DnD 5e: Combat

Combat

The Order of Combat - [Combat Step by Step]
        Surprise
        Initiative
        Your Turn - [Bonus Actions] - [Other Activity on Your Turn] - [Interacting with Objects Around You]
        Reactions
Movement and Position
        Breaking Up Your Move - [Moving between Attacks] - [Using Different Speeds]
        Difficult Terrain
        Being Prone
        Moving Around Other Creatures
        Flying Movement
        Creature Size - [Size Categories] - [Space] - [Squeezing into a Smaller Space]
Variant: Playing on a Grid
Actions in Combat
        Attack
        Cast a Spell
        Dash
        Disengage
        Dodge
        Help
        Hide
        Ready
        Search
        Use an Object - [Improvising an Action]
Making an Attack
        Attack Rolls - [Modifiers to the Roll] - [Rolling 1 or 20]
        Unseen Attackers and Targets
        Ranged Attacks - [Range] - [Ranged Attacks in Close Combat]
        Melee Attacks - [Opportunity Attacks] - [Two-Weapon Fighting] - [Grappling] - [Shoving a Creature] - [Contests in Combat]
Cover
Damage and Healing
        Hit Points
        Damage Rolls - [Critical Hits] - [Damage Types]
        Damage Resistance and Vulnerability
        Healing
        Dropping to 0 Hit Points - [Instant Death] - [Falling Unconscious] - [Death Saving Throws] - [Stabilizing a Creature] - [Monsters and Death]
        Knocking a Creature Out
        Temporary Hit Points - [Describing the Effects of Damage]
Mounted Combat
        Mounting and Dismounting
        Controlling a Mount
Underwater Combat

THE CLATTER OF A SWORD STRIKING AGAINST a Shield. The terrible rending sound as m onstrous claws tear through Armor. A brilliant flash of Light as a ball of flame blossom s from a w izard’s spell. The sharp tang of blood in the air, cutting through the stench of vile monsters. Roars of fury, shouts of triumph, cries of pain. Combat in D&D can be chaotic, deadly, and thrilling. This chapter provides the rules you need for your characters and m onsters to engage in Combat, whether it is a brief skirm ish or an extended conflict in a dungeon or on a field o f battle. Throughout this chapter, the rules address you, the player or Dungeon Master. The Dungeon Master controls all the monsters and nonplayer characters involved in Combat, and each other player controls an adventurer. “You” can also mean the character or monster that you control.

The Order of Combat

A typical com bat encounter is a clash between two sides, a flurry of w eapon swings, feints, parries, footwork, and Spellcasting. The game organizes the chaos of com bat into a cycle of rounds and turns. A round represents about 6 seconds in the game world. During a round, each participant in a battle takes a turn. The order of turns is determined at the beginning of a com bat encounter, when everyone rolls Initiative. O nce everyone has taken a turn, the fight continues to the next round if neither side has defeated the other.

Combat Step by Step

Determine Surprise. The DM determines whether anyone involved in the Combat encounter is Surprised.
Establish positions. The DM decides where all the characters and monsters are located. Given the adventurers’ marching order or their stated positions in the room or other location, the DM figures out where the adversaries are— how far away and in what direction.
Roll Initiative. Everyone involved in the Combat encounter rolls Initiative, determining The Order of Combatants’ turns.
Take turns. Each participant in the battle takes a turn in Initiative order.
Begin the next round. When everyone involved in the Combat has had a turn, the round ends. Repeat step 4 until the fighting stops.

Surprise

A band of adventurers sneaks up on a bandit camp, springing from the trees to Attack them. A gelatinous cube glides dow n a dungeon passage, unnoticed by the adventurers until the cube engulfs one of them. In these situations, one side of the battle gains Surprise over the other.
The DM determ ines w ho might be Surprised. If neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice each other. Otherwise, the DM com pares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the passive W isdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side. Any character or monster that doesn’t notice a threat is Surprised at the start of the encounter.
If you’re Surprised, you can’t move or take an action on your first turn of the Combat, and you can’t take a reaction until that turn ends. A m em ber of a group can be Surprised even if the other m em bers aren’t.

Initiative

Initiative determines the order of turns during Combat. W hen com bat starts, every participant m akes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the Initiative order. The DM makes one roll for an entire group of identical creatures, so each m em ber of the group acts at the sam e time.
The DM ranks the Combatants in order from the one with the highest Dexterity check total to the one with the lowest. This is the order (called the Initiative order) in which they act during each round. The Initiative order remains the sam e from round to round.
If a tie occurs, the DM decides the order am ong tied DM -controlled creatures, and the players decide the order am ong their tied characters. The DM can decide the order if the tie is between a monster and a player character. Optionally, the DM can have the tied characters and monsters each roll a d20 to determine the order, highest roll going first.

Your Turn

On Your Turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action. You decide whether to move first or take your action first. Your speed—som etim es called your walking speed—is noted on your character sheet.
The most com m on actions you can take are described in the “Actions in Com bat” section later in this chapter. Many Class Features and other abilities provide additional options for your action. The “Movement and Position” section later in this chapter gives the rules for your move. You can forgo moving, taking an action, or doing anything at all on Your Turn. If you can’t decide what to do on Your Turn, consider taking the D odge or Ready action, as described in “Actions in Combat.”

Bonus Actions

Various Class Features, Spells, and other abilities let you take an additional action on Your Turn called a bonus action. The Cunning Action feature, for example, allows a rogue to take a bonus action. You can take a bonus action only when a special ability, spell, or other feature of the game states that you can do som ething as a bonus action. You otherwise don’t have a bonus action to take.
You can take only one bonus action on Your Turn, so you must choose which bonus action to use w hen you have m ore than one available.
You choose when to take a bonus action during Your Turn, unless the bonus action’s timing is specified, and anything that deprives you of your ability to take actions also prevents you from taking a bonus action.

Other Activity on Your Turn

Your Turn can include a variety of flourishes that require neither your action nor your move. You can com m unicate however you are able, through brief utterances and gestures, as you take Your Turn. You can also interact with one object or feature of the environment for free, during either your move or your action. For example, you could open a door during your move as you stride toward a foe, or you could draw your weapon as part of the sam e action you use to Attack. If you want to interact with a second object, you need to use your action. S om e m agic items and other special objects always require an action to use, as stated in their descriptions. The DM might require you to use an action for any of these activities w hen it needs special care or when it presents an unusual obstacle. For instance, the DM could reasonably expect you to use an action to open a stuck door or turn a crank to lower a drawbridge.

Interacting with Objects Around You

Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:

draw or sheathe a sword
open or close a door
withdraw a potion from your backpack
pick up a dropped axe
take a bauble from a table
remove a ring from your finger
stuff some food into your mouth
plant a banner in the ground
fish a few coins from your belt pouch
drink all the ale in a flagon
throw a lever or a switch
pull a torch from a sconce
take a book from a shelf you can reach
extinguish a small flame
don a mask
pull the hood of your cloak up and over your head
put your ear to a door
kick a small stone
turn a key in a lock
tap the floor with a 10-foot pole
hand an item to another character

Reactions

Certain special abilities, Spells, and situations allow you to take a special action called a reaction. A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of som e kind, which can occu r on Your Turn or on som eone else’s. The opportunity Attack, described later in this chapter, is the m ost com m on type of reaction.
W hen you take a reaction, you can’t take another one until the start of your next turn. If the reaction interrupts another creature’s turn, that creature can continue its turn right after the reaction.

Movement and Position

In Combat, characters and m onsters are in constant motion, often using Movement and Position to gain the upper hand.
On Your Turn, you can m ove a distance up to your Speed. You can use as much or as little of your speed as you like on Your Turn, following the rules here.
Your m ovement can include Jumping, climbing, and swim ming. These different m odes of movement can be com bined with walking, or they can constitute your entire move. However you’re moving, you deduct the distance of each part of your move from your speed until it is used up or until you are done moving.
The “Special Types of M ovem ent’’ section in chapter 8 gives the particulars for Jumping, climbing, and swim ming.

Breaking Up Your Move

You can break up your movement on Your Turn, using som e of your speed before and after your action. For example, if you have a speed of 30 feet, you can move 10 feet, take your action, and then move 20 feet.

Moving between Attacks

If you take an action that includes m ore than one weapon Attack, you can break up your movement even further by moving between those Attacks. For example, a Fighter w ho can make two Attacks with the Extra Attack feature and w ho has a speed of 25 feet could move 10 feet, make an Attack, move 15 feet, and then Attack again.

Using Different Speeds

If you have m ore than one speed, such as your walking speed and a Flying speed, you can switch back and forth between your speeds during your move. W henever you switch, subtract the distance you've alReady m oved from the new Speed. The result determ ines how much farther you can move. If the result is 0 or less, you can’t use the new speed during the current move.
For example, if you have a speed of 30 and a Flying speed of 60 because a w izard cast the Fly spell on you, you could Fly 20 feet, then w alk 10 feet, and then leap into the air to Fly 30 feet more.

Difficult Terrain

Combat rarely takes place in bare room s or on featureless plains. Boulder-strewn caverns, briarchoked forests, treacherous staircases—the setting of a typical fight contains Difficult Terrain.
Every foot of movement in Difficult Terrain costs 1 extra foot. This rule is true even if multiple things in a Space count as Difficult Terrain. Low furniture, rubble, undergrowth, steep stairs, snow, and sHallow bogs are examples o f Difficult Terrain. The Space of another creature, whether hostile or not, also counts as Difficult Terrain.

Being Prone

Combatants often find themselves lying on the ground, either because they are Knocked down or because they throw themselves down. In the game, they are Prone, a condition described in appendix A.
You can drop Prone without using any of your Speed. Standing up takes m ore effort; doing so costs an amount of movement equal to half your Speed. For example, if your speed is 30 feet, you must spend 15 feet of movement to stand up. You can’t stand up if you don’t have enough movement left or if your speed is 0.
To m ove while Prone, you must crawl or use magic such as Teleportation. Every foot of movement while crawling costs 1 extra foot. Crawling 1 foot in Difficult Terrain, therefore, costs 3 feet of movement.

Moving Around Other Creatures

You can move through a nonhostile creature’s Space. In contrast, you can move through a hostile creature's Space only if the creature is at least two sizes larger or sm aller than you. Rem em ber that another creature’s Space is Difficult Terrain for you. W hether a creature is a friend or an enemy, you can’t willingly end your move in its Space. If you leave a hostile creature’s reach during your move, you provoke an opportunity Attack, as explained later in the chapter.

Flying Movement

Flying creatures enjoy many benefits of mobility, but they must also deal with the danger of falling. If a Flying creature is Knocked Prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as by the Fly spell.

Creature Size

Each creature takes up a different amount of Space. The Size Categories table show s how much Space a creature o f a particular size controls in Combat. Objects som etim es use the sam e Size Categories.

Size Categories

Size	Space
Tiny	2 1/2 by 2 1/2 ft
Small	5 by 5 ft.
Medium	5 by 5 ft.
Large	10 by 10 ft.
Huge	15 by 15 ft.
Gargantuan	20 by 20 ft. or larger

Space

A creature's Space is the area in feet that it effectively controls in Combat, not an expression of its physical dim ensions. A typical M edium creature isn't 5 feet wide, for example, but it does control a Space that wide. If a M edium hobgoblin stands in a 5-foot-wide doorway, other creatures can’t get through unless the hobgoblin lets them.
A creature’s Space also reflects the area it needs to fight effectively. For that reason, there’s a limit to the number of creatures that can surround another creature in Combat. Assum ing M edium Combatants, eight creatures can fit in a 5-foot radius around another one.
Because larger creatures take up m ore Space, fewer o f them can surround a creature. If five Large creatures crow d around a Medium or smaller one, there’s little room for anyone else. In contrast, as many as twenty M edium creatures can surround a Gargantuan one.

Squeezing into a Smaller Space

A creature can squeeze through a Space that is large enough for a creature one size smaller than it. Thus, a Large creature can squeeze through a passage that's only 5 feet wide. W hile squeezing through a Space, a creature must spend 1 extra foot for every foot it m oves there, and it has disadvantage on Attack Rolls and Dexterity Saving Throws. Attack Rolls against the creature have advantage while it’s in the smaller Space.

Variant: Playing on a Grid

If you play out a Combat using a square grid and miniatures or other tokens, follow these rules.

Squares.

Each square on the grid represents 5 feet.

Speed.

Rather than moving foot by foot, move square by square on the grid. This means you use your speed in 5-foot segments. This is particularly easy if you translate your speed into squares by dividing the speed by 5. For example, a speed of 30 feet translates into a speed of 6 Squares.
If you use a grid often, consider writing your speed in squares on your character sheet.

Entering a Square.

To enter a square, you must have at least 1 square of movement left, even if the square is diagonally adjacent to the square you’re in. (The rule for diagonal movement sacrifices realism for the sake of smooth play. The Dungeon M aster’s Guide provides Guidance on using a more realistic approach.)
If a square costs extra movement, as a square of Difficult Terrain does, you must have enough movement left to pay for entering it. For example, you must have at least 2 squares of movement left to enter a square of Difficult Terrain.

Corners.

Diagonal movement can’t cross the corner of a wall, large tree, or other terrain feature that fills its Space.

Ranges.

To determine the Range on a grid between two things— whether creatures or objects— start counting squares from a square adjacent to one of them and stop counting in the Space of the other one. Count by the shortest route.

Actions in Combat

W hen you take your action on Your Turn, you can take one of the actions presented here, an action you gained from your class or a special feature, or an action that you improvise. Many monsters have action options of their ow n in their stat blocks.
W hen you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the DM tells you whether that action is possible and what kind o f roll you need to make, if any, to determine success or failure.

Attack

The most com m on action to take in com bat is the Attack action, whether you are swinging a sword, firing an arrow from a bow, or brawling with your fists. With this action, you make one melee or Ranged Attack. S ee the “M aking an Attack” section for the rules that govern Attacks.
Certain features, such as the Extra Attack feature of the Fighter, allow you to make m ore than one Attack with this action.

Cast a Spell

Spellcasters such as w izards and clerics, as well as many monsters, have access to Spells and can use them to great effect in Combat. Each spell has a casting time, which specifies whether the caster must use an action, a reaction, minutes, or even hours to cast the spell. Casting a spell is, therefore, not necessarily an action. M ost Spells do have a casting time of 1 action, so a spellcaster often uses his or her action in com bat to cast such a spell. S ee chapter 10 for the rules on Spellcasting.

Dash

W hen you take the Dash action, you gain extra movement for the current turn. The increase equals your speed, after applying any m odifiers. With a speed of 30 feet, for example, you can move up to 60 feet on Your Turn if you Dash.
Any increase or decrease to your speed changes this additional movement by the sam e amount. If your speed of 30 feet is reduced to 15 feet, for instance, you can move up to 30 feet this turn if you Dash.

Disengage

If you take the Disengage action, your movement doesn’t provoke Opportunity Attacks for the rest of the turn.

Dodge

W hen you take the D odge action, you focus entirely on avoiding Attacks. Until the start of your next turn, any Attack roll made against you has disadvantage if you can see the Attacker, and you make Dexterity Saving Throws with advantage. You lose this benefit if you are Incapacitated (as explained in appendix A) or if your speed drops to 0.

Help

You can lend your Aid to another creature in the com pletion of a task. W hen you take the Help action, the creature you Aid gains advantage on the next ability check it m akes to perform the task you are Helping with, provided that it m akes the check before the start of your next turn. Alternatively, you can Aid a friendly creature in Attacking a creature within 5 feet of you. You feint, distract the target, or in som e other way team up to make your ally’s Attack m ore effective. If your ally Attacks the target before your next turn, the first Attack roll is made with advantage.

Hide

W hen you take the Hide action, you make a Dexterity (Stealth) check in an attempt to Hide, following the rules in chapter 7 for hiding. If you succeed, you gain certain benefits, as described in the “Unseen Attackers and Targets” section later in this chapter.

Ready

Som etim es you want to get the jum p on a foe or wait for a particular circum stance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready action on Your Turn so that you can act later in the round using your reaction. First, you decide what perceivable circum stance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it. Exam ples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the goblin steps next to me, I move away.” W hen the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. Rem em ber that you can take only one reaction per round. W hen you Ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell’s m agic requires concentration (explained in chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are concentrating on the Web spell and Ready Magic Missile, your Web spell ends, and if you take damage before you release Magic Missile with your reaction, your concentration might be broken.

Search

W hen you take the Search action, you devote your attention to finding something. D epending on the nature of your Search, the DM might have you make a W isdom (Perception) check or an Intelligence (Investigation) check.

Use an Object

You norm ally interact with an object while doing som ething else, such as w hen you draw a sw ord as part of an Attack. W hen an object requires your action for its use, you take the Use an Object action. This action is also useful w hen you want to interact with m ore than one object on Your Turn.

Improvising an Action

Your character can do things not Covered by the actions in this chapter, such as breaking down doors, intimidating enemies, sensing weaknesses in magical Defenses, or calling for a parley with a foe. The only limits to the actions you can attempt are your imagination and your character’s ability scores. See the descriptions of the ability scores in chapter 7 for inspiration as you improvise.
When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the DM tells you whether that action is possible and what kind of roll you need to make, if any, to determine success or failure.

Making an Attack

W hether you’re striking with a m elee weapon, firing a w eapon at Range, or Making an Attack roll as part of a spell, an Attack has a simple structure.

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. S om e Attacks cause special effects in addition to or instead o f damage.

If there’s ever any question whether som ething you’re doing counts as an Attack, the rule is simple: if you’re Making an Attack roll, you’re Making an Attack.

Attack Rolls

W hen you make an Attack, your Attack roll determines whether the Attack hits or m isses. To make an Attack roll, roll a d20 and add the appropriate modifiers. If the total o f the roll plus m odifiers equals or exceeds the target’s A rm or Class (AC), the Attack hits. The AC o f a character is determined at character Creation, whereas the AC of a monster is in its stat block.

Modifiers to the Roll

W hen a character m akes an Attack roll, the two most com m on Modifiers to the Roll are an ability m odifier and the character’s Proficiency Bonus. W hen a monster m akes an Attack roll, it uses whatever modifier is provided in its stat block.

Ability Modifier.

The ability m odifier used for a melee w eapon Attack is Strength, and the ability m odifier used for a Ranged w eapon Attack is Dexterity. W eapons that have the finesse or thrown property break this rule.
S om e Spells also require an Attack roll. The ability m odifier used for a spell Attack depends on the Spellcasting ability o f the spellcaster, as explained in chapter 10.

Proficiency Bonus.

You add your proficiency bonus to your Attack roll when you Attack using a w eapon with which you have proficiency, as w ell as w hen you Attack with a spell.

Rolling 1 or 20

Som etim es 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 o f 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 m isses regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC.

Unseen Attackers and Targets

Combatants often try to escape their foes’ notice by hiding, casting the Invisibility spell, or lurking in Darkness.
W hen 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 m iss, but the DM typically just says that the Attack m issed, not whether you guessed the target’s location correctly.
W hen a creature can’t see you, you have advantage on Attack Rolls against it.
If you are hidden—both unseen and unheard—when you m ake an Attack, you give away your location when the Attack hits or m isses.

Ranged Attacks

W hen 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. S om e Ranged Attacks, such as those made with a longbow or a shortbow, have two Ranges. The smaller number is the norm al Range, and the larger num ber is the long Range. Your Attack roll has disadvantage when your target is beyond norm al Range, and you can’t Attack a target beyond the long Range.

Ranged Attacks in Close Combat

Aim ing a Ranged Attack is m ore difficult w hen a foe is next to you. W hen you m ake a Ranged Attack with a weapon, a spell, or som e other means, you have disadvantage on the Attack roll if you are within 5 feet o f a hostile creature w ho can see you and w ho isn’t Incapacitated.

Melee Attacks

Used in hand-to-hand Combat, a m elee Attack allows you to Attack a foe within your reach. A melee Attack typically uses a handheld w eapon such as a sword, a warhammer, or an axe. A typical monster m akes a melee Attack w hen it strikes with its claws, horns, teeth, tentacles, or other body part. A few Spells also involve making a m elee Attack.
M ost creatures have a 5-foot reach and can thus Attack targets within 5 feet of them w hen making a m elee Attack. Certain creatures (typically those larger than Medium) have Melee Attacks with a greater reach than 5 feet, as noted in their descriptions.
W hen you are unarmed, you can fight in melee by m aking an unarmed strike, as show n in the weapon table in chapter 5.

Opportunity Attacks

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 m oves out of your reach. To make the opportunity Attack, you use your reaction to m ake one m elee 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 som eone or som ething m oves 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.

Two-Weapon Fighting

W hen 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 m odifier to the damage of the bonus Attack, unless that modifier is negative. If either w eapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee Attack with it.

Grappling

W hen you want to grab a creature or w restle 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 m ore 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 m aking a grapple check, a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you succeed, you subject the target to the Grappled condition (see appendix A). The condition specifies the things that end it, and you can release the target whenever you like (no action required).

Escaping a Grapple.

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

Moving a Grappled Creature.

W hen 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 m ore than one size larger than you, and it must be within your reach. You make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the target chooses the ability to use). If you win the contest, you either Knock the target Prone or push it 5 feet away from you

Contests in Combat

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.

Cover

Walls, trees, creatures, and other obstacles can provide Cover during Combat, making a target m ore difficult to Harm. A target can benefit from Cover only when an Attack or other effect originates on the opposite side of the Cover.
There are three degrees of Cover. If a target is behind multiple sources of Cover, only the most protective degree o f Cover applies; the degrees aren't added together. For example, if a target is behind a creature that gives half Cover and a tree trunk that gives threequarters Cover, the target has three-quarters Cover.
A target with half Cover has a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity Saving Throws. A target has half Cover if an obstacle blocks at least half of its body. The obstacle might be a low wall, a large piece of furniture, a narrow tree trunk, or a creature, whether that creature is an enemy or a friend.
A target with three-quarters Cover has a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity Saving Throws. A target has threequarters Cover if about three-quarters of it is Covered by an obstacle. The obstacle might be a portcullis, an arrow slit, or a thick tree trunk.
A target with total Cover can’t be targeted directly by an Attack or a spell, although som e Spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect. A target has total Cover if it is completely concealed by an obstacle.

Damage and Healing

Injury and the risk of death are constant com panions o f those w ho explore the w orlds of D&D. The thrust of a sword, a well-placed arrow, or a blast of flame from a Fireball spell all have the potential to damage, or even kill, the hardiest of creatures.

Hit Points

Hit Points represent a com bination of physical and mental durability, the will to live, and luck. Creatures with m ore Hit Points are m ore difficult to kill. Those with fewer Hit Points are m ore fragile.
A creature’s current Hit Points (usually just called Hit Points) can be any number from the creature’s hit point m aximum down to 0. This num ber changes frequently as a creature takes damage or receives Healing.
W henever 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.

Damage Rolls

Each weapon, spell, and Harmful monster ability specifies the damage it deals. You roll the damage die or dice, add any m odifiers, and apply the damage to your target. M agic w eapons, special abilities, and other factors can grant a bonus to damage.
W hen Attacking with a weapon, you add your ability modifier—the sam e 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 sam e time, roll the damage once for all of them. For example, when a w izard casts Fireball or a cleric casts Flame Strike, the spell’s damage is rolled once for all creatures caught in the blast.

Critical Hits

W hen 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.

Damage Types

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 enzym es secreted by a black pudding deal acid damage.

Bludgeoning.

Blunt force Attacks—hamm ers, 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 m onsters’ bites, deal piercing damage.

Poison.

Venom ous stings and the toxic gas o f 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.

Sw ords, axes, and m onsters’ claws deal slashing damage.

Thunder.

A concussive burst of sound, such as the effect o f the Thunderwave spell, deals thunder damage.

Damage Resistance and Vulnerability

S om e 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 m odifiers 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 m agical 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 sam e damage type count as only one instance. For example, if a creature has Resistance to fire damage as w ell as Resistance to all nonm agical damage, the damage of a nonm agical fire is reduced by half against the creature, not reduced by three-quarters.

Healing

Unless it results in death, damage isn’t permanent. Even death is reversible through pow erful magic. Rest can restore a creature's Hit Points (as explained in chapter 8), and magical m ethods such as a Cure Wounds spell or a potion of Healing can remove damage in an instant.
W hen 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 num ber 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 m agic such as the Revivify spell has restored it to life.

Dropping to 0 Hit Points

W hen you drop to 0 Hit Points, you either die outright or fall Unconscious, as explained in the following sections.

Instant Death

Massive damage can kill you instantly. W hen 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 m axim um 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.

Falling Unconscious

If damage reduces you to 0 Hit Points and fails to kill you, you fall Unconscious (see appendix A). This Unconsciousness ends if you regain any Hit Points.

Death Saving Throws

W henever 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 becom e 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 becom e stable.

Rolling 1 or 20.

W hen 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.

Damage at 0 Hit Points.

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 W isdom (M edicine) 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.

Monsters and Death

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 com m on exceptions; the DM might have them fall Unconscious and follow the sam e rules as player characters.

Knocking a Creature Out

Som etim es an Attacker wants to incapacitate a foe, rather than deal a killing blow. W hen 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.

Temporary Hit Points

Som e Spells and special abilities confer tem porary 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.
W hen you have tem porary Hit Points and take damage, the tem porary Hit Points are lost first, and any leftover damage carries over to your normal Hit Points. For example, if you have 5 tem porary Hit Points and take 7 damage, you lose the temporary Hit Points and then take 2 damage.
B ecause tem porary 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 tem porary Hit Points.
Healing can’t restore tem porary Hit Points, and they can’t be added together. If you have tem porary Hit Points and receive m ore 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 tem porary Hit Points w hen you alReady have 10, you can have 12 or 10, not 22.
If you have 0 Hit Points, receiving tem porary 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.

Describing the Effects of Damage

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.

Mounted Combat

A knight charging into battle on a warhorse, a wizard casting Spells from the back of a griffon, or a cleric soaring through the sky on a pegasus all enjoy the benefits of speed and mobility that a mount can provide. A willing creature that is at least one size larger than you and that has an appropriate anatomy can serve as a mount, using the following rules

Mounting and Dismounting

Once during your move, you can mount a creature that is within 5 feet of you or dismount. D oing so costs an amount of movement equal to half your Speed. For example, if your speed is 30 feet, you must spend 15 feet of movement to mount a horse. Therefore, you can’t mount it if you don’t have 15 feet o f movement left or if your speed is 0.
If an effect m oves your mount against its w ill while you’re on it, you must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall off the mount, landing Prone in a Space within 5 feet of it. If you’re Knocked Prone while mounted, you must make the sam e saving throw. If your mount is Knocked Prone, you can use your reaction to dismount it as it falls and land on your feet. Otherwise, you are dismounted and fall Prone in a Space within 5 feet it.

Controlling a Mount

W hile you're mounted, you have two options. You can either control the mount or allow it to act independently. Intelligent creatures, such as dragons, act independently.
You can control a mount only if it has been trained to accept a rider. Dom esticated horses, donkeys, and similar creatures are assum ed to have such training. The Initiative of a controlled mount changes to match yours w hen you mount it. It m oves as you direct it, and it has only three action options: Dash, Disengage, and Dodge. A controlled mount can m ove and act even on the turn that you mount it.
An independent mount retains its place in the Initiative order. Bearing a rider puts no restrictions on the actions the mount can take, and it m oves and acts as it w ishes. It might flee from Combat, rush to Attack and devour a badly injured foe, or otherwise act against your Wishes.
In either case, if the mount provokes an opportunity Attack while you’re on it, the Attacker can target you or the mount.

Underwater Combat

W hen adventurers pursue sahuagin back to their undersea hom es, fight off sharks in an ancient shipwreck, or find themselves in a flooded dungeon room , they must fight in a challenging environment. Underwater the following rules apply.
W hen making a melee weapon Attack, a creature that doesn’t have a sw im m ing speed (either natural or granted by magic) has disadvantage on the Attack roll unless the weapon is a dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear, or trident.
A Ranged weapon Attack automatically m isses a target beyond the w eapon’s norm al Range. Even against a target within normal Range, the Attack roll has disadvantage unless the weapon is a crossbow , a net, or a weapon that is thrown like a javelin (including a spear, trident, or dart).
Creatures and objects that are fully im m ersed in water have Resistance to fire damage.