To Do List

Current list of "todo" is as follows:

• Continue adding Races that I feel should be in world for story puposes.
• Flesh out all regions of the world with descriptive text and map links.
• Change all Race/Class flavor text to be Dragonmaw specific.
• Build complete Spell list from WotC sources, with some Kobold Press Content.
• Add full descriptions of the Gods of Dragonmaw
• Create timeline for the world.

Ideas, comments, or whatever

As I build this I am open to criticism or Ideas. I could use some help if anyone is willing. This is a large task, and not for profit obviously.

Brief history

Well over 500 years ago, the dark god Vexa'Scion, began a war on Searus. Through his Commander, Azul the Lich King, he drove the Orcs and Goblins of the surface world to fight the various Free Folk across Searus. For over 150 years, various wars were waged across the continent of Central Trangaea. As this happened on the surface world, the Realm of the Underdark was also at war. The Dark Elves, driven by Lillith, Goddess of Vice, saw an opportunity to advance their power, and they too waged a war deep in the dark recesses of the world.

At first, the Free Folk of the world fought alone, separated by race, each thinking they could attain victory alone. However, over time it became apparent they could do no such thing. Putting their differences aside, they banded together to fight back. However, the Lich King could replace his fallen with Necromancy. Dead Orcs, Goblins, Humans, Elves and more were re-animated and continued the onslaught.

About 300 years ago the free people were almost completely spent, most had fallen back from their ancestral homes, forever being pushed south toward the Dragon-Maw Peninsula. The Free Folk attempted to make a final stand at the Dragons’ Artery, a powerful river that flows from the northwest, dips south just north of the Dragon-Maw Mountains and heads back northeast. Here there were three great cities, the southernmost called Dragonsgate. Dragonsgate sits at the southernmost bend of the Dragons’ Artery, guarding the road to the Dragon-Maw Mountains.

The Free Races

The Free Folk consist of primarily the following;

Aasimar,

Catfolk,

Humans,

Elves,

Firbolg,

Gnoll,

Half-elves,

Dwarves,

Halflings,

Minotaur,

Mousefolk,

Warforged.

Besides these there are other less known races counted as friends with the free folk.

Battle of Dragonsgate

The Battle for Dragonsgate was when the free folk truly came together for the common good. Pressed from the Northeast and the Northwest, the Free Folk had fallen back to the last three cities North of the mountains along the Dragons’ Artery. There they meant to hold the hordes of the Lich King and give enough time for their families to make the journey through the Mountains. For Days, the families and armies of the Free Folk streamed through the cities. The armies meant to stay and fight, hoping to hold the hordes at the river. However, the Lich Kings’ armies were swift. Orcs and goblins quickly over took the East and west cities. This gave them access to the opposite side of the river. The Free Folk armies fought battles to the east and west to try and buy Dragonsgate more time to retreat. It was at this time a dire choice had to be made. Who would stay and keep the darkness at bay while everyone else fled south?

The Meeting

Representatives of all the Free Folk were called to a meeting. There the situation was related. The generals asked who would stay behind and fight while the others fled. The Calvary would be needed along the flight south to protect the caravans of refugees. Archers would be needed and foot soldiers, the generals knew they couldn’t spare any warriors. While they debated amongst themselves what was to be done, a small voice spoke,” We will do it.” at first it wasn’t heard. Then it was said a bit louder, “We will do it!” everyone went silent and turned. There at the knees of the Generals stood the small mousefolk representative. Nobody laughed, but the Commander asked,” We appreciate your bravery, but how could you possibly stop what is to come?” The mouseling, Podrick, replied,” We know the sewers of this city better than anyone. We have traps and tunnels running throughout the city, if you leave your fire powder here with us, we can use it against them!” he continued,” We can man the wall with bows just as well as any of you, and we are quick, able to move from breach to breach quickly. We will then fall back to the buildings and bring them down on the enemies’ heads! From there we will retreat below the city, to the tight tunnels works we have. There our size will be an advantage, we can hold a tunnel with 2 for every one of them. Constantly falling back and collapsing tunnels on them as we go. We should be able to buy you plenty of time.” Finally he said,” All we ask is that you take our women and children with you, and protect them as you would your own, our people are small and might be left behind on the road south. To us it is our only chance.” The generals looked at one another, each knew Mousefolk were good fighters when backed into a corner, they also knew that the Mousefolk might fall behind on the road south. It was then, they agreed to Podricks’ plan.

1. Choose a Race

2. Choose a Background

3. Choose a Class

4. Determine Ability Scores

5. Describe Your Character

6. Choose Equipment

Step 1: Choosing a Race

Humans are the most common people in the worlds of D&D, but they live and work alongside dwarves, elves, halflings, and countless other fantastic species. Your character belongs to one of these peoples. Not every intelligent race of the multiverse is appropriate for a player-controlled adventurer. Dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans are the most common races to produce the sort of adventurers who make up typical parties.

Your choice of race affects many different aspects of your character. It establishes fundamental qualities that exist throughout your character’s adventuring career. When making this decision, keep in mind the kind of character you want to play. For example, a halfling could be a good choice for a sneaky rogue, a dwarf makes a tough warrior, and an elf can be a master of arcane magic.

Your character race not only affects your traits but also provides the cues for building your character’s story. Each race’s description in this section includes information to help you roleplay a character of that race, including personality, physical appearance, and features of society. These details are suggestions to help you think about your character; adventurers can deviate widely from the norm for their race. It’s worthwhile to consider why your character is different, as a helpful way to think about your character’s background and personality. View details for each race in the Races list.

Racial Traits

The description of each race includes racial traits that are common to members of that race. The following entries appear among the traits of most races.

Ability Score Increases

When determining your character's ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The "Quick Build" section for your character's class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can't raise any of your scores above 20.

Alignment

Most races have tendencies toward certain alignments, described in this entry. These are not binding for player characters, but considering why your dwarf is chaotic, for example, in defiance of lawful dwarf society can help you better define your character.

Creature Type

Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race in this chapter tells you what your character's creature type is. Here's a list of the game's creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don't have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn't work on a Construct or an Undead.

Life Span

The typical lifespan of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn't meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If the typical members of a race in this guide can live longer than a century, That fact is mentioned in the race's description.

Languages

Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. Your background might give you access to one or more additional languages of your choice. A List of Standard and Exotic languages can be found below.

Size

Characters of most races are Medium, a size category including creatures that are roughly 4 to 8 feet tall. Members of a few races are Small (between 2 and 4 feet tall), which means that certain rules of the game affect them differently. The most important of these rules is that Small characters have trouble wielding heavy weapons, as explained in the Equipment section.

Speed

Your speed determines how far you can move when traveling (“Adventuring”) and fighting (“Combat”).

Subraces

Some races have subraces. Members of a subrace have the traits of the parent race in addition to the traits specified for their subrace. Relationships among subraces vary significantly from race to race and world to world.

Aasimar

"I SAW HER, WREATHED IN WINGS OF PURE LIGHT, HER eyes blazing with the fury of the gods. The bone devils stopped in their tracks, shielding their faces. Her blade, now a brand of light, swept once, twice, three times. The devils' heads hit the ground, one after another. And thus we learned that an aasimar traveled in our ragtag band."

• Radiant Consumption. Searing light temporarily radiates from your eyes and mouth. For the duration, you shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet, and at the end of each of your turns, each creature within 10 feet of you takes radiant damage equal to you proficiency bonus. Until the transformation ends, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or spell. The extra damage equals your proficiency bonus.

• Radiant Soul. Two luminous, spectral wings sprout from your back temporarily. Until the Transformation ends, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed, and once on each of your turns, you can deal extra damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra damage is radiant damage and equals your proficiency bonus.

Catfolk, are a race of natural explorers who rarely tire of trailblazing, but such trailblazing is not limited merely to the search for new horizons in distant lands. Many catfolk see personal growth and development as equally valid avenues of exploration. While most catfolk are nimble, capable, and often active creatures, there is also a strong tendency among some catfolk to engage in quiet contemplation and study. Such individuals are interested in finding new solutions to age-old problems and questioning even the most steadfast philosophical certainties of the day.

They are curious by nature, and catfolk culture never discourages inquisitiveness, but rather fosters and encourages it. Many are seen as quirky extroverts by members of other races, but within catfolk prides there is no shame attached to minor peculiarities, eccentricities, or foolhardiness. All but the most inwardly focused catfolk enjoy being the center of attention, but not at the expense of their pride, whether it’s the one the catfolk are born into or the pride they choose through the bonds of friendship with other creatures. catfolk tend to be both generous and loyal to their family and friends.

Leonin

Leonin tend to be tall compared to humans and move with a boldness that suggests their physical might. Tawny fur covers leonin bodies, and some grow thick manes ranging in shades from gold to black. While their hands prove as nimble as those of other humanoids, leonin have retractable feline claws, which they can extend instantly. This, along with their ability to produce bone-shaking roars, gives most leonin an air that readily shifts between regal and fearsome.

Leonin often act with confidence, which can come off as imperiousness. While this can reassure their allies, it can also suggest defiance in the face of what they perceive as imposed authority or unworthy experts.

Your Leonin character has the following additional racial traits.

Speed. Your walking speed is 35 feet.

Hunter's Instincts. You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Athletics, Intimidation or Survival.

Daunting Roar. As a bonus action, you can let out an
especially menacing roar. Creatures of your choice within
10 feet of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end
of your next turn. The DC of the save equals
8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution
modifier. After you use this trait, you cant
use it again until you finish a short or
long rest.

Tabaxi

Your Tabaxi character has the following additional racial traits.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Land On Their Feet. Tabaxi's have a knack for always landing on their feet and suffer no damage from great distances. You suffer no damage when you fall 20 feet or less, and take only half damage for anything farther.

Alert. Tabaxi have heightened senses, you can see, hear, and smell better. You have expertise in the Perception skill.

Excellent Climbers. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed.

Dragonborn

"HER FATHER STOOD ON THE FIRST OF THE THREE stairs that led down from the portal, unmoving. The scales of his face had grown paler around the edges, but Clanless Mehen still looked as if he could wrestle down a dire bear himself. His familiar well-worn armor was gone, replaced by violet-tinted scale armor with bright silvery tracings. There was a blazon on his arm as well, the mark of some foreign house. The sword at his back was the same, though, the one he had carried since even before he had found the twins left in swaddling at the gates of Arush Vayem.

For all her life, Farideh had known that reading her father’s face was a skill she’d been fortunate to learn. A human who couldn’t spot the shift of her eyes or Havilar’s would certainly see only the indifference of a dragon in Clanless Mehen’s face. But the shift of scales, the arch of a ridge, the set of his eyes, the gape of his teeth—her father’s face spoke volumes.

But every scale of it, this time, seemed completely still—the indifference of a dragon, even to Farideh.

Dragonborn Traits

Your Dragonborn character has an assortment of abilities based on your race and ancestry.

Type. You are a Humanoid.

Size. You are Medium.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Draconic Resistance. You have resistance to the type of damage associated with your Ancestry.

Draconic Ancestry. You trace your ancestry to either a Chromatic, Metallic, or Gem dragon, granting you a special magical affinity. Choose one type of dragon from either the Chromatic, Metallic or Gem Ancestry tables. This will determine the damage type, breath weapon shape, and any special abilities.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Draconic, and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character.

Breath Weapon. You have the ability to use a breath weapon determined by your ancestry. The save DC for your breath weapon is determined using the formula below:

Use this anytime you use any type of Breath Weapon.

Metallic Ancestry

Breath Weapon. When you take the Attack action, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of a magical energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Breath Weapon save DC.

A creature takes 2d8 damage of the type associated with your Metallic Ancestry on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one.

This damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (3d8), 11th level (4d8), and 17th level (5d8). You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Metallic Breath Weapon. At 3rd level you gain a second breath weapon. When you take the Attack action, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of a magical gas in a 15-foot cone. Use your Breath Weapon save DC. for this. When you use this ability, choose one:

• Each creature in the area must succeed on a Strength
  saving throw or be pushed 20 feet away from you
  and be knocked prone.
• Each creature in the area must succeed on
  a Constitution saving throw or become
  incapacitated until the start of your
  next turn.

Once you use your Metallic Breath
Weapon, you can’t do so again until
you finish a long rest.

Gem Ancestry

Breath Weapon. When you take the Attack action, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of a magical energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Breath Weapon save DC.

A creature takes 2d8 damage of the type associated with your Gem Ancestry on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one.

This damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (3d8), 11th level (4d8), and 17th level (5d8). You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Psionic Mind. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language. Your communication doesn’t give the creature the ability to respond to you telepathically.

Gem Flight. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your bonus action to temporarily summon an array of spectral gems that match your Gem Ancestry in the shape of wings that last for 1 minute. For the duration, you gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed and can hover. Once you use this trait, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

Kingdoms rich in ancient grandeur, halls carved into the roots of mountains, the echoing of picks and hammers in deep mines and blazing forges, a commitment to clan and tradition, and a burning hatred of goblins and orcs—these common threads unite all dwarves.

Eladrin

Eladrin are elves of the Faewild, a realm of perilous beauty and boundless magic. Using that magic, eladrin can step from one place to another in the blink of an eye, and each eladrin resonates with emotions captured in the Faewild in the form of seasons-affinities that affect the eladrin's mood and appearance. An Eladrin's season can change, though some remain in one season forever.

As an Eladrin, you have the following racial traits. Choose your season or roll on the Eladrin Seasons table.

Eladrin Seasons

Your Trance trait lets you change your season after a long rest.

Necrotic Resistance. You have
resistance to necrotic damage.

Distant cousins of giants, the first firbolgs wandered the primeval forests of the multiverse, and the magic of those forests entwined itself with the firbolgs' souls. Centuries later, that magic still thrums inside a firbolg, even one who has never lived under the boughs of a great forest.

A firbolg's magic is an obscuring sort, which allowed their ancestors to pass through a forest without disturbing it. So deep is the connection between a firbolg and the wild places of the world that they can communicate with flora and fauna.

Firbolgs can live up to 500 years.

Firbolg Adventurers

"I LOVE MY JOB", GNAWBONE THOUGHT, AS HE LOPPED across the plain with the wind blowing past his face, the wonderful smells constantly in the air, he was a happy gnoll. Scouting for the caravan who hired him, Gnawbone enjoyed his job. Besides being able to run free, he was never yelled at or beaten by his employers. Instead, they really seemed to enjoy having him around. The kids liked to play with him and the food was absolutely delicious! A smell pulled Gnawbone back to the present, something smelled off...

Bred for the Hunt

Moreso than many other humanoid races, primal instinct remains a strong part of the gnoll psyche. Gnolls are natural predators and savor the thrills of the hunt. Almost all gnolls prefer the wilderness to the civilized enclaves favored by humans, dwarves, or other similar races and those that do take to cities usually think of them as just another kind of landscape.

Many other races find the gnoll psyche feral and aggressive, male and female equally, and the behavioral tendencies of the race can certainly give this impression. Gnolls start fighting amongst one another at a very early age and as soon as they can walk many crawl into places, away from the eyes of adults, where they engage in vicious, often lethal battles. A gnoll is more likely to demand answers than it is to actually ask a question. Gnolls, however, do not see this as an act of hostility, but rather a basic demonstration of strength.

Other gnoll practices might seem equally strange, such as the gnoll propensity for scavenging. At its most basic level this tendency leads many gnolls to collect trophies that remind them of past victories, items sometimes grisly though just as often simple and mundane,[3] Gnoll trackers sometimes use this to their benefit, keeping scraps of clothing or other objects with the scent of their prey on them, which they use to point them in the direction of their quarry

Loyalty to the Pack

In spite of the savage nature of the gnolls there are some aspects to their culture that are not inherently repulsive. Gnolls place a very strong value on family for instance, respecting blood ties perhaps more than any other aspect of a relationship. Though gnolls within a pack commonly fight amongst one another for dominance, these battles are quickly forgotten after their resolution and in most situations gnolls of the same bloodline are loyal friends and allies to one another. These bloodlines are almost always traced matrilineal, through the female line.

This loyalty to family is particularly obvious during combat, either with rival gnoll packs or other races. Gnolls who fight side by side regularly throw away personal glory in order to help their brethren.

Civilized Gnolls

As a civilized gnoll, you are well-fed and enjoy the
comforts that your primitive cousins can only dream of.
You were valued as a mercenary, a temple guard, or simply
a thug due to both your inherent toughness and your
desire to please those that are in charge.

Obsequious. Whenever you make a Charisma (Persuasion) check for dealing with obviously bigger or more powerful
targets, you are considered proficient in the Persuasion skill
and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead
of your normal proficiency bonus.

Savage Gnolls

As a savage gnoll, you are in touch with your animal
side and understand the ways of nature. Your tribe has
been raiding the desert or the plains for generations, and
you know the land in which you live like the back of your
hand.

Scavenge. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Survival)
check for gathering food or locating water, you are
considered proficient in the Survival skill and add double
your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Minotaur Names

Minotaur clan names originate with a great hero whose descendants take on that name as their own, doing their best to live up to the ideals of their ancestor. On Krynn, clan names are always preceded by the prefix “es‐” for minotaurs from lands controlled by the island of Mithas, or “de‐” for minotaurs from areas under the sway of Kothas.

Male Names: Beliminorgath, Cinmac, Dastrun, Edder, Galdar, Ganthirogani, Hecariverani, Kyris, Tosher, Zurgas

Female Names: Ayasha, Calina, Fliara, Helati, Keeli, Kyri, Mogara, Sekra, Tariki, Telia

Clan Names: Athak, Bregan, Entragath, Kaziganthi, Lagrangli, Mascun, Orilg, Sumarr, Teskos, Zhakan

Minotaur Traits

Your minotaur character possesses a number of traits that reflect the power and superiority of your kind.

Age. Minotaurs enter adulthood at around the age of 25 and can live up to 150 years.

Size. Minotaurs typically stand from 6 to 7 feet tall and weigh an average of 300 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Goring Rush. When you use the Dash action during your turn and move at least 20 feet, you can make a melee attack with your horns as a bonus action.

Horns. You are never unarmed. You are proficient with your horns, which are a melee weapon that deals 1d6 + your strength modifier piercing damage. Your horns grant you advantage on all checks made to shove a creature, but not                 to avoid being shoved yourself.

    Labyrinthine Recall. You can perfectly recall any path you have traveled.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Undercommon.

Darkvision. accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. you can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. you can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Subraces. The two kinds of minotaur, Shorthorns and Longhorns, are diferentiated by thier horn structure. Choose one of these Subraces.

Shorthorn

As a Shorthorn Minotaur you use strategy and cunning to overcome challenges. You like to keep the fight close when it is to your advantage, using your strength as an advantage one vs. one.

Impaling Horns. On a successful use of your Goring Rush trait, in addition to dealing 1d6 peircing damage, you can choose to shove an opponent OR impale your opponent causing an additional 1d6 piercing damage.

Longhorn

As a Longhorn Minotuar you take pride in martial prowess. You prefer to trample your enemies before you.

Hammering Horns. On a successful use of your Goring Rush trait, in addition to dealing 1d6 peircing damage, you can choose to shove an opponent OR knock a creature prone.

Mousefolk

OBSCURED IN THE THICK UNDERBRUSH OF THE forest, every muscle in Moira's body was screaming. She had been crouched, completely still, for half a day, waiting for her quarry to emerge from its den. Thick mud clumped and matted her dark fut; insulating her from the high sun. Her large round ears twitched, focusing on a faint scratching coming from the cave. Her prey was awake. Moira drew her bow and deftly nocked an arrow without a sound. She waited. Soon the mighty owlbear lumbered out of the cave. A dry summer had forced it closer to civilization, and it had begun preying on trade caravans. Moira took aim, and let fly her arrow. The Barbed Trail would be safe to travel once more.

Virtuous and Headstrong

Despite their generally flighty appearance, mousefolk are a very honorable people. They believe strongly in personal honor, less so in the idea that the actions of others can impugn that honor. When a mousefolk makes a mistake, especially one that causes harm to others, they will work hard and at long lengths to correct that mistake.

Warforged Traits

Warforged have certain traits that reflect their constructed and ancient builds.

Age. A typical warforged is ancient, it's date of construction unknown. The maximum lifespan of the warforged remains a mystery; so far, warforged have shown no signs of deterioration due to age. You are immune to magical aging effects.

Size. Your size is Medium. Set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Constructed Resilience. You were created to have remarkable fortitude, represented by the following benefits:

• You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned, and you have resistance to poison damage.
• You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Sentry's Rest. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least six hours in an inactive, motionless state, rather than sleeping. In this state, you appear inert, but it doesn’t render you unconscious, and you can see and hear as normal.

Integrated Protection. Your body has built-in defensive layers, which can be enchanced with armor.

• You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class.
• You can don only armor with which you have proficiency. To don armor, you must incorporate it into your body over the course of 1 hour, during which you must remain in contact with the armor. To doff armor, you must spend 1 hour removing it. You can rest while donning or doffing armor in this way.
• While you live, your armor can't be removed from your body against your will.

Specialized Design. You gain one skill proficiency and one tool proficiency of your choice.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language of your choice.

Feature: Shelter of the Faithful

As an acolyte, you command the respect of those who share your faith, and you can perform the religious ceremonies of your deity. You and your adventuring companions can expect to receive free healing and care at a temple, shrine, or other established presence of your faith, though you must provide any material components needed for spells. Those who share your religion will support you (but only you) at a modest lifestyle.

You might also have ties to a specific temple dedicated to your chosen deity or pantheon, and you have a residence there. This could be the temple where you used to serve, if you remain on good terms with it, or a temple where you have found a new home. While near your temple, you can call upon the
priests for assistance, provided the assistance you ask
for is not hazardous and you remain in good standing
with your temple.

Suggested Characteristics

Acolytes are shaped by their experience in
temples or other religious communities.
Their study of the history and tenets of their
faith and their relationships to temples,
shrines, or hierarchies affect their
mannerisms and ideals. Their flaws might
be some hidden hypocrisy or heretical idea,
or an ideal or bond taken to an extreme.

Cultural Chameleon

Before becoming an adventurer, you spent much of your adult life away from your homeland, living among people different from your kin. You came to understand these foreign cultures and the ways of their people, who eventually treated you as one of their own. One culture had more of an influence on you than any other, shaping your beliefs and customs. Choose a race whose culture you've adopted, or roll on the Adopted Culture table.

Feature: Adept Linguist

You can communicate with humanoids who don't speak any language you know. You must observe the humanoids interacting with one another for at least 1 day, after which you learn a handful of important words, expressions, and gestures-enough to communicate on a rudimentary level.

Suggested Characteristics

Anthropologists leave behind the societies into which they were born to discover what life is like in other parts of the world. They seek to see how other races and civilizations surviveor why they did not. Some anthropologists are driven by intellectual curiosity, while others want the fame and recognition that comes with being the first to discover a new people, a lost tribe, or the truth about an ancient empire's downfall.

Archaeologist

An archaeologist learns about the long-lost and fallen cultures of the past by studying their remains—their bones, their ruins, their surviving masterworks, and their tombs. Those who practice archaeology travel to the far corners of the world to root through crumbled cities and lost dungeons, digging in search of artifacts that might tell the stories of monarchs and high priests, wars and cataclysms.

• Skill Proficiencies: History, Survival
• Tool Proficiencies: Cartographer's tools or navigator's tools
• Languages: One of your choice
• Equipment: A wooden case containing a map to a ruin or dungeon, a bullseye lantern, a miner's pick, a set of traveler's clothes, a shovel, a two-person tent, a trinket recovered from a dig site, and a pouch con- taining 25 gp

Feature: Favorite Schemes

Every charlatan has an angle they use in preference to other schemes. Choose a favorite scam or roll on the table below.

Feature: False Identity

You have created a second identity that includes documentation, established acquaintances, and disguises that allow you to assume that persona. Additionally, you can forge documents including the official papers and personal letters, as long as you have seen an example of the kind of document or the handwriting what you are trying to copy.

Suggested Characteristics

Charlatans are colorful characters who conceal their true selves behind the masks they construct. They reflect what people want to see, what they want to believe, and how they see the world. But their true selves are sometimes plagued by an uneasy conscience, an old enemy, or deep-seated trust issues.

Criminal Specialty

There are many kinds of criminals, and within a thieves’ guild or similar criminal organization, individual members have particular specialties. Even criminals who operate outside of such organizations have strong preferences for certain kinds of crimes over others. Choose the role you played in your criminal life, or roll on the table below.

Feature: Criminal Contact

You have a reliable and trustworthy contact who acts as your liaison to a network of other criminals. You know how to get messages to and from your contact, even over great distances; specifically, you know the local messengers, corrupt caravan masters, and seedy sailors who can deliver messages for you.

Suggested Characteristics

Criminals might seem like villains on the surface, and many of them are villainous to the core. But some have an abundance of endearing, if not redeeming, characteristics. There might be honor among thieves, but criminals rarely show any respect for law or authority.

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
different context: as an
espionage agent. You might
have been an officially
sanctioned agent of the crown,
or perhaps you sold the secrets
you uncovered to the highest
bidder.

Entertainer Routines

A good entertainer is versatile, spicing up every performance with a variety of different routines. Choose one to three routines or roll on the table below to define your expertise as an entertainer.

Feature: By Popular Demand

You can always find a place to perform, usually in an inn or tavern but possibly with a circus, at a theater, or even in a noble's court. At such a place, you receive free lodging and food of a modest or comfortable standard (depending on the quality of the establishment), as long as you perform each night. In addition, your performance makes you something of a local figure. When strangers recognize you in a town where performed, they typically take a liking to you, you have

Suggested Characteristics

Successful entertainers have to be able to capture and hold an audience's attention, so they tend to have flamboyant or forceful personalities. They're inclined toward the romantic and often cling to high-minded ideals about the practice of art and the appreciation of beauty.

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 enjoy. This kind of flashy combat is your entertainer routine, though you might also have some skills as a tumbler or actor. Using your By Popular Demand feature, you can find a place to perform in any place that features combat for entertainment-perhaps a gladiatorial arena or secret pit fighting club. You can replace the musical instrument in your equipment package with an inexpensive but unusual weapon, such as a trident or net.

Feature: Harvest The Water

You gain advantage on ability checks made using fishing tackle. If you have access to a body of water that sustains marine life, you can maintain a moderate lifestyle while working as a fisher, and you can catch enough food to feed yourself and up to 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's discretion, a number of those listeners become friendly toward you; this is not a magical effect, and continued amicability on their part depends on your actions. You can roll on the following table to help determine the theme of your tale or choose one that best fits your character. Alternatively, work with your DM to create your own fishing tale.

Suggested Characteristics

Fishers succeed only if they spend time at their jobs. As such, most fishers have a strong work ethic, and they admire others who earn their living honestly. Fishers tend to be superstitious, forming attachments to particular fishing lures or special fishing spots. They have a connection to the bodies of water in which they fish, and they think poorly of those whose actions adversely affect their livelihood.

Defining Event

You previously pursued a simple profession among the peasantry, perhaps as a farmer, miner, servant, shepherd, woodcutter, or gravedigger. But something happened that set you on a different path and marked you for greater things. Choose or randomly determine a defining event that marked you as a hero of the people.

Feature: Rustic Hospitality

Since you come from the ranks of the common folk, you fit in among them with ease. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among other commoners, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.

Suggested Characteristics

A folk hero is one of the common people, for better or for worse. Most folk heroes look on their humble origins as a virtue, not a shortcoming, and their home communities remain very important to them.

Guild Business

Guilds are generally found in cities large enough to support several artisans practicing the same trade. However, your guild might instead be a loose network of artisans who each work in a different village within a larger realm. Work with your DM to determine the nature of your guild. You can select your guild business from the Guild Business table or roll randomly.

As a member of your guild, you know the skills needed to create finished items from raw materials (reflected in your proficiency with a certain kind of artisan's tools), as well as the principles of trade and good business practices. The question now is whether you abandon your trade for adventure, or take on the extra effort to weave adventuring and trade together.

Feature: Guild Membership

As an established and respected member of a guild, you can rely on certain benefits that membership provides. Your fellow guild members will provide you with lodging and food if necessary, and pay for your funeral if needed. In some cities and towns, a guildhall offers a central place to meet other members of your profession, which can be a good place to meet potential patrons, allies, or hirelings.

Guilds often wield tremendous political power. If you are accused of a crime, your guild will support you if a good case can be made for your innocence or the crime is justifiable. You can also gain access to powerful political figures through the guild, if you are a member in good standing. Such connections might require the donation of money or magic items to the guild's coffers.

You must pay dues of 5 gp per month to the guild. If you miss payments, you must make up back dues to remain in the guild's good graces.

Suggested Characteristics

Guild artisans are among the most ordinary people in the world-until they set down their tools and take up an adventuring career. They understand the value of hard work and the importance of community, but they're vulnerable to sins of greed and covetousness.

Life Of Seclusion

What was the reason for your isolation, and what changed to allow you to end your solitude? You can work with your DM to determine the exact nature of your seclusion, or you can choose or roll on the table below to determine the reason behind your seclusion.

Feature: Discovery

The quiet seclusion of your extended hermitage gave you access to a unique and powerful discovery. The exact nature of this revelation depends on the nature of your seclusion. It might be a great truth about the cosmos, the deities, the powerful beings of the outer planes, or the forces of nature. It could be a site that no one else has ever seen. You might have uncovered a fact that has long been forgotten, or unearthed some relic of the past that could rewrite history. It might be information that would be damaging to the people who or consigned you to exile, and hence the reason for your return to society.

Work with your DM to determine the details of your discovery and its impact on the campaign.

Suggested Characteristics

Some hermits are well suited to a life of seclusion, whereas others chafe against it and long for company. Whether they embrace solitude or long to escape it, the solitary life shapes their attitudes and ideals. A few are driven slightly mad by their years apart from society.

Other Hermits

This hermit background assumes a contemplative sort of seclusion that allows room for study and prayer. If you want to play a rugged wilderness recluse who lives off the land while shunning the company of other people, look at the outlander background. On the other hand, if you want to go in a more religious direction, the acolyte might be what you're looking for. Or you could even be a charlatan, posing as a wise and holy person and letting pious fools support you.

Feature: Steady

You can move twice the normal amount of time (up to 16 hours) each day before being subject to the effect of a forced march (see "Travel Pace" in chapter 8 of thePlayer's Handbook). Additionally, you can automatically find a safe route to land a boat on shore, provided such a route exists.

Hardship Endured

Hardship in your past has forged you into an unstoppable living weapon. This hardship is essential to you and is at the heart of a personal philosophy or ethos that often guides your actions. You can roll on the following table to determine this hardship or choose one that best fits your character.

Suggested Characteristics

Marines are looked up to by other soldiers and respected by their superiors. They are veteran warriors who rarely lose composure on the battlefield. Marines who leave the service tend to work as mercenaries, but their combat experience also makes them excellent adventurers. Though they are self-reliant, marines tend to operate best in groups, valuing camaraderie and the companionship of like-minded individuals.

Feature: Position of Privilege

Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to.

Suggested Characteristics

Nobles are born and raised to a very different lifestyle than most people ever experience, and their personalities reflect that upbringing. A noble title comes with a plethora of bonds—responsibilities to family, to other nobles (including the sovereign), to the people entrusted to the family’s care, or even to the title itself. But this responsibility is often a good way to undermine a noble.

Variant Feature: Retainers

If your character has a noble background, you may select this background feature instead of Position of Privilege.

You have the service of three retainers loyal to your family. These retainers can be attendants or messengers, and one might be a majordomo. Your retainers are commoners who can perform mundane tasks for you, but they do not fight for you, will not follow you into obviously dangerous areas (such as dungeons), and will leave if they are frequently endangered or abused

Origin

You've been to strange places and seen things that others cannot begin to fathom. Consider some of the distant lands you have visited, and how they impacted you. You can roll on the following table to determine your occupation during your time in the wild, or choose one that best fits your character.

Feature: Wanderer

You have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and you can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around you. In addition. you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day, provided that the land offers berries, small game, water, and so forth.

Suggested Characteristics

Often considered rude and uncouth among civilized folk, outlanders have little respect for the niceties of life in the cities. The ties of tribe, clan, family, and the natural world of which they are a part are the most important bonds to most outlanders.

Specialty

To determine the nature of your scholarly training, roll a d8 or choose from the options in the table below.

Feature: Researcher

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.

Suggested Characteristics

Sages are defined by their extensive studies, and their characteristics reflect this life of study. Devoted to scholarly pursuits, a sage values knowledge highly—sometimes in its own right, sometimes as a means toward other ideals.

Feature: Ship's Passage

When you need to, you can secure free passage on a sailing ship for yourself and adventuring your companions. You might sail on the ship you served on, or another ship you have good relations with (perhaps one captained by a former crewmate). Because you're calling in a favor, you can't be certain of a schedule or route that will meet your every need. Your Dungeon Master will determine how long it takes to get where you need to go. In return for your free passage, you your companions are expected to assist the crew during the voyage.

Suggested Characteristics

Sailors can be a rough lot, but the responsibilities of life on a ship make them generally reliable as well. Life aboard a ship shapes their outlook and forms their most important attachments.

Variant Sailor: Pirate

You spent your youth under the sway of a dread pirate, a ruthless cutthroat who taught you how to survive in a world of sharks and savages. You've indulged in larceny on the high seas and sent more than one deserving soul to a briny grave. Fear and bloodshed are no strangers to you, and you've garnered a somewhat unsavory reputation in many a port town. If you decide that your sailing career involved piracy, you can choose the Bad Reputation feature (see sidebar) instead of the Ship's Passage feature.

Feature: I'll Patch It!

Provided you have carpenter's tools and wood, you can perform repairs on a water vehicle. When you use this ability, you restore a number of hit points to the hull of a water vehicle equal to 5 x your proficiency modifier. A vehicle cannot be patched by you in this way again until after it has been pulled ashore and fully repaired.

Life At Sea

Your life at sea and in port has shaped you; you can roll on the following table to determine its impact or choose an element that best fits your character.

Suggested Characteristics

Shipwrights are resourceful carpenters and designers. They often have a dedicated spot at the local tavern, since shipwrights are invaluable to coastal communities. Some travel with naval fleets and might serve as officers if their temperament suits it. Shipwrights have an affinity for working with their hands and often perform feats of carpentry that others might deem miraculous.

Feature: Down Low

You are acquainted with a network of smugglers who are willing to help you out of tight situations. While in a particular town, city, or other similarly sized community (DM's discretion), you and your companions can stay for free in safe houses. Safe houses provide a poor lifestyle. While staying at a safe house, you can choose to keep your presence (and that of your companions) a secret.

Claim To Fame

Every smuggler has that one tale that sets them apart from common criminals. By wits, sailing skill, or a silver tongue, you lived to tell the storyand you tell it often. You can roll on the following table to determine your claim or choose one that best fits your character.

Suggested Characteristics

In general, smugglers value survival, and then profit, above other things. One could be a part of a larger organization, or might run a small smuggling vessel of their own. Smugglers live the lies they have told, and they have a natural ability to recall all the falsehoods and half-truths they have ever spouted.

Specialty

During your time as a soldier, you had a specific role to play in your unit or army. Roll a d8 or choose from the options in the table below to determine your role:

Feature: Military Rank

You have a military rank from your career as a soldier. Soldiers loyal to your former military organization still recognize your authority and influence, and they defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and requisition simple equipment or horses for temporary use. You can also usually gain access to friendly military encampments and fortresses where your rank is recognized.

Suggested Characteristics

The horrors of war combined with the rigid discipline of military service leave their mark on all soldiers, shaping their ideals, creating strong bonds, and often leaving them scarred and vulnerable to fear, shame, and hatred.

Feature: City Secrets

You know the secret patterns and flow to cities and can find passages through the urban sprawl that others would miss. When you are not in combat, you (and companions you lead) can travel between any two locations in the city twice as fast as your speed would normally allow.

Suggested Characteristics

Urchins are shaped by lives of desperate poverty, for good and for ill. They tend to be driven either by a commitment to the people with whom they shared life on the street or by a burning desire to find a better life- and maybe get some payback on all the rich people who treated them badly.

Barbarian

A tall human tribesman strides through a blizzard, draped in fur and hefting his axe. He laughs as he charges toward the frost giant who dared poach his people’s elk herd.

A half-orc snarls at the latest challenger to her authority over their savage tribe, ready to break his neck with her bare hands as she did to the last six rivals.

Frothing at the mouth, a dwarf slams his helmet into the face of his drow foe, then turns to drive his armored elbow into the gut of another.

These barbarians, different as they might be, are defined by their rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury. More than a mere emotion, their anger is the ferocity of a cornered predator, the unrelenting assault of a storm, the churning turmoil of the sea.

For some, their rage springs from a communion with fierce animal spirits. Others draw from a roiling reservoir of anger at a world full of pain. For every barbarian, rage is a power that fuels not just a battle frenzy but also uncanny reflexes, resilience, and feats of strength.

Hit Points

• Hit Dice: 1d12 per barbarian level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution modifier per barbarian level after 1st

Proficiencies

• Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields
• Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
• Tools: None
• Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution
• Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, and Survival

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a greataxe or (b) any martial melee weapon
• (a) two handaxes or (b) any simple weapon
• An explorer's pack and four javelins

Rage

In battle, you fight with primal ferocity. On your turn, you can enter a rage as a bonus action.

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren't wearing heavy armor:

• You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a barbarian, as shown in the Rage Damage column of the Barbarian table.
• You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

If you are able to cast spells, you can't cast them or concentrate on them while raging.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Once you have raged the number of times shown for your barbarian level in the Rages column of the Barbarian table, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.

Unarmored Defense

While you are not wearing any armor, your armor class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Danger Sense

At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren't as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. To gain this benefit, you can't be blinded, deafened, or incapacitated.

Reckless Attack

Starting at 2nd level, you can throw aside all concern for defense to attack with fierce desperation. When you make your first attack on your turn, you can decide to attack recklessly. Doing so gives you advantage on melee weapon attack rolls using Strength during this turn, but attack rolls against you have advantage until your next turn.

Primal Path

At 3rd level, you choose a path that shapes the nature of your rage. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th levels.

Primal Knowledge

When you reach 3rd level and again at 10th level, you gain proficiency in one skill of your choice from the list of skills available to barbarians at 1st level.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Path of the Ancestral Guardian

Some barbarians hail from cultures that revere their ancestors. These tribes teach that the warriors of the past linger in the world as mighty spirits, who can guide and protect the living. When a barbarian who follows this path rages, the barbarian contacts the spirit world and calls on these guardian spirits for aid.

Barbarians who draw on their ancestral guardians can better fight to protect their tribes and their allies. In order to cement ties to their ancestral guardians, barbarians who follow this path cover themselves in elaborate tattoos that celebrate their ancestors’ deeds. These tattoos tell sagas of victories against terrible monsters and other fearsome rivals.

Ancestral Protectors

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, spectral warriors appear when you enter your rage. While you're raging, the first creature you hit with an attack on your turn becomes the target of the warriors, which hinder its attacks. Until the start of your next turn, that target has disadvantage on any attack roll that isn't against you, and when the target hits a creature other than you with an attack, that creature has resistance to the damage dealt by the attack. The effect on the target ends early if your rage ends.

Spirit Shield

Beginning at 6th level, the guardian spirits that aid you can provide supernatural protection to those you defend. If you are raging and another creature you can see within 30 feet of you takes damage, you can use your reaction to reduce that damage by 2d6.

When you reach certain levels in this class, you can reduce the damage by more: by 3d6 at 10th level and by 4d6 at 14th level.

Consult the Spirits

At 10th level, you gain the ability to consult with your ancestral spirits. When you do so, you cast the Augury or Clairvoyance spell, without using a spell slot or material components. Rather than creating a spherical sensor, this use of clairvoyance invisibly summons one of your ancestral spirits to the chosen location. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

After you cast either spell in this way, you can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.

Vengeful Ancestors

At 14th level, your ancestral spirits grow powerful enough to retaliate. When you use your Spirit Shield to reduce the damage of an attack, the attacker takes an amount of force damage that your Spirit Shield prevents.

Path of the Battlerager

Known as Kuldjargh (literally "axe idiot") in Dwarvish, battleragers are followers of the gods of war and take the Path of the Battlerager. They specialize in wearing bulky, spiked armor and throwing themselves into combat, striking with their body itself and giving themselves over to the fury of battle.

Origin of the Beast

Form of the Beast

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, when you enter your rage, you can transform, revealing the bestial power within you. Until the rage ends, you manifest a natural weapon. It counts as a simple melee weapon for you, and you add your Strength modifier to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with it, as normal.

You choose the weapon’s form each time you rage:

• Bite. Your mouth transforms into a bestial muzzle or great mandibles (your choice). It deals 1d8 piercing damage on a hit. Once on each of your turns when you damage a creature with this bite, you regain a number of hit points equal to your proficiency bonus, provided you have less than half your hit points when you hit.
• Claws. Each of your hands transforms into a claw, which you can use as a weapon if it’s empty. It deals 1d6 slashing damage on a hit. Once on each of your turns when you attack with a claw using the Attack action, you can make one additional claw attack as part of the same action.
• Tail. You grow a lashing, spiny tail, which deals 1d8 piercing damage on a hit and has the reach property. If a creature you can see within 10 feet of you hits you with an attack roll, you can use your reaction to swipe your tail and roll a d8, applying a bonus to your AC equal to the number rolled, potentially causing the attack to miss you.

Bestial Soul

Beginning at 6th level, the feral power within you increases, causing the natural weapons of your Form of the Beast to count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

You can also alter your form to help you adapt to your surroundings. When you finish a short or long rest, choose one of the following benefits, which lasts until you finish a short or long rest:

• You gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed, and you can breathe underwater.
• You gain a climbing speed equal to your walking speed, and you can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.
• When you jump, you can make a Strength (Athletics) check and extend your jump by a number of feet equal to the check’s total. You can make this special check only once per turn.

Infectious Fury

At 10th level, when you hit a creature with your natural weapons while you are raging, the beast within you can curse your target with rabid fury. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus) or suffer one of the following effects (your choice):

• The target must use its reaction to make a melee attack against another creature of your choice that you can see.
• Target takes 2d12 psychic damage.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Call the Hunt

At 14th level, the beast within you grows so powerful that you can spread its ferocity to others and gain resilience from them joining your hunt. When you enter your rage, you can choose a number of other willing creatures you can see within 30 feet of you equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of one creature). You gain 5 temporary hit points for each creature that accepts this feature. Until the rage ends, the chosen creatures can use the following benefit once on each of their turns: when the creature hits a target with an attack roll and deals damage to it, the creature can roll a d6 and gain a bonus to the damage equal to the number rolled.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long.

Frenzy

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you can go into a frenzy when you rage. If you do so, for the duration of your rage you can make a single melee weapon attack as a bonus action on each of your turns after this one. When your rage ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

Mindless Rage

Beginning at 6th level, you can't be charmed or frightened while raging. If you are charmed or frightened when you enter your rage, the effect is suspended for the duration of the rage.

Thunderous Blows

Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, your rage instills you with the strength to batter around your foes, making any battlefield your domain. Once per turn while raging, when you damage a creature with a melee attack, you can force the target to make a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier). On a failure, you push the target 5 feet away from you, and you can choose to immediately move 5 feet into the target’s previous position.

Stance of the Mountain

You harness your fury to anchor your feet to the earth, shrugging off the blows of those who wish to topple you. Upon choosing this path at 3rd level, you cannot be knocked prone while raging unless you become unconscious.

Demolishing Might

Beginning at 6th level, you can muster destructive force with your assault, shaking the core of even the strongest structures. All of your melee attacks gain the siege property (your attacks deal double damage to objects and structures). Your melee attacks against creatures of the construct type deal an additional 1d8 weapon damage.

Overwhelming Cleave

Upon reaching 10th level, you wade into armies of foes, great swings of your weapon striking any who threaten you. When you make a weapon attack while raging, you can make another attack as a bonus action with the same weapon against a different creature that is within 5 feet of the original target and within range of your weapon.

Unstoppable

Starting at 14th level, you can choose to become unstoppable when you enter a rage. If you do so, for the duration of the rage your speed cannot be reduced, and you are immune to the frightened, paralyzed, and stunned conditions. If you are frightened, paralyzed, or stunned, you can still take your bonus action to enter your rage and suspend the effects for the duration of the rage. When your rage ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion.

Storm Aura

When you select this path at 3rd level, you emanate a stormy, magical aura while you rage. The aura extends 10 feet from you in every direction, but not through total cover.

Your aura has an effect that activates when you enter your rage, and you can activate the effect again on each of your turns as a bonus action. Choose desert, sea, or tundra. Your aura's effect depends on that chosen environment, as detailed below. You can change your environment choice whenever you gain a level in this class.

If your aura's effects require a saving throw, the DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier.

• Desert. When this effect is activated, all other creatures in your aura take 2 fire damage each. The damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 3 at 5th level, 4 at 10th level, 5 at 15th level, and 6 at 20th level.
• Sea. When this effect is activated, you can choose one other creature you can see in your aura. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. The target takes 1d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 2d6 at 10th level, 3d6 at 15th level, and 4d6 at 20th level.
• Tundra. When this effect is activated, each creature of your choice in your aura gains 2 temporary hit points, as icy spirits inure it to suffering. The temporary hit points increase when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 3 at 5th level, 4 at 10th level, 5 at 15th level, and 6 at 20th level.

Storm Soul

At 6th level, the storm grants you benefits even when your aura isn't active. The benefits are based on the environment you chose for your Storm Aura.

• Desert. You gain resistance to fire damage, and you don’t suffer the effects of extreme heat, as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Moreover, as an action, you can touch a flammable object that isn't being worn or carried by anyone else and set it on fire.
• Sea. You gain resistance to lightning damage, and you can breathe underwater. You also gain a swimming speed of 30 feet.
• Tundra. You gain resistance to cold damage, and you don’t suffer the effects of extreme cold, as described in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Moreover, as an action, you can touch water and turn a 5-foot cube of it into ice, which melts after 1 minute. This action fails if a creature is in the cube.

Shielding Storm

At 10th level, you learn to use your mastery of the storm to protect others. Each creature of your choice has the damage resistance you gained from the Storm Soul feature while the creature is in your Storm Aura.

Raging Storm

At 14th level, the power of the storm you channel grows mightier, lashing out at your foes. The effect is based on the environment you chose for your Storm Aura.

• Desert. Immediately after a creature in your aura hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes fire damage equal to your Barbarian level.
• Sea. When you hit a creature in your aura with an attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is knocked prone, as if struck by a wave.
• Tundra. Whenever the effect of your Storm Aura is activated, you can choose one creature you can see in the aura. That creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw, or its speed is reduced to 0 until the start of your next turn, as magical frost covers it.

Spirit Seeker

Yours is a path that seeks attunement with the natural world, giving you a kinship with beasts. At 3rd level when you adopt this path, you gain the ability to cast the Beast Sense and Speak with Animals spells, but only as rituals.

Totem Spirit

At 3rd level, when you adopt this path, you choose a totem spirit and gain its feature. You must make or acquire a physical totem object – an amulet or similar adornment – that incorporates fur or feathers, claws, teeth, or bones of the totem animal. At your option, you also gain minor physical attributes that are reminiscent of your totem spirit. For example, if you have a bear totem spirit, you might be unusually hairy and thick-skinned, or if your totem is the eagle, your eyes turn bright yellow.

Your totem animal might be an animal related to those listed here but more appropriate to your homeland. For example, you could choose a hawk or vulture in place of an eagle.

• Bear. While raging, you have resistance to all damage except psychic damage. The spirit of the bear makes you tough enough to stand up to any punishment.
• Eagle. While you're raging and aren't wearing heavy armor, other creatures have disadvantage on opportunity attack rolls against you, and you can use the Dash action as a bonus action on your turn. The spirit of the eagle makes you into a predator who can weave through the fray with ease.
• Elk. While you're raging and aren't wearing heavy armor, your walking speed increases by 15 feet. The spirit of the elk makes you extraordinarily swift.
• Tiger. While raging, you can add 10 feet to your long jump distance and 3 feet to your high jump distance. The spirit of the tiger empowers your leaps.
• Wolf. While you're raging, your friends have advantage on melee attack rolls against any creature within 5 feet of you that is hostile to you. The spirit of the wolf makes you a leader of hunters.

Magic Awareness

When you choose this path at 3rd level, as an action, you can open your awareness to the presence of concentrated magic. Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any spell or magic item within 60 feet of you that isn’t behind total cover. When you sense a spell, you learn which school of magic it belongs to.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Wild Surge

Also at 3rd level, the magical energy roiling inside you sometimes erupts from you. When you enter your rage, roll on the Wild Magic table to determine the magical effect produced.

If the effect requires a saving throw, the DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier.

Bolstering Magic

Beginning at 6th level, you can harness your wild magic to bolster yourself or a companion. As an action, you can touch one creature (which can be yourself) and confer one of the following benefits of your choice to that creature:

• For 10 minutes, the creature can roll a d3 whenever making an attack roll or an ability check and add the number rolled to the d20 roll.
• Roll a d3. The creature regains one expended spell slot, the level of which equals the number rolled or lower (the creature’s choice). Once a creature receives this benefit, that creature can’t receive it again until after a long rest.

You can take this action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Unstable Backlash

At 10th level, when you are imperiled during your rage, the magic within you can lash out; immediately after you take damage or fail a saving throw while raging, you can use your reaction to roll on the Wild Magic table and immediately produce the effect rolled. This effect replaces your current Wild Magic effect.

Controlled Surge

At 14th level, whenever you roll on the Wild Magic table, you can roll the die twice and choose which of the two effects to unleash. If you roll the same number on both dice, you can ignore the number and choose any effect on the table.

Path of the Zealot

Some deities inspire their followers to pitch themselves into a ferocious battle fury. These barbarians are zealots – warriors who channel their rage into powerful displays of divine power.

A variety of gods across the worlds of D&D inspire their followers to embrace this path. Tempus from the Forgotten Realms and Hextor and Erythnul of Greyhawk are all prime examples. In general, the gods who inspire zealots are deities of combat, destruction, and violence. Not all are evil, but few are good.

Music and Magic

In the worlds of D&D, words and music are not just vibrations of air, but vocalizations with power all their own. The bard is a master of song, speech, and the magic they contain. Bards say that the multiverse was spoken into existence, that the words of the gods gave it shape, and that echoes of these primordial Words of Creation still resound throughout the cosmos. The music of bards is an attempt to snatch and harness those echoes, subtly woven into their spells and powers.

The greatest strength of bards is their sheer versatility. Many bards prefer to stick to the sidelines in combat, using their magic to inspire their allies and hinder their foes from a distance. But bards are capable of defending themselves in melee if 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 subjects and a natural aptitude that lets them do almost anything well. Bards become masters of the talents they set their minds to perfecting, from musical performance to esoteric knowledge.

Learning from Experience

True bards are not common in the world. Not every minstrel singing in a tavern or jester cavorting in a royal court is a bard. Discovering the magic hidden in music requires hard study and some measure of natural talent that most troubadours and jongleurs lack. It can be hard to spot the difference between these performers and true bards, though. A bard’s life is spent wandering across the land gathering lore, telling stories, and living on the gratitude of audiences, much like any other entertainer. But a depth of knowledge, a level of musical skill, and a touch of magic set bards apart from their fellows.

Only rarely do bards settle in one place for long, and their natural desire to travel—to find new tales to tell, new skills to learn, and new discoveries beyond the horizon—makes an adventuring career a natural calling. Every adventure is an opportunity to learn, practice a variety of skills, enter long-forgotten tombs, discover lost works of magic, 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 experience earns renown among other bards. Indeed, after telling so many stories about heroes accomplishing mighty deeds, many bards take these themes to heart and assume heroic roles themselves.

Quick Build

You can make a bard quickly by following these suggestions. First, Charisma should be your highest ability score, followed by Dexterity. Second, choose the entertainer background. Third, choose the dancing lights and vicious mockery cantrips, along with the following 1st-level spells: charm person, detect magic, healing word, and thunderwave.

Hit Points

• Hit Dice: 1d8 per bard level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per bard level after 1st

Proficiencies

• Armor: Light armor
• Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
• Tools: Three musical instruments of your choice
• Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma
• Skills: Choose any three

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a rapier, (b) a longsword, or (c) any simple weapon
• (a) a diplomat's pack or (b) an entertainer's pack
• (a) a lute or (b) any other musical instrument
• Leather armor and a dagger

Cantrips

You know two cantrips of your choice from the bard spell list. You learn additional bard cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Bard table.

Spell Slots

The Bard table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your bard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. For example, if you know the 1st-level spell Cure Wounds and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast Cure Wounds using either slot.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know four 1st-level spells of your choice from the bard spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Bard table shows when you learn more bard spells of your choice. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown on the table. For instance, when you reach 3rd level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the bard spells you know and replace it with another spell from the bard spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your bard spells. Your magic comes from the heart and soul you pour into the performance of your music or oration. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a bard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Ritual Casting

You can cast any bard spell you know as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag.

Spellcasting Focus

You can use a musical instrument (found in chapter 5) as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

College of Creation

Bards believe the cosmos is a work of art - the creation of the first dragons and gods. That creative work included harmonies that continue to resound through existence today, a power known as the Song of Creation. The bards of the College of Creation draw on that primeval song through dance, music, and poetry, and their teachers share this lesson: "Before the sun and the moon, there was the Song, and its music awoke the first dawn. Its melodies so delighted the stones and trees that some of them gained a voice of their own. And now they sing too. Learn the Song, students, and you too can teach the mountains to sing and dance."

Dwarves often encourage their bards to become students of the Song of Creation. And among dragonborn, the Song of Creation is revered, for legends portray Bahamut and Tiamat-the greatest of dragons -as two of the song's first singers.

Silver Tongue

Starting at 3rd level, you are a master at saying the right thing at the right time. When you make a Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Deception) check, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10.

Unsettling Words

Also at 3rd level, you can spin words laced with magic that unsettle a creature and cause it to doubt itself. As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. Roll the Bardic Inspiration die. The creature must subtract the number rolled from the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

Unfailing Inspiration

At 6th level, your inspiring words are so persuasive that others feel driven to succeed. When a creature adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to its ability check, attack roll, or saving throw and the roll fails, the creature can keep the Bardic Inspiration die.

Universal Speech

Also at 6th level, you have gained the ability to make your speech intelligible to any creature. As an action, choose one or more creatures within 60 feet of you, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one creature). The chosen creatures can magically understand you, regardless of the language you speak, for 1 hour.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest, unless you expend a spell slot to use it again.

Infectious Inspiration

At 14th level, when you successfully inspire someone, the power of your eloquence can now spread to someone else. When a creature within 60 feet of you adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to its ability check, attack roll, or saving throw and the roll succeeds, you can use your reaction to encourage a different creature (other than yourself) that can hear you within 60 feet of you, giving it a Bardic Inspiration die without expending any of your Bardic Inspiration uses.

You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Mantle of Inspiration

When you join the College of Glamour at 3rd level, you gain the ability to weave a song of fey magic that imbues your allies with vigor and speed.

As a bonus action, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to grant yourself a wondrous appearance. When you do so, choose a number of creatures you can see and who can see you within 60 feet of you, up to a number equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each of them gains 5 temporary hit points. When a creature gains these temporary hit points, it can immediately use its reaction to move up to its speed, without provoking opportunity attacks.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Lore at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with three skills of your choice.

Cutting Words

Also at 3rd level, you learn how to use your wit to distract, confuse, and otherwise sap the confidence and competence of others. When a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a damage roll, you can use your reaction to expend one of your uses of Bardic Inspiration, rolling a Bardic Inspiration die and subtracting the number rolled from the creature's roll. You can choose to use this feature after the creature makes its roll, but before the DM determines whether the attack roll or ability check succeeds or fails, or before the creature deals its damage. The creature is immune if it can't hear you or if it's immune to being charmed.

Additional Magical Secrets

At 6th level, you learn two spells of your choice from any class. A spell you choose must be of a level you can cast, as shown on the Bard table, or a cantrip. The chosen spells count as bard spells for you but don't count against the number of bard spells you know.

Peerless Skill

Starting at 14th level, when you make an ability check, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration. Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to your ability check. You can choose to do so after you roll the die for the ability check, but before the DM tells you whether you succeed or fail.

Guiding Whispers

At 3rd level, you can reach out to spirits to guide you and others. You learn the Guidance cantrip, which doesn’t count against the number of bard cantrips you know. For you, it has a range of 60 feet when you cast it.

Spiritual Focus

At 3rd level, you employ tools that aid you in channeling spirits, be they historical figures or fictional archetypes. You can use the following objects as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells: a candle, crystal ball, skull, spirit board, or tarokka deck.

Starting at 6th level, when you cast a bard spell that deals damage or restores hit points through the Spiritual Focus, roll a d6, and you gain a bonus to one damage or healing roll of the spell equal to the number rolled.

Spirit Tales

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Valor at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.

Combat Inspiration

Also at 3rd level, you learn to inspire others in battle. A creature that has a Bardic Inspiration die from you can roll that die and add the number rolled to a weapon damage roll it just made. Alternatively, when an attack roll is made against the creature, it can use its reaction to roll the Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to its AC against that attack, after seeing the roll but before knowing whether it hits or misses.

Extra Attack

Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Battle Magic

At 14th level, you have mastered the art of weaving spellcasting and weapon use into a single harmonious act. When you use your action to cast a bard spell, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.

Psychic Blades