manner system with only about fact for lack

Alhoon

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

. However, wizardry remains a temptation. In the pages of a spellbook, an illithid sees a system to acquire authority. Through the writings of the wizard who penned it, the illithid perceives the workings of

position of leadership normally held by an elder brain. Regardless, all such arcanists face the same stark fact: when they die, they will not join the host of minds in the elder brain—deviant

Adult Amethyst Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

Merfolk dwelling near an adult amethyst dragon;adult amethyst dragon's lair are under threat from sahuagin raiders. 2 Clusters of shrieker;shriekers serve as a warning system in the tunnels of an

adult amethyst dragon;adult amethyst dragon's lair. 3 The Enlightened Dragon Master of an isolated monastery is, in fact, an adult amethyst dragon. 4 An adult amethyst dragon is at war

Speaking Stones

magic-items

other stone. That creature hears the message in its mind, recognizes you as the sender if it knows you, and can answer in a like manner immediately. The stones enable creatures to understand the meaning

of your message. You can send the message across any distance. If no creature bears the other stone, you know that fact as soon as you use the stone, and you don’t send the message. Once

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

If you’re considering taking a scaled one along on an adventure, remember this important fact. The strange, inhuman glint in its eyes as it looks you over is the same look you might give a

smooth-skins is far greater. Despite their alien outlook, some lizardfolk make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races. Such lizardfolk make faithful and

Grung

Species One Grung Above

juvenile to reach maturity. Castes and Colors. Grung society is a caste system. Each caste lays eggs in a separate hatching pool, and juvenile grungs join their caste upon emergence from the hatchery

lookout for creatures they can capture and enslave. Grungs use slaves for all manner of menial tasks, but mostly they just like bossing them around. Slaves are fed mildly poisoned food to keep them

Feylost

Backgrounds The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

through a fey crossing by chance during a twilight stroll in the woods. Perhaps you were kidnapped by evil Fey but escaped from their clutches. Whatever the manner of your disappearance, you gradually fell

are haunted by the fact that the Feywild—a mirror world hidden behind a mere twist of perception—is only a hair’s breadth away. Although your memories of the Feywild grow fainter

Deep Dragon Wyrmling Legacy

monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

combat. Deep dragons look down on any creature that isn’t useful to them, though they are willing to bargain for knowledge they lack. Creating a Deep Dragon Use the Deep Dragon Personality

An ogre has acquired a deep dragon wyrmling as a pet, ignoring the fact that the dragon is an intelligent creature who will grow extremely large. 2 An inquisitive deep dragon wyrmling has made

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

capable of flight, and similar objects provoke a great desire for the kenku to acquire the items for themselves. Despite their lack of wings, kenku love dwelling in towers and other tall structures

. They seek out ruins that reach to the sky, though they lack the motivation and creativity to make repairs or fortify such places. Even so, their light weight and size allow them to dwell in rickety

Vedalken

Species Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

Nothing is perfect. Vedalken not only believe this fact, they rejoice in it. Every imperfection is a chance for improvement, and progress is an endless march toward a state of perfection that can

, standing almost a head taller than humans on average but weighing about the same. Their hairless skin comes in a range of shades of blue. Their eyes are darker shades of blue or violet. They lack

Dwarf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

“Yer late, elf!” came the rough edge of a familiar voice. Bruenor Battlehammer walked up the back of his dead foe, disregarding the fact that the heavy monster lay on top of his elven

them into an exile that lasted over 250 years. This longevity grants them a perspective on the world that shorter-lived races such as humans and halflings lack. Dwarves are solid and enduring like the

Goblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

-tiered caste system made up of lashers, hunters, gatherers, and pariahs. The status of every family in the tribe is based on its importance to the tribe’s survival. Families that belong to the

;t understand the goblins’ social system are sometimes surprised by how different castes interact with them. A single human warrior might frighten away a dozen gatherers, only to be shocked when

Ideas, Not Rules

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Ideas, Not Rules Even though these pages are full of tables and die rolls, they don’t make up a rules system — in fact, the opposite is true. You can use as much or as little of this material as you

Sentience

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase

Sentience Aphelion is a sentient artificial intelligence programmed with an affable personality, a straightforward voice, and an obliging manner. It has an Intelligence of 20, a Wisdom of 10, and a

). Aphelion can manifest to creatures throughout the spacecraft in the following ways: As a disembodied voice via the ship’s intercom system As a two-dimensional image on a display screen As a three-dimensional hologram By commandeering a robot under its influence

Cold and Calculating

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

, lizardfolk behave in a distant manner. They don’t mourn fallen comrades or rage against their enemies. They simply observe and react as a situation warrants. Lizardfolk lack meaningful emotional ties

, over time, learn to respect other creatures’ emotions. The lizardfolk doesn’t share those feelings, but instead assesses them in the same clinical manner. Yes, the fallen dwarf might be most useful

Yuan-ti Pureblood Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

caste system based on how complete a person’s transformation was. The vast majority of yuan-ti fall into three categories — abominations, malisons, and purebloods — while the mutated

others can be exploited through bribes, favors, or threats. As creatures devoid of emotion, yuan-ti exhibit behavior and use tactics that exemplify that outlook (or lack of one). Whether in combat

Lizardfolk

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

Lizardfolk If you’re considering taking a scaled one along on an adventure, remember this important fact. The strange, inhuman glint in its eyes as it looks you over is the same look you might give a

smooth-skins is far greater. Despite their alien outlook, some lizardfolk make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races. Such lizardfolk make faithful and skilled allies.

Body Horror

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

heart beats, the lungs pump air, and the gastrointestinal system labors to supply us with nutrients. But we don’t ponder the minutiae. Like whether embryonic parasites encyst in our brains, or what stage

of cirrhosis we might be facing, or if tumors bloom deep in parts of ourselves we hope never to see. When creating adventures involving body horror, use this lack of awareness. Focus on the

Through the Sea Caves

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

of Skullport would like to fix it, but they lack the mutual trust and cooperation required for such a project to succeed. The absence of the hoist hasn’t stopped all manner of nefarious sorts from using their own ropes to haul rowboats and other small craft over the barrier wall.

Proficiency Bonus Legacy

Rules

ability check that wouldn’t normally benefit from your proficiency bonus, you still don’t add the bonus to the check. For that check your proficiency bonus is 0, given the fact that

multiplying 0 by any number is still 0. For instance, if you lack proficiency in the History skill, you gain no benefit from a feature that lets you double your proficiency bonus when you make Intelligence

Khyber

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

, Khyber spawns demons and monsters to plague the children of Eberron. This might be myth and metaphor, but it’s also a description of fact: there are worlds within the world, realms inhabited by

aberrations, fiends, and all manner of monsters. Any time someone descends below the surface of the world, they enter Khyber. But the underworld takes two very different forms. First is the natural realm

Proficiency Bonus

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

an ability check that wouldn’t normally benefit from your proficiency bonus, you still don’t add the bonus to the check. For that check your proficiency bonus is 0, given the fact that multiplying 0

by any number is still 0. For instance, if you lack proficiency in the History skill, you gain no benefit from a feature that lets you double your proficiency bonus when you make Intelligence (History

Factions and Their Representatives

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

laws by decree as they see fit, and judges are expected to interpret laws freely but wisely. Such a system would seem to invite abuse and bribery, but the Chultan courts are surprisingly free of

a year. That has less to do with price than with the fact that if word gets out who purchased a sanction, nothing can stop the friends of the victim from sanctioning the original purchaser. Despite

Old Flame

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis

vampirate. Topolah fears that the crew of the Second Wind might be discouraged by learning this fact before they meet Gargenhale in person. A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check

fleet, she attunes to the spelljamming helm of the Second Wind and pilots the ship with precision, grumbling occasionally about the vessel’s lack of a battering ram. If the characters prefer to

Demons

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

of Rakdos; in fact, the demons of Ravnica might have been created by Rakdos in the same way that angels were created by the Boros Legion’s founder. As a demon lord who has chosen to live in Ravnica

barbed devils or horned devils, except that they are demons. (They are chaotic evil, they speak Abyssal and not Infernal, and they lack Devil’s Sight.)

Proficiency Bonus

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

bonus when making an ability check that wouldn’t normally benefit from your proficiency bonus, you still don’t add the bonus to the check. For that check your proficiency bonus is 0, given the fact that

multiplying 0 by any number is still 0. For instance, if you lack proficiency in the History skill, you gain no benefit from a feature that lets you double your proficiency bonus when you make

Doomspace in a Nutshell

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis

Doomspace in a Nutshell Thousands of years ago, a war between gods and primordials ended with all gods being banished from Doomspace. After the war, the primordials encased the system in a crystal

outermost region of Doomspace with crystalline shards as big as asteroids. What happened next isn’t known for fact, but speculation abounds. Some say the gods appeared before the leaders of Fyreen and Malas

Students

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Keys from the Golden Vault

a gold-trimmed wheelchair. When it comes to music, his lack of discipline prompted his parents to send him to the Skalderang Conservatory. He was unhappy at first, but he warmed to the company of the

they leave the conservatory at once. Sythian can’t afford to lose his students, so if the characters threaten to tell the students about his grave robbing or the fact that he consorts with demons, he surrenders the instrument to ensure the characters’ silence.

Fungus Humongous

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hoard of the Dragon Queen

throw. Failure means the character is overcome with feelings of grief and remorse, seemingly triggered by hearing thousands of tiny cries of pain and death groans but which is in fact the result of

toxin is completely out of their system. You can impose even more lingering results if you like, such as a lifelong aversion to eating mushrooms of any kind. People can clear a path through the

Fungus Humongous

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons

throw. Failure means the character is overcome with feelings of grief and remorse, seemingly triggered by hearing thousands of tiny cries of pain and death groans but which is in fact the result of

toxin is completely out of their system. You can impose even more lingering results if you like, such as a lifelong aversion to eating mushrooms of any kind. People can clear a path through the

L8. Workhouse Dormitory

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

fact, he’s deciding whether to betray the characters to the hag.) If one or more characters are mean to him, Pud slips off at the first opportunity to alert Skabatha, hoping that his loyalty to her

will pay off for him in the future. Curing Brottor. Any effect that neutralizes poison can cure Brottor. If the characters lack the means to cure Brottor on their own, they can use hummingbrella

Other Crime Syndicates

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

order of highly skilled assassins and thieves in Sharn. Less well known is the fact that this guild consists primarily of criminals who bear aberrant dragonmarks—hence its choice of namesake, as Lord

Halas Tarkanan united the bearers of these marks during the ancient War of the Mark. The Tyrants. The Tyrants are a mysterious group of shapeshifters who traffic in all manner of information. They sell

Meeting at the Tomb

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse

, saying, “No closer, friends! This is a private matter, and we don’t wish to be disturbed.” Unferth presents himself with a false joviality, making light of the fact that two groups of upstanding

citizens should find themselves engaged in an ugly bit of skulduggery involving opening a tomb. Underneath the self-deprecating manner is a stern resolve. The Kraken Society paid good money for the orb

Druid

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice Compendium

natural materials that aren’t the worked metal that is associated with civilization. Druids don’t lack the ability to wear metal armor. They choose not to wear it. This choice is part of their identity as a

, you’re not going to break anything in the game system, but you might undermine the story and the world being created in your campaign. Can a bound and gagged druid simply use Wild Shape to get out

The Ordning

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder

The Ordning Giant society (such as it is) is defined in large part by the ordning, a caste system imposed upon the giants by their gods, chief among them Annam the All-Father. The ordning determines

, their ambitions have long been curtailed by their lack of cohesion and the imposition of good-aligned storm giants and cloud giants whose memories of ancient, glorious Ostoria have faded over time

Hill Giants

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

Hill Giants Hill giants live to eat. Anyone who understands this one fact about them knows everything there is to know. Ordning of Gluttony Hill giants are the weakest of the true giants. They have

cracked bones are strewn about. The ground is saturated with blood and with the giants’ own filth. Not every hill giant’s digestive system is so indiscriminate; from time to time a giant does get sick

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