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Returning 35 results for 'most scratch with only advice for for life'.
Monsters
Acquisitions Incorporated
can then be retracted automatically at the end of the attacking creature’s turn.
I’m going to give you a piece of advice. Don’t trust Acquisitions Incorporated. And never, ever, ever
trust Omin Dran. Wait, that’s two pieces of advice. You owe me.
Sometimes a goblin can’t catch a break. First, you fall in with a cult that works for the release of a death god. Then
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
an undertaking would require building a new fort from scratch somewhere on the southwestern coast, and Liara has neither the hands nor the funds for that. She might try to enlist the player
characters into making a voyage to scout possible locations for such a fort, if only so she can reassure her impatient superiors in Baldur’s Gate that progress is being made. Although devoid of human life, the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
Amethyst Dragons I once sought life advice from an amethyst dragon who specialized in that sort of thing. I told her all my flaws and unwanted behaviors, and she prescribed the best elixir: “Stop
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
the activity of life as noisy, crude, and maddening. It rakes at his senses like the claws of a rat scratch across a hard floor. In his view, the universe can know peace only when life’s incessant hum
Orcus The bloated Demon Prince of the Undead seeks to end all life in the cosmos, replacing the living with immortal, undead creatures that answer only to him. In this grim future, the many suns of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
the affairs of the universe. People gather in public shrines to worship gods of life and wisdom, or meet in hidden places to venerate gods of deception or destruction. Each deity in a pantheon has a
religious rites and festivals. Priests at such sites relate stories of the gods, teach the ethics of their patron deities, offer advice and blessings, perform religious rites, and provide training in
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Chapter 1: This Is Your Life The character creation rules in the Player’s Handbook provide all the information you need to define your character in preparation for a life of adventuring. What they
were the greatest influences on you during your formative years, for better or worse? To answer these questions and more, you can use the tables and the advice in this section to compose a well-developed
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
escape. In return, she taught me the rudiments of rune carving.
—Bigby
Intended for the Dungeon Master, this chapter explores key aspects of giants’ life and society. The ideas and tables included
here should inspire you as you prepare to use giants in your D&D game. This material is divided into five main sections: “Roleplaying Giants” discusses how to bring giants to life during your game
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver
and what they want. You don’t need to be an actor or stand-up comedian to get good drama or humor out of your NPCs, but if you want to ham it up, here’s some advice: Relax. Don’t worry about
, flutter your eyelashes, pout, cross your eyes, rub your hands together—whatever it takes to make your NPCs come to life. Try different voices. Borrow distinctive speech patterns from real life, movies
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
How to Use These Rules The best thing about being a DM is that you get to invent your own fantasy world and bring it to life, and nothing brings a D&D world to life more than the creatures that
help you use the monsters in this book in interesting ways, as well as advice for modifying monsters and creating your own. If you’ve never run a D&D adventure before, we recommend that you pick up
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
book and have its advice copied by the scribes in the House of the Binder. Depending on how you bring the book into the possession of the characters, they might spend enough time with it to discover
: Falthrax is a dear friend who has been troubled of late by depression; he talked of feeling as though his life is passing him by. The dwarf’s mood had improved in the last tenday after he discovered a book
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
presentations leads off with advice on how to add depth and detail to your character’s personality. You can use the tables in these sections as a source of inspiration, or roll a die to randomly determine a
result if desired. Following the subclasses, the section called “This Is Your Life” presents a series of tables for adding detail to your character’s backstory. The chapter concludes with a selection
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice Compendium
The Role of Rules Why even have a column like Sage Advice when a DM can just make a ruling? Rules are a big part of what makes D&D a game, rather than simply improvised storytelling. The game’s rules
need a group of players to bring them to life and a DM to guide their use. The DM is key. Many unexpected things can happen in a D&D campaign, and no set of rules could reasonably account for every
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
you. It gives you new rules options, as well as some refined tools for creating and running adventures and campaigns. It is a supplement to the tools and advice offered in the Dungeon Master’s Guide
, traps, magic items, and downtime — which largely relate to how you create and stage your adventures. The material in this chapter is meant to make your life easier. Ignore anything you find here that
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Laboratory of Kwalish
characters to have their heads magically reattached and their life restored at the leather works, through the advice of the control room brains or Kwalish’s notes. Similarly, you might have notes and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
more details about what their characters find. The “Narration” section in chapter 2 offers more extensive advice and examples of narration. Step 2: Let the Players Talk Once you’re done describing the
based on what you know about the creatures, their knowledge, and their motivations. Then bring these creatures to life as you describe what happens. (See the “Running Social Interaction” section in
Kenku
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
adventurers are usually the survivors of a flock that has sustained heavy losses, or a rare kenku who has grown weary of a life of crime. These kenku are more ambitious and daring than their fellows
common animals. Non-kenku use names that refer to the sound made or the animal a kenku mimics, such as Rat Scratch, Whistler, Mouser, and Growler.
Some kenku turn their back on crime to pursue
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
whispers advice to you in dreams or visitations, taking on different guises and speaking through others. Skull You were returned to life through resurrection magic, divine intervention, or a mysterious
choice. Flames A powerful figure opposed to your beliefs vexes your life; even your triumphs seem to serve this being’s ends. Fool What could have been one of the happiest moments in your life turned
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sage Advice & Errata
The Role of Rules Why even have Sage Advice when a DM can just make a ruling? Rules are a big part of what makes D&D a game, rather than simply improvised storytelling. The game’s rules are meant to
players to bring them to life and a DM to guide their use. The DM is key. Many unexpected things can happen in a D&D campaign, and no set of rules could reasonably account for every contingency. If
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
Life in San Citlán Molded through generations of cosmopolitan mingling, San Citlán’s culture is ever-evolving but not without honored traditions. Food and Recreation Food is a particular point of
create dishes from painstakingly prepared stews such as hominy-and-meat pozole to ubiquitous snacks like tacos. For city folk, many recreations relieve the pressures of daily life. Along with music and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
Rewarded You were living a difficult life before your destiny suddenly changed through a miraculous turn of good fortune. Perhaps a benevolent deity gave you precisely what you most desired. You
left the daily miseries of your old life behind in favor of a life of adventure and excitement. Your old debts have been paid, responsibilities you thought inescapable are behind you, or you suddenly
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
influence on your behalf in subtle ways. Moon Your life is an idyllic story, except for something that makes you wonder if any of it is true. Puzzle You have part of a riddle that leads to a great
treasure or momentous secret. Rogue Someone important to you isn’t who you think they are. Ruin You lived a life of luxury until someone in power took it away. Will you get revenge? Sage A mage or magical
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
plead with the characters to spare the villain’s life, to prove that they are better than the villain. A weak NPC might beg for a chance to win favor from the characters by undertaking a dangerous but
villain or protecting innocent villagers, some of whom might be friends or family members. Respect Quandary. Two important allies give conflicting directions or advice to the adventurers. Perhaps the high
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
it could be rooted in the way you feel about the world and your role in it. Secrets d6 Secret 1 An imp offers you counsel. You try to ignore the creature, but sometimes its advice is helpful. 2
cosmic force, such as life or death, or a philosophy or concept, such as love, peace, or one of the nine alignments. Chapter 1 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide explores options like these, in the section
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
, on another day she might be making lewd jokes to adventurers asking her for advice, and the next she might be uprooting saplings to make a fence around her home for impaling intruders. It is nearly
life span greater than that of even dragons and elves. The oldest, wisest, and most powerful hags are called “grandmothers” by other hags. Some grandmothers are nearly as powerful as some of the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
be quite sudden—or to give them a way to continue engaging in the quest while their companions attempt to bring them back to life. These interludes can be played as brief scenes where the player of
have stained their soul with dark acts might return to life after suffering what feels like years of torture in Tizerus’s Mire of Punishment. In either case, the character might even gain some helpful
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
laugh or feel emotionally engaged and to incorporate those things into your roleplaying. Being the NPC Imagine how a character or monster you bring to life would react to the adventurers. Consider what it
the party’s wizard with grave suspicion. However you roleplay a character or monster, the classic advice for writers holds true: show, don’t tell. For example, rather than describe an NPC as shallow
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
languages it knew in life * See the Player’s Handbook for descriptions of this race’s features, none of which alter the NPC’s challenge rating. Creating NPCs from Scratch If you need completely new
and exhaustion; can’t be poisoned; darkvision 60 ft.; can’t speak but understands the languages it knew in life Tiefling* +1 Int, +2 Cha Infernal Legacy (use challenge rating instead of level to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
the character heeds this fortune and starts giving out unsolicited advice, that advice eventually saves someone’s life, either by keeping that person from venturing into harm’s way or by warning them
of him. The corresponding symbols on the tent’s canvas walls glow briefly. After Oddlewin speaks the card’s fortune, the character feels a chill run up their spine as their shadow gains a life of its
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
streaming show Critical Role. Forgotten Realms Larger-than-life heroes and villains struggle to determine the fate of the world as they explore the ruins and dungeons of fallen kingdoms and long
material about the campaign setting, other than what you create for yourself. Whether you create a setting from scratch or borrow elements from established settings, the result needs to resonate with
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
Menzoberranzan I eventually got away from the place, but not before I had learned more about Menzoberranzan than any sane person would care to know. Although the life of a slave can be brutally short
are ever so unfortunate as to be enslaved by the drow of Menzoberranzan, my advice to you is simple and stern: do as you are commanded, avoid insulting their goddess (which means don’t even brush off a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
Inside the Legion Angels occupy the highest tier of the Boros hierarchy, from the guildmaster Aurelia down to the hosts of holy warriors and advisors in leadership roles. Their opinions and advice
with mortals under such life-and-death circumstances. Boros paladins are the members most likely to converse with the angels and be charged with implementing their plans. The garrison commanders who
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
Robust Patronage No matter what your pact, the process of binding yourself to power has prepared you well for life in an Acquisitions Incorporated franchise. Gathering secret information from the
and advice that go outside the box. Way, way outside. And when your plans turn to profit, your franchise partners are thankfully there to take care of all that balance-sheet-and-coffer practical stuff
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
that best describe the creature. Knowing the creature’s alignment can also help with your portrayal. The classic advice for writers holds true: show, don’t tell. For example, rather than describe an
your head and chin high conveys confidence. Use Voices. Changing the volume of your voice and borrowing speech patterns from real life, movies, or television can make NPCs distinctive. Engaging the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
. The block remains there until the room’s trap is activated. A life-size golden statue of a mastodon stands atop a one-foot-high stone cog at the center of this room. Jeweled tusks sweep from its
fighting spined devils, bearded devils, barbed devils, horned devils, and erinyes. Advice from the Spirits Any characters inhabited by the spirits of I’jin, Obo’laka, or Shagambi receive advice when
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
glimpses into the relationship between these two mighty figures of legend. This introduction presents a portion of the saga of Diancastra. The saga is a window into important aspects of giants’ life and
giants. Chapter 2 offers advice and tables to help Dungeon Masters use giants in play. It covers roleplaying tips, an overview of the hierarchical structure of the ordning and giants’ religion, and






