Playing the Game — page 16

r Estin G Adventurers can't spend every hour adventuring. They need rest. Any creature can take hour-long Short Rests in the midst of a day and an 8-hour Long Rest to end it. Regaining Hit Points is one of the main benefits of a rest. "Rules Glossary" provides the rules for Short and Long Rests. Controlling a Mount You can control a mount only if it has been trained to accept a rider. Domesticated horses, mules, and similar creatures have such training.

The Initiative of a controlled mount changes to match yours when you mount it. It moves on your turn as you direct it, and it has only three action options during that turn: Dash, Disengage, and Dodge. A controlled mount can move and act even on the turn that you mount it.

In contrast, an independent mount—one that lets you ride but ignores your control—retains its place in the Initiative order and moves and acts as it likes. Falling Off If an effect is about to move your mount against its will while you're on it, you must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall off, landing with the Prone condition (see "Rules Glossary") in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the mount.

While mounted, you must make the same save if you're knocked Prone or the mount is. Underwater Combat A fight underwater follows these rules. Impeded Weapons When making a melee attack roll with a weapon underwater, a creature that lacks a Swim Speed has Disadvantage on the attack roll unless the weapon deals Piercing damage.

A ranged attack roll with a weapon underwater automatically misses a target beyond the weapon's normal range, and the attack roll has Disadvantage against a target within normal range. Fire Resistance Anything underwater has Resistance to Fire damage (explained in "Damage and Healing"). Damage and Healing Injury and death are frequent threats, as detailed in the following rules. Hit Points

Hit Points represent durability and the will to live.

Creatures with more Hit Points are more difficult to kill. Your Hit Point maximum is the number of

Hit Points you have when uninjured. Your current

Hit Points can be any number from that maximum

down to 0, which is the lowest Hit Points can go.

Whenever you take damage, subtract it from your Hit Points. Hit Point loss has no effect on your capabilities until you reach 0 Hit Points.

If you have half your Hit Points or fewer, you're Bloodied, which has no game effect on its own but which might trigger other game effects. Damage Rolls Each weapon, spell, and damaging monster ability specifies the damage it deals. You roll the damage dice, add any modifiers, and deal the damage to your target. If there's a penalty to the damage, it's possible to deal 0 damage but not negative damage.

When attacking with a weapon, you add your ability modifier—the same modifier used for the attack roll—to the damage roll. A spell tells you which dice to roll for damage and whether to add any modifiers. Unless a rule says otherwise, you don't add your ability modifier to a fixed damage amount that doesn't use a roll, such as the damage of a Blowgun. See "Equipment" for weapons' damage dice and "Spells" for spells' damage dice. Critical Hits When you score a Critical Hit, you deal extra damage. Roll the attack's damage dice twice, add them together, and add any relevant modifiers as normal.

For example, if you score a Critical Hit with a Dagger, roll 2d4 for the damage rather than 1d4, and add your relevant ability modifier. If the attack involves other damage dice, such as from the Rogue's Sneak Attack feature, you also roll those dice twice.

Saving Throws and Damage

Damage dealt via saving throws uses these rules. Damage against Multiple Targets When you create a damaging effect that forces two or more targets to make saving throws against it at the same time, roll the damage once for all the targets. For example, when a wizard casts Fireball, the spell's damage is rolled once for all creatures caught in the blast. Half Damage Many saving throw effects deal half damage (round down) to a target when the target succeeds on the saving throw. The halved damage is equal to half the damage that would be dealt on a failed save. Damage Types Each instance of damage has a type, like Fire or Slashing.

Damage types are listed in "Rules