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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.

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

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.

Inspired (Hashalaq variant)

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

who can dream can volunteer to serve as a quori vessel. But the Inspired of Sarlona are humans bred to be such vessels. They have no choice in this destiny, since they can't resist quori possession

Dreaming Dark has long experience in weaving dreams that can convince mortals to surrender their bodies. VARIANT: QUORI VESSEL The Inspired are vessels for quori spirits, allowing the quori to

Inspired (Tsucora variant)

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

can volunteer to serve as a quori vessel. But the Inspired of Sarlona are humans bred to be such vessels. They have no choice in this destiny, since they can't resist quori possession. Physically

has long experience in weaving dreams that can convince mortals to surrender their bodies. VARIANT: QUORI VESSEL The Inspired are vessels for quori spirits, allowing the quori to manifest a portion

Inspired (Kalaraq variant)

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

choice in this destiny, since they can’t resist quori possession. Physically, Inspired resemble the kalashtar, possessing an almost supernatural beauty. Most of the people of the Five Nations have

Dreaming Dark. Such Inspired have to willingly accept quori possession, but the Dreaming Dark has long experience in weaving dreams that can convince mortals to surrender their bodies. VARIANT: QUORI

Amnizu (Summoner Variant)

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

, where it flows through Dis and Stygia. They collect the souls arriving in the form of lemure;lemures (see the Monster Manual). Lemures 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.Fire, PoisonCold; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Silvered

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

Inspired

Monsters Eberron: Rising from the Last War

bred to be such vessels. They have no choice in this destiny, since they can’t resist quori possession. Physically, Inspired resemble the kalashtar, possessing an almost supernatural beauty

surrender their bodies. VARIANT: QUORI VESSEL The Inspired are vessels for quori spirits, allowing the quori to manifest a portion of their power while the vessel is possessed. An Inspired can

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

Sailor Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

Master will determine how long it takes to get where you need to go. In return for your free passage, you and your companions are expected to assist the crew during the voyage. Variant Sailor: Pirate

more than one deserving soul to a briny grave. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town. Variant Feature: Bad

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

Guild took over your family business, ran it into the ground, and burned the building for insurance money. You were driven into crime yourself, but you’ll never work for the Guild. You take

Sailor - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

the Gray Wavers—the Flaming Fist harbor guards—and have a sense of how to operate the city’s mechanized cranes. Variant Sailor: Pirate You spent your youth under the sway of a

. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you’ve garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town. Variant Feature: Bad Reputation If your character has a sailor

Titivilus

Monsters Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Teleport. Assault (Costs 2 Actions). Titivilus makes one Silver Sword attack, or he uses Frightful Word.Dispater, the gloomy Lord of Dis, rules from his iron palace, seeming to hide behind its

, Titivilus has manipulated everyone along his path to power, either to win them over to his cause or to remove them as a threat. Since gaining his position, Titivilus has convinced Dispater that countless

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

Hobgoblin

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Hobgoblins trace their origins to the ancient courts of the Feywild, where they first appeared with their goblin and bugbear kin. Many of them were driven from the Feywild by the conquering god

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

Entertainer Legacy

Backgrounds Player’s Handbook (2014)

liking to you. Variant Entertainer: Gladiator A gladiator is as much an entertainer as any minstrel or circus performer, trained to make the arts of combat into a spectacle the crowd can

for that “special someone.” 4 Nobody stays angry at me or around me for long, since I can defuse any amount of tension. 5 I love a good insult, even one directed at me. 6

Githyanki

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

psionic powers and built a great city called Tu’narath. They have since spread throughout the multiverse, starting in outposts outside the Astral Plane, called creches, where time passes and their

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

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

the responsibility to earn a place in the tribe or die trying. Driven Competitors Every day brings a new challenge to a goliath. Food, water, and shelter are rare in the uppermost mountain reaches. A

skills. This dedication to competition has a dark side. Goliaths are ferocious competitors, but above all else they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a goliath slays a dragon, he or she might

Astral Drifter

Backgrounds Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

For longer than you can remember, you have traversed the Astral Sea. There, you experienced firsthand the wonders of the Silver Void: you stopped aging and no longer felt hunger or thirst. Driven by

wanderlust, you drifted from one part of the Astral Sea to another, like a mote of dust on the wind. You have lost count of the decades that have passed since you arrived here. In your travels, you

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

Folk Hero Legacy

Backgrounds Basic Rules (2014)

leadership and was commended for my heroism. FEATURE: RUSTIC HOSPITALITY Since you come from the ranks of the common folk, you fit in among them with ease. You can find a place to hide, rest

. d6 Flaw 1 The tyrant who rules my land will stop at nothing to see me killed. 2 I’m convinced of the significance of my destiny, and blind to my shortcomings and the risk of

Investigator

backgrounds Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

the mysteries you’re embroiled in are local crimes or realm-spanning conspiracies, you’re driven by a personal need to hunt down even the most elusive clues and reveal what others would

corpse. Ever since, other spectral clients have sought you out to help them find rest. 4 You revealed that the monsters terrorizing your home were illusions created by a cruel mage. The magic-user

Lizardfolk

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

Entertainer - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

occupation or social class that frequents the establishment. This contact is delighted to talk with you, and to listen. Variant Entertainer: Gladiator A gladiator is as much an

, since I can defuse any amount of tension. 5 I love a good insult, even one directed at me. 6 I get bitter if I’m not the center of attention. 7 I’ll settle for nothing

Folk Hero - Baldur's Gate

Backgrounds Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

sewer, knocking it out with a single punch. Since then, however, the ale you once credited with your heroism has drowned it, and even your most patient admirers are losing hope. You’re hoping

name. FEATURE: RUSTIC HOSPITALITY Since you come from the ranks of the common folk, you fit in among them with ease. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among other commoners

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

Tabaxi Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

, wandering tabaxi are catlike humanoids driven by curiosity to collect interesting artifacts, gather tales and stories, and lay eyes on all the world’s wonders. Ultimate travelers, the inquisitive

hand, which you constantly fidget with. 7 You are always in debt, since you spend your gold on lavish parties and gifts for friends. 8 When talking about something you’re obsessed

Half-Elf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

, 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

human energy without human boorishness. They often make excellent ambassadors and go-betweens (except between elves and humans, since each side suspects the half-elf of favoring the other). Half

Rewards

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

Rewards Adventures in a shared campaign that uses variant rules for gaining levels and acquiring treasure (such as those described below) don’t include experience point awards or specific amounts and kinds of treasure.

Fisher

Backgrounds Ghosts of Saltmarsh

turn day into night. 7 Dive into the Abyss. You found yourself in an underwater cave leading to the Abyss, and your luck has been sour ever since. 8 Love Story. You fell in love with a

might not. D6 IDEAL 1 Camaraderie. Good people make even the longest voyage bearable. (Good) 2 Luck. Our luck depends on respecting its rules — now

Creating a Dragonmarked Character

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

Human Traits

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

HUMAN TRAITS If your campaign uses the optional feat rules from chapter 6, your Dungeon Master might allow these variant traits, all of which replace the human’s Ability Score Increase trait

with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on. VARIANT

Mutated Apprentices

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Mutated Apprentices Halaster handed over this level to his fervent pupils, almost all of whom were driven mad by their studies and mutated by the magic they wrought, becoming gibbering mouthers and

nothics. A mezzoloth summoned from the Lower Planes to serve as a wizard’s assistant now rules over them all.

Tying Knots

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

Tying Knots The rules are purposely open-ended concerning mundane tasks like tying knots, but sometimes knowing how well a knot was fashioned is important in a dramatic scene when someone is trying

Sleight of Hand with Intelligence, rather than Dexterity. This is an example of how to apply the rule in the “Variant: Skills with Different Abilities” section in chapter 7 of the Player’s Handbook.

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