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Returning 35 results for 'strange of rules defeating 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
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures
operate under inviolable rules of their own: gifts must always be repaid, promises must be honored, and outright lies must never be spoken (though misdirection and riddles are always welcome). To
, the Kindly Lord. Talion is as strange, ancient, and fickle as the wilds of Eldraine, and the Kindly Lord demands fealty and respect from their followers. But despite their austere demeanor, the Kindly
Monsters
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures
regard for mortal values of honor and law, but they nonetheless operate under inviolable rules of their own: gifts must always be repaid, promises must be honored, and outright lies must never be
embellish their various weapons.
The high fae are ruled by Talion, the Kindly Lord. Talion is as strange, ancient, and fickle as the wilds of Eldraine, and the Kindly Lord demands fealty and respect from
Monsters
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures
, embodying the natural splendor and danger of the wilderness. High fae have no regard for mortal values of honor and law, but they nonetheless operate under inviolable rules of their own: gifts must
throughout the wilds, and they use their innate illusory magic to power and embellish their various weapons.
The high fae are ruled by Talion, the Kindly Lord. Talion is as strange, ancient, and fickle as
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
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
62,000 XP (124,000 XP total) for defeating the dragon turtle after its Blessing of the Sea activates.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon turtle fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed
Monsters
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 4: Eldraine Creatures
untamed wilderness. High fae have no regard for mortal values of honor and law, but they nonetheless operate under inviolable rules of their own: gifts must always be repaid, promises must be honored
innate illusory magic to power and embellish their various weapons.
The high fae are ruled by Talion, the Kindly Lord. Talion is as strange, ancient, and fickle as the wilds of Eldraine, and the Kindly
Criminal / Spy
Legacy
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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
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
Duergar are dwarves whose ancestors were transformed by centuries living in the deepest places of the Underdark. That chthonic realm is saturated with strange magical energy, and over generations
fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, follow these additional rules during character creation.
Ability Score Increases
When determining your character’s ability scores, increase
Magic Items
Lost Laboratory of Kwalish
heavily muscled warrior, and its great helm is unusual in that it has no openings — only a broad glass plate in the front with a second piece of glass above it. Strange plates, tubing, and large
), but doesn’t gain access to the user’s knowledge, features, or proficiencies.
Freeing a creature trapped inside the armor first requires defeating the armor’s automatic defenses
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.
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
classes
Player’s Handbook
power, while others trace it to strange events in their personal or family history. The blessing of a dragon or a dryad at a baby’s birth or the strike of lightning from a clear sky might spark a
Sorcerer’s gift. So too might the gift of a deity, exposure to the strange magic of another plane of existence, or a glimpse into the inner workings of reality. Whatever the origin, the result is
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->Eberron: Rising from the Last War
Dreaming Dark Adventure Hooks The Dreaming Dark Adventure Hooks table offers some ideas for strange occurrences and nightmarish events that can touch off stories involving the Dreaming Dark
. Dreaming Dark Adventure Hooks d4 Adventure Hook 1 The high priest of a temple falls into a deep sleep from which nothing can awaken them. 2 The characters notice a pattern after defeating several foes
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dragon Delves
woman approaches the adventurers to tell them of this dragon, who killed the city’s brass dragon protector. The brass dragon’s egg—which the woman gives to the party—holds the key to defeating
ruins of Haskasori, they discover its many denizens, including its former king. When Anthradusk returns to his lair, the characters can unleash the egg’s strange magic in the presence of the brass
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss
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
hole in the floor. The hole contains a small zurkhwood chest holding eight tiny rubies worth 250 gp each. XP Awards In addition to the XP earned for defeating Vazuk, each character earns 50 XP if they inform Burrow Warden Jadger (see area 8) that the spirit has been dealt with.
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->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->Princes of the Apocalypse
that he stays near Aerisi. The character earns inspiration for reaching the air temple and again for defeating Windharrow.
Dangerous Information It’s a race against time — the character overheard
cruel bandits planning a raid and intends to stop them. The bandits report to someone named Grimjaw in a place called Rivergard Keep. The character earns inspiration for defeating the villains in the
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->Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
, and other soft features. Only finding and defeating Gelthik causes the dismember spirits to depart. Levels 3–4. Beatrice Polk, caretaker at the Mordentshire herbalist shop, hires the characters to end
Rod of Rastinon. She shares leads involving various strange sites, but the rod doesn’t appear. Eventually, Lord Godefroy—who has been working through Alice Weathermay—grows impatient. He threatens the
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse->Sigil and the Outlands
garbage that gathers in Sigil’s alleys and sewers. Common and giant rats are found throughout the Cage, as are variant cranium rats known as squeakers (further detailed in Morte’s Planar Parade). Adapted
razorvine strategically to deter intruders by letting it grow along estate walls or as carefully cultivated hedges. Rules for razorvine can be found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase
Character Advancement If you want to use story-based level advancement, the characters receive experience points for achieving milestones rather than defeating monsters. When the characters leave the
hearts carry the heroes further than strength of arms.
This updated version of the adventure reimagines Caerwyn and Porphura’s—originally Porpherio’s—garden as the Eternal Garden, a domain in the Feywild, and the Green Man as the Gardener, the benevolent archfey who rules it.
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Challenge Rating Challenge Rating is defined in the “Rules Glossary”, while guidance on using CR to plan potential combat encounters is in the DM’s Toolbox. Experience Points The number of Experience
Points (XP) a monster is worth is based on its CR, as detailed in the Experience Points by Challenge Rating table. XP is awarded for defeating the monster in combat or otherwise neutralizing it
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
earlier in this chapter as examples of strange locales the characters might visit as they explore the Far Realm. Ilvaash’s Revenge Any place of safety in the Far Realm soon comes under attack, however, as
changes: A brain breaker has an Armor Class of 14 due to the strange ring mail it wears. A brain breaker has a speed of 30 feet and has a magical flying speed of 30 feet. It can hover. A brain
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->Fizban's Treasury of Dragons
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 Trait
1 I speak slowly and deliberately, pausing to reflect after (or sometimes in the middle of) each utterance
Compendium
- Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Quests from the Infinite Staircase
Technology This section presents technological devices and weapons that have special rules. The items are presented in alphabetical order. See the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more information on
explosives and other futuristic weapons, such as laser pistols and antimatter rifles. On many D&D worlds, these devices are strange and unfamiliar anomalies, if they exist at all. If you’re nervous about