Rules Reference
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Conditions
- Blinded
- Cannot see and automatically fails any ability check that requires sight.
- Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have disadvantage.
- Charmed
- Cannot attack the charmer or target the charmer with a harmful ability or magical effect.
- The charmer has advantage on any ability check to interact socially with the creature.
- Deafened
- Cannot hear and automatically fails any ability check that requires hearing.
- Exhaustion
- While it has one or more levels of exhaustion, a creature has a cumulative -2 penalty to its d20 tests and its speed is reduced by 5 feet for each level it has.
- A creature that reaches exhaustion level 6 dies. See the Exhaustion section below for how levels are gained and removed.
- Frightened
- Has disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls while the source of its fear is within line of sight.
- Cannot willingly move closer to the source of its fear.
- Grappled
- Speed is 0, and the creature cannot benefit from any bonus to its speed.
- Has disadvantage on attack rolls against any target other than the grappler.
- The condition ends if the grappler is incapacitated, or if an effect removes the grappled creature from the grappler's reach.
- When the grappler moves, it can drag or carry the grappled creature with it, but the grappler halves its speed unless the creature is Tiny or two or more sizes smaller than the grappler.
In 2014 rules
Speed becomes 0 and cannot benefit from any bonus to speed.
Ends if the grappler is incapacitated, or if the creature is moved out of the grappler's reach by an effect.
- Incapacitated
- Cannot take any action, Bonus Action, or Reaction, and can't speak.
- Loses concentration on anything it was concentrating on.
- If incapacitated when it rolls Initiative, it has disadvantage on the roll.
In 2014 rules
Cannot take actions or reactions.
- Invisible
- Impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense; for the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. Its location can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves.
- Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature's attack rolls have advantage, unless the attacker can somehow see it.
- The creature has advantage on initiative rolls as a result of being unseen.
In 2014 rules
Impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense; counts as heavily obscured for hiding.
Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage; the creature has advantage on its attack rolls.
- Paralyzed
- Incapacitated and cannot move or speak.
- Automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
- Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
- Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of it.
- Petrified
- Transformed, along with any nonmagical objects it is wearing or carrying, into a solid inanimate substance; its weight increases by a factor of ten, and it stops aging.
- Incapacitated, cannot move or speak, and is unaware of its surroundings.
- Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and it automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
- Has resistance to all damage and is immune to poison and disease, though a poison or disease already in its system is only suspended, not neutralized.
- Poisoned
- Has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
- Prone
- Only movement option is to crawl, unless it stands up and thereby ends the condition.
- Has disadvantage on attack rolls.
- An attack roll against the creature has advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet of it; otherwise the attack roll has disadvantage.
- Restrained
- Speed is 0, and the creature cannot benefit from any bonus to its speed.
- Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have disadvantage.
- Has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.
- Stunned
- Has the incapacitated condition.
- Automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
- Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
In 2014 rules
Is incapacitated, cannot move, and can speak only falteringly.
Automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
- Unconscious
- Incapacitated, cannot move or speak, and is unaware of its surroundings.
- Drops whatever it is holding and falls prone.
- Automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
- Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of it.
Actions in Combat
- Attack
- Make one attack with a weapon or an unarmed strike. Some features, such as Extra Attack, let you make more than one attack with this action.
- Cast a Spell
- Cast a spell that has a casting time of an action, subject to the rules for spellcasting.
- Dash
- Gain extra movement for the current turn equal to your speed, after applying any modifiers.
- Disengage
- Your movement does not provoke opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn.
- Dodge
- 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 or if your speed is 0.
- Help
- Lend your aid to another creature in the completion of a task or an attack.
- Choose an ability check that a creature can make, or an attack roll against a creature within 5 feet of you, and grant advantage to that check or to the first attack roll the creature makes before the start of your next turn.
- Hide
- Make a Dexterity (Stealth) check to try to hide; the check's total is contested by the passive Wisdom (Perception) of any creature that might notice you.
In 2014 rules
Make a Dexterity (Stealth) check to attempt to hide, following the rules for hiding.
- Influence
- Entice a creature to do something by making a Charisma check, such as Deception, Intimidation, Performance, or Persuasion, contested by the target Wisdom (Insight) check.
- Magic
- Produce a magical effect from a feature, spell, or magic item that specifically calls for you to take the Magic action.
- Ready
- Choose a trigger and the action or movement you will take in response to it.
- When the trigger occurs, you can use your reaction to take the readied action or movement. A readied spell is cast as a reaction, and you hold the spell with concentration until then.
- Search
- Devote your attention to finding something, prompting the DM to call for a Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check as appropriate.
In 2014 rules
Devote your attention to finding something; the DM calls for a Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check.
- Study
- Devote your attention to recalling lore or deducing information, prompting the DM to call for an Intelligence check, such as Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, or Religion.
- Utilize
- Use a nonmagical object or one of its features, such as unlocking a door with a key, or interact with a second object beyond your one free interaction per turn.
In 2014 rules
Interact with a second object (the first free interaction is part of your move or action), or use an object that requires an action to operate.
Cover
- Half Cover
- Grants a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws.
- Examples: a low wall, a large piece of furniture, a narrow tree trunk, or another creature.
- Three-Quarters Cover
- Grants a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws.
- Examples: a portcullis, an arrow slit, or a thick tree trunk.
- Total Cover
- Cannot be targeted directly by an attack or spell, although some spells can reach into the area with an area of effect.
- A target has total cover if it is completely concealed by an obstacle.
Exhaustion
- Effects
- Exhaustion is measured in levels from 1 to 6. A creature has a cumulative -2 penalty to its d20 tests for each exhaustion level it has, and its speed is reduced by 5 feet for each level.
- A creature whose exhaustion level reaches 6 dies.
- Recovery
- Finishing a long rest removes 1 exhaustion level from a creature, provided it has also had some food and drink.
In 2014 rules
Level 1: Disadvantage on ability checks.
Level 2: Speed halved.
Level 3: Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws.
Level 4: Hit point maximum halved.
Level 5: Speed reduced to 0.
Level 6: Death.
Effects are cumulative: a creature suffers the effect of its current level and all lower levels.
Finishing a long rest reduces a creature's exhaustion level by 1, provided it has also ingested some food and drink.
Death Saving Throws
- Making a Death Save
- When you start your turn at 0 hit points, roll a d20 (no modifiers). 10 or higher is a success; 9 or lower is a failure.
- On your third success you become stable. On your third failure you die.
- The successes and failures do not need to be consecutive; reset all three when you regain any hit points.
- Rolling 1 or 20
- A roll of 1 counts as two failures.
- A roll of 20 means you regain 1 hit point and stop being unconscious.
- Damage at 0 HP
- Taking any damage at 0 hit points causes one death save failure; a critical hit causes two failures.
- If the damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum, you suffer instant death.
- Stabilizing a Creature
- Use an action to make a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check to stabilize a creature at 0 hit points.
- A stable creature does not make death saves and regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.
Resting
- Short Rest
- A period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, during which a creature does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, or tending to wounds.
- At the end of the rest, a creature may spend one or more Hit Dice, up to its maximum, to regain hit points; roll each die and add the creature's Constitution modifier.
In 2014 rules
A period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, with no more than light activity.
You may spend one or more Hit Dice at the end of the rest, up to your maximum, to regain hit points (roll the die and add your Constitution modifier).
- Long Rest
- A period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a creature sleeps for at least 6 hours and performs no more than 2 hours of light activity.
- The rest is interrupted by 1 hour or more of walking, fighting, casting spells, taking damage, or similar strenuous activity.
- At the end of the rest, a creature regains all lost hit points and regains spent Hit Dice up to a number equal to half its total (minimum of one die).
- A creature cannot benefit from more than one long rest in a 24-hour period, and must have at least 1 hit point to begin one.
In 2014 rules
A period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, with no more than 1 hour of light activity.
You regain all lost hit points and regain spent Hit Dice up to a number equal to half your total (minimum of one die).
You cannot benefit from more than one long rest in a 24-hour period, and you must have at least 1 hit point to begin one.
Environmental Hazards
- Falling
- A fall deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet fallen, to a maximum of 20d6.
- The creature lands prone, unless it avoids taking damage from the fall.
- Suffocation
- A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 plus its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds).
- When it runs out of breath or is choking, it gains 1 exhaustion level at the end of each of its turns.
- When the creature can breathe again, it removes all exhaustion levels it gained from suffocating.
In 2014 rules
A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + its Constitution modifier (minimum of 30 seconds).
When out of breath or 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 after that, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying, and cannot regain hit points or be stabilized until it can breathe again.
- Drowning
- A creature without enough air follows the Suffocation rules above.
About the Rules Quick-Reference
This free D&D 5e rules quick-reference is built for the moment combat stalls and someone asks what "restrained" actually does. Type a word into the search box and every matching entry expands: conditions, actions in combat, cover, exhaustion, death saving throws, resting, and environmental hazards. It runs entirely in your browser, with no login and no server call for lookups, so it stays fast even when the table wifi does not.
The reference gathers the rules that most often interrupt play into seven sections: 15 conditions written out in full (with exhaustion counted as one of them), 13 actions in combat, the three degrees of cover, exhaustion's levels from 1 through 6, the death saving throw rules, short and long rests, and hazards like falling, suffocation, and drowning. Every entry follows the current SRD 5.2.1 rules; where those rules changed from the 2014 ruleset, an expandable note on that entry gives the older wording.
Tips for Using the Quick-Reference
- Search matches rule text, not just headings, so typing "advantage" or "5 feet" surfaces every entry that mentions it, not only the rule named after it. Search also matches the text inside a 2014 note, so an older term you remember still finds the current entry.
- Conditions stack: paralyzed, stunned, and unconscious all include incapacitated, so read the incapacitated entry too when you layer them onto a creature.
- Keep the page open on a phone or second screen during a fight; sections stay collapsed until you open one, so the whole table of contents fits on a single screen.
- Where the current rules changed from 2014, an expandable note sits right under that entry, so you can check both editions without leaving the page.
For how to build and run the fights these rules govern, read the guide: How to Run a Great D&D Encounter
Common Questions
- Is this rules reference free?
- Yes. Every tool on Tools and Taverns is free, with no account, signup, or generation limit.
- Which edition of the rules does it cover?
- The reference presents the current D&D 5e rules from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (the 2024 ruleset), used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Where a rule changed from the 2014 ruleset, an expandable note under that entry gives the older wording.
- What rules are included?
- Seven sections: 15 conditions (with exhaustion counted as one of them), 13 actions in combat, three degrees of cover, exhaustion's levels from 1 through 6, the death saving throw rules, short and long rests, and environmental hazards including falling, suffocation, and drowning.
- Is exhaustion handled like the other conditions?
- It also gets its own section because it works differently: a creature suffering exhaustion takes a cumulative penalty to its d20 tests and loses speed for every level it has, and finishing a long rest with food and drink removes one level.
- Can I use it without an internet connection?
- Once the page has loaded, lookups run entirely in your browser with no further network requests, so searching and browsing keep working even if your connection drops mid-session.