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Returning 35 results for 'spies of rather down variant'.
Monsters
Eberron: Rising from the Last War
trained to secretly gather information. Loyal spies would rather die than divulge information that could compromise them or their employers.
Crossbow","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage.Rulers, nobles, merchants, guildmasters, and other wealthy individuals use spies to gain the upper hand in a world of cutthroat politics. A spy is
Monsters
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
gather information. Loyal spies would rather die than divulge information that could compromise them or their employers.
","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage.Rulers, nobles, merchants, guildmasters, and other wealthy individuals use spies to gain the upper hand in a world of cutthroat politics. A spy is trained to secretly
Spy
Legacy
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Monsters
Basic Rules (2014)
cutthroat politics. A spy is trained to secretly gather information. Loyal spies would rather die than divulge information that could compromise them or their employers.
","rollAction":"Hand Crossbow","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage.Rulers, nobles, merchants, guildmasters, and other wealthy individuals use spies to gain the upper hand in a world of
Monsters
Tomb of Annihilation
politics. A spy is trained to secretly gather information. Loyal spies would rather die than divulge information that could compromise them or their employers.
","rollAction":"Hand Crossbow","rollDamageType":"piercing"} piercing damage.Rulers, nobles, merchants, guildmasters, and other wealthy individuals use spies to gain the upper hand in a world of cutthroat
Monsters
Out of the Abyss
individuals use spies to gain the upper hand in a world of cutthroat politics. A spy is trained to secretly gather information. Loyal spies would rather die than divulge information that could compromise them or their employers.
Monsters
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
other houses. In communities free of Lolth’s sway, they serve as spies tasked with foiling the plots of that demon lord’s cult. In any role they take on, they move undetected until the
-forming in the Abyss, siphoning its essence into themselves.
drow shadowblade (summoner variant);Variant: Demon Summoning
Some drow shadowblades have an action that allows them to summon a demon
Monsters
Mythic Odysseys of Theros
"} piercing damage.Prized among Meletis's thaumaturges, anvilwrought raptors are often crafted in the form of a hawk or an owl. Most serve as messengers and spies, flying over the busy streets or high over
sands of time or are guarded by ancient monsters.
Constructed Nature. An anvilwrought doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.
VARIANT: ANVILWROUGHT RAPTOR FAMILIAR
Some anvilwrought raptors are
classes
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
force in battle, as well as helpful company for the ranger. Some Swarmkeepers are outcasts or hermits, keeping to themselves and their attendant swarms rather than dealing with the discomfort of others
into the swarm, instead of a cloud of mist, or the arcane eye spell could create an extension of your swarm that spies for you. Such descriptions don’t change the effects of spells, but they are
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
Monsters
Curse of Strahd
that Strahd would never accept her as his true mother, nor could she bear his rejection. As a result, she has never confronted him. She would rather exist in perpetual denial, whiling away the days
witches, Lysaga recently uncovered a potential threat to Strahd: a secret society of wereravens called the Keepers of the Feather, a group that uses ordinary ravens as their spies.
Strahd doesn’t
classes
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
force in battle, as well as helpful company for the ranger. Some Swarmkeepers are outcasts or hermits, keeping to themselves and their attendant swarms rather than dealing with the discomfort of others
into the swarm, instead of a cloud of mist, or the arcane eye spell could create an extension of your swarm that spies for you. Such descriptions don’t change the effects of spells, but they are
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
Yuan-ti Pureblood
Legacy
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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
with that of snakes, producing a caste-based society of hybrids in which the most snakelike are the leaders and the most humanlike are spies and agents in foreign lands.
Humans Transformed
The
Criminal / Spy
Legacy
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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
Kenku
Legacy
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
a talent for learning and memorizing details. Thus, ambitious kenku can excel as superb spies and scouts. A kenku who learns of clever schemes and plans devised by other creatures can put them to use
kenku make an easy living serving as messengers, spies, and lookouts for thieves’ guilds, bandits, and other criminal cartels. A network of kenku can relay a bird call or similar noise across the
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->Monster Manual (2014)
spies would rather die than divulge information that could compromise them or their employers. Spy
Medium humanoid (any race), any alignment
Armor Class 12
Hit Points 27 (6d8)
Speed 30 ft
Spy Rulers, nobles, merchants, guildmasters, and other wealthy individuals use spies to gain the upper hand in a world of cutthroat politics. A spy is trained to secretly gather information. Loyal
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->The Wild Beyond the Witchlight
one of the hags is still alive. The surviving hags can sense when Zybilna is released from temporal stasis—or, rather, they can sense when their hold over Prismeer is lost. The instant Zybilna regains
tower, but her spies learned about it some time ago. She reveals the tower’s location to characters who want to conclude their dealings with the hags or perhaps put an end to them. The tower in Gehenna
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->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
Darklord’s secret police have maintained order here—obeying not the commands of the missing king, but rather the will of their regional leader, Alcio Metus. Titus Lunter The Treacherous Harbor of
. While all Darkon fears these dark-cloaked spies, few realize the Kargat is largely composed of vampires and other shape-shifting creatures. Members operate in cells assigned to particular tasks or
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Storm Lord’s Wrath
The Attack
Map 4: Backlot in Town View Player Version
When the characters are packing up to take the supplies back to Leilon at the end of their visit, the spies from both the Cult of Talos
and the followers of Myrkul independently decide they are too big a threat to let live. (If the characters have already dealt with both spies, this encounter doesn’t happen.) Use the Backlot Map to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
organizations of the lower towers) in the hands of the Sharn Watch. The Citadel is concerned with forces that threaten the entire city, or even the kingdom. Foreign spies, mad necromancers, and ancient fiends
—these are the foes of the King’s Citadel, rather than pickpockets and burglars. Of course, many of these greater threats might be beyond the capabilities of the typical Citadel agents. Much as the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
Across the Fungal Fields Once the characters receive Basidia’s spores and overcome Juiblex’s black pudding spies, they should set out at once for the depths of Araumycos as the rapport takes hold
rise up and attack the characters. Created by Araumycos to perfectly duplicate the abilities, traits, and actions of otyughs, these creatures are plants rather than aberrations. They attack until slain
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->Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
serve as spies tasked with foiling the plots of that demon lord’s cult. In any role they take on, they move undetected until the moment they attack—and then they are the last thing their victims see
. A shadowblade gains their powers over shadow via a ritual in which they kill a shadow demon and mystically prevent it from re-forming in the Abyss, siphoning its essence into themselves. Variant
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
gnome charlatan to connive another gnome out of a jewel mine—as long as this is accomplished through cunning, negotiation, or deception rather than violence or outright theft, and as long as the mine
spies and assassins. Most agents of the Trust simply pass information through dead drops; some estimate that a third of the nation works for the Trust in this capacity. When the Trust identifies a threat
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)
or until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment the imp wears or carries is invisible with it.
VARIANT: IMP FAMILIAR
Imps can be found in the service to mortal
spellcasters, acting as advisors, spies, and familiars. An imp urges its master to acts of evil, knowing the mortal’s soul is a prize the imp might ultimately claim. Imps display an unusual loyalty to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
a past victim. Gnolls use ranged attacks mainly to prevent their prey from fleeing, rather than softening up their targets with an initial barrage of arrows before an assault. A target wounded by a
encroaching on dwarven territory, send reliable spies to human settlements in the region, while pulling back as many of our folk as you can manage. Instruct the spies to pass along updates each day
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
yuan-ti content themselves with maintaining these ancient places rather than building new ones for their needs. Although these sites are hundreds or even thousands of years old, they don’t look or feel
humanoids and taken over by yuan-ti), stairs and humanoid architecture are the norm. Each of these sites resembles the headquarters of a spy ring, a thieves’ guild, or a hedonistic cult rather than the