Inept Wizard

Ability Scores

Ability Modifier

An ability check is named for the ability modifier it uses: a Strength check, an Intelligence check, and so on. Different ability checks are called for in different situations, depending on which ability is most relevant. See the Ability Check Examples table for examples of each check’s use.

Skill Rank

Add your Skill Rank to an ability check when the GM determines that a skill is relevant to the check, and you have invested Skill Points in that skill. For example, if a rule refers to a Strength (Athletics) check, you can add your Skill Rank to the check if you have invested Skill Points in the Athletics skill. See “Skill Rank” below for more about Skill Ranks.

Proficiency Bonus

Player characters have no Proficiency Bonus; monsters use one instead of Skill Rank. They add their Proficiency Bonus to an ability check when the GM determines that a skill proficiency is relevant to the check and they have that proficiency. See “Proficiency” below for more information about skill proficiencies.

Difficulty Class

The Difficulty Class of an ability check represents the task’s difficulty. The more difficult the task, the higher its DC. The rules provide DCs for certain checks, but the GM ultimately sets them. The Typical Difficulty Classes table presents a range of possible DCs for ability checks.

Ability Modifier

Saving throws are named for the ability modifiers they use: a Constitution saving throw, a Wisdom saving throw, and so on. Different saving throws are used to resist different kinds of effects, as shown on the Saving Throw Examples table. There is no Luck saving throw, though your Luck modifier applies to every save you make.

Luck

You add your Luck modifier to every saving throw, whatever ability the save uses. Talent and training decide a great deal, but no one steps out from under a falling beam on merit alone. A monster has no Luck score and adds nothing.

Save Bonus

Your class grants you a Knack in at least two kinds of saving throw (see “Classes” in “Character Creation”). To a save you have a Knack for, add your Save Bonus:

Save Bonus = quarter of your character level, rounded up

A save you have no Knack for is your ability modifier and your Luck modifier, and nothing else. A monster adds its Proficiency Bonus in place of a Save Bonus (see “Proficiency” below).

Difficulty Class

The Difficulty Class for a saving throw is determined by the effect that causes it or by the GM. For example, if a spell forces you to make a save, the DC is determined by the caster’s spellcasting ability, and Proficiency Bonus or Skill Rank. Monster abilities that call for saves specify the DC.

Ability Modifier

The Attack Roll Abilities table shows which ability modifier to use for different types of attack rolls.

Skill Rank

Every weapon belongs to a weapon group (see “Equipment”), and every spell belongs to a school of magic (see “Spellcasting”). When you attack with a weapon or a spell, add your Skill Rank in the corresponding weapon group or school of magic to the attack roll. See “Skill Rank” below for more about Skill Ranks.

Proficiency Bonus

Non-player characters and creatures add their Proficiency Bonus, instead of their Skill Rank, to their attack roll when attacking with a weapon they are proficient with, as well as when attacking with a spell. See “Proficiency” below for more information about weapon proficiencies.

Armour Class

A creature’s Armour Class represents how well the creature avoids being wounded in combat. The AC of a character is determined at character creation (see “Character Creation”), whereas the AC of a monster appears in its stat block.

Calculating AC. All creatures start with the same base AC calculation:

Base AC = 10 + the creature’s Dexterity modifier

A creature’s AC can then be modified by armour, magic items, spells, and more.

Only One Base AC. Some spells and class features give characters a different way to calculate their AC. A character with multiple features that give different ways to calculate AC must choose which one to use; only one base calculation can be in effect for a creature.

Rolling 20 or 1

If you roll a 20 on the d20 (called a “natural 20”) for an attack roll, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC. This is called a Critical Hit (see “Combat” below).

If you roll a 1 on the d20 (a “natural 1”) for an attack roll, the attack misses regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC. This is called a Critical Failure (see “Combat” below).

Bastard 20

Sometimes you hit a total of 20 on an attack roll after adding modifiers, but you didn’t roll a natural 20. Around the table, you can call this a “bastard 20.” That way, the GM knows you didn’t score a Critical Hit — it was just ordinary.

Roll Two D20s

When a roll has either Advantage or Disadvantage, roll a second d20 when you make the roll. Use the higher of the two rolls if you have Advantage, and use the lower roll if you have Disadvantage. For example, if you have Disadvantage and roll an 18 and a 3, use the 3. If you instead have Advantage and roll those numbers, use the 18.

They Don’t Stack

If multiple situations affect a roll and they all grant Advantage on it, you still roll only two d20s. Similarly, if multiple situations impose Disadvantage on a roll, you roll only two d20s.

If circumstances cause a roll to have both Advantage and Disadvantage, the roll has neither of them, and you roll one d20. This is true even if multiple circumstances impose Disadvantage and only one grants Advantage or vice versa. In such a situation, you have neither Advantage nor Disadvantage.

Interactions with Rerolls

When you have Advantage or Disadvantage and something in the game lets you reroll or replace the d20, you can reroll or replace only one die, not both. You choose which one.

Skills

Most ability checks involve using a skill. The descriptions of the actions you take (see “Activities” below) specify which skill applies if you make an ability check for that action, and many other rules note when a skill is relevant. The GM has the ultimate say on whether a skill is relevant in a situation.

If you have a Skill Rank in a skill, you apply it to ability checks involving that skill. Without a Skill Rank in a skill, you can still make ability checks involving it but add nothing. For example, if you try to climb a cliff, the GM might ask for a Strength (Athletics) check. If you have a Skill Rank in Athletics, you add it to the Strength check. If you lack that Skill Rank, you make the check without it.

Equipment

You may have a Skill Rank for various weapons and armour from your race, class, and background. There are two categories of equipment for which you can have a Skill Rank:

Weapons. Anyone can wield a weapon, but Skill Rank makes you better at wielding it. If you have a Skill Rank with a weapon category, you add your Skill Rank to attack rolls you make with the weapon from that category (see “Equipment”).

Armour. You can wear any armour, but Skill Rank allows you to wear it without penalties, and armour provides additional Resistance Points to the physical damage (see “Resistance Points”). The exact effects of how Skill Rank affects the armour vary by the armour type (see “Equipment”).

Spells

Spells are divided into schools of magic. If you have a Skill Rank in a school of magic, you cast spells from that school better. Usually, it means two things:

1. Attack Bonus. When casting a spell that requires an attack roll, you add your Skill Rank to that roll.
2. Spell Save DC. If a spell compels another creature to make a saving throw, the spell save DC is calculated as follows: Spell save DC = 8 + your spellcasting ability modifier + your Skill Rank in the corresponding school of magic

For more information, see “Spellcasting”.

Examples of Passive Skills

• An archer with Wisdom +3 and Perception Rank +2 has a Passive Perception of 15. If a trap has a DC of 15 or lower, she spots it automatically without rolling or taking the Search action to look for traps (see “Activities”).
• A rogue with Charisma +2 and Haggle Rank +3 has a Passive Haggle of 15. The GM may decide that she automatically recognises when a price is outrageous.

Examples of Opposed Checks

• A rider tries to keep her seat on an untamed horse that is bucking to throw her off: the rider rolls Dexterity (Acrobatics) against the horse’s Dexterity (Acrobatics).
• A rogue attempts to sneak past a sentry: the rogue rolls Dexterity (Stealth) against the sentry’s Wisdom (Perception).

Taking 10

When not threatened or distracted, and when sufficient time is available, you can choose to take 10 on an Ability Check. This means the check result is as if you have rolled a 10 on the d20.

The GM decides if this option applies, but generally it is allowed when:

• You can safely make several attempts.
• A failed attempt does not impose penalties.
• The time required is usually twice as long as making a single rolled check.

Taking 20

When an ability check is performed as part of downtime activity, and there is no penalty for failure, the GM may allow you to take 20. This means the result is as if you have rolled a natural 20 on the d20.

The GM decides if this option applies, but generally it is allowed when:

• The task is performed during downtime.
• The task has no penalty on failure.
• The task does not consume limited resources — or the character has enough resources to attempt it at least 20 times.

Examples of Group Checks

• The adventurers must sneak across an old rope bridge while goblins patrol below. Each character rolls Dexterity (Stealth). Their results are totalled and divided by the number of adventurers. If the average equals or beats the goblins’ Passive Perception, the party gets across unseen.
• The group bands together to raise an iron portcullis before the chamber floods. Each character rolls Strength (Athletics). The average result is compared against the DC. Success means the gate is lifted; failure means it stays stuck.

Assisting with a Skill Check

You can help another creature perform a skill check if you are capable in that skill.

1. Declare Before the Roll. You must decide to help before the assisted creature rolls.
2. Minimum Training. You must have at least +2 Skill Rank in the skill being attempted.
3. Helping Roll. Roll 1d20:
   • 10 or higher: Your assistance is effective. The assisted creature adds half your Skill Rank to their roll.
   • 9 or lower: Your help fails; the assisted creature gains no benefit.
   • 1: You hinder the attempt. The assisted creature subtracts half your Skill Rank from their roll.

Distracting an Enemy

You can spend your Action to distract an enemy at melee range, giving your allies an opening.

1. Melee Range. You must be adjacent to the enemy you want to distract.
2. Distraction Roll. Roll 1d20:
   • 10 or higher: The enemy is distracted. Until the start of your next turn, your allies add your Luck modifier, to a minimum of +1, to their attack rolls against that enemy. A creature that has no Luck score grants +1.
   • 9 or lower: The enemy is not distracted.
   • 1: The distraction backfires, and the enemy can immediately make an Opportunity Attack against you.

Actions

Creatures can also do things not covered by these actions. Many class features and other abilities provide additional action options, and you can improvise other actions. When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the Game Master tells you whether that action is possible and what kind of D20 Test you need to make, if any.

Attack

When you take the Attack action, you can make one attack roll with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike. See “Combat” below for more information.

Moving between Attacks. If you move on your turn and have a feature that gives you more than one attack as part of the Attack action, you can use some or all of that movement to move between those attacks.

Dash

When you take the Dash action, you gain extra movement for the current turn. The increase equals your Speed after applying any modifiers. With a Speed of 30 feet, for example, you can move up to 60 feet on your turn if you Dash. If your Speed of 30 feet is reduced to 15 feet, you can move up to 30 feet this turn if you Dash.

If you have a special speed, such as a Fly Speed or Swim Speed, you can use that speed instead of your Speed when you take this action. You choose which speed to use each time you take it.

Disengage

If you take the Disengage action, your movement doesn’t provoke Opportunity Attacks for the rest of the current turn. See “Combat” below for more information.

Dodge

If you take the Dodge action, you gain the following benefits: until the start of your next turn, any attack roll made against you has Disadvantage if you can see the attacker, and you make Dexterity saving throws with Advantage. See “Combat” below for more information.

You lose these benefits if your Speed is 0 or if you have the Petrified condition.

Help

You can take the Help action, to assist another creature. See “Different Skill Usage” above for more information.

Hide

With the Hide action, you try to hide yourself. To do so, you make a Dexterity (Stealth) check while you’re Densely Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover or Total Cover, and you must be out of any enemy’s line of sight; if you can see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you.

You don’t know whether your hiding attempt was successful. If another creature’s Passive Perception is equal to or higher than your roll, the creature can see you. Otherwise, another creature can’t see you. If your hiding attempt was successful, another creature may take the Search action, in which case it rolls a Wisdom (Perception) check in an Opposed Check against the Dexterity (Stealth) result you rolled while hiding.

You stop being hidden from a particular creature when that creature finds you, or when you make a sound louder than a whisper within its hearing. A creature that has found you knows where you are, but no other creature learns it unless that creature tells another, which takes an Activity on its own turn (see “Free Actions” below).

You stop being hidden from every creature when you make an attack roll, when you cast a spell with a Verbal component, or when you are no longer Densely Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover or Total Cover.

Influence

With the Influence action, you urge a creature to do something. Describe or roleplay how you’re communicating with the creature. Are you trying to deceive, intimidate, amuse, or gently persuade? The GM then determines whether the creature feels willing, unwilling, or hesitant due to your interaction; this determination establishes whether an ability check is necessary, as explained below.

Willing. If your urging aligns with the creature’s desires, no ability check is necessary; the creature fulfils your request in a way it prefers.

Unwilling. If your urging is repugnant to the creature or counter to its alignment, no ability check is necessary; it doesn’t comply.

Hesitant. If you urge the creature to do something that it is hesitant to do, you must make an ability check, which is affected by the creature’s attitude: Indifferent, Friendly, or Hostile. The Influence Checks table suggests which ability check to make based on how you’re interacting with the creature. The GM chooses the check, which has a default DC equal to 12 or the creature’s Intelligence score, whichever is higher. On a successful check, the creature does as urged. On a failed check, you must wait 24 hours (or a duration set by the GM) before urging it in the same way again.

Magic

When you take the Magic action, you cast a spell that has a casting time of an action or use a feature or magic item that requires a Magic action to be activated.

If you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 minute or longer, you must take the Magic action on each turn of that casting, and you must maintain Concentration while you do so. If your Concentration is broken, the spell fails, but you don’t expend Magic Points (see “Concentration” and “Magic Points” in “Spellcasting”).

Ready

You take the Ready action to wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you take this action on your turn, which lets you act by taking a Reaction before the start of your next turn.

First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your Speed in response to it. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”

When the trigger occurs, you can either take your Reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger.

When you Ready a spell, you cast it as normal (expending any resources used to cast it) but hold its energy, which you release with your Reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of an action, and holding on to the spell’s magic requires Concentration, which you can maintain up to the start of your next turn. If your Concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect (see “Concentration” in “Spellcasting”).

Search

When you take the Search action, you make a Wisdom check to discern something that isn’t obvious. The Search table suggests which skills are applicable when you take this action, depending on what you’re trying to detect.

Study

When you take the Study action, you make an Intelligence check to study your memory, a book, a clue, or another source of knowledge and call to mind an important piece of information about it.

The Areas of Knowledge table suggests which skills are applicable to various areas of knowledge.

Utilise

When an object requires an action for its use, you take the Utilise action.

Drawing, sheathing, or otherwise readying a weapon, a shield, or any other piece of equipment is never part of another action. It is always a Free Action (see “Free Actions” below).

Obscured Areas

An area can be Lightly, Densely, or Heavily Obscured. Obscurement limits what can be perceived by sight within it; it applies equally to any creature within the obscured area.

Lightly Obscured. In an area of Dim Light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, sight functions beyond 10 feet but is unreliable. You can’t discern objects and creatures clearly, seeing shadows and contours instead. You have Disadvantage on any ability check that relies on sight to notice, locate, or study something within the area.

Densely Obscured. In an area of heavy fog, dense foliage, thick smoke, or similar, sight reaches only 5 feet. Within that radius you see normally. Beyond it, sight carries no information: you cannot notice, locate, or study anything by sight, and any ability check that would rely on doing so fails, as there is nothing for your eyes to work with.

Heavily Obscured. In Darkness, magical darkness, or similarly total conditions, sight carries no information at all. You cannot perceive anything by sight anywhere in the area, and any ability check relying on sight automatically fails.

Fighting Without Sight. When you attack a creature you cannot see, you attack with Disadvantage and must target a space you guess it occupies; if you guess wrong, you automatically miss.

Light

The presence or absence of light determines the category of illumination in an area, as defined below.

Bright Light. Bright Light lets most creatures see normally. Even gloomy days provide Bright Light, as do torches, lanterns, fires, and other sources of illumination within a specific radius.

Dim Light. Dim Light, also called shadows, creates a Lightly Obscured area. An area of Dim Light is usually a boundary between Bright Light and surrounding Darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as Dim Light. A full moon bathes the land in Dim Light.

Darkness. Darkness creates a Heavily Obscured area. Characters face Darkness outdoors at night (except full moon during clear sky), within the confines of an unlit dungeon, or in an area of magical Darkness.

Where the Light Stops

A light source projects a radius of Bright Light, within which a creature sees normally whatever the surrounding conditions. Beyond that radius the ambient obscurement resumes, adding its own near-range allowance: a creature’s clear-sight radius is the light’s radius plus the ambient tier’s allowance. A 30-foot lantern gives clear sight to 40 feet in Dim Light, 35 in Densely Obscured, or 30 in Darkness.

Special Senses

Some creatures have special senses that help them perceive things in certain situations.

Blindsight. Some creatures perceive their surroundings without eyes, ears, or any focused sense organ at all. Their entire body is dimly and uniformly aware — sensing touch, elemental traces, warmth, and pressure across every surface at once. Such creatures are typically simple, organ-less masses: oozes, jellies, fungal growths, and similar formless life.

If you have Blindsight, you perceive your surroundings within a specific range without relying on sight. Within that range you are aware of anything not behind Total Cover, even while you have the Blinded condition or are in Darkness, and you perceive creatures that have the Invisible condition. This perception is dim and undirected: it reveals presence and location but nothing of an object’s colour, markings, or finer detail, and it does not count as a form of sight.

Darkvision. If you have Darkvision, you can see in Darkness within a specified range as if it were Dim Light. You discern colours in that Darkness only as shades of grey.

Hearing. If you have Hearing, you can detect the presence of creatures within a specific range, even without line of sight, provided sound can reach you. Hearing reveals that a creature is present and, when it produces a sound, its precise location — but never what kind of creature it is, and it does not count as a form of sight.

When a creature within range moves, speaks, or takes an action, Bonus Action, Reaction, or Free Action, you pinpoint its location immediately, though not its identity. You lose track of that location by the end of your next turn unless it produces sound again. A creature that stays silent and still cannot be located by Hearing, and a loud environment can obscure or deny it.

Most creatures can hear, but Hearing reflects a superior ability that only rare creatures possess.

Low-Light Vision. If you have Low-Light Vision, you can see in Dim Light within a specified range as if it were Bright Light. You discern all colours in Dim Light.

Scent. If you have Scent, you can detect the presence of creatures within a specific range, even without line of sight, provided air moves freely between you and them. You know only that a creature is present and, if you have previously encountered its kind under conditions that let you connect its scent to its identity, what kind of creature it is; otherwise it registers only as an unidentified living thing. Scent reveals neither the number nor the location of what you detect, and it does not count as a form of sight.

Scent passes through Obscured areas and Total Cover wherever air can reach, but not through sealed barriers, fire, or water, and it is lost while you are exposed to an overpowering odour. Most creatures can smell, but Scent reflects a superior ability that only rare creatures possess.

Tremorsense. A creature with Tremorsense can pinpoint the location of creatures and moving objects within a specific range, provided that the creature with Tremorsense and anything it is detecting are both in contact with the same surface (such as the ground, a wall, or a ceiling) or the same liquid.

Tremorsense can’t detect creatures or objects in the air, and it doesn’t count as a form of sight.

What Is an Object?

For the purpose of the rules, an object is a discrete, inanimate item like a window, door, sword, book, table, chair, or stone. It isn’t a building or a vehicle, which are composed of many objects.

Time-Limited Object Interactions

When time is short, such as in combat, interactions with objects are governed by Free Action rule. For example, pushing a freely moving button qualifies as a Free Action, whereas attempting to operate a jammed button would require an action. You can perform only one Free Action per your turn.

Finding Hidden Objects

When your character searches for hidden things, such as a secret door or a trap, the GM typically asks you to make a Wisdom (Perception) check, provided you describe the character searching in the hidden object’s vicinity. On a success, you find the object, other important details, or both.

If you describe your character searching nowhere near a hidden object or a hidden object you search for doesn’t truly exist, a Wisdom (Perception) check won’t reveal the object, no matter the check’s total.

Carrying Objects

Your size and Strength score determine the maximum weight in pounds that you can carry, as shown in the Carrying Capacity table. The table also shows the maximum weight you can drag, lift, or push.

While dragging, lifting, or pushing weight in excess of the maximum weight you can carry, your Speed can be no more than 5 feet, and you physically cannot carry, drag, lift, or push objects with a weight that exceeds your maximum capacity plus five times your Strength score.

Breaking Objects

A creature can damage an object with an attack or a spell, given the object is not magical. Because an unattended object does not move or defend itself, an attack against one succeeds automatically; roll only for damage. A moving, held, or awkwardly small object may still require an attack roll at the GM’s discretion, and a truly fragile object may simply break on a single deliberate blow with no roll at all.

An object breaks when reduced to 0 Hit Points. An object’s Hit Points express its toughness — how much punishment it absorbs before it fails — and toughness depends far less on how hard a material is than on how it yields.

Assigning Hit Points. A material that bends, splinters gradually, or holds together as it deforms is tough, and absorbs a great deal of damage before failing — wrought iron dents rather than shatters, and wood’s interwoven fibres arrest a crack before it spreads. A material that is rigid and brittle is the opposite: however hard its surface, it fails all at once when a blow overcomes it — glass and ice are hard enough to scratch steel, yet a single sharp strike shatters them. Hardness resists scratching and wear; it does little to resist destruction. When judging an object’s Hit Points, ask how much force the thing absorbs before it gives way, not how hard its surface is.

Object Hit Points also scale with size. Use the following as a guide, choosing the lower value for brittle or lightly-built objects and the higher for tough, ductile, or heavily-built ones:

Travel Pace

While travelling outside combat, a group can move at any of the paces shown on the Travel Pace – On Foot table. The table states how far the party covers in a period of time; if riding horses or other mounts, see “Mounts and Vehicles” in “Equipment” for a selection of mounts and their travel paces. Terrain can bar a pace outright, and the GM decides when it does.

Combat Step by Step

Combat unfolds in these steps:

1. Establish Positions. The Game Master sets the scene, determining where all the combatants are located. Typically, the adventurers’ marching order is used to determine the formation of player characters, and the GM determines where the adversaries are — how far away and in what direction.

2. Roll Initiative. Everyone involved in the combat encounter rolls Initiative, determining the order of combatants’ turns.

3. Take Turns. Each participant in the battle takes a turn in Initiative order. When everyone involved in the combat has had a turn, the round ends, and this step is repeated until the fighting stops.

Initiative

Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. When combat starts, every combatant rolls Initiative; they make a Dexterity check that determines their place in the Initiative order. The players roll for their player characters, and the GM rolls for each monster.

For a group of identical creatures, the GM can make one Initiative roll for the whole group: one roll for four goblins, another for two bugbears. Where the monsters are many, the GM can make a single roll for all of them whatever they are, and narrate their turns together.

If non-player characters are included in the adventuring party and participate in combat, the players must determine which player controls each NPC. The controlling player then rolls Initiative on behalf of the NPC under their control.

Surprised. If you are surprised by combat starting, you have Disadvantage on your Initiative roll. For example, if an ambusher starts combat while hidden from an enemy that is unaware combat is starting, that enemy is surprised.

Initiative Order. A combatant’s check total is called their Initiative count, or Initiative for short. The GM ranks the combatants, from highest to lowest Initiative. This is the order in which they act during each round. The Initiative order remains the same from round to round.

Ties. If a tie occurs, a combatant with a higher Dexterity score goes first. If a tie still isn’t resolved, the GM decides the order among tied monsters and NPCs, and the players decide the order among tied characters. The GM decides the order if the tie is between a monster and a player character.

Your Turn

The main Activities you can take are listed in “Activities” above. A character’s features and a monster’s stat block also provide Activity options. “Movement and Position” below gives the rules for movement.

Ending Combat

Combat ends when one side or the other is defeated, which can mean the creatures are killed, have surrendered, or fled. Combat can also end when both sides agree to end it.

Playing on a Grid

If you play using a square grid and miniatures or other tokens, follow these rules.

Squares. Each square represents 5 feet.

Speed. Rather than moving foot by foot, move square by square on the grid, using your Speed in 5-foot segments. For instance, a Speed of 30 feet equates to 6 squares.

Entering a Square. To enter a square, you must have enough movement left to pay for entering. It costs 5 feet of movement to enter an unoccupied square that’s orthogonally adjacent to your space, and 7 feet of movement to enter an unoccupied diagonally adjacent square. A square of Difficult Terrain costs twice as much. Other effects might make a square cost even more.

Ranges. To determine the range on a grid between two things — whether creatures or objects — count squares from a square adjacent to one of them and stop counting in the space of the other one. Count by the shortest route.

Distances between objects and creatures are not always obvious to the naked eye, least of all when an Area of Effect is involved (see “Areas of Effect” in “Conditions of Play”) — whether a particular goblin stands inside the sphere or the cylinder of a cast spell or outside it. A group that would rather measure than spend a spell on a guess can settle it with a ruler, a pair of callipers or a compass.

Creature Size

A creature belongs to a size category, which determines the width of the square space the creature occupies on a map and effectively controls in combat, as shown on the Creature Size and Space table. That table lists the sizes from smallest (Tiny) to largest (Gargantuan).

A character’s size is determined by species, and a monster’s size is specified in the monster’s stat block.

Difficult Terrain

Combatants are often slowed down by Difficult Terrain. Low furniture, rubble, undergrowth, steep stairs, snow, and shallow bogs are examples of Difficult Terrain.

Every foot of movement in Difficult Terrain costs 1 extra foot, even if multiple things in a space count as Difficult Terrain.

Breaking Up Your Move

You can break up your move, using some of its movement before and after any action, Bonus Action, or Reaction you take on the same turn. For example, if you have a Speed of 30 feet, you could go 10 feet, take an action, and then go 20 feet.

Dropping Prone

On your turn, you can give yourself the Prone condition (see “Prone” in “Conditions of Play”) using a Free Action.

Moving around Other Creatures

During your move, you can pass through the space of an ally, a creature that has the Paralysed or Unconscious condition (see “Character Conditions” in “Conditions of Play”), a Tiny creature, or a creature that is two sizes larger or smaller than you. Otherwise, another creature’s space is Difficult Terrain for you.

You can’t willingly end a move in a space occupied by another creature. If you somehow end a turn in a space with another creature, you have the Prone condition (see “Prone” in “Conditions of Play”) unless you are Tiny or are of a larger size than the other creature.

Cover

Range

You can make ranged attacks only against targets within a specified range. If a ranged attack, such as one made with a spell, has a single range, you can’t attack a target beyond this range.

Some ranged attacks, such as those made with a Longbow, have two ranges. The smaller number is the normal range, and the larger number is the long range. Your attack roll has Disadvantage when your target is beyond normal range, and you can’t attack a target beyond long range.

Ranged Attacks in Close Combat

Aiming a ranged attack is more difficult towards an enemy that is next to you. When you make a ranged attack roll with a weapon, a spell, or some other means, you have Disadvantage on the roll if you are within 5 feet of a target of that attack.

Reach

A creature has a 5-foot reach and can thus attack targets within 5 feet when making a melee attack. Certain creatures and weapons have a reach greater than 5 feet, as noted in their descriptions.

Improvised Weapons

An improvised weapon is an object wielded as a makeshift weapon, such as broken glass, a table leg, or a frying pan. A regular weapon also counts as an improvised weapon if it’s wielded in a way contrary to its design; for instance, if you use a Bow to make a melee attack or throw a weapon that lacks the Thrown property, the weapon counts as an improvised weapon. An improvised weapon follows the rules below.

Weapon Group. An improvised weapon belongs to the Rigged group, whatever the object is and whatever group it belongs to when wielded as designed.

Skill Rank. Don’t add any of your Skill Ranks to attack rolls with an improvised weapon, except that if you have a Knack for the Rigged weapon group, you can add a Skill Rank for Rigged weapons to that roll.

Damage. On a hit, the weapon deals 1d4 damage of the Bludgeoning, Slashing, or Piercing type appropriate to the object. If you have a Knack for the Rigged weapon group, you can add your Strength or Dexterity modifier to the damage.

Range. If you throw the weapon, it has a normal range of 25 feet and a long range of 40 feet.

Unarmed Strike

Instead of using a weapon to make a melee attack, you can use a punch, kick, headbutt, or similar forceful blow. In game terms, this is an Unarmed Strike — a melee attack that involves you using your body to damage, grapple, or shove a target within 5 feet of you.

Whenever you use your Unarmed Strike, choose one of the following options for its effect.

Damage. You make an attack roll against the target. Your bonus to the roll equals your Strength modifier plus your Skill Rank in Unarmed. On a hit, the target takes Bludgeoning damage equal to 1d2 plus your Strength modifier.

Grapple. The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or it has the Grappled condition. The DC for the saving throw and any escape attempts equals 8 plus your Strength modifier and Skill Rank in Unarmed. This grapple is possible only if the target is the same size as you or smaller, and if you have a hand free to grab it.

Shove. The target must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (it chooses which), or you either push it 5 feet away or cause it to have the Prone condition. The DC for the saving throw equals 8 plus your Strength modifier and Skill Rank in Unarmed. This shove is possible only if the target is the same size as you or smaller.

Grappling

A creature can grapple another creature. Characters typically grapple by using an Unarmed Strike. Many monsters have special attacks that allow them to quickly grapple prey. However a grapple is initiated, it follows these rules.

Grappled Condition. Successfully grappling a creature gives it the Grappled condition.

One Grapple per Hand. A creature must have a hand free to grapple another creature. Some stat blocks and game effects allow a creature to grapple using a tentacle, a maw, or another body part. Whatever part a grappler uses, it can grapple only one creature at a time with that part, and the grappler can’t use that part to target another creature unless it ends the grapple.

Range. The range of a grapple is the reach with which it was made: 5 feet for a grapple made with an Unarmed Strike, and the reach of the body part used for any other.

Ending a Grapple. A Grappled creature can use its action to make a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check against the grapple’s escape DC, ending the condition on itself on a success. The condition also ends if the grappler has the Paralysed, Petrified, or Unconscious condition, or if the distance between the Grappled target and the grappler exceeds the grapple’s range. In addition, the grappler can release the target at any time (no action required).

Opportunity Attacks

Combatants watch for enemies to drop their guard. If you move heedlessly past your enemies, you put yourself in danger by provoking an Opportunity Attack.

Avoiding Opportunity Attacks. You can avoid provoking an Opportunity Attack by taking the Disengage action. You also don’t provoke an Opportunity Attack when you Teleport (see “Movement” in “Conditions of Play”) or when you are moved without using any of your Activity. For example, you don’t provoke an Opportunity Attack if an explosion hurls you out of an enemy’s reach or if you fall past an enemy.

Making an Opportunity Attack. You can make an Opportunity Attack when a creature that you can see leaves your reach. To make the attack, take a Reaction to make one melee attack with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike against that creature. The attack occurs right before it leaves your reach.

Mounting and Dismounting

During your move, you can mount a creature that is within 5 feet of you or dismount. Doing so costs an amount of movement equal to half your Speed. For example, if your Speed is 30 feet, you spend 15 feet of movement to mount a horse.

Controlling a Mount

You can control a mount only if it has been trained to accept a rider. Tamed horses and similar creatures have such training.

The Initiative of a controlled mount changes to match yours when you mount it. Directing it takes your action for that turn. The mount then moves on your turn as you direct it, and it has only three action options during that turn: Dash, Disengage, and Dodge. A controlled mount can move and act even on the turn that you mount it.

If you don’t spend your action to direct it, the mount carries you but acts as an independent mount for that turn.

In contrast, an independent mount — one that lets you ride but ignores your control — retains its place in the Initiative order and moves and acts as it likes.

Throwing Off

An untamed mount will likely try to throw you off, using every action it takes to do so, unless something (another threat, such as a monster or a dangerous effect) appears to the mount to require priority attention.

When the mount uses an action to throw you off, you and the mount make an Opposed Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If the mount wins, you fall off and land with the Prone condition in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of it. If you win, you keep your seat.

Falling Off

If an effect is about to move your mount against its will while you’re on it, you must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall off, landing with the Prone condition (see “Prone” in “Conditions of Play”) in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the mount.

While mounted, you must make the same save if you’re knocked Prone. You make it even against an effect that allows no save of its own, such as the Topple mastery property. On a success you keep your seat and don’t have the Prone condition; on a failure you fall as described above.

If the mount is knocked Prone, you fall off, and land with the Prone condition automatically.

Damage against Multiple Targets

When you create a damaging effect that forces two or more targets to make saving throws against it at the same time, roll the damage once for all the targets. For example, when a wizard casts Fireball, the spell’s damage is rolled once for all creatures caught in the blast.

Half Damage

Many saving throw effects deal half damage to a target when the target succeeds on the saving throw. The halved damage is equal to half the damage that would be dealt on a failed save.

Examples of Resistance Points

• A knight has +5 Resistance Points against Bludgeoning damage. An ogre’s club hits her for 13 damage, so her player rolls 1d20. On a 5 or lower, the knight takes nothing; on a 6 or higher, she takes all 13.
• The same knight has −5 Resistance Points against Lightning damage. A bolt deals her 18 damage, so her player rolls 1d20. On a 5 or lower, the knight takes 36; on a 6 or higher, she takes 18.

Stacking

Resistance Points from different sources add together. Armour, feats, spells, and enchanted items all contribute to one total for a given damage type, and positive and negative values cancel each other out. However high the sources run, a total can never exceed +20 or fall below −20.

One Roll per Instance

Roll once for each instance of damage. If a single attack or effect deals two types of damage, roll separately for each type, using the Resistance Points that apply to it.

Order of Application

Adjustments to the damage — bonuses, penalties, multipliers, and halving for a successful saving throw — are applied first. The Resistance Points roll is made last, against the final total.

For example, a creature has +5 Resistance Points against Fire damage and is within a magical aura that reduces all damage by 5. A blast deals 28 Fire damage, and the creature succeeds on its saving throw: the damage is first reduced by 5 (to 23), then halved for the successful save (to 11). The GM then rolls 1d20. On a 5 or lower the creature takes nothing, and otherwise it takes 11.

Instant Death

Here are the main ways a creature can die instantly.

Monster or NPC Death. A monster or NPC dies the instant it drops to 0 Hit Points.

Hit Point Maximum of 0. A creature dies if its Hit Point maximum reaches 0. Certain effects drain life energy, reducing a creature’s Hit Point maximum.

Massive Damage. When you reach a negative value of half your maximum Hit Points, you die. For example, if your Hit Point maximum is 13, you currently have −5 Hit Points, and you take 1 damage, you drop to −6 Hit Points. You then die, since −6 is a negative value of half of your maximum Hit Points.

Death

A dead creature has no Hit Points and can’t regain them unless it is first revived.

When the creature returns to life, the revival effect determines the creature’s current Hit Points. Unless otherwise stated, the creature returns to life with any conditions of play (such as Conditions, Diseases, or Curses) that were affecting it at death if the durations of those effects are still ongoing.

Character Demise

If your character dies, others might find a magical way to revive your character. Or talk with the GM about making a new character to join the group.

Falling Unconscious

If you reach 0 Hit Points or less, and don’t die instantly, you have the Unconscious condition (see “Unconscious” in “Conditions of Play”) until you regain any Hit Points, and you now face making Death Saving Throws (see below).

Death Saving Throws

Whenever you start your turn with 0 Hit Points or less, you must make a Death Saving Throw to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang on to life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to an ability score. You’re in the hands of fate now.

Three Successes/Failures. Roll 1d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success, you become Stable (see “Stabilising a Character” below). On your third failure, you die.

The successes and failures don’t need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you gain any positive value of Hit Points or become Stable.

Rolling a 1 or 20. When you roll a 1 on the d20 for a Death Saving Throw, you suffer two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you get two successes.

Stabilising a Character

You can take the Help action to try to stabilise a creature with 0 or less Hit Points, which requires a successful DC (10 + the creature’s current Hit Points multiplied by −1) Wisdom (Medicine) check.

A Stable creature doesn’t make Death Saving Throws even though it has 0 or less Hit Points, but it still has the Unconscious condition. If the creature takes damage, it stops being Stable and starts making Death Saving Throws again. A Stable creature that isn’t healed regains 1d4 Hit Points after every 1d6 hours.

Certain spells, traits, or other features allow you to stabilise a creature without a Wisdom (Medicine) check.

Lose Temporary Hit Points First

If you have Temporary Hit Points and take damage, those points are lost first, and any leftover damage carries over to your Hit Points. For example, if you have 5 Temporary Hit Points and take 7 damage, you lose those points and then lose 2 Hit Points.

Duration

Temporary Hit Points last until they’re depleted or you finish a Long Rest.

They Don’t Stack

Temporary Hit Points can’t be added together. If you have Temporary Hit Points and receive more of them, you decide whether to keep the ones you have or to gain the new ones. For example, if a spell grants you 12 Temporary Hit Points when you already have 10, you can have 12 or 10, not 22.

They’re Not Hit Points or Healing

Temporary Hit Points can’t be added to your Hit Points, healing can’t restore them, and receiving Temporary Hit Points doesn’t count as healing. Because Temporary Hit Points aren’t Hit Points, a creature can be at full Hit Points and receive Temporary Hit Points.

If you have 0 or less Hit Points, receiving Temporary Hit Points doesn’t restore you to consciousness. Only true healing can save you.