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Returning 35 results for 'mechanics smarter with only advance from for like'.
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mechanical smasher with only advanced from for like
Monsters
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
themselves like brigands, robbing people they come across in the wild. If food is scarce, they kill those same people and eat them. They prefer to dwell in forlorn places, often sharing territory with
hill giants and ogres. It's not unusual to find a gang of hill giants and ogres led by a verbeeg, since verbeeg are much smarter than their brutish cousins. Verbeeg also enjoy the company of
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
later as a hive lord—a bigger and smarter kruthik with the ability to spray digestive acid from its maw. The hive lord claims the largest chamber of the lair and keeps several adult kruthik
series of hisses and chittering noises. These sounds can often be heard in advance of a kruthik attack. Whenever their lair is invaded, kruthik guards send out an alarm by rapidly tapping the stone
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
their draconic heritage—chromatic, metallic, or gem—something like a large extended family. But for dragonborn champions, this bond is spiritual as much as biological, and they devote
themselves to their divine ancestor. Dragonborn champions advance the cause of their dragon god among draconic creatures and other folk alike.
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
consider their draconic heritage—chromatic, metallic, or gem—something like a large extended family. But for dragonborn champions, this bond is spiritual as much as biological, and they devote
themselves to their divine ancestor. Dragonborn champions advance the cause of their dragon god among draconic creatures and other folk alike.
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
hour, as its head takes on fiendish aspects. The curse doesn’t advance while the target is in sunlight or the area of a daylight spell; don’t count that time. When the cursed target’s
all vargouilles for 1 hour.Shrieking, flapping, and hideous to behold—with a body like a severed head and wings in place of ears—vargouilles boil out of the Abyss to infest other planes
Shadar-kai
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Species
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
Sworn to the Raven Queen’s service, the mysterious shadar-kai venture into the Material Plane from the Shadowfell to advance her will. Once they were fey like the rest of their elven kin, and
now they exist in a strange state between life and death. Eladrin and shadar-kai are like reflections of each other: one bursting with emotion, the other nearly devoid of it.
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
, metallic, or gem—something like a large extended family. But for dragonborn champions, this bond is spiritual as much as biological, and they devote themselves to their divine ancestor. Dragonborn champions advance the cause of their dragon god among draconic creatures and other folk alike.Psychic
Monsters
Eberron: Rising from the Last War
the quori is forced out by an effect like the dispel evil and good spell. When the possession ends, the quori reappears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the body. The target is immune to this
tipped with a vicious stinger. They are cruel and calculating, enjoying the power they wield over others as they concoct elaborate schemes to advance their own positions and discredit their rivals
Species
One Grung Above
THIS IS NONCORE D&D MATERIAL
These game mechanics are usable in your campaign if your DM allows them but not refined by final game design and editing.
Grungs are aggressive froglike
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
incursions into the world, leucrottas are bigger, smarter, and faster than gnolls. When one joins a war band, it doesn’t strive to lead the group (which would cause unneeded conflict) but rather to serve
and protect its leader. A leucrotta’s dedication to Yeenoghu is as fervent as that of any gnoll, and its main goal is always to advance the cause of the Lord of Savagery over its own. For more
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
and expand an overarching plot. Engage players who like storytelling by... Using their characters’ backstories to shape the stories of the campaign. Making sure encounters advance the story. Making
Storytelling Players who love storytelling want to contribute to a narrative. They like it when their characters are heavily involved in an unfolding story, and they enjoy encounters that are tied to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
sky, anchored in ends so distant she couldn’t perceive them, their middle parts revolving angrily like pieces of string rolled between a child’s fingertips. She glanced down, wondering what supported
great silvery sea, the same above and below, with swirling wisps of white and gray streaking among motes of light like distant stars. Most of the Astral Sea is a vast, empty expanse. Visitors occasionally
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
such dragons’ attitudes and behavior. Others consider their draconic heritage—chromatic, metallic, or gem—something like a large extended family. But for dragonborn champions, this bond is spiritual as
much as biological, and they devote themselves to their divine ancestor. Dragonborn champions advance the cause of their dragon god among draconic creatures and other folk alike.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tales from the Yawning Portal
ready to take on the challenges of a ruined dwarven fortress. Like its predecessor, The Forge of Fury is tailored to provide increasingly tougher threats as the characters make their way through the
fortress. Those who survive the experience can expect to advance to 5th level—seasoned adventurers ready to strive for greater glory and renown.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
deal that sounds too good to be true or is confusing, they’re likely to pause negotiations while they ask smarter devils for their opinions on the deal. The following ability checks can be made
character’s check result is higher than the devil’s, the character sees through the devil’s deception. Devils like to slip extra clauses into the fine print of a contract. When this happens, a character who can
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
Morak’s Quest Characters who survive the perils of the Dripping Caves and return to Nightstone should advance to 4th level. Once he is safely back in the village, Morak Ur’gray takes stock of the
can give the quest in his place. Choose whichever quest you like. Your choice will determine whether the characters visit Bryn Shander, Goldenfields, or Triboar in the next leg of the adventure (see
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
track of your rations, that’s really a personal failing.
3 I’m much smarter than I look, and if you can’t say the same, this is going to be a short conversation.
4 Elf, dwarf, horse—you
just means they need more of it!
8 I like to earn people’s trust, then lead them into dangerous situations and make off with their treasure while they’re distracted.
Faerie Dragon Ideals
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
, negotiate with non-players to reserve the space in advance. You can also reduce distracting stimuli by turning screens off, covering decorations, and moving unnecessary objects away. Music Consider
, atmospheric, or instrumental music. Choose options without lyrics and that aren’t recognizably tied to popular media. Create playlists in advance. If you can subtly control volume, slowly raise it when
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
designed to take 2 hours, the character reaches 3 checkpoints. Playing time might seem like an odd way to measure experience awards, but the concept is in keeping with how a shared campaign is meant to
advance to the next level. At level 5 or higher, reaching 8 checkpoints is needed to advance to the next level. At the end of a play session, characters must level up if they have reached enough
Goblin
Legacy
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
.
Beast Masters and Slave Drivers
Goblins know they are a weak, unsophisticated race that can be easily dominated by bigger, smarter, more organized, more ferocious, or more magical creatures. Their god
out while still getting decent performance out of the slaves. But humanoids and monsters that are especially capable or that provide unusual services find themselves treated like favored (though
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
Shadar-kai Sworn to the Raven Queen’s service, the mysterious shadar-kai venture into the Material Plane from the Shadowfell to advance her will. Once they were fey like the rest of their elven kin
, and now they exist in a strange state between life and death. Eladrin and shadar-kai are like reflections of each other: one bursting with emotion, the other nearly devoid of it. Shadar-kai Traits
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves
Gathering Samples After the elves have answered any questions the characters might have, Gwenhumara makes the following offer: “Before you do anything else, I would like to inure you against the
stoppers to store the samples. Once the characters have retrieved the samples, Gwenhumara can brew up to ten vials of Antitoxin each day. It’s up to the characters how they’d like to distribute those
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
Orog Orogs are orcs blessed with a surprisingly keen intellect that ordinary orcs believe is a gift from the orc goddess Luthic. Like Luthic, orogs prefer to live underground, although the scarcity
of food often brings them to the surface to hunt. Orcs respect an orog’s strength and cunning, and a lone orog might command an orc war band. Stronger and Smarter. An orog uses its strength to bully
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
action key, or do the players need to be thoughtful and cautious? Do you like to plan thoroughly in advance, or do you prefer improvising on the spot? Is the game full of varied D&D elements, or does it
questions: Are you a fan of realism and gritty consequences, or are you more focused on making the game seem like an action movie? Do you want the game to maintain a sense of medieval fantasy, or do
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
technology do you prefer? Do you enjoy solving in-game puzzles and riddles? Do you like to track experience points, or would you rather have your character advance in level when I tell you to? House
player any or all of the following questions: Which of the three pillars of adventuring (combat, exploration, roleplaying) interest you the most? How much humor do you like in the game? What level of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Light of Xaryxis
of radiant light fly through the air, narrowly missing you as several starfish-like plant creatures creep out of the jungle and advance threateningly.
Warwyck Blastimoff, a lawful good giff shipmate
seconds later, a uniformed giff bursts through the foliage with a musket in one hand and a look of panic on his face. “Apologies in advance!” he shouts as he makes his way to the rope ladder.
Pellets
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild
patrolling the laboratory section (areas 1 to 23). On a 3–4, it patrols the temple section (areas 24 to 39). There are no fixed mechanics for encounters with the thessalhydra, but feel free to have
thessalheart construct is a strange magical-mechanical device that struts about like a chicken, and which features a human heart beating madly behind its glass front. The construct always wanders the zone
Yuan-ti Pureblood
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
cannibalizing their victims, and then performed a sorcerous ritual while writhing in pools filled with living snakes that enabled them to mix their flesh with that of serpents, becoming like the gods in
agents infiltrate enemy governments to discover weaknesses that their leaders can exploit. The yuan-ti look forward to the day when their empire rises again and spreads across the world like venom through
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild
Background Two archdevils—Zariel and Bel—have longed battled for control over Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. To advance their cause, both archdevils plan to rebuild the Infernal Machine
characters separately, hoping to engage them to collect more of the needed missing components. Through their own research of legends, ancient texts, journals, and the like (as well as spying on one another
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer Academy
forget to write,” she says with a grin.
Far above you, in the space above Toril, a mothlike ship appears. Its purpose unknown, it waits, biding its time…
Character Advancement The characters advance to
saving it! Light of Xaryxis, the adventure in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, picks up the action right where this story left off.
If you’d like to keep your adventure set in the Forgotten Realms or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
fabulous “treasure” taken from their victims. This might include a collection of battered helmets, a moldy wheel of cheese, a rough patch of animal fur fastened like a cloak, or a squealing, mud
-spattered pig. Ogres also delight in the gleam of gold and silver, and they will fight one another over small handfuls of coins. Smarter creatures can earn an ogre’s trust by offering it gold or a weapon
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
characters to advance in rank and position within their guilds by acquiring renown. The focus of chapter 3 is on the city itself — and particularly on the Tenth District, which is the heart of Ravnica
items are D&D interpretations of specific Magic artifact cards — not literal translations of their mechanics from one rules system to the other, but game elements inspired by the flavor and abilities
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
whiteboard on a wall or propped up nearby A battle mat you use for miniatures Folded index cards for each character and each group of identical monsters, placed like tents in Initiative order across the top of
aware of the order of play. Players know when their characters’ turns are coming up so they can plan their actions in advance. An open list also lets the players know when the monsters act in the fight, although you can hold off on adding monsters to the list until they take their first turns.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
during the campaign. When the characters return from adventuring, they take on some of the responsibility for bookkeeping, maintenance, long-term planning, and the like, making franchise staff
downtime to advance the timeline of the campaign. Ongoing Activities A more wide-open approach to franchise tasks sees the characters direct those activities at any point during the campaign, alongside
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
academies or universities of wizardry, such as those in Evermeet or Halruaa, or in the great cities of the North like Waterdeep or Silverymoon. With the intensity of their study and practice, wizards tend
to become increasingly solitary as they advance in their Art, having fewer peers with whom they can share their insights, if they choose to share them with anyone at all. Thus great wizards often take