setting settings adventurers

Elf

Species Player’s Handbook

shaped by it. Some drow individuals and societies avoid the Underdark altogether yet carry its magic. In the Eberron setting, for example, drow dwell in rainforests and cyclopean ruins on the continent of

example, they call themselves sun or moon elves in the Forgotten Realms setting, Silvanesti and Qualinesti in the Dragonlance setting, and Aereni in the Eberron setting Wood Elves Wood elves carry the

Halfling

Species Player’s Handbook

child—helps them pass through crowds unnoticed and slip through tight spaces. Anyone who has spent time around halflings, particularly halfling adventurers, has likely witnessed the storied &ldquo

). Halfling communities come in all varieties. For every sequestered shire tucked away in an unspoiled part of the world, there’s a crime syndicate like the Boromar Clan in the Eberron setting or a

Mite

Monsters Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio Volume 1

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

, making even the coolest, most experienced adventurers prone to outbursts of destructive frustration. When mites are about, even the simplest task can turn into a disaster, and a mild disagreement can

Half-Elf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

Flint squinted into the setting sun. He thought he saw the figure of a man striding up the path. Standing, Flint drew back into the shadow of a tall pine to see better. The man’s walk was

, wandering the wilds as trappers, foresters, hunters, or adventurers and visiting civilization only rarely. Like elves, they are driven by the wanderlust that comes of their longevity. Others, in

Tortle Legacy

Species The Tortle Package

related to a god and choose to worship that deity. In the Forgotten Realms, tortles are especially fond of Eldath, Gond, Lathander, Savras, Selûne, and Tymora. In the Greyhawk setting, they

. Tortles often choose such days to leave their homes and begin a wilderness expedition, or perform some other task they know to be dangerous. Adventurers at Heart Tortles have a saying: “We wear

Demilich (Variant) Legacy

Monsters Monster Manual (2014)

evolution. The lich Acererak — a powerful wizard and demonologist and the infamous master of the Tomb of Horrors — anticipated his own transformation, preparing for it by setting enchanted

their quest for power beyond the mortal world. As their patron did, they secure their remains within well-guarded vaults, using soul gems to maintain their phylacteries and destroy the adventurers who

Kenku Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

degradation or shifts in meaning. Human messengers might switch words or phrases and garble a message inadvertently, but the kenku produce perfect copies of whatever they hear. Kenku Adventurers Kenku

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

Folk Horror Settings

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

Folk Horror Settings Folk horror stories often take place in isolated or rural areas, but they could be set anywhere insular communities thrive or traditions stagnate. Folk Horror Settings d6

Setting 1 A countryside with stretches of hayfields, colorful barns, and perpetually smiling residents 2 An island floating in the air where ground-worshipers dream of the lands below 3

Gothic Horror Settings

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

Gothic Horror Settings Ominous history, supernatural forces, and an underlying sinister air are staples of gothic horror settings. Gothic Horror Settings d8 Setting 1 A city-state where

Dark Fantasy Settings

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

. Alternatively, the setting might exhibit the effects of a disaster—perhaps an event that gave rise to brutal powers. Such scars appear both upon the setting and upon its inhabitants. Dark Fantasy Settings d8

Dark Fantasy Settings Sinister individuals leave their marks upon dark fantasy domains, whether as oppressive architecture, unavoidable propaganda, or scars upon an exploited environment

Chapter 5: Adventure Environments

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Chapter 5: Adventure Environments Many D&D adventures revolve around a dungeon setting. Dungeons in D&D include great halls and tombs, subterranean monster lairs, labyrinths riddled with death traps

from their grim fortresses to wage war against their neighbors, ogres plunder farmsteads for food, and monstrous spiders drop from the web-shrouded canopies of trees. Within a dungeon, adventurers are

Campaign Setting

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

your needs, which has the added benefit of challenging your players’ expectations. The D&D Settings table describes several established campaign settings. D&D Settings Setting Description Dark Sun

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

Cosmic Horror Settings

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

realms, cosmic horror dimensions trend toward being unnatural, logic-defying places. Cosmic Horror Settings d8 Setting 1 A wind-blasted dimension of indigo sand and eyeless statues 2 A

Cosmic Horror Settings Cosmic horror frequently takes place in academic or maritime settings, both of which imply access to hidden knowledge, whether literal or metaphorical. When not in mortal

Worlds of Adventure

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

have been published as official settings for the D&D game. The legends of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, and Eberron settings are woven together in the fabric of the

villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races

Worlds of Adventure

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

have been published as official settings for the D&D game. The legends of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, and Eberron settings are woven together in the fabric of the

villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races

A Book of Books

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries

enormous library located on the Sword Coast in the Forgotten Realms setting. If you’re not running a Forgotten Realms campaign, you can adapt the adventures in this book for other settings

, substituting any large library similar to Candlekeep. Examples from other published D&D settings include the following: On the world of Exandria, the Soltryce Academy in Rexxentrum (a large city on the

Body Horror Settings

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

Body Horror Settings Body horror can occur anywhere, from mundane backdrops to garishly unsettling locations. Body Horror Settings d8 Setting 1 A country of red muscle, with bleeding eyes

Sword and Sorcery

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Sword and Sorcery A grim, hulking fighter disembowels the high priest of the serpent god on his own altar. A laughing rogue spends ill-gotten gains on cheap wine in filthy taverns. Hardy adventurers

, rogue, and barbarian characters tend to be far more common than wizards, clerics, or paladins. In such a pulp fantasy setting, those who wield magic often symbolize the decadence and corruption of

Appendix C: Adapting to Other Worlds

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

of Elemental Evil in the world of the Forgotten Realms setting. However, there is no reason you couldn’t adjust this adventure to fit in almost any world that is part of the Dungeons & Dragons

multiverse. In this appendix, we take a look at how you can adapt this adventure to some of the well-known settings for the D&D game, or to your own campaign world.

Ghost Story Settings

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

nature of the horror is on display. Ghost Story Settings d8 Setting 1 A realm where speaking to spirits is just like speaking with the living 2 A graveyard city-state where all living

Ghost Story Settings Suffering, tragic death, or a villain’s monstrous evil manifest subtly in the places ghost stories are set. Typically, a setting’s hauntings are revealed slowly, until the full

Introduction

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation

, impassable mountains, and belching volcanoes. You can substitute a different jungle setting, changing location names as needed. Alternative D&D settings include the Amedio Jungle of Oerth, the Savage

Coast of Mystara, the jungles of Xen’drik on Eberron, or a comparable setting on your home campaign world. This adventure is designed to begin with a party of four to six 1st-level characters, who should advance to 11th level or higher by the adventure’s conclusion.

Mystery

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

the whole campaign. Why did someone kill the characters’ mentor, setting them on the path of adventure? Who really controls the Cult of the Red Hand? In this case, the characters might uncover clues to

kinds of encounters you present. Novels in various D&D settings have explored the mystery genre with a fantasy twist. In particular, Murder in Cormyr (by Chet Williamson), Murder in Halruaa (by Richard S

Creating Domains of Dread

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

setting as a whole is made up of countless isolated domains, each one a perfect expression of a particular flavor of the macabre. Creating your own domain allows you to blend legendary evils, unexpected

monstrosities, and grim settings into a tailor-made whole, bound together by mysterious mists and buried alive inside your favorite horror genres. This chapter explores how to create such domains, a

Preface

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

Preface Hail and well met, traveler! Welcome to a world of magic and adventure. Originally created by Ed Greenwood, the Forgotten Realms setting has been home to Dungeons & Dragons stories and games

played host to a vast number of game products, novels, video games, and more, making it one of the most widely visited fantasy settings ever created. The lost portals to the Realms have returned and

Chapter 2: Creating a Multiverse

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Chapter 2: Creating a Multiverse When adventurers reach higher levels, their path extends to other dimensions of reality: the planes of existence that form the multiverse. The characters might be

Limbo to contact a wizened githzerai sage. Planes of existence define the extremes of strange and often dangerous environments. The most bizarre locations present settings undreamed of in the natural

Krenko's Way

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

Ravnica and serves as an introductory adventure to the setting. A balance of character classes is helpful, since the adventurers will face a variety of challenges. Adventurers can be affiliated with any of the guilds. KARL KOPINSKI

Krenko’s Way “Krenko’s Way” is a short adventure for a party of four to six 1st-level adventurers, who might advance to 2nd level by the adventure’s conclusion. It is set in the Tenth District of

Shared World

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

setting. This approach allows the same group of adventurers to sink their teeth into all three overarching conflicts while ensuring that each storyline feels distinct.

Shared World Some groups take a large, established campaign setting and divide it up geographically so different DMs can run separate campaigns in the same setting. In theory, characters can travel

Company of Seven, The

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

Company of Seven, The The Company of Seven was a group of adventurers active hundreds of years ago in the Greyhawk setting. Its members included Heward, Keoghtom, Murlynd, Nolzur, Quaal, Tasha (see

Iggwilv), and Zagig (see Zagyg). Some of these adventurers achieved near-divine status, and most of them are remembered for magic items that carry their names. The group inspired the formation of the Circle of Eight (described in chapter 5).

Yawning Portal, The

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

Yawning Portal, The The Yawning Portal is a tavern in Waterdeep, built around an entrance to the infamous dungeon of Undermountain. Adventurers throughout the Forgotten Realms setting and elsewhere

in the multiverse visit the Yawning Portal to exchange knowledge about Undermountain and other dungeons. Most visitors are content to swap stories by the hearth, but some adventurers pay the toll for entry into Undermountain (collected by the mysterious owner and bartender, Durnan).

Starting Location

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

adventuring party If you’re using a published campaign setting, pick any location in that setting and develop it as you like. A published setting or adventure might give you all the details you need. The

setting, start small by detailing only this starting area. The rest of your setting can remain undeveloped for now. Don’t spend too much time fleshing out the geopolitical landscape of your world or

Other Quests

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Other Quests Chapters 1 and 2 are structured around quests, some of which touch on the major story arcs of the adventure while others merely show off other cool aspects of the setting. In chapter 1

, the adventurers undertake quests that lead them from one Ten-Towns settlement to another. Each town has a problem, and the adventurers get rewards for helping. In chapter 2, rumors spur the

Using This Book

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh

across the tides of D&D history, returning to test heroes grown used to the predictable threats and reliable footing of dry land. Along with each adventure appear notes for setting the adventure in

the Saltmarsh region or adapting it to a variety of D&D settings. Use that information to place it in your campaign or on the shores of your choice. These adventures make perfect side quests for ongoing

The Forgotten Realms

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver

-sorcery setting at the dawn of civilization, where barbarians battle evil sorcerers, or a post-apocalyptic fantasy where elves and dwarves wield magic amid the wreckage of a technological civilization. Most

D&D settings are somewhere between those two extremes: worlds of medieval high fantasy with knights and castles, as well as elven cities, dwarven mines, and fearsome monsters. The world of the

Chapter 1: Port Nyanzaru

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation

can secure gear and guides before leaving the city. Syndra Silvane is too weak to accompany them or provide any additional support. If you are running this adventure in a homebrew D&D setting, you can

place Port Nyanzaru wherever you see fit and even change its name. If you’re using another published D&D setting, you can dispense with Port Nyanzaru entirely and use a different coastal city as the

It's Your World

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

It’s Your World In creating your campaign world, it helps to start with the core assumptions and consider how your setting might change them. The subsequent sections of this chapter address each

. Ask yourself, “What if the standard assumptions weren’t true in my world?” The World Is a Mundane Place. What if magic is rare and dangerous, and even adventurers have limited or no access to it

D&D Beyond

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