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Returning 35 results for 'design setting rules'.
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Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
table to help select spells for a spellcasting dragon. (Though the Monster Manual doesn’t explicitly include dragon turtles in the variant rules for making a dragon a spellcaster, you can apply
those rules to these aquatic dragons.)
Dragon Turtle Personality Traits
d8;{"diceNotation":"1d8","rollType":"roll","rollAction":"Trait"}
Trait
1
I speak slowly and deliberately
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
, and the Underdark below, as a campaign setting in which you can base adventures of your own. All pertinent details about the setting are covered in this book, with room to add new locations and villains of your own design.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
Mapping a Wilderness In contrast to a dungeon, an outdoor setting presents seemingly limitless options. The adventurers can move in any direction over a trackless desert or an open grassland, so how
do you as the DM deal with all the possible locations and events that might make up a wilderness campaign? What if you design an encounter in a desert oasis, but the characters miss the oasis because
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
setting in which you can base adventures of your own. All pertinent details about the setting are covered here, with room left to add new locations and villains of your own design. TENDAYS AND
DALERECKONING
In the Forgotten Realms setting, a week is ten days long and is referred to as a tenday. There are three tendays per month and twelve months in a year. For more information on the calendar of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
Customizing the Puzzle Consider creating your own map and series of directions to customize this puzzle. By crafting directions that suit locations in your campaign’s’ setting, you can create a
letters, symbols, or short words, depending on the complexity of your design. Raising the Difficulty You can increase this puzzle’s challenge by dividing the map into pieces that need to be separately
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
player do it), and the game continues. Sometimes mediating the rules means setting limits. If a player tells you, “I want to run up and attack the orc,” but the character doesn’t have enough movement
how. That chapter also contains optional rules for unusual situations or play styles, such as the use of firearms in a fantasy setting.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Unearthed Arcana
Apocalyptic Subclasses August 21, 2025
Get ready for the end of a world with the latest innovations from the D&D Game Design Team! This document presents four new subclasses for the Druid (Circle
of Preservation), Fighter (Gladiator), Sorcerer (Defiled Sorcery), and Warlock (Sorcerer-King Patron). The material uses the rules in the Player's Handbook. Learn more about this playtest directly from the designers in this article!
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth
Credits Lead Designer: Justice Ramin Arman
Designer: Dan Dillon
Rules Developer: Ron Lundeen
Art Director: Fury Galluzzi
Lead Editor: Judy Bauer
Editor: Hannah Rose
Graphic Designer
: Bill Benham, Siera Bruggeman, Robert Hawkey
Product Manager: Natalie Egan
D&D Beyond Product Manager: Jeff Turriff
Digital Design Team: Jay Jani, Sean Stoves, Adam Walton
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Astarion's Book of Hungers
Chapter 1
Vampiric Character Options CYNTHIA SHEPPARD Revelers at this decadent ball in Baldur’s Gate don’t realize that vampires are in their midst and on the prowl This chapter includes rules to
flesh out characters who have ties to the vampiric underworld, whether in Baldur’s Gate or another setting of your choosing.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
Domain Features Hazlan is known for the following features: Eye of Hazlik. Inhabitants claim the eyelike design called the Eye of Hazlik bears Hazlik’s blessing and wards off dangerous magic. In
truth, the symbol is a sensor for Hazlik’s magical surveillance. Magocracy. The wizard Hazlik rules Hazlan. His apprentices have free rein to exploit the land and its people to further their magical
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
hail from another D&D setting, a place of your own design, or a more mysterious homeland?
If you decide your character calls some corner of Ravenloft home, ask your DM which domains they could
, discuss with your group how much fear ties into the game’s rules. Would you prefer to keep frightful reactions narrative, or would you like to use game rules that present additional challenges and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
way that will make the game fun for everyone. Referee. When it’s not clear what ought to happen next, the DM decides how to apply the rules. Storyteller. The DM crafts adventures, setting situations in
session and for creating situations that facilitate fun. Improviser. A big part of being the DM is deciding how to apply the rules as you go and imagining the consequences of the characters’ actions in a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Horror Toolkit Setting the stage for horror isn’t entirely a product of good storytelling. As highlighted throughout this book, any rule might take on a terrifying cast, whether you present it as
having some grim source or you customize it with ominous new options. This section goes a step further, providing options to make existing rules more terrifying and presenting systems that encourage unique horror experiences.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
way that will make the game fun for everyone. Referee. When it’s not clear what ought to happen next, the DM decides how to apply the rules. Storyteller. The DM crafts adventures, setting situations in
session and for creating situations that facilitate fun. Improviser. A big part of being the DM is deciding how to apply the rules as you go and imagining the consequences of the characters’ actions in a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Adventure Atlas: The Mortuary
Appendix: Mortuary Creatures This appendix provides lore and stat blocks for five creatures that, while connected to one of many factions in the infinite and wondrous Planescape setting, are suitable
before proceeding further. It explains stat block terminology and gives rules for various monster traits—information that isn’t repeated here.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
Iuz Iuz (EYE-ooze or eye-OOZE) is a cambion and the son of Iggwilv and Graz’zt (see chapter 6). He is every bit as evil as his father and as bent on conquest as his mother at her very worst. He rules
a significant portion of Eastern Oerik (in the Greyhawk setting), and some fear that he aspires to conquer even more territory. See “Greyhawk’s Premise” in chapter 5.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monstrous Compendium Volume Two
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 2: Dragonlance Creatures This bestiary provides game statistics and lore for eleven monsters that, while linked to the fantastical and war-gripped Dragonlance setting, are
Monster Manual before proceeding further. It explains stat block terminology and gives rules for various monster traits—information that isn’t repeated here.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
a central role in the Dragonlance setting. But they’re all D&D worlds, and you can use the rules here to create a character and play in any one of them. Your DM might set the campaign on one of these
villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
a central role in the Dragonlance setting. But they’re all D&D worlds, and you can use the rules here to create a character and play in any one of them. Your DM might set the campaign on one of these
villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
(Athletics) check, setting the jump’s DC based on the distance between the two vehicles (as well as other factors, as appropriate). Keep it fun and fast-paced, and push the rules aside when they get in the way.
patrols. The rules for infernal war machines in appendix B are meant to help you adjudicate situations that arise during encounters, but combat involving infernal war machines works best with “theater
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
if it’s wielded in a way contrary to its design; if you use a Ranged weapon to make a melee attack or throw a Melee weapon that lacks the Thrown property, the weapon counts as an improvised weapon. An
improvised weapon follows the rules below. Proficiency. Don’t add your Proficiency Bonus to attack rolls with an improvised weapon. Damage. On a hit, the weapon deals 1d4 damage of a type the DM
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
if it’s wielded in a way contrary to its design; if you use a Ranged weapon to make a melee attack or throw a Melee weapon that lacks the Thrown property, the weapon counts as an improvised weapon. An
improvised weapon follows the rules below. Proficiency. Don’t add your Proficiency Bonus to attack rolls with an improvised weapon. Damage. On a hit, the weapon deals 1d4 damage of a type the DM
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
Using These Rules The D&D Basic Rules document has four main parts.
Part 1 is about creating a character, providing the rules and guidance you need to make the character you’ll play in the game. It
includes information on the various races, classes, backgrounds, equipment, and other customization options that you can choose from. Many of the rules in part 1 rely on material in parts 2 and 3
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lorwyn: First Light
Lorwyn-Shadowmoor Origins MATT STEWART A Lorwyn boggart plays near an eclipsed realm This chapter provides rules for backgrounds and species of player characters from the realm of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor
from the realm of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor might embark on the adventures described in chapter 4, or they might find their way to another setting, at the DM’s discretion.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice Compendium
The Role of Rules Why even have a column like 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 help organize, and even inspire, the action of a D&D campaign. The rules are a tool, and we want our tools to be as effective as possible. No matter how good those tools might be, they
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
help organize, and even inspire, the action of a D&D campaign. The rules are a tool, and we want our tools to be as effective as possible. No matter how good those tools might be, they need a group of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Featured Domains The following sections explore some of the most notorious Domains of Dread. Each of these realms is a setting unto itself and might host adventures of your design. These featured
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Borderlands Quest: Dagger Danger!
Helpful Sidebars Throughout the adventure, you’ll find sidebar boxes like the one below with helpful information and tips on adventure presentation and rules. Read-Aloud Text
Text inside a box
text is describing the setting the characters are in. It’s hard for them to interact with the world and story when they don’t know what’s there to interact with!
Text that appears in a box like this
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase
Romeo and Juliet. It was a departure from the more expected adventure design of the time in that violent solutions to problems aren’t an automatic path to victory—inquisitive minds and compassionate
hearts carry the heroes further than strength of arms.
This updated version of the adventure reimagines Caerwyn and Porphura’s—originally Porpherio’s—garden as the Eternal Garden, a domain in the Feywild, and the Green Man as the Gardener, the benevolent archfey who rules it.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver
.) However, if the characters make a lot of noise here—for example, loudly arguing about what to do next, setting up a camp, cutting down brush, and so on—the goblins in area 2 notice and attack them through the thicket, which provides the goblins with half cover (see the Basic Rules for rules on cover).
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Heroes of the Borderlands
If You’re the Dungeon Master Follow these steps if you’re the DM: Review the D&D Beyond Basic Rules. Familiarize yourself with the D&D Beyond Basic Rules and its organization. You don’t need to
memorize every rule before you play, but you should understand the rhythm of play and where to find relevant information when needed. Choose an Adventure Setting. Pick one of the three adventure locations
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon of Icespire Peak
the selection of Sidekicks. Rules and stat blocks for sidekicks appear in the “Sidekicks” section. You might need to help the player run the sidekick for the first few sessions. If a sidekick is lost
are stalwart companions who can perform tasks both in and out of combat, including things such as setting up camp and carrying gear. Ideally, a sidekick’s abilities should complement those of the main character. For example, a spellcaster makes a good sidekick for a fighter or rogue.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble
Dungeon Mastering the Adventure To play this adventure you’ll need either the D&D Beyond Basic Rules or the 2024 Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. Text that appears in a
information—especially when the text is describing the setting the characters are in. It’s hard for them to interact with the world and story when they don’t know what’s there to interact with!
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
Diseases A plague ravages the kingdom, setting the adventurers on a quest to find a cure. An adventurer emerges from an ancient tomb, unopened for centuries, and soon finds herself suffering from a
with the consequences. A disease that does more than infect a few party members is primarily a plot device. The rules help describe the effects of the disease and how it can be cured, but the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
the rules for monster customization and encounter building in the Dungeon Master’s Guide—to build your own adventures. Consult appendix B for monster lists that will help your adventure building. What’s
New in the 2025 Version?
This is the 2025 version of the fifth edition Monster Manual. If you’ve read the 2014 version, much of this book will feel familiar, since the fundamental rules and variety