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Monsters
Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Lady Illmarrow is no folk tale. She is the greatest necromancer in Eberron, and after centuries of silence, she is setting ancient plots into motion at last. She is the power behind the Order of the
Emerald Claw, but her motives for founding the order are buried in her past. Lady Illmarrow has no interest in ruling the living. Rather, she seeks to become Queen of the Dead.
The Mark of Death
Bugbear
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
rather than perform the work or confront the foe. Even when subsumed into a goblinoid host and drawn into war, bugbears must often be roused from naps and bribed to get them to do their duties.
This
natural state. Thanks to Grankhul, they can use their size and strength to work as stealthy assassins rather than blundering around like ogres.
Bullying, murder, and engaging in battle are all holy
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often proficient in Investigation, enabling them to be adept at snooping and spying. They often seek aid from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and
from many walks of life, setting them to tasks that serve the goals of the Black Network but aren’t necessarily criminal in nature. Agents of the Black Network must often work in secret, and are
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
Shared World Some groups take a large, established campaign setting and divide it up geographically so different DMs can run separate campaigns in the same setting. In theory, characters can travel
from one DM’s region of the world to another’s, creating continuity in the campaign even as characters might be involved in several plotlines. Rather than dividing a campaign geographically, you and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hold Back The Dead
Setting the Adventure This adventure takes place in the Western Heartlands of the Sword Coast region in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. You can set the adventure on a different world if you
part of the Kingdom of Furyondy. The evil cambion Iuz, rather than Szass Tam, sends forces against the fortress.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
, planes of existence and their native inhabitants, famous figures in a setting and their homelands, and so forth. Lowering the Difficulty If your party doesn’t include characters with considerable magical
between the lists or lower the DCs of the puzzle’s hint checks. Raising the Difficulty Rather than using common spells the characters might be familiar with, a more challenging version of this puzzle might
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
. While Lord Soth is well known in tales of the Dragonlance setting, this adventure doesn’t assume the characters, or most of Kalaman’s people, know the death knight’s legend or expect him to be at work
them to defeat. Rather than presenting him as a foe to be challenged in combat, portray Soth as a terrifying example of the villains in the Dragon Queen’s service—a lurking threat to be avoided. By the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Ravenloft in Barovia—home of the notorious Strahd von Zarovich. In this mysterious setting, the land, the passage of time, the tides, and every other reliable truth can shift unpredictably. Rather than
hidden within these supernatural mists, and of these secret realms, the most terrifying are those born of your nightmares and given grim life through your adventures. Although Ravenloft is a setting of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
. Even in a dungeon setting, you can present NPCs that aren’t meant to be fought but rather helped out, negotiated with, or just talked to. Think about your preferred style of play by considering these
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
be on fire. With bodies of flame and magmatic rock, these halfling-size creatures delight in setting fires. They do so not out of malice but out of enthusiasm for primal fire. They don’t consider that
objects have value beyond kindling or that creatures can be harmed by flames. If such concepts are explained to them, they find the ideas difficult to grasp and don’t remember them for long. Rather
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
-faring, sci-fi adventure (where mundane operations often fade into the background). How much a story engages with course setting, provisioning, periods of inactivity, and other aspects of long ocean
journeys is ultimately up to you and the players to decide, but consider cleaving to what the group thinks is fun rather than stretching for unnecessary accuracy (whatever that might mean for a world
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
portfolio and is responsible for advancing that portfolio. In the Greyhawk setting, Heironeous is a god of valor who calls clerics and paladins to his service and encourages them to spread the ideals
, regardless of alignment. In the Forgotten Realms, a person might propitiate Umberlee before setting out to sea, join a communal feast to celebrate Chauntea at harvest time, and pray to Malar before going
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
Getting Players Invested To get your players excited about and invested in your campaign, create a setting that features people and places they recognize and where their characters’ choices matter
lasting antagonism—with the people and places of your setting, those people and places stick in the players’ minds. Introduce opportunities to forge these lasting relationships early and often
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
that they better reflect such a setting. For example, when the characters use spells or special abilities that teleport them short distances, they actually make high-flying acrobatic leaps. Ability
character works just fine in a game inspired by medieval Asian cultures. Wuxia Weapon Names Having players refer to a tetsubo or a katana rather than a greatclub or a longsword can enhance the flavor
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1
magic button to bring things back to the way they should be, this person you love so much restored to who they really are rather than what cancer is grinding them down into. It’s easy to give in to
many forces that insist on upsetting it. Some among the Circle of Eight counsel that sharing the lore collected in this volume is the first step to setting the Balance forever off its center. Others
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
practice activity (introduced later in this section), and quickly sketches out a few ideas for the task. Opening Scene The DM describes the beginning of the task activity, setting the stage for the NPCs
business practice activity. With treasure aboard, the ship is ready for the characters’ eventual return. Ongoing Story Rather than treating franchise tasks as isolated episodes, the DM can weave the story of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Seven Secrets of Ravenloft Countless mysteries pervade the Domains of Dread, but these strange truths underpin the setting: Ez d’Avenir braves the Mists,
her path haunted by past
and future terrors
1. Ravenloft Is Not a World. The lands and characters of Ravenloft don’t share a planet. Rather, the Domains of Dread consist of innumerable demiplanes hidden amid the Plane of Shadow. Mysterious
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
and reorganized several times, the Harpers remain a powerful, behind-the-scenes agency, which acts to thwart evil and promote fairness through knowledge, rather than brute force. Harper agents are often
reputation among the common people. The faction draws employees and associates from many walks of life, setting them to tasks that serve the goals of the Black Network but aren’t necessarily criminal
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
the Player’s Handbook) rather than coins
2–3 Coins from an ancient culture local to this region, ancestral to the people who live here now
4–5 Coins from an ancient culture in a distant
variety of contemporary and historical cultures in your game’s setting, it’s enough to tell your players that some of the coins are unfamiliar in their size, shape, or inscription—but their value is
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
gain 1d4 Exhaustion levels. Another Condition. The obstacle imposes another condition on the characters. For example, wading through a fetid swamp rather than skirting around it might impose the Poisoned
different types of terrain. You can adjust these DCs based on the specific terrain features and the nature of what the characters are trying to find, using the guidelines for setting DCs earlier in this
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
The Xanathar Guild The Xanathar Guild is a thieves’ and slavers’ guild operating underneath the city of Waterdeep in the Forgotten Realms setting. The guildmaster is a beholder — the latest in a
series of such creatures. Like its predecessors, the beholder uses “the Xanathar” as a title rather than its personal name (which is Zushaxx). The guild has been in operation for nearly two hundred years
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
. They bully weaker creatures into doing their bidding, so they can take it easy. When a superior force tries to intimidate bugbears into service, they will try to escape rather than perform the work or
their size and strength to work as stealthy assassins rather than blundering around like ogres. Bullying, murder, and engaging in battle are all holy acts for bugbears. Garroting an unsuspecting
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Rise of Tiamat
additional encounter also provides a sense of the wider scope of the setting. Monstrous Uprising A charismatic half-red dragon veteran leads a band of 21 kobolds and 7 lizardfolk, taking advantage of
the dwarves fend off an attack by 4 ogres and a half-red dragon veteran named Yggran. The dwarves are hopelessly overmatched and flee rather than fight. If her fellow cultists can’t save Cheela, they
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
additional encounter also provides a sense of the wider scope of the setting. Monstrous Uprising A charismatic half-red dragon veteran leads a band of 21 kobolds and 7 lizardfolk, taking advantage of
dwarves fend off an attack by 4 ogres and a half-red dragon veteran named Yggran. The dwarves are hopelessly overmatched and flee rather than fight. If her fellow cultists can’t save Cheela, they
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hoard of the Dragon Queen
additional encounter also provides a sense of the wider scope of the setting. Monstrous Uprising A charismatic half-red dragon veteran leads a band of 21 kobolds and 7 lizardfolk, taking advantage of
the dwarves fend off an attack by 4 ogres and a half-red dragon veteran named Yggran. The dwarves are hopelessly overmatched and flee rather than fight. If her fellow cultists can’t save Cheela, they
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse
reckless attacks with no regard for their own lives, seeking to cause as much damage as possible before falling. They are fearless and would rather die fighting among a mob of enemies than retreat a
. But even as she enjoyed the gifts he lavished on her, Vanifer hated the pasha for seeing her as a mere trophy. She left before long, robbing the pasha of a small fortune in jewelry and setting fire to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
complications and rivals as part of downtime, but you don’t need to own that book to make use of these ideas. Rather, just remember that an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign is always about story. Each
excellent way to develop rich interactions between the setting and the characters. In an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign, even the smallest actions can have unexpected (and, ideally, hilarious
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
necessarily create conflict within a party, though. Rather, those affiliations create a potentially interesting tension between individual goals and the goals of the party as a whole. Dragon Overlords
allegiance to a dragon overlord in exchange for the dragon’s protection. The result might be a feudal society, where dragons fill the highest ranks of the aristocracy. In such a setting, characters
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
federation, covering a territory the size of half the Sword Coast in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. A large territory might overlap with other Acquisitions Incorporated regions, though you are
theoretically working with (and perhaps overseeing) smaller franchises rather than working against them. You can ship your goods to any destination, and can assign staff to a city to which you ship goods
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
Lighthouse Even as the characters are setting up their new franchise, you’ll want to work in hooks to lead them to the next stage in the adventure. Based on what they’ve learned during this episode
the downtime rather than rushing to advance to the next episode. The players should get used to how big a part downtime and franchise activities play in an Acquisitions Incorporated campaign.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
mobile tactics combining psionics and magic to devastate their foes. They hit hard, setting buildings aflame and killing all in their path, to foster a panic among their victims that cripples any hope
of an organized defense. Because the githyanki strike to plunder rather than conquer, raiders linger over their target for no more than a few hours. By daybreak the attackers are gone, purposely
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
of true faith. Ultimately, any deity from the Player’s Handbook or any other setting might find followers among the Domains of Dread. By the same token, the Dark Powers breathe life into the beliefs
domains, locals measure time by “moons” rather than months. As a measurement of time, each moon begins on the first night of a full moon and lasts a full lunar cycle. A year consists of twelve moons, or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
prayers and sacrifices to the same god regardless of what aspect of life is in need of divine assistance. Whether marching into war, setting off on a journey, or hoping to win someone’s affections, the
rather than from a specific nature deity, some clerics devote themselves to ideals rather than to a god. Paladins might serve a philosophy of justice and chivalry rather than a specific deity. Forces and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault
numerous smaller paintings, mostly of young people.
During the day, characters are most likely to encounter Vordell, the housekeeper (commoner), here, setting the table or returning clean dishes and
panes shaped and colored to resemble a rising or setting sun.
It’s a 45-foot drop from the rooftop to the ground. Unless it has been fought and killed elsewhere, a chasme guards this area. At your
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
these croftholds rent out their extra space to travelers, setting aside a few rooms for rent, and using a single large space as an open taproom, serving the sort of fare one might find in an inn. The
for storage rather than being left vacant. Almost every family in the town has some space that it uses for its own needs or rents out for use by others. Those who buy storage from a Hardbuckler must