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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

Headless Iron Golem

Monsters Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

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

golems bear weaknesses inherent in their materials or the power of the elemental spirit bound within them, iron golems were designed to be nearly invulnerable. Their iron bodies imprison the spirits

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.

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

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

Lord Soth of Sithicus (DMR)

monsters

cares nothing for his domain. But should noteworthy threats or remarkable individuals appear, he seeks to crush or enlist them. The only exception is the spirit of his treacherous former ally, Caradoc

battle, Caradoc refused to capture her spirit unless Soth bargained with Takhisis to restore Caradoc to life. Enraged, Soth tried to destroy Caradoc as the Mists rose around them. When the Mists faded

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

Harengon

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Harengons originated in the Feywild, where they spoke Sylvan and embodied the spirit of freedom and travel. In time, these rabbitfolk hopped into other worlds, bringing the fey realm’s

fairy or the harengon in this section, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2

Vladimir Horngaard

Monsters Curse of Strahd

battled Strahd's armies to the bitter end. Deadly Vengeance. Unwilling to accept his failure, Vladimir returned as a revenant. So great was his hatred of Strahd and his thirst for vengeance that those

memory shrouded by his hate. Were Vladimir to let go of his hatred, his spirit would find peace and could remember the warmth of love. Were Strahd to be defeated, even temporarily, the mists surrounding

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

Dhampir Legacy

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

their lineage. Dhampir Origins d8 Origin 1 You are the reincarnation of an ancestor who was a vampiric tyrant. 2 Your pact with a predatory deity, fiend, fey, or spirit causes

lineage option, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When determining your ability scores, you increase one of those scores by 2 and increase a different

Reborn Legacy

Species Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

Your body hosts a possessing spirit that shares its memories and replaces your missing appendages with phantasmal limbs. 8 In public, you pass as an unremarkable individual, but you can feel the

, but you aren’t any longer. You now possess only your lineage’s racial traits. When you create a character using a lineage option, follow these additional rules during character creation

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

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

(spell save DC 24). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: detect thoughts, dispel magic, spirit guardians 1/day each: banishing smite, blinding smite

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

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

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.

Yuan-ti Pureblood Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

royal family could poison a meal and declare it “safe” after taking a bite. There are legends of certain yuan-ti infiltrating human cities and forming deadly covert societies that sell

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

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

Travel in Valachan

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

Travel in Valachan Impenetrable rain forests, jagged cliffs, and deadly rapids fill the wilderness of Valachan, and characters exploring the domain or participating in the Trial of Hearts must travel

through these deadly wilds. Maps of Valachan can be obtained from the Oselo, the Shuaran people, or from Chakuna. The domain’s jungles are difficult terrain, reducing a party’s pace by half. This

Ranger

classes Player’s Handbook

wilderness. A Ranger’s talents and magic are honed with deadly focus to protect the world from the ravages of monsters and tyrants. Becoming a Ranger... As a Level 1 Character Gain all the

. Gain the Ranger’s level 1 features, which are listed in the Ranger Features table. See the multiclassing rules to determine your available spell slots. Ranger Features

12. Residential Caves

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss

chased out a family trying to settle within (see area 12a). 12a. Vazuk’s Home Vazuk was a simple leatherworker who died in the drow invasion. His spirit awoke when a family moved into what used to be

his home, then began to throw fits and terrorize any creatures coming near. Vazuk is a specter (use the poltergeist variant). He can’t be turned while inside his former home. He attacks the characters

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.

Draconic Races

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

section offers three variant dragonborn race options that can be used to create a character with clear connections to a specific draconic ancestry. When you’re making a new character using one of these races, use the rules under “Creating Your Character” to fill out the details.

Keening

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within

themselves so they won’t hear the shrieking of the banshee Tristessa, a mournful spirit who roams Mount Lament and whose wail carries through the night. In life, Tristessa dwelled under Mount Arak in

Tepest (detailed earlier in this book), but she was exiled for crimes against her people. In death, she endlessly seeks to reunite with the family slain by her misdeeds. David Astruga The deadly shrieks of the banshee Tristessa echo through the mountainous domain of Keening

Ancient Crystal Dragon

Monsters Fizban's Treasury of Dragons

is learning, but without the boredom. (Chaotic) 6 Control. Everyone is welcome, as long as they follow my rules. (Lawful) Crystal Dragon Adventures The Crystal Dragon Adventure Hooks

spirit of their glacier home. Such worship amuses and flatters the dragon, who keeps the hunters safe and leads them to locations where seals are plentiful. Crystal Dragon Lairs Crystal dragons

Encounter Building

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

Encounter Building This section introduces new guidelines on building combat encounters for an adventure. They are an alternative to the rules in “Creating Encounters” in chapter 3 of the Dungeon

Master’s Guide. This approach uses the same math that underlies the rules presented in that book, but it makes a few adjustments to the way that math is presented to produce a more flexible system. This

Chapter 9: Combat

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

wizard’s spell. The sharp tang of blood in the air, cutting through the stench of vile monsters. Roars of fury, shouts of triumph, cries of pain. Combat in D&D can be chaotic, deadly, and thrilling

. This section provides the rules you need for your characters and monsters to engage in combat, whether it is a brief skirmish or an extended conflict in a dungeon or on a field of battle. Throughout this

Domain Features

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within

. Nidala’s Ruler. Elena Faith-hold rules Nidala. But this knight is rarely present in the land, as she leads deadly quests beyond the domain’s borders (see “Faith-hold’s Crusades”).

Chapter 9: Combat

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

wizard’s spell. The sharp tang of blood in the air, cutting through the stench of vile monsters. Roars of fury, shouts of triumph, cries of pain. Combat in D&D can be chaotic, deadly, and thrilling. This

chapter provides the rules you need for your characters and monsters to engage in combat, whether it is a brief skirmish or an extended conflict in a dungeon or on a field of battle. Throughout this

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