy

Magic Items Basic Rules (2014)

-handedly defeat the next hostile monster or group of monsters you encounter, you gain experience points enough to gain one level. Otherwise, this card has no effect. Donjon. You disappear and become

, discard this card, and draw from the deck again, counting both draws as one of your declared draws. If losing that much XP would cause you to lose a level, you instead lose an amount that leaves you

Childhood

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

to usher a child into the world. They cannot understand how a birth is both a joy and a sorrow, a reunion and a parting. Each birth represents an elf soul that has been to Arvandor and returned

numbers of elves will be needed to withstand. In contrast, if an elven community goes a century or longer without a new birth, members take this as a sign that the community has stagnated and must disband

Orc Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

, injury, or age) often join these cults instead of facing daily humiliation, exile, or death. Serving as the bridge between the two parts of the tribe are the priestesses of Luthic, the orc goddess who

diplomacy. They care only for satisfying their insatiable desire for battle, to smash their foes and appease their gods. Booming Birth Rate In order to replenish the casualties of their endless warring

Challenge

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon of Icespire Peak

Challenge An appropriately equipped and well-rested party of four adventurers should be able to defeat a creature that has a challenge rating equal to their level without suffering any casualties

challenge rating. Typically, XP is awarded for defeating the creature, and characters gain levels as they accumulate XP. In Dragon of Icespire Peak, you don’t need to track experience points, as characters advance in level by completing quests instead of accumulating XP.

Birth of the Poleis

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

Birth of the Poleis The end of the Age of Trax corresponds roughly with the rise of the fourth and latest generation of gods, whose interests lie in the application of more abstract principles to the

inspired and equipped two human heroes, Kynaios and Tiro, to overthrow the archon Agnomakhos. Divergent tales describe their history following the defeat of the tyrant. Some claim that they warred with each

Jacqueline Renier

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

boulevards of Pont-a-Museau. As wealth trickled into the merchants’ coffers, those of low birth began to taste the benefits of nobility. Renier saw how the city was changing and tried to convince her

lowborn turned instead toward non-wererats. Her first major act consisted of conferring the gift of lycanthropy upon her family. Only her twin, Louise, resisted, for which Jacqueline disfigured her and cast

Why Use Riddles?

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things

an opportunity for the characters to engage with a creature that’s too strong to defeat in combat Reward clever characters who overcome a challenge with brains instead of brawn Make a villain, an

Alien Minds

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

their actions. In contrast, lizardfolk see emotions as traits assigned to other creatures, objects, and situations. A lizardfolk doesn’t think, “I’m scared.” Instead, aggressive, stronger creatures

register to the lizardfolk as fearsome beings to be avoided if possible. If such creatures attack, lizardfolk flee, fighting only if cornered. Lizardfolk aren’t scared of a troll; instead, they

Goblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

cruel in victory, goblins are fawning and servile in defeat, just as in their own society lower castes must scrape before those of greater status and as goblin tribes bow before other goblinoids

traps, snares, and nets to catch the unwary, and when their hunting patrols encounter other beings, they always look for ways to capture their foes instead of killing them. Goblins that run up against

The Wizards Three

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin

lack sabotages the Wish spell exactly as the warlord hoped, allowing him to suggest an alternate course of action: reassemble the artifact called the Rod of Seven Parts and use it to defeat Vecna instead

facing the might of one of the multiverse’s most powerful good-aligned spellcasters, so the warlord devised a plot to trick Alustriel into helping him defeat Vecna. With the help of spies, Kas learned

Living in Reverie

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

vulnerable. Some linger like scars, not always visible but ever-present. Perhaps more so than any other race, elves are familiar with all aspects of memory. From birth, elves don’t sleep but instead

Oculorb

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk

Oculorb Many oculorbs are dreamed into existence by beholders. The Far Realm’s strange power can pervade a beholder’s dreams, resulting in the birth of an oculorb. Oculorbs resemble a slimy

conglomeration of eyes in many sizes and shapes. They are dreaded even by the beholders that birth them. An oculorb is a tangle of negative emotions—the fury, melancholy, and obsession of its creator, all

Omu

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation

the item for their lives. If Fenthaza lives, Ras Nsi makes the mistake of putting her in charge of the team sent to kill the characters, and she offers the party a deal instead. If the characters

agree to kill Ras Nsi, they can go free and keep whatever treasure they take from the fane except for the Black Opal Crown, which Fenthaza insists be given to her at once. If the characters defeat Ras

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