Rules Glossary

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Creature

Any being in the game, including a player’s character, is a creature. See also “Creature Type.”

Creature Type

Every creature, including every player character, has a tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature it is. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. These are the game’s creature types:

Aberration
Beast
Celestial
Construct
Dragon
Elemental
Fey
Fiend
Giant
Humanoid
Monstrosity
Ooze
Plant
Undead

The types don’t have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways.

Critical Hit

If you roll a 20 on the d20 for an attack roll, you score a Critical Hit, and the attack hits regardless of any modifiers or the target’s AC. A Critical Hit lets you 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. See also “Playing the Game” (“Damage and Healing”).

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Damage Types

Attacks and other harmful effects deal different types of damage. Damage types have no rules of their own, but other rules, such as Resistance, rely on the types. The Damage Types table offers examples to help a GM assign a type to a new effect.

Damage Types

Type	Examples
Acid	Corrosive liquids, digestive enzymes
Bludgeoning	Blunt objects, constriction, falling
Cold	Freezing water, icy blasts
Fire	Flames, unbearable heat
Force	Pure magical energy
Lightning	Electricity
Necrotic	Life-draining energy
Piercing	Fangs, puncturing objects
Poison	Toxic gas, venom
Psychic	Mind-rending energy
Radiant	Holy energy, searing radiation
Slashing	Claws, cutting objects
Thunder	Concussive sound

Darkness

An area of Darkness is Heavily Obscured. See also “Heavily Obscured” and “Playing the Game” (“Exploration”).

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Improvised Weapons

An improvised weapon is an object wielded as a makeshift weapon, such as broken glass, a table leg, or a frying pan. A Simple or Martial weapon also counts as an improvised weapon if it’s wielded in a way contrary to its design; if you use a Ranged weapon to make a melee attack or throw a Melee weapon that lacks the Thrown property, the weapon counts as an improvised weapon. An improvised weapon follows the rules below.

Proficiency. Don’t add your Proficiency Bonus to attack rolls with an improvised weapon.

Damage. On a hit, the weapon deals 1d4 damage of a type the GM thinks is appropriate for the object.

Range. If you throw the weapon, it has a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.

Weapon Equivalents. If an improvised weapon resembles a Simple or Martial weapon, the GM may say it functions as that weapon and uses that weapon’s rules. For example, the GM could treat a table leg as a Club.

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