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Returning 35 results for 'some of rather draining variant'.
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Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
easily pick out the dens of criminal activity in a community, although you’re more likely to be welcome in the former locations rather than the latter.
Variant: Investigator
Rarer
Investigation rather than Athletics.
Suggested Characteristics
Use the tables for the soldier background below as the basis for your traits and motivations, modifying the entries when appropriate to
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
wish to use the background’s standard feature might have gained their standing in Baldur’s Gate from business rather than inheritance.
Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion
Tool
; without question, and any corruption among guards or government officials tends to work in your favor, not against you—at least until you make some effort to expose it.
Variant Noble: Knight
A
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
new place is note the locations of everything valuable—or where such things could be hidden.
4
I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy.
5
I am incredibly slow to trust. Those
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
often difficult because I’m so easily distr… oh my goodness, is that circlet made of silver?
7
I find the waking world tedious and mundane and would much rather spend my time asleep
a night hag (coven variant);night hag coven are determined to prevent an adult moonstone dragon from contacting creatures in the dream realm, and the dragon has no idea why.
7
An adult
Yuan-ti Pureblood
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
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
of evil that calls for them to butcher or eradicate all who oppose them. In keeping with their goal of domination, the yuan-ti would rather capture potentially useful opponents than kill them. They use
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
even greater power, sacrificing her own family to do so. Her ritual went wrong, though, and life-draining magic washed over Kalidnay, destroying the city and draining life from nearly all its residents
. Awaking amid the ruins, Thakok-An found Kalidnay surrounded by an endless sea of silt and mist. Worse, rather than being empowered, Kalid-Ma languished in a cursed torpor, the sorcerer-king’s vast
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
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.
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
could be hidden.
4
I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy.
5
I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide.
6
I don’t pay
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
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
to regain spell slots of 6th level or higher. Gritty Realism This variant uses a short rest of 8 hours and a long rest of 7 days. This puts the brakes on the campaign, requiring the players to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->The Book of Many Things
Inspiration for the DM Another way to use the inspiration deck is to make its effects available to monsters and villains. In this variant, each time a player expends inspiration, the DM also draws a
card from the deck. Rather than adding it to the communal hand, you keep that card secret until you play it on behalf of one of the characters’ opponents. You can play your inspiration cards soon
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
sort is recognized as a variant of the birth name, rather than a unique name unto itself. A yuan-ti might refer to itself by its birth name, by its adopted name, or (especially among purebloods) by a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
Variant Abilities When a beholder’s dream-imagination runs wild, the result can be an offspring that has an unusual or unique set of abilities. Rather than the standard powers of a beholder’s central
eye and eyestalks, the creature has one or more variant abilities — guaranteed to surprise any enemies who thought they knew what they were getting themselves into. This section provides several
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
nalfeshnee named Slaughtertusk to watch over the crevasse and prevent any creature from approaching the device. Slaughtertusk would rather be helping the Horned King track down and kill Yeenoghu. The
nalfeshnee is bored with its assigned task, although it knows better than to disobey the Horned King. Still, rather than immediately destroying any intruders, it toys with them for as long as possible
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
and decay. Its traditional name comes from the prominence of vampires within the college, whose conceptions of draining life through the vein have long proven an important counterweight to the growth
philosophy of Witherbloom. The decay philosophy sees life energy as a resource to be consumed, rather than a good to be nourished for its own sake. Mages who adopt this view wield negative energy and
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Turn of Fortune’s Wheel
adventure, the first time a character dies, invite all the players to create two variant versions of their character using the guidance in this section, then continue the adventure. Prepared Incarnations
“Running Glitch Characters” section. Let players discover that dead characters return in new incarnations during play rather than revealing this outright. When an incarnation appears, they are attuned to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Infernal Machine Rebuild
black sphere holds the demon in place, and appears to be slowly draining away its essence.
The balor Tarnhem is bound here by the magic of Acererak, who has fashioned a device from a sphere of
and is unmoored. It travels throughout the tomb at random, though is confined by the tomb’s magic to stay within its rooms and corridors rather than boring through the walls. This sphere can be
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tomb of Annihilation
the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the mirror’s statistics.) Rather than running combat with so many creatures, assume that only the invisible stalker and the troll attack the party initially. The other
invisible stalker and the troll. The stirge attacks A’tan, killing him in 1 round. After draining A’tan’s blood, the stirge flies away to digest its meal. The doppelganger tries to flee but doesn’t go far
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage while it's in the smaller space. VARIANT: PLAYING ON A GRID If you play out a combat using a square grid and
miniatures or other tokens, follow these rules.
Squares. Each square on the grid represents 5 feet.
Speed. Rather than moving foot by foot, move square by square on the grid. This means you use your speed
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
tier 2 adventure. 1 treasure point is awarded for every 1 hour played in a tier 3 or tier 4 adventure. As with the variant rules for gaining levels, this award is based on the adventure’s projected
playing time, rather than the actual time a group spent at the table. If a character completes an adventure of a tier higher than that character’s tier, the character receives 1 additional treasure point
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
emphasize action-packed heroics. For such campaigns, consider allowing inspiration to be spent after a d20 roll, rather than before. This approach turns inspiration into a cushion against failure — and
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
opportunity to develop the character’s story and that of your world, rather than shutting down possibilities. Substituting Class Features If one or more features of a given class don’t exactly fit the theme
an existing feature that can be used as a model? How does the new class feature compare to other features of the same level? Variant: Spell Points One way to modify how a class feels is to change how
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
could be hidden. 4 I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy. 5 I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide. 6 I don’t pay attention to the risks in a
prison for a crime that I committed. I’m okay with that. Variant Criminal: Spy Although your capabilities are not much different from those of a burglar or smuggler, you learned and practiced them in a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
could be hidden. 4 I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy. 5 I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide. 6 I don’t pay attention to the risks in a
prison for a crime that I committed. I’m okay with that. Variant Criminal: Spy Although your capabilities are not much different from those of a burglar or smuggler, you learned and practiced them in a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
Given the opportunity, I eat to excess and then fall into a long, deep sleep.
4 I would rather let my fearsome reputation scare away intruders than fight them off.
5 Other dragons would
proficiencies, particularly if the dragon spends time in Humanoid form. Spells. The Monster Manual’s variant rule about making dragons innate spellcasters is an easy way to add variety to dragons
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
fears. Mind flayers will sometimes harvest a brain rather than devour it, using it as part of some alien experiment or transforming it into an intellect devourer. QUALITH
On the rare occasion that
the effect on itself on a success.
VARIANT: MIND FLAYER ARCANIST
A few mind flayers supplement their psionic power with arcane spells. However, they are regarded as deviants by their illithid
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
every foot it moves there, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against the creature have advantage while it’s in the smaller space. VARIANT: PLAYING ON A
GRID
If you play out a combat using a square grid and miniatures or other tokens, follow these rules.
Squares. Each square on the grid represents 5 feet.
Speed. Rather than moving foot by foot
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
handiwork. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by rivals. Variant Guild Artisan: Guild Merchant Instead of an artisans’ guild, you might belong to a guild of traders, caravan masters, or shopkeepers. You
shop. In some ways, the traveling merchant’s life lends itself to adventure far more than the life of an artisan. Rather than proficiency with artisan’s tools, you might be proficient with navigator’s tools or an additional language. And instead of artisan’s tools, you can start with a mule and a cart.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
, which have no rules of their own. Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature’s alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world
to make it into something more useful for you, perhaps by borrowing a trait or two from a different monster or by using a variant or template, such as the ones in this book. Keep in mind that modifying
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
with its food, slowly squeezing and draining the life out of a creature. Death Kiss
Large aberration, neutral evil
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 161 (17d10 + 68)
Speed 0 ft., fly 30
exert fine control on objects with this ray, such as manipulating a simple tool or opening a container.
VARIANT: GAZER FAMILIAR
Spellcasters who are interested in unusual familiars find that
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Laboratory of Kwalish
poses and petrified (or, rather, vitrified) by the cult of the medusa. Many of the statues above the ooze show chips and cracks from long years of weathering. But below the ooze, most of the well
disturbing impression that this glass piping is not manufactured, but rather resembles intestines. (The piping derives from the bodies of glass statues — former high priests partially revived by Kwalish so
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
a Magic action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape and choose a point within 60 feet of yourself. Vitality-giving flowers and life-draining thorns appear for a moment in a 10-foot-radius Sphere
starry form rather than shape-shifting. While in your starry form, you retain your game statistics, but your body becomes luminous, your joints glimmer like stars, and glowing lines connect them as on a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
pass up an incredible opportunity, the archmage decided to make the Silent Sound lighthouse his new home. During his attack on the lighthouse, Hoobur made sure that his troops captured rather than killed
as well. He later brought these two prisoners to his lab and has been performing magical rites on them, draining their vitality and will to keep them in a state between life and death. Map 3.2 shows
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase
carved by tools, but rather were magically engraved into the stone. Caerwyn and Porphura marked the wall using the Stone Shape spell. C2: Cavern of Echoes Even the smallest sounds echo in this round
the ceiling thirty feet above. The main tunnel continues to the east, and smaller side chambers extend to the north and the south.
Three poltergeists (variant specters) haunt the main chamber of
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Candlekeep Mysteries
that it angles away from the door causes valves to open at the bottom of the well, draining it in 1 minute. Returning the lever to its previous position seals the valves but doesn’t refill the well
mechanisms are inaccessible; what’s needed here is a delicate touch and a keen ear. See the “Variant: Skills with Different Abilities” section in the Player’s Handbook for guidance on how one makes a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer
extol the virtues of meditation and whatever calm faiths visitors might bring with them. Few seek the church’s services on their own. Rather, most who come to dwell at the church either have a room
Generations ago, a fleet of Calishite refugees fleeing war in the south came sailing into Gray Harbor. Rather than opening their doors to the foreigners, the people of Baldur’s Gate quickly hustled them