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Returning 35 results for 'strange of rather down variants'.
Species
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
Since not all tieflings are of the blood of Asmodeus, some have traits that differ from those in the Player’s Handbook. The Dungeon Master may permit the following variants for your tiefling
character, although Devil’s Tongue, Hellfire, and Winged are mutually exclusive.
Appearance. Your tiefling might not look like other tieflings. Rather than having the physical
Species
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
Since not all tieflings are of the blood of Asmodeus, some have traits that differ from those in the Player’s Handbook. The Dungeon Master may permit the following variants for your
replaces the Ability Score Increase trait.
Appearance. Your tiefling might not look like other tieflings. Rather than having the physical characteristics described in the Player’s Handbook
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
Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
you might or might not choose to share.
Although you will undoubtedly find some of this land’s ways to be strange and discomfiting, you can also be sure that some things its people take for
have heard of the strange skyships the Halruaans sail, and a few know of the tales that even the least of their people can work magic.
Halruaans usually make their journeys into Faerûn for
Tabaxi
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
lazy, but when Linene came around looking for a missing broach, she was out the door before I could blink an eye.
— Toblen Stonehill, innkeeper
Hailing from a strange and distant land
of the world beyond their home.
Barterers of Lore
Tabaxi treasure knowledge rather than material things. A chest filled with gold coins might be useful to buy food or a coil of rope, but it’s
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
Backgrounds
Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
While some might think it strange to find hermits in a bustling city, others know that sometimes the most profound solitude exists in the midst of a crowd. Baldur’s Gate holds a handful of
a patriar’s scion in an illegal duel. The family swore revenge, and you fled to the slums rather than risk bringing their wrath down on your kin.
6
You aren’t originally from Baldur
Lizardfolk
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Volo's Guide to Monsters
If you’re considering taking a scaled one along on an adventure, remember this important fact. The strange, inhuman glint in its eyes as it looks you over is the same look you might give a
pleasurable creatures and things are ones that allow lizardfolk to assess more situations as benign rather than fearsome.
Cold and Calculating
Most humanoids describe cold-blooded people as lacking in
Human
Legacy
This doesn't reflect the latest rules and lore.
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Species
Basic Rules (2014)
pages were tales of bold heroes, strange and fierce animals, mighty primitive gods, and a magic that was part and fabric of that distant land.
— Elaine Cunningham, Daughter of the Drow
In the
, humans champion causes rather than territories or groups.
Human Names and Ethnicities
Having so much more variety than other cultures, humans as a whole have no typical names. Some human parents
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron
Seekers of New Lore Nothing excites an artificer quite like uncovering a new metal or discovering a source of elemental energy. In artificer circles, new inventions and strange discoveries create the
most excitement. Artificers who wish to make their mark must innovate, creating something fresh, rather than iterating on familiar designs. This drive for novelty pushes artificers to become
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Seekers of New Lore Nothing excites an artificer quite like uncovering a new metal or discovering a source of elemental energy. In artificer circles, new inventions and strange discoveries create the
most excitement. Artificers who wish to make their mark must innovate, creating something fresh, rather than iterating on familiar designs. This drive for novelty pushes artificers to become
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
can undertake the puzzle and cross the room safely. You can also increase the difficulty by introducing trap variants, as described below. Trap Variants Rather than have the same poison gas trap on
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
lady of fortune” (Tymora) — an indication, tieflings say, that one’s outward appearance and bloodline are less important to the gods than the heart and soul within. TIEFLING VARIANTS
Since not all
tieflings are of the blood of Asmodeus, some have traits that differ from those in the Player’s Handbook. The Dungeon Master may permit the following variants for your tiefling character, although
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
Mysterious Monsters Use conflicting descriptions and strange behaviors to cultivate mystery around your monster. The less characters know about a creature, the more they’ll speculate about terrifying
possibilities. You can develop uncertainty about a creature even after it appears. Keep players guessing about an adventure’s threat by referring to a monster by a flavorful description rather than
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual
Flumph Strange Ally from a Strange Place Habitat: Underdark; Treasure: Arcana Axel Defois Bizarre creatures with aberrant agendas inhabit the Underdark. Flumphs number among the few that are helpful
to strangers. These tentacled, telepathic creatures jet through the air in short bursts, venting gases with a sound that gives them their name. Rather than speaking, flumphs communicate
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
) 2 Reserved. As someone new to these strange lands, I am cautious and respectful in my dealings. (Lawful) 3 Adventure. I’m far from home, and everything is strange and wonderful! (Chaotic) 4 Cunning
careful, for I have no way of telling friend from foe here. (Any) Bonds d6 Bond 1 So long as I have this token from my homeland, I can face any adversity in this strange land. 2 The gods of my
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
, colorful ticket, strange prize from a Carnival game Resplendent with bright banners, calliope music, and the smells of rich food, the Carnival promises visitors a surreal wonderland where any dream is
the wise know strangers are intrinsically dangerous. The Carnival doesn’t exist to entertain its visitors. Rather, it’s a traveling domain, capable of visiting other domains and lands beyond the Mists
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
Adventure Overview The strange happenings on campus in this adventure are caused by a corrupted substance known as eldritch balm. Used at Strixhaven for decades, eldritch balm is an alchemical salve
the resulting chaos would disrupt life at Strixhaven. A Standalone Adventure If you’re running this chapter’s adventure as a standalone, the corruption of Sedgemoor’s waters is not the result of a sinister plot. Rather, a surge of wild magic caused the corruption, but the outcome is the same.
classes
Basic Rules (2014)
necessary, using their magic to bolster their swords and armor. Their spells lean toward charms and illusions rather than blatantly destructive spells. They have a wide-ranging knowledge of many
, decipher old tomes, travel to strange places, or encounter exotic creatures. Bards love to accompany heroes to witness their deeds firsthand. A bard who can tell an awe-inspiring story from personal
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Journeys through the Radiant Citadel
acting strangely. Read or paraphrase the following: As part of the crowd begins another verse of the Awakening Song, four people wearing the garb of farm folk wander into their midst. Rather than singing
yet, but this is a mark of the soul shaker’s control (see the “Soul Shaker” section at the end of this adventure). The festival-goers closest to the strange farmers panic and flee. Unless the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
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
firbolgs’ presence is marked by an absence of animals and a strange quiet, as if the forest wishes to avoid attracting attention to itself. The faster travelers decide to move on, the better. If these
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
behind this strange sensation. Then you feel the ground beneath you shift as something moves — a number of a thick, spiky tendrils bursting from the ground.
Two fungal creatures resembling otyughs
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->Monster Manual
Humanoids, expose them to strange forms of Underdark radiation, and implant new directives into their brains. The process of creating a grimlock rends the creature’s mind such that no semblance of the
individual’s former personality remains. Grimlocks have shallow depressions rather than eyes. A sixth sense allows grimlocks to perceive their surroundings. Psychic energies from their transformations
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Acquisitions Incorporated
for the greater good. The organization doesn’t “take jobs” as such. Rather, its leadership assesses the moral and political landscape of the realm and selects targets thusly. The Noble Knife is named
shape, as is normal for their abnormal kind, but are also able to transform into strange dogs that say “woof.” Not that they bark. They say “woof” like a person would. Unless you were a member of the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
Bluetspur, and none who witness them remember. This alien domain etches itself not upon the waking mind, but rather upon the body as inexplicable scars and on the psyche through nightmares. Not all the
Bluetspur for all manner of experiments. Many abductees are returned with only psychic scars, while others are never seen again. An unlucky few find themselves set upon strange routes leading back to the alien realm, arriving only to realize they’ve visited Bluetspur before.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
provide an opportunity to put players in control of strange creatures or unique bodies. Either as part of an adventure or a longer campaign, the characters might awaken with their minds transplanted into
. Worse Than Death? The characters are legitimately defeated during another adventure. Rather than the campaign ending, they awake in Dr. Mordenheim’s clutches, delivered there by the Mists.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer
Hermit While some might think it strange to find hermits in a bustling city, others know that sometimes the most profound solitude exists in the midst of a crowd. Baldur’s Gate holds a handful of
one else knows. 5 You killed a patriar’s scion in an illegal duel. The family swore revenge, and you fled to the slums rather than risk bringing their wrath down on your kin. 6 You aren’t originally
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros
black blood. His mask is clearly a funerary mask, though it’s cast of gold rather than clay. Characters who succeed on a DC 10 Intelligence check recognize the strange individual as one of the
finely etched symbols covering its interior. Most are written in a strange cipher, but among the unreadable glyphs, the word “Khea” stands out prominently. Before the characters can investigate further
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase
protuberance, Zargon devoured the workers and slew the garrisons that followed, drowning them in torrents of slime. Rather than face the grim reality confronting them, some Cynidiceans began to view
their fellow citizens as sacrifices to a new and voracious god, gradually forming a strange cult to Zargon. Choked by Zargon’s slime and assailed by opportunistic invaders, the Cynidiceans fled
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
Hermit While some might think it strange to find hermits in a bustling city, others know that sometimes the most profound solitude exists in the midst of a crowd. Baldur’s Gate holds a handful of
, you’ve learned secrets no one else knows.
5 You killed a patriar’s scion in an illegal duel. The family swore revenge, and you fled to the slums rather than risk bringing their wrath down on your
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters
others; they don’t espouse the sort 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
food taster for a royal family could poison a meal and declare it “safe” after taking a bite. YUAN-TI MALISON VARIANTS: TYPES 4 AND 5
A malison is a yuan-ti that has a blend of human and serpentine
classes
Basic Rules (2014)
out of sight on a high tree branch in the form of a leopard, a human peers out of the jungle at the strange construction of a temple of Evil Elemental Air, keeping a close eye on the cultists&rsquo
of nature itself or from a nature deity. Many druids pursue a mystic spirituality of transcendent union with nature rather than devotion to a divine entity, while others serve gods of wild nature
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
goals — of which there are many — often still prefers to use trickery and cunning rather than the unreliable tools of honesty or brute force. Most Zil gnomes belong to the forest gnome subrace. Their
same name with a number of other Zil, and you’re all legally considered to be the same person. 5 You’ve acquired a spellshard (described in chapter 5) that contains a vast amount of text in a strange
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
in your adventures. If you highlight the strange nature of a domain often, the land feels surreal and haunted. If you do so more rarely, the domain feels more realistic. You might even change the pace
of how often you reinforce the strange nature of a domain, perhaps doing so more the farther characters are from civilization or safety. For examples of frightful details you might highlight in a
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Tyranny of Dragons
without arousing suspicion. NPC Harpers are the kinds of characters who consistently pop up when they’re least expected and most useful. If the characters need a safe house in a strange city, are
are always dissatisfied if the characters kill important cultists rather than capturing them—or at least trying to extract information from them beforehand.