Ten Common Rules Mistakes in Dungeons and Dragons 5e

Dungeons and Dragons is a flexible and streamlined role-playing game system but there are a ton of rules packed in the pages of The Player's Handbook many of which are pretty easy to miss and today we're taking a look at the ten most common mistakes made by players and DMS [Music] greetings adventurers my name is Monty Martin and I'm Kelley McLaughlin and we are the dungeon dudes and today we're taking a look at the top 10 or rules mistakes that we've noticed players and DMS make in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition now the rules are part of what makes Dungeons & Dragons a game rather than just an exercise in improvised storytelling combined with the dice the rules help facilitate an environment where no one not even the dungeon master really knows what's gonna happen next we think the rules are important but they're never a straightjacket and the dungeon master is always the final authority on how the rules work in play that said these are some pretty common mistakes that often cause confusion and sometimes even arguments at the table and we thought that we would address them to clear up some of the confusion around the rules so maybe you're a brand new player who's just being introduced to Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition or maybe your veteran players come over from a previous edition either way with so many rules going on it can be easy to miss a few we're still oftentimes many players adopt common house rules which aren't actually part of the core rules of the game but many people wrongly assume are we're going to address some of those and more so let's get rolling we're gonna start off with the one rule that a lot of people get wrong and that is calculating your armor class man this happens time and time again it's a really common trip up for new players but remember that you can only use one AC calculation when determining your armor class yeah if you are a character who has some sort of natural armor and gets to add maybe an ability score to that armor class and then you combine that with a different ability that also adds to your armor class you have to pick which one you're gonna use the most common one we see this with is like a turtle lizard folk who wants to use their unarmored defense class feature or their natural armor class feature or maybe gets mage armor cast on them those are all AC calculations and they don't add together you have to choose which one to use there are some magic items that will always add to your AC but those are raw plus values if you ever see someone that says your armor class becomes a number plus your modifier that's a calculation and you have to choose whether to use that versus another one if you're showing up to your first game and your first level character has an AC of over 20 chances are you may have done this incorrectly and you may want to go back and see what your calculations are for your AC and choose which one to use the next most common mistake and this is one on the part of Dungeon Master's is that there is no such thing as a surprise round in Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition yeah a lot of people make this mistake they call it a surprise round there is the element of gaining surprise but it's not a full round of combat no in fact it's a condition that's applied to a creature so in the first round of combat some creatures might be surprised which prevents them from taking actions on their turn in combat but everyone still rolls initiative and the creatures that are surprised just have their turn skipped I find that this helps differentiate it because instead of it being a catch-all where it's like either everybody is surprised or everybody is not surprised it actually has it kind of break up into certain people who are surprised which kind of adds more flow and intensity to that battle the other important thing with surprise is that it should be difficult to obtain you shouldn't surprise a creature just because you were the first one to draw your sword in a difficult negotiation there needs to be a little bit more subtlety or deception or stealth or some kind of distraction that enables that surprise rather than just being the most impetuous person in the room also keep in mind that being surprised has no effect on saving throws or your armor class yeah so if you get fireball while you're surprised you don't have disadvantage on your saving throw our third one is casting a spell as a bonus action and I get this one asked to me all the time if you cast a spell as a bonus action you can not cast another spell as your action you can only cast a can trip with your main action after using your bonus action to cast a spell this most commonly applies to say a sorcerer using the quickened spell meta magic so if you quicken a spell to cast fireball than the only spell that you could cast with your main action would be safe fire bolt or shocking grasp yeah now if I cast a cantrip as my bonus action can I cast a spell as my full action no in fact you can only still cast another cantrip so be careful with this one and make sure that if you're casting a spell as a bonus action make that a real spell rather than having the Kanter be the one that you quickened the next one is a kind of a corner case but one that often confuses both new and veteran players alike temporary hit points don't stack they're not cumulative so if you gain temporary hit points from multiple different sources say for instance you are a fiendish pack warlock and you kill three goblins in one turn you only get temporary hit points from the first goblin they don't all stack together I've seen many cases of like a Reaper of foes that thinks I have 200 hit points now because they slew all these goblins those don't stack up so once you deplete the hit points the temporary hit points then the next goblin you killed will gain you some more yack yeah you only have temporary hit points equal to the largest single pool you were granted so if something if you had 5 temporary hit points and then something else granted you 10 you would have 10 temporary hit points total not 15 the one thing to be aware of is that there actually are some spells and effects that will increase your maximum hit points the really common combination is using the aid spell alongside an effect that grants temporary hit points like inspiring leader these effects do stack because one's granting an increase to your maximum hit points and ones ranting temporary hit points so be aware when things like this are an exception next up we have the rules on natural ones and 20s and here's the interesting part there is no such thing as a crit or a crit fail when you are doing an ability check or a saving throw yeah critical failures on a natural one and critical success on a natural 20 only apply to an attack role or a death saving throw it is still possible to succeed on an ability check or saving throw when you roll a natural one if your modifier is high enough also just because you roll 20 on an ability check doesn't mean you can do something impossible or even implausible for instance if you're trying to convince the King to give up his kingdom and you roll a natural 20 on your persuasion check probably doesn't mean he's gonna do that it probably just means he won't execute you for even suggesting it so this is really common for Dungeon Master's but players you should change your expectations of this a natural 20 doesn't mean something magical immediately happens that would not normally be possible it either means that you did it really really well or you avoid the negative consequences of trying to take such a foolish accent action the inverse is also true here and if you roll a 20 there are some circumstances where you still will not succeed and you will actually horribly fail the check that you're making finally there's no such thing as a fumble or a critical failure table in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition so if you are playing a campaign with fumble rules just remember that is a house rule that your dungeon master is applying and we recommend talking really carefully with your group of whether you want to use such a house rule because those things can actually work against the players more often than not the next one is a really rare corner case but it slipped up many players and this is the fact that in order to ready a spell you must concentrate on it while you're doing so and the mere act of readying a spell requires that you cast it this means that if a player says I want to cast fireball the moment that guy goes for a sword in order to do that that player has to already be casting fireball and they're holding like the spell energy in their hands visible to everyone around them and it requires their concentration so if you say you do that but you're concentrating on wall afire at the same time that's gone poof this also means that if you are attacked while readying a spell you do have to make a constant raishin check which means you could lose the spell altogether and if the conditions that you specified for readying the spell don't occur you also lose the spell because you've already cast it so be really careful when you're deciding to ready in action to cast a spell because there's a lot of extra rules baggage there next up we have one that I've seen a few people get wrong and that is that a extra attack does not mean that you get an extra action several classes like fighters barbarians and paladin's gain the extra attack class feature which lets them make an additional attack when they take the attack action on their turn but I've seen many new players get confused by this because they think that it lets them take more than one action this is not the case if you're playing let's say a ranger and you cast a spell and then you want to make an attack afterwards this doesn't apply the spell is your action for the turn and the extra attack only applies when you make the attack action on your turn that said when you do make the attack action and you have the extra attack class feature you can replace one or both of the attacks with something like the shove action instead or the grab action so you can punch someone and then grab them or try to knock them over the rules will state that's very clearly though that you can replace an attack action with one of these the next most common rule mistake comes in the form of combining effects this is when you try to have two identical spells or named effects only the most powerful one applies they don't stack together for example if you have the blessed spell cast on you by two different players it doesn't stack up you only get the benefits of one d4 you cannot roll to d4 for blessed because that would be outrageous or for instance maybe you have two paladin's in your party and both of them are generating the aura of protection which adds your charisma modifier to saving throws you would only add the paladin with the higher charisma modifier not adding both of them together so just remember that if two effects both have the same proper name they don't add together next look we have when to apply your proficiency bonus and this one a few people get wrong with the differentiation between your attack role and your damage role your proficiency bonus almost exclusively applies to attack roles ability checks and saving throws to which you had proficiency it only very rarely applies to things like a damage role it there are some cases where it does but there are very specific class features and many times I see new players think that their strength modifier for their attack role which is usually their proficiency bonus plus their strength modifier is in the same number they add to their damage role when in reality it's just the strength modifier when creating your character it will very specifically use the word proficiency next to the things that you will gain proficiency in or next to the things that you have to choose basically beyond that there's not a lot of places that you're gonna add your proficiency furthermore proficiency isn't all or nothing thing if multiple sources grant your proficiency in the same thing this doesn't make you doubly proficient there's a few effects that let you add half your proficiency modifier or double your proficiency modifier such as a road with the expertise class feature but you don't gain expertise just because your background and your class granted you proficiency in the same skill twice you need something specific like the expertise class feature to double your proficiency modifier lastly drinking a potion requires an action this is a crazy common house rule that we see time and time again so much so that we've encountered players in adventurers League and new groups assume that you can drink a potion as a bonus action and you cannot it requires a full-on action to drink that potion if you do House rule that drinking a potion is a bonus action you might find the players are having a very easy time with encounters this is probably because they're consuming health potions right in the middle of combat without it having an effect on how much they get to do so just be careful for that this is a really common house rule and there's a lot of Dungeon Master's that swear by it but it is a house rule and we believe that it's one of those more house rules that seems really in but actually makes the game substantially easier so if you are having problems with in counterbalance and you're using this house rule this might be the culprit so here we've looked at the 10 most common mistakes that we have seen in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition but all of these are the rules as written and if you choose to house rule to change one of these to better suit the playstyle at your table that's fine we're just here to make sure that you know that these are the way that they're written in the book yeah plenty of people find critical success on skill checks and critical failure on saving throws a ton of fun there's a ton of players that love being able to do quaff potions left and right with their bonus actions and if those are adding to your game that you they make them a positive experience for you go ahead and use those change the rules where you need to just be aware of how it can affect your game and if you do play at someone else's table remember that those are your home rules not necessarily ones that apply to every group so this has been our look at the top 10 rules mistakes in Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition we hope that this clears up any controversy at your table and of course we could only make a make a list like this because we've made plenty of mistakes at our own tables in our own games and we would love to hear about any common rules you've gotten wrong at your table in the comments below we have some other great videos that will help foster a positive and collaborative environment at the table including the 7 principles for players right up over here and we have 10 principles for Dungeon Master's right up over here please subscribe to our channel so that you never miss an episode thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time in the dungeon

Channel: Dungeon Dudes

Views: 721,968

Keywords: dungeons, dragons, tabletop, gaming, roleplaying, games, accessories, rules, rule, gameplay, play, game, rpg, d20, player, character, D&D, 5e, DM, PC, tips, advice, guide, guides, review, dice, books, book, common, mistakes

Id: 9wxnOxNyV2w

Length: 14min 57sec (897 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 27 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/Daliniues]

For those who don't want to sit through a 15 minute video

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1. Calculating armor class - You can only use a single AC calculation.
2. There is no such thing as a surprise round - Surprise is a condition that means the creature basically skips their turn
3. Casting a spell as a bonus action - If you cast a spell as a bonus action, the only other spell you can cast on your turn is a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
4. Temporary hit points don't stack - If you gain more temporary hit points, choose the larger of current, or gained.
5. Natural 1's and 20's - They only apply to attack rolls, and death saving throws. They have no affect on ability checks.
6. Readying a spell requires concentration - You have to cast a spell when you say you ready it. Then you hold it until the qualifying condition using your concentration. You lose the spell if the condition doesn't occur.
7. Extra attack does not equal extra action - In the video they say you can replace your attack action with a grapple/shove. You actually replace an attack, with a grapple/shove.
8. Combining Effects - If you have two spells or named effects, only the stronger is in effect.
9. When you apply your proficiency bonus - Don't add it to your damage rolls. No benefit from gaining proficiency from multiple sources
10. Drinking a potion requires an action - Opinion, if you have a group with very little healing, house ruling to a bonus action might be a good idea.

[u/Classtoise]

I actually liked this! Very informative, and doesn't fall into the common trap of "things you didn't know" videos where they wind up being either wrong or obnoxious.

[u/bstephe123283]

I was hoping to learn at least once thing, and I have never considered that readying a spell takes your concentration.

[u/Thomakaze]

One of the most important differences between a "Surprise Round" and a surprised condition is that surprised creatures lose their surprised condition at the end of their turn, not at the end of the round. This means they can take reactions during the first round of combat (if their initiative was high enough) even if they were surprised at the start of combat.

I've never played with a DM that gets this right, but I go by their ruling anyway.

[u/3Dartwork]

Natural 20s have no effect on skill checks.....

The number of players on here posting how they search an empty field, get a 20, and expect to see the hidden catacombs entrance.

[u/Aceshigher]

On the topic of temporary HP:

Say you've got a Fiend Pact Warlock. They kill a goblin and get 5 temporary HP and then end their turn. In the leadup to their next turn, they take 3 damage, leaving them with 2 temporary HP. If they kill another goblin on their turn, do they reset to 5 temporary HP (no stacking, just taking the higher number) or do they stay at 2 because the previous effect isn't done yet?

[u/intermedial]

Hi! We're the Dungeon Dudes! We've spent the past year or so explaining the rules of D&D 5e, creating video guides to each of the core classes in D&D 5e, and sharing our tips for DMs.

We decided to wrap up our series explaining the rules with a compilation of common rules mistakes. We wanted to touch on some common misconceptions we haven't seen covered in similar compilations!

[u/SpikeRosered]

Huh I actually didn't know a natural 20/natural 1 wasn't an instant success/fail on saving throws.

That's how it was in older editions and I guess I just assumed it was here as well.

[u/Souperplex]

I thought these were mostly common knowledge at this point.

The rules that never get brought up are related to sight. Many spells and abilities have "That you can see" targeting. You blinded? No go. That said, "See" is a game term, and you can "See" with Blindsense, Tremorsense, etc.

The other tangentially related biggun is that Invisiblity =/= hidden.