Glossary

A variety of effects allow a creature to fly. While flying, you fall if you have the Incapacitated or Prone condition or your Fly Speed is reduced to 0. You can stay aloft in those circumstances if you can hover. See also “Falling” and “Fly Speed.”

A Friendly creature views you favorably. You have Advantage on an ability check to influence a Friendly creature. See also “Influence.”

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. See also “Unarmed Strike” and “Grappled.” 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. 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 Incapacitated 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).

A hazard is an environmental danger. See also “Burning,” “Dehydration,” “Falling,” “Malnutrition,” and “Suffocation.”

Healing is how you regain Hit Points. See also “Playing the Game” (“Damage and Healing”).

You have the Blinded condition while trying to see something in a Heavily Obscured space. See also “Blinded,” “Darkness,” and “Playing the Game” (“Exploration”).

When you take the Help action, you do one of the following. Assist an Ability Check. Choose one of your skill or tool proficiencies and one ally who is near enough for you to assist verbally or physically when they make an ability check. That ally has Advantage on the next ability check they make with the chosen skill or tool. This benefit expires if the ally doesn’t use it before the start of your next turn. The GM has final say on whether your assistance is possible. Assist an Attack Roll. You momentarily distract an enemy within 5 feet of you, giving Advantage to the next attack roll by one of your allies against that enemy. This benefit expires at the start of your next turn.

If you (a player character) have Heroic Inspiration, you can expend it to reroll any die immediately after rolling it, and you must use the new roll. If you gain Heroic Inspiration but already have it, it’s lost unless you give it to a player character who lacks it.

With the Hide action, you try to hide yourself. To do so, you must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check while you’re Heavily 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. On a successful check, you have the Invisible condition while hidden. Make note of your check’s total, which is the DC for a creature to find you with a Wisdom (Perception) check. You stop being hidden immediately after any of the following occurs: you make a sound louder than a whisper, an enemy finds you, you make an attack roll, or you cast a spell with a Verbal component.

When you make a High Jump, you leap into the air a number of feet equal to 3 plus your Strength modifier (minimum of 0 feet) if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump. When you make a standing High Jump, you can jump only half that distance. Either way, each foot of the jump costs a foot of movement. You can extend your arms half your height above yourself during the jump. Thus, you can reach a distance equal to the height of the jump plus 1½ times your height.

Hit Point Dice, or Hit Dice for short, help determine a player character’s Hit Point maximum, as explained in “Character Creation.” Most monsters also have Hit Dice. A creature can spend Hit Dice during a Short Rest to regain Hit Points. See also “Short Rest.”

Hit Points (HP) are a measure of how difficult it is to kill or destroy a creature or an object. Damage reduces Hit Points, and healing restores them. You can’t have more Hit Points than your Hit Point maximum, and you can’t have less than 0. See also “Breaking Objects” and “Playing the Game” (“Damage and Healing”).

A Hostile creature views you unfavorably. You have Disadvantage on an ability check to influence a Hostile creature. See also “Influence.”

Some creatures can hover, as noted in their stat blocks, and some spells and other effects grant the ability to hover. Hovering while flying prevents you from falling in certain circumstances. See also “Flying.”

Spells and other effects sometimes create magical illusions. Such an effect defines what the illusion does and which senses or mental faculties it deceives. If an illusion manifests in space, the illusion is insubstantial and weightless, yet it seems to be affected by the environment as if the illusion were real unless the effect that created it specifies otherwise. For example, a visual illusion of a creature casts shadows and reflections, and wind appears to affect the illusory creature. Similarly, an audible illusion echoes in an echoey space.

If you have Immunity to a damage type or a condition, it doesn’t affect you in any way.

An improvised weapon is an object wielded as a makeshift weapon, such as broken glass, a table leg, or a frying pan. A Simple or Martial weapon also counts as an improvised weapon if it’s wielded in a way contrary to its design; if you use a Ranged weapon to make a melee attack or throw a Melee weapon that lacks the Thrown property, the weapon counts as an improvised weapon. An improvised weapon follows the rules below. Proficiency. Don’t add your Proficiency Bonus to attack rolls with an improvised weapon. Damage. On a hit, the weapon deals 1d4 damage of a type the GM thinks is appropriate for the object. Range. If you throw the weapon, it has a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet. Weapon Equivalents. If an improvised weapon resembles a Simple or Martial weapon, the GM may say it functions as that weapon and uses that weapon’s rules. For example, the GM could treat a table leg as a Club.

An Indifferent creature has no desire to help or hinder you. Indifferent is the default attitude of a monster. See also “Influence.”

With the Influence action, you urge a monster to do something. Describe or roleplay how you’re communicating with the monster. Are you trying to deceive, intimidate, amuse, or gently persuade? The GM then determines whether the monster 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 monster’s desires, no ability check is necessary; the monster fulfills your request in a way it prefers. Unwilling. If your urging is repugnant to the monster or counter to its alignment, no ability check is necessary; it doesn’t comply. Hesitant. If you urge the monster to do something that it is hesitant to do, you must make an ability check, which is affected by the monster’s attitude: Indifferent, Friendly, or Hostile, each of which is defined in this glossary. The Influence Checks table suggests which ability check to make based on how you’re interacting with the monster. The GM chooses the check, which has a default DC equal to 15 or the monster’s Intelligence score, whichever is higher. On a successful check, the monster 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. Influence Checks Ability Check Interaction Charisma (Deception) Deceiving a monster that understands you Charisma (Intimidation) Intimidating a monster Charisma (Performance) Amusing a monster Charisma (Persuasion) Persuading a monster that understands you Wisdom (Animal Handling) Gently coaxing a Beast or Monstrosity

Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. The combat rules in “Playing the Game” explain how to roll Initiative. Sometimes a GM might have combatants use their Initiative scores instead of rolling Initiative. Your Initiative score equals 10 plus your Dexterity modifier. If you have Advantage on Initiative rolls, increase your Initiative score by 5. If you have Disadvantage on those rolls, decrease that score by 5. See also “Playing the Game” (“Combat”).