Dungeon Master's Guide

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ON THE COVER

Tyler jacobson illustrates the arch lich Acerera k
as he raises an army of undead and prepares to
unleash it on an unsuspecting wo rld .

620A921900000l EN CE
ISBN: 978-0-7869-6562-5
First Printing: December 2014

987654321

Disclaimer: Wizards ofthe Coast does not officially endorse the following u;c:-·c:s. ,..,. cr. are gJarorue.td to maximize your enj oyment as a Dungeon Master. First, always keep a straight f ace and

say OK no matter how ludicrous or doomed the pla yers' plan ofaction is. Suo,. a ra tr.a:-~r .......a: happens, pretend that yo u intended all alongfo r everything to unfold the way it did. Third, if

you're not sure what to do next, feign if/ness, end the session early, and plor yo;.~r- rt.r: rr.o..~. ,.er. a/ else fails, roll a bunch ofdice behind your screen, study them fo r a moment with a look of
de ep concern mixed with regret, let loose a heavy sigh, and announce that T10rra: ~frorP:" =~e s and attacks.

DUN G EO NS & DRAGO NS , 0&0 , Wizards of the Coas t, Forgotten Rea lms. rr~ ::7~,... ... =-- ~"'0~ Poyer's Handbook , Monster Ma nual, Dungeon Moster's Guide, al l othe r Wiza rds of
the Coas t product na mes, an d their respective logos are trad emar ks ofWiz a""".s : :.- ~ ~st - ~re SA and other cou ntr ies . All characte rs an d thei r d istinctive like nesses are prop erty
of Wizards of t he Coast. Th is mate rial is protecte d und e r th e copyri ght laws o: ·-e - :.e= S:z:es or A~erica. Any re produc tion or una uth orized use of t he mate rial or artwork co ntained
he rein is prohibite d without the ex press writ ten pe rmiss io n of Wiza rds of toe Coa:s:

•· .-factored by Hasbro SA, Rue Emil e- Boechat 31, 2800 Dele mont , CH.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 4 Unusual Environments .............................................. 116
Traps.............................................................................. 120
The Dungeon Master....................................................... 4
How to Use This Book....................................................4 CHAPTER 6: BETWEEN ADVENTURES .... .. ...... 125
Know Your Players ........................................................... 6
Linking Adventures .................................................... 125
PARTl 7 Campaign Tracking..................................................... 126
Recurring Expenses ................................................... 126
CHAPTER 1: A WORLD OF YOUR OWN .. ...... ........ 9 Downtime Activities ................................................... 127

The Big Picture................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 7: TREASURE ................................ .. .... .. . 133
Gods of Your World ........................................................ 10
Mapping Your Campaign............................................... 14 Types of Treasure ....................................................... 133
Settlements .....................................................................15 Random Treasure ....................................................... 133
Languages and Dialects............................................... 20 Magic Items.................................................................. 135
Factions and Organizations .........................................21 Sentient Magic Items ................................................. 214
Magic in Your World ..................................................... 23 Artifacts......................................................................... 219
Creating a Campaign ................................................... 25 Other Rewards ............................................................ 227
Campaign Events .......................................................... 26
Play Style ........................................................................ 34 PART3 233
Tiers of Play.................................................................... 36
Flavors of Fantasy ...........................:............................ 38 CHAPTER 8: RUNNING THE GAME ..... .. .......... 235

CHAPTER 2: CREATING A MULTIVERSE .. .. ..... 43 Table Rules ................................................................... 235
The Role of Dice .......................................................... 236
The Planes ..................................................................... 43 Using Ability Scores .................................................. 237
Planar Travel ................................................................. 44 Exploration ................................................................... 242
Astral Plane ........................................:.......................... 46 Social Interaction ....................................................... 244
Ethereal Plane ............................................................... 48 Objects........................................................................... 246
Feywild ....:....................................................................... 49 Combat .......................................................................... 247
Shadowfe ll..... ................................................. ... .. ..'.......... 51 Chases ........................................................................... 252
Inner P lanes....................................................................52 Siege Equipment.............................................,........... 255
Outer P lanes .................................................................. 57 Diseases ........................................................................ 256
Other Planes .................................................................. 67 Poisons .......................................................................... 257
Known Worlds of the Material Plane ....................... 68 Madness ........................................................................ 258
Experience Points....................................................... 260
PART2 69
CHAPTER 9: DuNGEON MASTER' s
CHAPTER 3: CREATING ADVENTURES ............ 71
WORKSHOP ...................................... ............... ..... ........ 263
Elements of a Great Adventure ..................................71
Published Adventures .................................................. 72 Ability Options............................................................. 263
Adventure Structure .................................................... 72 Adventuring Options..................................................266
Adventure Types ........................................................... 72 Combat Options .......................................................... 270
Complications ................................................................ 79 Creating a Monster ..................................................... 273
Creating Encounters .....................................................81 Creating a Spell........................................................... 283
Random Encounters .................................................... 85 Creating a Magic Item ............................................... 284
Creating New Character Options............................ 285
CHAPTER 4 : CREATING NONPLAYER
APPENDIXA: RANDOM DUNGEONS 290
CHARACTERS ................................. ..... ..... ................. .... 89
Designing NPCs ........................................................... 89 Starting Area ............................................................... 290
NPC Party Members.................................................... 92 Passages ....................................................................... 290
Contacts .......................................................................... 93 Doors ............................................................................. 291
Hirelings ......................................................................... 94 Chambers ..................................................................... 291
Extras .............................................................................. 94 Stairs ............................................................................. 291
Villains ............................................................................ 94 Connecting Areas ....................................................... 292
Villainous Class Options ............................................. 96 Stocking a Dungeon................................................... 292

CHAPTER 5: ADVENTURE ENVIRONMENTS .. . 99 APPENDIX B: MONSTER LISTS 302

Dungeons ........................................................................ 99 APPENDIX C: MA-P-S------------------3-1-0
Mapping a Dungeon ................................................... 102
Wilderness .................................................................... 106 APPENDIX D: DUNGEON
Mapping a Wilderness ............................................... 108
Wilderness Survival ................................................... 109 MASTER INSPIRA-T-I-O-N-------------3-1-6
Settlements .................................................................. 112 INDE-X---------------------------3-1-7
Mapping a Settlement.................................................114
Urban Encounters..............:......................................... 114

INTRODUCTION How TO UsE THIS BooK

T 'S GOOD TO BE THE DU NGEON MASTER! NOT ONLY This book is orga nized in three parts. The first part
helps you decide what kind of campaign you'd like to
d? y~u get to tell fantastic stories about heroes, run. The s econd part helps you create the adventures-
the stor ies-that will compose the campaign and
rv1llams, monsters, and magic, but you also get keep the players entertained from one game session
to create the world in which these stories live. to the next. The last part helps you adjudicate the
Whether you're running a D&D game already rules of the game and modify them to suit the style of
or you think it's something you want to try, this your campa ign.
book is for you.
The Dungeon Master's Guide assumes that you know PART 1: MASTER OF WORLDS
the basics of how to play the D&D tabletop roleplaying
game. If you haven't played before, the DuNGEONS f!f> Every DM is the creator of his or her own campaign
DRAGONS Starter Set is a great starting point for new world. Whether you invent a world, adapt a world from
players and DMs. a favorite movie or novel, or use a published setting for
This book has two important companions: the Player's the D&D game, you make that world your own over the
Handbook, which contains the rules your players need course of a campaign.
to create characters and the rules you need to run the
game, and the Monster Manual, which contains ready-to- The world where you set your campaign is one of
use monsters to populate your D&D world. countless worlds that make up the D&D multiverse,
a vast array of planes and worlds where adventures
THE DUNGEON MASTER happen. Even if you're using an established world such
as the Forgotten Realms, your campaign takes place
The Dungeon Master (DM) is the creative force in a sort of mirror universe of the official setting where
behind a D&D game. The DM creates a world for the Forgotten Realms novels, game products, and digital
other players to explore, and also creates and runs games are assumed to take place. The world is yours to
adventures that drive the story. An adventure typically change as you see fit and yours to modify as you explore
hinges on the successful completion of a quest, and the consequences of the players' actions.
can be as short as a single game session. Longer
adventures might embroil players in great conflicts that Your world is more than just a backdrop for
require multiple game sessions to resolve. When strung adventures. Like Middle Earth, Westeros, and countless
together, these adventures form an ongoing campaign. other fantasy worlds out there, it's a place to which you
A D&D campaign can include dozens of adventures and can escape and witness fantastic stories unfold. A well-
last for months or years. designed and well-run world seems to flow around the
adventurers, so that they feel part of something, instead
A Dungeon Master gets to wear many hats. As the of apartfrom it.
architect of a campaign , the DM creates adventures
by placing monsters, traps, and treasures for the other Consistency is a key to a believable fictional
players' characters (the adventurers) to discover. As world. When the adventurers go back into town for
a storyteller, the DM helps the other players visualize supplies, they should encounter the same nonplayer
what's happening around them, improvising when the characters.(NPCs) they met before. Soon, they'll learn
adventurers do something or go somewhere unexpected. the barkeep's name, and he or she will remember
As an actor, the DM plays the roles of the monsters and theirs as well. Once you have achieved this degree of
supporting characters, breathing life into them. And as a consistency, you can provide an occasional change. If
referee, the DM interprets the rules and decides when to the adventurers come back to buy more horses at the
abide by them and when to change them. stables, they might discover that the man who ran the
place went back home to the large city over the hills,
Inventing, writing, storytelling, improvising, acting, and now his niece runs the family business. That sort of ·
refereeing-every DM handles these roles differently, change- one that has nothing to do with the adventurers
and you'll probably enjoy some more than others. It directly, but one that they'll notice- makes the players
helps to remember that DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is a feel as though their characters are part of a living world
hobby, and being the DM should be fun. Focus .on the that changes and grows along with them.
aspects you enjoy and downplay the rest. For example, if
you don't like creating your own adventures, you can use Part 1 of this book is all about inventing your world.
published ones. You can also lean on the other players Chapter 1 asks what type of game you want to run, and
to help you with rules mastery and world-building. helps you nail down a few important details about your
world and its overarching conflicts. Chapter 2 helps you
The D&D rules help you and the other players have put your world in the greater context of the multiverse,
a good time, but the rules aren't in charge. You're the expanding on the information presented in the Player's
DM, and you are in charge of the game. That said , your Handbook to discuss the planes of existence and the
goal isn't to slaughter the adventurers but to create a gods and how you can put them together to serve the
campaign world that revolves around their actions and needs of your campaign.
decisions, and to keep your players coming back for
more! If you're lucky, the events of your campaign will
echo in the memories of your players long after the final
game session is concluded.

INTRODUCTION
4

PART 2: MASTER OF ADVENTURES example, a player might want his or her character to
hurl a brazier full of hot coals into a monster's face.
Whether you write your own adventures or use How you determine the outcome of this action is up to
published ones, expect to invest preparation time you. You might tell the player to make a Strength check,
beyond the hours you spend at the gaming table. You'll while mentally setting the Difficulty Class (DC) at 15.
need to carve out some free time to exercise your If the Strength check is successful, you then determine
creativity as you invent compelling plots, create new how a face full of hot coals affects the monster. You
NPCs, craft encounters, and think of clever ways to might decide that it deals ld4 fire damage and imposes
foreshadow story events yet to come. disadvantage on the monster's attack rolls until the end
of its next turn. You roll the damage die (or let the player
Part 2 of this book is devoted to helping you create do it), and the game continues.
and run great adventures. Chapter 3 covers the basic
elements of a D&D adventure, and chapter 4 helps you Sometimes mediating the rules means setting limits.
create memorable NPCs. Chapter 5 presents guidelines If a player tells you, "I want to run up and attack the
and advice for running adventures set in dungeons, ore," but the character doesn't have enough movement
the wilderness, and other locales, and chapter 6 covers to reach the ore, you say, "It's too far away to move up
the time between adventures. Chapter 7 is all about and still attack. What would you like to do instead?"
treasure, magic items, and special rewards that help The player takes the information and comes up with a
keep the players invested in your campaign. different plan.

PART 3: MASTER OF RULES To referee the rules, you need to know them. You don't
have to memorize this book or the Player's Handbook,
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS isn't a head-to-head competition, but you should have a clear idea of their contents so that,
when a situation requires a ruling, you know where to
but it needs someone who is impartial yet involved in the find the proper reference.

game to guarantee that everyone at the table plays by the The Player's Handbook contains the main rules you
need to play the game. Part 3 of this book offers a wealth
rules. As the player who creates the game world and the of information to help you adjudicate the rules in a wide
variety of situations. Chapter 8 presents advice for using
adventures that take place within it, the DM is a natural attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. It also
includes options appropriate for certain play styles and
fit to take on the referee role. · campaigns, including guidelines for using miniatures,
a system for handling chase scenes, and rules for
As a referee, the DM acts as a mediator between the madness. If you like to create your own stuff, such
as new monsters, races, and character backgrounds,
rules and the players. A player tells the DM what he or chapter 9 shows you how. That chapter also contains
optional rules for unusual situations or play styles, such
she wants to do, and the DM determines whether it is as the use of firearms in a fantasy setting.

successful or not, in some cases asking the player to

make a die roll to determine success. For example, if a

player wants his or her character to take a swing at an

ore, you say, "Make an attack roll" while looking up the

ore's Armor Class.

The rules don't account for every possible situation

that might arise during a typical D&D session. For

INTRODUCTION 5

KNow YouR PLAYERS FIGHTING

The success of a D&D game hinges on you r ability to P layers who enjoy fantasy combat like kicking the
entertain the other players at the game table. Whereas ta r out of villains and monsters. They look for any
their role is to create characters (the protagonists of excuse to start a fight, favoring bold action over careful
the campaign), breathe life into them , and help steer delib e r a t io n.
the campaign through their characters' actions, your
role is to keep the players (and yourself) interested and Engage players who like fighting by ...
immersed in the world you've created , and to let their • springing unexpected combat encounters on them.
characters do awesome things.
vividly describing the havoc their characters wreak
Knowing what your players enjoy most about the with their attacks and spells.
D&D game helps you create and run adventures that including combat encounters with large numbers of
they will enjoy and remember. Once you know which of weak monsters.
the following activities each player in your group enjoys • interrupting social interaction and exploration
the most, you can tailor adventures that satisfy your with combat.
players' preferences as much as possible, thus keeping
them engaged. OPTIMIZING

ACTING Players who enjoy optimizing their characters'
capabilities like to fine-tune their characters for peak
Players who enjoy acting like getting into character combat performance by gaining levels, new features,
and speaking in their characters' voices. Roleplayers and magic items. They welcome any opportunity to
at heart, they enjoy social interactions with NPCs, demonstrate their characters' superiority.
monsters, and their fellow party members.
Engage players who like optimization by ...
Engage players who like acting by ... ensuring steady access to new abilities and spells.
giving them opportunities to develop their characters'
personalities and backgrounds. • using desired magic items as adventure hooks.
including encounters that let their characters shine.
• allowing them to interact regularly with NPCs. providing quantifiable rewards, like experience points,
adding roleplaying elements to combat encounters. for noncombat encounters.
incorporating elements from their characters' back-
grounds into your adventures. PROBLEM SOLVING

ExPLORING Players who want to solve problems like to scrutinize
NPC motivations, untangle a villain's machinations,
Players who desire exploration want to experience the solve puzzles, and come up with plans.
wonders that a fantasy world has to offer. They want to
know what's around the next corner or hill. They also Engage players who like to solve problems by ...
like to find hidden clues and treasure. • including encounters that emphasize problem-solving.

Engage players who like exploration by ... rewarding planning and tactics with in-game benefits.
dropping clues that hint at things yet to come. • occasionally allowing a smart plan to grant an easy
letting them find things when they take the time
to explore. win for the players.
providing rich descriptions of exciting environments, creating NPCs with complex motives.
and using interesting maps and props.
STORYTELLING
• giving monsters secrets to uncover or cultural
details to learn. Players who love storytelling want to contribute to a
narrative. They like it when their characters are heavily
INSTIGATING invested in an unfolding story, and they enjoy encounters
that are tied to and expand an overarching plot.
Player's who like to instigate action are eager to make
things happen, even if that means taking perilqus risks. Engage players who like storytelling by ...
They would rather rush headlong into danger and face using their characters' backgrounds to help shape the
the consequences than face boredom. stories of the campaign.

Engage players who like to instigate by ... • making sure an encounter advances the story
allowing them to affect their surroundings. in some way.

• including things in your adventures to tempt them. • making their characters' actions help steer
letting their actions put the characters in a tight spot. future events.
including encounters with NPCs who are as feisty and giving NPCs ideals, bonds, and flaws that the adven-
unpredictable as they are. turers can exploit.

INTRODUCTTON

PART1

Master of Worlds

• ••

• •



OUR WORLD IS TH E SETTING FOR YOUR CAMPAIGN , they compete with each other for power. Some seek to
preserve the world and usher in a golden age. Others
the place where adventures happen. Even strive toward evil ends, seeking to rule the world with
if you use an existing setting, such as the an iron fist. Still others seek goals that range from
Forgotten Realms, it becomes yours as you the practical to the esoteric, such as the accumulation
set your adventures there, create characters of material wealth or the resurrection of a dead god.
to inhabit it, and make changes to it over Whatever their goals, these factions inevitably collide,
the course of your campaign. This chapter is all about creating conflict that can steer the world's fate.
building your world and then creating a campaign to
take place in it. The World Is Magical. Practitioners of magic are
relatively few in number, but they leave evidence of
THE BIG PICTURE their craft everywhere. The magic can be as innocuous
and commonplace as a potion that heals wounds to
This book, the Player's Handbook, and the Monster something much more rare and impressive, such as a
Manual present the default assumptions for how the levitating tower or a stone golem guarding the gates
worlds of D&D work. Among the established settings of of a city. Beyond the realms of civilization are caches
D&D, the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, of magic items guarded by magic traps, as well as
and Mystara don't stray very far from those magically constructed dungeons inhabited by monsters
assumptions. Settings such as Dark Sun, Eberron, created by magic, cursed by magic, or endowed with
Raven loft, Spelljammer, and Planescape venture further magical abilities.
away from that baseline. As you create your own world,
it's up to you to decide where on the spectrum you want IT's YouR WoRLD _ _ _ _ _ _ __
your world to fall.
In creating your campaign world, it helps to start with
CoRE AssuMPTIONS _______ the core assumptions and consider how your setting
might change them. The subsequent sections of this
The rules of the game are based on the following core chapter address each element and give details on how to
assumptions about the game world. flesh out your world with gods, factions, and so forth.

Gods Oversee the World. The gods are real and The assumptions sketched out above aren't carved
embody a variety of beliefs, with each god claiming in stone. They inspire exciting D&D worlds full of
dominion over an aspect of the world, such as war, adventure, but they're not the on ly set of assumptions
forests, or the sea. Gods exert influence over the world that can do so. You can build an interesting campaign
by granting divine magic to their followers and sending concept by altering one or more of those core
signs and portents to guide them. The follower of a god assumptions, just as well-established D&D worlds have
serves as an agent of that god in the world . The agent done. Ask yourself, "What if the standard assumptions
seeks to further the ideals of that god and defeat its weren't true in my world?"
rivals. While some folk might refuse to honor the gods,
none can deny their existence. The World Is a Mundane Place. What if magic is rare
and dangerous, and even adventurers have limited or no
Much ofthe World Is Untamed. Wild regions access to it? What if your campaign is set in a version of
abound. City-states, confederacies, and kingdoms our own world's history?
of various sizes dot the Ia ndscape, but beyond their
borders the wilds crowd in. People know the area they The World Is New. What if your world is new, and
live in well. They've heard stories of other places from the characters are the first of a long line of heroes?
merchants and travelers, but few know what lies beyond The adventurers might be champions of the first
the mountains or in the depths of the great forest unless great empires, such as the empires of Netheril and
they've been there themselves. Cormanthor in the Forgotten Realms setting.

The World Is Ancient. Empires rise and fall , leaving The World Is Known. What if the world is completely
few places that have not been touched by imperial charted and mapped, right down to the "Here there be
grandeur or decay. War, time, and natural forces dragons" notations? What if great empires cover huge
eventually claim the mortal world, leaving it rich with stretches of countryside, with clearly defined borders
places of adventure and mystery. Ancient civilizations between them? The Five Nations of the Eberron setting
and their knowledge survive in legends, magic were once part of a great empire, and magically aided
items, and their ruins. Chaos and evil often follow an travel between its cities is commonplace.
empire's collapse.
Monsters Are Uncommo"n. What if monsters are
Conflict Shapes the World's History. Powerful rare and terrifying? In the Ravenloft setting, horrific
individuals strive to make their mark on the world, and domains are governed by monstrous rulers. The
factions of like-minded individuals can alter the course populace lives in perpetual terror of these darklords
of history. Factions include religions led by charismatic and their evil minions, but other monsters rarely trouble
prophets, kingdoms ruled by lasting dynasties, and people's daily lives.
shadowy societies that seek to master long-lost magic.
The influence of such factions waxes and wanes as Magic Is Everywhere. What if every town is ruled
by a powerful wizard? What if magic item shops are
common? The Eberron setting makes the use of magic

CHAPTER 1 \A WORLD OF YOUR OWN 9

an everyday occurrence, as magical flying ships and calls clerics and paladins to his service and encourages
trains carry travelers from one great city to another. them to spread the ideals of honorable warfare,
chival ry, and justice in society. Even in the midst of his
Gods Inhabit the Land, orAre EntirelyAbsent. everlasting war with his brother Hextor, god of war and
What if the gods regularly walk the earth? What if the tyra nny, Heironeous promotes his own portfolio: war
characters can challenge them and seize their power? fought nobly and in the cause of justice.
Or what if the gods are remote, and even angels never
make contact with mortals? In the Dark Sun setting, the People in most D&D worlds are polytheistic, honoring
gods are extremely distant-perhaps nonexistent-and deities of their own and acknowledging pantheons of
clerics rely instead on elemental power for their magic. other cultures. Individuals pay homage to various gods,
regardless of alignment. In the Forgotten Realms, a
Gons OF YouR WoRLD person might propitiate Umberlee before setting out
to sea, join a communal feast to celebrate Chauntea at
Appendix B of the Player's Handbook presents a harvest time, and pray to Malar before going hunting.
number of pantheons (loose groupings of deities not
united by a single doctrine or philosophy) for use in your Some individuals feel a calling to a particular deity's
game, including the gods of established D&D worlds service and claim that god as a patron. Particularly
and fantasy-historical pantheons. You can adopt one of devoted individuals become priests by setting up a
these pantheons for your campaign, or pick and choose shrine or helping to staff a holy site. Much more rarely,
deities and ideas from them as you please. See "A those who feel such a calling become clerics or paladins
Sample Pantheon" in this section for an example. invested with the responsibility of true divine power.

As far as the game's rules are concerned, it doesn't Shrines and temples serve as community gathering
matter if your world has hundreds of deities or a church points for religious rites and festivals. Priests at such
devoted to a single god. In rules terms, clerics choose sites relate stories of the gods, teach the ethics of their
domains, not deities, so your world can associate patron deities, offer advice and blessings, perform
domains with deities in any way you choose. religious rites, and provide training in activities their
deities favor. Cities and large towns can host several
LOOSE PANTHEONS temples dedicated to individual gods important to the
community, while smaller settlements might have a
Most D&D worlds have a loose pantheon of gods. single shrine devoted to any gods the locals revere.
A multitude of deities rule the various aspects of
existence, variously cooperating with and competing To quickly build a pantheon for your world, crea~e
against one another to administer the affairs of the a single god for each of the eight domains available
universe. People gather in public shrines to worship to clerics: Death, Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature,
gods of life and wisdom, or meet in hidden places to Tempest, Trickery, and War. You can invent names
venerate gods of deception or destruction. and personalities for these deities, or borrow deities
from other pantheons. This approach gives you a small
Each deity in a pantheon has a portfolio and is pantheon that covers the most significant aspects of
responsible for advancing that portfolio. In the existence, and it's easy enough to extrapolate other
Greyhawk setting, Heironeous is a god of valor who areas oflife each deity controls. The god of Knowledge,

DAWN WAR DEITIES Alignment Suggested Domains Symbol
LE Trickery Three triangles in tight formation
Deity CG Tricker y Three stacked wavy lines
Asmodeus , god of tyranny LG Life, War Dragon 's head , in profile, facing left
Avandra, goddess of change and luck LE War Claw with three talons pointing down
Bahamut, god of justice and nobility CG Light Eight-pointed star
Bane, god of war and conquest LN Knowledge Upper half of a clockwork gear
Corellon, god of magic and the arts CE Tempest, War Triangular eye with bony protrusions
Erath is, goddess of civilization and invention N Knowledge Crook shaped like a stylized eye
Gruumsh, god of destruction CN Tempest Sword with a lightning bolt cross guard
loun , goddess of knowledge CE Tricker y Eight· pointed star with a web motif
Kord, god of strength and storms N Nature, Tempest Wavelike swirl
Lolth , goddess of spiders and lies LG Knowledge, War Flaming anvil
Melora, goddess of wilderness and the sea NG Life, Light Circle with six outwardly radiating points
Moradin, god of creation LN Life, Death Raven's head, in profile, facing left
Pelor, god of the sun and agriculture CG Trickery Crescent moon
Raven Queen , goddess of death CE Trickery Jagged counter-clockwise spiral
Sehanine, goddess of the moon LE Trickery, War Five-pointed star with curved points
Tharizdun , god of madness NE Death T attached to a circular shackle
Tiamat, goddess of wealth, greed, and vengeance NE Death, Knowledge Partially shattered one-eyed skull
Torog, god of the Underdark CE Trickery, Death Snake in the shape of a dagger
Vecna, god of evil secrets
Zehir, god of darkness and poison

CHAPTER I I A WORLD Of YOUR OWN

10

for example, might also be patron of magic and strictly devoted to their single god, though even
prophecy, while the god of Light could be the sun god members of aberrant cults pay lip service in the temples
and the god of time. of the tight pantheon.

A SAMPLE PANTHEON The Norse deities serve as an example of a tight
pantheon. Odin is the pantheon's leader and father
The pantheon of the Dawn War is an example of a figure. Deities such as Thor, Tyr, and Freya embody
pantheon assembled from mostly preexisting elements important aspects of Norse culture. Meanwhile, Loki
to suit the needs of a particular campaign. This is and his devotees lurk in the shadows, sometimes aiding
the default pantheon in the fourth edition Player's the other deities, and sometimes working against them
Handbook (2008). The pantheon is summarized in the with the pantheon's enemies.
Dawn War Deities table.
MYSTERY CULTS
This pantheon draws in several nonhuman deities
and establishes them as universal gods. These gods A mystery cult is a secretive religious organization
include Bahamut, Corellon, Gruumsh, Lolth, Moradin, based on a ritual of initiation, in which the initiate is
Sehanine, and Tiamat. Humans worship Moradin and mystically identified with a god, or a handful of related
Corellon as gods of their respective portfolios, rather gods. Mystery cults are intensely personal, concerned
than as racial deities. The pantheon also includes the with the initiate's relationship with the divine.
archdevil Asmodeus as god of domination and tyranny.
Sometimes a mystery cult is a type of worship within
Several of the gods are drawn from other pantheons, a pantheon. It acknowledges the myths and rituals of
sometimes with new names for the gods. Bane comes the pantheon, but presents its own myths and rites as
from the Forgotten Realms. From Greyhawk come primary. For instance, a secretive order of monks might
Kord, Pelor, Tharizdun, and Vecna. From the Greek immerse themselves in a mystical relationship to a god
pantheon come Athena (renamed Erathis) and Tyche who is part of a broadly worshiped pantheon.
(renamed Avandra), though both are altered. Set
(renamed Zehir) comes from the Egyptian pantheon. A mystery cult emphasizes the history of its god,
The Raven Queen is akin to the Norse pantheon's He! which is symbolically reenacted in its initiation ritual.
and Greyhawk's Weejas. That leaves three gods created The foundation myth of a mystery cult is usually simple
from scratch: Ioun, Melora, and Torog: and often involves a god's death and rising, or a journey
to the underworld and a return. Mystery cults often
OTHER RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS revere sun and moon deities and agricultural deities-
gods whose portfolios reflect the cycles of nature.
In your campaign, you can create pantheons of gods
who are closely linked in a single religion, monotheistic DIVINE RANK
religions (worship of a single deity), dualistic systems
(centered on two opposing deities or forces), mystery The divine beings of the multiverse are often categorized
cults (involving personal devotion to a single deity, according to their cosmic power. Some gods are worshiped
usually as part of a pantheon system), anjmistic on multiple worlds and have a different rank on each world,
religions (revering the spirits inherent in nature), or depending on their influence there.
even forces and philosophies that don't center on deities.
Greater deities are beyond mortal understanding. They
TIGHT PANTHEONS can't be summoned, and they are almost always removed
from direct involvement in mortal affairs. On very rare
In contrast to a loose pantheon, a tight pantheon focuses occasions they manifest avatars similar to lesser deities, but
on a single religion whose teachings and edicts embrace slaying a greater god's avatar has no effect on the god itself.
a small group of deities. Followers of a tight pantheon
might favor one of its member deities over another, Lesser deities are embodied somewhere in the planes.
but they respect all the deities and honor them with Some lesser deities live in the Material Plane, as does the
sacrifices and prayer as appropriate. unicorn-goddess Lurue of the Forgotten Realms and the
titanic shark-god Sekolah revered by the sahuagin . Others
The key trait to a tight pantheon is that its worshipers live on the Outer Planes, as Lolth does in the Abyss. Such
embrace a single ethos or dogma that includes all the deities can be encountered by mortals.
deities. The gods of the tight pantheon work as one to
protect and guide their followers. You can think of a Quasi-deities have a divine origin, but they don't hear or
tight pantheon as similar to a family. One or two deities answer prayers, grant spells to clerics, or control aspects of
who lead the pantheon serve as parent figures, with mortal life. They are still immensely powerful beings, and in
the rest serving as patrons of important aspects of the theory they could ascend to godhood if they amassed enough
culture that worships the pantheon. A single temple worshipers. Quasi-deities fall into three subcategories:
honors all members of the pantheon. demigods, titans, and vestiges .

Most tight pantheons have one or more aberrant Demigods are born from the union of a deity and a mortal
gods-deities whose worship isn't sanctioned by the being. They have some divine attributes, but their mortal
priests of the pantheon as a whole. These are usually parentage makes them the weakest quasi-deities.
evil deities and enemies of the pantheon, such as the
Greek Titans. These deities have cults of their own, Titans are the divine creations of deities. They might be
attracting social outcasts and villains to their worship. birthed from the union of two deities, manufactured on
These cults resemble mystery cults, their members a divine forge, born from the blood spilled by a god, or
otherwise brought about through divine will or substance.
TI
Vestiges are deities who have lost nearly all their worshipers
and are considered dead, from a mortal perspective. Esoteric
rituals can sometimes contact these beings and draw on
their latent power.

"""'

CHAPTER 1 I A WORLD OF YOUR OWN

The cult's ritual of initiation follows the pattern of its so seek to liberate their spirits from this material world
foundation myth. Neophytes retrace the god's footsteps and its evils through asceticism and contemplation.
in order to share the god's ultimate fate. In the case of
dying and rising gods, the symbolic death of the initiate Rare dualistic systems believe that the two opposing
represents the idea of death to the old life and rebirth forces must remain in balance, always pulling away
into a transformed existence. Initiates are born into from each other but remaining bound together in
a new life, remaining in the world of mortal affairs creative tension.
but feeling elevated to a higher sphere. The initiate is
promised a place in the god's realm after death, but also In a cosmology defined by an eternal conflict between
experiences new meaning in life. good and evil, mortals are expected to ta ke sides. The
majority of those who follow a dualistic religion worship
MONOTHEISM the deity or force identified as good. Worshipers of
Monotheistic religions revere only one deity, and in the good deity trust themselves to that god's power to
some cases, deny the existence of any other deity. If you protect them from the evil deity's minions. Because
introduce a monotheistic religion into your campaign, the evil deity in such a religion is usually the source
you need to decide whether other gods exist. Even if of everything that is detrimental to existence, only the
they don't, other religions can exist side by side with perverse and depraved worship this god. Monsters
and fiends serve it, as do certain secretive cults. The
the monotheistic religion. If these religions have clerics myths of a dualistic religion usually predict that the
with spellcasting ability, their spells might be powered good deity will triumph in an apocalyptic battle, but the
by the one true deity, by lesser spirits who aren't deities forces of evil believe that the outcome of that battle isn't
(possibly including powerful aberrations, celestials, fey, predetermined and work to promote their deity's victory.
fiends, or elementals), or simply by their faith.
Deities in a dualistic system maintain large portfolios.
The deity of a monotheistic religion has an extensive All aspects of existence reflect the dualistic struggle,
portfolio and is portrayed as the creator of everything, in and therefore all things can fall on one side or the other
control of everything, and concerned with every aspect of the conflict. Agriculture, mercy, the sky, medicine,
of existence. Thus, a worshiper of this god offers prayers and poetry reside in the portfolio of the good deity, and
and sacrifices to the same god regardless of what famine , hatred, disease, and war belong to the evil deity.
aspect of life is in need of divine assistance. Whether
marching into war, setting off on a journey, or hoping ANIMISM
to win someone's affections, the worshiper prays to Animism is the belief that spirits inhabit every part of
the same god. the natural world. In an animistic worldview, everything
has a spirit, from the grandest mountain to the lowliest
Some monotheistic religions describe different rock, from the great ocean to a babbling brook, from the
aspects of their deity. A single god appears in different sun and moon to a fighter's ancestral sword. All these
aspects as the Creator and the Destroyer, and the clerics objects, and the spirits that inhabit them, are sentient,
of that god focus on one aspect or the other, determining though some are more aware, alert, and intelligent
their domain access and possibly even their alignment than others. The most powerful spirits might even
on that basis. A cleric who venerates the Destroyer be considered deities. All are worthy of respect if not
aspect chooses the Tempest or War domain, while veneration.
one who worships a Creator aspect chooses the Life
or Nature domains. In some monotheistic religions, Animists don't typically pay allegiance to one spirit
clerics group themselves into distinct religious orders to over the others. Instead, they offer prayers and sacrifices
differentiate clerics who choose different domains. to different spirits at different times, as appropriate
to the situation. A pious character might make daily
DUALISM prayers and offerings to ancestor spirits and the spirits
A dualistic religion views the world as the stage for of the house, regular petitions to important spirits
a conflict between two diametrically opposed deities such as the Seven Fortunes of Good Luck, occasional
or divine forces. Most often, the opposed forces are sacrifices of incense to location spirits such as the
good and evil, or opposed deities representing those spirit of a forest, and sporadic prayers to a host of other
forces. In some pantheons, the forces or deities of law spirits as well.
and chaos are the fundamental opposites in a dualistic
system. Life and death, light and darkness, rna ter and An animistic religion very tolerant. Most spirits don't
spirit, body and mind, health and illness, purity and care to whom a character also offers sacrifices, as long
defilement, positive energy and negative energy-the as they receive the sacrifices and respect they are due.
D&D universe is full of polar opposites that could serve As new religions spread through animist lands, those
as the foundation for a dualistic religion. Whatever the religions typically win adherents but not converts.
terms in which the dualism is expressed, half of the pair People incorporate new spirits and deities into their
is usually believed to be good- beneficial, desirable, prayers without displacing the old ones. Contemplatives
or holy-while the other half is considered bad, if not and scholars adopt complex philosophical systems and
practices without changing their belief in and respect
explicitly evil. If the fundamental conflict in a religion is for the spirits they already venerate.
expressed as the opposition between matter and spirit,
the followers of that religion believe that one of the two Animism functions as a large tight pantheon. Animist
(usually matter) is evil and the other (spirit) is good, and clerics serve the pantheon as a whole, and so can
choose any domain, representing a favorite spirit for
that cleric.

CHAPTER I j A WORLD Of YOUR OWN
12