The Adventurer's Handbook

Abilities and Skills and how to use them

Every task that a character or monster might attempt in the game is covered by one of The Six Abilities. This section explains in more detail what those Abilities mean and the ways they are used in the game.

Strength measures bodily power, athletic Training, and the extent to which you can exert raw physical force.

A Strength Check can model any attempt to lift, push, pull, or break something, to force your body through a space, or to otherwise apply brute force to a situation. The Athletics skill reflects aptitude in certain kinds of Strength checks.

Athletics

Your Strength (Athletics) check covers difficult situations you encounter while climbing, Jumping, or Swimming. Examples include the following activities:

- You attempt to climb a sheer or slippery cliff, avoid Hazards while scaling a wall, or cling to a surface while something is trying to knock you off.

- You try to jump an unusually long distance or pull off a stunt midjump.

- You struggle to swim or stay afloat in treacherous Currents, storm-tossed waves, or areas of thick seaweed. Or another creature tries to push or pull you Underwater or otherwise interfere with your Swimming.

Other Strength Checks

The GM might also call for a Strength check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

- Force open a stuck, locked, or barred door

- Break free of bonds

- Push through a tunnel that is too small

- Hang on to a wagon while being dragged behind it

- Tip over a statue

- Keep a boulder from rolling

Lifting and Carrying

Your Strength score determines the amount of weight you can bear. The following terms define what you can lift or carry.

Carrying Capacity

Your carrying Capacity is your Strength score multiplied by 15. This is the weight (in pounds) that you can carry, which is high enough that most Characters don’t usually have to worry about it.

Push, Drag, or Lift

You can push, drag, or lift a weight in pounds up to twice your carrying Capacity (or 30 times your Strength score). While pushing or dragging weight in excess of your carrying Capacity, your speed drops to 5 feet.

2. Dexterity

Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance.

A Dexterity Check can model any attempt to move nimbly, quickly, or quietly, or to keep from Falling on tricky footing. The Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth Skills reflect aptitude in certain kinds of Dexterity checks.

Acrobatics

Your Dexterity (Acrobatics) check covers your attempt to stay on your feet in a tricky situation, such as when you’re trying to run across a sheet of ice, balance on a tightrope, or stay upright on a rocking ship’s deck. The GM might also call for a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to see if you can perform acrobatic stunts, including dives, rolls, somersaults, and flips.

Sleight of Hand

Whenever you attempt an act of legerdemain or manual trickery, such as planting something on someone else or concealing an object on your person, make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. The GM might also call for a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to determine whether you can lift a coin purse off another person or slip something out of another person’s pocket.

Stealth

Make a Dexterity (Stealth) check when you attempt to conceal yourself from enemies, slink past guards, slip away without Being Noticed, or sneak up on someone without being seen or heard.

Other Dexterity Checks

  The GM might call for a Dexterity check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

- Control a heavily laden cart on a steep descent

- Steer a chariot around a tight turn

- Pick a lock

- Disable a trap

- Securely tie up a prisoner

- Wriggle free of bonds

- Play a stringed Instrument

- Craft a small or detailed object

Initiative

At the Beginning of every Combat, you roll Initiative by making a Dexterity check. Initiative determines the order of creatures’ turns in Combat.

Hiding

The GM decides when circumstances are appropriate for Hiding. When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop Hiding, that check’s total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence. You can’t hide from a creature that can see you clearly, and you give away your position if you make noise, such as shouting a warning or knocking over a vase.

An Invisible creature can always try to hide. Signs of its Passage might still be noticed, and it does have to stay quiet.

In Combat, most Creatures stay alert for signs of danger all around, so if you come out of Hiding and approach a creature, it usually sees you. However, under certain circumstances, the GM might allow you to stay hidden as you approach a creature that is distracted, allowing you to gain advantage on an Attack roll before you are seen.

Passive Perception

When you hide, there’s a chance someone will notice you even if they aren’t searching. To determine whether such a creature notices you, the GM compares your Dexterity (Stealth) check with that creature’s passive Wisdom (Perception) score.

3. Constitution

Constitution measures health, stamina, and vital force.

Constitution Checks are uncommon, and no Skills apply to Constitution checks, because The Endurance this ability represents is largely passive rather than involving a specific effort on the part of a character or monster. A Constitution check can model your attempt to push beyond normal limits, however.

The GM might call for a Constitution check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

- Hold your breath

- March or labor for hours without rest

- Go without sleep

- Survive without food or water

- Quaff an entire stein of ale in one go

Hit Points

Your Constitution modifier contributes to your Hit Points. Typically, you add your Constitution modifier to each Hit Die you roll for your Hit Points. If your Constitution modifier changes, your hit point maximum changes as well, as though you had the new modifier from 1st Level.

4. Intelligence

Intelligence measures mental acuity, accuracy of recall, and the ability to reason.

An Intelligence Check comes into play when you need to draw on logic, education, memory, or deductive reasoning. The Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion Skills reflect aptitude in certain kinds of Intelligence checks.

Your Intelligence (Arcana) check measures your ability to recall lore about Spells, magic items, eldritch Symbols, magical traditions, The Planes of existence, and the inhabitants of those planes.

History

Your Intelligence (History) check measures your ability to recall lore about historical events, legendary people, ancient kingdoms, past disputes, recent wars, and lost civilizations.

Investigation

When you look around for clues and make deductions based on those clues, you make an Intelligence (Investigation) check. You might deduce the Location of a hidden object, discern from the Appearance of a wound what kind of weapon dealt it, or determine the weakest point in a tunnel that could cause it to collapse. Poring through ancient Scrolls in Search of a hidden fragment of knowledge might also call for an Intelligence (Investigation) check.

Nature

Your Intelligence (Nature) check measures your ability to recall lore about terrain, Plants and animals, the weather, and natural cycles.

Religion

Your Intelligence (Religion) check measures your ability to recall lore about deities, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy Symbols, and the practices of Secret cults.

Other Intelligence Checks

The GM might call for an Intelligence check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

- Communicate with a creature without using words

- Estimate the value of a precious item

- Pull together a disguise to pass as a city guard

- Forge a document

- Recall lore about a craft or trade

- Win a game of skill

Wizards use Intelligence as their Spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of Spells they cast.

5. Wisdom

Wisdom reflects how attuned you are to the world around you and represents perceptiveness and intuition.

A Wisdom Check might reflect an effort to read body language, understand someone’s feelings, notice things about the Environment, or care for an injured person. The Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival Skills reflect aptitude in certain kinds of Wisdom checks.

Animal Handling

When there is any question whether you can calm down a domesticated animal, keep a mount from getting spooked, or intuit an animal’s intentions, the GM might call for a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check. You also make a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check to control your mount when you attempt a risky maneuver.

Insight

Your Wisdom (Insight) check decides whether you can determine the true intentions of a creature, such as when searching out a lie or predicting someone’s next move. Doing so involves gleaning clues from body language, Speech habits, and changes in mannerisms.

Medicine

A Wisdom (Medicine) check lets you try to stabilize a dying Companion or diagnose an illness.

Perception

Your Wisdom (Perception) check lets you spot, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of something. It measures your general awareness of your surroundings and the keenness of your Senses. For example, you might try to hear a conversation through a closed door, eavesdrop under an open window, or hear Monsters moving stealthily in the Forest. Or you might try to spot things that are obscured or easy to miss, whether they are orcs lying in Ambush on a road, thugs Hiding in the shadows of an alley, or candlelight under a closed Secret door.

Survival

The GM might ask you to make a Wisdom (Survival) check to follow tracks, hunt wild game, guide your group through frozen wastelands, Identify signs that owlbears live nearby, predict the weather, or avoid Quicksand and other natural Hazards.

Other Wisdom Checks

The GM might call for a Wisdom check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

- Get a gut feeling about what course of action to follow

- Discern whether a seemingly dead or living creature is Undead

Clerics, druids, and rangers use Wisdom as their Spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of Spells they cast.

6. Charisma

Charisma measures your ability to interact effectively with others. It includes such factors as confidence and eloquence, and it can represent a charming or commanding Personality.

A Charisma Check might arise when you try to Influence or entertain others, when you try to make an impression or tell a convincing lie, or when you are navigating a tricky social situation. The Deception, Intimidation, Performance, and Persuasion Skills reflect aptitude in certain kinds of Charisma checks.

Deception

Your Charisma (Deception) check determines whether you can convincingly hide the truth, either verbally or through your Actions. This Deception can encompass everything from misleading others through ambiguity to telling outright lies. Typical situations include trying to fast- talk a guard, con a merchant, earn money through Gambling, pass yourself off in a disguise, dull someone’s suspicions with false assurances, or maintain a straight face while telling a blatant lie.

Intimidation

When you attempt to Influence someone through overt threats, Hostile Actions, and physical violence, the GM might ask you to make a Charisma (Intimidation) check. Examples include trying to pry information out of a prisoner, convincing street thugs to back down from a confrontation, or using the edge of a broken bottle to convince a sneering vizier to reconsider a decision.

Performance

Your Charisma (Performance) check determines how well you can delight an audience with music, dance, Acting, Storytelling, or some other form of entertainment.

Persuasion

When you attempt to Influence someone or a group of people with tact, social graces, or good Nature, the GM might ask you to make a Charisma (Persuasion) check. Typically, you use Persuasion when Acting in good faith, to foster friendships, make cordial requests, or exhibit proper etiquette. Examples of persuading others include convincing a chamberlain to let your party see the king, negotiating peace between warring tribes, or inspiring a crowd of townsfolk.

Other Charisma Checks

The GM might call for a Charisma check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

Find the best person to talk to for news, rumors, and gossip

Blend into a crowd to get the sense of key topics of conversation

Bards, paladins, sorcerers, and warlocks use Charisma as their Spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of Spells they cast.

A saving throw—also called a save—represents an attempt to resist a spell, a trap, a poison, a disease, or a similar threat. You don’t normally decide to make a saving throw; you are forced to make one because your character or monster is at risk of harm. To make a saving throw, roll a d20 and add the appropriate ability modifier. For example, you use your Dexterity modifier for a Dexterity saving throw. A saving throw can be modified by a situational bonus or penalty and can be affected by Advantage and Disadvantage, as determined by the GM.

Each class gives proficiency in at least two Saving Throws. The Wizard, for example, is proficient in Intelligence saves. As with skill Proficiencies, proficiency in a saving throw lets a character add his or her Proficiency Bonus to Saving Throws made using a particular ability score. Some Monsters have saving throw Proficiencies as well.

The Difficulty Class for a saving throw is determined by the Effect that causes it. For example, the DC for a saving throw allowed by a spell is determined by the caster’s Spellcasting ability and Proficiency Bonus. The result of a successful or failed saving throw is also detailed in the Effect that allows the save. Usually, a successful save means that a creature suffers no harm, or reduced harm, from an Effect.

The principles of Combat

Resting

Heroic though they might be, Adventurers can’t spend every hour of the day in the thick of Exploration, Social Interaction, and Combat. They need rest—time to sleep and eat, tend their wounds, refresh their minds and spirits for Spellcasting, and brace themselves for further adventure. Adventurers can take Short Rests in the midst of an Adventuring day and a Long Rest to end the day.

Short Rest

A Short Rest is a period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, during which a character does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.

A character can spend one or more Hit Dice at the end of a Short Rest, up to the character’s maximum number of Hit Dice, which is equal to the character’s level. For each Hit Die spent in this way, the player rolls the die and adds the character’s Constitution modifier to it. The character regains Hit Points equal to the total. The player can decide to spend an additional Hit Die after each roll. A character regains some spent Hit Dice upon finishing a Long Rest, as explained below.

Long Rest

A Long Rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps or performs light activity: reading, talking, eating, or standing watch for no more than 2 hours. If the rest is interrupted by a period of strenuous activity—at least 1 hour of walking, Fighting, casting Spells, or similar Adventuring activity—the Characters must begin the rest again to gain any benefit from it.

At the end of a Long Rest, a character regains all lost Hit Points. The character also regains spent Hit Dice, up to a number of dice equal to half of the character’s total number of them (minimum of one die). For example, if a character has eight Hit Dice, he or she can regain four spent Hit Dice upon finishing a Long Rest.

A character can’t benefit from more than one Long Rest in a 24-hour period, and a character must have at least 1 hit point at the start of the rest to gain its benefits.

The Environment

By its Nature, Adventuring involves delving into places that are dark, dangerous, and full of Mysteries to be explored. The rules in this section cover some of the most important ways in which Adventurers interact with the Environment in such places.  

Falling

A fall from a great height is one of the most Common Hazards facing an adventurer. At the end of a fall, a creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d6. The creature lands prone, unless it avoids taking damage from the fall.  

Suffocating

A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds).   When a creature runs out of breath or is choking, it can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round). At the start of its next turn, it drops to 0 Hit Points and is dying, and it can’t regain Hit Points or be stabilized until it can breathe again.   For example, a creature with a Constitution of 14 can hold its breath for 3 minutes. If it starts suffocating, it has 2 rounds to reach air before it drops to 0 Hit Points.  

Vision and Light

The most fundamental tasks of adventuring— noticing danger, finding hidden Objects, hitting an enemy in Combat, and targeting a spell, to name just a few—rely heavily on a character’s ability to see.   Darkness and other Effects that obscure vision can prove a significant hindrance. A given area might be lightly or heavily obscured. In a lightly obscured area, such as dim light, patchy fog, or moderate foliage, Creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.   A heavily obscured area—such as Darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage—blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the Blinded condition (see Conditions ) when trying to see something in that area.   The presence or absence of light in an Environment creates three categories of illumination: bright light, dim light, and Darkness.   Bright light lets most Creatures see normally. Even gloomy days provide bright light, as do torches, lanterns, fires, and other sources of Illumination within a specific radius.   Dim light, also called shadows, creates a lightly obscured area. An area of dim light is usually a boundary between a source of bright light, such as a torch, and surrounding Darkness. The soft light of twilight and dawn also counts as dim light. A particularly brilliant full moon might bathe the land in dim light.   Darkness creates a heavily obscured area. Characters face Darkness outdoors at night (even most moonlit nights), within the confines of an unlit dungeon or a subterranean vault, or in an area of magical Darkness.  

Blindsight

A creature with Blindsight can perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, within a specific radius. Creatures without eyes, such as oozes, and Creatures with Echolocation or heightened Senses, such as bats and true Dragons, have this sense.  

Darkvision

Many Creatures in fantasy gaming worlds, especially those that dwell Underground, have Darkvision. Within a specified range, a creature with Darkvision can see in Darkness as if the Darkness were dim light, so areas of Darkness are only lightly obscured as far as that creature is concerned. However, the creature can’t discern color in Darkness, only Shades of Gray.  

Truesight

A creature with Truesight can, out to a specific range, see in normal and magical Darkness, see Invisible Creatures and Objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on Saving Throws against them, and perceives the original form of a Shapechanger or a creature that is transformed by magic. Furthermore, the creature can see into the Ethereal Plane.  

Food and Water

Characters who don’t eat or drink suffer the Effects of Exhaustion (see Conditions ). Exhaustion caused by lack of food or water can’t be removed until the character eats and drinks the full required amount.  

Food

A character needs one pound of food per day and can make food last longer by subsisting on half Rations. Eating half a pound of food in a day counts as half a day without food.   A character can go without food for a number of days equal to 3 + his or her Constitution modifier (minimum 1). At the end of each day beyond that limit, a character automatically suffers one level of Exhaustion.   A normal day of eating resets the count of days without food to zero.  

Water

A character needs one gallon of water per day, or two gallons per day if the weather is hot. A character who drinks only half that much water must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of Exhaustion at the end of the day. A character with access to even less water automatically suffers one level of Exhaustion at the end of the day.   If the character already has one or more levels of Exhaustion, the character takes two levels in either case.  

Interacting with Objects

A character’s interaction with Objects in an Environment is often simple to resolve in the game. The player tells the GM that his or her character is doing something, such as moving a lever, and the GM describes what, if anything, happens.   For example, a character might decide to pull a lever, which might, in turn, raise a portcullis, cause a room to flood with water, or open a Secret door in a nearby wall. If the lever is rusted in position, though, a character might need to force it. In such a situation, the GM might call for a Strength check to see whether the character can wrench the lever into place. The GM sets the DC for any such check based on the difficulty of the task.   Characters can also damage Objects with their Weapons and Spells. Objects are immune to poison and psychic damage, but otherwise they can be affected by physical and magical attacks much like Creatures can. The GM determines an object’s Armor Class and Hit Points, and might decide that certain Objects have Resistance or immunity to certain kinds of attacks. (It’s hard to cut a rope with a club, for example.) Objects always fail Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws, and they are immune to Effects that require other saves. When an object drops to 0 Hit Points, it breaks.   A character can also attempt a Strength check to break an object. The GM sets the DC for any such check.