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Returning 35 results for 'player instead'.
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Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
can see within 120 feet of it. The spell targets the chosen creature instead of the morkoth. If the spell forced a saving throw, the chosen creature makes its own save. If the spell was an attack, the
saving throw. On a failure, the creature has misplaced one possession (chosen by the player, if the creature is that player’s character). The possession remains nearby but concealed for a short
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
, except the damage he takes from sunlight.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Strahd fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Misty Escape. When Strahd drops to 0 hit points outside his
coffin, he transforms into a cloud of mist (as in the Shapechanger trait) instead of falling unconscious, provided that he isn’t in running water or sunlight. If he can’t transform, he is
Sailor
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Backgrounds
Player’s Handbook (2014)
with a hole in the center (or you may roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook), a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp
Feature: Ship
Reputation
If your character has a sailor background, you may select this background feature instead of Ship’s Passage.
No matter where you go, people are afraid of you due to your reputation. When
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
charm such as a rabbit foot or a small stone with a hole in the center (or you may roll for a random trinket on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook), a set of common clothes
background, you may select this background feature instead of Ship’s Passage.
No matter where you go, people are afraid of you due to your reputation. When you are in a settlement, you can get away with
Morkoth
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Monsters
Volo's Guide to Monsters
within 120 feet of it. The spell targets the chosen creature instead of the morkoth. If the spell forced a saving throw, the chosen creature makes its own save. If the spell was an attack, the attack roll
failure, the creature has misplaced one possession (chosen by the player, if the creature is that player's character). The possession remains nearby but concealed for a short time, so it can be recovered
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
one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player’s Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign
Species
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
particular rival who channels the same ancestor, or one who channels a rival of your ancestor?
It’s also important to think about why you are traveling with a group of player characters
instead of serving in a Valenar warband. Are you driven by visions from your patron ancestor? Are you pursuing an epic quest that mirrors their legendary deeds? Do you seek vengeance for the death of a
Initiative
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Rules
tied monsters, and the players decide the order among tied characters. The DM decides the order if the tie is between a monster and a player character.Sometimes a DM might have combatants use their
Initiative scores instead of rolling Initiative. Your Initiative score equals 10 plus your Dexterity modifier. If you have Advantage on Initiative rolls, increase your Initiative score by 5. If you have Disadvantage on those rolls, decrease that score by 5.
Species
Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
particular rival who channels the same ancestor, or one who channels a rival of your ancestor?
It’s also important to think about why you are traveling with a group of player characters
instead of serving in a Valenar warband. Are you driven by visions from your patron ancestor? Are you pursuing an epic quest that mirrors their legendary deeds? Do you seek vengeance for the death of a
Adult Deep Dragon
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
with a drow matriarch for centuries. Each move represents what that player plans to do next in the competitors’ long struggle for domination in the Underdark.
2
A fire giant who
A deep dragon lair might share the same basic structure as the sapphire dragon lair shown on map 5.12, but instead of being formed from stone, it might consist of chambers hollowed out within a fungus
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
. Instead of adding a proficiency bonus to an ability check, an attack roll, or saving throw, the character’s player rolls a die. The Proficiency Die table shows which die or dice to roll, as determined
by the character’s level. Whenever a feature, such as the rogue’s Expertise, lets a character double his or her proficiency bonus, the player rolls the character’s proficiency die twice instead of once
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
table roll their eyes at its absurdity, go ahead and reward the player for making the effort. If a character has the Expertise feature, instead of choosing skills and tools to gain the benefit of that
creatures sneaking up. If a character has the Expertise feature, the player can apply its benefit to personality traits related to ability checks, instead of to skills or tools. If a character would gain
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
Third Floor Many of the topmost levels of the castle are unused by cultists. Some of them are still home to dangerous creatures that were sealed off instead of being cleared out. Map 6.3: Castle Naerytar – Level 3View Player Version
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
and regional effects; instead, it has infected its home with weird alien growth. Map 5.3: Vault of Reflection View Player Version
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Hoard of the Dragon Queen
Third Floor Many of the topmost levels of the castle are unused by cultists. Some of them are still home to dangerous creatures that were sealed off instead of being cleared out.
Map 6.3: Castle Naerytar - Level 3
View Player Version
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
successful DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) check. Have each player note their character’s Exam results—how many Student Dice they gained and what skills they used during the test—on their copies of the tracking
sheet. If the characters gave Weale or Woe: An Interpretive Sketch to Professor Blackstone before the Exam, their Exam results are adjusted as follows: If they failed the Exam, they pass instead. If
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
player whose character has a trinket can roll on this table instead of the Trinkets table in the Player’s Handbook.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Flee, Mortals! Rule Primer
NPCs with Companions Companion creatures are designed to accompany player characters on adventures. If an NPC has a pet or creature servant, it’s recommended you use the creature’s normal stat block
a fallen druid NPC’s owlbear pet from the clutches of a villain, the GM can choose to instead make the pet an owlbear companion, allowing the creature to join their rescuers on their adventures.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
use story-based advancement instead of standard XP. Level advancement could be based on time: player characters gain one level each semester, leveling up after finals. Alternately, advancement could
Setting the Tone A Morgrave campaign is a coming of age story in a fantasy world. In between delving into ruins and uncovering demonic schemes, the player characters need to decide what to do with
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
) check. History of Magical Devices. Writing short essays about the origins of different magical devices requires a successful DC 18 Wisdom (Insight) check. Have each player note their character’s Exam
masquerade costume adjusts their Exam results as follows: If the character failed the Exam, they pass instead. If the character passed the Exam, they ace it instead. If the character aced the Exam, they receive three Student Dice, instead of two.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
Player Handout: Shemshime’s Rhyme See a mother scything wheat
Forgotten husband sleeping near
With one swing she took his feet
With another took his ear
Does the shadow have a name
?
SHEMSHIME
Causes grief, avoids the blame
SHEMSHIME
See a dog that knows how to heel
Never heeds plea nor command
Mother gave it a tasty meal
Dog chose instead to eat her hand
Does the shadow
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse
. Instead, the huge underground stronghold the player characters explore in chapter 4 is the subterranean fortress constructed by an older incarnation of the Cult of Elemental Evil, which has now been reoccupied by the current group of elemental prophets and their followers.
replaced by the eastern portion of the Kron Hills and the western border of the Gnarley Forest. Instead of Red Larch, the starting town of the adventure is Hommlet. The adventure content described in
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
to reach the orc, you say, “It’s too far away to move up and still attack. What would you like to do instead?” The player takes the information and comes up with a different plan. To referee the rules
. As the player who creates the game world and the adventures that take place within it, the DM is a natural fit to take on the referee role. As a referee, the DM acts as a mediator between the rules
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Flee, Mortals! Rule Primer
Statistics Retainers are designed to be easy to run so their player (who is already managing a complex character) doesn’t get overwhelmed with even more details. Each retainer has a simple stat block
, skills, and save DC (see “Proficiency Bonus”). Their other statistics typically remain the same regardless of their level. Armor Class Unlike player characters, a retainer’s armor class isn’t
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
who missed the previous session. You can provide this recap, or you can invite one or more players to deliver the recap instead. Each approach has benefits: DM Recap. Provide the recap yourself if you
have specific information you need to impart or if you want the recap to be concise and focused on what’s relevant. Player Recap. Let the players provide the recap if you want to gauge what they think
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse
Heironeous instead of Helm or Tyr. (They could be followers of Saint Cuthbert, but that would mean that one of the player character factions has an important stronghold in the region; better if they are
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
instead of 10. Whenever a creature that lacks resistance or immunity to cold damage spends a Hit Die to regain hit points within 1 mile of the island, it regains only a number of hit points equal to its
by fog. Thick fog fills the air beginning 200 feet from the island and extending outward for 1 mile in all directions; anything on the water or in the air within this thick fog is heavily obscured. Map 5.1: island of solstice View Player Version
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
who missed the previous session. You can provide this recap, or you can invite one or more players to deliver the recap instead. Each approach has benefits: DM Recap. Provide the recap yourself if you
have specific information you need to impart or if you want the recap to be concise and focused on what’s relevant. Player Recap. Let the players provide the recap if you want to gauge what they think
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
Special NPCs In this chapter, each player runs not only a player character but also an NPC who has ties to the settlement that the characters are defending. Once you’ve determined where the adventure
ideal, and a flaw), and a stat block. When the giant attack begins, give one NPC to each player and tell the player where the NPC is at the start of the encounter, as noted in the encounter description
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver
, adding slave pens, workshops, and barracks. If the characters begin their search at Tresendar Manor, they enter the dungeon in area 1. If they instead follow Carp Alderleaf to the secret tunnel the lad found, they enter the dungeon by way of area 8. Redbrand Hideout View Player Version
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
Treasure In addition to (or instead of) providing information to the adventurers, the last connection to the surviving Araumycos can bestow a charm of heroism to all the player characters (see “Other
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble
for a D20 Test, the player or DM rolls the d20 twice and uses the higher roll. Disadvantage means that instead of rolling the d20 once for a D20 Test, the player or DM rolls the d20 twice and uses the
Disadvantage
Some circumstances make it easier or harder to succeed on their D20 Tests. This can be reflected in Advantage or Disadvantage.
Advantage means that instead of rolling the d20 once
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
Dealing with the Banshee If the characters are respectful and polite, they can persuade Agatha to help them with a successful DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check. The player who takes the lead in
speaking with the banshee makes the check. If that player roleplays the encounter well, allow them to make the check with advantage. If any character has Sister Garaele’s silver comb and presents it to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
Information. If you tell the players what the Armor Class of their opponents is, you reduce the steps of interaction needed to resolve an attack. Instead of telling you a number and asking if it hits
, a player can simply tell you that an attack hits and how much damage it deals, perhaps adding some narration for good measure (see “Narration in Combat” later in this chapter). In the same way, if you
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
rare. As an action, a character can use a healing surge and spend up to half his or her Hit Dice. For each Hit Die spent in this way, the player rolls the die and adds the character’s Constitution
modifier. The character regains hit points equal to the total. The player can decide to spend an additional Hit Die after each roll. A character who uses a healing surge can’t do so again until he or she