ATTRIBUTES

Six attributes provide a quick description of every creature's physical and mental characteristics.

Strength – measuring physical power

Agility – measuring dexterity

Endurance – measuring constitution

Intelligence – measuring reasoning and memory

Willpower – measuring mental toughness

Personality – measuring charisma

 

 

USING EACH ATTRIBUTE

 

STRENGTH                                                                    

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

 

STRENGTH CHECKS

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

    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 of a stunt mid-jump.

• 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 DM 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

 

ATTACK ROLLS AND DAMAGE

You add your Strength modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a melee weapon such as a mace, a battleaxe, or a javelin. You melee weapons to make melee attacks in hand-to-hand combat. If you throw a melee weapon as a ranged weapon, you use your Agility modifier instead.

 

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.

    Size and Strength. Larger creature's can bear more weight, whereas Tiny creatures can carry less. For each category above Medium, double the creature's carrying capacity and the amount it can push, drag, or lift. For a Tiny creature, halve those weights.

 

VARIANT: ENCUMBERENCE

If you carry weight in excess of 5 times your Strength score, you are encumbered, which means your speed drops by 10 feet.

    If you carry weight in excess of 10 times your Strength score, up to your maximum carrying capacity, you are instead heavily encumbered, which means your speed drops by 20 feet and you have disadvantage on attribute checks, attack rolls, and saving throws that use Strength, Agility, or Endurance.

 

 

AGILITY                                                                          

Agility measures your dexterity, reflexes, and balance.

 

AGILITY CHECKS

An Agility check can model any attempt to move nimbly, quickly, or quietly, or to keep from falling on tricky footing. The Acrobatics, Pickpocket, and Sneak skills reflect this aptitude in certain kinds of Agility checks.

    Acrobatics. Your Agility (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 DM might also call for an Agility (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 an Agility (Sleight of Hand) check to determine whether you can lift a coin purse off another person or slip something out of another's pocket.

    Stealth. Make an Agility (Sneak) 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 Agility Checks. The DM might call for an Agility 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

• Securely tie up a prisoner

• Wriggle free of bonds

• Play a stringed instrument

• Craft a small or detailed object

 

ATTACK ROLLS AND DAMAGE

You add your Agility modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a ranged weapon such as a sling or a longbow. You can also add your Agility modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a melee weapon that has the finesse property, such as a dagger or a rapier, of if you throw a melee weapon, like a dagger or a hatchet.

 

ARMOR CLASS

Depending on the armor you wear, you might add some or all of your Agility modifIer to your Armor Class, as described in Chapter 6, “Equipment.”

 

INITIATIVE

At the beginning of every combat, you roll initiative by making an Agility check. Initiative determines the order of a creature's turns in combat, as described in Chapter 9, “Combat” in the Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook.

 

 

ENDURANCE                                                                 

Endurance measures health, stamina and vital force.

 

ENDURANCE CHECKS

Endurance checks are uncommon, and no skills apply to Endurance checks, because it is largely passive rather than involving a specific effort on the part of a character or monster.     An Endurance check can model your attempt to push beyond the normal limits. A DM might call for an Endurance 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 and entire stein of ale in one go

 

HIT POINTS

Your Endurance modifier contributes to your hit points. Typically, you add your Endurance modifier to each Hit Die you roll for your hit points.

    If your Endurance modifier changes, your hit point maximum changes as well, as though you had the new modifier from 1st level. For example, if you raise your Endurance modifier when you reach 4th level and you Endurance modifier increases form a +1 to a +2, you adjust your hit point maximum as though the modifier had always been +2. So you add 3 hit points for your first three levels, and then roll your hit points for the 4th level using your new modifier. Or if you're 7th level and some effect lowers your Endurance score so as to reduce your Endurance modifier by 1, your hit points maximum is reduced by 7.

 

 

INTELLIGENCE                                                             

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

 

INTELLIGENCE CHECKS

An Intelligence check comes into play when you need to draw on logic, education, memory, or deductive reasoning. The Fauna, Investigation, Lock Picking, Lore, Nature, and Perception skills reflect aptitude in certain kinda of Intelligence checks.

    Arcana. 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 chat could cause it so 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 DM 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

 

SPELLCASTING ABILITY

Mages, Hunter Rangers, and Sorcerers use Intelligence as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of spells they cast.

 

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WILLPOWER                                                                  

Willpower measures your mental toughness and how attuned you are to the magic of the world.

 

WILLPOWER CHECKS

A willpower check might reflect an effort to understand a magical source or to care for an injured person. The Arcana and First Aid skills reflect aptitude in certain kinds of Willpower 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 DM might call for a Willpower (Animal Handling) check. You also make a Willpower (Animal Handling) check to control your mount when you attempt a risky maneuver.

    Insight. Your Willpower (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 Willpower (Medicine) check lets you try to stabilize a dying companion or diagnose an illness.

    Perception. Your Willpower (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 DM might ask you to make a Willpower (Survival) check to follow tracks, hunt wild game, guide your group through frozen wastelands, identify signs that kagouti live nearby, predict the weather, or avoid quicksand and other natural hazards.

    Other Willpower Checks. The DM might call for a Willpower check when you try to accomplish tasks like the following:

• Get a gut feeling about what course o f action to follow

• Discern whether a seemingly dead or living creature is undead

 

SPELLCASTING ABILITY

Crusaders, Warden Rangers, and Spellswords use Willpower as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of spells they cast.

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RESISTING SPELLS

Willpower is typically the attribute required for saving throws against magical damage. This will be listed in the spell block.

 

 

PERSONALITY                                                              

Personality 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.

 

PERSONALITY CHECKS

A Personality 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, and Speechcraft skills reflect aptitude in certain kinds of Personality checks.

    Deception. Your Personality (Deception) check determines whether you can convincingly hid the truth,m 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 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 DM might ask you to make a Personality (Intimidation) check. Examples include trying to pry information out of a prisoner, convincing street thugs to back down from a conformation, or using the edge of a broken bottle to convince a sneering vizier to reconsider a decision.

    Performance. Your Personality (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 DM might ask you to make a Personality (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 o f townsfolk.

    Other Personality Checks. The DM might call for a Personality 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.

 

SPELLCASTING ABILITY

Bards, and Nightblades use Peresonality as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine the saving throw DCs of spells they cast.

 

 

OTHER ATTRIBUTES                                                   

 

LUCK

Adventurers can get Luck points in a variety of ways. Your birthsign or class could contribute to your Luck, as well as praying to the right deity. You can use a Luck point when you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check, to increase the roll by 1d6.

 

SPEED

Every character and monster has a speed, which is the distance in feet that the character or monster can walk in 1 round. This number assumes short bursts of energetic movement in the midst of a life-threatening.

    Refer to the D&D's Player's Handbook for more detailed information on speed.