The  gets the Faithful Summons feature at 14th level (XGtE, p. 24):     If you are reduced to 0 hit points or are incapacitated against your will, you can immediately gain the benefits of conjure animals as if it were cast using a 9th-level spell slot.   Can you gain the benefits of the Faithful Summons feature if you are in Wild Shape and your new form's HP is reduced to 0?
121872
So a druid is in Wild Shape and takes damage over the threshold by a gnoll. So she turns back into her real form and takes the remaining damage in real form. The gnoll has a trait called Rampage, meaning when it reduces a creature to 0 HP, it gets another attack.  Would taking a wild-shaped druid down count as taking a creature down to 0 HP?
49146
The spell Armor of Agathys states:      You gain 5 temporary hit points for the duration. If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these hit points, the creature takes 5 cold damage.   Now, assume my buddy uses Inspiring Leader to give me 10 temporary hit points — does the effect end?
102779
I understand that RAW, features/spells/etc. that require a bonus action (e.g. Bardic Inspiration or Healing Word) cannot be used with a regular action instead (see ).  However, what would be the long-term ramifications and effects on game balance if I were to instead allow PCs to use a regular action for bonus-action features/spells/etc.?  For the sake of narrowing this down a bit; I'm only asking about ramifications when allowing player characters to do this, no need to take NPCs or Monsters into account. I don't use the variant rule of feats either, so no need to consider those as well.
25627
So, I'm trying to figure out how to run the scene from the beginning of Lost Mine of Phandelver (5e starter set) where the party is ambushed by goblins and I'm really confused as to how Passive Wisdom (Perception) works.  The included rulebook mentions on page 6 :     When you hide, there’s a chance someone will notice you even if they aren’t searching. To determine whether such a creature notices you, the DM compares your Dexterity (Stealth) check with that creature’s passive Wisdom (Perception) score, which equals 10 + the creature’s Wisdom modifier, as well as any other bonuses or penalties. If the creature has advantage, add 5. For disadvantage, subtract 5. For example, if a 1st-level character (with a proficiency bonus of +2) has a Wisdom of 15 (a +2 modifier) and proficiency in Perception, he or she has a passive Wisdom (Perception) of 14.   So the party is being ambushed by goblins and at that point the DM guide mentions on page 7 :     Check to see who, if anyone, is surprised. [...] Make a Dexterity (Stealth) check for the goblins, rolling once for all of them. Roll a d20, add the goblins' Stealth skill modifier (+6) to the roll and compare the result to the characters' Passive Wisdom (Perception) scores.   So to me this reads like I should roll 1d20+6 for the goblins and compare that to the static Passive Wisdom (Perception) score on the character sheet of a PC. The PCs don't get to roll anything as they're not actively looking for enemies, even though they are investigating the dead horses.  I would also think that if the characters were supposed to roll, the DM guide would clearly instruct so, given that this is the starter set.  However, watching  at around 8:01 I notice that the DM is explicitly asking his party for a perception roll. And the same thing happens on a couple of other videos where people are running the Lost Mine adventure. The DM always requests a roll.  So what gives? Shall I take it that the DMs ask for the roll because they consider the party to be actively seeking for hidden foes? Or am I just misreading the rulebook and the DM guide?
105093
If I have priority and cast an  on a just summoned 2/3 creature, then, passing priority, my opponent casts a  on that creature, does my creature survive? The first spell that resolves is obviously the bolt, that deals 3 point of damage to the creature; but immediately after, will the  Unholy Strength resolve (giving +2/+1), allowing the creature to survive?
87284
Do curses or ability damage/drain cause a character to be unable to use his feats?   For example, a Ranger with 20 Dex who has two-weapon-fighting feats and is using two weapons gets cursed or ability drained and his Dex drops to 14. Does that cause the character not to be able to use his two-weapon feats (which have a requirement of at least 15 Dex)?   What about his other feats that have prerequisites of blocked feats? (As another example: a fighter with the Whirlwind Attack feat, which requires Combat Expertise gets an INT penalty that drops his INT under 13, a prerequisite of Combat Expertise). I think that he can no longer use his Combat Expertise feat (because of low INT) and also Whirlwind Attack and any other feats that require Combat Expertise. Is that right?    I guess it is better to clarify the reason I am asking.  First of all, there are so many books, and there are too many authors that create them and test them. Many bugs are uncovered due to that reason. It is quite hard to keep track of all these things. I know that.   The reason for the question is, for higher-level builds, skill, feat, class, prestige class, template and ability score choices become more important. And there are casters, whose main combat skills depend on spells (clerics, sorcerers, and wizards, especially). Maybe druids can deal with key ability score penalties, and clerics may try to survive such conditions. Wizards and sorcerers have less of a chance when their key ability score drops. A curse may cause them to be without magic (or with some weak spells) if they fail to resist it. They probably have higher Will saves, but they all have the chance.   And I am trying to be sure about the situation of a warrior-based class, because feats mean a lot to them. So what happens when they get cursed? Failure to be able to use a key feat is important, but not as much as a wizard who is unable to cast spells.  Related FAQ answer is not enough about this situation (the following part)     A feat sometimes requires you to have a certain ability   score, which is the case with Two-Weapon Fighting (it   requires Dex 15). A character has, say, Dex 13, but wears   an item, in this case gloves of Dexterity +2, and now her Dex   score is 15. Can she take the feat and have it be active only   when she wears the item?      Actually yes, she could take the feat, but she would lose the   use of the feat if, for whatever reason, she loses the bonus from   the item.   So, still looking for something more satisfactory.  UPDATE: @LitheOhm's answer:  Players Handbook:     Two-Weapon Fighting   Prerequisite: Dex 15.    Complete Adventurer     Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting   Prerequisite: Str13, Two-Weapon Fighting   I wish to clarify that, I just wish to be sure about what to do in such situation. That is just an example and probably being able to use Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting feat will not save the character while he could not use basic Two-Weapon Fighting feats due to Lowered DEX. But I still wonder, whether he could still use Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting.  Of course there could be some other feats which fits that situation. That is just one I noticed.
51446
Nowhere in the wizard class page does it say that a familiar gets its 1 skillPoint/HD. However as was concluded in this thread about , a sage familiar would have to base its skills off of the base creature's which if you do the math used a sp/HD.     Sage’s Knowledge (Ex)    - A sage stores information on every topic and is happy to lecture its master on the finer points. A sage can attempt all Knowledge checks untrained and receives a bonus on all Knowledge checks equal to 1/2 its level. Additionally, a sage gains 2 skill ranks at each level.   So,   does a sage familiar get 2 or 3 sp/(hd or wizard level) does a regular old familiar actually get a sp/level, like a druids animal companion?   I kind of think its actually 2 to 1. and no to 2. With the sage archetype a familiar gives up a decent amount, alertness and the wizard's 8 skill point fed perception etc, to be able to put skill points in whatever it wants. Oh say.. Use Magic Device for instance. However if my planned Nosoi familiar can pop a point into UMD and use my score for the skill.... well, whoo hoo.
113688
Following on from this question:   It seems all feats carry over to your new form if your new form is capable of using them (so Mounted Combatant and Inspiring leader would usually be ruled as unusable in most circumstances). But what about Tough?     Your hit point maximum increases by an amount equal to twice your   level when you gain this feat. Whenever you gain a level thereafter,   your hit point maximum increases by an additional 2 hit points.   Would this increase your maximum HP by the same amount when in the form of a rat, or brown bear?
42100
Is it possible to use the animals that are summoned using Conjure Animals as mounts?  As an example: Summoning Giant Eagles to carry a group up the mountain or over a wall.
117252
The rules for the 5E druid's  ability simply say:     you can use your action to magically assume the shape of a beast that you have seen before   There is  asking if you can go beyond the exact form of a beast you've seen (like, if you want to be a dog, and you've only seen corgis, are you stuck with that?) but I think the general assumption tends to go the other way: once you've seen some example of a beast, you can become that type of beast, but only a generic form of it. For example, a  says:     you can't even wild shape into a specific kind of beast. You always become a generic, average representative of that species.   However, I don't see any wording around that. The  spell says:     You transform into an average example of that creature, one without any class levels or the Spellcasting trait.   ... but I don't see anything similar for Wild Shape (and for that matter, for any of the other transformation spells and abilities in the rules).  Can a druid look exactly like the watchdogs of a particular estate? And if she can, can she also choose sometimes to just be a generic dog? Somewhat related: the Monster Manual has a , but not other types of dogs — so, if you've seen  (challenge rating presumably somewhat less than zero), can you take the form of a mastiff? What about an Irish wolfhound, as CR ½ or 1 instead of the mastiff's ⅛? What about a wolf? What about a dire wolf? Where does it stop?  Or, not to get all fixated on dogs, if you've seen a garden spider, can you become the more dangerous  listed in the rules, with its lethal-to-many-commoners 1d4 poison bite? What about a  then?  Finally, if it's not in the 5E rules, where did this idea of "average representative" come from? I know 4E had this whole thing where shapeshifting and summoning worked on a sort of platonic-ideal spirit, not real animals at all, but that doesn't seem to have carried over here. Was there something in 3.5? I remember playing it that way, but can't find a specific rule there either.  That's a lot of text, I know. Summary questions:   Can you take the exact form of a specific, individual animal you've seen? Can you take the form of a "generic" animal of the same general species or name or categorization as a specific individual you've seen? If you can generalize, can you then vary from that generalization? What defines the platonic ideal of a given creature? What if there's no Monster Manual entry that comes close? If you can generalize, how far away can you go? Spider to Giant Spider? Tiny Lizard to Riding Lizard? Tapir to Elephant? Where did this idea of generic, average example come from, if not 5E rules?   ... and I'd like to see rules references for any answers, please.
82281
The artifact Book of Exalted Deeds, DMG p. 222, has the following attribute:     Enlightened Magic. Once you've read and studied   the book, any spell slot you expend to cast a cleric or   paladin spell counts as a spell slot of one level higher.    Therefore, if a level 17+ cleric were to read this book and subsequently cast a spell that scales with slot level, such as Cure Wounds - would he be able to cast the spell at "10th level"?  Cure Wounds:     [...] When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the healing increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 1st.   9th-level slot: 1d8 + 8*1d8 = 9d8 9th-level slot with the Book of Exalted Deeds: 1d8 + 9d8 = 10d8?    Clarification: stating that there currently is no explicit mention of 10th-level slots or spells is not helpful, I'm fully aware of that - it's the whole point of this question.  Therefore, unless you can provide a reference to an official source that explicitly disallows 10th-level spell slots, please refrain from answering. Note that, while they're generally not considered official, a quote from any designer (not just Crawford), will suffice.
106198
Can the familiar options from the Pact of the Chain warlock (quasit, imp, sprite, pseudodragon) attune with a ring of spell storing?  If so, can I cast a spell requiring concentration into the ring and then have the familiar maintain concentration on the spell?
86632
I would like to know what happens if you use the Magic Jar spell to possess a creature which is capable of casting spells. Below are 3 different situations. I post all these questions in the same question because all of them are heavily related.  1st Situation: Creatures with Innate Spellcasting.  For example Kraken Priest (MM 215).  Would I be able to use its Innate Spellcasting? I mean, being able to cast its spells as the creature does (X uses per day). I don't say using my spell slots because that is impossible (eg. a Drow Elf Warlock can't use its spell slots to cast Darkness).  2nd Situation: Creatures with Spellcasting (similar to Pact Magic).  For Example Warlock of the Archfey (MM 219).  Would I be able to use its spellcasting? Note that this creature is an "11th-level spellcaster", not an "11th-level warlock" (its spellcasting isn't a class feature).  What would happen with the spell slots? Would I be able to cast its spells with my own slots? Would I be able to cast my spells with its slots?  3rd Situation: Creatures With Spellcasting (similar to Spellcasting of Clerics or Wizards)  For Example Diviner (MM 213).  Would I be able to use its spellcasting? Note that this creature is a "15th-level spellcaster", not a "15th-level wizard" (its spellcasting isn't a class feature).  What would happen with the spell slots (considering that for example, I'm a 16th-level Wizard)?   Would our spellcaster level sum (as if multiclassing)? Should I use the highest spellcaster level instead of summing them? Should I count the spellcaster level separated, each one with its spell slots separated? For example, Would I have 8 1st-level spell slots (4 + 4)?   Finally (without considering a specific situation):  Would I have to recalculate the spell's attack bonus and spell's DC if my mental stats are different from the creature's stats?  I know that these are a lot of multiple questions, but I don't think that posting them separately would be beneficial. If you think so, let me know and I will do that.
20593
Question The Dungeon Master's Guide explains that DMs  Do not award XP for creatures that enemies summon or otherwise add to their forces with magic powers. An enemy’s ability to summon or add these creatures is part of the enemy’s CR already. (You don’t give PCs more XP if a drow cleric casts unholy blight on them, so don’t give them more XP if she casts summon monster IV instead.) (37)  Does this mean the DM should not award XP for enemies added to the battlefield via spells and magic powers even if those spells and magic powers have been employed prior to the encounter? Further, what about enemies added to the battlefield via means other than spells and magic powers yet that still expend or exploit the creature's resources? A druid's animal companion and a paladin's mount are among the &quot;magic powers&quot; obviously included in the creature's Challenge Rating, but what about cohorts and followers via the feat Leadership (DMG 106) or animals that have been purchased using the creature's NPC Gear Value (DMG 127)? In short, did I miss--in the DMG or elsewhere--the section addressing creatures using their magical or nonmagical resources to have more creatures on their side before an encounter begins? If I didn't miss that section, is it a reasonable house rule to extend the rules above from the DMG to cover such encounters? (By the way, I know that Challenge Rating and Encounter Level are guidelines--wildly subjective and often inaccurate guidelines--, and therefore I'm unconcerned with an evaluation of the encounter's perceived difficulty. I know I must adjust Challenge Ratings and Encounter Levels based on the characters and circumstances.)  Background I'm designing an encounter with a hag covey (MM 144), and when 3 hags are within 100 ft. of each other one can employ the spell animate dead [necro] (PH 199) as a spell-like ability 3/day as a 9th-level caster. The covey's had both time and access to corpses. That means 12 9-HD CR 4 skeletons (the group of which is an EL 11 encounter) can be present alongside them. Further, one of the hags is a cleric who can cast planar ally [conj] (PH 261), and the hag's NPC Gear Value is sufficient to add to the enemies a 12-HD elemental or outsider to perform a &quot;long-term task, one requiring up to one day per caster level&quot; (PH 261), and that outsider or elemental could reasonably include a glabrezu (MM 43), kelvezu (MM2 61), rukarazyll (MM2 181), or an extremely liberal arcanaloth (MM2 203) with its at-will spell-like ability shapechange [trans] (PH 277-8). Yeah, I know--the Monster Manual 2 has some crazy stuff. Also, all 3 hags possess sufficient class levels to take the feat Leadership and, narratively, should have it. And, narratively, their cohorts should be present during their encounter with the PCs, and their followers should be nearby. Don't worry about the PCs' survival. They're tough. But I am worried about rewarding them appropriately if they defeat the covey. The hag covey has a lot of baggage but mechanically only generates treasure appropriate for an EL 18 encounter (3 CR 15 creatures) unless their animated dead, planar ally, cohorts, and followers all count toward that EL. I know I can totally ignore the entire Encounter Level calculation and instead use the skeleton horde and the planar ally as one encounter, the cohorts and followers as a second, and the hag covey as the boss fight, but I'd still like to know the actual rules.
15765
From the spell description:     Sleep (...) Creatures within 20 feet of a point you choose within range are affected in ascending order of their current hit points (ignoring unconscious creatures). Starting with the creature that has the lowest current hit points,(...) Subtract each creature’s hit points from the total before moving on to the creature with the next lowest hit points. A creature’s hit points must be equal to or less than the remaining total for that creature   to be affected. Undead and creatures immune to being charmed aren’t affected by this spell. (PH p.276)   Now, to build the ascending order of their current hitpoints, the spell instructs to count everyone in area of effect, but only ignore unconscous creatures. Then later on it says that Undead and creatures immune to being charmed aren't affected.  Are those two latter kinds of creatures excluded from the roll of current HP by default? Following the "if they were it would say so" philosophy of Sage Advice, it doesn't seem so to me.
67154
Page 67 of the PHB states that druids gain all the hit points of whatever creature they become when using Wild Shape, and when that shape drops to 0hp, only the excess damage carries over to the druid's original form.  Since archdruids (level 20) can use Wild Shape an unlimited number of times per day, and dismissing Wild Shape is a bonus action, could an archdruid just keep transforming into a high-HP Earth elemental over and over during a battle?    If they get near 0hp while in elemental form, they can dismiss it as a bonus action, then re-apply it as an action, all in one turn, and never take "excess damage", so their druid form would never be harmed.  Am I misunderstanding something about how hit points work between these forms, or is a level 20 Circle of the Moon druid virtually immune to all but the most insane damage spikes?
25972
There are a number of skills that provide benefits to a player "and their allies".  Do any of these include creatures summoned by a witch doctor?    Examples:   Does a Monk heal affect summons? Do non-witch doctor abilities buff them? If you have two witch doctors in a party, can they buff each other's summons?