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Returning 35 results for 'example runes'.
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Magic Items
Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
Ancient runes are stitched in silver thread along the hem of this grayish-purple cape.
The cape has 3 charges. As a bonus action while wearing the cape, you can expend 1 of its charges to enlarge
yourself, granting yourself the following benefits:
Your size increases by one category—from Medium to Large, for example. If there isn’t enough room for your size to increase by one
Glyph of Warding
Legacy
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Spells
Basic Rules (2014)
trigger so the spell activates only under certain circumstances or according to physical characteristics (such as height or weight), creature kind (for example, the ward could be set to affect aberrations
runes or a spell glyph.
Explosive Runes. When triggered, the glyph erupts with magical energy in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on the glyph. The sphere spreads around corners. Each
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
5th
dominate person
Your magic often takes the form of blue or golden runes floating and glowing in the air in circular patterns or of shimmering azure barriers of magical energy. If you
cast ensnaring strike, for example, the vines created by the spell might appear as rune-inscribed glowing bands that wrap around the target and hold it in place.
Suggested Characteristics
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
around each stalagmite. The runes’ magic poses no danger to adventurers, but it causes weird, permanent transformations in any troll that lingers in this area. (For example, a troll might sprout an extra
“Jhesiyra Kestellharp”). The first creature to pass through the gate triggers an elder rune (see “Elder Runes”). A creature that passes through the gate appears in area 18b on level 8, in the closest
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
Cape of Enlargement Wondrous Item, Very Rare (Requires Attunement) Ancient runes are stitched in silver thread along the hem of this grayish-purple cape. The cape has 3 charges. As a bonus action
while wearing the cape, you can expend 1 of its charges to enlarge yourself, granting yourself the following benefits: Your size increases by one category—from Medium to Large, for example. If there
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
diameter and at least 1/4-inch thick. Due to the sheer amount of precious metal used to make them, these coins are worth ten times more than their normal-sized counterparts. For example, one giant-sized
adventurers might find while plundering a giant's hoard. A giant-cut gemstone is worth ten times its normal value; for example, a giant-cut garnet (a stone on the 100 gp Gemstones table in the Dungeon
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
specified cardinal direction. Touching two runes simultaneously can move the castle in other directions; for example, touching the north and east runes at the same time moves the castle northeast
glowing white runes wink into existence, drifting about the room like snowflakes.
This is the castle’s steering chamber. When no one is present, the castle is under the control of the spirit of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hoard of the Dragon Queen
specified cardinal direction. Touching two runes simultaneously can move the castle in other directions; for example, touching the north and east runes at the same time moves the castle northeast
glowing white runes wink into existence, drifting about the room like snowflakes. This is the castle’s steering chamber. When no one is present, the castle is under the control of the spirit of Esclarotta
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
the trigger so the spell activates only under certain circumstances or according to physical characteristics (such as height or weight), creature kind (for example, the ward could be set to affect
aberrations or drow), or alignment. You can also set conditions for creatures that don’t trigger the glyph, such as those who say a certain password. When you inscribe the glyph, choose explosive runes or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
archway is 40 feet wide and 40 feet tall. Six different runes are carved into it, each one inlaid with mithral, and a glowing mist fills the arch. Niches in the walls on either side of it contain empty
weight of each weapon and the archway rune associated with each weapon (see “Archway and Runes”). Each statue has AC 20, a damage threshold of 10, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. The statue of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
the trigger so the spell activates only under certain circumstances or according to physical characteristics (such as height or weight), creature kind (for example, the ward could be set to affect
aberrations or drow), or alignment. You can also set conditions for creatures that don’t trigger the glyph, such as those who say a certain password. When you inscribe the glyph, choose explosive runes or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
' techniques. Giant-Crafted Items
Beyond its size, a giant-crafted version of a magic item might look different from its traditional appearance. For example, runes and rune carving are central to the
, a magic item might absorb some of the latent elemental power of its giant users or creators. A +1 longsword forged by a fire giant, for example, could glow faintly like embers in the dark, while the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
consequence, it’s a path rarely taken. The exception is rune magic. Giants are drawn to the solidity and permanence of magical runes. Stone giants are great practitioners of rune carving, both because of the
surface holds. For example, a storm rune carved into a stone might allow the stone’s possessor to control the weather. The same rune carved into door or chest might deal thunder damage to anyone who opens it.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
Accessories You might use a giant-crafted item—probably something inscribed with one or more Giant runes—as a spellcasting focus. For example, the staff you wield as an arcane focus might have been a giant’s
) might use the magic of Giant runes, or a paladin’s Sacred Oath could involve allegiance to the tenets of a philosophy or organization of giants (such as those described in chapter 2). Giant-Made
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice Compendium
spells the warlock knows. Does the Eyes of the Rune Keeper invocation work on magical runes? Eyes of the Rune Keeper lets you read any form of writing, including the linguistic meaning of a rune, if any
you create a melee weapon out of nothing. Whenever you do so, you determine the weapon’s form, choosing from the melee weapon options in the Weapons table in the Player’s Handbook. For example, you
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
shackles to the far wall. The walls of his cell are covered with blasphemous runes that glow with an infernal red light.
The pitiable figure in the cell is Thavius Kreeg, now an amnizu. If the
. Symbols and Shackles The symbols on the walls prevent creatures from teleporting into and out of the cell. For example, a creature can’t use misty step or dimension door to enter or leave the cell. However
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
, monoliths, and stelae fitting neatly in niches carved into the walls of every room. Thanks to the library’s comprehend languages effect, anyone can easily decipher and understand the runes and glyphs
doorway in runes that anyone who knows Dwarvish or Giant understands: The past is a crystal, for it can be seen from many facets yet it always remains the same.
These rooms contain crystals of many
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
the qualities giants admire — the “giantness,” if you will — in themselves and their clans. A storm giant, for example, might see the raiding practices of hill giants as distasteful but not maug
. Hill giants who choose that path make themselves maug. Non-giants are considered maug out of hand and must usually prove themselves maat to gain a giant’s respect. Runes and Tale Carvings For much of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Example Complex Traps The following complex traps can be used to challenge characters or to inspire your own creations. Path of Blades Complex trap (level 1–4, dangerous threat) Hidden within a
it takes time. Faint runes in the ceiling and floor at both ends of the hallway are involved in the functioning of the portals. A creature must first use an action to examine a set of runes, then use a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
is durable and has Dwarven runes worked into its design. It might be associated with a clan that would like to see it returned to their ancestral halls. 10 Elemental Air. The item is half the normal
light in a 5-foot radius. Any metal in the item is silver or mithral, rather than iron or steel. 17 Fiend. The item is made of black iron or horn inscribed with runes, and any cloth or leather
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a5
areas detailing a particular example. Magic gates separate zones from one another. Sectors are labeled on the map: Abyssal Prisons, Blood Pens, Masters’ Domain, Far Realm Cysts, Forests of Slaughter
black, secure the Doomvault. Magic keys allow the manipulation of them. Gate Features. Each gate is a 10-foot-wide circle of runes, drawn on the floor. This circle creates a magical energy field in its
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
forever lost. P16. Upside-Down Rune Chamber The walls of this chamber are inscribed with interconnected runes and marred with cracks. What is now the ceiling bears similar inscriptions that swirl inward
!”
Dzaan’s simulacrum can’t learn anything new by studying the runes and crystals. However, any character who spends at least 1 minute doing so can, with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
makeshift rafts using materials at hand. For example, the cap of a giant zurkhwood mushroom can be hollowed out to make a coracle equivalent to a rowboat, but with half a rowboat’s hit points (see the
on one’s familiarity with its intricate network of caverns, passages, and currents. Experienced navigators know how to find and read ancient duergar runes carved along the Darklake’s tunnels, though
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
through. Stone Braziers. Any character who understands Dwarvish or Giant can interpret the runes on the six braziers as follows: dod (death), fjell (mountain), krig (war), liv (life), vind (wind), and
ingredients belongs in each brazier. For example, the first line of the poem contains the words “scale” and “wyrm,” suggesting that a dragon’s scale is needed for the brazier that bears the wyrm rune. Wyrm
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
composed recounting of deeds, events, and important persons. Dwarves combine their runes into patterns, present pictorial histories in seemingly unconnected murals and images, and otherwise leave their
of art makes any stronghold a prime target for thieves and raiders. For that reason, the entrance to a stronghold doesn’t broadcast its presence by being a stellar example of dwarven stonework. The
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
some theatrical manner; for example, it might arrive in a puff of smoke, accompanied by a fiendish cackle or an imp waving a sparkler. Contracts take a variety of forms, with the terms of the deal
summons a lemure with the deal printed in glowing runes on its lumpy flesh. To enter the contract, the devil and character making the deal and must kiss the lemure. When that happens, the lemure is
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a2
off combat by parleying with the chieftain. For example, the characters might have captured some of the hatchlings in the southwest chamber, intending to ransom them back to the troglodytes in
Dwarvish runes.
The upper portion of the great cavern was intended to be the final resting place of Durgeddin’s clan. Durgeddin and his followers feared that their war against the orcs would
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
, creating a 15-foot-radius circle of glowing runes centered on the point of impact. While you’re inside that area, your hammer glows with matching runes, and you gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage
(DM’s discretion). If you are trying to reach the City of Brass, for example, the rift might appear on the Street of Steel, before the Gate of Ashes, or facing the city from across the Sea of Fire, at
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh
thirty sahuagin, a sahuagin priestess, and a sahuagin baron lair here. Seaton The folk of Saltmarsh point to Seaton as an example of the fate they want to avoid. For years, Seaton was about twice as
with strange symbols and wrapped in silver chains. An explorer tried to open the door, but a jolt of lightning from the door’s runes nearly killed her. Shortly afterward, strange spirits and capering
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Example Simple Traps The following simple traps can be used to populate your adventures or as models for your own creations. Bear Trap Simple trap (level 1–4, dangerous threat) A bear trap resembles
to activate. A successful dispel magic (DC 15) cast on the runes destroys the trap. Net Trap Simple trap (level 1–4, dangerous threat) Goblins, with their propensity to enslave their enemies, prefer
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
placed in the proper location. Without both the light and the shadow, the carving is incomplete and can’t be viewed in its true form. For example, a tale carving made with these special techniques tells
incorporate runic letterforms, for example). Stone giants also make extensive use of the carved word through “speaking stones.” A speaking stone is an upright stone cylinder into which writing is carved
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal->a5
at the cost of their lives. The Red Wizards in this sector might feign surrender to put the characters off their guard. For example, they might fall to their knees and hold up their hands. Then, when
pillars, all carved of black jet. Glowing arcane runes surround the top edge of this shrine. Between the pillars, an unconscious humanoid is suspended in a roiling field of golden light.
Thereafter, you
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
in a huff. If the characters manage to get a word in edgewise, they might persuade him to share useful information before he leaves. He might, for example, divulge the secret to activating one of his
7th level or higher to pass through this gate (see “Jhesiyra Kestellharp”). The first creature to pass through the gate triggers an elder rune (see “Elder Runes”). A creature that passes through the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
type of dungeon described in “Dungeon Purpose” section of chapter 5, "Adventure Environments" has its own table featuring chambers geared to the dungeon’s purpose. For example, if you’re building a tomb
traps 41–42 Dining room (large) for the temple’s servants and lesser priests 43 Dining room (small) for the temple’s high priests 44–46 Divination room, inscribed with runes and stocked with
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
as sharing it would not contradict that goal. For example, the player running Gwendolyn should not share their goal with the player running Tannus, because the whole point is for Gwendolyn to
, several NPCs have secrets triggered by events rather than a specific time. For example, you would provide Tannus’s player with the groom’s secret if at any time Tannus is about to swing a weapon to