Dice rolls: Difference between revisions

A creature with both advantage and disadvantage on a roll only rolls a single die, even if it has multiple instances of either.

When a creature attacks another, they usually make an attack roll. Attack rolls are made against the target's [[Armour Class]] (AC). If the final result of the attack roll is equal to or exceeds the target's AC, the outcome is a ''hit''. Otherwise, it is considered a ''miss''.

When an Attack is determined to be a hit, the creature rolls for damage.

[[File:critical hit.png|right|thumb|Example of a Critical Hit with a 1d6 Shortsword. The damage dice are doubled, but the Dexterity modifier is not.]]

A natural 20 on an attack roll is a [[Critical hit|critical hit]]. In addition to being an automatic hit, the creature rolls twice the normal number of dice to determine damage, including additional dice such as those from smites or combat manoeuvres. "Flat" damage bonuses that add a fixed number are not doubled by a critical hit; this includes ability score modifiers, weapon enhancement bonuses and features and abilities like {{SAI|Great Weapon Master: All In}}.

Some equipment, feats and class features (notably the {{class|Champion}}'s {{SAI|Improved  Critical Hit}}) allow a creature to score a critical hit on natural rolls of 19 or 20, or even 18 to 20. The benefits are the same as for a regular critical hit.

Traps, spells, conditions and other sources of harm may allow a creature a chance to avoid or reduce their effect, known as a [[saving throw]] or ''save''. This is a d20 roll, with the relevant Ability and Difficulty Class (DC) determined by the source of the effect. If the final result of the roll equals or exceeds the DC, the save is successful.

Unlike attacks, saving throws are not guaranteed to fail or succeed when the d20 result is either a natural 1 or 20 respectively, however when saving throws are used during dialogue they will guarantee failure or success when a 1 or 20 is rolled.

A successful save can mean completely avoiding negative effects, reducing the damage received (usually by half), or both. For example, successfully saving against a spike trap could mean that a creature takes no damage at all, because it successfully evaded the spikes. On the other hand, if it's caught in the area of effect of a {{SAI|Fireball}}, then a successful save will merely halve the damage. Saving against {{SAI|Thunderwave}} both halves the damage taken, and prevents a creature from being pushed by the spell.

Some effects don't allow a saving throw, for example the spell {{SAI|Sleep}}.

When a player character is {{cond|Downed}}, they make a special [[Death Saving Throw]] each turn to determine if they slip closer to death. Death saves are not associated with an Ability Score and so don't add any modifiers or the proficiency bonus. They only benefit from bonuses that apply to all saving throws (such as {{SAI|Bless}}) or specifically to death saves.

Death saves are a success on a result of 10 or higher, and otherwise a failure. A character dies when three failures are accumulated, or becomes Stable (they no longer make death saves) when three successes are accumulated, whichever happens first.

{{hatnote|See also [[Abilities#Ability checks|Ability checks]] in the [[Abilities]] article}}

An ability check is an attempt to succeed at a specific task, and is rolled against a Difficulty Class (DC) set by the game for that task. If the final result of the roll equals or exceeds the DC, the attempt is successful.

Some ability checks are based only on the base Ability Score. A common example is exerting willpower to use the Tadpole's influence on other characters during dialogue. Checks like this have no applicable proficiency, and never add a proficiency bonus.

When a {{class|Wild Magic Sorcerer}} casts a leveled spell, a d20 is rolled to determine if they will trigger a [[Wild Magic (passive feature)|Wild Magic]] Surge. A surge is triggered only when the outcome is 20. The resulting effect, and {{Class|Wild Magic Barbarian}} surge effects for [[Rage: Wild Magic]], are also determined with dice rolls.

{{hatnote|See also: [[Damage mechanics]].}}

[[Damage rolls]] are used in the calculation of damage dealt by [[weapons]], [[spells]] and certain special abilities. They use one or more {{DieIcon|d4|Force}} d4s, {{DieIcon|d6|Radiant}} d6s, {{DieIcon|d8|Cold}} d8s, {{DieIcon|d10|Poison}} d10s or {{DieIcon|d12|Psychic}} d12s, adding any relevant modifiers to the result.

[[Healing]] restores a target's [[hit points]] but otherwise works similarly to damage rolls. Healing rolls may also add modifiers, but there's no general rule for this; any bonuses are determined by the source of the healing. For example, a [[Potion of Healing]] restores {{DamageText|2d4+2|Healing}}. There are many magic items, class features and other effects which also provide bonuses to healing, for example the {{Class|Life Domain}}'s {{SAI|Disciple of Life}} feature.

When combat starts, all combatants roll for [[Initiative|initiative]] to determine the turn order. This is a d4 roll ([[D&D 5e rule changes|a significant departure from the tabletop rules]]), and adds a creature's Dexterity modifier. Proficiency does not apply, but some items, class features and other special abilities may provide bonuses.