Questions tagged [dnd-5e]
For questions about Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, an RPG published in 2014 by Wizards of the Coast. D&D 5e is a heroic fantasy RPG inspired by the mechanics and settings of all previous D&D editions. It was previously code-named D&D Next during the playtest period.
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Without a magic item economy, what is gold for?
PHB page 144, Equipment, Wealth, Selling Treasure
Magic Items. Selling magic items is problematic. Finding someone to buy a potion or a scroll isn’t too hard, but other items are out of the realm ...
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How does rolling two d20 and taking the higher affect the average outcome?
D&D 5E has an "advantage" concept where instead of rolling 1d20, you roll 2d20 and take the higher. Likewise, disadvantage means rolling 2d20 and taking the lower.
How does this affect ...
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Player claims their wizard character knows everything (from books). Solutions?
I have a player who is an elf wizard and his entire backstory and goal is knowledge related. He made his elf well over 200 years old and claims that his character has read a massive amount of books (...
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What's the greatest number of hands I can have to annoy my mother-in-law with?
My mother in law is coming to visit tonight, for dinner. She hates me, and will criticize my food. But tonight is my night. I've prepared the dish she most hates, a beautiful roasted Tarrasque chop, ...
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7
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What is the source of the "spells do only what they say they do" rules interpretation principle?
Every time somebody asks a question like "can I use X spell for doing Y" the answer is usually "no" because spell descriptions are very short in 5e, and usually they don't ...
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Players skipping side quests just to have a laugh at the DM
Something that's happening frequently at my table recently is that the players are making choices deliberately to waste my preparation.
If they see something that obviously took some preparation that ...
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Is there a maximum attainable beard thickness?
This other question asks if attuning to a Belt of Dwarvenkind grants the following benefit (and literally nothing else):
you have a 50 percent chance each day at dawn of growing a full beard
if ...
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Can you drink a potion one-handed underwater?
I have a player who wants their PC to drink a potion underwater while one-handed, and as a DM I'm not sure how to rule it.
Ask for a Dex check? What DC? Is it even possible? I couldn't find anything ...
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5
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Are peoples' competencies really as flat in D&D 5e as its math suggests?
Bounded accuracy is a major feature of the new system. It promises that bonuses to rolls won't grow too much throughout a character's career. And indeed, a first-level fighter would have an apex skill ...
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9
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What's the point of long, empty hallways in dungeons?
Many dungeons—published and homemade—often contain a multitude of long, empty passageways between rooms.
For example, my DM is running "The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan" from Tales from the Yawning ...
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9
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PC ate a necklace of fireballs bead. How dead should they be?
So one of my loony players found a necklace of fireballs. He is a suicidally over-confidant Tiefling sorcerer.
Against all logic and reason, and probably just to prove that he could, he ate one of ...
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Why would I ever cast True Strike?
One of my players has complained several times that True Strike is a useless spell. The effect of True Strike is:
On your next turn, you gain advantage on your first attack roll against the target, ...
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Given powerful low-level Clerical healing, how can sick, crippled or otherwise unhealthy people exist?
In my attempt to make a more harsh, uncaring setting, I’ve hit a stumbling block in terms of the ease with which even low level Clerics can treat the poor and the sick:
A 1st-level Cleric can bring ...
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118
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What are the most and least-resisted damage types?
Inspired by these related questions, as well as my previous question on the matter, I'm curious what the most and least resisted damage types are in DnD 5e? Ideally I am looking for a list similar to ...
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Can a snake be prone?
It sounds like a silly question, but it caused way more discussion the other night in my Adventurer's league game than I'd care to admit...
In 5e, the prone condition is described as:
A prone ...
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11
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I failed to open a lock. Now what?
Picking a lock typically requires a DC 15 Dexterity check (Basic rules, p. 49). Likewise for manacles (p. 50), which can alternately be escaped with a DC 20 Dexterity check or broken with a DC 20 ...
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As a player with ADHD, how do I avoid disrupting the game?
I read a question by a DM wanting to know how to work with a player who cites ADHD as reason for disruptive behavior.
Almost all answers are of course things the DM could do. Now I am wondering, what ...
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7
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Is there a legal way to get D&D 5e core rulebook PDFs?
As much as I like having the hardcover core rule-books in front of me, usually I read or reference most information for RPGs on my computer. Unfortunately, my google-fu has failed me at finding ...
user5834
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Where do adventurers keep all their stuff?
This is a bit of an equipment logistics question so might not be all that interesting to everyone but... Reading the 5e PHB, the backpack weight listing says:
Backpack: 1 cubic foot/30 pounds of ...
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What are the playable D&D races in 5e, and where can I find them?
There's not a lot of material published by WotC for 5e (relative to previous editions), nor is there planned to be. However, there are playable races for D&D scattered around in a few different ...
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How do I handle my players killing things by catapulting a folding boat?
So, I'm not sure where to begin...
I planned some epic battle and "that guy" showed up and ruined it. He took a magical item I (stupidly) gave him (folding boat, DMG 170), cast Catapult (EE, p.15) on ...
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Is there a real use for the Medicine skill?
Does the Medicine skill have a hidden use I don't know about? All I can see in the rules is that it allows a successful skill roll to stabilize a dying character, which a healer kit does without a ...
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6
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Does this character concept involving never taking a long rest and converting spell slots to sorcery points (aka coffeelock) violate RAW?
Does the following, very cheesy character concept, violate any RAW? Please cite rules or official rulings in your answer. (Apart from RAW, I expect my DM to disallow or limit the concept, in the ...
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Can you multiclass the same class twice for different class features?
The way that 5e works, each class has a sub class that dictates a heap of class features. The question here is generally, can a character of a specific class take levels in that same class in order to ...
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Do Cantrips use your character level or class level?
Cantrips seem to be the only type of spell that cares only about your class level.
However, in the multiclassing section they are not mentioned, does this mean that cantrips use your character level, ...
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Why do Crawford's tweets seem to be treated on par with the actual rules?
I keep running into quoted tweets from this 'Jeremy Crawford' guy in 5e answers. My understanding is he's sort of in charge of the edition, like James Jacobs with Pathfinder. It makes sense that his ...
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Is the Moonbeam spell amazing, or are we doing it wrong?
The description of the moonbeam spell (PHB pg. 261) says:
When a creature enters the spell's area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it is engulfed in ghostly flames that cause ...
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3
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What does upper-case-A-Attack action vs. lower-case-a-attack mean?
What exactly is the difference between Attack action and attack?
It seems each time a question regarding this pops up, there's always somebody arguing they are not different. I feel there should be a ...
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How do I communicate to my players that a door is, for the time being, absolutely locked to them?
I have a small dungeon in my campaign, a temple, that is a significant location for the broader story of my world. The players might very well enter this temple pretty early on in their adventuring. ...
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90
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5
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Rolling a D10 (0-9) for hitpoints. What do I get with a zero?
My character leveled up and I rolled a D10 to determine the rise in hitpoints. The dice that I used goes from 0 to 9 and I rolled a zero. The DM told me that this means I only add my modifier (0 + 3 = ...
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11
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How much is a Gold Piece really worth?
I have been wondering what a gold piece is worth, due to the fact there are many things that cost the same, but in reality, are probably worth radically different prices, such as a Goat and a Whip, ...
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What happens when an Immovable Rod is activated while in a vehicle?
The Red Bandits have boarded the train, hidden among the other passengers. They wait an hour or two - to be sure the train is far from any city - then, on the boss's signal, they all pull out their ...
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Why would I ever choose rolling hit points?
In DnD 5th edition, all classes seemingly have the option of rolling hit points -or- just increasing their hit points by a set value.
That set value is defined as the dice roll's average, rounded up.
...
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Can you choose to fail a saving throw?
(Yet another) follow-up from this question:
As someone mentioned in the question above, some 'friendly' spells (Calm Emotion, IIRC) specify that one can choose to fail the saving throw. In this case,...
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A player always wants to recruit NPCs into the party. How do I handle this?
TL;DR: I have a player who wants to recruit lots of NPCs to avoid putting his own character in danger and to grab more spotlight for himself. I'm concerned about how this will affect challenge balance ...
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D&D 5e and "Theatre of the Mind" in combat
Our target play style for combat encounters would be to use battle boards roughly half the time (when there is enough of interest in play that the tactics are fun to play out), and to skip that with ...
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Who can use magic scrolls?
I'm confused about who can use scrolls in 5e. In the DMG, p139 under Magic Item Categories: Scrolls, it states that:
Any creature that can understand a written language can read the
arcane script ...
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What should I do about a religious player who refuses to accept the existence of multiple gods in D&D?
I am working on a campaign which I am going to run for a group of friends, all of whom are new to D&D.
I was discussing available classes with one of the players, more specifically classes with ...
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How should a DM resolve a smooth-talking player with a weak Charisma score PC? [closed]
If a player is naturally a smooth-talker, does well with on-the-spot dialogue, is instinctively persuasive, and is overall great in social situations, but role-plays a character with a poor Charisma ...
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Do you have to have thieves' tools in order to pick a lock?
Does a character have to have thieves' tools (TT) in order to pick a lock? Not necessarily proficiency in the tool, but at least have the tool itself?
I'm confused about picking locks and whether or ...
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How can I get a player to accept that they should stop trying to pull stunts without thinking them through first?
How can I get a player to accept that they should stop trying to pull stunts without thinking them through first?
To explain the issue, one of the players in my game wants to assassinate a high-...
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Where do I find the "official" rules for D&D 5e?
I play D&D 5e and sometimes come here with questions. But sometimes I see things referenced here as sources that I don't have or am not aware of....
Which are the "official rules" for D&...
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How can I suggest the DM stop trying to kill us?
We have been playing a game for a while now, and while the game itself is quite enjoyable, the only problem is that the DM seems to be aiming to kill us. Sort of.
For example, there have been three ...
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Can a Black Dragon Hatchling be raised to be good? Or is it inherently evil?
The following came up during my campaign:
The characters got their hands on some Black Dragon eggs. The PCs put out the thought that if they got the eggs to hatch, they could raise the dragons to be ...
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Are Trolls immune to all instant death effects?
Part of the Troll's Regeneration feature says:
The troll dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn't regenerate.
Does this case beat instant kill effects, such as Divine Word or ...
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How can I explain to my player that Alchemist's Fire is safe to carry?
The Player's Handbook (p. 148) says that Alchemist's Fire "ignites when exposed to air":
Alchemist's Fire. This sticky, adhesive fluid ignites when exposed to air. As an action, you can throw this ...
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My DM insists on rolling a single save for groups affected by AoE save spells. How does this affect my odds of successfully affecting the enemy?
As the title question, my DM rolls a single d20 save for groups affected by my area of effect spells that require a save, in order to save time. I can't help but feel like I'm being ripped off by ...
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Our DM keeps interrupting our long rests
In the latest campaign, we're still around the third level, but every single night we've spend in the wild so far, we were interrupted by hard combat encounters (as in DMG-worded "hard"), forcing us ...
- 6,961
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Is 4 hours long enough for a long rest for Elves?
The Long Rest rules read:
A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8
hours long, during which you sleep or perform light activity: reading,
talking, eating, or standing watch for ...
- 1,175
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Do I have to allow someone to play at my table in Adventurers League public events?
One player, a couple of months ago, had a problem about a ruling I made in a tier 1 game. It was a minor ruling in which I gave an npc wizard in a carriage a +2 AC bonus for 1/2 cover. She argued ...
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