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Returning 35 results for 'secrets of race defenses variant'.
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Monsters
The Book of Many Things
encounter.
Variant: Servants of Living Stars
Some stars in the sky are Elder Evils, alien beings of godlike power from the reality-defying Far Realm.
A living portent can be a fragment of these beings
minions to avert its own demise.
Khirad, the Star of Secrets. A blue-white star whose gifts grant insight but also reveal terrible truths.
Zhudun, the Corpse Star. A dead star that whispers of the
Monsters
Eberron: Rising from the Last War
guide the quori race, and the Devourer of Dreams — the personal emissary of the Dreaming Dark — is of this order. Although the kalaraqs never fight one another overtly, each has its own agenda, and
Inspired (Kalaraq variant);Inspired.Cold, Necrotic, Poison, Psychic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
behold, radiating heat from the shell to boil the surrounding water—and any creatures in it. And even if an enemy wears down the dragon turtle’s defenses, magical storms manifest to
characters, and use the Dragon Turtle Spellcasting table to help select spells for a spellcasting dragon. (Though the Monster Manual doesn’t explicitly include dragon turtles in the variant rules for
Monsters
Storm King's Thunder
that yakfolk are lazy—quite the contrary. They simply consider most menial tasks beneath them.
Yakfolk have a drive for learning, particularly when it comes to the secrets of elemental magic
communal creches once they are weaned, never to recognize them again. Yakfolk feel no loyalty to their families—only to their god and race.
Skin Crawlers. A yakfolk’s most frightening
Monsters
Storm King's Thunder
secrets of elemental magic and dark knowledge that might serve to corrupt or dominate others. Knowledge that the yakfolk can’t gain or use is to be destroyed. Unsentimental by nature, yakfolk
parents pack children off to communal creches once they are weaned, never to recognize them again. Yakfolk feel no loyalty to their families—only to their god and race.
Skin Crawlers. A yakfolk
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
dragon turtle’s defenses, magical storms manifest to shield the dragon turtle and strike at foes.
Creating a Dragon Turtle
Use the Dragon Turtle Personality Traits and Dragon Turtle Ideals tables
explicitly include dragon turtles in the variant rules for making a dragon a spellcaster, you can apply those rules to these aquatic dragons.)
Dragon Turtle Personality Traits
d8
Species
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
have lived on the worlds of the Material Plane since the worlds’ creation. Gifted by the gods with remarkable physical defenses and a mystical connection to the natural world, lizardfolk can
level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.
Ability Score
Criminal / Spy
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Backgrounds
Basic Rules (2014)
; specifically, you know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for you.
Variant Criminal: Spy
Although your capabilities are not much different
sold the secrets you uncovered to the highest bidder.
Suggested Characteristics
Criminals might seem like villains on the surface, and many of them are villainous to the core. But some have an
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
Creating a Dragonmarked Character Dragonmarks are associated with race, depicted by a combination of variant races and subraces. For humans and half-orcs, a dragonmark is a variant race that replaces
normal traits associated with those races. For half-elves, a dragonmark is a variant race. You keep some of the standard half-elf traits and replace others with the traits associated with your mark
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Creating a Dragonmarked Character Dragonmarks manifest on certain members of a few species, represented in the rules by variant race options: For humans and half-orcs, a dragonmark is a variant race
that replaces traits associated with those races. For half-elves, a dragonmark is a variant race that lets you keep some half-elf traits and replace others with the traits associated with your mark
Yuan-ti Pureblood
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
body, thought, and emotion. Freed from the limitations of their human bodies, the yuan-ti used their new abilities to conquer new lands and expand their borders.
One Race, Many Forms
The bodies of all
keen intellect and magic to discover the secrets of making steel. Its military shattered rival tribes and developed advanced tactics for fighting in forests and open plains.
The civilization grew into a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
section offers three variant dragonborn race options that can be used to create a character with clear connections to a specific draconic ancestry. When you’re making a new character using one of these races, use the rules under “Creating Your Character” to fill out the details.
dragonborn race in the Player’s Handbook is the most direct way to reflect a character with dragons somewhere far back in their ancestry. But for players who want to try a more nuanced approach, this
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
the surrounding water—and any creatures in it. And even if an enemy wears down the dragon turtle’s defenses, magical storms manifest to shield the dragon turtle and strike at foes
table to help select spells for a spellcasting dragon. (Though the Monster Manual doesn’t explicitly include dragon turtles in the variant rules for making a dragon a spellcaster, you can apply
Backgrounds
Tomb of Annihilation
original purpose and determine its builders, whether those were dwarves, elves, humans, yuan-ti, or some other known race. In addition, you can determine the monetary value of art objects more than a
1
Ever since I was a child, I’ve heard stories about a lost city. I aim to find it, learn its secrets, and earn my place in the history books.
2
I want to find my mentor, who
backgrounds
Tomb of Annihilation
and the ways of their people, who eventually treated you as one of their own. One culture had more of an influence on you than any other, shaping your beliefs and customs. Choose a race whose culture
desensitized to violence.
5
I would risk life and limb to discover a new culture or unravel the secrets of a dead one.
6
When I arrive at a new settlement for the first time, I must learn all its
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Forge of the Artificer
Race For The Crab Temple An adventure for Level 3 characters THESHARN INQUISITIVE
RIVALS RACE TO WRETCHED RUIN
Not one but two expeditions from Morgrave University launch this week to explore the
so-called Crab Temple, discovered last month near Stormreach. Which team will be the first to cross the deadly Straits of Shargon, cut through the jungles of the Skyfall Peninsula, and discover the great crab’s secrets?
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
offer bribes, favors, or other incentives to induce people to reveal their secrets.
Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an inaccessible place, or that it simply can
Bugbear
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
.
Gang Mentality
Since bugbears aren’t a particularly fecund race, their overall population is small and spread over a wide area. Bugbears live in family groups that operate much like gangs. The
remove opposition or exile weaker or unpopular members to keep the rest of the gang strong. Fortunately for the race as a whole, even young and elderly bugbears have the ability to survive alone in the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer
variant feature that ties the background to a group in Baldur’s Gate, provided to give characters an additional connection to the city. Characters may choose to replace the standard feature of their
background with one of these variant features. Each background also includes a bonus feature that marks a character as a native of Baldur’s Gate who’s familiar with the city — both its streets and its
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
variant feature that ties the background to a group in Baldur’s Gate, provided to give characters an additional connection to the city. Characters may choose to replace the standard feature of their
background with one of these variant features. Each background also includes a bonus feature that marks a character as a native of Baldur’s Gate who’s familiar with the city — both its streets and its
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Astral Adventurer’s Guide
Hadozee Traits As a hadozee player character, you have the following traits. Creature Type. You are a Humanoid. Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race. Speed
to your walking speed, and you take 0 damage from the fall. You determine the direction of the glide. Hadozee Dodge. The magic that runs in your veins heightens your natural defenses. When you take
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
can dramatically shape adventurers’ lives. The following sections present a variety of options for creating characters with a tie to dragons: “Draconic Races” presents variant dragonborn race options to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
githyanki and githzerai who seek to reunify the gith races. By helping the githyanki defeat a common foe, Yrlakka hopes to demonstrate the merits of a single unified gith race — not only to the evil
githyanki, but also to the younger githzerai zerths who follow him. Yrlakka is concerned because his most headstrong pupil, a githzerai named Ezria, has disappeared. He fears (correctly) that Ezria was captured by the githyanki on level 16 while trying to find weak spots in their defenses.
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
always occur in shady venues.
Variant Criminal: Spy
Although your capabilities are not much different from those of a burglar or smuggler, you learned and practiced them in a very
different context: as an espionage agent. You might have been an officially sanctioned agent of the crown, or perhaps you sold the secrets you uncovered to the highest bidder.
Suggested
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
this race). None of these spells require spell components when you cast them with this trait. Mental Discipline. Your innate psychic defenses grant you advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes
largest concentration of githzerai. It serves as both the capital of the civilization and the headquarters of the githzerai military forces. The greatest generals, spellcasters, and zerths of the race
city or its inhabitants. Teleportation circles are barred except on the fringes of the place, at always-guarded locations beyond the city’s outermost defenses. Those who use plane-shifting magic to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
character most likely chooses the race that matches the bloodline of the house. The Heir can be dragonmarked (with the appropriate marked subrace or racial variant) or unmarked. The house agent background (described in this chapter) proves particularly appropriate for this character.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
experiments without interference. Mage
Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment
Armor Class 12 (15 with mage armor)
Hit Points 40 (9d8)
Speed 30 ft.
STR
9 (−1)
DEX
14 (+2)
CON
to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage.
VARIANT: FAMILIARS
Any spellcaster that can cast the find familiar spell (such as an archmage or mage) is
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
A Culture of Fugitives Despite all their unique and overwhelming abilities, the mind flayers are a race on the edge of extinction. Thousands of years ago, the illithids were the dominant power of the
mind flayers relied on a slave race, the gith, to provide physical labor and sustenance when other sources of food grew thin. Eventually, the gith revolted. Whether the mind flayers became decadent or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
village from a necromancer who is sucking the life out of the land, or race through a dungeon to acquire a necromantic relic before the Claw can claim it. The Emerald Claw is ideally suited to pulp action
secrets of her inactive dragonmark, the Mark of Death. If she succeeds, she could come to possess unimaginable power. This makes her a formidable villain to drive the action of an entire campaign.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
. Slaughtertusk is happy to let a fight drag on, feasting on its enemies’ pain before finally slaying them. If reduced to fewer than 100 hit points, it uses its Summon Demon feature (see the “Variant
if the adventurers have it at their mercy, promising to tell them the secrets of the Maze Engine or anything else they want. At the first opportunity, it teleports away, summoning demonic aid to cover its retreat if possible.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
gathering supplies and reinforcing Thornhold’s defenses. Stoneshaft dwarves can taste the wealth, bustling energy, and constant excitement of nearby Waterdeep, and want to share in it. They don’t want to be
they hope to weather the challenges to their home. They’re very careful to avoid being caught alone, fearing kidnap or torture at the hands of hired agents of the Margasters eager to learn the secrets
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
rules from chapter 6 of the Player’s Handbook, your Dungeon Master might allow you to take a feat as a variant supernatural gift. You gain one feat of your choice. This list suggests twelve feats from
my strength when I rest on it. (Durable)
The stars of Nyx are never hidden from my sight, revealing their secrets to my eyes. (Keen Mind)
I hear the echoes of the gods’ speech in every mortal
Goblin
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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
the fringes of a society first test its defenses by stealing objects, and if these crimes go unpunished, they begin stealing people.
Enslaved creatures receive the worst treatment the goblins can dish
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
combat, and he values his bodyguards too much to risk their lives in a pointless battle. Unless the characters provoke a fight, he tries to find out more about them and learn any secrets they might
playing them off against each other. If his bodyguards are defeated and he is facing death, Yahru offers small bits of information for the promise of freedom. In addition to the layout and defenses of the