Combat

Sometimes, one side in a battle gains an unexpected advantage, known as surprise. This might occur when adventurers stealthily approach enemies or when a hidden threat suddenly appears. The DM determines who, if anyone, is surprised by comparing the Stealth checks of those trying to be hidden against the passive Perception of the opposing creatures. Any character or monster that doesn't notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter. If surprised, you cannot move or take an action on your first turn, and you cannot take a reaction until after that turn ends. It's possible for some members of a group to be surprised while others are not.

Initiative dictates the order in which combatants take their turns. At the beginning of combat, every participant rolls a Dexterity check. The DM makes a single roll for a group of identical creatures, meaning they all act at the same time. The combatants are then ranked from the highest Dexterity check result to the lowest, establishing the initiative order for each round of combat. This order remains consistent throughout the fight. In case of a tie, the DM decides the order among tied DM-controlled creatures, and the players decide among their tied characters. The DM can also decide if a monster and a player character are tied. Alternatively, the DM can have all tied characters and monsters roll a d20 to determine the order, with the highest roll acting first.

On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action. You can choose to move before or after your action. Your speed, often referred to as your walking speed, is listed on your character sheet. Common actions are detailed later in this chapter, and many class features and abilities offer additional action options. The rules for movement are also explained later. You can choose to forgo moving, taking an action, or doing anything at all on your turn. If you are unsure what to do, consider taking the Dodge or Ready action.

Once per turn you can take one action. Choose which action to take from the following actions unless your race or class specifies a different type of action: Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Influence, Magic, Ready, Search, Study, or Utilize.

• Attack: When you take the attack action you can make one attack with a weapon or an unarmed strike. As part of the attack action you can equip or unequip a weapon. You can do so before or after the attack. You do not need to use a weapon you equip for the attack. For instance you can draw a sword and make an unarmed strike.

• Dash: When you take the dash action you increase your movement speed equal to your current movement speed. If you have multiple forms of movement speed such as a flying speed you choose which speed to increase.

• Disengage: When you take the disengage action your movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity for the rest of the current turn.

• Dodge: When you take the dodge action, attacks from sources you can see have disadvantage on you and you have advantages on DEX saving throws. You lose this benefit if you become Incapacitated or have a movement speed of 0 ft.

• Help: When you take the help action you choose one skill or tool and one ally within a distance that you can reasonably verbally or physically assist, giving them advantage on the ability check. You can use this action in combat with an enemy within 5 ft of you to give an ally advantage on their next attack. These benefits expire at the start of your next turn.

• Hide: When you take the hide action you try to conceal yourself. To do so you must succeed a DC 15 Stealth check while you’re Heavily Obscured or being Three-Quarters or Total Cover while you are out of the enemy’s line of sight. If you can see the creature you are able to tell whether or not it can see you. On a successful check you cannot be seen and can only be detected on a successful Perception check equal to your Stealth check. You are detected automatically if 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. If you make an attack from being hidden you have advantage on the attack roll.

• Influence: When you take the influence action you urge a monster to do something. Describe or roleplay how you’re communicating with the monster. The attitude of the monster determines how effective this action is. If the monster is willing there is no ability check necessary as what you describe or roleplay aligns with its own desires. If the monster is unwilling, no ability check is necessary as it will never comply. If the monster is hesitant you make an ability check. The DM determines how the monster is feeling based upon the result of an ability check as described below. The DC is usually 15 or the monster’s INT score, whichever is higher. On a failed check you must wait 24 hours or a duration set by the DM before you can urge it in the same way again.

Influence Checks

• Magic: When you take a magical action you can cast a spell with a casting time of one action or use a feature or magical item that would require a magical action. If you cast a spell with a duration of one minute or longer you must take a magic action to maintain concentration on the spell. If your concentration is broken but you do not expend the spell slot.

• Ready: When you take the ready action you must wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you take this action on your turn which allows you to use your Reaction before you start your next turn. First you must decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. Then you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger or you can choose to move up to your movement speed. When the trigger happens you can take your Reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. If you ready a spell you can cast it as normal. To hold a spell the spell must have a casting time of one action and you maintain concentration on the spell as if it required concentration.

• Search: When you take the search action you make a WIS based skill check to discern something that is not obvious.

Search

• Study: When you take the study action you make an INT based skill check to study your memory, a book, clue, or other source of knowledge.

Areas of Knowledge

• Utilize: When you take the utilize action you interact with an object that requires an action to use. You can interact with most objects normally such as drawing a sword as part of the attack action.

Some class features, spells, and other abilities allow you to take an additional action on your turn called a bonus action. For example, a rogue's Cunning Action provides bonus action options. You can only take a bonus action if a specific rule allows it; otherwise, you don't have one. You are limited to one bonus action per turn, so if you have multiple options, you must choose which one to use. You decide when to take your bonus action during your turn, unless its timing is specified. Any condition that prevents you from taking actions also prevents you from taking bonus actions.

Your turn can also include minor activities that don't require an action or movement. You can communicate briefly through speech or gestures. You can also interact with one object or feature of the environment for free during your move or action. Examples include opening a door while moving or drawing your weapon as part of an attack action. Interacting with a second object requires your action. Some magic items and special objects always require an action to use. The DM may require an action for seemingly minor activities if they require special care or present an obstacle, such as opening a stuck door or turning a difficult crank.

Certain abilities, spells, and situations allow you to take a special action called a reaction. A reaction is an immediate response to a specific trigger, which can occur on your turn or someone else's. The opportunity attack is a common type of reaction, described later in this chapter. Once you take a reaction, you cannot take another one until the start of your next turn. If your reaction interrupts another creature's turn, that creature continues its turn immediately after your reaction is resolved.

1. 1.

   Determine surprise. The DM determines if anyone is surprised.

2. 2.

   Establish positions. The DM determines the starting locations of all participants.

3. 3.

   Roll initiative. Everyone rolls to determine the turn order.

4. 4.

   Take turns. Each participant acts in initiative order.

5. 5.

   Begin the next round. Once everyone has acted, a new round begins at step 4 until the fight ends.

As part of your movement or action, you can perform simple interactions like:

• Drawing or sheathing a weapon

• Opening or closing a door

• Retrieving a potion

• Picking up a dropped item

• Taking a small object

• Removing a ring

• Eating a bit of food

• Planting a banner

• Getting coins

• Drinking from a flask

• Operating a lever or switch

• Pulling a torch

• Taking a reachable book

• Extinguishing a small flame

• Donning a mask or hood

• Listening at a door

• Kicking a small stone

• Turning a key

• Tapping with a pole

• Handing an item to another

On your turn, you can move up to your speed, using as much or as little as you like. Movement can include walking, jumping, climbing, and swimming, which can be combined or used as your entire move. The distance of each part of your movement is subtracted from your total speed. Specifics for jumping, climbing, and swimming are in Adventuring .

You can move before and after your action. For example, with a 30-foot speed, you could move 10 ft, take an action, and then move 20 ft.

If an action allows multiple weapon attacks, you can move between them. A fighter with two attacks and a 25-foot speed could move 10 ft, attack, move 15 ft, and attack again.

If you have multiple speeds (e.g., walking and flying), you can switch between them during your move. When switching, subtract the distance already moved from the new speed to determine how much further you can move with that speed. If the result is 0 or less, you can't use the new speed during the current move.

Combat often occurs in challenging environments like boulder-strewn caverns, dense forests, or steep stairs, which constitute difficult terrain. Every foot of movement in difficult terrain costs 1 extra foot, even if multiple factors make the terrain difficult. Examples include low furniture, rubble, undergrowth, steep stairs, snow, and shallow bogs. Another creature's space also counts as difficult terrain.

Combatants may end up lying down (prone) due to being knocked down or choosing to do so. You can drop prone without using speed. Standing up costs movement equal to half your speed. You cannot stand up if you lack sufficient movement or your speed is 0. Moving while prone requires crawling or magic; each foot of crawling costs 1 extra foot (3 feet in difficult terrain).

You can move through a nonhostile creature's space. You can move through a hostile creature's space only if they are at least two sizes larger or smaller than you. Remember that another creature's space is difficult terrain. You cannot willingly end your move in another creature's space, regardless of their hostility. Leaving a hostile creature's reach provokes an opportunity attack (explained later).

Flying creatures have great mobility but risk falling if knocked prone. The are knocked prone if their speed is reduced to 0, or they lose their ability to move (unless they can hover or are held aloft by magic).

Creatures occupy different amounts of space, as shown in the Size Categories table. Objects sometimes use the same categories.

A creature's space represents the area it controls in combat, not necessarily its physical dimensions. A Medium creature controls a 5-foot-wide space. This space limits movement and the number of creatures that can surround an opponent. Roughly eight Medium creatures can surround another Medium creature. Larger creatures take up more space, allowing fewer to surround a target (e.g., five Large creatures around a Medium one). Conversely, smaller creatures can surround a larger one (e.g., twenty Medium creatures around a Gargantuan one).

A creature can squeeze through a space large enough for a creature one size smaller. While squeezing, each foot of movement costs 1 extra foot, and the creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws. Attack rolls against a squeezing creature have advantage.

If using a square grid (each square representing 5 ft):

• Move square by square, using your speed in 5-foot segments (Speed in squares = speed in ft /5).

• Entering any square costs at least 1 square of movement, even diagonally.

• Entering difficult terrain costs extra movement (e.g., 2 squares of movement for 1 square of difficult terrain).

• Diagonal movement cannot cross corners of walls or other space-filling terrain.

• Range is measured by counting squares along the shortest path, starting from an adjacent square.

When you make an attack, your attack roll determines whether the attack hits or misses. To make an attack roll, roll a d20 and add the appropriate modifiers. If the total of the roll plus modifiers equals or exceeds the target’s Armor Class (AC), the attack hits. The AC of a character is determined at character creation, whereas the AC of a monster is in its stat block.

When a character makes an attack roll, the two most common modifiers to the roll are an ability modifier and the character’s proficiency bonus. When a monster makes an attack roll, it uses whatever modifier is provided in its stat block.

• Ability Modifier: The ability modifier used for a melee weapon attack is Strength, and the ability modifier used for a ranged weapon attack is Dexterity. Weapons that have the finesse or thrown property break this rule. Some spells also require an attack roll. The ability modifier used for a spell attack depends on the spellcasting ability of the spellcaster, as explained in Spellcasting .

• Proficiency Bonus: You add your proficiency bonus to your attack roll when you attack using a weapon with which you have proficiency, as well as when you attack with a spell.

Sometimes fate blesses or curses a combatant, causing the novice to hit and the veteran to miss. If the d20 roll for an attack is a 20, the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC. In addition, the attack is a critical hit, as explained later in this chapter. If the d20 roll for an attack is a 1, the attack misses regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC.

Sometimes creatures will be in some amount of Cover (Explained in detail in the next section), which will affect your attacks.

• Choose a target: Pick a target within your attack’s range: a creature, an object, or a location.

• Determine modifiers: The DM determines whether the target has Cover and whether you have advantage or disadvantage against the target. In addition, spells, special abilities, and other effects can apply penalties or bonuses to your attack roll.

• Resolve the attack: You make the attack roll. On a hit, you roll damage, unless the particular attack has rules that specify otherwise. Some attacks cause special effects in addition to or instead of damage. If there’s ever any question whether something you’re doing counts as an attack, the rule is simple: if you’re making an attack roll, you’re making an attack. Combatants often try to escape their foes’ notice by hiding, casting the invisibility spell, or lurking in darkness. When you attack a target that you can’t see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you’re guessing the target’s location or you’re targeting a creature you can hear but not see. If the target isn’t in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the DM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target’s location correctly. When a creature can’t see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it. If you are hidden—both unseen and unheard—when you make an attack, you give away your location when the attack hits or misses.

When you make a ranged attack, you fire a bow or a crossbow, hurl a handaxe, or otherwise send projectiles to strike a foe at a distance. A monster might shoot spines from its tail. Many spells also involve making a ranged attack.

• 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 or a shortbow, 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 the long range.

• Ranged Attacks in Close Combat: Aiming a ranged attack is more difficult when a foe is next to you. When you make a ranged attack with a weapon, a spell, or some other means, you have disadvantage on the attack roll if you are within 5 ft of a hostile creature who can see you and who isn’t incapacitated.

Used in hand-to-hand combat, a melee attack allows you to attack a foe within your reach. A melee attack typically uses a handheld weapon such as a sword, a warhammer, or an axe. A typical monster makes a melee attack when it strikes with its claws, horns, teeth, tentacles, or other body part. A few spells also involve making a melee attack. Most creatures have a 5-foot reach and can thus attack targets within 5 ft of them when making a melee attack. Certain creatures (typically those larger than Medium) have melee attacks with a greater reach than 5 ft, as noted in their descriptions. When you are unarmed, you can fight in melee by making an unarmed strike, as shown in the weapon table in Equipment .

In a fight, everyone is constantly watching for enemies to drop their guard. You can rarely move heedlessly past your foes without putting yourself in danger; doing so provokes an opportunity attack. You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature. The attack interrupts the provoking creature’s movement, occurring right before the creature leaves your reach. You can avoid provoking an opportunity attack by taking the Disengage action. You also don’t provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you without using your movement, action, or reaction. For example, you don’t provoke an opportunity attack if an explosion hurls you out of a foe’s reach or if gravity causes you to fall past an enemy.

When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you’re holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other hand. You don’t add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative. If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.

When you want to grab a creature or wrestle with it, you can use the Attack action to make a special melee attack, a grapple. If you’re able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them. The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you, and it must be within your reach. Using at least one free hand, you try to seize the target by making a grapple check, an Athletics check contested by the target’s Athletics or Acrobatics check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you succeed, you subject the target to the grappled condition. The condition specifies the things that end it, and you can release the target whenever you like (no action required).

A grappled creature can use its action to escape. To do so, it must succeed on a Athletics or Acrobatics check contested by your Athletics check.

Moving a Grappled Creature. When you move, you can drag or carry the grappled creature with you, but your speed is halved, unless the creature is two or more sizes smaller than you.

Shoving a Creature

Using the Attack action, you can make a special melee attack to shove a creature, either to knock it prone or push it away from you. If you’re able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them. The target of your shove must be no more than one size larger than you, and it must be within your reach. You make an Athletics check contested by the target’s Athletics or Acrobatics check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you win the contest, you either knock the target prone or push it 5 ft away from you.

Battle often involves pitting your prowess against that of your foe. Such a challenge is represented by a contest. This section includes the most common contests that require an action in combat: grappling and shoving a creature. The DM can use these contests as models for improvising others.

Hit points represent a combination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck. Creatures with more hit points are more difficult to kill. Those with fewer hit points are more fragile. A creature’s current hit points (usually just called hit points) can be any number from the creature’s hit point maximum down to 0. This number changes frequently as a creature takes damage or receives healing. Whenever a creature takes damage, that damage is subtracted from its hit points. The loss of hit points has no effect on a creature’s capabilities until the creature drops to 0 hit points.

Each weapon, spell, and harmful monster ability specifies the damage it deals. You roll the damage die or dice, add any modifiers, and apply the damage to your target. Magic weapons, special abilities, and other factors can grant a bonus to damage. When attacking with a weapon, you add your ability modifier—the same modifier used for the attack roll—to the damage. A spell tells you which dice to roll for damage and whether to add any modifiers. If a spell or other effect deals damage to more than one target at the same time, roll the damage once for all of them. For example, when a wizard casts fireball or a cleric casts flame strike, the spell’s damage is rolled once for all creatures caught in the blast.

When you score a critical hit, you get to roll extra dice for the attack’s damage against the target. Roll all of the attack’s damage dice twice and add them together. Then add any relevant modifiers as normal. To speed up play, you can roll all the damage dice at once. For example, if you score a critical hit with a dagger, roll 2d4 for the damage, rather than 1d4, and then add your relevant ability modifier. If the attack involves other damage dice, such as from the rogue’s Sneak Attack feature, you roll those dice twice as well.

Different attacks, damaging spells, and other harmful effects deal different types of damage. Damage types have no rules of their own, but other rules, such as damage resistance, rely on the types. The damage types follow, with examples to help a DM assign a damage type to a new effect.

• Acid: The corrosive spray of a black dragon’s breath and the dissolving enzymes secreted by a black pudding deal acid damage.

• Bludgeoning: Blunt force attacks—hammers, falling, constriction, and the like—deal bludgeoning damage.

• Cold: The infernal chill radiating from an ice devil’s spear and the frigid blast of a white dragon’s breath deal cold damage.

• Fire: Red dragons breathe fire, and many spells conjure flames to deal fire damage.

• Force: Force is pure magical energy focused into a damaging form. Most effects that deal force damage are spells, including magic missile and spiritual weapon.

• Lightning: A lightning bolt spell and a blue dragon’s breath deal lightning damage.

• Necrotic: Necrotic damage, dealt by certain undead and a spell such as chill touch, withers matter and even the soul.

• Piercing: Puncturing and impaling attacks, including spears and monsters’ bites, deal piercing damage.

• Poison: Venomous stings and the toxic gas of a green dragon’s breath deal poison damage.

• Psychic: Mental abilities such as a mind flayer’s psionic blast deal psychic damage.

• Radiant: Radiant damage, dealt by a cleric’s flame strike spell or an angel’s smiting weapon, sears the flesh like fire and overloads the spirit with power.

• Slashing: Swords, axes, and monsters’ claws deal slashing damage.

• Thunder: A concussive burst of sound, such as the effect of the thunderwave spell, deals thunder damage.

Some creatures and objects are exceedingly difficult or unusually easy to hurt with certain types of damage. If a creature or an object has resistance to a damage type, damage of that type is halved against it. If a creature or an object has vulnerability to a damage type, damage of that type is doubled against it. Resistance and then vulnerability are applied after all other modifiers to damage. For example, a creature has resistance to bludgeoning damage and is hit by an attack that deals 25 bludgeoning damage. The creature is also within a magical aura that reduces all damage by 5. The 25 damage is first reduced by 5 and then halved, so the creature takes 10 damage. Multiple instances of resistance or vulnerability that affect the same damage type count as only one instance. For example, if a creature has resistance to fire damage as well as resistance to all nonmagical damage, the damage of a nonmagical fire is reduced by half against the creature, not reduced by three-quarters.

Unless it results in death, damage isn’t permanent. Even death is reversible through powerful magic. Rest can restore a creature's hit points (as explained in Adventuring ), and magical methods such as a cure wounds spell or a potion of healing can remove damage in an instant. When a creature receives healing of any kind, hit points regained are added to its current hit points. A creature’s hit points can’t exceed its hit point maximum, so any hit points regained in excess of this number are lost. For example, a druid grants a ranger 8 hit points of healing. If the ranger has 14 current hit points and has a hit point maximum of 20, the ranger regains 6 hit points from the druid, not 8. A creature that has died can’t regain hit points until magic such as the revivify spell has restored it to life.

When you drop to 0 hit points, you either die outright or fall unconscious, as explained in the following sections.

Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum. For example, a cleric with a maximum of 12 hit points currently has 6 hit points. If she takes 18 damage from an attack, she is reduced to 0 hit points, but 12 damage remains. Because the remaining damage equals her hit point maximum, the cleric dies.

If damage reduces you to 0 hit points and fails to kill you, you fall unconscious (see Conditions ). This unconsciousness ends if you regain any hit points.

Dungeon Masters describe hit point loss in different ways. When your current hit point total is half or more of your hit point maximum, you typically show no signs of injury. When you drop below half your hit point maximum, you show signs of wear, such as cuts and bruises. An attack that reduces you to 0 hit points strikes you directly, leaving a bleeding injury or other trauma, or it simply knocks you unconscious.

Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw. Roll a d20. 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 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 regain any hit points or become stable.

When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.

If you take any damage while you have 0 hit points, you suffer a death saving throw failure. If the damage is from a critical hit, you suffer two failures instead. If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.

Stabilizing a Creature

The best way to save a creature with 0 hit points is to heal it. If healing is unavailable, the creature can at least be stabilized so that it isn’t killed by a failed death saving throw. You can use your action to administer first aid to an unconscious creature and attempt to stabilize it, which requires a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check. A stable creature doesn’t make death saving throws, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death saving throws again, if it takes any damage. A stable creature that isn’t healed regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.

Most DMs have a monster die the instant it drops to 0 hit points, rather than having it fall unconscious and make death saving throws. Mighty villains and special nonplayer characters are common exceptions; the DM might have them fall unconscious and follow the same rules as player characters.

Sometimes an attacker wants to incapacitate a foe, rather than deal a killing blow. When an attacker reduces a creature to 0 hit points with a melee attack, the attacker can knock the creature out. The attacker can make this choice the instant the damage is dealt. The creature falls unconscious and is stable.

Some spells and special abilities confer temporary hit points to a creature. Temporary hit points aren’t actual hit points; they are a buffer against damage, a pool of hit points that protect you from injury. When you have temporary hit points and take damage, the temporary hit points are lost first, and any leftover damage carries over to your normal hit points. For example, if you have 5 temporary hit points and take 7 damage, you lose the temporary hit points and then take 2 damage. Because temporary hit points are separate from your actual hit points, they can exceed your hit point maximum. A character can, therefore, be at full hit points and receive temporary hit points. Healing can’t restore temporary hit points, and they 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. If you have 0 hit points, receiving temporary hit points doesn’t restore you to consciousness or stabilize you. They can still absorb damage directed at you while you’re in that state, but only true healing can save you. Unless a feature that grants you temporary hit points has a duration, they last until they’re depleted or you finish a long rest.