Glossary

Rules terms, hazards and planes of existence. Narrow to one with the Kind filter.

175 results

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

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

Everything within an area of heavy rain or heavy snowfall is Lightly Obscured, and creatures in the area have Disadvantage on all Wisdom (Perception) checks. Heavy rain also extinguishes open flames.

KindHazardCategoryEnvironmental Effect
2024 SRD

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.

KindRules TermCategoryAction
2024 SRD

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.

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

*Nuisance Trap (Levels 1–4)* Trigger: A creature moves onto the pit’s lid Duration: Instantaneous This 10-foot-deep pit has a hinged lid constructed from material identical to the surrounding floor. When a creature moves onto the lid, it swings open like a trapdoor, causing the creature to fall into the pit. The lid remains open thereafter. A creature that falls into the pit takes 3 (1d6) Bludgeoning damage from the fall. Detect and Disarm. As a Study action, a creature can examine the section of floor that forms the pit’s lid and make a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check, detecting the pit on a successful check. Once the pit is detected, an Iron Spike or a similar object can be wedged between the pit’s lid and the surrounding floor to prevent the lid from opening, thereby making it safe to cross. The cover can also be held shut using Arcane Lock or similar magic. Escape. A creature needs a Climb Speed, climbing gear, or magic such as Spider Climb to scale the pit’s smooth walls. You can make the pit easier to escape by adding cracks in the walls big enough to serve as handholds and footholds. At Higher Levels. You can scale the trap for higher levels by increasing the pit’s depth and damage, as shown in the following table. Levels Pit Depth Bludgeoning Damage 5–10 30 feet 10 (3d6) 11–16 60 feet 21 (6d6) 17–20 120 feet 42 (12d6)

KindHazardCategoryTrap
2024 SRD

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.

KindRules TermCategoryAction
2024 SRD

Traveling at altitudes of 10,000 feet or higher above sea level is taxing for most creatures because of the reduced amount of oxygen in the air. Each hour such a creature spends traveling at high altitude counts as 2 hours for the purpose of determining how long that creature can travel (see “Travel Pace”). Creatures can become acclimated to a high altitude by spending 30 days or more at this elevation. Creatures can’t become acclimated to elevations above 20,000 feet unless they are native to such environments.

KindHazardCategoryEnvironmental Effect
2024 SRD

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.

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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.”

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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”).

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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

KindRules TermCategoryAttitude
2024 SRD

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.”

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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.

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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.

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

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

KindRules TermCategoryAttitude
2024 SRD

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

KindRules TermCategoryAction
2024 SRD

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”).

KindRules Term
2024 SRD

When you jump, you make either a Long Jump (horizontal) or a High Jump (vertical). See also “Long Jump” and “High Jump.”

KindRules Term
2024 SRD