Search Results
All Results
Characters
Compendium
Spells
Items
Monsters
Vehicles
Forums
Returning 35 results for 'secrets of runes defenses variant'.
Other Suggestions:
secrets of rules defense variant
secrets of runes defense variant
secrets of rites defense variant
secret of rules defenders variant
secrets of ranks defense variant
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
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
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
Criminal / Spy
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
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
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
5th
dominate person
Your magic often takes the form of blue or golden runes floating and glowing in the air in circular patterns or of shimmering azure barriers of magical energy. If you
recruited me into the Azorius left and joined the Boros.
3
I have a friendship with a Dimir agent who sometimes funnels me secrets about Azorius activities.
4
A Golgari spore druid would love to
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
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
mystic shapes of our runes.
—Diancastra
You’ve dedicated your life to studying runecraft. Whether you were taught by a master rune carver or learned by poring over ancient engravings, you can tap into
the supernatural power held within runes. The art of runecraft was initially created by giants, but over time, the practice has been adopted by many peoples. As such, though Giant runes are the most
Yuan-ti Pureblood
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
Learn More
Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
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
can more easily pronounce the name in this altered form. An adopted name of this sort is recognized as a variant of the birth name, rather than a unique name unto itself. A yuan-ti might refer to
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
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->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
came here to learn secrets and receive divine guidance. While attuned to the room and inside it, a dwarf can cast the divination spell at will. Answers provided by the spell come from an unknown source
(perhaps the Keeper of Secrets under the Mountain, perhaps the mountain itself). Too many castings of the spell in a short amount of time can lead to false readings, as noted in the spell’s
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Turn of Fortune’s Wheel
cleft surrounded by foul, bleeding runes. Inside is the Book of Vile Darkness. Secrets of Eternity If a character agrees to let the Scholar share a forbidden secret, the baernaloth requests that the
was meant to know with one interested character (see the “Secrets of Eternity” section below). If the characters ignore the baernaloth, leave its cave, or refuse its offers, it lets them go. If the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
; it isn’t maug, but it isn’t maat, either. Mastering the secrets of magic, though, demands a degree of devotion that would take giants away from pursuits that are valued by the ordning. As a
consequence, it’s a path rarely taken. The exception is rune magic. Giants are drawn to the solidity and permanence of magical runes. Stone giants are great practitioners of rune carving, both because of the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
by Melissara. Inside is a small black journal. The first page of the book is trapped with a glyph of warding spell, whose explosive runes deal fire damage (save DC 15). The glyph is keyed to go off if
anyone but Melissara opens the journal (a precaution to prevent her cousins from reading it and discovering her secrets). The journal details Melissara’s unease with her family, as well as her growing
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
Archmage Archmages have mastered incredible magical power. While some use their magic to protect the world, others become tyrants or pursue forbidden secrets. Many archmages retain magical servants
and collect magic items and occult lore. Have you gazed on the Runes of Chaos, held the Death Moon Orb in your trembling hands, entered the Devouring Portal and walked the Paths of the Doomed, or sat
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
with the Giant type, or you could write enmity toward giants into the tenets of your paladin’s Sacred Oath. Giant Lore You might have learned magic, martial techniques, or other secrets from studying
) might use the magic of Giant runes, or a paladin’s Sacred Oath could involve allegiance to the tenets of a philosophy or organization of giants (such as those described in chapter 2). Giant-Made
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
include Chalnefaaz, a community of myconids that bud tiny, wailing faces, and the Bulwark of Secrets, an abbey of guardian nagas who protect dangerous lore. You can use the nodules in the Endless Void
interlocked links of Ilvaash’s runes (knots of tentacles, brains, and jagged lines reminiscent of jaws). A brain breaker uses the stat block of an infected elder brain (see chapter 7) with the following
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
approach the characters take, remember that learning the full scope of the orrery’s history, the secrets of its creator, and the range of its powers is the goal of the whole campaign. Whatever small bits
Waterdeep can undertake research to study its mysterious runes, which can lead to information regarding That-Which-Endures (see the sidebar in the “New Race: Verdan” section in chapter 3.) Gorkoh the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm King's Thunder
grants immortality to its wearer, was last seen in the possession of a human adventurer (and former Harper) named Artus Cimber. Guided by magical runes of tracking, Storvald plans to find the ring and
empower his runes. Unbeknown to Storvald, the runes are steering the frost giants not to Artus Cimber but to other, closer individuals who carry the Cimber bloodline — Artus’s living relatives, most of whom
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Vecna: Eve of Ruin
front of the ship. During the Lambent Zenith’s crash, arcane wards should have sealed the safe room’s doors. The safe room is inaccessible while the wards are active. Ward Runes. Two runes hidden on the
ship power the wards. Kycera knows one rune was placed in the ship’s stateroom, but she doesn’t remember the second rune’s location. She believes that magic or a pass phrase can deactivate the runes
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
world. Living portents seek out beings who will play a part in the prophecies they serve, and as the living portents search, they relate fragments of the prophecies to those they encounter. Variant
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 power to defy death
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
span in width. From that time onward, they struggle to survive at all costs, growing throughout their lives. Those ixitxachitl that master the secrets of survival gain powers of regeneration and feed
+ 3) piercing damage.
VARIANT: IXITXACHITL CLERIC
Some ixitxachitl and vampiric ixitxachitl are able to cast divine spells. Such a creature gains the following feature.
Spellcasting. The
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
The Archfey Your patron is a lord or lady of the fey, a creature of legend who holds secrets that were forgotten before the mortal races were born. This being’s motivations are often inscrutable, and
short or long rest. Beguiling Defenses Beginning at 10th level, your patron teaches you how to turn the mind-affecting magic of your enemies against them. You are immune to being charmed, and when another
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
character manages to get her sword past a hobgoblin’s defenses and turn a near miss into a hit, but the hobgoblin twists its shield and disarms her. A character narrowly escapes the full brunt of a
fireball but ends up prone. A character fails to intimidate a kobold prisoner, but the kobold reveals its secrets anyway while shrieking at the top of its lungs, alerting other nearby monsters. A
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
, you can offer to let the character succeed at the cost of a complication or hindrance. Such complications can run along any of the following lines: A character gets her sword past an enemy’s defenses
prisoner, but the kobold reveals its secrets anyway while shrieking at the top of its lungs, alerting other nearby monsters. By putting the choice of success at a cost in the players’ hands, and even
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
warrior researches ways to assert his will over the artifact known as the Hand of Vecna, so he can use its secrets to free the evil dragon queen Tiamat from the Nine Hells. Arkhan has traveled to a nearby
shell is carved with Draconic runes that spell out prayers to Tiamat, is joined by four ghouls that serve as his assistants. The ghouls gnaw on bones and eye the characters hungrily as Krull negotiates
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
touching it. CANDLEKEEP DEFENSES
Attacking Candlekeep would be foolhardy. Although most of the monks are simple scholars, a few are powerful spellcasters. If any trouble occurs, an archmage and 1d4
apart. Inside the box is a stack of nine chain-linked plates, each three inches on a side, cast of dark iron, and stamped with Infernal runes. Anyone who understands Infernal can translate the runes as
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
found its defenses lacking. An invasion is imminent. The capture of Skullport will give the drow a firm base from which to strike into the heart of Undermountain. What’s next? Waterdeep?” 10d. Water
damages the cauldron, an elder rune materializes above it (see “Elder Runes”). Draw from the Elder Runes Deck (see appendix B) to determine which rune appears. The elder rune targets a random creature
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
can’t help but spend a night in a haunted house to learn its secrets. They probably also go off alone when they shouldn’t. If the party splits up, consider giving each character inspiration. A sensible
your campaign is one where you let the dice fall where they may. It’s a good option for gritty campaigns or ones where the DM focuses on playing an impartial role as a rules arbiter. Variant: Only