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Returning 35 results for 'starting of rather down variant'.
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
Firbolg
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
the group’s needs, but the effect each action will have on the forest and the rest of the natural world. Firbolg tribes would rather go hungry than strain the land during a famine.
Hidden
Shepherds
As caretakers of the land, firbolgs prefer to remain out of sight and out of mind. They don’t try to dominate nature, but rather seek to ensure that it prospers and survives according to its
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
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
. You can choose your secondary guild or roll to determine it randomly. This secondary guild membership determines a portion of your starting equipment and is also where most of your contacts come from
;Disguise kit
Languages: One of your choice
Equipment: A Dimir insignia, three small knives, a set of dark-colored common clothes, and the starting equipment of the background described in this
Criminal / Spy
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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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
Magic Items
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
sight of the servant, starting with those threatening the artifact— preferably using the servant, if possible.
Self-Destruct. By inputting a specific series of lever pulls and button presses
instantly and leave behind no remains.
This does not destroy the servant permanently. Rather, 2d6 days later, its parts—left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg, lower torso, and upper torso&mdash
classes
Player’s Handbook
Light property
Tool Proficiencies
Thieves’ Tools
Armor Training
Light armor
Starting Equipment
Choose A or B: (A) Leather;Leather Armor, 2 Dagger;Daggers, Shortsword, Shortbow
skills that help them in a dungeon environment, such as climbing, finding and disarming traps, and opening locks.
In combat, Rogues prioritize subtle strikes over brute strength. They would rather make
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
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
instinct proves a useful starting point when determining who might take a bribe, who might turn a blind eye to a crime, or who might have criminal connections. You can also use this sense to get a
keep that mistake secret.
4
My hatred of my enemies is blind and unreasoning.
5
I obey the law, even if the law causes misery.
6
I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.
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->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->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
Standalone Adventures Rather than playing the four adventures as a campaign, you can run them as standalone adventures. A section near the start of each adventure tells you how to use the adventure
in this way. If you run any of these adventures separately, you should ask the players to create characters of the appropriate starting level for the adventure, as shown in the Adventure Levels table
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Variant Half-Elf: Mark of Storm If your half-elf character has the Mark of Storm, the following traits replace the half-elf’s Ability Score Increase and Skill Versatility traits in the Player’s
involving navigator’s tools, you can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the ability check. Storm’s Boon. You have resistance to lightning damage. Headwinds. You know the gust cantrip. Starting at 3rd
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Variant Half-Orc or Human: Mark of Finding If your half-orc or human character has the Mark of Finding, the following traits replace the character’s racial traits in the Player’s Handbook, aside
) check, you can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the ability check. Finder’s Magic. You can cast the hunter’s mark spell with this trait. Starting at 3rd level, you can also cast the locate
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Spelljammer: Adventures in Space->Astral Adventurer’s Guide
Ship-to-Ship Combat The following rules are designed to make ship-to-ship combat simple yet exciting. Starting Distance At the start of an engagement, the DM decides how far a ship is from its
enemies. Three possibilities are provided in the Starting Encounter Distance table. The shorter the distance, the less time crews have to load weapons and make other preparations. Starting Encounter
Backgrounds
Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
protocols will lead us toward progress more surely than any belief system. (Lawful)
5
Fun. I love my job! Despite the dangerous working conditions, there’s nothing I’d rather do
I’m incapable of admitting a flaw in my logic.
Contacts
The laboratories of the Izzet League are constantly starting up new projects and dissolving old ones, so it’s easy for
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Variant Human: Mark of Handling If your human character has the Mark of Handling, the following traits replace the human’s Ability Score Increase trait in the Player’s Handbook. Ability Score
either spell with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a short or long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. The Bigger They Are. Starting at 3rd
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Variant Half-Elf: Mark of Detection If your half-elf character has the Mark of Detection, the following traits replace the half-elf’s Ability Score Increase and Skill Versatility traits in the
. Starting at 3rd level, you can also cast the see invisibility spell with it. Once you cast any of these spells with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. Wisdom
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->Player's Handbook (2014)
, measuring gold by the pound rather than by the coin. Only merchants, adventurers, and those offering professional services for hire commonly deal in coins. Starting Wealth by Class Class Funds
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->Basic Rules (2014)
, measuring gold by the pound rather than by the coin. Only merchants, adventurers, and those offering professional services for hire commonly deal in coins.
Starting Wealth by Class Class Funds
Cleric 5d4 × 10 gp
Fighter 5d4 × 10 gp
Rogue 4d4 × 10 gp
Wizard 4d4 × 10 gp
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
remembering where you are in the list can bog the game down. If you want quicker combats, at the risk of those combats becoming unbalanced, try using the side initiative rule. Under this variant, the
is complete. This variant encourages teamwork and makes your life as a DM easier, since you can more easily coordinate monsters. On the downside, the side that wins initiative can gang up on enemies
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
the following variants. Choose whichever one best suits your campaign. Ability Check Proficiency With this variant rule, characters don’t have skill proficiencies. Instead, each character has
ability is tied to a given background. Starting at 1st level, a character adds his or her proficiency bonus to any ability check tied to one or the other of these two abilities. Ability Check
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->Player's Handbook (2014)
School of Abjuration The School of Abjuration emphasizes magic that blocks, banishes, or protects. Detractors of this school say that its tradition is about denial, negation rather than positive
closed. Abjuration Savant Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy an abjuration spell into your spellbook is halved. Arcane Ward Starting at 2nd
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
creatures and objects within 10 feet of you that are within line of sight. Greater Portent Starting at 14th level, the visions in your dreams intensify and paint a more accurate picture in your mind of what is to come. You roll three d20s for your Portent feature, rather than two.
select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy a divination spell into your spellbook is halved. Portent Starting at 2nd level when you choose this school, glimpses of the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
within 30 feet of you, rather than within 5 feet of you, if the target can see or hear you. Insightful Manipulator Starting at 9th level, if you spend at least 1 minute observing or interacting with
. Master of Tactics Starting at 3rd level, you can use the Help action as a bonus action. Additionally, when you use the Help action to aid an ally in attacking a creature, the target of that attack can be
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->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
1 minute, allowing you to pass yourself off as a native speaker of a particular land, provided that you know the language. Master of Tactics Starting at 3rd level, you can use the Help action as a
bonus action. Additionally, when you use the Help action to aid an ally in attacking a creature, the target of that attack can be within 30 feet of you, rather than 5 feet of you, if the target can see
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
travel in any direction from the center of the map, assuming clear terrain. As such, province scale is a useful scale for mapping a campaign’s starting area (see “Creating a Campaign,” later in this
chapter) or any location where you expect to track the adventurers’ movement in hours rather than days. The ground cover of an area this size will include broad stretches of one predominant terrain type
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
the larger campaign. Starting Level. What level are the characters when they start? Many D&D campaigns start the characters at level 1. If you want the characters to be a bit more resilient and your
players are experienced, start the campaign at level 3 instead. (See the Player’s Handbook for rules on starting at higher levels.) Bringing the Party Together During session zero, help the players come