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Returning 35 results for 'story of rules diverse variant'.
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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.
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
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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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.
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
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
Backgrounds
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
determine your inheritance from among the possibilities in the table below. Work with your Dungeon Master to come up with details: Why is your inheritance so important, and what is its full story? You might
prefer for the DM to invent these details as part of the game, allowing you to learn more about your inheritance as your character does.
The Dungeon Master is free to use your inheritance as a story
Species
Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
diminutive Humanoids who look like humans with pointed ears and diverse appearances. Kender have a supernatural curiosity that drives them to adventure. Due to this inquisitiveness, many kender find
others might become professional thieves.
Creating Your Character
If you create a kender character, follow these additional rules during character creation.
Ability Score Increases
When
Entertainer
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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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
1
I know a story relevant to almost every situation.
2
Whenever I come to a new place, I collect local rumors and spread gossip.
3
I’m a hopeless romantic, always searching
Species
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
’t have a unified story of how they were created, but they all have a sense of being mystically connected to the natural world. Carrying their shelter on their backs gives tortles a special
select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.
Ability Score Increases
When determining your character’s ability scores, increase one score by 2 and
Backgrounds
Ghosts of Saltmarsh
ten other people each day.
FISHING TALE
You can tell a compelling tale, whether tall or true, to impress and entertain others. Once a day, you can tell your story to willing listeners. At the DM
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
monsters
over.
Soth was trapped in Sithicus, escaped, and was trapped again, perpetuating a cycle of despair. Soth’s story and where characters encounter him are for you to detail in your adventures
effects end immediately.
Lord Soth’s Lair
Lord Soth rules from Nedragaard Keep, a twisted, copy of his accursed fortress on Krynn, Dargaard Keep. Nedragaard Keep grows and withers over time like
Criminal / Spy
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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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
Species
Spelljammer: Adventures in Space
you like to identify what event set you on the path to adventure. If nothing on the table appeals to you, work with your DM to create an origin story for your character.
Like gnomes, autognomes can
live for centuries, typically up to 500 years.
Autognome History
d6
Story
1
Your creator gave you autonomy and urged you to follow your dreams.
2
Your creator died, leaving you
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
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
high-minded ideals about the practice of art and the appreciation of beauty.
d8
Personality Trait
1
I know a story relevant to almost every situation.
2
Whenever I come to a new
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
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.
Monsters
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
lock of a loved one’s hair, or a painting of a favorite place. A story of happy times fondly remembered is more precious to a moonstone dragon than a sack of gold.
Creating a Moonstone Dragon
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
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
—humans are innovative, adaptable, and aggressive, always pushing their limits and pursuing new ideas. Humans are extremely diverse; a barbarian from the Demon Wastes has little in common with a Brelish
Lhazaar pirate with a knack for the mystic arts. The variant human presented in the Player’s Handbook provides an additional opportunity to capture some of the flavor of Eberron. Does your choice of skill proficiency and feat reflect the culture you were raised in?
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver
characters. You’re there to run the monsters, referee the rules, and keep the story moving.
It’s a shared story. It’s the group’s story, so let the players contribute to the outcome through the actions of
The Dungeon Master The Dungeon Master (DM) has a special role in the Dungeons & Dragons game. The DM is a referee. When it’s not clear what ought to happen next, the DM decides how to apply the rules
Magic Items
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
a random destination, which could be on a different world of the Material Plane.
Destroying the Teeth. Each tooth must be destroyed individually by sowing it in the area where the tooth’s story
;green hags in a Green Hag (Coven Variant);coven
When you damage a target that hasn’t taken a turn in this combat, the target takes an extra 3d10 slashing damage from ghostly blades.
5
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.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player’s Handbook
Dungeon Master’s Guide, you’ll find advice for how to create adventures and even create whole worlds. Guide the Story. You narrate much of the action during play, describing locations and creatures that
the adventurers face. The players decide what their characters do as they navigate hazards and choose what to explore. Then you use a combination of imagination and the game’s rules to determine the
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.
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
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Story. You narrate much of the action during play, describing locations and creatures that the adventurers face. The players decide what their characters do as they navigate hazards and choose what to
explore. Then you use a combination of imagination and the game’s rules to determine the results of the adventurers’ decisions. Adjudicate the Rules. You oversee how the group uses the game’s rules
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Xanathar's Guide to Everything
pace works fine for many campaigns, some DMs prefer a campaign story with pauses built into it — times when adventurers are not going on adventures. The downtime rules given in this section can be
and go, and royal lines rise and fall over the course of the story that you and the characters tell. Downtime rules also provide ways for characters to spend — or be relieved of — the monetary treasure
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble
Introducing the Game Once the players have familiarized themselves with their characters, you’re ready to introduce the game. Now that you’re familiar with your characters and the basics of the rules
, we’re going to play a short adventure to introduce you to Dungeons & Dragons. As the Dungeon Master, I tell you what’s going on in the world around you, and I use the rules and dice rolls to
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)
lift. For a Tiny creature, halve these weights. Variant: Encumbrance The rules for lifting and carrying are intentionally simple. Here is a variant if you are looking for more detailed rules for
determining how a character is hindered by the weight of equipment. When you use this variant, ignore the Strength column of the Armor table. If you carry weight in excess of 5 times your Strength score, you
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)
a Tiny creature, halve these weights. Variant: Encumbrance The rules for lifting and carrying are intentionally simple. Here is a variant if you are looking for more detailed rules for determining how
a character is hindered by the weight of equipment. When you use this variant, ignore the Strength column of the Armor table in chapter 5. If you carry weight in excess of 5 times your Strength score
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Heroes of the Borderlands
Being the Dungeon Master If you want to be the mastermind of the game, consider being the DM. Here’s what DMs do: Run the Adventure. You run the adventures within. Guide the Story. You narrate much
explore. Then you use a combination of imagination and the game’s rules to determine the results of the adventurers’ decisions. Adjudicate the Rules. You oversee how the group uses the game’s rules
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon of Icespire Peak
apply the rules and keep the story going. The DM is a storyteller. The DM sets the pace of the story and presents the various challenges and encounters that the players must overcome. The DM is the
help you arbitrate issues as they arise. When in doubt, make it up. It’s better to keep the game moving than to get bogged down in the rules. Embrace the shared story. D&D is about telling a story as a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide
DM Tips The most important part of being a good DM is facilitating the fun of everyone at the table. Keep these tips in mind to help things go smoothly. Embrace the Shared Story. D&D is about telling
a story as a group, so let the other players contribute through the words and deeds of their characters. Encourage players to engage by asking them what their characters are doing. It’s Not a