Page 92 - Xanathar's Guide To Everything

MONSTER PERSONALITY RANDOM EVENTS
To address the question of a monster’s personality, you Consider what might happen in an encounter area if the
can use the tables in chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master’s characters were to never enter it. Do the guards serve in
Guide, use the Monster Personality table below, or sim- shifts? What other characters or monsters might visit?
ply jot down a few notes based on a creature’s Monster Do creatures gather there to eat or gossip? Are there
Manna} description. During the battle, you can use these any natural phenomena—such as strong winds, earth
ideas to inform how you portray the monsters and their tremors, or rain squalls—that sometimes take place
actions. To keep things simple, you can assign the same in the area? Random events can add a fun element of
personality traits to an entire group of monsters. For ex- the unexpected to an encounter. Just when you think
ample, one bandit gang might be an unruly mob of brag— a fight’s outcome is evident, an unforeseen event can
garts, while the members of another gang are always on make things more compelling.
edge and ready to flee at the first sign of danger. A number of the tables in the Dungeon Master’s Guide
can suggest random events. The tables used for encoun—
MONSTER PERSONALITY ter location, weird locales, and wilderness weather in
d8 Personality chapter 5 of that book are a good starting point for out—
l Cowardly; looking to surrender door encounters. The tables in appendix A can be useful
for indoor and outdoor encounters—especially the tables
2 Greedy; wants treasure for obstacles, traps, and tricks. Finally, consult the ran-
3 Braggart; makes a show of bravery but runs from dom encounter tables in the next section of this book for
danger inspiration.
4 Fanatic; ready to die fighting
5 Rabble; poorly trained and easily rattled QUICK MATCHUPS
6 Brave; stands its ground The guidelines above assume that you are concerned
7 Joker; taunts its enemies about balance in your combat encounters and have
8 Bully; refuses to believe it can lose enough time to prepare them. If you don’t have much
time, or if you want simpler but less precise guidelines,
MONSTER RELATIONSHIPS the Quick Matchups table below offers an alternative.
Do rivalries, hatreds, or attachments exist among the This table gives you a way to match a character of
monsters in an encounter? If so, you can use such re— a certain level with a number of monsters. The table
lationships to inform the monsters’ behavior during lists the challenge ratings to use for including one, two,
combat. The death of a much—revered leader might and four monsters per character for each level. For in-
throw its followers into a frenzy. On the other hand, a stance, looking at the 3rd-1eve1 entry on the table, you
monster might decide to flee if its spouse is killed, or a can see that a CR 1/2- monster is equivalent to one 3rd-
mistreated toady might be eager to surrender and betray level character, as are two CR 1/4 monsters and four
its master in return for its life. CR 1/8 ones.
QUICK MATCHUPS
MONSTER RELATIONSHIPS
d6 Relationship Character '| Monster 2 Monsters 4 Monsters
Level
1 Has a rival; wants one random ally to suffer lst 1/4 1/8 -*-
2 ls abused by others; hangs back, betrays at first 2nd I/2 1/4 —a
opportunity
ls worshiped; allies will die for it 3rd 1/2 _.I 1/4 1/8
1/4
1/2
4th
Chm-hum Is outcast by group; its allies ignore it 5th —l 1/2
Is outcast by choice; cares only for itself
1/2
6th
ls seen as a bully; its allies want to see it defeated
7th 1/2
TERRAIN AND TRAPS 8th —l
A few elements that make a battlefield something other 9th ‘
than a large area of flat ground can go a long way to- 10th
ward spicing up an encounter. Consider setting your en— llth
counter in an area that would provide challenges even if 12th mmmuwmmmbh—bwwmm
a fight were not taking place there. What potential perils 13th mmmm—h-h-b-hwwNNN—I—I
or other features might draw the characters’ attention,
either before or during the fight? Why are monsters lurk- 14th ##WWWWNNMN—‘A
ing in this area to begin with—does it offer good hiding 15th
places, for instance? 16th
To add details to an encounter area at random, look to 17th
the tables in appendix A of the Dungeon Master’s Guide 18th
to determine room and area features, potential hazards, 19th
obstacles, traps, and more. 20th _I O

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