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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How do I help players whose time with previous editions confuses their understanding of D&D 5th Edition?
When I first was teaching D&D 5e to my group, one of my friends (he mostly had experience with 2e and OSR) kept getting confused every time I asked for a saving throw, because he believed he hadn'...
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Do NPC and monsters also double damage on a natural 20?
I'm just reading through the basic rules and I came across the new rules for critical hits. I'm sure the answer is simply "Yes" and an obvious one but I want to be sure I didn't miss anything here.
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High Elf Racial Cantrips: Do they improve for non-Wizards? [duplicate]
For example if a High Elf Rogue chooses Ray of Frost for his or her racial cantrip, does that cantrip improve as his or her Rogue level increases? Ray of Frost gets better damage as you advance in ...
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Do you have to cast Shield prior to your opponent's attack roll?
The entry for Shield says that the reaction is triggered by being hit by an attack, which would tend to imply that you can wait to see if your opponent actually succeeds on their attack roll (...
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Does Mage Armor stack with the Shield spell?
Mage Armor sets the target's base AC to 13+Dex. The Shield spell gives you a +5 bonus to AC. If you cast both on yourself, does that give you an effective AC of 18+Dex while both spells are in effect?
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Does a single PC who is stealthy get to surprise monsters when the rest of the group is not?
The rules for a surprise round, seem to be focused on the people being surprised. (They lose a turn) rather than being focused on the people doing the surprising (They get an extra turn)
The rules ...
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What guidelines, if any, exist to guide the DM in establishing difficulty level for skill/ability checks?
Reading through the Basic Rules, there is a DC Check difficulty table found on page 58:
… but aside from the basic description of what a check is and the basic mechanics (d20 + mod/skill + any ...
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When can I make opportunity attacks?
What provokes an opportunity attack?
In 3.X moving out of a threatened square, standing up from prone, casting a spell (unless cast defensively), or making a ranged attack provoked, while in 4e ...
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How does wizard & cleric spell preparation and casting work? [closed]
In 3.X wizards had spellbooks, while clerics had their entire spell list, but they both memorized/prepared spells every day from those lists, and had a certain number of slots for preparing spells in.
...
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How do you calculate the odds of success for an ability contest
I'm having a hard time understanding how to figure out the odds of success from an ability contest. I originally thought that each +1 would be 5% but anydice suggests 4% but only after a +1 ...
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Can I give the blinded condition through an improvised action?
Under the rules for contests it says that anytime you wish to do something that is opposed by another you make a contest ability check. Later in the combat rules it says that you can use a shove ...
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Any tips on how to build my first and highly hostile Hexcrawl? [closed]
I'm starting to develop my first sandbox campaign ever, I'll be using 5e to run it and I'll start the game in October, so I'm taking these two months to prep everything.
I'm using Hexographer as my ...
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What does an average monster in the Starter Set look like?
Based on the monsters that have been previewed so far by WOTC (we've seen 4 from the starter so far, 3 are easily found here). We've only really seen a small range of Challenge levels (all 3 in the ...
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Do proficiencies with one thing from multiple different sources stack?
In D&D 5e it is possible for a character to receive proficiency in the same skill, tool, weapon and/or armor more than once via Class, Race, and/or Background.
Do any of these proficiencies ...
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Which Fighter (TWF Fighter vs. Great Weapon Fighter) is better optimized for Dealing Damage?
With Basic's release the Fighter is given six different Fighting Styles to choose from at level 1. Each fighting style offers a solid mechanical benefit to the fighter, but both Great Weapon Fighting ...
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How do you calculate an average damage when damage is conditional on circumstances?
I'm trying to compare two rogue builds to each other.
The first rogue is easy. It's a wood elf with a long bow in a wilderness campaign, doing 1d8+mod damage and always being hidden with SA damage. ...
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Does a short combat or casting one spell interrupt a Long Rest?
D&D Basic Rules v0.1 says on page 67 that a long rest is interrupted by "at least 1 hour of walking, fighting, casting spells". So does that mean that 59 minutes of combat doesn't interrupt the ...
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Does being in the same space as an ogre allow a halfling to hide between its legs?
Say I have a level 3 lightfoot halfling rogue fighting an ogre. Can I move 10 feet into the space of an ogre, use cunning action to hide, hit It with sneak attack (in its groin?), and then move out ...
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Advice for making an adventure entirely based on "boss" battles? [closed]
we're currently playing D&D Next using the Basic rules and covnerted Pathfinder monsters covnerted based on the Playtest monster stats.
Next session my players (Monk, Ninja (Pathfinder converted ...
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How can a goblin attack and hide in the same turn?
In the basic rules both an attack or going into hiding counts as an action, of which you can only do one per turn. But in the demonstration video of the Starter Box in the very first fight the group ...
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How do I copy and paste from the Basic D&D rules?
As I've been answering questions on the stack, I've noticed that it's rather difficult to copy and paste text from the Basic D&D rules.
Here is what I get when I try to copy text from the PDF (...
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Does a hit to a stabilized character count as a death saving failure?
The 0.1 basic rules (p76) say:
A stable creature doesn't make death saving throws [...]. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage.
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When teaching D&D 5e basic to players of previous editions, which terms have new meanings that will likely lead to confusion? [closed]
When I previously taught D&D 5e to my group, I had a few players who were confused about specific terms.
Which terms in the rules tend to confuse people because they get it mixed up with ...
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What are the "rules of hidden club" for D&D 5th edition?
A persistent problem in D&D is the implementation and understanding of stealth mechanics.
5e provides for hiding when creatures "can't see" you.
How do the obscured rules work with hiding, ...
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What are the stand-out features of D&D 5e?
5e is described by its marketing materials as:
The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends may tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with ...
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Free Basic-Rules-only adventure to showcase D&D 5e [closed]
With the free release of the 5e Basic Rules, I'm looking for an adventure to introduce myself and my group to 5e (in the spirit of this question): we want to try the system before deciding if we'll ...
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What are the major differences between the final playtest package and D&D 5e Basic?
Back in October 2013 we had the "final playtest document" which allowed people to play Next for almost a year before D&D5e Basic was released.
What major changes are there in the rules that were ...
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What is inspiration?
I've noticed a new mechanic in the 5th edition rules that stands out from the rest. It's called Inspiration.
What is this, what is it good for and how should I as a DM grant it?
It looks like it's ...
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What major changes does 5e bring to the Forgotten Realms campaign setting?
As I understand it, D&D 4e takes the Forgotten Realms storyline up to around 1469 DR. How far does 5e take it, if at all?
Are there many changes to the story?
I am using many Forgotten Realms ...
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Can I use my newly gained limited-use ability right after leveling up?
This question came into mind after seeing this question. It may be an absurd question, but can I use a limited-use ability which I have gained by leveling up without taking any rest? For example, can ...
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Does D&D 5e have rules for gaining experience from gold?
I have read in some of the Old-School Basic D&D incarnations that characters are awarded more XP for the gold value of the treasure they find than they gain by defeating enemies. I like how this ...
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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 ...
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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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Will there be D&D Insider content & features for D&D 5e?
I know that Dungeon and Dragon magazines will be publishing with the same regularity they were for 4e and feature much of the same types of content, but has there been any statements from Mike Mearls ...
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Is the Player's Handbook sufficient to run a campaign?
The Player's Handbook (PHB) for D&D 5e is being released in August. The Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual are being released a few months after, however. Can a group run a successful ...
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Will D&D Adventures have International access?
Wizard of the Coast just announced a new program for Organizational Play.
I'm not aware of how organizational play has worked in the passed other than the Encounters Program when it was for official ...
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How do I convert traps from older modules to fit D&D 5e?
I recently acquired a bunch of old modules for 2nd and 3rd edition. Most of the module has been very easy to convert, however there is one thing I'm a bit stuck on. Traps.
It seems that some of ...
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Why is Resistance not a mage spell? [closed]
I'm playing what's effectively a counter-caster, and a spell I noticed that is on both the cleric and druid spell lists is the cantrip Resistance. This spell gives a bonus to a single saving throw, ...
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Can I add Divine Favor damage to Two Weapon Fighting?
If I'm a War Cleric, and I cast Divine Favor on myself and I use two light weapons and they both hit, do I add the extra damage twice since both weapons hit, or just once since both weapons are part ...
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Calculating Hit Points past Level 1 [duplicate]
What is giving me trouble is the phrase
+ your Constitution modifier per [class] level after 1st.
Does this simply mean I add my CON modifier once each time I level up, or add my CON modifier a ...
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Is a spell with an attack roll "an attack" for the purpose of Sneak Attack?
Sneak Attack says:
When you attack a creature and hit, you can deal extra damage to that target if you have advantage against it or if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it and that ...
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Must a Wizard prepare a spell to cast it as a ritual?
Ritual casting does not expend a spell slot, I know that. However, the Wizard class feature does not say anything about whether you must prepare the subject spell to cast it as a ritual. On one side, ...
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Can I make a worthwhile one-handed paladin?
I would really like my pally to use just ONE weapon, and wield nothing in their other hand (or at least appear to do so), but I don't really see any thing that makes it beneficial at all. Using 2 ...
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Can someone explain what the "Proficiency Bonus" is in D&D 5e/Next exactly?
I am reading the 5e rules, and I keep seeing how you can add proficiency bonus to attack rolls checks with weapons you are proficient in and skill checks in skills you are proficient in, but I can't ...
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How can I convert D&D 5e Saving Throws into Defences?
In D&D 5, the saving throws for spells has the following formula:
The DC is set to 8 + prof bonus + magical stat bonus.
The target then makes a saving throw, adding their stat bonus and hoping ...
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On Challenging D&D's Expectations on Death and Wealth accumulation
Background
I am planning on running a game in a setting (of my own creation) where there are penalties for improperly handling the bodies and possessions of deceased intelligent creatures. Simply, ...
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How is cantrip damage calculated?
I noticed Ray of Frost does 1d8 damage according to the Spells section. Do you add your spellcasting ability modifier to this? It makes sense, as otherwise it would be less than Light Crossbow with 12 ...
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Removing attack spells from Cantrips [closed]
I have been thinking about removing the Cantrip spells that are exclusively used as attack spells (i.e. the description lists it as doing damage only).
This in effect will make Cantrips non-lethal ...
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Is there a good way to have a party of adventurers with only one player?
My sister expressed interest in playing D&D, and I'm interested in DMing, so I decided to try and run The Caves of Chaos from the D&D Next playtest packet. Reading through the materials, I ...
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What happens if I get the same skill from both my background and my class?
I made a trickster cleric with spy background. This caused an overlap of stealth and disguise. (Further compounded by me wanting to take hide in shadow ... which again granted me stealth.)
What ...