monsters some with only arise fact for lord

Wand of Orcus

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide

Crafted and wielded by Orcus, this ghastly wand slips from the demon lord’s grasp from time to time. When it does, it magically appears wherever the demon lord senses an opportunity to achieve

skull surmounts it. For this to happen, the long-lost hero must first be restored to life—no easy task, given the fact that Orcus has imprisoned the hero’s soul and keeps it hidden and well

Lords' Alliance Vassal

Backgrounds Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn

house, whether that means securing trade roads for a merchant-lord of Waterdeep or vanquishing monsters upriver of Daggerford. You’ve trained in the arts of swordplay and statecraft and are as deft with a blade as you are with a quill.

; Alliance. As an Alliance agent, you must uphold the tenets of the Alliance and seek to increase safety and prosperity along the Sword Coast. You’re sworn to bring honor and glory to your lord’s

Ruin Spider

Monsters The Book of Many Things

remains in one place for a long time. Ruin spiders arise when the magic of the deck transforms giant spiders into even more dangerous monsters whose acidic venom disintegrates everything it touches

Rictavio

Monsters Curse of Strahd

in search of new actors, he began regaling locals with tales of distant lands. Monster Hunter. The half-elf ringmaster is, in fact, a legendary human vampire hunter named Rudolph van Richten. Van

hunting evil monsters. The Waiting Game. Van Richten isn’t a young man anymore. He knows his road is coming to an end, but his work isn't done. He has come to Barovia to kill Strahd von Zarovich

Belashyrra

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

to the Lord of Eyes. It’s rumored that anyone who sits on the citadel’s throne can see through the eyes of any sentient creature on Eberron or in Khyber. If encountered in its lair

“I perceive certain types of people — vocations or entire societies — as hideous monsters.” 3 “Someone is watching everything I do.” 4 “When I

Adult Amethyst Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

wherever it may arise. 3 What use is vast knowledge or insight if it is not shared with those who can appreciate it? 4 Although some are fascinated by words, I think numbers are the true

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

Mite

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

quickly become a brawl. Heralds of Frustration. Mites are natives of the Feywild that arise when a creature becomes so irritated with a situation or event that it lashes out in violence. That

that wrap around existing passages and chambers. They use these hiding spots to watch the comings and goings of monsters and adventurers, setting traps to vex and annoy whenever possible. A trip wire

Rakdos Cultist

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

a member of a cult devoted to an ancient demon who delights in violence and chaos. It just so happens that Rakdos loves a good show, and your highest aspiration is to please the Defiler, the Lord of

standard circus-style acrobatics with fire, wrought-iron spikes and hooks, and monsters. You can roll a d8 or choose from the options in the Performance Options table to determine your preferred

Folk Hero Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

tyrants and monsters that threaten the common folk everywhere. Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Survival Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools, vehicles (land

’s castle and stole weapons to arm the people. 7 I trained the peasantry to use farm implements as weapons against a tyrant’s soldiers. 8 A lord rescinded an unpopular decree

Tabaxi

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Created by the Cat Lord—a divine being of the Upper Planes—to blend the qualities of humanoids and cats, tabaxi are a varied people in both attitude and appearance. In some lands, tabaxi

live like the cats they resemble, naturally curious and at home in playful environments. In other places, tabaxi live as other folk do, not exhibiting the feline behavior the Cat Lord intended

Simic Scientist

Backgrounds Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

advancing civilization, nature needs some help from biomancers and terraformers. If, along the way, you happen to create super-soldiers and mutant monsters that can bolster the combine’s defenses

protection and durability 2 Fin Clade, focused on movement 3 Gyre Clade, focused on cyclical patterns and metamagic 4 Guardian Project, focused on creating guard monsters and super

Aasimar Legacy

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

wounds, and unleash the fury of the heavens. Aasimar can arise among any population of mortals. They resemble their parents, but they live for up to 160 years and often have features that hint at their

violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race’s

Dhampir

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

. Their reasons are often deeply personal. Some seek danger, imagining monsters as personifications of their own hungers. Others pursue revenge against whatever turned them into a dhampir. And still

or raw meat 3 Cerebral spinal fluid 4 Psychic energy 5 Dreams 6 Life energy Dhampir Origins Dhampirs often arise from encounters with vampires, but all manner of

Wand of Orcus Legacy

Magic Items Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

The ghastly Wand of Orcus rarely leaves Orcus’s side. The device, as evil as its creator, shares the demon lord’s aims to snuff out the lives of all living things and bind the Material

the Positive Energy Plane by the ancient hero whose skull surmounts it. For this to happen, the long-lost hero must first be restored to life—no easy task, given the fact that Orcus has

Yuan-ti

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Yuan-ti were originally humans who transformed themselves into serpent folk through ancient rituals. Most yuan-ti were corrupted into monsters by those rites, but some yuan-ti instead became a new

character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact

Rivergard Keep

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

and his band of sellswords occupy the keep. They are repairing the old castle and protecting trade along the river from the depredations of monsters and bandits, or so they claim. In fact, Rivergard

Rivergard Keep A small but strongly built castle on the banks of the Dessarin River, Rivergard Keep is one of the Haunted Keeps of the Sumber Hills. A taciturn mercenary lord named Jolliver Grimjaw

Goblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

serving as the tribe’s boss, a fiend that has made its way into the world, or an undying lord such as a lich or a vampire. (For more information on undying lord patrons, see the Sword Coast

Erebos's Villains

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

Erebos seeks to uphold is a brutal one, based on the tragic fact that every life ends in death. Followers of Erebos might become villains when they follow their god’s orders, sowing despair among the

loved ones, and still others simply want to get rich. The Erebos’s Villains table suggests a variety of foes that might arise from among the god’s followers. Erebos’s Villains d6 Villain 1

Mournland Villains

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

arise in connection with the Mournland. Mournland Villains d6 Villain 1 The Lord of Blades maintains a detention center where experiments are performed on adventurers and scavengers that his forces

below). These treasure hunters are also the kind of people who make interesting villains, teaming up with adventurers one day and betraying them the next. In addition to these salvagers, the Lord of

Klothys's Villains

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

free one of those ancient terrors. Klothys’s Monsters A variety of monstrous creatures might arise in an area as a result of Klothys’s influence, particularly those presented on the Klothys’s

god or her agents if they stand in opposition to destiny. Various monsters rose from the Underworld when Klothys entered the mortal realm, and her most zealous followers often see them as

Mythic Monsters

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

greatest myths arise from storied terrors—like the hydra Polukranos or the dreaded titans—the monsters in this section have a feature that sets them apart: mythic traits. Mythic traits transform battles

Mythic Monsters This section describes three of Theros’s most infamous terrors, beings whose might and dreadful deeds set them apart as menaces of legendary proportions. While many of Theros’s

What Dwells Here?

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

What Dwells Here? Aside from hungry monsters, a bandit gang has made its home here, as have bugbears and goblins in league with the beholder crime lord known as Xanathar.

Sleep

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

Sleep Just as in the real world, D&D characters spend many hours sleeping, most often as part of a long rest. Most monsters also need to sleep. While a creature sleeps, it is subjected to the unconscious condition. Here are a few rules that expand on that basic fact.

Monsters By Challenge Rating

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

Monsters By Challenge Rating CR Monster 3 Assassin Bug 2 Blindheim 3 Crab Folk 1/2 Dire Corby 9 Eye of Fear and Flame 3 Forlarren 11 Giant, Fog 1/8

Jermlaine 1/8 Khargra 0 Killmoulis 1/4 Mite 1/2 Needle Spawn 3 Needle Lord 1/2 Norker 3 Norker War Leader 1 Screaming Devilkin 23 Ygorl, Lord of Entropy 3 Xill

Set Expectations

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

Set Expectations Well before you assemble a group around a game table, pitch the adventures you’re thinking about running to your prospective players. Note the types of conflicts that might arise

. You don’t need to reveal the major plot points or twists in your story, but share the kinds of monsters and general themes you’re interested in using, other horror stories you’re inspired by, and which

School Is in Session

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos

. In these adventures, the player characters are students attending the university, and they become heroes in their own right as they navigate plots, overcome monsters, and thwart dangers that arise

Kelemvor

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

Kelemvor The Lord of the Dead, the Judge of the Damned Kelemvor is seen as a just, fair, and comforting god of death. Death comes to all, and when it occurs Kelemvor is there to take each soul by

afterlife they seek. The faithful of Kelemvor provide people with peaceful transitions into the care of the Lord of the Dead. They help the dying put their affairs in order, and they officiate at funeral

Kruphix's Villains

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

that might arise from among the god’s followers. Kruphix’s Villains d6 Villain 1 An oracle (see chapter 6) seeks to erase the memories of an entire community, reducing them to a simpler

discovered knowledge mortals were not meant to know and works to silence them. Kruphix’s Monsters Kruphix is rarely associated with monsters, but those most likely to serve him appear on the

Heliod's Villains

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

tyrant. The Heliod’s Villains table suggests a variety of foes that might arise from among the god’s followers. Heliod’s Villains d6 Villain 1 A local noble imposes overwhelming

, punishes protesters, and quashes any form of dissent. 6 A nervous oracle (see chapter 6) identifies the characters as a threat to the stability of the polis. Heliod’s Monsters Heliod is

Athreos's Villains

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

neither does he particularly care, so long as the dead meet him with coin. The Athreos’s Villains table suggests a variety of foes that might arise from among the god’s followers. Athreos’s Villains d6

shouldn’t exist. Athreos’s Monsters Most creatures that serve Athreos aid the god in destroying the undead. Beyond that, the Athreos’s Monsters table presents a few creatures likely to serve the

Jarlaxle Baenre

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Jarlaxle Baenre Jarlaxle Baenre is a drow swashbuckler and the secret lord of Luskan, the City of Sails. Jarlaxle plans to use the cache of dragons to buy his way into the Lords’ Alliance, a

chapter 7. Jarlaxle delights in thwarting his enemies, enjoys the complications that arise when adventurers try to meddle in his affairs, and loves to see the looks on their faces when he finally

Laying Curses

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

curse, the narrative impact fades. There should always be a way to avoid a curse, and a curse’s effects should clearly arise from wrongdoing. Here are some examples of actions that warrant a curse

: Defiling a sealed tomb Desecrating a temple Slaying a villain who is backed by a powerful entity such as a demon lord or a deity Murdering or grievously harming an innocent Stealing a treasure that is

I: Minotaur Lair

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Heroes of the Borderlands

I: Minotaur Lair A bloodthirsty minotaur rules this cave. A servant of Baphomet—a demon lord who endorses bloodshed and cruelty—the minotaur feasts on adventurers and monsters alike. It stalks its

. You can add monsters to the cave to make this scenario longer and more difficult. One or more Bandits might be here searching for hidden treasure. Conversely, you can reduce the number of Stirges to make the scenario easier and shorter.

Step-by-Step Adventures

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide

Adventures A published adventure includes a pregenerated scenario with the maps, NPCs, monsters, and treasures you need to run it. This allows you to focus your preparation time on plot developments

that arise from the characters’ actions. You can adjust a published adventure so it better suits your campaign and appeals to your players. For example, you can replace the villain of an adventure

Keranos's Villains

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

followers would work admirably. The Keranos’s Villains table suggests a variety of foes that might arise from among the god’s followers. Keranos’s Villains d6 Villain 1 An oracle (see chapter 6

. Keranos’s Monsters Keranos is associated with creatures that act as extensions of his volatile temper or his sudden, blinding insights. Adventures that bring characters into conflict with Keranos’s

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