Six abilities provide a quick description of every creature's physical and mental characteristics:
- Strength , measuring physical power
- Dexterity , measuring agility
- Constitution , measuring endurance
- Intelligence , measuring reasoning and memory
- Wisdom , measuring perception and insight
- Charisma , measuring force of personality
Is a character muscle-bound and insightful? Brilliant and charming? Nimble and hardy? Ability scores define these qualities—a creature's assets as well as weaknesses. The three main rolls of the game – the ability check, the saving throw, and the attack roll – rely on the six ability scores. Simply put, the basic rules behind these rolls is: roll a d20, add an ability modifier derived from one of the six ability scores, add any other bonuses you may have, and compare the total to a target number.
Ability Scores and Modifiers
Each of a creature's abilities has a score, a number that defines the magnitude of that ability. An ability score is not just a measure of innate capabilities, but also encompasses a creature's training and competence in activities related to that ability.
A score of 10 or 11 is the normal human average, but adventurers and many monsters are a cut above average in most abilities. A score of 18 is the highest that an average person usually reaches. Adventurers can have scores as high as 20, and monsters and divine beings can have scores as high as 30.
Each ability also has a modifier, derived from the score and ranging from -5 (for an ability score of 1) to +10 (for a score of 30). The Ability Scores and Modifiers table notes the ability modifiers for the range of possible ability scores, from 1 to 30.
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Advantage and Disadvantage
Sometimes a special ability or spell tells you that you have advantage or disadvantage on an ability check, a saving throw, or an attack roll. When that happens, you roll a second d20 when you make the roll. Use the higher of the two rolls if you have advantage, and use the lower roll if you have disadvantage. For example, if you have disadvantage and roll a 17 and a 5, you use the 5. If you instead have advantage and roll those numbers, you use the 17.
If multiple situations affect a roll and each one grants advantage or imposes disadvantage on it, you don't roll more than one additional d20. If two favorable situations grant advantage, for example, you still roll only one additional d20.
If circumstances cause a roll to have both advantage and disadvantage, you are considered to have neither of them, and you roll one d20. This is true even if multiple circumstances impose disadvantage and only one grants advantage or vice versa. In such a situation, you have neither advantage nor disadvantage.
When you have advantage or disadvantage and something in the game, such as the halfling's Lucky trait, lets you reroll or replace the d20, you can reroll or replace only one of the dice. You choose which one. For example, if a halfling has advantage or disadvantage on an ability check and rolls a 1 and a 13, the halfling could use the Lucky trait to reroll the 1.
You usually gain advantage or disadvantage through the use of special abilities, actions, or spells. Staff may also decide that circumstances influence a roll in one direction or the other and grant advantage or impose disadvantage as a result.
Proficiency Bonus
Characters have a proficiency bonus determined by level, as detailed in the Guide to Creating a Character . Monsters also have this bonus; it is universal among creatures of 5e. The bonus is used in the rules on ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls.
Your proficiency bonus can’t be added to a single die roll or other number more than once. For example, if two different rules say you can add your proficiency bonus to a Wisdom saving throw, you nevertheless add the bonus only once when you make the save.
Occasionally, your proficiency bonus might be multiplied or divided (doubled or halved, for example) before you apply it. For example, the rogue’s Expertise feature doubles the proficiency bonus for certain ability checks. If a circumstance suggests that your proficiency bonus applies more than once to the same roll, you still add it only once and multiply or divide it only once.
By the same token, if a feature or effect allows you to multiply your proficiency bonus when making an ability check that wouldn’t normally benefit from your proficiency bonus, you still don’t add the bonus to the check. For that check your proficiency bonus is 0, given the fact that multiplying 0 by any number is still 0. For instance, if you lack proficiency in the History skill, you gain no benefit from a feature that lets you double your proficiency bonus when you make Intelligence (History) checks.
In general, you don’t multiply your proficiency bonus for attack rolls or saving throws. If a feature or effect allows you to do so by specifically naming attack rolls and saving throws, these same rules apply.
Ability Checks
An ability check tests a character's or monster's innate talent and training in an effort to overcome a challenge. The DM calls for an ability check when a character or monster attempts an action (other than an attack) that has a chance of failure. When the outcome is uncertain, the dice determine the results.
For every ability check, the DM decides which of the six abilities is relevant to the task at hand and the difficulty of the task, represented by a Difficulty Class. The more difficult a task, the higher its DC. The Typical Difficulty Classes table below shows the most common DCs.
| Task Difficulty | DC |
| Very Easy | 5 |
| Easy | 10 |
| Medium | 15 |
| Hard | 20 |
| Very Hard | 25 |
| Nearly Impossible | 30 |
To make an ability check, roll a d20 and add the relevant ability modifier. As with other d20 rolls, apply bonuses and penalties, and compare the total to the DC. If the total equals or exceeds the DC, the ability check is a success—the creature overcomes the challenge at hand. Otherwise, it's a failure, which means the character or monster makes no progress toward the objective or makes progress combined with a setback determined by staff.
Ability checks encompass more than just skills (which are given further detail below). Instead, they encompass any use of an Ability Score that is not an attack roll or saving throw. When you roll for initiative, which is described further on the Combat page, you are making a special kind of ability check. As a result, initiative checks can receive any bonus which applies generally to ability checks, such a Bard's Jack of All Trades feature.
Contests
Sometimes one character's or monster's efforts are directly opposed to another's. This can occur when both of them are trying to do the same thing and only one can succeed, such as attempting to snatch up a magic ring that has fallen on the floor.
This situation also applies when one of them is trying to prevent the other one from accomplishing a goal—for example, when a monster tries to force open a door that an adventurer is holding closed. In situations like these, the outcome is determined by a special form of ability check, called a contest.
Both participants in a contest make ability checks appropriate to their efforts. They apply all appropriate bonuses and penalties, but instead of comparing the total to a DC, they compare the totals of their two checks. The participant with the higher check total wins the contest. That character or monster either succeeds at the action or prevents the other one from succeeding.
If the contest results in a tie, the situation remains the same as it was before the contest. Thus, one contestant might win the contest by default. If two characters tie in a contest to snatch a ring off the floor, neither character grabs it. In a contest between a monster trying to open a door and an adventurer trying to keep the door closed, a tie means that the door remains shut.
Skills
Each ability covers a broad range of capabilities, including skills that a character or a monster can be proficient in. A skill represents a specific aspect of an ability score, and an individual's proficiency in a skill demonstrates a focus on that aspect (A character's starting skill proficiencies are determined at character creation, and a monster's skill proficiencies appear in the monster's stat block).
For example, a Dexterity check might reflect a character's attempt to pull off an acrobatic stunt, to palm an object, or to stay hidden. Each of these aspects of Dexterity has an associated skill: Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth, respectively. So a character who has proficiency in the Stealth skill is particularly good at Dexterity checks related to sneaking and hiding.
The skills related to each ability score are shown in the following list; note that no skills are related to Constitution. See an ability's description in the later sections of this section for examples of how to use a skill associated with an ability.
Strength
Dexterity
Intelligence
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Wisdom
Charisma
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Sometimes, staff might ask for an ability check using a specific skill—for example, “Make a Wisdom (Perception) check.” At other times, a player might ask staff if proficiency in a particular skill applies to a check. In either case, proficiency in a skill means an individual can add his or her proficiency bonus to ability checks that involve that skill. Without proficiency in the skill, the individual makes a normal ability check.
For example, if a character attempts to climb up a dangerous cliff, staff might ask for a Strength (Athletics) check. If the character is proficient in Athletics, the character's proficiency bonus is added to the Strength check. If the character lacks that proficiency, they just make a Strength check.
Variant: Skills with Different Abilities
Normally, your proficiency in a skill applies only to a specific kind of ability check. Proficiency in Athletics, for example, usually applies to Strength checks. In some situations, though, your proficiency might reasonably apply to a different kind of check. In such cases, staff might ask for a check using an unusual combination of ability and skill, or you might ask staff if you can apply a proficiency to a different check. For example, if you have to swim from an offshore island to the mainland, staff might call for a Constitution check to see if you have the stamina to make it that far. In this case, staff might allow you to apply your proficiency in Athletics and ask for a Constitution (Athletics) check. So if you're proficient in Athletics, you apply your proficiency bonus to the Constitution check just as you would normally do for a Strength (Athletics) check. Similarly, when your half-orc barbarian uses a display of raw strength to intimidate an enemy, staff might ask for a Strength (Intimidation) check, even though Intimidation is normally associated with Charisma.
Passive Checks
A passive check is a special kind of ability check that doesn't involve any die rolls. Such a check can represent the average result for a task done repeatedly, such as searching for secret doors over and over again, or can be used when staff wants to secretly determine whether the characters succeed at something without rolling dice, such as noticing a hidden monster.
Here's how to determine a character's total for a passive check:
10 + all modifiers that normally apply to the check
If the character has advantage on the check, add 5. For disadvantage, subtract 5. The game refers to a passive check total as a score .
For example, if a 1st-level character has a Wisdom of 15 and proficiency in Perception, they have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 14. The rules on hiding in the “Dexterity” section below rely on passive checks.
Working Together
Sometimes two or more characters team up to attempt a task. The character who's leading the effort—or the one with the highest ability modifier—can make an ability check with advantage, reflecting the help provided by the other characters. In combat, this requires the Help action, which is explained more on the Combat page.
A character can only provide help if the task is one that they could attempt alone. For example, trying to open a lock requires proficiency with thieves' tools, so a character who lacks that proficiency can't help another character in that task.
Moreover, a character can help only when two or more individuals working together would actually be productive. Some tasks, such as threading a needle, are no easier with help.
Group Checks
When a number of individuals are trying to accomplish something as a group, staff might ask for a group ability check. In such a situation, the characters who are skilled at a particular task help cover those who aren't.
To make a group ability check, everyone in the group makes the ability check. If at least half the group succeeds, the whole group succeeds. Otherwise, the group fails. Group checks don't come up very often, and they're most useful when all the characters succeed or fail as a group. For example, when adventurers are navigating a swamp, staff might call for a group Wisdom (Survival) check to see if the characters can avoid the quicksand, sinkholes, and other natural hazards of the environment. If at least half the group succeeds, the successful characters are able to guide their companions out of danger. Otherwise, the group stumbles into one of these hazards.
Ability Checks
Strength
Strength measures bodily power, athletic training, and the extent to which you can exert raw physical force. Strength is thus used whenever you attempt to pull, push, lift, or break something, or to otherwise apply brute force. It is used when making Athletics checks.
Athletics. Strength (Athletics) checks cover difficult situations you encounter while climbing, jumping, or swimming.
Attack Rolls and Damage
You add your Strength modifier to your attack and damage rolls when attacking with a melee weapon. You can use a melee weapon to make a melee attack, or you can choose to throw them; some have the Thrown property, making them particularly good to be thrown. Regardless, a thrown melee weapon uses Strength for its rolls.
Lifting and Carrying
Your Strength score determines the amount of weight you can bear.
Carrying Capacity. Your carrying capacity is equal to your Strength score multiplied by 15. This is the weight, in pounds, that you can carry, and is intentionally high enough that you shouldn't need to worry about it. Instead, it'll be used to determine the maximum amount you could carry without issue should it be necessary, such as if you wanted to carry back a massive horde of gold and treasure.
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. You cannot lift a weight greater than this amount. This determines the absolute maximum amount of weight your character can handle.
Size and Strength. Larger creatures can bear more weight, whereas Tiny creatures can bear less. For each size category above Medium, double a creature's carrying capacity and amount it can Push, Drag, or Lift. For a Tiny creature, halve these weights.
Dexterity
Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance. Dexterity is used whenever you attempt to move swiftly, nimbly, quietly, or with particular care. It can also be used when controlling carts, disarming traps. or wriggling free of bonds. It is used when making Acrobatics, Sleight of Hands, and Stealth checks.
Acrobatics. Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks cover attempts to stay on your feet and perform acrobatic stunts. This can cover moving quickly across ice, balance on a tightrope, or remain upright on a moving ship deck, as well as dives, flips, and rolls.
Sleight of Hand. Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) checks cover legerdemain and manual trickery, such as pickpocketing or hiding something on your person.
Stealth. Dexterity (Stealth) checks cover attempts to conceal yourself, sneak past others, or otherwise remain undetected.
Attack Rolls and Damage
You add your Dexterity modifier to your attack and damage rolls when attacking with a ranged weapon. You can also add your Dexterity modifier to attack and damage rolls when attacking with a melee weapon as long as it has the Finesse property. Melee weapons with this property may also use Dexterity when they are thrown, so long as they have the Thrown property as well.
Armor Class
Some armor allows you to add some or all of your Dexterity modifier to your Armor Class. This is expanded on in the Equipment, Tools, and Languages page.
Initiative
At the beginning of every combat, you roll initiative by making a Dexterity check. Initiative determines the order of creatures in combat, with the highest value going first, and the lowest value going last.
Hiding
Staff decides when circumstances are appropriate for hiding—you can't hide from someone if there's no way for you to conceal yourself. When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, that check's total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence.
You can't hide from a creature that can see you clearly, and you give away your position if you make noise, such as shouting a warning or knocking over a vase. An invisible creature can always try to hide, but signs of its passage might still be noticed, and it does have to stay quiet. As such, they can give away their position even if they cannot be seen, and are not always considered hiding.
In combat, most creatures stay alert for signs of danger all around, so if you come out of hiding and approach a creature, it usually sees you. However, under certain circumstances, staff might allow you to stay hidden as you approach a creature that is distracted, allowing you to gain advantage on an attack roll before you are seen.
Passive Perception. 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, staff 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, they have a passive Wisdom (Perception) of 14.
What Can You See? One of the main factors in determining whether you can find a hidden creature or object is how well you can see in an area, which might be lightly or heavily obscured, as explained on the Adventuring and Exploration page.
Constitution
Constitution measures your health, stamina, and vital force. Its checks are uncommon, and no skills apply to it because the endurance it represents is largely passive rather than a trainable skill or specific effort on your part. Checks can be used to push beyond normal limits or stave off exhaustion, however, such as going without sleep or marching for long periods of time.
Hit Points
Your Constitution modifier contributes to your hit points. You add your Constitution modifier to each Hit Die you gain for your hit points; thus, each time you level up, your hit point maximum increases based on your class and Constitution modifier.
If your Constitution modifier changes, your hit point maximum changes as well, as though you had that modifier since level 1. For example, if you raise your Constitution score when you reach 4th level and your Constitution modifier goes from +1 to +2, you adjust your hit points as if your modifier was always +2. Thus, you'd add 3 hit points for your first three levels, and then increase your hit point maximum based on your class die and new Constitution modifier.
Intelligence
Intelligence measures mental acuity, accuracy of recall, and the ability to logically reason. It comes into play when you draw on logic, education, memory, or deductive reasoning. It can also be used when forging a document, estimating the value of an item, or winning a game of intelligence, like chess. It is used when making Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, and Religion checks.
Arcana. Intelligence (Arcana) checks cover the ability to recall lore about, or determine the nature of, spells, magic items, eldritch symbols, magical traditions, the planes of existence, and inhabitants of those planes.
History. Intelligence (History) checks cover the ability to recall lore of historical events, legendary people, ancient kingdoms, lost civilizations, recent wars, and similar.
Investigation. Intelligence (Investigation) checks cover the ability to discover clues and make deductions based on those clues, such as finding what weapon caused a wound, or what part of a tunnel could be easily collapsed. It's also used to discover features which require a close or discerning look, such as determining if a container is trapped, if a wall contains a hidden door, or if a desk has a hidden compartment.
Nature. Intelligence (Nature) checks cover the ability to recall lore about terrain, plants, and animals, as well as weather and natural cycles.
Religion. Intelligence (Religion) checks cover the ability to recall lore about deities, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and practices.
Spellcasting Ability
Wizards use Intelligence as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine their likelihood to hit with a spell and the saving throw DC of their spells.
Wisdom
Wisdom reflects how attuned you are to the world around you and represents perceptiveness and intuition. It may reflect an effort to read body language, understand someone's feelings, notice things in the environment, or care for the injured. It is used when making Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival checks.
Animal Handling. Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks cover whether you can calm down a domesticated animal, keep an animal from getting spooked, or intuit an animal's intentions.
Insight. Wisdom (Insight) checks cover if you can determine the true intentions of a creature, such as searching out a lie or predicting someone's next move. Doing so requires gleaning clues from body language, speech habits, and mannerism changes.
Medicine. Wisdom (Medicine) checks cover the ability to stabilize a dying creature, diagnose an illness, or discover what else may be affecting a creature's health, such as a poison.
Perception. Wisdom (Perception) checks cover your ability to spot, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of something. It's a measure of general awareness of your surroundings and the keenness of your sense. You might use it to hear a conversation through a door, notice a monster creeping up on you, or detect an ambush lying in wait. Unlike Investigation, this is not a close look at your surroundings—it instead represents gut feelings and information gleaned from once-overs of a circumstance or situation.
Survival. Wisdom (Survival) checks cover following tracks, hunting wild game, finding your way through the wilderness, identifying signs of local animals, predicting the weather, and avoiding natural hazards.
Finding a Hidden Object
When your character searches for a hidden object such as a secret door or a trap, staff typically asks you to make an Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check. Such a check can be used to find hidden details or other information and clues that you might otherwise overlook.
In most cases, you need to describe where you are looking in order for staff to determine your chance of success. For example, a key is hidden beneath a set of folded clothes in the top drawer of a bureau. If you tell staff that you pace around the room, looking at the walls and furniture for clues, you have no chance of finding the key, regardless of your check result. You would have to specify that you were opening the drawers or searching the bureau in order to have any chance of success.
Spellcasting Ability
Clerics, Druids, and Rangers use Wisdom as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine their likelihood to hit with a spell and the saving throw DC of their spells.
Charisma
Charisma 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. You might use it when entertaining others, making an impression, finding the best person for news and gossip, or blending into a crowd to overhear key information. It is used when making Deception, Intimidation, Performance, and Persuasion checks.
Deception. Charisma (Deception) checks cover the ability to convincingly hide the truth, either verbally or through your actions. It can cover everything from misleading through ambiguity to telling an outright lie, such as fast-talking a guard, earning money while gambling, passing off a disguise, or simply lying without a tell.
Intimidation. Charisma (Intimidation) checks cover attempting to influence someone through overt threats, hostile actions, and physical violence. You might use it to get information from a prisoner, convince thugs to back down from a fight, or chase off a potential mugger.
Performance. Charisma (Performance) checks cover the ability to delight an audience or hold others' attention with music, dance, acting, storytelling, or any other form of entertainment.
Persuasion. Charisma (Persuasion) checks cover attempting to influence someone or a group of people with tact,social graces, or good nature. Persuasion is used for proper etiquette, fostering friendships, acting in good faith, or otherwise convincing another to work alongside you.
Spellcasting Ability
Bards, Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks use Charisma as their spellcasting ability, which helps determine their likelihood to hit with a spell and the saving throw DC of their spells.
Saving Throws
A saving throw, also called a save, represents an attempt to resist a spell, a trap, a poison, a disease, or a similar threat. You don't normally decide to make a saving throw; you are forced to make one because your character is at risk of harm.
When making a saving throw, you roll a d20 and add the appropriate ability modifier. For example, a Dexterity saving throw would use your Dexterity modifier. If you are proficient in a saving throw, you add your proficiency bonus to the save as well. Each class gives you proficiency in two saving throws at level 1. A saving throw can be modified by a situational bonus or penalty and can be affected by advantage and disadvantage, as determined by staff. Some monsters have saving throw proficiencies as well.
The Difficulty Class for a saving throw is determined by the effect that causes it. For example, the DC for a saving throw allowed by a spell is determined by the caster’s spellcasting ability and proficiency bonus.
The result of a successful or failed saving throw is detailed in the effect that caused the save. A successful save typically means you suffer no harm, or reduced harm, from the effect.
Death Saving Throws
Death Saving Throws are a special kind of saving throw that isn't tied to any ability score. You make these when your character has dropped to 0 hit points, but has not died outright. As they are a type of saving throw, they benefit from any feature which can affect saving throws. They are detailed further on the Combat page.
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