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Variant Rules

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything

Variant Rules A shared campaign might use some variant rules to handle certain aspects of the game. The Adventurers League, for instance, has variant systems for gaining levels and acquiring treasure

. These “house rules,” presented below, serve as a sort of common language, ensuring that the rewards all characters receive are equivalent no matter what kind of adventure a character experienced.

Biha Babir

Monsters Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

again until the start of her next turn.Scheming Marid Ruler The calculating Biha Babir rules the pelagic city of Maran Saya in Calimshan. Though her physical form is as fluid as the ocean itself, she

punished.Acid, Cold, LightningFluid Form. Biha Babir Shape-Shifting;shape-shifts into a form resembling a Beast or Humanoid that is Medium or smaller, while retaining her game statistics (other than her size), or returns to her true marid form.

Amnizu

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

have no personalities or memories; they’re driven only by the desire to commit evil. The amnizus that patrol here drill the rules of the Nine Hells into the new arrivals’ minds and marshal

them into legions. Amnizu (Summoner Variant);Variant: Devil Summoning Some amnizus have an action that allows them to summon other devils: Summon Devil (1/Day). The amnizu summons 2d4

Grung Elite Warrior

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

. These amphibians prefer shade and live in trees, but they maintain hatcheries for their offspring in well-guarded ground-level pools. About three months after hatching, a grung tadpole takes on the shape

secrete a substance that is harmless to them but poisonous to other creatures, and sometimes that substance has a special effect based on the grung’s color (see “Variant: Grung Poison&rdquo

Grung Wildling

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

takes on the shape of an adult, and after another six months, the grung reaches maturity. Born in a wide range of colors, grungs most often appear in shades of green, blue, purple, red, orange, and

gold. All grungs secrete a substance that is harmless to them but poisonous to other creatures, and sometimes that substance has a special effect based on the grung’s color (see “Variant

Variant Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from the Player’s Handbook, your Dungeon Master might allow these variant traits, all of which replace the human’s Ability Score Increase trait.

Grung

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

-level pools. About three months after hatching, a grung tadpole takes on the shape of an adult, and after another six months, the grung reaches maturity. Born in a wide range of colors, grungs most often

effect based on the grung’s color (see “Variant: Grung Poison”). They also use this venom to poison their weapons. Variant: Grung Poison A creature poisoned by a grung can suffer an

Spitting Mimic

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

damage on a successful one.Mimics are shape-shifting monsters described in the Monster Manual. The variant presented here is a particularly large and voracious specimen—the result of Netherese experiments on ordinary mimics—that spits acid.Acid

Chakuna

monsters

action again until the start of her next turn. Sudden Bite. Chakuna uses Shape-Shift to turn into her hybrid form or panther form and then makes one Bite attack. Chakuna can’t take this action

again until the start of her next turn.Chakuna is Valachan’s deadliest hunter, a youthful werepanther with the intensity and calm of a veteran executioner. Few can elude her cold cunning, deadly

Headless Iron Golem

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

iron golem's shape can be worked into any form, though most are fashioned to look like giant suits of armor. Its fist can destroy creatures with a single blow, and its clanging steps shake the earth

beneath its feet. Iron golems wield enormous blades to extend their reach, and all can belch clouds of deadly poison. An iron golem's body is smelted with rare tinctures and admixtures. Though other

Young Dragon Turtle

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

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

Boss Delour

Monsters The Book of Many Things

"} poison damage.Delour the wererat is a sly trickster and consummate thief who rules the Moonstalkers alongside his friend Boss Augustus;Augustus. Delour’s honeyed words and calculating mind make

with utmost respect. If he discovers Augustus’s plot to become human and leave the Moonstalkers, he would consider it the ultimate betrayal.Change Shape. Delour polymorphs into a rat-humanoid

Dragon Turtle Wyrmling

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

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

making a dragon a spellcaster, you can apply those rules to these aquatic dragons.) Dragon Turtle Personality Traits d8;{"diceNotation":"1d8","rollType":"roll","rollAction":"Trait"} Trait

Changeling Legacy

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

changelings today—even in those changelings who have never set foot in the fey realm. Each changeling decides how to use their shape-shifting ability, channeling either the peril or the joy of the

, their features almost devoid of detail. It is rare to see a changeling in that form, for a typical changeling changes their shape the way others might change clothes. A casual shape—one created

Hag of the Fetid Gaze

Monsters Candlekeep Mysteries

like another creature of her general size and humanoid shape. The illusion ends if the hag takes a bonus action to end it or if she dies. The changes wrought by this effect fail to hold up to physical

with her.Three Green Hag (Coven Variant);green hags named Dread Morgan, Vile Sazha, and Auntie Greenbones were once rivals who dwelled in an area of the Feywild coterminous with the High Forest. A

Frost Giant Ice Shaper

Monsters Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

to Thrym. True to their name, these ice shapers manipulate the raw elemental energy of air and water to wield ice in both offense and defense. They summon ice elementals in the shape of wolves, cloak themselves in icy armor, and just as quickly turn that armor into a hail of deadly ice shards.Cold

Living Portent

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

power to defy death. RadiantChange Shape. The living portent magically transforms into a Humanoid while retaining its game statistics (other than its size and Brilliance trait). The transformation ends if the living portent is reduced to 0 hit points or uses a bonus action to end it.

Wereraven Legacy

monsters Curse of Strahd

"} to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2);{"diceNotation":"1d6+2","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Hand Crossbow","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage. Change Shape. The

, modestly give money to charity. They take steps to keep magic items out of evil hands by stashing them in secret hiding places. Characters as Wereravens. The Monster Manual has rules for characters

Shapechange Legacy

Spells Basic Rules (2014)

of equipment, based on the creature's shape and size. Your equipment doesn't change shape or size to match the new form, and any equipment that the new form can't wear must either fall to the ground

rules for the original form, with one exception: if your new form has more hit points than your current one, your hit points remain at their current value.

Sul Khatesh

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

affected only once. The area of each arcane burst then acts as an antimagic field for 1 hour. Sul Khatesh and spells she casts are unaffected by these fields. Change Shape. Sul Khatesh magically

surrounding magic, from malevolent warlocks to mad wizards, from deadly curses to magical power that draws those who wield it deeper into darkness. Sul Khatesh is subtler than the Rage of War. She

Chromatic Dragonborn

Species Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

and in the deadly energy of their breath weapons. Theirs is the raw elemental fury of the volcano, of biting arctic winds, and of raging lightning storms, as well as the subtle whisper of swamp and

. If you select one of the dragonborn races in this chapter, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When determining your character’s ability scores

Criminal / Spy Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

than most people to the world of murder, theft, and violence that pervades the underbelly of civilization, and you have survived up to this point by flouting the rules and regulations of society

; 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

Shifter Legacy

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Shifters are sometimes called weretouched, as they are descendants of people who contracted full or partial lycanthropy. Humanoids with a bestial aspect, shifters can’t fully change shape, but

race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When determining your character’s ability

Hashalaq Quori

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

range of simple shapes. A point of blue light suspended within its tendrils serves as the hashalaq's sensory organ, which can be moved around to suit the creature's current shape. The Power of Pleasure

. Hashalaq quori have studied their mortal prey for centuries. Inhabiting human bodies as Inspired (Hashalaq variant);Inspired has granted the hashalaq a deep understanding of the hedonistic urges of

Iymrith

Monsters Storm King's Thunder

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. Change Shape. Iymrith magically polymorphs into a female storm giant or back into her true form

shape, teleportThe dragon can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The dragon

Baphomet Legacy

Monsters Out of the Abyss

, the Horned King and the Prince of Beasts. He rules over minotaur;minotaurs and others with savage hearts. He is worshiped by those who want to break the confines of civility and unleash their bestial

casts this deadly weapon aside so that he can charge his enemies and gore them with his horns, trampling them into the earth and rending them with his teeth like a beast.Baphomet’s Lair Baphomet

Orcus

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Dungeon Master’s Guide.Orcus’s Lair Orcus makes his lair in the fortress city of Naratyr, which is on Thanatos, the layer of the Abyss that he rules. Surrounded by a moat fed by the

’t take the same lair action two rounds in a row: Deadly Utterance. Orcus’s voice booms throughout the lair. His utterance causes one creature of his choice to be subjected to power word

Lizardfolk

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

survive with just their wits in situations that would be deadly for other folk. Because of that fact, many lizardfolk myths state that their people were placed by the gods in the Material Plane to guard

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

Ancient Dragon Turtle

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

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

those rules to these aquatic dragons.) Dragon Turtle Personality Traits d8;{"diceNotation":"1d8","rollType":"roll","rollAction":"Trait"} Trait 1 I speak slowly and deliberately

Aasimar Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

receives visions and guidance from celestial entities via dreams. These dreams help shape an aasimar, granting a sense of destiny and a desire for righteousness. Each aasimar can count a specific

deadly foes. The radiant power they once commanded becomes corrupted into a horrid, draining magic. And their angelic guides abandon them. Even aasimar wholly dedicated to good sometimes feel torn

Plasmoid

Species Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

Plasmoids are amorphous beings with no typical shape. In the presence of other folk, they often adopt a similar shape, but there’s little chance of mistaking a plasmoid for anything else. They

vibrations. Plasmoids can stiffen the outer layers of their bodies to maintain a humanlike shape, so they can wear clothing and accessories. They speak by forcing air out of tubular cavities that

Rak Tulkhesh

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

Deadly Critical. Rak Tulkhesh scores a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 and rolls the damage dice three times, instead of twice. Innate Spellcasting. Rak Tulkhesh's spellcasting ability is Charisma

"} to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (3d8 + 4);{"diceNotation":"3d8+4","rollType":"damage","rollAction":"Spawned Ranged Weapon","rollDamageType":"force"} force damage. Change Shape. Rak

Rest Variants

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

Rest Variants The rules for short and long rests presented in chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook work well for a heroic-style campaign. Characters can go toe-to-toe with deadly foes, take damage to

within an inch of their lives, yet still be ready to fight again the next day. If this approach doesn’t fit your campaign, consider the following variants. Epic Heroism This variant uses a short rest

Githzerai

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

their mental powers within the endless chaos of Limbo have imbued githzerai with the ability to shape psionic energy to protect themselves and probe minds. Creating Your Character At 1st 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 - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

underbelly of civilization, and you have survived up to this point by flouting the rules and regulations of society. Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Stealth Tool Proficiencies: One

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

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