PLAYTEST PLAYER’S GUIDE v1.

Playtest Credits
Design and Writing
Scott Fitzgerald Gray

Rules Development and Consulting

Aaron Gray, Matt Click

Cultural Consulting
James Mendez Hodes, Basil Wright

Sensitivity and Inclusion Consulting

Jennifer Kretchmer, Rogan Shannon, Take This

Alpha Playtest Vanguard Crew

David Otterson, Ron Graves, François Bertrand,
Aaron Gray, Shvaugn Craig, Colleen Craig

Front-Page Art
Xavier Beaudlet

Copyright © 2023 Scott Fitzgerald Gray and Insane Angel Studios

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by
Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................... 1
Players and Characters .......................................................................1
Playing the Game ...............................................................................2
Adventures and Campaigns ..............................................................3
The World of Adventure ....................................................................4
Three Sides to the Game ...................................................................4
The First Rule.......................................................................................5
Chapter 1: Building Your Character ................................. 6
A Hero of Your Own ...........................................................................6
Chapter by Chapter............................................................................7
Feats and Feat Slots ...........................................................................9
Step-by-Step Characters..................................................................15
Iconic Builds ......................................................................................15
Feat Packages ...................................................................................22
Freeform Builds .................................................................................27
Chapter 2: Ability Scores ...............................................29
Strength (Str) .....................................................................................29
Dexterity (Dex) ..................................................................................29
Constitution (Con) ............................................................................29
Intelligence (Int) ................................................................................30
Wisdom (Wis) ....................................................................................30
Charisma (Cha) ..................................................................................30
Ability Modifiers ................................................................................31
Generating Ability Scores ................................................................31
Ability Score Feats ............................................................................32
Feat Index ..........................................................................................33
Ability Score Feats ............................................................................33
Chapter 3: Lineages .......................................................34
Present and Past ...............................................................................35
Lineage Traits ....................................................................................36
Lineage and Culture .........................................................................36
Dwarves and Gnomes ......................................................................38
Elves, Halflings, and Humans ..........................................................43
Essaruks and Orcs .............................................................................50
Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears ..............................................55
Kobolds and Lizardfolk ....................................................................62
Lineage Feats ....................................................................................67
Physical Attributes ............................................................................68
Character Age ...................................................................................68
Feat Index ..........................................................................................70
Chapter 4: Backgrounds ................................................71
Background Benefits ........................................................................71
Common Background Benefits .......................................................72
Character Backgrounds ...................................................................72
Background Feats .............................................................................76
Alignment ..........................................................................................77
Feat Index ..........................................................................................80
Chapter 5: Playing the Game .........................................81
Using the Rules .................................................................................81
Using Dice .........................................................................................81
Measuring Success ...........................................................................82
Roll Play or Roleplay? .......................................................................83
Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage ....................................................83
Actions ...............................................................................................84
Action Points .....................................................................................89
Action Point Feats ............................................................................90
Running the Game............................................................................91
The Rules of the Table .....................................................................92
Dice Etiquette ...................................................................................92
Shared Responsibilities ....................................................................93
Giving Voice to the Game ...............................................................94
Session Zero ......................................................................................96
Safety Tools .......................................................................................96
Feat Index ..........................................................................................99
Chapter 6: Skills .......................................................... 100
What Do You Want to Do? ............................................................101
Skill Groups .....................................................................................101
Skill Checks ......................................................................................102
Calling for Checks ...........................................................................104
Measuring Skill Success .................................................................105
Unknown Skill Check DCs ..............................................................107
Repeating Checks ...........................................................................107
Skill Checks Without Rolls..............................................................107
Skill Assistance ................................................................................108
Group Skill Checks..........................................................................108
Complex Skill Checks .....................................................................108
Using Skills .......................................................................................109
Acrobatics ........................................................................................111
Athletics ...........................................................................................114
Dungeoneering ...............................................................................117
Endurance........................................................................................120
Expertise ..........................................................................................124
Healing .............................................................................................126
Investigation ....................................................................................129
Magic................................................................................................131
Nature ..............................................................................................134
Perception .......................................................................................137
Persuasion........................................................................................140
Stealth ..............................................................................................143
Thievery ............................................................................................146
Personal Skill Groups......................................................................148
Skill Feats .........................................................................................151
Feat Index ........................................................................................153
Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring ................................ 154
Isheridar ...........................................................................................154
Creatures of the World ..................................................................160
Languages .......................................................................................162
Language Feats...............................................................................168
Movement .......................................................................................169
Tactical Movement .........................................................................169
Local Movement .............................................................................173
Overland Movement ......................................................................173
Aerial Movement ............................................................................175
Movement Feats .............................................................................176
Observation and Awareness..........................................................177
Environment and Terrain ...............................................................178
Environment and Terrain Feats .....................................................181
Pestilence.........................................................................................183
Poison...............................................................................................186
Hazards ............................................................................................188
Traps.................................................................................................192
Time in the Game ...........................................................................196
Campaign Downtime .....................................................................197
Character Upkeep...........................................................................198
Special Companions.......................................................................200
Companion Creature Feats ...........................................................200

Spirit Guide Feats ...........................................................................203
Feat Index ........................................................................................204
Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment ..............................206
Starting Wealth ...............................................................................206
Coinage and Currency ...................................................................206
Money and Wealth Feats ...............................................................208
Earning Income ...............................................................................209
Equipment .......................................................................................212
Carrying Capacity ...........................................................................230
Damaging Objects .........................................................................231
Feat Index ........................................................................................234
Chapter 9: Combat ......................................................235
The Combat Round ........................................................................235
Combat Round Feats .....................................................................237
Defense ............................................................................................238
Defense Feats .................................................................................239
Armor ...............................................................................................241
Armor Feats .....................................................................................245
Challenge Throw.............................................................................247
Saving Throws .................................................................................248
Measuring Saving Throw Success .................................................248
Unknown Saving Throw DCs .........................................................250
Saving Throw Feats ........................................................................251
Hit Points .........................................................................................254
Hit Point Feats .................................................................................257
Healing Damage .............................................................................259
Healing Feats ..................................................................................260
Combat Maneuvers ........................................................................261
Combat Maneuver Feats ...............................................................264
Attacks .............................................................................................266
Creature Size ...................................................................................266
Measuring Attack Success .............................................................267
Nonlethal Attacks ...........................................................................269
Attack Feats .....................................................................................270
Damage ...........................................................................................273
Damage Feats .................................................................................274
Weapons ..........................................................................................276
Weapon Feats .................................................................................289
Advantage .......................................................................................291
Advantage Feats .............................................................................292
Critical Hits ......................................................................................294
Critical Hit Feats ..............................................................................295
Grievous Hits ...................................................................................296
Grievous Hit Feats ..........................................................................296
Multiple Attacks ..............................................................................298
Multiple Attack Feats .....................................................................299
Combat Reactions ..........................................................................301
Combat Reaction Feats .................................................................302
Combat Styles .................................................................................305
Combat Style Feats ........................................................................305
Cover and Concealment ................................................................308
Cover and Concealment Feats .....................................................309
Underwater Combat .......................................................................311
Mounted Combat ...........................................................................311
Mounted Combat Feats.................................................................313
Feat Index ........................................................................................315
Chapter 10: Spellcasting ..............................................323
Spheres of Magic ............................................................................323
Spellcasting Characters .................................................................323
Spellcasting Feats ...........................................................................325
Gaining Spells .................................................................................327
Table of Contents
Casting a Spell ................................................................................330
Spell Description.............................................................................331
Special Spell Rules ..........................................................................340
Spellcasting Style Feats .................................................................344
Animys Magic ..................................................................................346
Animys Magic Feats........................................................................346
Domain Feats ..................................................................................350
Turning Feats ..................................................................................356
Arcane Magic ..................................................................................357
Arcane Magic Feats ........................................................................357
Arcane Specialist Feats ..................................................................359
Familiar Feats ..................................................................................361
Druidas Magic .................................................................................362
Druidas Magic Feats .......................................................................362
Creed Feats .....................................................................................366
Wild Shape Feats ............................................................................372
Metamagic.......................................................................................375
Metamagic Feats ............................................................................375
Ethos Magic .....................................................................................378
Ethos Magic Feats ..........................................................................378
Spellsong Magic .............................................................................380
Spellsong Feats ...............................................................................380
Spelltouched Magic .......................................................................382
Spelltouched Magic Feats .............................................................383
Primordial Magic .............................................................................385
Primordial Magic Feats ..................................................................387
Feat Index ........................................................................................389
Appendix A: Special Features ....................................... A1
Natural and Magical Features ........................................................ A1
Common Special Features ............................................................. A1
Appendix B: Conditions ................................................ A8
Using Conditions ............................................................................. A8
Ability Modifier Penalties ................................................................ A8
Charmed ........................................................................................... A9
Dazed ................................................................................................ A9
Disoriented ....................................................................................... A9
Driven .............................................................................................. A10
Frightened ...................................................................................... A10
Immobilized .................................................................................... A10
Petrified ........................................................................................... A10
Prone ............................................................................................... A11
Restrained ....................................................................................... A11
Slowed............................................................................................. A11
Stunned ........................................................................................... A11
Unconscious ................................................................................... A11
Weakened....................................................................................... A12
Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms ............................... A14
The Imperial Peace ........................................................................ A14
Lineages and Peoples ................................................................... A14
Nations and Cultures..................................................................... A15
Calendar ......................................................................................... A20
Map ................................................................................................. A21
Introduction
CORE20 is a fantasy roleplaying game — a game of shared
storytelling in which a number of players work together to tell an
ongoing tale of adventure. Roleplaying games — RPGs — get
that name from how the players in the game take on the roles of
characters in the story, in the same sort of way that a writer and
an actor both work to bring a character to life in a film or TV
show. RPGs have elements in common with the games of make-
believe many of us played as children in playgrounds,
backyards, and bedrooms. They share features with improv
comedy and theater, where performers work without a script.
But as anyone who has ever played one knows, a roleplaying
game is something unique. More than just a story, an RPG is
your entrance into a world built by a collaboration of
imagination, and which can feel more real than any book, stage
play, or film.
An RPG is different than a game of make-believe because it has
rules. Even though the characters in the game can do anything
they want to, the rules help determine which things a character
is good at, as well as which things are possible and which things
aren’t. An RPG is different than a book or a film because it tells a
story that doesn’t exist until it happens. Even though the story
that comes out of an RPG has a structure and a direction, the
shape of that story only develops as the game is played, and it
can change instantly depending on the choices the players
make.
About This Book
The CORE20 Player’s Guide is the primary rulebook for the
CORE20 RPG, containing all the rules, mechanics, and lore that
shape the game. Each part of this book focuses on a different
aspect of the rules. This introduction talks about the game and
how it’s played in general terms. The other chapters of the book
expand on what’s here in much greater detail.
The initial focus of the book, from chapter 1 through chapter 4,
is on creating the characters who are the heart of the collective
story the game lets you tell. Chapters 5 through 8 explore some
of the many ways that characters can interact and engage with
the world of the game. Chapter 9 dives fully into combat, which
provides a cornerstone for many of the heroic adventures
characters can undertake. Chapter 10 explores the rules for
spellcasting that allow characters to tap into the mysteries of the
magic that spreads throughout the world.
Finally, three appendices provide an overview of common
special abilities that might be possessed by characters and the
foes they fight against, the many conditions that characters can
endure when they face off against monsters and magic, and a
brief overview of the lands of the Elder Kingdoms — a part of
the game world where players who don’t already have a game
world of their own can set their characters’ adventures.
Players and Characters
CORE20 is a game of characters. Each player creates a character
much like the character in a traditional fantasy or adventure
story, and has full control of what that character does in the
game. Characters work together cooperatively, joining forces as
brave adventurers, shrewd investigators, reluctant rebels, or any
other types of characters who fit the story the players want to
tell.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Scott (the GM): As the Clearmoon rises, you see its light catch a
line of lighter stones standing out against the gray glass of the
slope. There’s an archway jutting out of it, half swallowed by the hill.
Kevin (playing Ghith, a bugbear warrior): Is this it? Or just another
false lead?
Scott: It very much resembles the sketch in the old journal in
Balcasteel. Except for the slab of worked stone blocking the
entrance, which appears to be a recent addition and looks like it
weighs about a hundred tons.
Chris (playing Bourgie, a halfling sorcerer-thief): Oh, great. Six
weeks to find the gate, and another six to chisel through it.
Mitchell (playing Xandar, a human war priest): Is there anyone
around?
Scott: Not that you immediately notice.
Jennifer (playing Sansha, an orc warrior): I’m not buying that. If
these are the Black Stairs, they’re not leaving them unguarded. Stay
low and out of sight. Then take a nice long look around.
Scott: Everyone make Perception checks.
Chris: Spotting or listening?
Scott: Whatever’s best.
Kevin: I’ll spot with scent as well. Or can I make this a Hunter check
instead?
Scott: Absolutely.
[Each player rolls a d20, adding their character’s best modifiers
with the Perception or Hunter skills. Chris gets the best check — a
22.]
Scott: There’s no sign of anyone around. Except to Bourgie, who
spots a figure crouched in the moon shadow on the far side of the
boulder, downwind of you. A very large figure.
Chris: How much cover between us?
Scott: Not enough to sneak up without getting spotted.
Kevin: We’re not sneaking. We’re here. We found it. We’re not
playing around anymore. I stand up and step out into the moonlight.
I call out, “My name is Ghith, warrior of the Vanyr. If you’re guarding
the Black Stair, then you know that’s why we’re here. We mean to
pass. We hope to do so peacefully. But if you’re here to demand
other terms, you might find the payment not to your liking.”
Scott: Very intimidating. Make a Persuasion check.
Jennifer: Sansha watches this from a very safe distance. She’s
staying out of observation range.
Mitchell: Xandar is staying even more out of range behind her.
Chris: I think Sansha and Xandar have the right idea, but I’m going
to stand to become visible a little ways from Ghith. Bourgie won’t
say anything, but he’ll twirl a wand menacingly in each hand like a
drum major.
Kevin: Ugh, Persuasion 6.
Scott: That’s a clear fail. The figure shifts as you’re speaking, and
there’s a gleam of black eyes in the moonlight as a ghost-white
werebear rises to their feet. Their teeth are bared, but not like
they’re growling. More like they’re laughing at how your acting-
tough speech didn’t even convince you. “Ghith of the Vanyr,” the
bear says, their voice a low growl. “I met your mother twenty years
ago, when she took the Black Stair. And I’ve been expecting you…”
Most of this book explores all the different things your character
can do in the game, from engaging in combat against
dangerous or evil creatures, to gathering clues to solve a
1

mystery, to casting spells and manipulating magic, to surviving
in the wilderness, to giving a speech that might prevent a
devastating war. The book sets out the rules for determining
how good your character is at the things they do, and how to
determine your success when you attempt those things.
The Gamemaster
Through the decisions they make and the actions their
characters take, all the players have a say in determining how
the story of the game is told. But one player has an extra level of
responsibility — the Gamemaster (or GM) who is in charge of
how the rules of the game work, and who takes the lead in
building the world of the story that all the players are creating.
All the other players are responsible for everything about their
own characters — the main characters and heroes, equivalent to
the lead characters in a book or TV series. But the GM then
takes responsibility for all the other characters in the world —
the enemies, allies, leaders, followers, and people needing
rescuing that the heroes interact with during the game. The
characters run by the GM are referred to as nonplayer
characters, to differentiate them from the player characters at
the heart of the game.
Being a GM for a game is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.
Many people are both players and GMs, running their own
campaign but also playing a character in another GM’s
campaign.
Playing as a Party
Most RPGs can be played with as few as two people — a player
and a GM. But like many fantasy RPGs, CORE20 is the most fun
when a number of players bring their characters together to tell
a single story. The cooperative nature of roleplaying games
means that even though each character has their own goals and
interests, all the characters work together toward a common
larger goal. A group of characters is often referred to as a party,
especially in games focusing on adventuring through wilderness
and dungeons. But a party can just easily be a company of
private investigators, a ship’s crew, an outlaw gang, or any other
group of characters brought together with a common purpose.
Your First RPG?
Tabletop roleplaying games cover a wide range of stories and play
styles, from games focused on dungeon delving and monstrous
combat, to games focused on character story and intrigue, and
everything in between. You might have played one or more tabletop
RPGs already, or you might have watched one of the many popular
livestream games where a group of players bring characters and a
game world to life in sessions of shared storytelling.
If you’re familiar with how a roleplaying game works, you should be
able to easily follow along with how this book presents the rules for
building and playing a character using the CORE20 system. But if
you’ve never played a tabletop RPG before and you find the scope
of this book daunting, think about downloading, reading, and
playing the free CORE20 Basic Rules first. [The Basic Rules are
entirely hypothetical at this point.]
The Basic Rules are the exact same game, but are focused in a way
that makes the game especially easy to learn. They provide
everything that players and the Gamemaster need to get going,
including pregenerated characters and a short starter adventure.
After reading the Basic Rules and playing the starter adventure,
you’ll have a solid sense of how the game works, and you’ll be ready
to come back to this book and explore the full scope of CORE20.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Introduction
Playing the Game
There’s no one right way to play a roleplaying game. A
character’s ability to attempt any action in the game creates a
scenario where the players can make any decision. But
throughout the game, no matter what sort of scene or action the
characters are partaking in, you’ll notice a pattern that plays out
over and over.
First, the GM sets the scene for a particular part of the story.
This might involve giving a simple description of a single room
during a dungeon delve, or providing full details of the elf king’s
great hall, including listing all the important NPCs at a summit
meeting.
The GM then asks the players what they want their characters to
do. Each of the players can respond by asking for more details
Colleen (the GM): You run ahead of the zombies, out of the
alchemy labs and into the inside central part of the factory. This is a
storage area. Huge high shelves are everywhere, covered in ruined
junk. One of those magical disks the zombie overlord is flying
around on appears to have crashed into the shelves on the far side
of the room, which have collapsed.
Caitlin (playing Teegan, an elf arcanist and archer): Did we make
it in without anyone seeing?
Colleen: You’re pretty sure the zombies didn’t notice you come this
way, but they’re searching hard. They know you’re here somewhere.
Francois (playing Valusa, a goblin alchemist and healer): Any
doors? Windows? Skylights?
Colleen: The doors you came in, plus another set of doors at the far
shelves, almost buried under rubble. The doors open inward, so
they’re not opening unless the rubble is cleared. There are no
windows, but there are skylights in the ceiling.
Aaron (playing Burl, a gnome thief): How high are the skylights?
Colleen: About 40 feet above the floor. They’re just wood and glass,
but you’d need to figure out a way to get up there to break through.
Aaron: Already figured out. We’re going to ride that magic disk
right up there.
Colleen: The disk probably hasn’t been activated in twenty years.
And it probably didn’t fly very well even back then.
Aaron: I’ve got my thieves’ tools, and I’ve still got a boon on Magic
checks from that vat I fell into. I feel good about this.
Colleen: You’re pretty sure you’ve also got about two minutes
before the zombies figure out where you’ve gone, then break the
doors down.
Francois: I’m on it. We need to get those crates up against the door
to slow them down. And if there’s any way to distract them before
they get here, I’m all ears.
Caitlin: You’re a goblin. You’re all ears anyway.
Francois: Valusa will remember that insult the next time you need
healing.
Caitlin: Wait! That scroll of summon creature we found. Let’s see
how easy a time the zombies have tracking us when they’re
chasing…
[Caitlin rolls a die to determine how effective the summon
creature spell is.]
…five donkeys through the alchemy labs!
Aaron: Perfect. Get them out the door, then get the door closed.
Then I’ll get to work.
Caitlin: Teegan salutes the magical donkeys as they go. Farewell,
noble steeds! Then I’ll shut the doors and help Burl with fixing the
disc.
2

about the scene, by sharing thoughts and information with other
players, or by deciding what action they want to undertake, then
taking that action to push the story forward. Sometimes players
make their decisions on their own, especially at points when
each character is acting independently. But often, the players
work together to make a decision for the whole party that
everyone agrees on. When the players decide on their
characters’ actions, the GM might describe what happens as a
result, might ask a player to roll dice to assess their character’s
success at what they want to do, or might roll dice themself to
determine the outcome of the intended action.
Adventures and Campaigns
A roleplaying game has no set ending like a board game or
video game. There are no specific conditions announcing that
you and the other players have won. Rather, an RPG plays out
like a TV show or online drama series. The equivalent of an
episode is a session of your game — one small piece of the
story told in a limited amount of time, usually a few hours of
playing. As the sessions of your game connect up, they tell a
larger story usually called an adventure — the equivalent of a
full season of a show or series. Then each adventure in turn
connects to the next adventure to create the campaign — the
equivalent of the entire story of a series or show, from beginning
to end. An RPG campaign is a shared narrative that usually starts
with the characters as novices or first-time adventurers, and
which ends with them as heroes.
Chapter 5/Running the Game (90)
Some adventures are short, playing out in just a few game
sessions — or even a single session. Other adventures might
take a dozen sessions or more to play. An adventure brings
together the details of an exciting setting, a cast of helpful
nonplayer characters, and a roster of villains and creatures to
oppose the player characters. Adventures are built up from
scenes just like a story is, with those scenes often called
‘encounters.’ An encounter might focus on combat, social
interaction, investigation, travel, and countless other activities.
Some scenes focus on a single type of action, such as a combat
encounter in which the characters go toe-to-toe with a gang of
trolls trying to take over the city sewers. Other scenes might
move around to incorporate many different types of action, as
Cross References
Throughout the Player’s Guide, cross references will point out
places where additional information can be found on specific topics,
either elsewhere in this book or in other CORE20 books. Cross
references appear beneath specific topics the first time a topic is
mentioned in a section or subsection. If you don’t see a cross-
reference to an unfamiliar term, look to see whether that term has
been cross-referenced somewhere above and nearby in the text.
You can also check the index at the back of this book for topics and
unfamiliar terms.
When a cross reference directs you to another chapter in the
Player’s Guide, that chapter appears first, followed by a section
reference and a page number. If no chapter reference appears
alongside a section and page number, that section is part of the
current chapter. If a section reference appears on its own with no
page number, that section is in the same set of pages where the
cross reference appears.
A cross reference might instead direct you to one of the other main
books of the CORE20 RPG — the Campaign Handbook, the
Creature Compendium, or the Magic Grimoire.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Introduction
the characters travel to an old underground ruin, search around
it for the hidden entrance, investigate that entrance to clear it of
traps and dangerous magic, and then plan their incursion within.
Some GMs like to run prewritten adventures, usually modifying
them to make them better fit the overall campaign, and to make
Shvaugn (the GM): Round 3. The fire has spread from the barn to
the closest house. Naylan is up.
David (playing Naylan, an elf archer): Naylan is getting away from
these ogre cultists before she gets pancaked.
Ron (playing Clarice, a lizardfolk warrior/healer): We can take
them. Clarice will be there on my turn for backup.
David: I’m down to 8 critical points. You take them on your turn. I’m
taking the exit on my turn.
Sheri (playing Haistler, a kobold arcane caster): I’m hitting them
with stinking cloud this round. Neither of you want to be anywhere
near them.
David: Even better, then. I’m going to shift back 20 feet. I can’t
afford opportunity attacks from either of them. That gets me out of
their reach?
Shvaugn: They’ve only got 10 feet. You’re good.
David: Then I’m going to use my haste for an extra move. I want to
go back to that shed, then straight up onto the roof. Do I have
enough movement?
Shvaugn: Your speed’s 40 feet? You should be good to get to the
edge of the roof. But climbing with the longbow in your hand is
going to be tricky. I’d say DC 22 to get up and onto the roof one-
handed.
David: What if I toss the bow up onto the roof first?
Shvaugn: That’ll work, but you’ll need two checks. DC 14 to get the
bow where you want it. Then that’ll drop the climb to DC 17.
[David rolls two Acrobatics skill checks — one to cover Naylan
throwing the bow up and ahead of her while she sprints for the
shed, and another check to make the climb.]
David: That’s a 20 for the bow… and a 15 for the climb. Can I make
it up with a light stumble?
Shvaugn: More like a face plant. You make it up onto the roof okay,
but you lose your footing as you go and slam yourself for…
[Shvaugn rolls the damage, having decided that’s the
consequence for a skill check that isn’t a clear success.]
…2 bludgeoning damage. Your bow’s there, but you’ll need to use
your minor action to grab it.
David: I do that. Then I’ve got my action left. One shot at the ogre
that hammered me last time. I’m outside Point Blank Shot range, so
I’m going to use Potent Shot for favored damage. And I’m using my
action point for advantage so I can use Sneak Shot.
Shvaugn: Pulling out all the stops.
[Shvaugn rolls the ogre’s defense.]
That’s a 23 defense. Go for it.
[David makes the attack roll, rolling the d20 twice for
advantage — and rolls a 20 on one die.]
David: Natural 20 crit! That’s a 29.
Ron: There we go. Good plan backing up, just like I said.
Shvaugn: Solid hit! What’s the damage?
David: Max favored damage! That’s 8 plus 8, plus 7 from Sneak
Shot — 23 crit damage plus another 3 defense points.
Shvaugn: Except the one that hit you last time was already bloodied
by Haistler’s fireball. So that’s 26 damage total against the 21 critical
points the ogre had left. And they go down!
3

them more fun for the players. Other GMs write down the ideas
for adventures themselves, either doing up a detailed adventure
plan or just writing brief notes and building up the details while
playing. Wherever an adventure comes from, though, it only
ever sets up a framework for a story. The GM and the players
then build on that framework to bring the full story to life.
Campaign Handbook/Crafting Adventures
Time and Pacing
Just as in a book or a film, the passage of time in an adventure
or campaign can depend on the shape and form of the story
being told. Weeks or even months of campaign time might pass
in just a few minutes of game time when the GM and the players
summarize events like long-distance travel or making
preparations for a complicated dungeon expedition. Time often
moves quickly during campaign downtime, which lets the
characters heal up, work, do research, or deal with mundane
business.
Chapter 7/Campaign Downtime (194)
While the characters are engaged in exploration, investigation,
or social interaction, campaign time passes more slowly relative
to game time. An hour of playing time for the players might run
close to an hour of game time for their characters, as the party
engages in cautious and time-consuming activities. Scenes in
which the characters are engaging in conversation with the
NPCs often make playing the game and the story of the game
run mostly in sync.
When the characters are in combat or engaging in other time-
sensitive events, time in the campaign runs at its slowest in
comparison to playing time. Focusing individually on each
character (even as the GM focuses individually on many of the
creatures and NPCs) means that an hour or more of playing time
might end up covering less than a minute of game time.
The overall length of a campaign depends on the story that the
GM and the players want to tell, but it might run to months or
even a year or more of weekly game sessions. Throughout the
campaign, the characters face adversity and conflict, whether
from fighting dangerous creatures, trying to stay alive in hostile
cities, dungeons, or wilderness, needing to not upset a
unpredictable monarch, or whatever other threats the GM sets
out for them to face. Characters might even die during the
campaign, either to be magically raised from the dead or
replaced with a new character and avenged by their friends. But
however the campaign progresses, the story it tells becomes a
record of the excitement shared by all the players in the game,
session after session.
Dice
Much of the time, characters can simply decide what they want to
do, with the player and the GM determining what steps the
character needs to take to be successful. Other times, particularly
when the characters are working against other creatures or outside
forces and the stakes for failure are high, the GM asks for dice rolls
to determine what happens.
Chapter 5/Using Dice (80)
Each player in a game needs access to dice, whether those are the
physical polyhedral dice that are used in many RPGs, or some sort of
digital dice app.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Introduction
The World of Adventure
CORE20 is a fantasy roleplaying game, but ‘fantasy’ covers a
wide range of stories and storytelling styles. In its focus on the
types of combat and the magic that reflect the many mythical
ages of our own world, CORE20 is built on a foundation of two
types of storytelling — epic fantasy, and sword and sorcery.
Both are forms of fantasy set in a fictional world that is similar to
our own world in the past, but which is made different by the
presence of fantastic creatures and magic. Epic fantasy tells the
stories of heroes fighting against forces of evil or destruction.
Sword and sorcery instead features characters more concerned
with staying alive and getting rich. Many great fantasy RPG
campaigns have been built around these two types of
storytelling. Some focus on clever adventurers driven to explore
dungeons, hunt dangerous foes, and reap the rewards. Others
focus on steadfast heroes facing off against world-ending evil.
And many campaigns focus on how characters who start out
only as treasure hunters can grow into true heroes in the end.
However, just as there are no real constraints on the characters
you can play in the game, there are no limitations on the stories
you can tell in the game. A CORE20 campaign can easily ignore
fighting threats or defying evil in favor of telling other stories.
Many fantasy stories focus on politics or romance, creating
conflict from the interactions between characters rather than the
plots and perils of villains. A campaign might also use a familiar-
feeling fantasy world but ignore the usual themes of epic fantasy
or sword and sorcery, focusing instead on heist and crime
adventures, tales of exploration, war stories, life at a school of
magic, or any other narrative that the imagination of the players
and the GM can come up with.
Some GMs like to set up their campaigns in published worlds.
Published campaign settings create a framework of location,
history, and culture that the GM can draw on as a foundation for
their campaigns. Other GMs like to create their own worlds,
bringing the history, culture, and conflicts of those worlds to life
wholly on their own. But whatever approach a GM takes, the
world of the campaign only fully comes to life when the
characters come to life within it.
Making Things Real
There are nearly as many ways to play an RPG as there are
stories to be told in RPGs. Some people play in person, getting
together regularly around a gaming table to share stories and
have fun. Other people play online, using video chat and
sometimes special gaming websites to connect virtually with
each other, no matter where they are. Because the game takes
place in the imaginations of the players and the GM, it’s
possible to play with nothing except notes about the story and
the characters. Everything that happens plays out as the
descriptions and actions described by the GM and the players,
in a process often called “theater of the mind.” Sometimes,
though, the GM uses maps and handouts to give the players a
stronger sense of what’s going on. Games that focus on combat
often make use of maps, with the characters and their foes
represented by miniature figures or tokens in a tabletop game,
or by icons in an online game. This can help the players bring
the action to life in their minds, letting them plan their
characters’ tactics exactly as if they were there.
Some GMs and players love to fully take on the persona of the
characters they’re portraying, using different voices, accents, or
mannerisms to bring a character to life like an actor in a play.
Some GMs and players prefer to talk about the characters
4

they’re portraying as separate people, like the narrator in a
book. There’s no one right or wrong way to play a character,
and you can choose whichever approach feels right to you.
Many players find that they switch from one mode to the other,
talking about their character during exploration or combat, but
then becoming their character during social interaction with
other characters and NPCs.
Three Sides to the Game
The freeform nature of all RPGs is built around the idea that the
characters can do anything the players might want to try. But
within that widest possible range of things your character can
do, you and the other players will often feel the game push into
three different styles of play. It can be useful to think of the
game as a triangle with three sides of equal strength and
importance, representing three distinct aspects of the game:
engagement, interaction, and combat.
Engagement
The broadest and most free-flowing part of the game is
engagement, which covers a huge number of possible activities.
As the characters engage with the world around them, that
world is defined by the decisions the players make, the
responses of the GM, and the new decisions made as a result.
Engagement covers exploration, whether the characters are
making their way down the streets of a new city or seeking
ancient ruins in a trackless wilderness. It covers investigation and
examination, from scouring a library in search of valuable lore to
searching a dungeon corridor for telltale signs of traps. It covers
any and all activities in which the characters might be
challenged by the world around them, or where they attempt to
shape or understand that world for their own benefit.
Interaction
Interaction narrows the focus of the game, from how the
characters deal with the world around them to how they relate
to and deal with the creatures in that world. The interaction side
of the game comes into play whenever the characters lie low to
listen for rumors in a seedy tavern. It covers meeting with a
bandit chief to negotiate an arrangement to stop attacks on
local caravans. It allows the characters to bluff their way past the
prince’s honor guard in order to crash an exclusive banquet —
then lets them try to convince the outraged prince that an
unknown assassin sits at their table.
Combat
Carrying on from interaction, combat covers scenarios that can’t
be resolved by talking. Sometimes the characters are caught by
surprise and must fight for their lives when a troglodyte pack
springs an ambush attack. Sometimes the characters are the
ones setting the ambush, as they lay traps, prepare magic, and
lie in wait for a dragon that they know can’t be defeated in a
straight-up fight. Sometimes a bout of combat is meant to force
a would-be foe to stand down. Sometimes a battle against evil
must be fought to the bitter end. But in all cases, the combat
side of the game is usually the most rules-intensive, and usually
makes for high drama.
From Side to Side
Game sessions and adventures can easily push almost
exclusively toward one side of the game and away from the
others, whether you’re playing in a dungeon-crawl campaign
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Introduction
that’s almost all monstrous combat, or a mystery investigation or
social intrigue campaign where the characters don’t even carry
weapons. But in most cases, a game shifts between different
sides of the triangle at different points, focusing on one aspect
before swinging away toward another. Over time, most games
play out as a balance between engagement, interaction, and
combat, creating an experience that is greater than any of those
three aspects on its own.
The First Rule
You aren’t expected to memorize this whole book before you
play your first game — or even after you’ve played many
campaigns. The CORE20 Player’s Guide is a reference book.
The first time you read it, you’ll likely focus on the rules for
character creation and the specific things you want your
character to do. This might include reading some parts of the
rules for skills, which are a big part of all campaigns, and the
rules for combat and spellcasting that are important to many
games. While you play, you might want to reference specific
rules you’re not sure of. But as you get more experience of the
game — and especially if you’re gaming with other experienced
players — never let worrying about an exact rule slow the game
down or stop you from having fun. Having fun is the first rule of
the game, and everything else follows from that.
Chapter 5, “Playing the Game,” talks about the process of
running the game as a shared effort between all the players. It
talks about how to create a fun atmosphere at the table,
whether that table is real or online, and how the GM and the
other players can work together in order to make fun and
respect the two key components of a game. The CORE20
Campaign Handbook [which doesn’t exist yet] is filled with
additional information and advice for GMs, and talks about how
one of the GM’s most important roles is that of a rules arbiter.
That means that if you get to a point in your game when you
and the other players aren’t certain how a rule should be
applied, the GM can decide the best thing to do, in a way that
keeps the game moving and maintains the fun.
In the end, everything in this book — as with the rules of all
roleplaying games — is meant to allow all the players to enjoy
themselves. So think about the other rules only in terms of how
they affect the first rule. Focus on the fun of playing your
character first and foremost, as you and the other players bring
all your characters and their world of adventure to life.
5
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
There have always been heroes.
Among all the peoples of the mortal realm, bound together as a
dozen worldborn lineages, countless ancestries outside the
worldborn sphere, and thousands of nations and cultures,
history has first and foremost recorded this truth. Heroes arose
in the elder days, when the first worldborn kingdoms were little
more than ambitious dreams. Heroes flourished during the age
of monsters, and left their names to history through millennia of
cultural strife and war. Heroes fought for the glory of endless
waves of empire, and stood at the center of history when they
tore those empires to the ground.
Since the oldest worldborn tales were first recorded, uncounted
numbers of warriors and spellcasters, scoundrels and protectors,
explorers and overlords have walked the world in search of
adventure, for the love of riches, or to stand against the rise of
evil.
But of all the folk who have ever heard the call of adventure, no
one has ever taken up that call exactly like you.
A Hero of Your Own
The process of building a character for a CORE20 game starts
with you thinking about what kind of character you want to play.
You might be a fearless warrior, skilled at swordplay or archery,
and anxious to stand at the center of every fight. You might
want to play a more cautious scoundrel, steering clear of trouble
if you can, but ready to use your wits and weapons to deal with
threats. You might want to channel the magic of spellcasting,
whether as a courageous healer, an eldritch protector of nature,
or a powerful mage. You might want to play an investigator, a
leader, an explorer, or a guardian of the innocent. In a CORE20
game, you can be all these heroes — and more.
The only limit to what you and your character can do is your
imagination. But in order to play, you need to translate the
character of your imagination into the rules of CORE20. The first
half of this chapter outlines the overall process of building a
character using those rules. Those initial sections talk about all
the different aspects that define your character, from your
lineage and background, to the system of feats that define your
character’s training, knowledge, and adventuring spirit. As they
do so, those sections also provide an overview of the rest of the
book, breaking it down chapter by chapter to talk about the part
each chapter plays in shaping your character.
First Things First
Even as this chapter provides the initial overview of the CORE20
system, it’s obliged to mention concepts and make reference to
feats and other rules that aren’t fully defined until later in the book.
Don’t worry about skipping ahead to seek out specific terminology,
though. Even when the “Step-by-Step Characters” section starts to
break out lists of specific feats that a character can select, it
summarizes what those feats do in straightforward language.
Providing a general sense and framework of the game’s approach to
character building is the goal of this chapter, with the understanding
that as you then dig into the content of later chapters, that
framework will come more fully to life.
Step-by-Step Characters (15)
The second half of this chapter then provides fast-start
guidelines for building a character. These guidelines make the
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
process of building your first CORE20 characters easier by
breaking out that process step by step — even as they allow you
all the freedom and flexibility for character building that is the
heart of the CORE20 system. Even after you’re an experienced
player with many games and characters under your belt, these
guidelines can remain a useful tool, focusing on how the
different chapters of the book and the different components of
the game work together.
[Throughout the CORE20 rules, bracketed text in orange (like
this) provides editorial notes. These are strictly for playtest
purposes, and will disappear at some point.]
Talk to the Gamemaster
If the first step of building your character is letting your
imagination guide your sense of who that character is and what
you want them to do, the second step is always to talk to the
GM about what kind of campaign they have planned. Some
campaigns focus on general adventuring, making them a good
fit for characters of all types. Other campaigns might cater to
certain character types based on specific themes —
investigation and mystery, politics and intrigue, hunting
dangerous creatures, uncovering ancient magic, and so on.
The adventures and the campaign that your character is to be
part of might inspire the type of character you want to play.
Likewise, the GM might already have a sense of what kinds of
characters they’re seeking for a campaign. And especially if
you’re new to the game or if you’re joining an existing campaign
already in progress, talk to the GM before finalizing the concept
for your character.
Feats
[Using the word “feat” to describe the baseline building blocks
of your character’s special talents and abilities is entirely
arbitrary. These building blocks could have just as easily been
called character features (as an extension of class features in
class-based games), but “feat” is shorter and a generally familiar
term to most players. As well, the word in its everyday sense
carries a meaning of “a notable achievement” or “a result of
expertise or ingenuity,” both of which fit well with the place of
feats at the center of CORE20 character building.]
Feats are the foundation of CORE20, providing a way to
categorize and break down all the different things your
character can do. When your character improves their ability to
navigate through the wilderness, sense deception in another’s
words, or attack with their favored weapons, they do so by
taking feats. A character’s ability to wear armor effectively, to
cast spells, to pick a lock, to convince other characters to follow
them, or to increase their chances of shrugging off damage
from magic or poison are all determined by that character’s
feats. But despite this importance, selecting feats is only one
part — and often the last part — of the process of character
creation.
The “Feats and Feat Slots” section later in this chapter provides
an overview of the CORE20 feat system, with the “Feat
Breakdown” full-page sidebar in that section walking through
the setup and format of a sample feat (Skill Focus, which
increases your character’s aptitude with chosen skills). The feats
you can choose for your character appear throughout the later
6

chapters of the book, alongside the rules for playing the game.
For example, skill feats are found in “Chapter 6: Skills,” combat
feats are in “Chapter 9: Combat,” and so on.
Chapter by Chapter
This Player’s Guide is organized chapter by chapter around all
the different steps you take and the choices you make when
building your character. As you read through the book or flip
back and forth between different chapters, you’ll note this
organization at work, and how it reflects the different
components of your character.
Ability Scores
Your character has six ability scores that describe their overall
physical and mental potential — Strength, Dexterity,
Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each of your
ability scores starts out in a range from 3 to 18. “Chapter 2:
Ability Scores” talks more about the six ability scores, and
presents a number of different ways to generate those scores
for your character. The GM will tell you whether you should use
the standard ability score array (a fixed set of numbers that you
assign to each of your abilities), choose your ability scores using
a point-buy system, or roll for them using dice. (For beginning
players, using the standard array is faster and gives you a strong
starting point for your character.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Once you have your ability scores, you’ll think about how you
want to arrange them. For a character focused on combat with
weapons such as swords and axes, Strength is most important.
For a character specializing in ranged combat with a bow or
crossbow, Dexterity is most important. Constitution is important
for warrior characters of any sort, or for any other character who
plans on getting into combat regularly. For a spellcaster
character, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is most important,
depending on whether you wish to channel arcane magic,
animys or druidas magic, or psionic magic. (Psionic magic is part
of the CORE20 system but not part of these core rules.)
CORE20 Psionics Companion
If you want to build a new character quickly, Chapter 2 offers
guidelines for arranging ability scores for a number of different
types of characters.
Chapter 2/Fast-Start: Ability Scores sidebar (29)
Lineage
Twelve expansive lineages make up the worldborn peoples of
the game, and characters in a campaign can hail from any of
those worldborn lines — dwarves and gnomes, elves, halflings,
and humans, essaruks and orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, and
bugbears, and kobolds and lizardfolk. [“Worldborn” in CORE20
replaces “humanoid” as it’s used in other game systems, so that
the majority of the peoples of the world aren’t being constantly
and explicitly compared to a minority human baseline.] Each
lineage is detailed in “Chapter 3: Lineages,” which sets out the
different lineage traits you can select for your character —
special features that provide game benefits, unique abilities,
and a sense of your character’s heritage and their place in the
world. [The initial release of the game is focused on the twelve
worldborn lineages, with playable lineages for fey and other
wondrous folk planned for later.]
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Some players like to choose a lineage first, then use that lineage
as the foundation for the character they want to play. Other
players like to decide first whether their character is focused on
skill use, combat, magic, or some other aspect of the game,
then choose a lineage that offers interesting ways to bring that
concept to life.
To help you build a new character quickly, Chapter 3 provides
suggestions for selecting lineage traits for each of the twelve
lineages.
Chapter 3/Fast-Start: Lineage sidebar (34)
Three Approaches to Character Building
The CORE20 system provides the widest possible range of options
for creating a character. But sometimes a large number of options
can be tough to wade through for beginning players, or for players
who want to quickly make a new character and get right into the
game, rather than spending a big chunk of their first game session
on character creation.
The second half of this chapter details three approaches to building
your character, all designed to make the process as easy as it can
be. Whether you’re a first-time player or a veteran of many games,
you can choose any of these three different approaches to character
creation, running from easiest to most complex:
• Building a character around one of the familiar archetypal roles of
fantasy gaming — warrior, healer, protector, mage, scoundrel, and
more.
• Assembling a character from preset feat packages that allow you
to focus on the general areas of your character’s capability — skills
and special features, defenses and armor, weapons and combat,
magic and spellcasting, and more.
• A freeform approach that allows you to create a customized
character taking full advantage of the flexibility of the CORE20
rules.
Step-by-Step Characters (15)
Background
Your character’s background, discussed in “Chapter 4:
Backgrounds,” defines the dominant aspect of how they’ve
lived their life. Nine backgrounds — criminal, exile, gentry,
magical, military, outlander, rural, wanderer, and urban — each
provide a number of traits and features for your character,
including ability score improvements and bonuses to
background-related skills.
Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
When you select your background, record the ability score
improvements you take for the background, alongside the
ability scores you generated for your character. Also note the
feats you gained using bonus feat slots for from your
background, which you’ll add to your character’s starting feats.
To help you build a new character quickly, Chapter 4 suggests a
number of backgrounds and background traits suitable to a
wide range of characters.
Chapter 4/Fast-Start: Backgrounds sidebar (70)
7

Alignment
Your character’s alignment, also part of Chapter 4, can help
shape their personality and your approach to roleplaying the
character. Alignment is a way of defining your character’s
relationship to morality (the balance between good and evil)
and ethics (the balance between law and chaos) in the world
around them.
Chapter 4/Alignment (76)
Some players have a strong sense of their character’s morality
and ethics right from the start, and like to use alignment to
shape their character. Other players like to allow a character’s
alignment to be decided as they play the character, allowing
that alignment to shift naturally in response to how the character
lives and the things they experience.
To help you build a new character quickly, Chapter 4 provides a
quick overview of possible alignments for characters.
Chapter 4/Fast-Start: Alignment sidebar (76)
Playing the Game
The broad parameters of the rules of the game are introduced
and explored in “Chapter 5: Playing the Game,” providing
context for the earlier choices you’ve made for your character.
Chapter 5 talks about how dice control the flow of events in the
game, and how different types of actions shape the things your
character can do, from showing off their mental and physical
skills, to getting into combat, casting spells, and more. As the
baseline rules of the game are defined and explained, you can
think about how those rules can help bring your character to life.
Skills
Your character’s skills, explored in “Chapter 6: Skills,” define
the broad strokes of your knowledge and training, and measure
how good you are at undertaking specific tasks. Fourteen skill
groups cover a wide range of tasks and knowledge —
Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Endurance, Expertise,
Healing, Investigation, Magic, Nature, Perception, Persuasion,
Stealth, and Thievery. Additionally, you customize your character
with personal skill groups connecting to your background,
history, studies, vocations, or connections with different groups.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
As you think about your character, you can think about which
skill groups are the best fit for them, based on the types of
activities those skill groups represent. Athletics, Acrobatics, and
Endurance are a good match for characters with solid fighting
skills. Cautious scouts and thieves favor Acrobatics,
Investigation, Stealth, and Thievery. Spellcasters make good use
of the Magic skill group, and many favor the Expertise and
Healing groups as well. And any adventuring characters can
make use of Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception, and
Persuasion.
To help you build a new character quickly, this chapter and
Chapter 6 provide a selection of skill feat packages for a wide
range of characters.
Chapter 6/Fast-Start: Skills sidebar (99)
Feat Packages (22)
Languages
The languages in common use throughout the world of the
game are discussed in “Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring.” By
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
default, your character knows three languages, which can
include:
• Imperial or Imperial Sign, a spoken language and sign
language known in most lands and nations
• A regional language tied to an area where a character has
spent some significant part of their life
• A lineage language, spoken or signed, shared by many
creatures of a common lineage
• Any of the world’s other widespread sign languages
• Any of a number of special languages tied to the history of
the world or the unique creatures existing outside the world’s
primary cultures and nations (dragons, elementals, and more)
Chapter 7/Languages (159)
To help you build a character quickly, Chapter 7 provides
guidelines for choosing your character’s languages.
Chapter 7/Fast-Start: Languages sidebar (159)
Equipment, Weapon, Armor, and Spell
Packages
Your character starts with wealth equivalent to 150 gp, from which
you purchase all your starting equipment — including armor,
weapons, adventuring gear, minor magic, and starting spells for
spellcasters. [The CORE20 spellcasting system offers a lot of
flexibility and power, which is balanced out to some degree by
having spellcasting characters purchase their spells known, in the
same way that they and other characters can spend their earned
wealth on other types of magic.] Customizing equipment, weapons,
armor, and spells can be one of the best parts of building a new
character, but you can also expedite the process by selecting your
gear — as well as spells for spellcasting characters — from a number
of set packages suitable for many different types of characters.
Chapter 8/Starting Wealth (204)
These packages appear as sidebars at the start of the chapters
containing more information on their contents. Adventuring
equipment can be found in “Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment.”
Armor and weapons are detailed in “Chapter 9: Combat.” Spell
packages can be found in “Chapter 10: Spellcasting,” and magical
gear packages are found in “Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment,”
with descriptions of spells and magic items found in the CORE20
Magic Grimoire.
Chapter 8/Wealth and Equipment (204)
Chapter 9/Combat (234)
Chapter 10/Spellcasting (320)
Each package has a fixed cost that comes out of your starting
wealth, with the cost of a package sometimes slightly different than
the collective cost of the items in it to keep things simple. If there
are items in the package that you don’t want or need, you can
remove them from the package to gain back the gold you would
have spent on them. Any gold you have left over after selecting
packages appropriate to your character can represent your
character’s savings, or you can spend it on additional gear.
If you’re playing a spellcaster character, you might want to price out
your spells first, then think about how much starting wealth you have
left to spend on gear.
Equipment
“Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment” talks about the
equipment your character can buy. A wide range of adventuring
gear, tools, mounts, vehicles, and more are available in the
campaign, as are spells and special services. Over long years,
your character might amass great wealth through adventuring.
8

At the start, though, the amount of wealth available to you is
limited, and you must spend it wisely.
Chapter 8/Wealth and Equipment (204)
To help you build a new character quickly, Chapter 8 breaks out
a number of equipment packages suitable for many types of
characters.
Chapter 8/Fast-Start: Equipment sidebar (210)
Combat
The rules for combat are presented in “Chapter 9: Combat,”
alongside the many feats that allow you to shape and define
your character’s combat style. Weapons and armor are often the
starting point of that style, but this chapter also covers offensive
and defensive tactics, your character’s saving throws (the rolls
you make to stave off the worst parts of certain attacks and
effects, sometimes called saves), and the hit points that define
how much damage your character can take before succumbing
to their wounds.
Chapter 9/Combat (234)
Your character might be largely defined by their combat skill,
whether as a stalwart guardian, a skillful hunter, or someone who
just loves a fight. However, the combat rules also feature plenty
of options for characters who have little interest in going toe-to-
toe with vicious foes, but who want to ensure they have plenty
of options for self-defense and causing trouble if those foes
come after them.
To help you build a new character quickly, this chapter and
Chapter 9 breaks out feat packages for weapon combat, saving
throws, and hit points for a wide range of character types.
Chapter 9 also features armor and weapon equipment packages
suitable for many types of characters.
Feat Packages (22)
Chapter 9/Fast-Start sidebars: Combat (268); Defense (238); Hit
Points (252); Saving Throws (248); Weapons and Armor (274)
Spellcasting
“Chapter 10: Spellcasting” presents the rules for learning and
using spell-based magic, while the spells available to spellcaster
characters are collected and detailed in the Magic Grimoire.
Magic and spellcasting is one of the more complex parts of the
game, especially if you want to create a spellcasting character
with a wide range of known spells. But it can be relatively easy
to create and play a spellcaster who focuses on knowing a small
number of spells with straightforward effects, whether those
spells are used in or out of combat. And even for
nonspellcasters, the spell descriptions in the Magic Grimoire
cover the magic found in potions and spellmarks — two of the
most common and useful types of magic items your character
can find as treasure or purchase with the wealth they earn.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting (320)
To help you build a new character quickly, this chapter and
Chapter 10 break out feat packages for spellcasting characters
of all types. Chapter 10 also features a number of standard spell
packages that let you quickly purchase the spells known by a
starting character.
Feat Packages (22)
Chapter 10/Fast-Start sidebars: Spellcasting (321); Spells (321)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Feats and Feat Slots
Feats are the foundation of everything a character can
potentially do in a CORE20 game. A feat represents a unit of
learning, training, or experience that reflects and defines your
character’s heroic journey. Some feats allow your character to
do something other characters can’t do. Some allow you to do
something better than other characters can.
Your prowess with the skills that define your mental and physical
acumen are defined by the feats you take to represent your
mastery of those skills. The training that lets you excel at
combat — or to carefully avoid it — is chosen as feats, as is your
character’s knowledge of spellcasting and their ability to
channel eldritch power. All these things and more are made
available to your character through your initial selection of
starting feats, and then through the feats you earn as your
adventures unfold.
A feat slot represents your character’s ability and potential to
undertake the training or practice represented by a feat.
Throughout the game, your character earns feat slots, then uses
those feat slots to take specific feats. Feat slots are awarded in
three ways — as starting feat slots at character creation, then as
campaign feat slots and adventuring feat slots during the game.
Starting Feats
All characters have a bank of 20 starting feat slots with which
to select their starting feats, defining their initial skills, familiarity
with weapons, combat style, magic use, and more. In addition to
those universal starting feat slots, characters might receive
bonus feat slots from their background.
Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
The feats paid for with your initial feat slots represent the bulk of
what your starting character has previously learned to do —
summing up their training, learning, and experience prior to
starting the campaign. In terms of a character’s backstory, these
feats have been doled out over the years since the character’s
childhood and adolescence, and reflect the education, jobs, and
living that the character has engaged in so far.
First-Tier Feats
Besides feat prerequisites, there are no limitations on what feats
your character can take. Whatever type of character you want to
play, you can create that character using the CORE20 system.
However, starting characters are limited in the scope of feats
they can choose with their starting feat slots. This reflects the
idea that although such characters are drawing on a broad
range of experience and training, they can always work toward
improving certain aspects of that training.
Feat Breakdown full-page sidebar (11)
Feats that can be taken more than once are divided into tiers
according to their feat slot cost. For example, the Skill Focus
feat (taken by virtually all characters) has the following feat slot
cost:
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
The first three times your character takes Skill Focus are the
feat’s first tier, costing 1 feat slot each. The fourth to sixth times
you take the feat are the second tier, costing 2 feat slots each,
while the seventh to ninth times are the third tier at a cost of 3
feat slots each.
9

Starting characters can take only first-tier feats, with a cost of 1
feat slot. (Many feats can be taken only once, meaning they
have only that first-tier cost.) In addition to limiting the number
of times a character can take a specific feat, this also puts certain
feats beyond the reach of starting characters. For example,
another feat called Skill Specialization has a prerequisite
indicating it can be taken only by a character who has taken Skill
Focus four times. Because a starting character can’t take Skill
Focus four times (with that fourth time costing 2 feat slots), a
starting character can’t take Skill Specialization either, even
though taking that feat for the first time costs only 1 feat slot.
As your starting character earns adventuring and campaign feat
slots, you can use those feat slots to select second-tier feats
(and later, third-tier feats) as you choose.
Veteran Characters
Sometimes, a character needs to be created with more than 20
starting feat slots, either because a new player is joining an
established campaign, or because a player needs to replace a
character who has retired or died. In those circumstances, the
Neophyte Characters
The idea that a character’s 20 starting feat slots represent the sum of
their learning from a young age can inspire a unique campaign in
which characters start as children or adolescents, then play through
the acquisition of their starting feats as they earn them with
campaign feat slots or adventuring feat slots.
The adventures that can be safely undertaken by such relatively
weak characters must be carefully designed, and smart neophyte
characters quickly learn to meet the most serious challenges
intelligently and obliquely rather than head-on. Such a campaign
isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but it can provide an interesting
alternative to the norm — and a wealth of roleplaying potential.
character’s first 20 feat slots (plus bonus feat slots) are selected
using the usual limitation of first-tier feats only. Any additional
feat slots can then be used without restriction, exactly as if the
character had earned those feat slots during the campaign.
Earned Feats (10)
Higher-Powered Starting Characters
For a high-powered campaign, the GM might decide to lift the
restriction that starting characters can take only first-tier feats.
This usually means allowing a small number of second-tier feats
to be selected with a character’s starting feat slots, reflecting
that circumstances have granted the character an exceptional
amount of aptitude or skill. For example, if you wanted to play a
retired veteran warrior as a starting character, it makes sense
that you might have access to some of the many specialized
weapon feats and combat style feats not usually available to
starting characters, marking your past experience as a combat
specialist.
Delayed Starting Feats
When creating a character, you can choose to not fill out that
character’s full slate of starting feats, reserving some feat slots
for later use. You can then use those unused feat slots at the
same time you use feat slots earned during the campaign.
Thematically, your character enters the game slightly less
experienced than your fellow party members, but will quickly
catch up through the process of adventuring.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Delaying starting feats is useful for characters who want to take
specific feats that might not be available to them given their
backstory. If you want to create a warrior–wizard who fled a
family where magic was frowned upon or forbidden, you can
leave the starting feat slots a character would use for
spellcasting untaken, then use those feat slots alongside other
earned feat slots to make learning the arcane arts the focus of
your character’s initial adventures.
Earned Feats
Once your character begins adventuring, they add to their initial
bank of starting feats with feats earned as the campaign
progresses. Feats gained during the campaign are earned in
two different ways — as campaign feat slots or as adventuring
feat slots, each of which represents a different process of
learning, training, and improving a character’s talents and
knowledge. The GM determines the rate at which characters
earn feat slots, as well as the overall number of feat slots of each
type that can be earned as the campaign progresses. But these
numbers are subject to an overall limitation that a character can
earn a maximum of 10 feat slots per campaign year.
When a character gains feat slots in the course of the campaign,
those feat slots are used to select feats. Selecting new feats
always takes place during campaign downtime, representing a
kind of capstone to the work, training, or adventuring a
character has previously undertaken. You can select new feats
using as many feat slots as you have available during any
downtime, and can select any feats for which you meet the
prerequisites, with none of the tier restrictions imposed on
starting feats.
Chapter 7/Campaign Downtime (194)
The Well-Rounded Character
Feats represent the learned experience through which your
character defines their life and goals, beginning with the starting
feats that shape your initial place in the campaign. You are always
free to define your character’s backstory the way you want, and to
freely select the feats that fit that backstory. However, all players
should be wary of keeping their characters’ range of experience too
narrow.
In simple terms, characters shouldn’t focus all their feats into a
single area of experience. Legendary warriors, spellcasters,
investigators, scoundrels, and explorers are typically not characters
who excel at only one thing. Rather, the most successful characters
balance their capabilities across a number of areas, and can call on
those capabilities under a wide range of circumstances.
A warrior who takes nothing but weapon, defense, and hit point
feats from character creation onward can quickly become a
formidable combatant, able to dish out and sustain vast amounts of
damage. Likewise, a character who forgoes choosing feats that
boost her hit points, defenses, and skills to throw all her feat slots
into magic can become a potent spellcaster in a relatively short
period of game time. However, such characters run the risk of being
overwhelmed by an adventuring environment that tasks all their
capabilities, not just the few they’ve chosen to excel at.
The warrior above might be all but unbeatable in combat against
even the most powerful threats. However, they run a significant risk
of getting caught out by their minimal Athletics check and even
lower Reflex save whenever they have to jump over a pit. The
focused spellcaster has access to plenty of powerful magic. But
she’s in serious trouble the first time she’s surrounded by enemies
and lacks the hit points and basic combat training necessary to
defend herself.
10

Feat Breakdown
In the chapters that follow, the CORE20 rules are broken out so that
you don’t need to worry about the mechanics of feats and feat slots
right away. Instead, you’ll focus on the basic questions of who your
character is and what you want them to do, using your answers to
those questions to think about what feats to select. If you create a
starting character using the iconic character builds or feat packages
in this chapter, you can use the quick feat descriptions in those
sections without digging into the full descriptions in later chapters.
Step-by-Step Characters (15)
For when you are ready to dig into feats, this section breaks down
how feats are set up by examining Skill Focus — a feat that
represents your character’s training with the skills in a specific skill
group. Skill groups represent a collection of activities and talents that
you want your character to be good at. Skill Focus grants a bonus to
your skill checks, increasing your chances of success at certain tasks.
Chapter 6/Skill Focus (148)
Skill Focus
You increase your mastery of a group of related skills.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: Choose a skill group. You gain a +1 bonus to checks
with all skills of that skill group.
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple
times. Each time you do so, you take it for a different chosen
skill group.
You can take this feat nine times for a single skill group,
increasing the bonus to a maximum +9.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3 skill-related, weapon-related, defensive bonus, and spellcasting
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
Feat Name
The name of each feat provides a general sense of what it does.
Below the name is a bit of descriptive text providing an in-game
sense of what the feat represents for your character.
Prerequisites
Some feats have prerequisites that your character must meet before
the feat can be taken — either another feat or a minimum ability
score. Skill Focus has no prerequisites, meaning any character can
take it. But the Skill Specialization feat, which improves your
character’s prowess with a specific skill within a skill group, has a
prerequisite of “Skill Focus (chosen skill group) ×4.” This means you
must take Skill Focus four times before you can take Skill
Specialization for the first time. The Controlled Fall feat has a
prerequisite of “Dexterity 13+.” That feat lets your character shrug
off damage from a fall, but requires natural quickness to take it.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Chapter 6/Skill Specialization (149)
Chapter 7/Controlled Fall (173)
Some prerequisites note more specific requirements. For example,
the Far Shot feat has a prerequisite of “Weapon Focus (group with a
ranged or thrown weapon) ×1.” Weapon Focus is a feat built around
a similar mechanic to Skill Focus, and which grants a bonus to your
attack rolls for a related group of weapons. A character who has
taken Weapon Focus for the dagger group (which includes weapons
that can be thrown) can take Far Shot, but a character with Weapon
Focus for the heavy sword group can’t.
Chapter 8/Weapon Feats (287)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Benefit
The benefit section of a feat explains what the feat does for your
character in the game. Some feats grant improvements to dice rolls,
or make you better at certain actions. Other feats let you perform
actions that characters without the feat can’t perform, or make you
less susceptible to specific dangers.
Mastery and Feat Slot Cost
The mastery section of a feat description indicates how many times
you can take the feat, and at what feat slot cost. Many feats can be
taken only once, granting you knowledge or training that you either
have or don’t have. Feats that can be taken more than once
represent knowledge or training that lets you build on your previous
experience. Skill Focus is a feat you can take nine times for a skill
group, providing nine levels of improvement to your skill checks
(from +1 to +9) within that group.
With just a few exceptions, all feats have a base cost of 1 feat slot.
Becoming adept with your signature skills, gaining familiarity with
favorite weapons, learning to use armor, mastering a special combat
trick, increasing your physical resilience, channeling eldritch power,
then gaining the knowledge and power to cast spells — all these
things require the same amount of initial training and effort.
Times Taken
The number of times a feat is taken by a character is sometimes
referred to as the number of instances you’ve taken of the feat.
When you take a feat for the first time — the first instance of the
feat — it’s noted as “×1.” Taking the feat for a second time is noted
as “×2,” and so on. For feats that can be taken more than once,
additional instances beyond the first eventually incur a higher feat
slot cost. Feats that provide an escalating benefit (including many
feats) become more expensive the more times you take them.
In real-world terms, becoming good at something always requires
training and hard work. But becoming an expert at something
requires even more training, and typically takes more time than just
becoming good. Likewise, pushing even farther to become a master
at something takes more training, more work, and more time still.
The feat slot cost for Skill Focus tells you that taking that feat three
times for a chosen skill group costs the baseline 1 feat slot each time.
Those three instances are known as the first tier of the feat. Each
time you take Skill Focus, it grants you a +1 bonus to skill checks
within the chosen group, so taking the feat three times would
increase your bonus from +1, to +2, then +3.
Taking four through six instances of Skill Focus costs 2 feat slots each
time. This is the second tier of the feat, covering a +4 through +6
bonus to skill checks, and reflecting that it’s more difficult for your
character to improve on their performance once a certain level of
aptitude is attained. At tier 3 of Skill Focus, seven through nine
instances costs 3 feat slots each time, granting a +7 through +9
bonus to skill checks. This reflects how characters who strive for true
mastery must dedicate themselves even more to training and focus.
“Chosen” Feats
Some feats are taken for a chosen skill group, a chosen weapon
group, a chosen weapon, a chosen sphere of magic, and so on. Such
feats are kept track of separately for each chosen aspect they are
taken for, so that a character takes additional instances of the feat
separately for different choices. If a character takes Skill Focus
(Acrobatics) three times and Skill Focus (Expertise) three times, this
counts as three instances of the feat for each of those skill groups,
costing a total of 6 feat slots. The character has taken Skill Focus
(Acrobatics) ×3 and Skill Focus (Expertise) ×3, not Skill Focus ×6.
11

Campaign Feat Slots
By working diligently at the vocation, education, pastimes, or
interests that make up life, a character gets incrementally better
at what they do over time. By engaging in their established
areas of experience or by undertaking training in some new
area, a character seeks to expand what they know and do.
Campaign feat slots represent both those paths of learning.
Simply by virtue of the passage of campaign time, a character
can earn up to 4 campaign feat slots per campaign year. The
maximum of 4 campaign feat slots per year represents an
exceptional character wholly engaged with and dedicated to
their vocation, pastimes, and interests. By contrast, a character
earning 1 campaign feat slot per year represents someone
involved in a vocation or pastime with only a minimal amount of
dedication. Such a character might be part of a campaign with
extended downtime featuring little opportunity for work or
advancement. Alternatively, characters who do so much
adventuring that they give themselves no chance for campaign
downtime might also earn few campaign feat slots.
Adventuring Feat Slots (12)
Unless the GM determines that circumstances dictate otherwise,
player characters should usually gain the maximum 4 campaign
feat slots per year, as it is assumed that such characters remain
focused on their goals even between adventures. Exceptions to
this might include situations such as imprisonment or magical
stasis, or a character suffering a crisis of faith that leaves them
adrift and aimless for a prolonged period. However, such
circumstances should come into play only with agreement
between players and GM.
The GM decides when to award campaign feat slots, which can
be used during any downtime. But for ease and consistency,
those feat slots can be awarded and used during the campaign
downtime closest to the start of each of the four seasons — in
spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
Adventuring Feat Slots
The diligent pursuit of day-to-day activities can lead to self-
improvement well enough. But for gaining real experience,
nothing beats characters routinely throwing themselves into
dangerous situations, consistently pushing the limits of their
magic, and accepting sometimes-deadly risk in the pursuit of
excellence, glory, and wealth.
Adventuring feat slots are earned by characters actively
adventuring or undertaking similar types of unusual and high-
risk activities. By engaging in such activities, whether in the form
of travel through dangerous lands, undertaking risky exploration
or experimentation, or standing fast in fights against a never-
ending array of foes, a character earns 1 adventuring feat slot
every three to five gaming sessions.
Because of how many varied styles of play different campaigns
can incorporate, there’s no specific connection between
adventuring feat slots and campaign time, numbers of
encounters, foes defeated, or any other in-game mechanics. An
adventuring feat slot simply represents a milestone amount of
experience, learning, and new insight, no matter whether your
gaming sessions are mostly catastrophic combat accounting for
60 seconds of game time per week, or complex scenarios of
travel and roleplaying covering six months at a time in the
campaign.
The GM decides when to award adventuring feat slots, which
can then be used during the characters’ next downtime. A GM
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
can also adjust the per-session rate of feat slot rewards for
marathon campaigns where a single session usually clocks over
to double-digit hours, or for campaigns featuring short-but-
intense sessions quickly put together over a lunch hour.
Maximum Expectations
There is no specific limit to the number of adventuring feat slots
a character can earn as the campaign progresses, but that
number is subject to the maximum of 10 total feat slots per year
of campaign time. For characters who gain a maximum of 4
campaign feat slots per year, earning up to 6 additional
adventuring feat slots per year represents how adventuring
characters have more opportunities to hone their talents and
abilities than characters engaged in even the best effort of their
day-to-day lives.
The maximum of 10 feat slots that a character can earn per year
of campaign time is just that — a maximum. There’s no
expectation that each year of game time should generate that
specific number of feat slots, and players should respect the
GM’s decisions about how many feat slots are awarded year-to-
year in the campaign.
Even in the most high-energy, high-adventure campaign, it’s
equally important to remember that the maximum of 10 total
feat slots per year remains in effect. Unless a group of players
have made a specific choice for a game with faster-than-usual
Tales of Maximized Adventure
As with any tabletop roleplaying game, the rules of the game are
always open to modification to line them up with what the players
and the GM want to do. One of the easiest changes to make to a
CORE20 game is dialing up the progression of character
advancement by raising the number of starting feat slots, increasing
the frequency at which characters earn feat slots, ignoring any
maximums for earned feat slots tied to campaign time — or any and
all of the above at once.
The default rate of advancement in CORE20 lends itself to extended
campaign stories, and to holding characters in the sweet spot where
their abilities and magic let them perform great deeds without
becoming overwhelming. But a campaign in which characters earn
adventuring feat slots every session makes for an exciting
superheroic fantasy game, perfect for players who get the most out
of that style of RPG.
advancement, characters can’t earn more than 6 adventuring
feat slots in a year in which they earn the maximum 4 campaign
feat slots.
Feat Slots and the Campaign
The breakdown of campaign feat slots and adventuring feat
slots can lend a distinct feel to different types of campaigns —
or even to different parts of the same campaign. A campaign
that strikes a balance between adventuring, exploration, and
downtime might award 4 campaign feat slots and 4 adventuring
feat slots per year. A campaign focused on high adventure
might award 2 campaign feat slots and 6 adventuring feat slots
in a year, as the characters face greater numbers of challenges
interrupted by less frequent rest and travel time. In a year of
campaign time built around a civil war, a magical cataclysm, or
some other epic event, characters might earn 10 adventuring
feat slots and no campaign feat slots, reflecting that the frenzied
pace of their world offers maximum reward for facing danger,
but little opportunity for the regular challenges of life.
12

Banking Feat Slots
If you’re not sure what feat to take for a character, or if you’re
planning on taking a feat that costs more than 1 feat slot, your
character’s earned feat slots can be banked until the downtime
in which you’re ready to use them. Because there’s no limit to
how many feat slots you can use to select feats during
downtime, you can use as many banked feat slots as you have
available.
Training
Characters always select new feats during campaign downtime.
As such, there’s usually no need to factor in training time when
characters take new feats or improve feats they already have. It
is assumed that downtime in the campaign is dedicated at least
in part to the training and practice that supports each
character’s chosen focus with skills, combat, spellcraft, and
more. Likewise, a character who takes a feat representing brand-
new knowledge can be assumed to gain that knowledge from
another party member who has the same feat, from an NPC in
exchange for favors, or by diligent self-study with the right
resources at hand.
In exceptional circumstances, the GM might ask you to come up
with some sort of in-game justification for taking a feat for your
character that bends believability. For example, a character
learning arcane spellcasting in an environment where no party
member or NPC can teach them that art, or a character wanting
Feats for Other Creatures
Feats and feat slots define the advancement of player characters
only. The GM usually never needs to think about which feats are
possessed by other creatures in the game (including worldborn
nonplayer characters), or how non-worldborn creatures’ mechanics
and special features relate to feats.
The only exception is creatures who adventure in the campaign
alongside the player characters, whether as companion creatures or
spirit guides, or as NPCs joining in on a party’s adventures. The rules
for companion creatures and spirit guides talk about those creatures
earning adventuring feat slots, while the CORE20 Campaign
Handbook has more information for GMs on running NPCs.
Chapter 7/Companion Creature (198), Spirit Guide (200)
to improve their swimming ability while adventuring in a desert,
might require the player to work out with the GM how those
things were possible.
Retraining
As your character advances in their adventuring career, you
might discover that certain feats become less useful over time.
Specialization with a weapon your character now seldom uses, a
bonus to skill checks no longer relevant to your adventuring
role, or even a language you learned that has fallen outside day-
to-day use all represent feats that can be retrained. A character
who retrains a feat gives up one or more instances of that feat
and banks all the feat slots originally used to pay for those
instances. Those feat slots can then be used during downtime to
select new feats, as with any other banked feat slots.
Though a character can retrain any previously taken feats as
desired, the GM can impose reasonable limits on how fast the
banked feat slots resulting from that retraining can be used. A
warrior who wants to switch their combat focus from the
longsword after winning a potent magical battleaxe during an
adventure can easily retrain the feats they’ve taken for sword
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
combat, banking feat slots with which to take feats focused on
axe combat. However, the GM is free to say that a character
banking 5 feat slots’ worth of longsword training can’t use all
those banked feat slots to retrain in axe fighting in a single week
of downtime.
Prerequisite Feats
A character who retrains an instance of a feat that is a
prerequisite for another feat also loses access to that other feat.
For example, Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization are
two of the baseline feats for weapon training, with Weapon
Specialization having a prerequisite of Weapon Focus ×4. A
warrior who elects to retrain her fourth instance of Weapon
Focus for the light sword weapon group loses access to
Weapon Specialization for the rapier (one of the weapons in the
light sword group), and will need to retrain all instances of
Weapon Specialization as well.
Bonus Feat Slots
A starting character gains bonus feat slots from their
background to take the Learn Language feat (representing
knowledge of one of the game’s many languages) and the
Heroic Action feat (granting action points that give characters
access to special heroic benefits during the game). When
gained at character creation, those feats reflect longtime
learning and the benefit of fortune, rather than specific training.
As such, unlike other feat slots, bonus feat slots gained at
character creation can’t be retrained.
Chapter 7/Learn Language (165)
Chapter 5/Heroic Action (89)
Reworking a Character
The regular rules for retraining feats cover scenarios in which a
character makes good use of a feat for a time, then decides the
knowledge and experience represented by the feat no longer
serves its purpose as it once did. But in the event that you
choose one or more feats for your character that turn out to get
little or no use, or which suddenly aren’t a good fit anymore as
your character concept changes, you can always talk to the GM
about swapping out those poor-choice feats for something
better. Swapping out feats this way can be done at any time,
without the usual limitations of selecting new feats only during
downtime.
For example, a player building a character around a defender-
of-nature theme might have an initial concept of that character
as a secretive figure, slinking through green shadow as they
seek out enemies of the wilds. But after a couple of game
sessions, the player realizes that it doesn’t feel right to be
constantly striking from hiding to make use of Skill Focus
(Stealth) and Sneak Attack (a feat that grants increased damage
on weapon attacks for a character who can get the drop on their
foes). Talking to the GM, the player decides to choose a
different approach to combat for the character, and is able to
swap out feats to rework their combat style as a stalwart
defender rather than an opportunistic ambusher.
13
 Chapter 1: Building Your Character

Making the Game Your Own

The foundations of the CORE20 rules are built around feats, and
feats help to shape and define each aspect of the game. The feats
you select as a player are the building blocks of your character,
whether you’re setting out to be a wily investigator, a powerful
spellcaster, a combat specialist, or something totally unique. But no
part of the CORE20 rules is necessary to enjoy the other parts of the
game.
In the same way that taking a particular feat grants your character a
benefit in one aspect of the game, not focusing on a different
aspect of the game is as simple as not taking the feats on which that
aspect is built. Have a character who wants to specialize with skills or
spellcasting and has no interest in combat? You don’t need to take
any combat feats. Have a character who just wants to hit hard in a
fight? Nothing makes you take skill feats if you’d prefer leaving that
investigation and talking stuff to your allies. It’s always up to you.
Likewise, just as a player can ignore any sections of the rules that
don’t fit their character concept, the members of a gaming group
working together can take this same approach to define the world
and story of an entire campaign, making the game fit a specific
fantasy feel that the GM and the players are all seeking. In this way,
the CORE20 rules are an intrinsically modular ruleset that can be
easily customized to the type of game you want to play.
To create a campaign where spell magic is rare, you can put a limit
on spellcasting feats — or just eliminate them to create a world
where all eldritch power is focused through magic items. In a game
focusing on social encounters and investigation, it might be decided
that all characters should be limited to Weapon Focus ×3, reducing
the options for combat style feats that have Weapon Focus as a
prerequisite. Likewise, an old-school dungeon crawl campaign
might simplify skill use by eliminating all skill feats except Skill
Focus, and might limit options for feats in areas outside the core of
boosting weapon attacks, boosting weapon damage, and
spellcasting. Players and GM can even shape a campaign that shuns
weapon-based tactical combat by design, focusing instead on
combat maneuvers, investigation, social interaction, and pure
roleplaying supported by skills, and removing combat feats from the
game entirely.
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)

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 Chapter 1: Building Your Character

Step-by-Step Characters
The next three sections of this chapter present three different
approaches to building a character by selecting your starting
feats. Each approach makes full use of the CORE20 rules, but
offers a different balance of ease and flexibility. When you’re
done selecting feats, you add your feat selection to the choices
made for your lineage and background, select your equipment
and spells, as appropriate, and your character is ready to play.
Choosing an iconic build for your character is the easiest
approach, allowing you to adopt a preset selection of feats that
create an archetypal fantasy hero. For more flexibility in building
your character, choose from a number of preset feat packages,
allowing you to mix-and-match your character’s combat options,
defensive options, skills, spellcasting, and more. And for the
definitive deep dive into the flexibility at the heart of the game,
you can build your character freeform, customizing your feat
choices to create an adventurer like no other.
In each of these sections, most feats have benefits that are self-
explanatory, with no need to read the full feat description unless
you want to. For other feats (including spellcasting feats), you’ll
want to read the appropriate section of the rules to get the full
scope of what the feat does for your character.
This iconic build works best with a high Wisdom score, and
either a high Strength or Constitution score. To play an animyst,
choose the following as your starting feats.
Spellcasting Feats
Eldritch Spirit (animys) ×1: You channel the power of animys
magic.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting Feats (322)
Spellcaster (animys) ×1: You can cast animys spells.
Spell Mastery (animys) ×2: You are caster level 2, and can cast
animys spells of 2nd level or lower.
Spell Power (animys) ×2: You have a number of spell points
equal to 2 × your Wisdom modifier.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Animys Magic Feats
Domain of Faith (healing domain) ×1: Whenever you make a
Magic check related to healing, you have advantage on the
check. Additionally, you gain one 0-level orison of your choice
that has a thematic relationship to healing, and you can cast that
orison at will. Either preservation or touch of life is a good
choice for this orison.

Iconic Builds Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)

Chapter 10/Animys Magic Feats (343)
Tales of fantasy are replete with archetypal heroes. Brave Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
swordfighters and stealthy archers, cunning mages and wily
sorcerers, fighting priests and protector knights, scheming
thieves and astute scouts — all these characters have a well-
Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (truncheon group) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to
earned place in fantasy gaming. Each of the iconic character
attack rolls with a heavy mace, a morningstar, or any other
builds in this section has a selection of feats already chosen with
related weapon.
their 20 starting feat slots, letting you quickly create a character
ready to fill a specific role in an adventuring party. Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
In a few cases, a feat presented for an iconic build requires that
your character have a minimum in a specific ability score in order Hit Point Feats
to take that feat. If your character doesn’t have the necessary Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
ability score, you can select any other feat that your character
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
meets the prerequisites for, or you can lose one instance of
another feat that is part of the build to take the Self Taught feat. Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 ×
your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 additional critical points).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Making Adjustments Defense Feats
Using an iconic build or selecting feat packages from the next
section doesn’t mean that your options for creating a character are Armor Training (medium armor group) ×1: You can wear scale
any more limited than they are if you do a freeform character build. mail, chain mail, and other types of medium armor.
You can make adjustments to the suggested feat selection of an
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
iconic build or a feat package to choose different weapons or armor,
to customize feats that allow a choice of options, or to better line up Armor Training (shield group) ×1: You can wield a shield.
your feats with your ability scores, lineage features, or background
features. You can even swap out suggested feat choices for
completely different choices, putting your own special touches on
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Fortitude saving
an iconic character or a character built from feat packages.
throws.

Animyst Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)

Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Spellcasters who channel the animys magic of life do so to aid
those in need — and to punish those who would oppose the
sanctity of life. As a character channeling animys power, you are Skill Feats
known as an animyst, and your access to healing spells makes Skill Focus (Expertise) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Expertise
you a mainstay in most adventuring parties. But your skills, skill checks.
knowledge, and combat prowess extend far beyond your
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
spellcasting.

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Skill Focus (Healing) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Healing skill
checks.
Arcanist
Arcane power is the most potent form of magic, bound into and
drawn from the essential makeup of the material world. As an
arcanist, you might specialize in spells of combat, control, or
utility, with each aspect of your magic granting you the ability to
alter the world in some small way.
This iconic build works best with a high Intelligence score, and
either a high Dexterity or Constitution score. To play an arcanist,
choose the following as your starting feats.
Spellcasting Feats
Eldritch Spirit (arcane) ×1: You channel the power of arcane
magic.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting Feats (322)
Spellcaster (arcane) ×1: You can cast arcane spells.
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×2: You are caster level 2, and can cast
arcane spells of 2nd level or lower.
Spell Power (arcane) ×3: You have a number of spell points
equal to 3 × your Intelligence modifier.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Arcane Magic Feats
Arcane Blood ×1: You negate the penalty to your critical points
imposed by Spell Power (arcane).
Chapter 10/Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Inscribed Arcana ×1: You learn your spells from written
sources, and can record spells in a spellbook if you so wish.
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must
have a Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must first take the Self
Taught feat for Dexterity, to take Dodge. If you like, you can
lose one instance of another feat that is part of this build to take
Self Taught.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Saving Throw Feats
Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Expertise) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Expertise
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Magic) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Magic skill
checks.
Archer
Some archers learn their combat arts in the ranks of the military.
Others are lone hunters, honing skills first learned as children in
the wilderness. As an archer, you prefer to always be on the
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
fringes of combat, making precise attacks against enemies at a
distance — and becoming even more formidable when those
enemies attempt to close.
This iconic build works best with high Dexterity and Constitution
scores. To play an archer, choose the following as your starting
feats.
Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (bow group) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to attack
rolls with a longbow, a shortbow, or any other related weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Point Blank Shot ×1: Whenever you make an attack with a
ranged or thrown weapon against a target within 30 feet of you,
the attack has favored damage.
Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)
Precise Shot ×1: When you make a ranged attack against a
target who has cover from being in melee with other creatures,
that target does not gain advantage on their defense roll from
that cover.
Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment Feats (307)
Weapon Focus (dagger group) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to
attack rolls with a dagger, a baton dagger, or any other related
weapon.
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×3: You have 15 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 ×
your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 additional critical points).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Defense Feats
Armor Training (light armor group) ×1: You can wear leather,
studded leather, and other types of light armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must
have a Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Dexterity, to take Dodge. If you like, you can
lose one instance of another feat that is part of this iconic build
to take Self Taught.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Acrobatics
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Stealth) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
16

Brawler
Although eschewing the armor and weapons of a militia fighter
or common adventurer, a brawler is no less dangerous than an
armed and armored foe. But as a brawler, you have an easier
time hiding your combat prowess in order to strike at the most
opportune time.
This iconic build works best with a high Strength score, and
either a high Dexterity or Constitution score. To play a brawler,
choose the following as your starting feats.
Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
attack rolls with an unarmed strike, a gauntlet, or any other
related weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Full Body Fighter ×1: Your unarmed strike attack deals 1d6
bludgeoning damage, and you can hit with your feet, knees,
elbows, or head instead of your hands.
Chapter 9/Combat Style Feats (303)
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 ×
your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 additional critical points).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Defense Feats
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must
have a Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Dexterity, to take Dodge. If you like, you can
lose one instance of another feat that is part of this iconic build
to take Self Taught.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Unarmored Defense ×1: While you wear no armor and carry no
shield, you have a +2 bonus to defense rolls.
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Lightning Reflexes ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Reflex saving
throws.
Movement Feats
Fast Movement ×1: Your speed increases by 5 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement Feats (173)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Skill Focus (Endurance) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Endurance
skill checks.
Skill Focus (Perception) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Perception
skill checks.
Druidan
The druidas magic of nature is as unpredictable as it is powerful,
and those who channel that magic understand nature’s strength
and wrath. As a channeler of druidas magic, you are known as a
druidan, using your magic and skills to protect the natural order,
and to defend the creatures and folk who are part of that order.
This iconic build works best with a high Wisdom score, and
either a high Strength or Constitution score. To play a druidan,
choose the following as your starting feats.
Spellcasting Feats
Eldritch Spirit (druidas) ×1: You channel the power of druidas
magic.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting Feats (322)
Spellcaster (druidas) ×1: You can cast druidas spells.
Spell Mastery (druidas) ×2: You are caster level 2, and can cast
druidas spells of 2nd level or lower.
Spell Power (druidas) ×2: You have a number of spell points
equal to 2 × your Wisdom modifier.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Druidas Magic Feats
Creed of Nature (storm creed) ×1: Whenever you make a
Magic check related to storms, you have advantage on the
check. Additionally, you gain one 0-level incantation of your
choice that has a thematic relationship to storms. Either mote
lightning or thunderclap is a good choice for this incantation.
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Chapter 10/Druidas Creeds (361); Druidas Magic Feats (360)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Storm Rush ×1: When you are hit by a melee attack, you can
use a reaction to surround yourself with swirling winds that grant
you concealment and impose disadvantage on ranged attacks
made against you, all until the end of your next turn. You can
use this feat a number of times per day equal to your Wisdom
modifier (minimum three times).
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
Chapter 9/Concealment (306)
Chapter 10/Creed Feats (363)
Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (light pole group) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to
attack rolls with a quarterstaff, a spear, or any other related
weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×1: You have additional critical points equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum 1 additional critical point).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
17
 Chapter 1: Building Your Character

Defense Feats Action Point Feats

Armor Training (light armor group) ×1: You can wear leather,
studded leather, and other types of light armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Hero’s Luck ×1: When you use an action point to gain
advantage on a d20 roll but that roll is wholly unsuccessful, you
can gain advantage on another d20 roll before the end of your
next turn.

Companion and Cohort Feats Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)

Companion Creature ×1: You have a faithful animal ally and
trusted companion.
Chapter 7/Companion Creature Feats (198)
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Environment and Terrain Feats
Favored Terrain (urban) ×1: You have advantage on
Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception, and Stealth checks when
using these skills in an urban environment, and you have
advantage on initiative rolls when beginning combat in an urban
environment. (Before choosing the urban option for this feat,
talk to the GM about whether a different terrain would be more
appropriate for the campaign.)
Chapter 7/Environment and Terrain Feats (178)

Skill Feats Skill Feats

Skill Focus (Nature) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Nature skill Favored Adversary (undead) ×1: You have advantage on
checks. Dungeoneering, Investigation, Perception, Persuasion, and
Nature checks when using these skills against or in reference to
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148) undead. In addition, when you hit an undead creature with an
Skill Focus (Perception) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Perception attack, you have favored damage. (Before choosing the undead
skill checks. option for this feat, talk to the GM about whether a different
type of adversary would be more appropriate for the campaign.)
Investigator Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Life is a series of puzzles and challenges, all of which you mean Skill Focus (Expertise) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Expertise
to solve. As an investigator, you understand that knowledge is skill checks.
power, and you mean to make yourself powerful in any way you
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to
can — especially if others try to restrict that power by keeping
Investigation skill checks.
what they know to themselves.
Skill Focus (Perception) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Perception
This iconic build works best with a high Intelligence score and a
skill checks.
high Wisdom score. To play an investigator, choose the
following as your starting feats. Skill Focus (Stealth) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points. Protector
Any guard or fighter can serve a clan or a cause. But those
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
known as protectors dedicate themselves to an even higher
calling. As a protector, you channel the power of ethos,
Defense Feats becoming a living embodiment of goodness, and drawing on
Unarmored Defense ×1: While you wear no armor and carry no the magic of your own spirit to help you defend those in need.
shield, you have a +2 bonus to defense rolls.
This iconic build works best with high Strength and Charisma
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238) scores. To play a protector, choose the following as your
starting feats.
Language Feats
Learn Language ×2: You learn two additional languages of your Combat Feats
choice. Weapon Focus (heavy sword group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus
to attack rolls with a longsword, a greatsword, or any other
Chapter 7/Language Feats (165)
related weapon.

Saving Throw Feats Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)

Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×3: You have 15 defense points.
Lightning Reflexes ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Reflex saving
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
throws.
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 ×
your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 additional critical points).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)

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Defense Feats
Armor Training (medium armor group) ×1: You can wear scale
mail, chain mail, and other types of medium armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Armor Training (shield group) ×1: You can wield a shield.
Armor Optimization ×1: You do not have disadvantage on
your Acrobatics and Stealth checks when wearing medium
armor or using a shield.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Ethos Magic Feats
Driven Ethos (good) ×1: You channel the power of good. You
can automatically tell when an evil creature is within 5 feet of
you, and you have advantage on Persuasion checks made
against good creatures. You also learn the Good Ethos Cant, a
magical language that only other creatures with Driven Ethos
(good) can speak, sign, or understand. (If your character isn’t of
good alignment, you can choose another alignment
component — lawful, neutral, or chaotic — as your ethos.)
Chapter 10/Ethos Magic Feats (376)
Air of Grace ×1: You can use Charisma as an ability modifier for
your Fortitude saving throw and Reflex saving throw.
Ethos Smite ×1: You can use a minor action to make an evil
creature the target of your ethos smite, dealing an extra 1d10
damage on melee weapon attacks against that creature. You
can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Charisma modifier (minimum three times).
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
Domain of Faith (good domain) ×1: Whenever you make a
Magic check related to good, you have advantage on the check.
Additionally, you gain one 0-level orison of your choice that has
a thematic relationship to good, and you can cast that orison at
will. Detect ethos or guidance are a good choice for this orison.
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Chapter 10/Animys Magic Feats (343)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
Investigation skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Persuasion
skill checks.
Scoundrel
Warriors and spellcasters can be equally effective in a stand-up
fight, but a cunning scoundrel striking from behind the cover of
those allies can be even more devastating against distracted
foes. As a scoundrel, you are at your best when facing
challenges that can’t be overcome with brute force — and when
you can claim the choicest rewards without all that annoying risk
to life and limb.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
This iconic build works best with a high Dexterity score. To play
a scoundrel, choose the following as your starting feats.
Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (light sword group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus
to attack rolls with a shortsword, a rapier, or any other related
weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Finesse Attack ×1: Your melee attacks with weapons in the
light sword group use your Dexterity modifier instead of your
Strength modifier for attack and damage rolls.
Sneak Attack ×2: When you have advantage on a melee attack
with a light weapon or finesse weapon, a hit deals an extra 2d6
damage.
Chapter 9/Damage Feats (272)
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×1: You have additional critical points equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum 1 additional critical point).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Defense Feats
Armor Training (light armor group) ×1: You can wear leather,
studded leather, and other types of light armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must
have a Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Dexterity, to take Dodge. If you like, you can
lose one instance of another feat that is part of this iconic build
to take Self Taught.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Saving Throw Feats
Lightning Reflexes ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Reflex saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Acrobatics
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Perception) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Perception
skill checks.
Skill Focus (Stealth) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Thievery) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Thievery skill
checks.
Scout
Whether an experienced explorer of the wilderness or a veteran
navigator of the darkest dungeons, a scout understands that
knowing the environment is every bit as important as
understanding the mind of a foe. As a scout, you can hold your
19

own against your enemies, but you are even better at tracking
foes who try to elude you.
This iconic build works best with a high Strength score, and
either a high Dexterity or Constitution score. To play a scout,
choose the following as your starting feats.
Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (bow group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to attack
rolls with the longbow, the shortbow, and other weapons from
the bow group.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Weapon Focus (light sword group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus
to attack rolls with a shortsword, a rapier, or any other related
weapon.
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×1: You have additional critical points equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum 1 additional critical point).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Defense Feats
Armor Training (light armor group) ×1: You can wear leather,
studded leather, and other types of light armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Lightning Reflexes ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Reflex saving
throws.
Environment and Terrain Feats
Favored Terrain (forest) ×1: You have advantage on
Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception, and Stealth checks when
using these skills in a forest, and you have advantage on
initiative rolls when beginning combat in a forest. (Before
choosing the forest option for this feat, talk to the GM about
whether a different terrain would be more appropriate for the
campaign.)
Chapter 7/Environment and Terrain Feats (178)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Dungeoneering) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to
Dungeoneering skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Nature) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Nature skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
Wild Empathy ×1: You can make Nature checks to influence
the behavior of animals as if you were making
Persuasion/diplomacy checks against sapient creatures.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Troublemaker
Some characters have knack for always ending up in the wrong
place at the wrong time — occasionally even by accident. As a
troublemaker, you excel at sliding through risky scenarios and
dangerous locations unharmed, trusting your skill with combat
maneuvers to keep you out of harm’s way if and when a fight
breaks out.
This iconic build works best with a high Dexterity score and a
high Charisma score. To play a troublemaker, choose the
following as your starting feats.
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×3: You have 15 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Defense Feats
Unarmored Defense ×1: While you wear no armor and carry no
shield, you have a +2 bonus to defense rolls.
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Lightning Reflexes ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Reflex saving
throws.
Movement Feats
Fast Movement ×1: Your speed increases by 5 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement Feats (173)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Acrobatics
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Persuasion
skill checks.
Warrior
Whether military veterans, experienced city guards, or self-
taught members of a rural militia, warriors are a mainstay on the
battlefield and in many adventuring parties. As a warrior, you
can take as much damage as you can deal out, and you feel
most at home in the thick of combat, protecting allies and
others from threats.
This iconic build works best with high Strength and Constitution
scores. To play a warrior, choose the following as your starting
feats.
20

Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (heavy sword group) ×3: You have a +3 bonus
to attack rolls with a longsword, a greatsword, or any other
related weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Cleave ×1: When you reduce a creature to 0 critical points with
a melee attack, you can make an extra melee attack with the
same weapon against one other creature within reach. (You
must have a Strength of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Strength, to take Cleave. If you like, you can lose
one instance of another feat that is part of this iconic build to
take Self Taught.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Combat Style Feats (303)
Power Attack ×1: From the start of your turn to the end of your
turn, you impose a d4 bane on attack rolls with melee weapons
and gain favored damage on those attacks.
Weapon Focus (bow group) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to attack
rolls with the longbow, the shortbow, and other weapons from
the bow group.
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×3: You have 15 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 ×
your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 additional critical points).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Defense Feats
Armor Training (medium armor group) ×1: You can wear scale
mail, chain mail, and other types of medium armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Armor Optimization ×1: You do not have disadvantage on
your Acrobatics and Stealth checks when wearing medium
armor.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Endurance) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Endurance
skill checks.
Wildling
The most formidable battlers sometimes eschew formal combat
training, relying instead on deadly instincts honed in the
harshness of the deep wilderness or the unforgiving city. As a
wildling, you are no less civilized than other folk. But in times of
strife and conflict, you know to trust your ingrained battle fury to
carry the day.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
This iconic build works best with a high Strength score, and
either a high Dexterity or Constitution score. To play a wildling,
choose the following as your starting feats.
Combat Feats
Weapon Focus (heavy axe group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
attack rolls with a battleaxe, a greataxe, or any other related
weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Raging Attack ×1: As a minor action, you channel a state of
wild fury in combat, gaining a d4 boon on weapon attack rolls,
favored damage on weapon attacks, and a d4 boon on combat
maneuver skill checks. However, you have a d4 bane to defense
rolls. Your rage lasts a number of minutes equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum 1 minute), or until you fall
unconscious. When your rage ends, you are slowed and
weakened for 1d6 rounds. You can’t use your rage again until
these conditions end. You can use this feat a number of times
per day equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum three
times).
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39); Actions (83)
Chapter 9/Combat Style Feats (303)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Sweeping Attack ×1: When you hit with a melee attack, you
can repeat the attack against another creature within 5 feet,
dealing damage equal to your melee attack ability modifier.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Disorienting Strike ×1: Whenever you score a grievous hit, the
target is also disoriented for one sense of your choice.
Chapter 9/Grievous Hit Feats (294)
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Hit Point Feats
Combat Savvy ×3: You have 15 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 ×
your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 additional critical points).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Defense Feats
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must
have a Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Dexterity, to take Dodge. If you like, you can
lose one instance of another feat that is part of this iconic build
to take Self Taught.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Unarmored Defense ×1: While you wear no armor and carry no
shield, you have a +2 bonus to defense rolls.
Mobile Defense ×1: As long as your speed isn’t 0, you never
have disadvantage on defense rolls.
Saving Throw Feats
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
21

Movement Feats
Fast Movement ×1: Your speed increases by 5 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement Feats (173)
Skill Feats
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Endurance) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Endurance
skill checks.
Skill Focus (Nature) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Nature skill
checks.
Feat Packages
Building a character using feat packages allows for a greater
degree of customization than choosing an iconic build, while still
allowing a character to be built quickly and easily. A feat
package is a collection of related feats focusing on options for
one aspect of your character — weapons and combat, defense,
spellcasting, saving throws, and so forth. Each package notes its
feat slot cost, which you pay for with your character 20 starting
feat slots. When you have selected the packages that feel right
for your character, any leftover feat slots you have can be used
to select individual feats.
Leftover Feats (27)
In a few cases, a feat that is part of package requires that your
character have a minimum in a specific ability score in order to
take that feat. If your character doesn’t have the necessary
ability score, you can select any other feat that your character
meets the prerequisites for, or you can use a leftover feat slot to
take the Self Taught feat.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
These feat packages also appear in the later chapters of the
book as the fast-start rules for selecting your feats for skills,
weapon combat, defense, hit points, saving throws, and
spellcasting.
Skill Options
Alongside your character’s combat and magical training, your
skills set the scope for how you interact with the world around
you, and with the people in that world. (The information
presented here is also presented in the “Fast-Start: Skills”
sidebar in Chapter 6.)
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Burglar
3 Feat Slots
Whether you put it to use for the good of others or solely for
personal gain, your skill set includes the ability to get into places
you’re not wanted — and to get out with choice items you do
want. Take this feat package if you want to be good at
neutralizing traps and locks, remaining hidden, and moving
quietly.
Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Skill Focus (Thievery) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Thievery skill
checks.
Challenger
3 Feat Slots
Your natural talent at physical activity means that no obstacles
can stand in your way for long. Take this feat package if you
want to move about the battlefield with ease, or to muscle your
foes into submission without getting caught up in combat.
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Endurance) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Endurance
skill checks.
Cutpurse
3 Feat Slots
Your talents for opening locks and second-storey work always
come in handy — as does your ability to move through
impossibly tight spaces and evade attempts to catch you when
your talent gets noticed. Take this feat package if you want your
character to have fast hands and be able to hinder foes in a fight
without ever drawing a weapon.
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Acrobatics
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Thievery) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Thievery skill
checks.
Enforcer
3 Feat Slots
You’ve always had the ability to make people understand your
position — and on the odd occasion when that doesn’t work,
you’re not above using force to remind them why they should
make more of an effort. Take this feat package if you want to
get people firmly on your side, one way or the other.
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Persuasion
skill checks.
Explorer
3 Feat Slots
You yearn for a life of adventure, and you’ve made a long study
of how best to survive in the wilds and ruins of the world. Take
this feat package if you want practical knowledge of how to deal
with a wide variety of potentially dangerous creatures and
hazards.
Skill Focus (Dungeoneering) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
Dungeoneering skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Nature) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Nature skill
checks.
22

Guide
3 Feat Slots
You feel at home in the outdoors, where your knack for detail
and familiarity with different types of terrain make you an
excellent scout and trailblazer. Take this feat package if you
want to effectively lead your allies through the wild parts of the
world.
Skill Focus (Nature) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Nature skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Perception) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Perception
skill checks.
Healer
3 Feat Slots
You have long been interested in the why of how creatures
work, and have made an extensive study of anatomy and
biology. Take this feat package if you want to establish
proficiency in the workings of the body, the mind, and the
natural world.
Skill Focus (Healing) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Healing skill
checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Nature) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Nature skill
checks.
Hierophant
3 Feat Slots
Your study of magic encompasses not just the art of spellcraft,
but a broader knowledge of the world that magic fills. Take this
feat package if you want to be knowledgeable about a variety of
subjects, with magic ever at the fore.
Skill Focus (Expertise) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Expertise
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Magic) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Magic skill
checks.
Innovator
3 Feat Slots
You spend your time poring over tomes and journals, learning
everything you can and discovering how to apply that
understanding. Take this feat package if you want to be
knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics, and to let your
knowledge fuel further discovery.
Skill Focus (Expertise) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Expertise
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to
Investigation skill checks.
Seeker
3 Feat Slots
A love of detail and an ability to intuit the feelings of others
makes you excellent at rooting out the truth, no matter who or
what might be hiding it. Take this feat package if you want to
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
maximize your awareness of everything and everyone around
you.
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to
Investigation skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Perception) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Perception
skill checks.
Shadow
3 Feat Slots
Your ability to move subtly and cautiously gives you a knack for
avoiding the notice of other creatures. Take this feat package if
you want to be able to find the best hiding places, and to move
through them no matter how difficult they are to navigate.
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Acrobatics
skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Stealth) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
Sleuth
3 Feat Slots
You’ve always been good at sounding out people — and at
discerning even the things they don’t want to say to you. Take
this feat package if you want to be a smooth talker with solid
insights into the workings of other creatures’ minds.
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
Investigation skill checks.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Persuasion
skill checks.
Weapon Combat Options
Your character’s approach to combat can cover a wide range of
weapons and training. The feat packages in this section provide
a number of starting points for your character’s signature battle
style. (The information presented here is also presented in the
“Fast-Start: Combat” sidebar in Chapter 6.)
Archer
5 Feat Slots
You know that the safest place on any battlefield is as far away
from the action as possible, letting you safely rain down
destruction upon your foes. Take this feat package if you want
to focus your combat skills on fighting at range. You’ll benefit
the most from this feat package if Dexterity is one of your best
ability scores.
Weapon Focus (bow group) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to attack
rolls with a longbow, a shortbow, or any other related weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Point Blank Shot ×1: Whenever you make an attack with a
ranged or thrown weapon against a target within 30 feet of you,
the attack has favored damage.
23

Precise Shot ×1: When you make a ranged attack against a
target who has cover from being in melee with other creatures,
that target does not gain advantage on their defense roll from
that cover.
Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment Feats (307)
Raging Attacker
5 Feat Slots
You might be as calm as anyone while off the battlefield. But
when the call of combat comes to you, a feral instinct drives you
to victory. Take this feat package if you want to make use of a
focused but unpredictable fighting style. You’ll benefit the most
from this feat package if Strength is one of your best ability
scores.
Weapon Focus (heavy axe group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
attack rolls with a battleaxe, a greataxe, or any other related
weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Raging Attack ×1: You channel a state of wild fury in combat,
gaining a d4 boon on weapon attack rolls, favored damage on
weapon attacks, and a d4 boon on combat maneuver skill
checks. However, you have a d4 bane to defense rolls.
Chapter 9/Combat Style Feats (303)
Sweeping Attack ×1: When you hit with a melee attack, you
can repeat the attack against another creature within 5 feet,
dealing damage equal to your melee attack ability modifier.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Disorienting Strike ×1: Whenever you score a grievous hit, the
target is also disoriented for one sense of your choice.
Chapter 9/Grievous Hit Feats (294)
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Striker
5 Feat Slots
You hit hard, knowing that a single heavy blow can fell even the
most powerful of foes. Take this feat package if you want to do a
lot of damage while sticking always in the thick of the fight.
You’ll benefit the most from this package if Strength is one of
your best ability scores.
Weapon Focus (heavy sword group) ×3: You have a +3 bonus
to attack rolls with a longsword, a greatsword, or any other
related weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Cleave ×1: When you reduce a creature to 0 critical points with
a melee attack, you can make an extra melee attack with the
same weapon against one other creature within reach. (You
must have a Strength of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Strength, to take Cleave.)
Chapter 9/Combat Style Feats (303)
Chapter 2/Self Taught (32)
Power Attack ×1: From the start of your turn to the end of your
turn, you impose a d4 bane on attack rolls with melee weapons
and gain favored damage on those attacks.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Stealthy Attacker
5 Feat Slots
Some warriors specialize in hitting hard with heavy weapons, but
you know that a more delicate touch can be just as devastating
in battle. Take this feat package if you want to maximize the
potential of your attack with a lighter weapon — including
weapons that are easier to conceal when you want to stay out of
trouble. You’ll benefit the most from this feat package if
Dexterity is one of your best ability scores.
Weapon Focus (light sword group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus
to attack rolls with a shortsword, a rapier, or any other related
weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Finesse Attack ×1: Your melee attacks with weapons in the
light sword group use your Dexterity modifier instead of your
Strength modifier for attack and damage rolls.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Sneak Attack ×2: When you have advantage on a melee attack
with a light weapon or finesse weapon, a hit deals an extra 2d6
damage. (You must have a Dexterity of 15 or higher, or must
also take the Self Taught feat for Dexterity, and Skill Focus
(Stealth) ×1 to take the Sneak Attack feat.)
Skill Options (22)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Damage Feats (272)
Weapon Master
5 Feat Slots
You never rely on only a single type of weapon, instead making
sure you always have the right combat tool for the job. Take this
feat package if you want to be a versatile warrior, able to bring
the fight to any type of foe.
Weapon Focus (heavy sword group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus
to attack rolls with a longsword, a greatsword, or any other
related weapon.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Weapon Focus (heavy pole group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus
to attack rolls with a glaive, a longspear, or any other related
weapon.
Weapon Focus (crossbow group) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to
attack rolls with a light crossbow, a heavy crossbow, or any other
related weapon.
Spellcasting Options
Those who channel the power of magic gain abilities that no
mundane training can match, but that power comes at a cost.
These feat packages cover two broad approaches to how your
character might seek and channel the knowledge of
spellcasting.
Dedicated Caster
7 Feat Slots (9 for arcane magic)
You are a capable spellcaster who has been experimenting with
your magic for some time. Take this feat package if you wish to
make magic your character’s primary focus, with the intent of
one day attaining spellcasting mastery. You’ll benefit the most
from this feat package if Intelligence (the spellcasting ability for
24

an arcane caster) or Wisdom (the spellcasting ability for an
animys or druidas caster) is one of your best ability scores.
Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere of magic) ×1: You channel the
power of magic from your chosen sphere — animys, arcane, or
druidas.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting Feats (322)
Spellcaster (chosen sphere) ×1: You can cast spells from your
chosen sphere.
Spell Mastery (chosen sphere) ×2: You are caster level 2, and
can cast spells from your chosen sphere of 2nd level or lower.
Spell Power (arcane) ×3: You have a number of spell points
equal to 3 × your spellcasting ability modifier.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Arcane Blood ×1: If you are an arcane caster, you negate the
penalty to your critical points imposed by Spell Power (arcane).
(If you are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take
this feat.)
Chapter 10/Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Inscribed Arcana ×1: You learn your arcane spells from written
sources, and can record spells in a spellbook if you so wish. (If
you are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take this
feat.)
Neophyte Caster
4 Feat Slots (6 for arcane magic)
You’ve discovered a talent for magic within yourself, and are just
beginning to study and gain control over it. Take this feat
package if you wish to dabble in spellcasting but leave room for
your character to make combat or skill an equal or more
important focus. You’ll benefit the most from this feat package if
Intelligence (the spellcasting ability for an arcane caster) or
Wisdom (the spellcasting ability for an animys or druidas caster)
is one of your best ability scores.
Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere of magic) ×1: You channel the
power of magic from your chosen sphere — animys, arcane, or
druidas.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting Feats (322)
Spellcaster (chosen sphere) ×1: You can cast spells from your
chosen sphere.
Spell Mastery (chosen sphere) ×1: You are caster level 1, and
can cast spells from your chosen sphere of 1st level or lower.
Spell Power (arcane) ×1: You have a number of spell points
equal to your spellcasting ability modifier.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Arcane Blood ×1: If you are an arcane caster, you negate the
penalty to your critical points imposed by Spell Power (arcane).
(If you are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take
this feat.)
Chapter 10/Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Inscribed Arcana ×1: You learn your arcane spells from written
sources, and can record spells in a spellbook if you so wish. (If
you are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take this
feat.)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Defensive Options
The ability to not get hit is a big part of surviving combat —
especially if you have little interest in getting into combat in the
first place. These starting feat packages let you choose from a
number of different defensive options.
Lightly Armored
2 Feat Slots
You value speed and agility in battle over the sturdy protection
of heavy armor. Take this feat package if you want to wear
inexpensive and unobtrusive armor to maximize your mobility.
You’ll benefit the most from this feat package if Dexterity is one
of your best ability scores.
Armor Training (light armor group) ×1: You can wear leather,
studded leather, and other types of light armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must
have a Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Dexterity, to take Dodge.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Moderately Armored
3 Feat Slots
You strive for a balance between protection and
maneuverability on the battlefield. Take this feat package if you
want to wear sturdier armor and wield a shield, and to trust to
your training to move freely both in and out of combat. You’ll
gain less benefit from this feat package if your Dexterity is 18 or
higher.
Armor Training (medium armor group) ×1: You can wear scale
mail, chain mail, and other types of medium armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Armor Training (shield group) ×1: You can wield a shield.
Armor Optimization ×1: You do not have disadvantage on
your Acrobatics and Stealth checks when wearing medium
armor or using a shield.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Heavily Armored
4 Feat Slots
You place your trust in the solidity of steel, relying on your armor
to protect you from the assault of your enemies. Take this feat
package if you want to be a juggernaut on the battlefield,
shrugging off even the most vicious attacks. You’ll gain less
benefit from this feat package if your Dexterity is 16 or higher.
Armor Training (heavy armor group) ×1: You can wear
banded mail, half plate, and other types of heavy armor.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Armor Training (shield group) ×1: You can wield a shield.
Armor Optimization ×1: You do not have disadvantage on
your Acrobatics and Stealth checks when wearing heavy armor
or using a shield.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Shield Cover: You add your shield’s defense bonus to your
Reflex saving throws.
25

Fighting Within Your Means
Heavy armor starts at a cost of 200 gp for splint armor, putting it out
of reach for a default starting character. To take this feat package,
your character needs to also take the Well Heeled feat (which is
made even more effective with the military background). Or you can
talk to the GM about starting the game with heirloom armor in
exchange for giving up some of your earned treasure later.
Chapter 4/Military (73)
Chapter 8/Generational Wealth sidebar (204); Well Heeled (206)
Unarmored
2 Feat Slots
You move equally unhindered both in and out of combat,
trusting your defensive instincts and your quick reflexes to keep
you alive. Take this feat package if you wish to wear no armor,
relying on training and instinct rather than leather or steel to
protect you. You’ll benefit the most from this feat package if
Dexterity is one of your best ability scores.
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must
have a Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self
Taught feat for Dexterity, to take Dodge.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29); Self Taught (32)
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Unarmored Defense ×1: While you wear no armor and carry no
shield, you have a +2 bonus to defense rolls.
Hit Point Options
When you take damage, the robustness of your hit points
determines how long you stay in the fight — or whether you
quickly become a liability for allies who need to pull you to
safety.
Front-liner
5 Feat Slots
You place equal importance on defensive training and inherent
toughness, making you hard to drop no matter which way the
fight turns. Take this feat package if you expect to be always in
the thick of combat. You’ll benefit the most from this feat
package if Constitution is one of your best ability scores.
Combat Savvy ×3: You have 15 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 ×
your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 additional critical points).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Reluctant Combatant
2 Feat Slots
You have no interest in getting into trouble in combat, so you
ensure that you stay as far from your enemies as possible. Take
this feat package if you want to gain only enough defensive
training to keep you safe while you flee the fight.
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Skirmisher
3 Feat Slots
You understand the value of a good defense, but prefer to
avoid the thick of combat while your tougher allies take point.
Take this feat package if you expect to fight, but not always to
stand at the center of the fray. You’ll benefit the most from this
feat package if Constitution is one of your best ability scores.
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×1: You have additional critical points equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum 1 additional critical point).
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Saving Throw Options
Boosting your saving throws helps protect you from magic and
other effects that don’t care how well armored you are — and
which can prove as deadly as your enemies’ most potent
weapon attacks.
Bodily Might
2 Feat Slots
Your robustness helps you shake off some of the worst effects
that can physically impair you. Take this feat package if you want
your character to be particularly resistant to pestilence and
poison. You must have Great Fortitude ×1 or better to take this
package.
Increased Fortitude
Hale Body ×1: You have advantage on saving throws against
pestilence.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Resilient Blood ×1: You have advantage on saving throws
against poison.
Defended Mind
2 Feat Slots
The strength of your thought and will lets you resist the
unnatural conditions others attempt to instill upon your mind.
Take this feat package if you want your character to be resilient
in the face of magical control or fear. You must have Iron Will ×1
or better to take this package.
Potent Will
Fearless ×1: You have advantage on saving throws against
effects that would make you frightened.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
Still Mind ×1: You have advantage on saving throws against
effects that would make you charmed.
Appendix B/Charmed (A9)
Increased Fortitude
2 Feat Slots
Your innate hardiness makes you especially resistant to poisons,
pestilence, and debilitating magic. Take this feat package if you
want to strengthen your physical resilience.
26

Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Potent Will
2 Feat Slots
Improved strength of mind keeps you safe from mental effects
and magic. Take this feat package if you want to improve your
sense of will and mental clarity.
Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Superior Reflexes
2 Feat Slots
Your ability to stay in motion helps keep you safe from area
effects and unexpected pitfalls. Take this feat package if you
want to improve your reflexive nimbleness.
Lightning Reflexes ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Reflex saving
throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Swift Response
2 Feat Slots
Your instinctive reflexes are even more acutely focused when
facing specific threats. Take this feat package if you want your
character to be especially resilient to traps and mundane
elemental energy. You must have Lightning Reflexes ×1 or
better to take this package.
Superior Reflexes
Elemental Aversion ×1: You have advantage on saving throws
against nonmagical effects that deal acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Trap Sense ×1: You have advantage on saving throws made
against the effects of traps.
Leftover Feats
When you’ve selected your feat packages, note how many feat
slots you have left over. Then use those feat slots to round out
your character or address a potential shortcoming. Though you
are free to select any first-tier feat for which you meet the
prerequisites, the following guidelines might prove useful to
you.
First-Tier Feats (9)
Weapon and Combat Feats
If your character has focused primarily on melee in their choice
of weapon and combat feats, think about using a ranged
weapon as backup — and about taking Weapon Focus for the
appropriate weapon group to give your attacks with that
weapon an edge. Weapons from the bow group are easier to
use, but weapons from the crossbow group can deal more
damage.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268); Weapons (274)
The Power Attack and Cleave feats are good options for melee
combat, as are Potent Shot and Evasive Shot for ranged attacks.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 1: Building Your Character
Favored Adversary can be a good choice for a campaign in
which creatures of a specific type are an ever-present threat.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Chapter 9/Combat Style Feats (303)
Defense Feats
If not already part of your defensive feat package, Dodge makes
a good feat choice for any character with a Dexterity of 13 or
higher. A character with low Dexterity and a Wisdom of 15 or
higher can benefit from Instinctive Defense.
Chapter 9/Defense Feats (238)
Movement Feats
Increasing your speed means increasing your mobility, both in
and out of combat. As such, the Fast Movement feat is useful for
any character, but especially for Small characters with a speed of
less than 30 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement Feats (173)
Saving Throw Feats
Boosting your lowest saving throw with an extra feat slot used to
select Great Fortitude, Iron Will, or Lightning Reflexes is always
beneficial. And Favored Adversary can grant you an edge in a
campaign in which creatures of one type are the focus of
investigation or conflict.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Skill Feats
If you have extra feat slots available, taking Skill Focus again for
any skill not already at Skill Focus ×3 increases your
effectiveness with that skill. You might also choose to take Skill
Focus ×1 for a single skill.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Other Feats
Taking the Companion Creature or Spirit Guide feat is always
fun, as doing so grants you a faithful ally who can take on all
sorts of responsibilities. Some types of companions and spirit
guides are useful in combat, while others have more utility in
exploration and mischief.
Chapter 7/Companion Creature Feats (198); Spirit Guide
Feats (201)
Freeform Builds
A freeform approach to building a 20-feat-slot starting character
gives you the most flexibility — but it can also take the most
time. With only the barest limitations on what type of character
you can create (the restriction that starting characters can take
only first-tier feats), it can become easy to get lost in the range
of feat choices available. As such, when building a freeform
character, the following guidelines can be useful.
First-Tier Feats (9)
Primary Focus
Whatever the key concept behind your character, start there.
Think about the original point of inspiration for your would-be
hero, or fill in the ending of the sentence: “I’d love to play an
27
 Chapter 1: Building Your Character

adventurer who’s really good at…” You might have been drawn In any adventuring campaign, feats that boost your speed or
to the idea of a charismatic mage specializing in the skills and give you benefits in specific environments (from the most
magic of persuasion. You might have a hankering to focus on a remote wilderness, to the deepest dungeons, to the most
character who’s all about crushing the widest range of densely settled cities) can make life easier. Adopting (or being
monstrous foes in melee combat. You might be tired of having adopted by) a companion creature can help define your
your characters take a beating from enemies, inspiring you to character’s place in the world and the game, as can learning an
build a reluctant combatant specializing in staying away from additional language, learning to craft magic items, or boosting
fights, and in being able to safely harry foes before running your prowess with personal skill groups.
away if the fight comes to you. You might want to play a cunning
Chapter 7/Life and Adventuring (151)
thief whose success comes from an innate magical capability to
see through and step through walls. Whatever character you
want to build, your imagination is the only limit. Combat as Utility
A character whose primary focus lies outside combat (especially
With your character concept in mind, use 10 feat slots for your
spellcasters, whose magic requires a heavy feat slot investment)
primary purpose. For a combat-focused character, use those
might put their hit point and defense feats into the utility
feat slots for weapon, armor, hit point, defense, and combat
category, making only a minimal investment in those areas. If
style feats. For a spellcaster, use those feat slots for the Eldritch
you know your character is going to be part of an adventuring
Sprit and Spellcaster feats that allow you to channel magic, and
party where other tougher characters are willing to stand up for
on the Spell Mastery and Spell Power feats that build up your
your combat-light mage or expert character, or if you’re playing
spellcasting prowess. (Arcane casters must invest in additional
in a generally combat-light campaign, this approach might work
feats for their spellcasting that animys and druidas casters don’t
fine for you. But it’s often a good idea to talk to the GM first
need.) For any character hoping to spend as much of their time
about how often your character is likely to be doing battle with
out of combat as in it, use those feat slots to build up your
foes, and whether a bigger investment in hit point feats and
noncombat capability using Skill Focus, then think about feats
defense feats is warranted.
that maximize your potential for getting safely away from your
foes.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Finalizing the Numbers
Chapter 9/Combat (234) You might find that breaking your feat selection down as 10, 6,
Chapter 10/Spellcasting (320) and 4 feat slots for your primary focus, secondary features, and
utility features works fine for your character. Or you might find
If you’re playing a warrior-mage, a fighting priest, or any other that 10 feat slots for your primary focus is too few or too many.
character with two distinct sides to what they do, you might find As you assemble your starting feats, feel free to adjust the
that 10 feat slots isn’t quite enough. Instead, try allocating 6 feat numbers in any way that works for you. As long as you don’t
slots to each side of your character, then using 4 feat slots for focus on one aspect of your character to the exclusion of other
your secondary features. important features, your character’s ideal starting feat selection
will make itself known to you.
Secondary Features The Well-Rounded Character sidebar (10)
With your characters’ primary focus determined, think about
what else you want them to be good at. Then use 6 feat slots to
fill out your character’s secondary features. Planning Ahead
Most players who build freeform characters in CORE20 quickly
A forthright warrior might also be a skilled athlete and student
come across the problem of having more cool things they’d like
of military history, or a veteran tracker of the wilds. A combat
a character to do than they have starting feat slots available to
opportunist specializing in stealthy attacks might have trained
do those cool things. When deciding which starting feat slots to
long and hard to make sure that they can get in and out of a
select, don’t let the range of what’s possible and the need to
fight quickly and unobserved. A spellcaster might also maintain
make a choice of one thing over another drive you to a point
a certain level of combat proficiency for those times when the
where you can’t choose. Instead, think of the feats you can’t
magic runs out, or to reserve their spells for more important
select as the first feats your character will take as they begin to
pursuits than brawling. And even nonspellcasting characters
earn adventuring and campaign feat slots. Even before you’ve
might innately channel a bit of magic, whether as part of their
finished creating your 20-feat-slot starting character, you might
heritage or as a unique boon.
be well on your way to putting together your character’s unique
build, making those “missing feats” something to look forward
Utility Features to rather than lament.
With your character’s primary focus and secondary features
established, think about what other useful options they might
draw on. Then use 4 feat slots for utility feats to help round out
your character.

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 28

Chapter 2: Ability Scores
Ability scores are the foundation of your character’s potential,
anchoring both your adventuring exploits and the activities of
day-to-day life. Your physical abilities — Strength, Dexterity, and
Constitution — and mental abilities — Intelligence, Wisdom,
and Charisma — all help to describe your character and define
the things they do.
Typical ability scores for worldborn NPCs in a campaign range
from 3 to 18 and average 10 or 11. However, because those
drawn to the life of an adventurer are typically exceptional,
player characters are above average in their ability scores —
tougher, quicker, more knowledgeable, and more focused.
Additionally, a character’s background allows them to increase
certain ability scores to reflect specific focus and training, and a
number of magic items can grant a temporary or permanent
magical increase to an ability score.
Whether the result of background adjustments, a long-term
increase, or magic, a character can have a maximum in any
ability score of 20.
Fast-Start: Ability Scores
You can quickly decide on the best arrangement of your ability
scores depending on the type of character you have in mind, using
the standard ability score numbers discussed in this chapter. Even if
you use one of these fast-start setups, feel free to swap any two
ability scores around to customize your character.
Heavy Melee Combatant
For a character who wants to focus on face-to-face-battle wielding
powerful weapons, choose the following ability scores: Str 16 (+3),
Dex 13 (+1), Con 14 (+2), Int 10 (+0), Wis 9 (−1), Cha 12 (+1).
Chapter 1/Brawler (17); Protector (18); Warrior (20); Wildling (21)
Ranged or Light Melee Combatant
If your character wants to focus on ranged combat, or to wield
lighter melee weapons allowing more dexterous attacks, choose the
following ability scores: Str 12 (+1), Dex 16 (+3), Con 14 (+2), Int 9
(−1), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 13 (+1).
Chapter 1/Archer (16); Scout (19)
Social Challenger
For a character focused on engaging others out of combat or
fueling personal magic with their sense of self, choose the following
ability scores: Str 9 (−1), Dex 14 (+2), Con 12 (+1), Int 13 (+1), Wis 10
(+0), Cha 16 (+3).
Chapter 1/Investigator (18); Protector (18); Scoundrel (19);
Troublemaker (20)
Arcane Caster
To build a character focused on arcane spellcasting, choose the
following ability scores: Str 10 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 13 (+1), Int 16
(+3), Wis 9 (−1), Cha 12 (+1).
Animys or Druidas Caster
Chapter 1/Arcanist (16)
If your character is focused on animys spellcasting or druidas
spellcasting, choose the following ability scores: Str 14 (+2), Dex 13
(+1), Con 10 (+0), Int 9 (−1), Wis 16 (+3), Cha 12 (+1).
Chapter 1/Animyst (15); Druidan (17)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Strength (Str)
Strength measures your character’s muscle and physical power.
This ability is important for adventurers who fight with melee
weapons, and also determines the amount of gear — and
treasure — your character can carry.
You apply your character’s Strength modifier to:
• Attack rolls made with melee weapons.
Chapter 9/Attacks (264)
• Damage rolls when using a melee weapon or a thrown
weapon.
Chapter 9/Damage (271)
• Fortitude saving throws for resisting pestilence, poison, and
other physical threats, if Strength is your best core ability for
that save.
Chapter 9/Fortitude (245)
• Skill checks made with the Athletics and Endurance skill
groups, if Strength is your best core ability for those groups.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112); Endurance (118)
Dexterity (Dex)
Dexterity measures your character’s coordination, agility,
reflexes, and balance. This ability is important for adventurers
who fight with ranged weapons, who like to employ stealth (in or
out of combat), and who favor light armor — or no armor at all.
You apply your character’s Dexterity modifier to:
• Attack rolls made with ranged weapons (including bows,
crossbows, and thrown weapons).
Chapter 9/Attacks (264)
• Your defense rolls.
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
• Your initiative rolls that determine how quickly you can enter
combat, if Dexterity is your best core ability for initiative.
Chapter 9/Initiative (234)
• Reflex saving throws for avoiding area attacks and other
danger that you can escape by quick thinking and action, if
Dexterity is your best core ability for that save.
Chapter 9/Reflex (245)
• Skill checks made with the Acrobatics, Athletics, Stealth, and
Thievery skill groups, if Dexterity is your best core ability for
those groups.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Athletics (112); Stealth (140);
Thievery (143)
Constitution (Con)
Constitution represents your character’s health and stamina.
Characters who spend a lot of time in dangerous situations rely
on this ability to let them absorb more damage and to shrug off
harmful physical effects.
You apply your character’s Constitution modifier to:
• Your critical points each time you take the Toughness feat.
Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)
29

• Fortitude saving throws for resisting pestilence, poison, and
other physical threats, if Constitution is your best core ability
for that save.
Chapter 9/Fortitude (245)
• Skill checks made with the Acrobatics, Endurance, Healing,
and Perception skill groups, if Constitution is your best core
ability for those groups.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Endurance (118); Healing (123);
Perception (134)
Intelligence (Int)
Intelligence shapes your character’s approach to learning and
reasoning, determining how you take in, retain, and analyze
information. This ability is important for any characters who love
investigation and problem solving, and for characters who
practice arcane magic.
You apply your character’s Intelligence modifier to:
• Reflex saving throws for avoiding area attacks and other
danger that you can escape by quick thinking and action, if
Intelligence is your best core ability for that save.
Chapter 9/Reflex (245)
• Skill checks made with the Dungeoneering, Expertise,
Healing, Magic, Persuasion, and Thievery skill groups, if
Intelligence is your best core ability for those groups.
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Expertise (121); Healing (123);
Magic (128); Persuasion (137); Thievery (143)
• Your spell points when you take the Spell Power (arcane) feat
and the challenge throw modifier for your arcane spells at
lower caster levels, and your magic attack modifier for your
arcane spells.
Chapter 10/Spell Power (323); Magic Challenge Throw (335);
Magic Attack Roll (335)
Intelligent and Sapient Creatures
Most creatures in the game are intelligent creatures, capable of
learning, reasoning, and processing information. The only
exceptions are specific types of botanicals, constructs, oozes, and
undead who are mindless creatures, noted in their stat blocks by
“Intelligence —“. Except for such mindless creatures, all creatures
have the ability to think and learn, and intelligent creatures who
happen to have lower Intelligence are never less mentally capable
than creatures with higher Intelligence. Rather, they simply have
different capabilities and different approaches to learning. A pack of
wild dogs (Intelligence 2) can easily pick up new and complex
combat tactics taught by a pack leader. They just don’t learn and
process those tactics the same way your character does.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
The rules often refer to “sapient creatures,” especially in the context
of creatures affected by spells, and interacting with creatures using
Persuasion checks. For game purposes, any creature with an
intelligence of 3 or higher who can use language is a sapient
creature, capable of conscious thought and reasoning in a way that
other creatures aren’t. For example, a praetyrian and a dolphin are
both Intelligence 4 creatures, but by virtue of their language use,
only the praetyrian is sapient. Even though the dolphin’s intellect
gives them a solid ability to communicate with their own kind and to
interact with and respond to creatures with language, the
praetyrian’s understanding of Draconic and other languages focuses
their intellect and consciousness in unique ways.
Creature Compendium
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 2: Ability Scores
Spheres of Magic
If you’re interested in playing a spellcasting character, it’s good to
understand some of the differences between the three dominant
spheres of magic in the game — animys, arcane, and druidas.
Animys magic is dedicated to healing, providing benefits to allies,
and hindering and controlling enemies. It’s the magic of healers and
temple priests.
Arcane magic creates powerful effects that can harm and control
enemies, channel elemental power, and protect and ward objects
and creatures. It’s the magic of sorcerers and wizards.
Druidas magic channels the power of the living world to heal,
benefit allies, and punish foes with the power of nature. It’s the
magic of shamans and nature priests.
Animys magic and druidas magic are related, and both use Wisdom
as their spellcasting modifier. Arcane magic uses Intelligence as its
spellcasting modifier, and requires more feat slots than animys or
druidas magic to reach the same levels of spellcasting power. As
such, animys and druidas casters can more easily focus on combat
as well as spellcasting.
Wisdom (Wis)
Wisdom describes your character’s willpower, common sense,
and intuition, and shapes how you interact with and respond to
your circumstances and surroundings. This ability is important
for any characters who trust to their instincts, and for characters
who practice animys magic or druidas magic.
You apply your character’s Wisdom modifier to:
• Will saving throws for overcoming magic that affects the mind
and personality, if Wisdom is your best core ability for that
save.
Chapter 9/Will (245)
• Your initiative rolls that determine how quickly you can enter
combat, if Wisdom is your best core ability for initiative.
Chapter 9/Initiative (234)
• Skill checks made with the Expertise, Investigation, Magic,
Nature, Perception, and Stealth skill groups, if Wisdom is your
best core ability for those groups.
Chapter 6/Expertise (121); Investigation (126); Magic (128);
Nature (131); Perception (134); Stealth (140)
• Your spell points when you take the Spell Power (animys or
druidas) feat and the challenge throw modifier for your animys
or druidas spells at lower caster levels, and your magic attack
modifier for your animys and druidas spells.
Chapter 10/Spell Power (323); Magic Challenge Throw (335);
Magic Attack Roll (335)
Charisma (Cha)
Charisma measures your character’s force of personality,
persuasiveness, and ability to lead. This ability is important to
any character who thrives on interacting with other creatures,
and for characters who embrace either the personal power of
ethos magic or the mind magic of psionics. (Psionic magic is
part of the CORE20 system but not part of these core rules.)
CORE20 Psionics Companion
You apply your character’s Charisma modifier to:
30
 Chapter 2: Ability Scores

• Will saving throws for overcoming magic that affects the mind
and personality, if Charisma is your best core ability for that Standard Ability Scores
save. Selecting standard ability scores creates characters who are all
Chapter 9/Will (245) cut from the same heroic cloth. To create an effective character
quickly, simply use the following set of ability scores:
• Skill checks made with the Dungeoneering, Investigation,
Magic, Nature, and Persuasion skill groups, if Charisma is your 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9
best core ability for those groups. You allocate each score to whichever ability you want, as
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Investigation (126); Magic (128); determined by the type of the character you want to play. For a
Nature (131); Persuasion (137); Damage (271) martial warrior, you might place 16 into Strength and 14 into
Dexterity or Constitution, while an arcane caster would want 16
• The strength of your ethos magic features keyed to taking the
in Intelligence. After assigning your ability scores, you then use
Driven Ethos feat.
the ability score increase from your background to adjust those
Chapter 10/Ethos Magic (376) scores.
Chapter 4/Ability Score Increase (70)
Ability Modifiers Choosing this standard set of ability scores gives you a better
Each ability score has a modifier, which increases as the ability range of scores that you can obtain if you use the point-buy
score does. This modifier is the number you apply to the d20 roll system for your ability scores.
when your character tries to do something related to that ability,
whether a skill check, an attack roll, a defense roll, a challenge
throw, a saving throw, or an initiative roll. An ability modifier
Buying Ability Scores
Using a standard point-buy system for ability scores creates
might also be added to your damage rolls when you attack with
characters who are balanced as effectively as characters using
a weapon, and might be used to calculate things such as how
standard ability scores, but allows more customization. This is
much weight you can carry.
especially useful if you want your character to focus on their
Chapter 6/Skills (99) capabilities across more than one area of the game — for
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237); Challenge Throw (245); example, weapon combat and spellcasting.
Saving Throws (245); Initiative (234)
Using this system, you start with each of your character’s ability
Chapter 8/Carrying Capacity (228)
scores at 10 and you have a pool of 15 points you can spend to
A character with a low ability score has a negative modifier — a increase those scores. Increasing an ability score costs a number
penalty to the roll. A character with an average or high score has of points as indicated on the table below. You can also decrease
a positive modifier (including +0) — a bonus to the roll. one or more of your ability scores to earn extra points with
which to increase other scores.
ABILITY MODIFIERS
Ability Score Points to Buy Ability Score Points to Buy
Score Modifier Score Modifier 8 −2 14 5
1 −5 12–13 +1 9 −1 15 7
2–3 −4 14–15 +2 10 0 16 9
4–5 −3 16–17 +3 11 1 17 11
6–7 −2 18–19 +4 12 2 18 15
8–9 −1 20 +5 13 3
10–11 0
You can’t increase an ability score beyond 18 or decrease it to
less than 8 in this way. After buying your ability scores, you then
Ability Modifier Adjustments use the ability score increase from your background to adjust
Magic, pestilence, poison, and other effects can grant a bonus those scores.
or impose a penalty to a character’s ability score modifiers. Such Chapter 4/Ability Score Increase (70)
an adjustment temporarily increases or decreases the modifier,
either boosting or inhibiting a character’s combat, defensive, or
spellcasting prowess. Rolling Ability Scores
Rolling dice for each ability score creates characters who are
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
entirely unique — but can often generate a range of scores that
Appendix B/Ability Modifier Penalties (A8)
far outstrip or lag behind the heroic norm. For each of your six
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
ability scores, you roll 4d6 and ignore the result of the lowest
Such effects make no change to a character’s ability scores, die. For example, if the result of rolling 4d6 is 5, 4, 2, and 1, you
though a number of magic items can increase a character’s ignore the 1 and total the remaining dice to get 11.
ability scores permanently.
When you have rolled six ability scores, you assign those scores
to your character’s abilities in any order you like. You then use
Generating Ability Scores the ability score increase from your background to adjust those
scores.
When creating your character, one of the first steps in the
process is generating your ability scores — determining the Chapter 4/Ability Score Increase (70)
character’s baseline physical and mental potential. Ability scores If you don’t roll at least one ability score of 15 or higher, or if you
can be generated in one of three ways — by using a standard have two scores below 10, you can discard all the ability scores
set of scores, by using a system of buying ability scores, or by and roll a new set of six. But under some circumstances (for
rolling ability scores.

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 31

 Chapter 2: Ability Scores

example, having 14 in three ability scores), such a character

might be worth keeping. Ability Score Feats
The following feat allows a character to overcome some of the
Beating the Average limitations of their ability scores.
Rolling ability scores can sometimes lead to the scenario of
having a range of scores that run from amazing (an 18 in one
ability, or 16 or better in two abilities) to dismal (a score of 6 or
Self Taught
When mastering new abilities, you can overcome your own
less in another ability). Rather than worry about the effect of low
limitations.
scores on your character, think about ways to embrace a lower-
than-average score as a tool for roleplaying. A low-Wisdom Prerequisites: —
character can be great fun to play as completely fearless but Benefit: Choose an ability (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution,
easy to trick, just as a low-Dexterity character can constantly be Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma). When taking feats, you
crashing into things in a nonharmful way. Don’t get caught up in ignore any ability score prerequisites for the chosen ability.
thinking that a heroic character has to be above average in
every ability to be fun to play. A mage with Dexterity 12 wants to take Sneak Attack, which
has a prerequisite of Dexterity 15+. By first taking Self
Taught, they are able to take Sneak Attack, as well as any
Leveling the Playing Field other feat with a Dexterity prerequisite.
Using standard ability scores or buying ability scores speeds up the
process of character creation and ensures that every character starts Chapter 9/Damage Feats (272)
off on a level playing field. This can be especially important for Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
newer players, because it creates characters that are more slot. Each time you do so, it applies to a different ability score.
effectively balanced against each other. It also makes things easier
for the GM, because it makes it easier to plan encounters without
worrying about certain characters dominating the game.
Rolling ability scores is a time-honored way of creating fantasy RPG
characters. The process can be a lot of fun for players who know
how to avoid letting exceptionally high scores define their
characters, or who enjoy roleplaying characters with less-heroic
scores. But rolling ability scores runs a risk of creating unbalanced
characters and making it harder for everyone to enjoy the game
equally.

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 32

 Chapter 2: Ability Scores

Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Ability Score Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Self Taught — Qualify for feats with missing ability score 1 — — — — —
prerequisites. 1 — — — — —

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 33

Chapter 3: Lineages
The different ages of the world have known many sovereign
creatures — from the great saurians to the dragons who are
their preternatural descendants, through the giants and titans of
forgotten legend, to the worldborn cultures that have long
dominated the current age. [“Worldborn” in CORE20 replaces
“humanoid” as it’s used in other game systems, so that the
majority of the peoples of the world aren’t being constantly and
explicitly compared to a minority human baseline.] The twelve
worldborn lineages — dwarves and gnomes; elves, halflings,
and humans; essaruks and orcs; goblins, hobgoblins, and
bugbears; kobolds and lizardfolk — make up a wide, wondrous
spectrum of cultures and peoples. The tale of contemporary
history is a story of worldborn achievement and adversity, of
struggle and triumph — and of the worldborn clans, nations,
and empires that have come to shape history.
Fast-Start: Lineage
The choice of your character’s lineage reflects your perspective on
the world and your connection to the past. Each lineage is equally
suitable for any type of character you want to play, but the lineage
traits available to your character will help shape and define your
approach to adventuring.
To build a character quickly, choose one of the following lineages
and the selected traits, all of which will create a character suitable
for most fantasy campaigns. You can also use one of these
selections of lineage traits as a starting point, then customize your
character by swapping some of the suggested traits for different
options.
Dwarf
Take your innate traits — Medium size, speed of 30 feet, darkvision,
and cavern sense. Then select the following eight chosen traits:
Dwarf Combat: Behemoth slayer, martial focus (giants), weapon
affinity (heavy axe group).
Dwarf Magic: Culture of casting; or magical bulwark.
Dwarf Spirit: Dwarf aptitude, immovable, poison resilience,
stonecunning.
Gnome
Take your innate traits — Small size, speed of 20 feet, low-light
vision, lie low, and rambler. Then select the following eight chosen
traits:
Gnome Combat: Defensive stalwart (aberrations), protective,
weapon affinity (crossbow group).
Gnome Magic: Clear mind; or eldritch affinity (illusion).
Gnome Spirit: Acrobatic, fleet, gnome aptitude, nature’s notice.
Elf
Take your innate traits — Medium size, speed of 30 feet, low-light
vision, and trance. Then select the following eight chosen traits:
Elf Combat: Furious riposte, martial focus (fiends), weapon affinity
(bow group).
Elf Magic: Awakened mind, focused mind.
Elf Spirit: Elf aptitude, inquisitive, wayfinder.
Halfling
Take your innate traits — Small size, speed of 20 feet, halfling luck,
lie low, and safety sprint. Then select the following eight chosen
traits:
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Halfling Combat: Coming through, defensive stalwart (wondrous
beasts), weapon affinity (light sword group).
Halfling Magic: Steadfast, valorous.
Halfling Spirit: Halfling aptitude, local lore, perceptive.
Human
Take your innate traits — Medium size, speed of 30 feet, ambitious
effort, and far wanderer. Then select the following eight chosen
traits:
Human Combat: Martial focus (undead), resurgence, weapon
affinity (heavy sword group).
Human Magic: Culture of casting; or healing focus.
Human Spirit: Best effort, human aptitude, knowledgeable, streak
of success.
Essaruk
Take your innate traits — Medium size, speed of 30 feet, low-light
vision, and light sleeper. Then select the following eight chosen
traits:
Essaruk Combat: Diligent ally, martial focus (wondrous beasts),
weapon affinity (heavy pole group).
Essaruk Magic: Clear mind; or elemental affinity.
Essaruk Spirit: Acclimatized, essaruk aptitude, perceptive,
solicitous.
Orc
Take your innate traits — Medium size, darkvision, and keen notice.
Then select the following eight chosen traits:
Orc Combat: Defensive stalwart (fiends), guardian’s vow, weapon
affinity (bow group).
Orc Magic: Eldritch affinity (abjuration); or strength of will.
Orc Spirit: Battle worn, healer, nature’s touch, orc aptitude.
Goblin
Take your innate traits — Small size, speed of 20 feet, darkvision, lie
low, and quick shift. Then select the following eight chosen traits:
Goblin Combat: Defender’s edge, defensive stalwart (elementals),
weapon affinity (light pole group).
Goblin Magic: Eldritch affinity (conjuration); or enduring magic.
Goblin Spirit: Eloquent, goblin aptitude, hazard sense, innocuous.
Hobgoblin
Take your innate traits — Medium size, speed of 30 feet, darkvision,
and light step. Then select the following eight chosen traits:
Hobgoblin Combat: Defensive stalwart (aberrations), quick instincts,
weapon affinity (crossbow group).
Hobgoblin Magic: Focused mind; or spell insight.
Hobgoblin Spirit: Best effort, deference to rank, hobgoblin
aptitude, inquisitive.
Bugbear
Take your innate traits — Medium size, speed of 30 feet, darkvision,
and scent. Then select the following eight chosen traits:
Bugbear Combat: Martial focus (giants), relentless attacker, weapon
affinity (truncheon group).
Bugbear Magic: Elemental affinity; or valorous.
Bugbear Spirit: Bugbear aptitude, cautious, solicitous instinct,
vigorous.
34

Kobold
Take your innate traits — Small size, speed of 20 feet, darkvision, lie
low, and scent. Then select the following eight chosen traits:
Kobold Combat: Defensive stalwart (monstrous arthropods), taunt,
weapon affinity (light pole group).
Kobold Magic: Natural magic; or spell resilience.
Kobold Spirit: Dungeoneer, kobold aptitude, poison resilience,
shared skill.
Lizardfolk
Take your innate traits — Medium size, speed of 30 feet, tail
balance, and water born. Then select the following eight chosen
traits:
Lizardfolk Combat: Martial focus (oozes), tough skin, weapon
affinity (light pole group).
Lizardfolk Magic: Culture of casting; or form of nature.
Lizardfolk Spirit: Eloquent, hardy, lizardfolk aptitude, serpentine.
Present and Past
The twelve worldborn lineages are not the only sapient peoples
and creatures who make up the wider world. Dwarves and
gnomes; elves, humans, and halflings; essaruks and orcs;
goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears; kobolds and lizardfolk are
neither the most numerous nor the most powerful of the world’s
creatures. But the industriousness, the inventiveness, the hunger
for exploration, and the often-bloody historical conflicts sown
among the twelve great worldborn lines have long defined the
rise and the extents of civilization — for good and ill.
Set into relief against the histories of these twelve lineages,
hundreds of nations and hundreds of thousands of clans and
family lines define the worldborn realms. Innumerable
languages and dialects recite the histories and legends of the
diverse folk of those realms. Literature and art, music and magic,
culture and fashion are a mirror reflecting worldborn ambition
and passion, whether through isolated folk reveling in unique
cultural traditions older than recorded history, or in the cultural
continuum that arises when those sequestered cultures come
together and grow to create a legendary whole.
But all that culture is malleable. Culture is ever changing, driven
by circumstance and geography, and defined by the
circumstances of where your character was born, where they’ve
traveled, and why. Culture helps to tell your character’s
individual story. But lineage is your character’s connection to
deeper history, defining them not by circumstance but by the
blood, deeds, and legends of the past.
Playing Your Lineage
Your character can be anything you want them be. Your lineage
comes with no monolithic sense of enforced behavior or rigid
beliefs, no matter who you play. You might be a human yearning
to uncover the secrets of the past, or an elf whose drive is
shaped by the mysteries of magic. You might play an orc who
seeks to understand their own ambition by searching the stars,
or a kobold whose vision of the future is shaped by ancestral
remembrances. But whatever your choice, the one thing each
lineage shares is a place in history — and a sense of what came
before.
Lineage defines the position and momentum of each individual
worldborn. Some characters might embrace that. Some might
fight for it. Some might fight against it. But every character
carries that sense of history with them, bound to them by
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 3: Lineages
memory, family, lore, and blood. Whatever your character’s
origins, whatever your background, your personal history, and
the culture and people that color your life, you also carry with
you the history of your lineage, and your own sense of that
lineage’s place in the world.
Isheridar
The world of the CORE20 game is Isheridar, a supercontinental
dominion home to countless peoples and cultures. But as with every
other aspect of the game, players of CORE20 are equally free to
build campaigns in Isheridar or to work with the creative canvas
afforded by any other published or homebrewed campaign world.
Chapter 7, “Life and Adventuring,” explores the history and secrets
of Isheridar, the rules of the game, and the narrative framework that
defines the relationship between those things. But even if your
game won’t be using Isheridar as its baseline, the following points
can provide useful context for understanding that relationship and
replacing it with a narrative framework of your own.
Chapter 7/Isheridar (151)
• Isheridar is a world-continent — a single land mass akin to the
supercontinent of Pangaea in our own world, surrounded by an
ocean known as the Great Sea of Storms. The supercontinent
contains endless expanses of barely explored wilderness and
unique peoples, but there are no lands or territories outside this
known world.
• Dozens of types of sapient creatures call Isheridar home, including
giants, dragons, fey, wondrous worldborn, and worldborn folk.
Player characters are drawn from the worldborn lines who have
long been the dominant peoples of Isheridar, as detailed in this
chapter.
• Isheridar’s recent history was dominated by the powerful high-
magic worldborn Empire of the Lothelecan, which began its
expansion fifteen hundred years ago and controlled the entire
world-continent for a thousand years.
• Though plenty of its subject peoples viewed the Lothelecan as a
force for despotism, the Empire was nominally a benevolent
entity, ruling over an Imperial age of peace, partnership, shared
knowledge, and prosperity among all sapient folk.
• A century ago, an arcane cataclysm destroyed the Imperial capital
of Ulannor Mor in the far west of Isheridar, leaving a plain of ash
and black glass in its wake three hundred leagues across. In the
decades-long aftermath, the Empire shattered and its client states
reverted back to the nations they had once been.
• In most parts of the world, nations and their people hold onto the
Empire’s model of peace and enfranchised rule. In others, those in
power vow to destroy all remaining remnants of the Empire’s
hated autocracy — in order to establish autocratic orders of their
own.
• In many areas, ancient cultural and political strife all but forgotten
in the Imperial age have flared once more into conflict and war. In
others, the unfettered spread of powerful magic and ancient
evil — once held in check by the Empire and the Lotherasien, its
Imperial Guard — becomes an increasingly potent threat.
Choosing a Lineage
Your choice of lineage is as wide open as all other parts of the
game, limited only by your imagination. However, the GM can
provide information about the campaign that might influence
your decision. Members of the twelve worldborn lines can be
found in all areas of the world, but not always in the same
numbers. In some places, characters of certain lineages might
have historical connections to the land that extend back to
before recorded history. In others, characters of certain lineages
are more often part of newer waves of exploration and
35

migration. But whichever lineage you choose, every part of the
campaign and its environs can be considered home.
Lineage Traits
Each lineage offers a wide range of traits that you can choose
from, providing distinct benefits that reflect your character’s
connections to the past, and which can help you define your
character’s place in the world of the game. Some lineage traits
are innate, comprising a set of features and benefits that
characters of a particular lineage typically share. Additionally,
you take eight chosen traits from a wide list of options, including
traits shaping your prowess with combat, magic, and skills.
There are no intrinsic benefits or drawbacks between characters
of different worldborn lines, and your character’s choice of
vocation, lifestyle, and goals as an adventurer aren’t dependent
on your choice of lineage. As such, which lineage you want to
play typically comes down to which history you want to be part
of — whether your character carries that history with a sense of
pride and contentment, or whether they seek to break away
from what came before as they make their own way in the world.
Lineage traits are chosen at character creation, and usually can’t
be changed once selected. Unless otherwise noted, you can
select a specific lineage trait only once for your character.
Depending on how strong a sense you have of which lineage
you want your character to be, you can choose your lineage
traits up front or leave them open to choose later on.
Sometimes the choices you make for your feats can help you
more easily decide which lineage traits to select.
Enduring Lineage sidebar (49)
Though a number of lineage traits affect how a character
interacts with magic, all lineage traits are natural features.
Appendix A/Natural and Magical Features (A1)
Customizing Traits
Aside from fixed innate traits, the available selection of chosen
traits presented for each lineage isn’t intended to be complete.
Rather, these are simply some of the most commonly shared
traits that the folk of each lineage carry with them through their
traditions and histories. Regardless of your lineage, your
character is free to select lineage traits from a different lineage if
those traits fit your character concept. Such traits might
represent your own unique upbringing, time spent among folk
of different lineages, or a magic-augmented mingling of
different lineages in your family.
Shared Lineage
In consultation with the GM, you can come up with any number
of unique lineage traits for your character, whose mechanical
benefit is consistent with the other traits in this section. If a
shared lineage is part of your character’s story, you can also
select an innate lineage trait from another lineage as one of
your chosen lineage traits.
Shared Lineage
The various worldborn lines have been biologically distinct for
tens of thousands of years, so that each lineage comprises a
unique people. Even where the folk of different lineages are
close kin to each other in their distant pasts (as dwarves and
gnomes, lizardfolk and kobolds, orcs and essaruks, and so forth),
partners of those related lineages never produce biological
children. (Elves and humans are the single exception to this rule,
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 3: Lineages
with the folk of those two lineages remaining biologically
related despite the differences wrought between them by the
elves’ evolution in the magic-rich realms of their earliest
homelands.)
An Elf-Human Lineage sidebar (45)
Despite the constraints of biology, though, folk of different
lineages have long enjoyed the ability to create biological
families together through the use of magic — particularly the
wondrous item known as balm of life. Folk of such magically
shared lineages are known throughout the world, whether the
direct product of two or more parents of different lineages, or a
more indirect and distant shared ancestry. In some areas,
people of shared lineage are more common than single-lineage
folk, defined by their connections to the intertwined threads of a
shared past.
Balm of Life sidebar (37)
Shared Features
A character of shared lineage uses the lineage of the parent
who gave birth to them, but can freely choose any physical
features and traits from their shared lineage, including innate
traits. (They can also take chosen lineage traits from outside any
of their lineages if that fits the character’s concept and story, as
usual.)
If a character of shared lineage wants to select innate traits from
those lineages, it’s often best to trade one innate trait for a
similar trait from another lineage. For example, an elf character
with a dwarf parent or grandparent — or even an unknown
dwarf ancestor from generations past — might select the
dwarf’s darkvision innate trait rather than the elf’s low-light
vision, or the dwarf’s cavern sense trait instead of the elf’s trance
trait. Taking darkvision in place of trance is also possible, though
the character might not get as much benefit from a second type
of vision as from a different innate trait.
Appendix A/Special Features (A1)
In consultation with the GM, a character of more than two
shared lineages can take additional innate traits from one of
their lineages as chosen traits.
For Small characters, the lie low innate trait is an extra trait that
offsets a small character’s default speed of 20 feet. A Medium
character whose ancestry incorporates both Medium and Small
forebears can choose lie low instead of an innate trait from a
Medium lineage, or might decide to play a character from a
typically Medium lineage as a Small character.
Tall for Your Height sidebar (67)
Lineage and Culture
Your choice of lineage for your character defines just one aspect
of that character, specifically related to their relationship to myth
and history, and their understanding of their lineage’s place in
the world. But your character’s culture plays as much or more of
a part in defining their worldly perspective, and is most often a
bigger part of how your choice of feats defines your character’s
vocations and goals.
Chapter 1/Step-by-Step Characters (15)
Whether your character is an elf, an orc, a kobold, a hobgoblin,
or any other lineage, that shapes a common connection to all
other folk of the same lineage. But an elf, an orc, a kobold, and
a hobgoblin all living in a particular nation, freehold, or territory
are shaped even more so by the culture of that territory, and
36
 Chapter 3: Lineages

their sense of how they belong to or stand outside that culture.

Your character’s culture might be defined by the lands in which
they grew up, the places they traveled or settled before
beginning their adventuring career, or the location in which the
campaign’s adventures play out. Your character might
adventure in the same lands they were born in, thoroughly
steeped in the culture around them. Or they might be the only
member of their culture they know, having traveled thousands of
leagues over their lifetime in search of adventure — or to
escape the misadventures of the past.
While your choice of lineage and background is suitable for
creating a character in any part of the campaign world, your
choice of culture depends on the location of the campaign your
character is part of. Where a campaign takes place can be
something all players decide on before it begins. But the GM
often has final say in that decision, or might pick a specific area
of an existing campaign setting — or shape their own setting
and the cultures within it — to line up with the campaign story
they want to build with the other players.
Chapter 5/Session Zero (95)
One campaign setting available for the game is the Elder
Kingdoms, a collection of independent nations and holds whose
cultures and shared histories have been forged by millennia of
progress, struggle, conflict, and Imperial peace. If the GM is
running a campaign in the Elder Kingdoms, you can get an
overview of that setting, its nations, and its cultures at the end of
this book.
Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms (A14)

Balm of Life
(A magic item from the CORE20 Magic Grimoire.)
A small glass jar holds a single dose of clear, sweet-smelling balm.
When two or more willing worldborn each place a piece of themself
into the balm (a lock of hair, a scale, a fingernail paring, and so
forth), the balm activates and takes on a shifting array of pastel hues.
If the balm is thereafter applied to one of the creatures who
activated it, then left for 24 hours, that creature becomes pregnant if
they are willing and able to do so.
The new child the pregnant creature carries has the appearance of a
sibling of themself, and the child is of that parent’s lineage.
However, they can be of any sex and gender, and can possess
physical features and innate traits drawn from the other creatures
whose body samples activated the balm.
A human, a dwarf, and a lizardfolk use the balm to become
parents together. If the human is the one who bears the child,
that child will be human and will resemble a sibling of their
human parent. But the child might also take on any of the
outward physical traits of their lizardfolk and dwarf parents —
height and stockiness, complexion, eye color, teeth, traces of
scales, and more.
If the balm is washed off before 24 hours have passed, or if the
creature who the balm is applied to isn’t able to become pregnant
and give birth, the balm has no effect.
As a magic item, balm of life has a nominal cost of 10 gp, but it is
created in volume and given away by countless orders of healers
and midwives across the world.

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Dwarf Lineage Languages

Dwarves and Gnomes
Earth and stone, forest and hill are the ancient domains of the
dwarves and the gnomes — two lineages linked by distant
history and unshakeable connections to the enduring earth.
Dwargiir and Mairnash are the spoken and signed languages of
the dwarf line, and most dwarves are fluent in one or the other.
Chapter 7/Languages (159)

Dwarf Lineage and Languages

In addition to their regional language, determined by their culture
The worldborn folk known as the dwargarvhan in their own
and location in the campaign world, and the Imperial that is the
Dwargiir language can trace their oldest histories back to great
common trade language of the fallen Empire of the Lothelecan, all
clanholds carved out within the peaks and valleys of the Rift characters except humans typically know a lineage language.
Plains that spread across north-central Isheridar. Countless Lineage languages are the languages established long ago by
dwarves still dwell within the deep rifts and below the high common culture among the different worldborn lineages, and which
mountain ranges of the world, though that folk have always are spoken now in most areas of the world. Humans have no
been equally at home above the ground. But the stone from separate lineage language because Imperial is effectively their
which the world was carved holds a special place for dwarves — lineage language, with their history of conflict and warfare against
even those who have never set foot underground. each other preventing them from establishing this milestone prior to
the rise of the Empire.
Strength of Stone
The tales of the dwarves are the tales of clans and heroes Dwarf Names
spread across the countless cultures and endless ages of Many dwarves are given names that call out the history of their
Isheridar. The solidity of the deep world speaks to dwarves in family, their clan, or the tales and legends of the dwarf line. A
ways few non-dwarves can understand, and which few dwarves dwarf character might adopt their Dwargiir family or clan name
are ever able to fully articulate. The histories and tales that bind as a surname, or might translate that kin name into a local
them as families and clans extol the endurance, hard work, and regional language or Imperial for broader understanding. Some
bravery of great dwarf heroes, their lives and stories written in dwarves take kin names only as secondary names, preferring
stone. surnames that tie to their place of origin or their ambitions —
No matter what lands or culture they might hail from, many with a mind to perhaps someday create a new clan name of
dwarves hold the ancient dwarf system of clan bonds close to their own.
their hearts. But that sense of clan extends far beyond family
lines running back to the oldest mountain halls, and Example Dwarf Names in Dwargiir
encompasses compatriots of any lineage who have earned the Names in Dwargiir often carry a hard edge reminiscent of the
trust and respect on which clan bonds are made. Dwarves bear
mountains and caverns that are central to the dwarves’ oldest
grudges no more eagerly than anyone else. But the seriousness tales. When dwarves bestow names drawn from other
with which a dwarf can respond to threats against clan-friends
languages, they often recast them to more closely resemble the
and kin gives them a reputation as fierce defenders of those
tones of Dwargiir speech.
who have been wronged.
Aradreak Dagneack Dalorbrumri Dardour
If dwarves share any single trait, it is a tendency toward quiet Doudrehulda Doudragith Dundulsia Firgina
reflection, and a dwarf will often think long on the import of Fodmumir Gaweaginn Glorisseath Gokdronlir
things before reacting. This can sometimes be mistaken for
Gondeck Hadrutain Hoddean Kibroginn
aloofness by those more anxious to think in a hurry, or as a sign
Kodrounyn Kondrelda Lonougrett Nomralum
of dour humorlessness if what’s being thought about is a jest or
Numryl Nurathorid Onmour Ralebo
a tale. A bond with stone makes gemstones precious to many
Ranmaeni Skalac Skandruginn Skommeabelyn
dwarves, and the best dwarf gemsmiths and jewelers have
Thanmahilda Thengrouni Thradrouk Throddala
legendary reputations. Especially for those dwarves dwelling far
Torezaic Ukag Ulgroc Umigregit
from the mountain halls of their ancient kin, a love of gems
Umisdroc Vodaegith Vomnumin Whudreak
extends from a more general love of natural beauty. But
dwarves know the warnings of their oldest tales, telling how that
love can turn covetous if left unbalanced against the more Lineage and Names
important love of life and family. The sections in this chapter talk about the conventions of names in
the languages of each lineage, and offers a few such names as
Dwarf Features examples. But characters of a particular lineage aren’t automatically
expected to employ names from their lineage language.
Dwarves stand 5 to 5.5 feet tall on average, and typically weigh
between 125 and 200 pounds. They share the compact frames Names bestowed by parents or claimed as adults in a lineage
of their gnome kin but are generally broader. Many are hirsute, language hold a special place for many folk, depending on the
with long hair and beards common among them, often braided myths, histories, and bonds with the past their lineage defines. But
in elaborate fashion and set with ornate clips and rings. The many people are drawn instead to the culture in which they grew up,
came of age, or made a place for themselves when they name
tones of their skin and hair run through all the tans, browns, and
children or want to redefine their own sense of identity. Folk who
grays of earth and stone, matched with bright eyes of gold,
draw inspiration for names from the places or people they know
green, blue, or brown.
might end up drawing from any number of lineage, regional, or
ancient and all-but-lost languages.

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Dwarf Innate Traits
Dwarves typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
Size
You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet.
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
Speed
You have a speed of 30 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Darkvision
You can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and
white only but is otherwise like sight, enabling you to function
with no light at all.
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
Cavern Sense
While in subterranean spaces, you can automatically sense your
depth underground, you can tell which direction is north, and
you have advantage on other Perception/orientation checks.
Chapter 6/Perception (134)
Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage
Many lineage traits grant bonuses, boons, or advantage to skill
checks, attack rolls, defense rolls, challenge throws, saving throws,
or initiative checks — all the types of d20 rolls you can make for your
character in the game. Bonuses, boons, and advantage all make
your character better at the things they do, though they work in
different ways.
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Dwarf Chosen Traits
In addition to their innate traits, a starting dwarf character
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
following options.
Dwarf Combat
Their people’s ancient histories as warrior clans inspire many
dwarves to engage in martial traditions from a young age.
Back to Back
When a creature who can observe you flanks an ally within your
melee reach, you can use a reaction to deny that creature the
advantage they gain from flanking your ally.
Chapter 9/Flank (289)
Actions
Many lineage traits refer to the different types of actions your
character can perform while the game is in initiative — standard
actions, minor actions, move actions, free actions, and reactions.
Each type of action allows your character to do specific things at
different points in the game.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
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Chapter 3: Lineages
Behemoth Slayer
You have favored damage on weapon attacks against any Large
or larger creature.
Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)
Martial Focus
A shared history of conflict with creatures of certain types grants
you favored damage on weapon attacks against those creatures.
The most common creature types for dwarf martial focus are
dragons, giants, and monstrous arthropods, but you can select
any creature type that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Robust
You gain 1 additional critical point at character creation.
Additionally, whenever you take the Toughness feat, you gain
critical points equal to your Constitution modifier + 1 (minimum
1).
Chapter 9/Critical Points and Defense Points (252); Hit Point
Feats (255)
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for dwarf weapon affinity are the heavy axe group, the light axe
group, and the crossbow group, but you can select any weapon
group that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Foes of Tradition
The martial focus and defensive stalwart traits can be taken for
fifteen different creature types — aberrations, animals, botanicals,
celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants,
monstrous arthropods, oozes, undead, and wondrous beasts — with
each lineage suggesting choices for its own versions of those traits.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Though you are free to choose a different creature type for martial
focus or defensive stalwart, you can’t choose worldborn or
wondrous worldborn as the creature type for either trait. Both traits
are built on the idea that certain general features of all creatures of
the same type can be become a focus for tales and traditions of
combat, granting an edge in a fight against those creatures. But the
broad range of cultures among the worldborn and wondrous
worldborn lines — and the focus of many of those lines on combat
and warfare across millennia of history — precludes any common
combat focus that can be taken advantage of.
Dwarf Magic
Eldritch power is everywhere in the underground realms where
the dwarf line was born, and that line has been shaped by magic
since its earliest days.
39

Body and Mind
When you make a Will saving throw, you can use a reaction to
instead make a Fortitude save against the same effect.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
Culture of Casting
If you are a spellcaster, you learn one spell of 3rd level or lower
at character creation without paying for it as part of your starting
equipment. The spell can be of any level you can cast at
character creation. When you cast that spell, it is always treated
as focused for you.
Chapter 10/Starting Spells (324); Focusing Spells (326)
Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
dwarf eldritch affinity are abjuration, evocation, and
transmutation, but you can select any school of magic that fits
your character’s backstory.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
Magical Bulwark
You have a +1 bonus to saving throws and defense rolls against
spells and other magical effects.
Chapter 9/Defense (237); Saving Throws (245)
Dwarf Spirit
Many dwarves are known in equal measure for the hardiness
and the love of stone and metals that are their ancient
birthright.
Dungeoneer
You have a +1 bonus to Dungeoneering checks, or a +2 bonus
to checks with a chosen skill in the Dungeoneering group.
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115)
Dwarf Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to metalwork, stonework, or gemwork.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Hardy
You have a +1 bonus to Endurance checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Endurance group.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Immovable
You have advantage on saving throws against any effect that
would force you to move.
Poison Resilience
You have advantage on saving throws against poison.
Chapter 7/Poison (183)
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Chapter 3: Lineages
Stable
You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would
make you prone.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Stonecunning
Whenever you pass within 5 feet of dangerous or unusual
stonework (including unsafe surfaces, crumbling ceilings, new
stone disguised as old stone, and so forth), you notice it or get
some sense of its presence at the GM’s determination.
Gnome
Their line is named as the gnomynhana, but they are known as
the gnomes to all those not up to the challenge of mastering
their lyrical Gnomyha language. The oldest gnome settlements
still stand in the hilly sylvan woodlands of Vandaya in east-
central Isheridar, and many gnomes maintain a sense of
connection to nature no matter how far removed from the
natural world their lives take them. Rich earth and rainfall, fresh
air and clear nights can lighten almost any gnome’s heart.
Bright and Bountiful
The stories of the gnomes record days beyond the reach of
history, recorded through the arts of carving and tapestry,
oratory and shadowplay. Their connection to the earth is a thing
beyond explanation for many gnomes. Like life itself, it simply is.
And even many of those gnomes who dwell far from the oldest
forested homelands of their line find themselves most
comfortable with at least some small reminder of nature’s
complexity nearby.
Gnomes have a reputation for instinctively focusing on the
bright side of all that goes on around them. They latch on to
moments and memories of happiness in times of tragedy, and
take any opportunity to reflect on the good that comes from
friends, family, and the world around them. Known for their
curiosity and adventurous spirit, many gnomes perceive any
problem to be solved as an exercise in engineering, whether
mechanical, magical, or social. They share an instinctive sense of
where the strong points of the natural world are to be found,
and a parallel instinct for spotting the strengths and weaknesses
in friends and foes alike. They have a reputation for greatness
beyond their modest stature, and have helped shape the history
of the world as the earth they love flows and is shaped by
weather and time.
A sense that the actions of all creatures combine to shape the
course of history underlies the worldview of the gnomes, but
this perspective rarely creates any sense of fatalism in them.
Rather, many gnomes perceive challenges as unknown territory,
best mastered by forthright investigation, exploration, and a
talent for digging into life to learn its secrets. This natural
curiosity often drives a sense of impulsiveness, however,
inspiring many gnomes to seek answers before determining
what risks those answers might carry. It also makes many
gnomes avid listeners, eager to partake of the tales and
knowledge of others — especially when those tales reflect the
natural ebb and flow of the world.
Gnome Features
Gnomes average 4.5 to 5 feet tall and typically weigh between
70 and 90 pounds, with compact, slender frames. They possess
little hair except that of their heads and the beards some grow,
and show off hair color and skin tones that run the range from
40
 Chapter 3: Lineages

pale pink through tan to dark brown, often with no connection Low-Light Vision
between the two. Gnomes’ eyes are uniformly bright, reflecting
the most vivid greens, blues, violets, and golds of nature. You can see in dim light or shadow as if it were bright light,
allowing you to see fully outdoors under moonlight and
starlight, to read by candlelight, and so on. You ignore
Gnome Lineage Languages concealment caused by dim light and shadow.
The tales and histories of the gnomes have been told in the
spoken language of Gnomyha and the sign language of Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment (306)
Appendix A/Low-Light Vision (A6)
Mairnash since the earliest days of that line.
Chapter 7/Languages (159) Rambler
You have advantage on Acrobatics checks to move up and over
Gnome Names bushes, rocks, rubble, small streams, and other natural
Gnomes treat names like most folk treat clothing, amassing a obstacles.
fine collection over their lifetimes and routinely retiring names
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
that no longer wear as comfortably as they once did. For
gnomes who hew most closely to the traditions of their line, a
newborn is given a name by every friend and family member Gnome Chosen Traits
who visits the babe on their day of birth. Parents choose and In addition to their innate traits, a starting gnome character
choose again which of those names feel like the best fit, and chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
give the child the right to choose again for themself as their following options.
language skills increase. Even gnomes far removed from the old
culture often latch onto nicknames, grant themselves wry titles,
or decide to change which of their many names they use
Gnome Combat
publicly on a whim. Though their exploits are less commonly written in the annals of
martial history than many, gnomes are known for their tenacity
and quickness on the battlefield.
Example Gnome Names in Gnomyha
Gnomes who favor names in Gnomyha often add additional Defensive Stalwart
names from non-Gnomyha languages, either translating such
names or choosing a Gnomyha name that is roughly Whether as experience or legend, a history of conflict with
phonetically equivalent — especially if this introduces an creatures of certain types grants you advantage on defense rolls
amusing double meaning to the name. against attacks by those creatures. The most common creature
types for gnome defensive stalwart are aberrations, constructs,
Breekini Davgrim Egrim Fenxis and fey, but you can select any creature type that fits your
Gradon Graziver Hellys Helnoa character’s backstory.
Hisybar Ipahim Jelsys Krikasys
Lilroe Loniana Luphina Mermop Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Minna Nyxis Orhona Orniana
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Panamop Poji Quadon Rekini You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
Rosiceli Sali Sinser Tifaci choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Traryn Ufelin Urigim Urimyra
Valwor Welrhana Wilfan Yefarn Diligent Ally
Yeziver Yosbis Zanyur Zilryn Choose an ally within melee reach of an enemy who both you
and the ally can observe. As a standard action, you create a
Gnome Innate Traits distraction that allows your ally to make a weapon attack against
Gnomes typically possess the following innate lineage traits. that enemy as a reaction, or to cast a spell that targets only that
enemy if the ally has the ability to cast a spell as a reaction.
Size Combat Shuffle
You are a Small creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet. You
can’t use heavy weapons. When you hit a creature with a melee attack on your turn, your
movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from that
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264) creature for the rest of that turn.
Chapter 9/Opportunity Attacks (299)
Speed
You have a speed of 20 feet. Protective
Chapter 7/Movement (166) While you are within 5 feet of an ally who is bloodied, you and
that ally have advantage on defense rolls.
Lie Low
As a minor action, you grant yourself advantage on Stealth/hide
checks until the end of your turn.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Weapon Affinity Gnome Aptitude

Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups related to alchemy or clockwork.
for gnome weapon affinity are the hammer group, the whip
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
group, and the crossbow group, but you can select any weapon
group that fits your character’s backstory.
Hale Senses
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can make you disoriented.
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)

Gnome Magic Nature’s Notice

The gnomes’ reputation for ingenuity and creativity extends
through their mastery of the eldritch arts.
Clear Mind
You have advantage on saving throws against illusion spells and
magical effects.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
Chapter 10/Schools of Magic (328)
Clear Senses
When you make your saving throw against illusion magic and
communicate your disbelief to other creatures, those creatures
automatically recognize the illusion for what it is.
Chapter 10/Save to Disbelieve (336)
Culture of Casting
If you are a spellcaster, you learn one spell of 3rd level or lower
at character creation without paying for it as part of your starting
equipment. The spell can be of any level you can cast at
character creation. When you cast that spell, it is always treated
as focused for you.
Chapter 10/Starting Spells (324); Focusing Spells (326)
You have advantage on Perception checks made in an outdoor
environment.
Chapter 6/Perception (134)
Nature’s Touch
You have a +1 bonus to Nature checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Nature group.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Work the Crowd
You have advantage on Investigation or Persuasion checks
made to assess or interact with a group of five or more
worldborn.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Persuasion (137)
Medium and Small Characters
Bugbears, dwarves, elves, essaruks, humans, hobgoblins, lizardfolk,
and orcs are Medium characters. Goblins, gnomes, halflings, and
kobolds are Small characters. Small characters have a lower speed
than Medium characters and can’t use heavy weapons, but their size
grants them the lie low trait, and an edge at staying unobserved.
Tall For Your Height sidebar (67)

Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
gnome eldritch affinity are conjuration, illusion, and
transmutation, but you can select any school of magic that fits
your character’s backstory.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)

Gnome Spirit
Gnomes are often known for their quickness of wit and action,
both in and out of combat.

Acrobatic
You have a +1 bonus to Acrobatics checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Acrobatics group.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)

Fleet
Your speed increases by 5 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

or blue offsetting pale features, or gleaming eyes of gold,

Elves, Halflings, and Humans
Elves, halflings, and humans can be found in most areas of the
world — three peoples connected by blood and separated by
long and complex history. Only the elves maintain a connection
to the oldest parts of that history, however, with halflings and
humans focused more on the recent past and the future to
come.
green, blue, or violet highlighting darker skin tones.
Elf Lineage Languages
The spoken language Ilvani threads through countless elf
cultures across the world, with two sign languages — Draynar
and Ilaeratha — equally common in elven realms.
Chapter 7/Languages (159)

Elf Elf Names

Shaping empires long before the rise of the Lothelecan Empire Elf given names are often crafted from the names of friends,
whose power they alternately defied and helped to define, the ancestors, and heroes of old, with syllables woven together from
elves trace their origins to Anghlira, once called Ilvanghlira — strands of history and legend. Elf clan names are crafted in the
the ruined central heartland of Isheridar. Called the ilvani in the same way from the places, exploits, and legends that are most
language of that same name, the elves carved their first nations significant to an elf’s family line. An elf might take on different
within landscapes of forest and plain, mountain and desert. And personal names at different points in their life, and an elf who
though they have long been equally at home in the most undertakes a significant relocation or achieves a great goal
densely populated cities as they are in trackless wilderness, might craft a new family name for themself, perhaps creating a
many elves feel an instinctive preference for one of the types of clan name that will endure for generations. Elf clan names are
homeland that has defined the lives of elf clans over freely translated from Ilvani into other languages, and elves in
generations. the same family might use alternate versions of their name, or
switch between names depending on who they speak to.
Ageless Wonder
The elves pride themselves on the manner in which their Example Elf Names in Ilvani
histories absorb the tales and legends of elves from across the Names in Ilvani often have a lyrical quality, which can make their
world, crafting a tapestry of connected experience that binds proper pronunciation a challenge for those not versed in that
elves together. Those tales of the elves are among the oldest of language. Rather than deal with mispronunciation, many elves
the worldborn lineages, carried forth for millennia in script and use versions of their names that are shortened or translated for
song. But of all the worldborn folk, the elves alone can speak of ease of use.
even older legends and lore, whose full details have been
Aelrie Aemalei Amra Avourel
stricken from history and memory for the malevolence they
Balberos Beigwyn Cairic Chaeleth
conceal.
Daemyar Darunia Delsanra Elauthin
Many elves are driven to experience the world in order to Eloimaya Fenphyra Filverel Glynyra
understand its processes, and to add the tales of their individual Helevyre Huethea Iefyr Katyr
understanding to the overall story that shapes their knowledge Keenor Lazziar Loreleia Magdalar
of all things. This focus on experience often inspires elves to Morwenys Nhamashal Nushala Ralothana
engage with the world through a sense of wonder, marveling Raloydra Rolen Sarnala Shanyrria
equally at the unfolding of history, at the beauty inherent in the Tannatar Umenan Uneathen Vamoira
slow movement of nature, and of the splendor and the Virvaris Wynather Xilro Xyrhana
destruction shaped by worldborn hands.
The tales and legends of the elves combine history and myth,
realism and magic in a complex weave. Many elves are quick to
Elf Innate Traits
Elves typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
focus on the arcana at the heart of their legends to remind other
folk that arcane spellcraft was their own innovation, even as
other folk are quick to question how selectively the elves judge Size
truth from wild tale in their histories. For many elves, this You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet.
question of truth is a complex one, as they understand that the
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
lessons taught by the past are often more important than the
events that inspired those lessons. A problem arises, however,
when the breadth of elf myth-history becomes a source of pride
Speed
and aloofness, with some elves coming to believe that shaping You have a speed of 30 feet.
the early history of the world more than other folk bestows on Chapter 7/Movement (166)
their line the right — or the obligation — to shape the history of
the world yet to come. Low-Light Vision
You can see in dim light or shadow as if it were bright light,
Elf Features allowing you to see fully outdoors under moonlight and
Elves stand 5 to 6.5 feet tall on average, and typically weigh starlight, to read by candlelight, and so on. You ignore
from 90 to 200 pounds. Many wear the hair of their heads long concealment caused by dim light and shadow.
as a conscious expression of age and experience, but they only
rarely sport facial hair. The broad range of skin and hair tones Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment (306)
among the elves extends from pale ivory through tan to deep Appendix A/Low-Light Vision (A6)
brown. But elf eyes often contrast those tones, with deep brown

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Trance
Unlike most living creatures, elves do not truly sleep. Instead of
sleeping, you enter a semiconscious state of meditation for 4
hours a day, which provides the same amount of rest that other
worldborn receive from 8 hours of sleep. This state of
meditation is commonly referred to as “trance.”
While you trance, you retain your full awareness (unlike sleeping
creatures, which are considered unconscious). Even though you
require only 4 hours to trance, taking a long rest still requires
that you spend a full 8 hours engaging in nonstrenuous activities
and minimal movement.
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193)
Appendix B/Unconscious (A11)
Elf Chosen Traits
In addition to their innate traits, a starting elf character chooses
eight lineage traits, which can include any of the following
options.
Elf Combat
The histories of the elves bear witness to their mastery of
weaponry and their deadly grace on the battlefield.
Eldritch Control
You have a +1 bonus to magic attack rolls.
Chapter 10/Magic Attack Roll (335)
Furious Riposte
When you take damage from a weapon attack, you have favored
damage against the attacker until the end of your next turn.
Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)
Make an Example
When you reduce a creature to 0 critical points, choose one
creature within 30 feet who can observe you. You can use the
demoralize combat maneuver against that creature as a free
action.
Chapter 9/Critical Points and Defense Points (252);
Demoralize (260)
Martial Focus
A shared history of conflict with creatures of certain types grants
you favored damage on weapon attacks against those creatures.
The most common creature types for elf martial focus are
dragons, celestials, and fiends, but you can select any creature
type that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for elf weapon affinity are the heavy sword group, the light
sword group, and the bow group, but you can select any
weapon group that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
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Chapter 3: Lineages
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Elf Magic
The elves were the first worldborn line to master the power of
arcane spellcraft, and magic remains second nature to many
elves.
Awakened Mind
You automatically succeed on saving throws against magical
effects that leave you unconscious. You can still fall unconscious
if reduced to 0 critical points by a magical attack.
Appendix B/Unconscious (A11)
Culture of Casting
If you are a spellcaster, you learn one spell of 3rd level or lower
at character creation without paying for it as part of your starting
equipment. The spell can be of any level you can cast at
character creation. When you cast that spell, it is always treated
as focused for you.
Chapter 10/Starting Spells (324); Focusing Spells (326)
Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for elf
eldritch affinity are divination, evocation, and necromancy, but
you can select any school of magic that fits your character’s
backstory.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
Focused Mind
You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would
make you charmed.
Appendix B/Charmed (A9)
Elf Spirit
The connection many elves share to the ancient world colors
their varied connections to the world around them.
Deep Lore
You have advantage on skill checks made to learn information
regarding lost history, as determined by the GM.
Elf Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to dance, musical, or oratory performance.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Hold On
If any effect causes you to lose your hold on an object (including
a weapon), you can use a reaction to retain your grasp on the
object before you lose it.
Chapter 9/Disarm (260)
Hunter’s Sense
When dealing with creatures of any type selected for your
martial focus trait or the defensive stalwart trait, you have
44

advantage on skill checks to learn or recall information about
those creatures.
Chapter 6/Knowledge and Lore sidebar (109)
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134)
Inquisitive
You have a +1 bonus to Investigation checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Investigation group.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126)
Magic-Touch
You have a +1 bonus to Magic checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Magic group.
Chapter 6/Magic (128)
Wayfinder
Whenever you pass within 5 feet of a concealed portal (including
secret doors, regular doors or windows hidden behind mundane
cover, and so forth), you notice it or get some sense of its
presence at the GM’s determination.
An Elf-Human Lineage
Humans and elves are the single exception to the rule that prevents
members of the biologically distinct worldborn lineages from
producing children together without the aid of magic. Members of
those lineages can freely have children of shared lineage, marking
elves and humans as one people despite their distinct features and
long separate histories.
Balm of Life sidebar (37)
If you want to play the child of a human and an elf, a human
character with elf ancestry, or an elf character whose family line has
crossed through the human world, you choose elf or human as your
lineage, then choose physical features and traits (including innate
traits) from either lineage freely, as with any other shared lineage
character. Beyond the choice of lineage and traits, all physical
features of a character of elf and human heritage are left to your
determination. A character can use the human lineage but display
any number of physical features from an elf parent or ancestor, and
vice versa.
Halfling
For countless generations of prehistory, the folk known
collectively as the halflings dwelled alongside and between the
clans and nations of larger folk across the south of Isheridar,
steering clear of the strife and warfare that defined the early
ages of the world by staying constantly on the move. They have
long lived as two broad groups, named by themselves the itsaba
in the east and the ryta in the west. The name “halfling” was first
given to them by their human kin in various regional languages,
but these folk have long since adopted that name as their own.
Journey and Reward
Halfling culture is built around a rich tradition of story and
writing, song and performance, shaping the legends and
lessons of the past as rich allegory. Though their history of
forced migration is long behind them, many halflings are still
beholden to a sense of wanderlust and a passion for new places,
new faces, and new things. Many halfling tales focus on heroic
clans and adventurers seeking peaceful lands to settle — but
within those tales can be found the paradox that often fills the
halfling heart. Fleeing from strife speaks to seeking a place to
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Chapter 3: Lineages
belong, and a constancy that might bring happiness. But when
that place is found, the wandering heart discovers that the only
true joy comes from change.
Halfling history is a rich tapestry of travelogue and heroic
journey, underlining an inspired sense of ingenuity and
resourcefulness that many halflings continue to pride
themselves on. They are known for their curiosity, and for how
much of that curiosity focuses on what lies beyond the next
village, the far frontier, or the even-farther horizon. Inspired by
the old tales, many halflings are driven by the desire to seek new
places, new folk, and new experiences. Halfling clans and
enclaves might shift from place to place within larger
settlements, or might pick up and migrate en masse to new
cities or new lands. With each new journey comes a new tale,
adding to the tales of all the journeys that came before.
However, just as many halflings eschew the wanderlust with
which their line often seem synonymous, settling in crossroads
communities or bustling cities to let travelers bring the world to
them.
No matter the life they lead, halflings maintain close bonds to
clan and family, and closer bonds to chosen friends and
neighbors. When those bonds are broken by circumstance or
time, a halfling feels the loss as profoundly as the death of a
loved one. This passion for connection to others often makes
halflings generous to a fault, though many come to
instinctively — and erroneously — expect that all other folk will
be equally generous in return.
Halfling Features
Halflings average 4 to 4.5 feet in height on average, and weigh
between 55 and 80 pounds. Their hair grows thick and wild, and
runs the same range of earthy tones as their complexions, from
tan to dark brown. Their eyes are typically darker shades of hazel
or brown, or brighter tones of blue, violet, or green, and often
seem to possess an inquisitive quality, whether warranted or
not.
Halfling Lineage Languages
Halfling and Halfsign are the languages of halfling folk, both
created specifically to unite the halfling people during the
Imperial age.
Chapter 7/Languages (159)
Halfling Names
Halfling names are colorful, memorable, and plentiful, as
halflings draw given names, clan names, and various nicknames
from any of the tales and stories that have worked their way into
their lives. Halflings who travel are often wont to change names
to reflect new homelands or new vocations, or to express a
heartfelt connection to the life they left behind.
Example Halfling Names in Halfling
Halflings often favor names in their own language. However,
many translate their favorite names into other languages, or
adapt the names of those languages into Halfling to help craft
connections to the tales of others.
45
 Chapter 3: Lineages

Anamin Argin Arisica Arzu types for halfling defensive stalwart are animals, elementals, and
Barkin Belace Coneon Elyver wondrous beasts, but you can select any creature type that fits
Eoris Esysan Erras Falnad your character’s backstory.
Falorin Faysys Fenzira Froyala
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Froyda Grabyn Hayola Iralos
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Isasica Korras Laner Linfire
Linrin Marhorn Odisyn Paelean You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
Paekis Panzu Quijen Quirana choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Ridon Tarder Tareon Thamphina
Verhaly Verlyna Welsica Wulysee Nimble Neighbor
You have advantage on defense rolls against melee weapon
Halfling Innate Traits attacks from Medium worldborn.
Halflings typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
Quick Instincts
Size You have a +2 bonus to initiative rolls.
You are a Small creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet. You Chapter 9/Initiative (234)
can’t use heavy weapons.
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
Speed weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for halfling weapon affinity are the hurled group, the light sword
You have a speed of 20 feet.
group, and the bow group, but you can select any weapon
Chapter 7/Movement (166) group that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
Halfling Luck
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
You have a +1 bonus to saving throws. choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
Halfling Magic
Lie Low Built on histories drawn from countless lands and endless
As a minor action, you grant yourself advantage on Stealth/hide wandering, halfling life touches on traditions of magic from
checks until the end of your turn. around the world.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
Culture of Casting
Safety Sprint If you are a spellcaster, you learn one spell of 3rd level or lower
at character creation without paying for it as part of your starting
You have advantage on Endurance/run checks made to move
equipment. The spell can be of any level you can cast at
away from threats.
character creation. When you cast that spell, it is always treated
Chapter 6/Endurance (118) as focused for you.
Chapter 10/Starting Spells (324); Focusing Spells (326)
Halfling Chosen Traits
In addition to their innate traits, a starting halfling character Eldritch Affinity
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
following options. challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
Halfling Combat halfling eldritch affinity are abjuration, enchantment, and
Halfling histories are replete with tales of cunning and courage, illusion, but you can select any school of magic that fits your
and many halflings draw on those traditions to become character’s backstory.
formidable warriors. Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)

Coming Through Steadfast

You can move through any creature’s space without spending If you fail a saving throw against an effect that makes you
additional movement. If the creature is hostile to you, you can frightened, that condition doesn’t affect you until the end of
move through their space only if they are two or more size your next turn.
categories larger than you.
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Valorous
Defensive Stalwart You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would
Whether as experience or legend, a history of conflict with make you frightened.
creatures of certain types grants you advantage on defense rolls
against attacks by those creatures. The most common creature

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Halfling Spirit
A deep history of moving through the lands of other folk shapes
the experience and insight of many halflings.
Cautious
You have a +1 bonus to Stealth checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Stealth group.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
Far Traveler
You treat your speed as being 10 feet faster for the purpose of
overland movement.
Chapter 7/Overland Movement (170)
Fleet
Your speed increases by 5 feet.
Halfling Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to trading or mercantile.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Local Lore
You have advantage on skill checks made to learn information
about any settlement where you have taken a downtime rest.
Perceptive
You have a +1 bonus to Perception checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Perception group.
Chapter 6/Perception (134)
Wary
Whenever you pass within 5 feet of a creature who intends to
harm you (whether they are visible or hidden), you notice them
or get some sense of their presence at the GM’s determination.
Human
Of all the folk who have built the world, humans have perhaps
the most fractious history — and the strongest desire to reclaim
the secrets of all the pasts they’ve lost to conflict and war
among themselves. The tales that shape the human experience
are tales of strife, challenge, and exploration, carried from clan
to clan for millennia before first being written down. The human
story is marked by a fascination with the unknown, and with the
valor — or folly — by which the unknown is revealed.
Always Seeking
The best-loved histories of the humans tell tales of challenge
and triumph, daring and ambition. But many such tales are less
concerned with what happens as a final result of that ambition,
and thus can so much of human history be read as a cautionary
tale. The oldest human clans arose in east-central Isheridar and
established those territories as their first homelands. But
humans are better known as the folk who later pushed north and
west from those homelands to cross the world-continent, and
who founded the Empire of the Lothelecan that would later
sweep back across Isheridar, drawing all the world’s peoples
and nations into a commonwealth of unity and stability —
whether willingly or by force.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 3: Lineages
The stories of the humans are stories of outreach and
exploration, of discovery and insight. But for some human clans
and nations, the hunger for exploration was built around a
stronger thirst for conquest across human lands. Though bards
and sages have pulled countless legends from those violent
days, just as many legends were lost irretrievably when the last
humans who could have spoken them fell on the battlefield. A
sense of exceptionality colors many of the surviving tales of
those days, creating a perspective shared among many humans
of life as an inevitable cycle of rise and fall, triumph and
struggle. For many humans, every dire portent incites a defiant
response, and every victory inevitably becomes a reminder of
how much more is yet to be won.
The missing pieces of their collective past become a strong link
to the future for many humans, driving them to seek out the
histories they’ve lost in order to help shape what is to come.
They are known for their adaptability and ambition, and the way
in which they fearlessly engage with new ideas and seek new
opportunities at every turn. But they were the only lineage to
not have crafted a common language until the rise of the
Empire of the Lothelecan, whose Imperial language now
connects all the world. For the long years of strife that marked
human history before that point, their common language was
ambition — but even today, many humans resist engaging with
the reckoning that must be made when the price of ambition is
too high.
Human Features
Humans typically stand from 5 feet to 6.5 feet tall, and weigh
from 100 to 225 pounds. They share the features of their elf kin
but have a typically broader frame, and their ears lack the
dominant upper point of the elves and the lesser peak of the
halflings. They feature a wide range of hirsuteness, with facial
hair common among them. Their skin tones range from rich
black to pale pink, covering all shades of tan and brown in
between, and their hair color runs from black through brown,
red, and yellow. Human hair and skin tones are paired with a
wide range of eye colors, including hazel, brown, blue, green,
and violet.
Human Lineage Languages
Humans are the only folk to have not developed any historical
lineage languages of their own. As languages forged by the
fallen Empire of the Lothelecan, Imperial and Imperial Sign are
known across all lands where humans dwell, but many humans
also take up the spoken and signed lineage languages of other
folk.
Chapter 7/Languages (159)
Human Names
Human given names are most commonly drawn from close clan
members, family, and figures in relatively recent tales, as names
bestowed by human parents are meant to provide a sense of
determination for the future. By contrast, human family and clan
names can be passed through a hundred generations without
change, and their references to significant ancestors and former
territories are often the initial point of contact between human
folk and their pasts.
Example Human Names in Imperial
Names drawn from the Imperial language carry an echo of its
origins in Lothela in the far west of Isheridar, and human names
47
 Chapter 3: Lineages

imported from other languages are often modified to fit an celestials, fiends, and undead, but you can select any creature
Imperial feel. type that fits your character’s backstory.
Bovin Brin Cadal Caim Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Cehlem Cessi Dairviz Doldim
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
Fahmur Gar Hivild Jhedro
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Johulba Kerkaz Larsu Medref
Mua Nachalum Nastad Neired
Nuchache Rascazil Rashen Norhus
Resurgence
Rhahled Ryarod Saltut Secur The first time in any combat that you are bloodied, you gain
Sheg Shiku Sogar Thimvak temporary hit points equal to your Charisma score that last until
Trur Tulvon Veho Vendirgas the end of your next turn.
Veldec Vrivivi Yusmodah Zinethro Chapter 9/Temporary Hit Points (253)

Human Innate Traits Weapon Affinity

Humans typically possess the following innate lineage traits. Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
Size for human weapon affinity are the heavy sword group, the light
pole group, and the firearms group, but you can select any
You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet.
weapon group that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
Speed You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
You have a speed of 30 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement (166) Human Magic
Humans honed and shaped the earliest development of life
Ambitious Effort magic, and an aptitude for spellcraft is a part of the human
Whenever you take 10 on a skill check and are unsuccessful, you experience.
can reroll the check once but must use the second result.
Chapter 6/Skill Checks without Rolls (107) Culture of Casting
If you are a spellcaster, you learn one spell of 3rd level or lower
Far Wanderer at character creation without paying for it as part of your starting
You have advantage on Endurance/run checks made while equipment. The spell can be of any level you can cast at
moving over long distances. character creation. When you cast that spell, it is always treated
as focused for you.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Chapter 10/Starting Spells (324); Focusing Spells (326)

Human Chosen Traits Eldritch Affinity

In addition to their innate traits, a starting human character
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
following options.
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
human eldritch affinity are divination, evocation, and
Human Combat necromancy, but you can select any school of magic that fits
A long history of conflict is a hallmark of human culture, and is your character’s backstory.
reflected in many humans’ dedication to the defensive and
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
martial arts.

Ally’s Edge Healing Focus

Whenever you are targeted by magic that restores your critical
Whenever you lend combat assistance to an ally who uses that
points, you restore 1 extra critical point.
assistance to gain advantage on an attack roll, the ally also has
favored damage on the attack. Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)

Chapter 9/Combat Assistance (290); Favored Damage (271)

Natural Magic
Behemoth Slayer You can cast 0-level spells even when you have no spell points.
You have favored damage on weapon attacks against any Large Chapter 10/Spell Points (322)
or larger creature.
Human Spirit
Martial Focus The human drive to excel manifests in many forms, underscoring
A shared history of conflict with creatures of certain types grants an instinctive ambition.
you favored damage on weapon attacks against those creatures.
The most common creature types for human martial focus are

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Best Effort
Whenever an ally lends you skill assistance or vice versa, if the
d20 roll for the skill check is 1 to 9, treat it as 10.
Chapter 6/Skill Assistance (107)

Healer
You have a +1 bonus to Healing checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Healing group.
Chapter 6/Healing (123)

Human Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to travel or scouting.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)

Knowledgeable
You have a +1 bonus to Expertise checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Expertise group.
Chapter 6/Expertise (121)

Profit Driven
The first time you make a personal skill check to earn income
during downtime, you have advantage on the check.
Chapter 8/Earning Income (207)

Streak of Success
Whenever you roll a natural 20 on a skill check, whether the
check succeeds or fails, you gain advantage on the next skill
check you make before your next short or long rest.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)

Unhampered
While you are slowed, you can shift and run.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)

Enduring Lineage
Lineage traits can’t be retrained in the way feats can, as they
represent a deep, instinctual knowledge built up over the course of
your character’s life. Rather than shorter-term training or focused
instinct, traits represent your connection to the history of your
people, built around the stories you’ve been told, the legends
you’ve learned, and the games of mock combat and magic you
played as a child.
The GM will take your trait choices into account when thinking about
how the campaign moves forward, making sure that every character
has a chance to do what they’re good at. So if the scope of the
campaign isn’t making use of the narrative or mechanical benefit a
trait provides you, you can always talk to the GM about how you’d
like to make more use of that trait.
But you can also talk to the GM about taking a new trait to replace a
trait that isn’t working as you wanted it to, or that feels as if it was a
bad choice within the context of the campaign — especially if that
trait provides a benefit you’ve never used. This can easily happen
with combat traits such as martial focus or defensive stalwart, for
which you might select a foe option that feels nicely thematic, only
to realize that those foes are rarely going to show up in your
adventures.

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Essaruks and Orcs
The related lines of the essaruks and orcs were separated by the
paths of prehistory long before they became the dominant
cultures of the open northeast steppes and the north-central
primeval forests of Isheridar. The point at which the two peoples
first rediscovered each other remains unknown, but the oldest
tales of both lines speak of primeval realms ruled by monsters,
which were ultimately tamed by orc and essaruk heroes.
Essaruk Features
Essaruks stand generally from 5.5 feet to 6.5 feet tall, and weigh
between 150 and 225 pounds. They bear much resemblance to
their orc kin, including in their prominent canine teeth, but
typically have more compact frames. Their skin and hair tones
run from various shades of tan and brown through to ice-white
and dusky gray, with the hair of the head and body typically a
few shades darker than an essaruk’s complexion. Their eyes are
predominantly blue and green, in both pale and dark shades.

Essaruk Essaruk Lineage Languages

In the oldest days of the world, the earliest essaruk clans defined The Essar spoken language and the Bruul sign language are
the extents of their world as the space between horizon and sky, predominant in essaruk lands and communities across the
dwelling in nomadic holds spread across Jhardyrth in the world.
remote northeast of Isheridar. Jhardyrth is ‘the Horselands’ in
the Essar language, and the folk of that lineage were the first to Essaruk Names
tame those creatures. Though the essaruks had spread far
The names of plains, forests, rivers, and nature spirits figure
beyond Jhardyrth even before their first histories were recorded,
even more prominently than the names of heroes in the legends
that realm remains precious in the thoughts of the many
and history of the essaruks, and many of their clan names and
essaruks who have never experienced it. For those lands are the
personal names are drawn from those elements of the old tales.
setting for the oldest legends the essaruks tell — a tradition of
Essaruks more inspired to cast their thoughts forward than back
ever-changing, ever-personalized stories going back millennia.
often eschew the names of the past even while following the
pedigree of those names, forging new family and clan names or
Freedom and Fate choosing a child’s given names from notable places, well-known
Stories are second nature to many essaruks, who believe that events, or a family member’s adventuring exploits.
first comes the doing of things — and then comes the equally
important process by which the story of what was done is told. Example Essaruk Names in Essar
For many essaruks, the lessons learned by action are thus not Names in Essar sometimes have a weighty feel to those who
always learned in the moment of action. Their oldest tales shape don’t understand that language, with that weight often in
a complex myth-history with the power of nature ever at its contrast to the name’s underlying meaning.
center. Though written records of their tales are common
enough, essaruks treat such records as half-stories at best, Aivad Bodin Braljkel Brangrerk
convenient for posterity but disconnected from the bond that Bugrau Buamur Cays Cenath
each tale creates between audience and speaker, between the Cogasri Daglitai Daslin Deth
present and the past. Dit Drosh Econoth Edra
Fuosh Gnubros Gnuustum Gruborm
The influence of the natural world flows through the
Gujka Guttana Hustruli Iazri
understanding of essaruks even in the most urbanized climes,
Mostru Nugar Orlu Ovri
and defines the bond that many feel for open spaces, free lands,
Pax Pidlovux Rashas Taistirs
and a yearning for movement. With an understanding of the
Thuge Thugrumush Timor Tromrau
world built on the connection to nature at the heart of essaruk
Tukourd Vubli Vuktiavo Wusu
heritage comes a near-universal acceptance that all people are
part of nature, and are never raised above it. But essaruk
traditions vary greatly in their response to this ideal, with some Essaruk Innate Traits
acknowledging the inalterable balance of nature as a thing to be Essaruks typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
accepted — and others fighting to tip that balance toward life
and happiness, understanding how ephemeral both those Size
things are.
You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet.
Essaruks are often best known for the tenacity and courage that
are the ideals of their ancient heroes. But their empathy and Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
compassion run just as strong, built on histories that define an
intrinsic sense of community, and an understanding that the Speed
whims of fate and nature keep tragedy always close by. Their You have a speed of 30 feet.
respect for others is given easily and retracted only with
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
reluctance, and essaruks typically show a patient willingness to
let other folk prove themselves. Their sense of community
means that many essaruks have an intentionally loose sense of
Low-Light Vision
personal property and possessions. However, that sense You can see in dim light or shadow as if it were bright light,
appears quite different to the friend looking to borrow allowing you to see fully outdoors under moonlight and
equipment or coin from an essaruk, as compared to the friend starlight, to read by candlelight, and so on. You ignore
who discovers that an essaruk has borrowed something of theirs concealment caused by dim light and shadow.
without a word of asking. Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment (306)
Appendix A/Low-Light Vision (A6)

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Light Sleeper
While sleeping, you do not have disadvantage on Perception
checks for being treated as unconscious.
Appendix B/Unconscious (A11)
Essaruk Chosen Traits
In addition to their innate traits, a starting essaruk character
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
following options.
Essaruk Combat
The essaruks were first known to other folk as fearsome horse
warriors, and the martial traditions of their histories remain
strong.
Cavalry
While you are mounted, your melee attacks have favored
damage.
Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)
Diligent Ally
Choose an ally within melee reach of an enemy who both you
and the ally can observe. As a standard action, you create a
distraction that allows your ally to make a weapon attack against
that enemy as a reaction, or to cast a spell that targets only that
enemy if the ally has the ability to cast a spell as a reaction.
Martial Focus
A shared history of conflict with creatures of certain types grants
you favored damage on weapon attacks against those creatures.
The most common creature types for essaruk martial focus are
animals, undead, and wondrous beasts, but you can select any
creature type that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Resilient
The first time in any combat that you are bloodied (including at
the start of combat if you are already bloodied), you gain
resistance to all damage until the end of your next turn.
Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for essaruk weapon affinity are the heavy axe group, the heavy
pole group, and the bow group, but you can select any weapon
group that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Essaruk Magic
The magical traditions of the essaruks have long focused on
channeling the ancient forces that define life in the wilds.
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Chapter 3: Lineages
Clear Mind
You have advantage on saving throws against illusion spells and
magical effects.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
Chapter 10/Schools of Magic (328)
Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
essaruk eldritch affinity are conjuration, evocation, and
transmutation, but you can select any school of magic that fits
your character’s backstory.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
Elemental Affinity
When you channel magic that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage, including from spells and magic items, you
can replace the roll of one of the damage dice with your
spellcasting modifier.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Elemental Resilience
Choose one type of energy: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder. You have advantage on saving throws against spells
and other magical effects that deal that energy type.
Essaruk Spirit
The affinity that many essaruks hold for the life and tales of the
natural world provides focus and purpose in all things.
Acclimatized
You have advantage on skill checks made to assess the weather,
and on saving throws made to resist the effects of cold or hot
weather.
Chapter 7/Weather and Temperature (176)
Essaruk Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to riding or rearing equine mounts.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Perceptive
You have a +1 bonus to Perception checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Perception group.
Chapter 6/Perception (134)
Rider’s Instincts
You have advantage on skill checks made to control or direct a
mount you ride.
Chapter 9/Mounted Combat (308)
Solicitous
You have advantage on skill checks made to interact with any
worldborn who have recently suffered violence or hardship not
caused by you, at the GM’s determination.
51
 Chapter 3: Lineages

Vigorous Orc Features

You have a +1 bonus to Athletics checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Athletics group.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
Sharpened Awareness
If you fail a saving throw against an effect that makes you
disoriented, that condition doesn’t affect you until the end of
your next turn.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Orcs range in height from 5.5 feet to 7 feet tall, and typically
weigh between 150 and 250 pounds. They have skin tones
extending from pale ash-gray to dark brown, and their eyes and
hair are notably brighter than their complexions, with gray,
yellow, and green more common than brown or blue. They are
typically hirsute, sometimes to the point where many consider
clothing unnecessary even in temperate climes. Orcs are usually
broader than their essaruk kin, but share with essaruks the
prominent canine teeth that often remain visible even when
their mouths are closed.

Orc Orc Lineage Languages

Orcishna and Bruul are the spoken and sign languages of the
The folk known as the orcishaarnar in their own Orcishna
orc people, and most orcs are fluent in at least one.
language were once the masters of Isheridar’s north-central
wilderness, their nomadic clans dominating an area of forests Chapter 7/Languages (159)
and mountains nearly a thousand leagues across. Called the
orcs by those not up to the subtle verbal intonations of
Orcishna, they have come to use that shortened name freely —
Orc Names
Orc names are often claimed from the people and places that
mostly for fear of hearing non-Orcishna speakers attempt the
figure most prominently in a family or clan’s history, and which
full version. Many orcs are inextricably bound to a sense of
repeat through that history in carefully considered ways. An orc
stewardship of the natural order, whether that order is read in
typically knows a dozen tales of different folk who once bore
the passage of the stars above dark forest, or in a city whose
their names, and many are watchful for the unknown
wood and stones still whisper to an orc’s mind, reminding them
connections between their life and the lives of the past. Orc clan
of a shared connection to the natural world that spawns all
and family names can change frequently as orcs make new life
things.
matches or friendships significant enough to join families
together. Orcs for whom having a single well-known name is
Lessons of Life important often take on additional names based on geography
The history of the orcs is bound up in tales of the wild world and or personal exploits, or might simply use their given name and
its threats, of adversity and personal triumph, and of the no other.
patterns that impress upon the present from the past. Their
stories are told and recorded as quick glimpses of the slow Example Orc Names in Orcishna
pulse of nature and the passage of time. Patterns and portents
With Orcishna notoriously difficult to master in any of its proper
thread their oldest legends and are picked up again in newer
accents, many orcs translate names in that language into local
tales, much as the world endlessly repeats itself in the phases of
languages or adjust them phonetically, to avoid having those
the moons and each recurring year of seasons. With their
names chronically mispronounced.
connections to the past marking them like a tattoo upon the
spirit, orcs strive to understand how the present ties to what has Agronak Bolar Bor Buchann
come before, telling tales of what might be so as to turn away Bugdurash Bulfim Dul Dulug
from the futures they would prevent if they could. Eggha Garakh Ghalog Ghorza
Gnoth Gulfim Gunaakt Gurak
Whether they dwell in the woodlands and caverns that were
Igurg Ikgnath Khadba Laanash
home to their oldest ancestors, in rural farmsteads, or at the
Lazgar Lushuug Margulg Morna
heart of the biggest cities, a reverence for the power of the
Murbol Murzush Opkagut Podagog
elements and the patterns of nature remains important to many
Rulfim Shulong Sonagh Sugha
orcs. This essential bond with the natural world that defines
Targhed Ulmragha Ulumpha Urzoth
them drives their bonds with friends, family, and home as well,
Vitgut Xomkug Xorag Yotul
and makes those bonds all but unbreakable for many. Among
those who threaten the people and places they care about, orcs
quickly earn a reputation for fearless reprisal, with those who Orc Innate Traits
cross them given little reason to care that their fearlessness is Orcs typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
built on devotion rather than anger.
Orcs have relatively few larger-than-life figures in their heroic Size
canon, which is filled instead with tales of ordinary folk tested by You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet.
fate and nature. The lessons taught by those tests are what
define orc legends, and what define the manner in which many Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
orcs approach the tests that their own life provides. To others,
orcs sometimes seem overly stoic, or unappreciative of the Speed
good things in life. But many orcs understand that expecting the You have a speed of 30 feet.
good things can leave one unprepared to deal with the troubles
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
that inevitably follow. Likewise, by preparing for the worst of life,
one can accept what the worst will bring — and can more
thoroughly savor the respite that the best parts of life provide in
the aftermath.

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Darkvision
You can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and
white only but is otherwise like sight, enabling you to function
with no light at all.
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
Keen Notice
You have advantage on Perception checks made to spot or
search for creatures.
Orc Chosen Traits
In addition to their innate traits, a starting orc character chooses
eight lineage traits, which can include any of the following
options.
Orc Combat
This history of the orcs is shaped by determination in the face of
adversity, which many demonstrate to great effect on the
battlefield.
Defensive Stalwart
Whether as experience or legend, a history of conflict with
creatures of certain types grants you advantage on defense rolls
against attacks by those creatures. The most common creature
types for orc defensive stalwart are botanicals, fey, and fiends,
but you can select any creature type that fits your character’s
backstory.
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Finishing Blow
When you reduce a creature to 0 critical points, you can impose
one failed death saving throw or one successful death saving
throw upon them.
Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)
Furious Riposte
When you take damage from a weapon attack, you have favored
damage against the attacker until the end of your next turn.
Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)
Guardian’s Vow
When an ally within 5 feet of you is attacked, you can use a
reaction to grant the ally advantage on their defense roll.
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for orc weapon affinity are the light axe group, the light pole
group, or the bow group, but you can select any weapon group
that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
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Chapter 3: Lineages
Orc Magic
The strength and resiliency denoted in the histories of the orcs
has deep connections to their traditions of magic and spellcraft.
Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for orc
eldritch affinity are abjuration, divination, and enchantment, but
you can select any school of magic that fits your character’s
backstory.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
Enduring Magic
When you are targeted by a spell whose duration is based on
caster level, you can choose to have the spell’s duration on you
treated as if the caster level was 1 higher than it is.
Chapter 10/Duration (334)
Elemental Affinity
When you channel magic that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage, including from spells and magic items, you
can replace the roll of one of the damage dice with your
spellcasting modifier.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Strength of Will
If you fail a saving throw against an effect that makes you
charmed, the charmed condition doesn’t affect you until the end
of your next turn.
Appendix B/Charmed (A9)
Orc Spirit
For many orcs, the lessons taught and learned in tales of life in
the wilderness define the broad strokes of understanding the
world.
Battle Worn
You have advantage on Investigation or Persuasion checks
made to assess or interact with any individual creature you have
previously fought in combat.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Persuasion (137)
Focused Effort
Whenever you are asked to make three or more skill checks as
part of a single task, you have advantage on the third and
subsequent checks.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Follow Me
When a creature within 5 feet of you forces you to move, you
can use a reaction to force that creature to move with you,
leaving them in a space of your choice within 5 feet of you after
you are moved.
53
 Chapter 3: Lineages

Healer
You have a +1 bonus to Healing checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Healing group.
Chapter 6/Healing (123)

Hunter’s Sense
When dealing with creatures of any type selected for your
martial focus trait or the defensive stalwart trait, you have
advantage on skill checks to learn or recall information about
those creatures, and you have advantage on skill checks to track
those creatures.
Chapter 6/Knowledge and Lore sidebar (109)
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134)

Nature’s Touch
You have a +1 bonus to Nature checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Nature group.
Chapter 6/Nature (131)

Orc Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to hunting or tracking.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Goblin Features
Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Goblins range from 4 feet to 4.5 feet tall on average, and weigh

Bugbears
The golbrhenee, as the goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears
name themselves collectively, are more closely bound together
than any of the other related worldborn lines, though this wasn’t
always the case. The oldest legends of all three peoples talk of
times when they dwelled apart from each other and were often
in conflict, before coming together to survive an overwhelming
threat in their original homelands in south-central Isheridar — a
threat that not even those oldest tales name.
Goblin
Called the gorbeyna in their own language, the goblins
dominated the southern coasts and hills of Isheridar for
millennia. They built clanholds that became monarchies, then
became empires as they pushed ever outward along the
seacoast, and into and beneath the mountains. But the tales of
expansion and exploration that fill the oldest goblin histories
frame that expansion not as conquest but discovery, and a love
of discovery shapes the lives of many goblins even today.
between 40 and 70 pounds. Their earthy skin tones run from a
pale ashen brown to a rich brown-green, with their hair almost
always extremes of dark red, brown, or black, or light ash-gray or
white. They have little hair aside from that on their heads, and
only rarely sport facial hair. Their eyes are uniformly bright, most
often yellow, green, or ice blue.
Goblin Lineage Languages
Golbrhen is the spoken language of the goblins and all other
golbrhenee, just as Norlhen is the sign language of those folk,
with most goblins knowing one or both.
Goblin Names
Goblin blended names often have secondary echoes to the
histories and tales that most strongly resonate with them. Their
identities can thus incorporate the names of major and minor
heroes, sages and diplomats, battles and treaties, summits and
symposia, lost clans and fallen kingdoms, and any other
elements of the records and tales that make their way into the
narrative of a particular clan or family.

Reckoning and Reason Example Goblin Names in Golbrhen

The stories and legends of the goblins have been written down The difficulty that many not fluent in Golbrhen have in
since before even the elves began to commit their narrative pronouncing that language inspires many goblins to slightly
traditions to permanent record. With a singular clarity, those soften their names for other folk to use — and inspires as many
stories speak of the desire to experience and share what has more to intentionally complicate their names for the humor that
never been known before — a desire that inspires many goblins mispronunciation provides.
to turn ever toward the horizon. For goblins, the recording and
Apfiftea Azloit Cogz Crolx
reckoning of events is the only proper expression of those
Fabalxa Froinons Glearm Glialai
events, and it is said that the best storytellers carried as much
Glileax Glord Gnalb Golakt
rank as clan chiefs and sovereigns in the oldest goblin realms.
Hoigyq Iazoc Ierm Jig
But even goblins with little interest in recording the events of
Jolzuz Kholtiosx Klelsai Kritiog
their lives for posterity or public consumption understand that
Monsee Nenkee Olk Osird
the truths of experience are effectively mutable until that
Pialtalb Qioss Qoitusz Rigzink
experience has been discussed, a consensus of agreement or
disagreement reached, and all its various expressions Sash Shepyz Slelt Slulk
committed to a tale. Stahbuits Stecs Stegs Strax
Umvath Vrird Vrorarxea Zrabhogz
Their fascination with endlessly turning over the meanings of
events imbues many goblins with a love of the design of and the
relationships between things, from structural mechanics to the Golbrhenee Names
processes of nature to the organization of whole societies. One Goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears who favor names in Golbrhen
of the most novel bits of social engineering that many goblins traditionally use blended names created from amalgamating shorter
carry with them is their close relationship with wolves and other names drawn from disparate sources, including the sites, symbols,
dogs. The goblins first domesticated and rode wolves even and personalities of historical tales, the names of close friends and
before the essaruks first tamed horses, and their canine mounts kin, the vocations of parents and grandparents, and a family’s hope
have followed them throughout their migrations across the for a child’s future. Assembled from all these elements, golbrhenee
world-continent. given names are often so long and unique that many golbrhenee
have no need to ever use their clan of family names. Many also find
Many goblins are drawn to collect mementos that define the key that when they shorten a name to make it easier for non-golbrhenee
moments and relationships in their lives, curating assemblages folk to pronounce, those folk assume that the long, cut-off ending
of trinkets that relate to their stories. Goblins’ strongest actually is a clan or family name. More than a few novel golbrhenee
relationships are typically with friends more than family — which clan names have been created in this fashion, when a golbrhenee
is to say, their closest family members are also friends of the first becomes so well known by this incorrect reading of their name that
order. Their love of discovery flows both ways through their it makes sense to formally adopt it.
relationships, making them as keen to learn as to teach, and
assigning the same value to following as to leading. Individual
responsibility is a hallmark of the goblin philosophy, which Goblin Innate Traits
knows that everyone has a task and ascribes to all folk a Goblins typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
purpose. The nature of that task and purpose is the great
discovery that each goblin seeks, and every other question,
every other story, is raised and told in pursuit of that.

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Size Opportune Blow

You are a Small creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet. You Whenever you hit with a melee weapon attack against a creature
can’t use heavy weapons. who grants you advantage, the attack has favored damage.
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264) Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)

Speed Weapon Affinity

You have a speed of 20 feet. Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
for goblin weapon affinity are the dagger group, the light pole
group, and the crossbow group, but you can select any weapon
Darkvision group that fits your character’s backstory.
You can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
white only but is otherwise like sight, enabling you to function
with no light at all. You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)

Lie Low Goblin Magic

The goblins of old relied on magic as a tool of empire and
As a minor action, you grant yourself advantage on Stealth/hide
exploration, and eldritch traditions remain strong among them.
checks until the end of your turn.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140) Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
Quick Shift challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
When you shift, you move an extra 5 feet. from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
Chapter 9/Shifting (167)
goblin eldritch affinity are conjuration, enchantment, and
transmutation, but you can select any school of magic that fits
your character’s backstory.
Goblin Chosen Traits Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
In addition to their innate traits, a starting goblin character
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
following options.
Enduring Magic
When you are targeted by a spell whose duration is based on
Goblin Combat caster level, you can choose to have the spell’s duration on you
treated as if the caster level was 1 higher than it is.
Their size and slight builds often make a deceptive contrast to
the effectiveness of goblins on the battlefield. Chapter 10/Duration (334)

Defender’s Edge Elemental Affinity

When you take damage from an attack, your defense rolls When you channel magic that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
against attacks from the creature who damaged you have a d6 thunder damage, including from spells and magic items, you
boon until the start of your next turn. can replace the roll of one of the damage dice with your
spellcasting modifier.
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Defensive Stalwart
Whether as experience or legend, a history of conflict with
Versatile Caster
creatures of certain types grants you advantage on defense rolls At the end of a short rest, you can refocus two spells rather than
against attacks by those creatures. The most common creature one.
types for goblin defensive stalwart are elementals, dragons, and Chapter 10/Focusing Spells (326)
giants, but you can select any creature type that fits your
character’s backstory.
Goblin Spirit
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157) The lives of many goblins reflect their people’s oldest traditions
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can of exploring and adventuring.
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Subtle Touch
Maneuver Expert You have a +1 bonus to Thievery checks, or a +2 bonus to
When you make a combat maneuver usually limited to targets checks with a chosen skill in the Thievery group.
one size category larger than you, you can target a creature two
Chapter 6/Thievery (143)
size categories larger than you.
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Eloquent mark their own journeys as collectors, gathering mementos,

tattoos, and tales as they forge a record of their own
You have a +1 bonus to Persuasion checks, or a +2 bonus to achievements and understanding. But this sense of recording
checks with a chosen skill in the Persuasion group. their own passage through life makes many overly sensitive to
Chapter 6/Persuasion (137) those who abandon their own journey, and hobgoblins are often
drawn to try to aid or direct those who have gone off course.
Goblin Aptitude Their innate sense of rank also inclines many hobgoblins to
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill gravitate toward those they perceive as being able to guide
related to riding or rearing canine mounts. them. Some hobgoblins likewise come to apportion those
around them into two groups, seeking to aid those below them
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145) and to serve those above them. Both those bonds carry equal
weight, however, and hobgoblins draw as much satisfaction
Hazard Sense from accepting the superior position of some as they do from
You have advantage on saving throws against nonmagical traps establishing that position over others. When a hobgoblin bonds
and hazards. with a chosen group, that bond thus takes on a formidable
strength. However, the culture of camaraderie that surrounds
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
them can sometimes be mistaken for insularity or arrogance by
those outside a hobgoblin’s bonded companions.
Innocuous
When you make an Investigation or Persuasion check to assess
or interact with a creature, you have advantage on the check if
Hobgoblin Features
Hobgoblins average 5 to 6.5 feet in height, and typically weigh
the creature is larger than you.
from 100 to 200 pounds. Their skin runs the range from a pale
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Persuasion (137) yellow-tan to a variety of rich browns, with their hair generally
following their skin tone in a slightly darker shade. Hobgoblins
Quick Step are typically less hirsute than their bugbear kin, but many sport
You can move 5 feet as a minor action. This movement doesn’t noticeable fur in addition to facial hair. Their eyes are typically
provoke opportunity attacks. an admixture of hazel brown and brighter colors, most
commonly violet and blue.
Rider’s Instincts
You have advantage on skill checks made to control or direct a
Hobgoblin Lineage Languages
mount you ride. Spoken Golbrhen and signed Norlhen are the languages of the
hobgoblins, and are widely used among all hobgoblin folk.
Chapter 9/Mounted Combat (308)
Chapter 7/Languages (159)

Hobgoblin Hobgoblin Names

Named the hogorba in their own languages, the hobgoblins
have a long history defined by exploration and a fluidly Hobgoblin blended names often incorporate titles, tasks, and
hierarchical sense of the world. Their earliest histories intertwine vocations alongside the names they borrow from history. But
with that of their golbrhenee kin, in the oldest lands shared by those practical elements are mutable as a hobgoblin passes
all three peoples in the southern coasts and mountains of through life, with many adding additional prefix names to
Isheridar. In all the territories they have spread through since, commemorate rites of passage, successful endeavors, and
hobgoblins are often known for embracing rank and order, and major life events.
for instinctively finding comfort in the organization and
classification of things. Example Hobgoblin Names in
Golbrhen
Rank and Remembrance Hobgoblin names tend to be especially complex, and are often
The oldest tales of the hobgoblins are the ones told most often, simplified when hobgoblins deal with non-Golbrhen speakers.
recounting a history of expansion and sometimes conflict as the Akvur Balt Dazrerg Dragnevac
three golbrhenee peoples first clashed, then came together, Druldrelek Drulzok Drun Edak
then began to push northward against essaruk and human Ekrorg Eldrolon Gavrac Glak
expansion to the south. Their stories are heavy on detail and Glarbarac Glerg Gloknilog Groc
organization, making a most minute accounting of events, and Khonkevur Klavluk Klokred Kod
collecting the most comprehensive features of places and Krok Lalvridar Makelor Mondrorg
personalities. But when tales of hobgoblin conquest are told, Mundrer Narkovak Nerbezol Okkozac
they only rarely focus on the gains of that conquest. Instead,
Rerden Rerz Rharerz Rhavrorz
tales of valor are remembered not only for the record of the
Shodrerz Shonkec Undrevol Vragnarok
victors but for the thorough accounting of those who were
Vugreg Vurg Zralvor Zrevlad
defeated, and what might be learned from both.
Many hobgoblins harbor an instinctive sense of life being a
process of working through ranks of experience, whether in
Hobgoblin Innate Traits
vocations or relationships. For hobgoblins, all folk have a Hobgoblins typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
journey of learning and discovery to make, and all should be
respected for where they are in that journey. Many hobgoblins

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Size long pole group, and the crossbow group, but you can select
any weapon group that fits your character’s backstory.
You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
Speed choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.

You have a speed of 30 feet. Weapon Breaker

Chapter 7/Movement (166) You have advantage on Athletics/slam checks made as part of
the sunder combat maneuver.
Darkvision
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
You can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and Chapter 9/Sunder (261)
white only but is otherwise like sight, enabling you to function
with no light at all.
Hobgoblin Magic
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3) The ordered thought that is common among many hobgoblins
lends itself to a focus on magic use.
Light Step
You have advantage on Stealth/sneak checks made when you Culture of Casting
shift. If you are a spellcaster, you learn one spell of 3rd level or lower
Chapter 6/Stealth (140) at character creation without paying for it as part of your starting
Chapter 9/Shifting (167) equipment. The spell can be of any level you can cast at
character creation. When you cast that spell, it is always treated
Hobgoblin Chosen Traits as focused for you.

In addition to their innate traits, a starting hobgoblin character
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
following options.
Hobgoblin Combat
The histories of the hobgoblins encompass centuries of martial
tradition as both conquerors and defenders.
Defensive Stalwart
Chapter 10/Starting Spells (324); Focusing Spells (326)
Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
hobgoblin eldritch affinity are conjuration, evocation, and
illusion, but you can select any school of magic that fits your
character’s backstory.

Whether as experience or legend, a history of conflict with Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
creatures of certain types grants you advantage on defense rolls
against attacks by those creatures. The most common creature Focused Mind
types for hobgoblin defensive stalwart are aberrations, fey, and You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would
wondrous beasts, but you can select any creature type that fits make you charmed.
your character’s backstory.
Appendix B/Charmed (A9)
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157) Spell Insight
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can When you counterspell, you have advantage on the Magic
choose it up to three times for different creature types. check.
Chapter 10/Counterspell (339)
Quick Instincts Chapter 6/Magic (128)
You have a +2 bonus to initiative rolls.
Chapter 9/Initiative (234) Hobgoblin Spirit
An instinctive drive toward learning and understanding shapes
Pack Tactics the experiences of many hobgoblins.
If you are within melee reach of a creature who is also within
melee reach of two or more of your allies, you can flank that Best Effort
creature as a free action. Whenever an ally lends you skill assistance or vice versa, if the
Chapter 9/Flank (289) d20 roll for the skill check is 1 to 9, treat it as 10.
Chapter 6/Skill Assistance (107)
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for Deference to Rank
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups You have advantage on Investigation or Persuasion checks
for hobgoblin weapon affinity are the heavy sword group, the made to assess or interact with the leader of a group of
creatures.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Persuasion (137)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Fast Learner bitter in response to false friendships or when a true friendship

At the end of each downtime rest, you can choose a skill for
which one of your allies has taken Skill Focus but you have not.
You have a d4 boon on checks made with that skill until the end
of your next downtime rest.
Hobgoblin Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to collecting or record keeping.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Inquisitive
You have a +1 bonus to Investigation checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Investigation group.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126)
Knowledgeable
You have a +1 bonus to Expertise checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Expertise group.
Chapter 6/Expertise (121)
falters. Those who return a bugbear’s trust with conviction often
become their dearest companions, forging small, close-knit
friend groups that might last a lifetime. When time and
circumstance makes it necessary for friends to drift away, many
bugbears feel as though a part of their own story has come to a
close, and they often set about to reframe the next cycle of their
lives as a result.
A contemplative nature often makes bugbears appear somber
to those who don’t know them, taking respite from the troubles
of life in quiet places and a clear mind. They carry themselves
with a reserve that often translates into the appearance of a
gentle giant, and a bugbear’s nature is as easygoing as it
appears. For while they typically show no hesitation when it
comes to making a stand against real foes, many bugbears
share an instinctive understanding that trivial arguments and
swaggering bluster can be easily ignored. Especially when
others depend on them, bugbears are thoughtful to the point of
sometimes seeming reluctant to take action. But when a
bugbear does take action, that action is clearly planned and
perfectly executed, drawing on every lesson the struggles of the
past might teach.

Wary Wielder
Bugbear Features
Bugbears typically stand from 5.5 feet to 7 feet in height, and
If an object (including a weapon) you hold would be damaged, weigh between 150 and 250 pounds. Their skin tones run the
you can use a reaction to negate the damage to the object. range from pale ash-gray to dark red-brown, with fur and hair
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230) whose base is consistently the same shade as their skin but
often shot through with brighter highlights. Bugbear eyes are
most often a brighter version of their skin tone, from silver and
Bugbear gold through to hazel-brown and red-black.
In the oldest tales of the golbrhenee, the urgaerbas were warrior
clans of the southlands, who fought against the kingdoms of the
gorbeyna and hogorba for centuries before eventually fighting
Bugbear Lineage Languages
As with all golbrhenee, most bugbears speak Golbrhen, sign
alongside them. During the age of the Lothelecan, their name
Norlhen, or both.
was twisted to “bugbears” by Imperial speech. However, the
urgaerbas have long made familiar use of this nickname for the Chapter 7/Languages (159)
ironic flavor it carries for them, trading in the sense of warrior
culture that is their historical calling card for a name seemingly Bugbear Names
stolen from children’s stories.
Bugbear blended names often incorporate the names of
warriors and leaders tied to historical conflict. But bugbears are
Somber Discipline just as inclined to use the names of those whose victories are
Bugbear culture has long been built on narrative traditions, with lesser known — or even those known for how they handled
a focus on the lessons that arise in response to struggle and defeat or brokered surrender, marking a connection to such
conflict. Their stories sketch out myth and history as constant marginal figures for the lessons that can be learned from them.
and repeating cycles of struggle and adversity, digging deep
into the lessons ultimately taught by that struggle to reveal Example Bugbear Names in Golbrhen
hidden meanings that must be pondered and reflected upon.
The same sense of humor that allows most urgaerbas to accept
Always the strongest of the golbrhenee, the bugbears are
the bugbear name for their line inspires many to pick out daily-
painted by the oldest tales of the three kinfolk as warriors first
use components of their blended names that have an amusing
and foremost. But for their own part, they have long been
tone to non-golbrhenee ears.
content to let their own side of those tales go forgotten, and
many of those oldest histories would have been lost had the Bardir Bran Breggonk Brerdun
goblins and hobgoblins not recorded them in their own annals. Brur Chramkk Chrerdan Chrirnarr
Reflecting on the lessons of those retold tales makes bugbears Durdumkk Gadorr Geggilk Gezzan
acutely aware of the obligations that come with power — and Ghargak Ghivrumkk Hrarnurr Hromkk
the misuses to which power can be put. Hrudrath Khik Khodrann Khonk
Khuzzith Nogrilk Nugrulk Ralk
Whatever course they set for themselves, a focus on
Rettann Rilk Stozzoth Tezzor
understanding all life as lessons instills many bugbears with a
Thevrank Thigrunk Tolk Vargik
singular sense of discipline, fixing on clear goals and committing
Virgirr Virrarr Zank Zetrark
to realizing those goals. When those goals include the well-
Zhir Zittarr Zodor Zolk
being of kin and friends, bugbears often feel an instinctive drive
to serve as defenders and protectors, and they take and offer
trust easily as a result. However, a bugbear can easily become

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Bugbear Innate Traits
Bugbears typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
Size
You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet.
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
Speed
You have a speed of 30 feet.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Darkvision
You can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and
white only but is otherwise like sight, enabling you to function
with no light at all.
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
Scent
You have the scent feature, allowing you to use your sense of
smell when making Dungeoneering, Perception, Nature, and
personal-group skill checks related to seeking or sensing.
Appendix A/Scent (A6)
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134);
Personal Skill Groups (145)
Bugbear Chosen Traits
In addition to their innate traits, a starting bugbear character
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
following options.
Bugbear Combat
The legendary combat prowess of the bugbears carries through
countless generations to the present day.
Martial Focus
A shared history of conflict with creatures of certain types grants
you favored damage on weapon attacks against those creatures.
The most common creature types for bugbear martial focus are
aberrations, giants, and monstrous arthropods, but you can
select any creature type that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271)
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Natural Grappler
You have advantage on the initial Athletics/grab check made as
part of the grapple combat maneuver.
Chapter 9/Grapple (260)
Relentless Attacker
When you cause a creature to become bloodied, your attacks
against that creature have advantage until the next time you hit
them.
Chapter 9/Bloodied (253)
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Chapter 3: Lineages
Tooth and Claw
You can make unarmed strike attacks with your claws or teeth in
addition to your fists. An unarmed strike attack made with your
teeth deals piercing damage, and an unarmed strike attack with
your claws deals slashing damage as long as your hands aren’t
covered.
Chapter 9/Unarmed Strike (284)
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for bugbear weapon affinity are the heavy pole group, the
truncheon group, and the bow group, but you can select any
weapon group that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Bugbear Magic
A focus on discipline and contemplation makes magic use come
naturally to many bugbears.
Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
bugbear eldritch affinity are illusion, necromancy, and
transmutation, but you can select any school of magic that fits
your character’s backstory.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
Elemental Affinity
When you channel magic that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage, including from spells and magic items, you
can replace the roll of one of the damage dice with your
spellcasting modifier.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Valorous
You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would
make you frightened.
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
Willful Reaction
While you are dazed, you can use one reaction per round.
Appendix B/Dazed (A9)
Bugbear Spirit
The quiet intensity for which they are known shapes many
bugbears’ approach to life and adventuring.
Bounce Back
If you go prone, you can use a reaction to stand up immediately
after the effect that made you prone is fully resolved. Standing
in this way provokes opportunity attacks.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
60
 Chapter 3: Lineages

Bugbear Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to teaching or training.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)

Cautious
You have a +1 bonus to Stealth checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Stealth group.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)

Hunter’s Sense
When dealing with creatures of any type selected for your
martial focus trait or the defensive stalwart trait, you have
advantage on skill checks to learn or recall information about
those creatures, and you have advantage on skill checks to track
those creatures.
Chapter 6/Knowledge and Lore sidebar (109)
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134)

Inspired Failure
Whenever you roll a natural 1 on a skill check and fail the check,
you gain advantage on the next skill check you make.

Solicitous Instinct
You have advantage on Investigation or Persuasion checks
made to assess or interact with any creature for the first time.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Persuasion (137)

Vigorous
You have a +1 bonus to Athletics checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Athletics group.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

kobolds take comfort in enclosed spaces, even if only a tightly

Kobolds and Lizardfolk
Thought to be the oldest of the worldborn lineages, the kobolds
and the lizardfolk were long separated by time and geography.
Both lines migrated out from Taliyad, the forbidden draconic
heartlands of Isheridar, long before either had begun to record
their histories. But the oldest tales they do tell mark them as kin
to the dragons who were the first sapient creatures to rule the
world-continent, and the members of both lineages carry that
history with pride.
Kobold
wrapped bedroll in a room at a fine inn.
Kobold Features
Kobolds typically stand 4.5 to 5 feet tall, extend 7.5 to 8 feet
from nose to tail, and average between 80 and 100 pounds.
Their tough but supple scaled skin is hairless, and runs through
a range of bright and muted shades of gold, orange, red, and
brown, which are brighter in youth and darken slowly with age.
Their uniformly bright eyes are usually brown, gold, or red in
hue, and are known to sometimes brighten more depending on
mood.

The kobolds’ name translates as “the eldest” in archaic versions

of their Draconic language, and they can attest their
Kobold Lineage Languages
connections to the dragons through stone carvings in the lands As the languages of dragons, spoken Draconic and signed
bordering the draconic homelands of Taliyad. Those weathered Kiarlex are known to virtually all kobolds, and closely tied to
reliefs and still-barely readable runic texts are older by far than kobold culture.
any other recorded worldborn histories, and are the starting
point of the tales the kobolds tell of themselves — tales that Kobold Names
spread with that people through a dozen different realms long The importance of the bonds of friendship means that many
before the ilvani first set foot outside the forests of Ilvanghlira. kobolds are named for the closest friends of their parents even
before birth. Over their lifetime, a kobold might make one or
The Bonds of the Past more of those given names a primary name, or might select new
The stories of the kobolds are collected as witness history, names to honor close companions.
performance, and written volumes, thematically collated and
collected by their ties to magic, clan, and friends. Every kobold Example Kobold Names in Draconic
tale carries a sense of how preternatural power shapes the Even kobolds dwelling among other folk often favor names in
world, how that power touches the lives of the peoples who Draconic, and many kobold parents attempt to assess the
share the world — and how it connects to the storied past in etymology of names in other languages so as to translate them.
which the kobold clans were the first to bring magic to the
Alihazar Aliprax Beldaar Beldrith
worldborn realms. As befits their draconic heritage — or at least
Bithibra Brentrin Brenzavur Dalyassa
in an attempt to ensure that no one ever forgets that heritage —
Dokul Drysfyire Faerdorim Grikira
many kobolds share a fascination with magic, reminding them
Havys Karith Koliann Koyassa
that they are part of something larger than themselves.
Lilolyassa Lorkax Neshazar Nesrakas
Interestingly, the oldest versions of their tales are all uniformly
Okaryn Oriqwen Orivyre Orlakris
short on the details of the kobolds’ ancient mastery of
Otiskan Otitrin Qelzire Qirann
primordial magic, though even the elves’ histories implicitly
Tazgar Towunax Udorinn Uroskan
acknowledge those stories’ veracity. The kobolds in turn freely
Ushigil Ushithyra Vrakqrin Vyukax
acknowledge the elves as the first folk to master arcane
spellcraft, though as a descendent of the older, more Wrarinn Xyrann Yrlyassa Zofqorel
unpredictable power their line first tamed.
Kobold clans often comprise a riotous arrangement of family Kobold Innate Traits
members, friends, romantic and aromantic partners, would-be Kobolds typically possess the following innate lineage traits.
partners, allies, apprentices, tutors, and general hangers-on. As
such, many kobolds are marked by their early clan ties for life. Size
However, for every kobold who demonstrates those ties with a You are a Small creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet. You
strongly social nature, another kobold will be driven to a solitary can’t use heavy weapons.
life from a simple yearning for peace and quiet. Being
surrounded by familiar faces in their early upbringing makes Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
some kobolds slow to trust strangers, even as they are quick to
accept the bonds of friendship — and even quicker to stand up Speed
for those they name as friends. Kobolds understand that the You have a speed of 20 feet.
strongest emotional ties are forged with friends made in crisis,
and through friendships reforged under pressure. Kobolds who Chapter 7/Movement (166)
lose a close friend or life partner might mourn that loss for long
years. Darkvision
All their early histories talk of the kobolds dwelling almost You can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and
entirely underground, carving out lavish and labyrinthine white only but is otherwise like sight, enabling you to function
warrens from sand and stone, and moving beneath the with no light at all.
territories of surface-dwelling predators — including other Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
worldborn — unobserved. Even those whose kin have not
dwelled in a traditional kobold warren in a hundred generations
often feel a strong affinity for tunnels and mines, and many

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Lie Low
As a minor action, you grant yourself advantage on Stealth/hide
checks until the end of your turn.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
Scent
You have the scent feature, allowing you to use your sense of
smell when making Dungeoneering, Perception, Nature, and
personal-group skill checks related to seeking or sensing.
Appendix A/Scent (A6)
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134);
Personal Skill Groups (145)
Kobold Chosen Traits
In addition to their innate traits, a starting kobold character
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
following options.
Kobold Combat
Kobolds are canny combatants, able to take full advantage of
their size and speed on the battlefield.
Defensive Stalwart
Whether as experience or legend, a history of conflict with
creatures of certain types grants you advantage on defense rolls
against attacks by those creatures. The most common creature
types for kobold defensive stalwart are constructs, monstrous
arthropods, and oozes, but you can select any creature type that
fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Disarming Touch
You have advantage on Acrobatics/agility checks made as part
of the disarm combat maneuver.
Chapter 9/Disarm (260)
Maneuver Expert
When you make a combat maneuver usually limited to targets
one size category larger than you, you can target a creature two
size categories larger than you.
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)
Taunt
When a creature misses you with a weapon attack, you can use a
reaction to impose a d4 bane on attack rolls that creature makes
against you until the end of their next turn.
Weapon Affinity
Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for kobold weapon affinity are the light pole group, the hurled
group, and the crossbow group, but you can select any weapon
group that fits your character’s backstory.
Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
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Chapter 3: Lineages
You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.
Kobold Magic
Kobolds were the first worldborn creatures to wield arcane
magic in its earliest primordial form, and many kobolds forge a
connection to the eldritch arts.
Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for
kobold eldritch affinity are conjuration, illusion, and
necromancy, but you can select any school of magic that fits
your character’s backstory.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328)
Elemental Affinity
When you channel magic that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage, including from spells and magic items, you
can replace the roll of one of the damage dice with your
spellcasting modifier.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Natural Magic
You can cast 0-level spells even when you have no spell points.
Chapter 10/Spell Points (322)
Spell Resilience
When you take damage from a spell, you can use a reaction to
reduce the damage by 1d4 (minimum 0 damage).
Kobold Spirit
Across countless generations, kobolds have developed a
reputation for ingenuity and industry.
Burrower
You have a burrowing speed equal to half your speed, and can
burrow through loose dirt, sand, mud, and similar soft earth. The
GM determines whether you must hold your breath while
burrowing, when earth filled with rocks, roots, and other
obstacles is treated as difficult terrain, and whether you can
leave a tunnel behind you.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Dungeoneer
You have a +1 bonus to Dungeoneering checks, or a +2 bonus
to checks with a chosen skill in the Dungeoneering group.
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115)
Ground Fighter
While you are prone, you do not have disadvantage on combat
maneuver skill checks and attack rolls.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
63

Kobold Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to building or excavation.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Magic-Touched
You have a +1 bonus to Magic checks, or a +2 bonus to checks
with a chosen skill in the Magic group.
Chapter 6/Magic (128)
Poison Resilience
You have advantage on saving throws against poison.
Chapter 7/Poison (183)
Shared Skill
If you and other creatures make the same skill check at the same
time to accomplish a task together, one of the other creatures of
your choice has advantage on the check.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Lizardfolk
The lizardfolk were the first worldborn to migrate out from
central Isheridar, and their exacting narrative tradition records
the earliest tales of those migrations with a clarity unchanged
over millennia. They are thought to be older than their kobold
kin, and often appear more inscrutable. But where a lizardfolk
might keep their own thoughts to themself among strangers,
their willingness to share the stories of their past knows no
bounds.
Ageless and Nameless
Lizardfolk are so-named because their version of the Draconic
language has no proper name for their own kind, and they refer to
themselves simply as ‘our people’ when the need arises. Because
names assign meaning to the relationships between things for
lizardfolk, the notion of a name that describes all their kind makes
no sense to them, since lizardfolk as individuals can’t possibly be
meaningfully connected with other lizardfolk they don’t know. The
name of ‘lizardfolk’ was first given to them by the elves in in Ilvani,
and the folk of this line accept that name freely, understanding how
other people less certain of their own place in the world need to use
it.
Guidance From the Past
The stories of the lizardfolk remain a largely unwritten tradition,
passed instead as narrative performance from parents to
children, kin to kin, stranger to stranger throughout their lives.
Though they are as well versed with the written word as all folk,
the articulated word is precious them — to the point where
many feel uncomfortable reading unless they read aloud or sign
as they do. Their earliest myths and tales bring to life the past of
the dragon lands of Taliyad, where the first lizardfolk clanholds
arose. And though they have long since spread to virtually every
coast and corner of the world-continent, the lack of direct
knowledge of their lost homelands means that many other
peoples instinctively think of the lizardfolk as wanderers, and as
the masters of moor, mountain, and marshland often passed
over for settlement by other worldborn folk.
Lizardfolk collect tales focused on local events and short-term
timelines, which become connected into something resembling
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Chapter 3: Lineages
full histories only with study and interpolation. This focus is
reflected in the convictions of many lizardfolk, who concern
themselves more with the short term than the long term,
knowing that the short term will become the long term soon
enough. The narratives they share are the first things many
lizardfolk turn to when seeking guidance for undertaking
decision or action, reciting events of the past in search of insight
that might be reflected in the present and future. When
lizardfolk write their stories down, it is mostly to share this same
guidance with others, and written and printed versions of their
histories and lore are often given away or simply abandoned as
they travel, left behind for others to find.
Lizardfolk are known for an empathic intelligence as sharp as
their intellect, with that empathy thought to connect to the
predatory instincts that drove their oldest ancestor-folk. If any
single feature connects lizardfolk across countless clans and
cultures, it is the instinctive ability to read the moods of other
creatures, and an implacable nature that can sometimes make
them that much harder to read in return. However, all those who
grow close to a lizardfolk know that their emotions are simply
often kept in check behind their focus on the present. A
lizardfolk might seemingly ignore joy or tragedy in the moment,
but only because they understand that the moment presents
other more pressing concerns that must be dealt with first.
The Ritual of Bounty
One of the best known and least understood traditions explored in
the histories of the lizardfolk is their acceptance of ritual
cannibalism — often hyperbolized as a hunger for worldborn flesh in
the ancient tales of other folk. But the truth is more complex than
the stories tell, and those who grow close to lizardfolk in friendship
are typically the only non-lizardfolk who fully understand it.
Lizardfolk have no issue with eating the flesh of their own kind. For a
lizardfolk, knowing that in death they might lend nourishment and
life to others is a high honor. But only those who have made their
wishes to be part of what the lizardfolk call ‘oalruloi’ — the ritual of
bounty — are ever consumed in this way, and only after the body is
properly cleaned, dressed, and prepared with purify food and drink
to ensure the elimination of parasites and pestilence.
The most evil lizardfolk sometimes break their own traditions to eat
a worldborn not known to have offered themself after death. But
such behavior is considered as aberrant among the lizardfolk as
among other peoples.
Lizardfolk Features
Lizardfolk range from 5.5 feet to 6.5 feet tall, measure 9.5 feet to
11 feet from nose to tail, and weigh between 180 and 250
pounds. Their hairless, scaled skin often appears rough but is
smooth to the touch. It typically combines one or more shades
of gold, green, blue, or brown, often with darker coloration
along the crest of the head, spine, and tail. A lizardfolk’s eyes
tend toward extremely bright or extremely dark, varying through
shades of gold, green, and brown.
Lizardfolk Lineage Languages
Draconic and Kiarlex are the spoken and signed languages of
the lizardfolk line, prevalent among lizardfolk communities in all
realms.
Lizardfolk Names
Lizardfolk names define the relationships between an individual,
the creatures who are closest to them, and the world in which
they hope to thrive. A lizardfolk’s name when first born generally
64
 Chapter 3: Lineages

reflects their parents, kin, and birthplace, with the syllables of Aquatic Fighter
those related names taken apart and reassembled like the
components of a poem. When you fight underwater, your melee weapon attacks suffer
no disadvantage from being underwater, and have favored
damage.
Example Lizardfolk Names in
Draconic Chapter 9/Favored Damage (271); Underwater Combat (308)

Throughout their life, a lizardfolk might add new components to Martial Focus
a name, update or rework old components, or replace their
entire name without warning. Whatever bonds to the world and A shared history of conflict with creatures of certain types grants
other creatures are most important to a lizardfolk at any given you favored damage on weapon attacks against those creatures.
time will define their identity. The most common creature types for lizardfolk martial focus are
botanicals, oozes, and undead, but you can select any creature
Aekezoh Akettuh Bhoahao Brorqakux
type that fits your character’s backstory.
Brushakisz Chaeyolqes Chartoxa Chikkiushruk
Chiyedri Chuakkizzua Chursass Crenraes Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Criss Dadazesk Dhih Dhusk You choose this trait once for a single creature type, and can
Dittae Dorshezia Drettu Elqekex choose it up to three times for different creature types.
Eqirsias Erzuqis Ezduss Henqaes
Jess Jox Khekzi Kotzoat Tooth and Claw
Qruz Seh Sogo Thamza
You can make unarmed strike attacks with your claws or teeth in
Thaox Thit Thoss Throx
addition to your fists. An unarmed strike attack made with your
Ukre Uqerzixl Uthlosox Yas
teeth deals piercing damage, and an unarmed strike attack with
your claws deals slashing damage as long as your hands aren’t
Lizardfolk Innate Traits covered.
Lizardfolk typically possess the following innate lineage traits. Chapter 9/Unarmed Strike (284)

Size Tough Skin

You are a Medium creature, with a space and reach of 5 feet. While you wear light armor or no armor, you have a +1 bonus to
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264) defense rolls.
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Speed
You have a speed of 30 feet, and a swimming speed of 30 feet Weapon Affinity
as long as you wear light armor or no armor. Choose a weapon group. You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls for
Chapter 7/Movement (166) weapons from that group. The most common weapon groups
for lizardfolk weapon affinity are the club group, the light pole
Tail Balance group, and the bow group, but you can select any weapon
group that fits your character’s backstory.
As long as your speed isn’t 0, you can use a minor action to
grant you advantage on an Acrobatics check you make before Chapter 9/Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
the end of your turn. You choose this trait once for a single weapon group, and can
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110) choose it up to three times for different weapon groups.

Water Born Lizardfolk Magic

You can hold your breath for a number of minutes equal to your An understanding of the mystical forces threading through the
Constitution score. natural world have fueled lizardfolk magical traditions for
millennia.
Chapter 7/Suffocation (177)
Body and Mind
Lizardfolk Chosen Traits When you make a Will saving throw, you can use a reaction to
In addition to their innate traits, a starting lizardfolk character instead make a Fortitude save against the same effect.
chooses eight lineage traits, which can include any of the
following options. Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)

Lizardfolk Combat Culture of Casting

If you are a spellcaster, you learn one spell of 3rd level or lower
Lizardfolk warriors are known for their ferocity and
at character creation without paying for it as part of your starting
determination, channeling combat traditions that are some of
equipment. The spell can be of any level you can cast at
the oldest in the world.
character creation. When you cast that spell, it is always treated
as focused for you.
Chapter 10/Starting Spells (324); Focusing Spells (326)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Eldritch Affinity
Choose a school of magic. You have a +1 bonus to the Lineage Feats
challenge throw for magic you channel of that school, including The following feat allows a character to forge a deeper
from spells and magic items. The most common schools for connection to their lineage.
lizardfolk eldritch affinity are abjuration, divination, and
enchantment, but you can select any school of magic that fits Dominant Lineage
your character’s backstory. The traits of your people run especially strong in you.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335); Schools of Magic (328) Prerequisites: —

Form of Nature Benefit: You select one additional chosen lineage trait from
your lineage. As usual, you can freely select traits from another
You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would lineage if doing so fits your character concept, can select an
make you immobilized. innate trait as a chosen trait if you have a shared lineage, or can
Appendix B/Immobilized (A10) create a unique trait in consultation with the GM.
You can select a trait you already have only if the trait can be
Lizardfolk Spirit taken more than once.
The physical and mental focus for which they are known shapes Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
the outlook of many lizardfolk. slot. Each time you do so, you select a different lineage trait.

Eloquent
You have a +1 bonus to Persuasion checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Persuasion group.
Chapter 6/Persuasion (137)

Hardy
You have a +1 bonus to Endurance checks, or a +2 bonus to
checks with a chosen skill in the Endurance group.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)

Hunter’s Sense
When dealing with creatures of any type selected for your
martial focus trait or the defensive stalwart trait, you have
advantage on skill checks to learn or recall information about
those creatures, and you have advantage on skill checks to track
those creatures.
Chapter 6/Knowledge and Lore sidebar (109)
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134)

Lizardfolk Aptitude
You have a +2 bonus to checks with any one personal skill
related to research or lorekeeping.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)

Narrator’s Recall
You have a sharp recollection of information told to you by
someone else, granting you advantage on skill checks made to
recall information from conversations.

Serpentine
While you are restrained, you do not have disadvantage on
defense rolls and Reflex saves.
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)

Sturdy Mind
You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would
make you dazed.
Appendix B/Dazed (A9)

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

AGE CATEGORIES
Physical Attributes Middle
The following table summarizes the average height and weight Lineage Adult Age Old Venerable Maximum Age
range of characters from each lineage. Many characters fall Bugbear 16 years 30 50 70 + 2d10 years
outside the averages, though, so treat the ranges below only as Dwarf 18 years 40 70 100 + 2d10 years
guidelines. Likewise, your character’s other physical details — Elf 18 years 40 75 110 + 2d20 years
including hair color, eye color, and skin tone — are as Essaruk 17 years 30 50 70 + 2d10 years
determined by you. Your character can be any sex and gender Gnome 18 years 30 50 80 + 2d10 years
you choose. Goblin 16 years 35 55 75 + 2d10 years
Lineage Typical Height Typical Weight Halfling 17 years 30 45 70 + 2d8 years
Bugbear 5’ 6” to 7’ 0” 150 lb. to 250 lb. Hobgoblin 16 years 30 50 70 + 2d10 years
Dwarf 5’ 0” to 5’ 6” 125 lb. to 200 lb. Human 17 years 35 55 75 + 2d20 years
Elf 5’ 0” to 6’ 6” 90 lb. to 200 lb. Kobold 15 years 30 55 85 + 2d10 years
Essaruk 5’ 6” to 6’ 6” 150 lb. to 225 lb. Lizardfolk 15 years 40 75 105 + 2d20 years
Gnome 4’ 6” to 5’ 0” 70 lb. to 90 lb. Orc 17 years 35 55 75 + 2d10 years
Goblin 4’ 0” to 4’ 6” 40 lb. to 70 lb.
The Adult column in the table indicates the nominal average
Halfling 4’ 0” to 4’ 6” 55 lb. to 80 lb.
age at which a character reaches full physical maturity. As with a
Hobgoblin 5’ 0” to 6’ 6” 100 lb. to 200 lb.
character’s height and weight, this average is only a guideline.
Human 5’ 0” to 6’ 6” 100 lb. to 225 lb.
Moreover, the varied and different cultures in which characters
Kobold 4’ 6” to 5’ 0” 80 lb. to 100 lb.
of any lineage might live all have their own social and legal
Lizardfolk 5’ 6” to 6’ 6” 180 lb. to 250 lb. conventions surrounding maturity. However, those conventions
Orc 5’ 6” to 7’ 0” 150 lb. to 250 lb. have no bearing on a character’s objective abilities.
In a culture that marks a person’s entry into adulthood at
Tall for Your Height sixteen, a twenty-year-old character will likely be thought of as
Examining the range of heights and weights for characters of the well established in their adult life. In a culture whose youngest
twelve worldborn lineages, it’s easy to note a number of crossover members remain under the stewardship of their parents until
points. A human or elf can be 5 feet tall at the shorter end of the age twenty-one, another twenty-year-old might be thought of as
average heights for those lineages, as can a gnome or kobold at the still being an impetuous adolescent. However, though these
tall end of the average heights for their folk. Likewise, many player social perspectives might be a factor in how each character is
characters and NPCs fall even farther outside the routine averages roleplayed, both are as capable as any other adventurer of the
of height and weight. The features that define Small creatures are
same age and experience.
based on a number of factors, though, including general quickness
and conditioning, and not just height. As such, a taller gnome or The maximum age for each lineage represents the physical
kobold is usually still a Small creature, while a shorter human or elf limits of aging for characters. However, many people in the
typically remains a Medium creature. world — particularly adventurers — die of unnatural causes long
If you do want to play a character outside the average lineage norms before getting to venerable age.
for height and weight, you can easily make your leggy gnome or In the event that a character is still a part of the campaign upon
halfling a Medium creature, or make your petite dwarf, elf, reaching venerable age, the GM secretly rolls the character’s
hobgoblin, or human character a Small creature. Just make the maximum age — the number from the Venerable column on the
following changes to your innate lineage traits: “Age Categories” table plus the result of the dice roll indicated
• Medium creatures have a speed of 30 feet, can use heavy on the Maximum Age column. A character who reaches their
weapons, and lose the lie low innate trait (which Small characters maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following
gain as an extra innate trait to offset their lower speed). year.
• Small creatures have a speed of 20 feet, can’t use heavy weapons,
and gain the lie low innate trait.
Gnome (40); Goblin (55); Halfling (45); Kobold (62)
Starting Age
Your character can start out at any age, regardless of lineage or
culture. Although starting characters already have specialized
Character Age knowledge, training, and experience that sets them apart from
other folk, a newly created character is usually assumed to be a
Despite their varied origins, all worldborn have a relatively relatively young adult as they set out on the path to adventure.
similar rate of physical and mental growth from birth through But it can be just as much fun to play a more mature character
childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. When passing into taking up an adventuring career. Because all characters have the
middle age and beyond, though, certain lineages begin to slow same number of starting feat slots (usually 20), an older
in their aging, so that the most venerable elves and lizardfolk character is simply one who amassed those feat slots over a
might outlive the longest-lived human or goblin by more than longer period of slower progression, rather than following the
three decades. [In CORE20, the lines of elves, dwarves, and path of the would-be hero or scoundrel from a young age.
lizardfolk evolved long ago in areas suffused with high levels of
magic, producing biological changes in those lineages that A 50-year-old wizard might have spent most of her life
lengthened the lifespans of their folk. However, that increase in engaged in dull library work, attaining only minimal
lifespan is much less dramatic than it is in other fantasy games.] spellcasting ability before some sudden catastrophe thrusts
her into a life of adventure. A 35-year-old city guard might
have learned their skill with sword and crossbow at a young
age, then led a relatively easy life that offered up no real

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

challenges — at least until they’re dragged inevitably into

the events of the campaign.

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 Chapter 3: Lineages

Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Lineage Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Dominant Lineage — Select one additional lineage feature. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —

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Chapter 4: Backgrounds
Your character’s background helps to define their life up to the
point when they took up the path of adventure. Just as all
characters have unique perspectives and traits defined by their
lineage, all characters have a particular upbringing that shaped
them in important ways. But where your character’s lineage
helps to define their broader relationship to the world and its
history, your background has a more direct connection to
childhood, home, and family — whether your character carries
the memories of those things dearly, or has walked away from
the past with no desire to turn back.
Nine different backgrounds cover the broad strokes of the
experiences that have shaped your character — criminal, exile,
gentry, magical, military, outlander, rural, wanderer, and urban.
Your character’s background might be a strong match to their
chosen path in life, with the benefits of a chosen background
providing a foundation of knowledge and training. For example,
many martial-focused characters choose the military
background, and the magical background is a good fit for any
spellcaster.
Alternatively, part of the richness of your character’s story might
come from the juxtaposition between the life they once lived
and the life they choose now. A character with the outlander or
rural background brings a unique perspective to a city
campaign, just as a character who grew up in the city or among
the gentry does in a dungeon. And backgrounds such as exile
and wanderer can provide any character with an intrinsic sense
of seeking something, which the campaign can ultimately
provide.
As with choosing a lineage, you might already have a strong
sense of who your character is, making it easy to select your
background right away. If not, make note of two or three
backgrounds that might fit as you’re thinking about your
character, then make a final choice when you select your
character’s starting feats.
Fast-Start: Backgrounds
The following subset of the backgrounds explored in this chapter
present good options for a wide range of character types.
Criminal
Take this background for any character with a shady past — or who
plans to have a shady future.
Ability Score Increase: Take a +2 to Strength or Dexterity, whether
to boost your prowess with physical skills and weapons or to hone
your defensive reflexes.
Skill Affinity: Take a +3 to Investigation or Persuasion checks.
Background Benefit: Among Your People.
Magical
Take this background for any spellcasting character.
Ability Score Increase: Take a +2 to your spellcasting ability
(Intelligence for arcane casting, or Wisdom for animys or druidas
casting), or to your Dexterity or Constitution to keep you safe when
trouble gets too close.
Skill Affinity: Take a +3 to Expertise or Magic checks.
Background Benefit: Potent Caster.
Military
Take this background for any combat-focused character.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Ability Score Increase: Take a +2 to Strength or Dexterity, whether
to maximize the potency of your weapon attacks or to boost your
defensive prowess.
Skill Affinity: Take a +3 to Athletics checks.
Background Benefit: Warrior’s Training.
Outlander
Take this background for any character with an affinity for the
wilderness.
Ability Score Increase: Take a +2 to Strength or Constitution,
whether to maximize your physical presence or your bodily
resilience.
Skill Affinity: Take a +3 to Nature or Perception checks.
Background Benefit: Wilderness Lore.
Rural
Take this background for any character at home in villages and
remote settlements.
Ability Score Increase: Take a +2 to Strength or Wisdom, reflecting
your focus on physical or mental resilience.
Skill Affinity: Take a +3 to Healing or Nature checks.
Background Benefit: Animal Bond.
Urban
Take this background for any character at home in the city.
Ability Score Increase: Take a +2 to Intelligence or Charisma,
whether to hone your knowledge or your people skills.
Skill Affinity: Take a +3 to Expertise checks.
Background Benefit: Blend with the Crowd.
Background Benefits
Each background provides a number of benefits that are gained
at character creation.
Ability Score Increase
The life your character has lived (especially the early formative
years) helps to shape their physical and mental prowess. When
you choose your background, you can raise one of your ability
scores by 2, or raise two of your ability scores by 1 each.
Each background comes with suggestions for which ability
scores to raise, but you can choose whatever ability scores
reflect your character’s chosen path and training.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
The criminal background suggests that a character take an
ability score increase in Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence.
One player of a character with a criminal background might
increase Strength and Dexterity each by 1, reflecting that
the character’s time working as a street thief has made
them robust and nimble. A player whose character has a
history of running elaborate cons might have their
Intelligence increased by 2 to reflect their criminal cunning.
And a third player might decide to ignore the suggestions
and increase their character’s Wisdom and Charisma each
by 1, reflecting a suave, charming thief who has become
wary after being betrayed once too often.
70

Skill Affinity
A character’s background provides an aptitude for particular
skills. At character creation, a character gains a +3 bonus that
can be applied to a number of favored skill groups for that
background. A character can take a +3 bonus to one skill group,
take a +2 bonus to one skill group and a +1 to a second group,
or take a +1 bonus to three skill groups, as the player decides.
Chapter 6/Skill Groups (100)
All backgrounds have three favored skill groups except for the
magical background, which has four.
One player creates a character meant to be a master thief.
Taking the criminal background, the character takes a +3
bonus to Thievery checks, maximizing her ability to open
locks, handle traps, perform sleight of hand, and the other
skills of the Thievery group.
Another player creates an animys spellcaster who learned
their art as a wandering healer. Taking the magical
background, the character uses their Skill Affinity to take a
+1 bonus to Healing checks, a +1 bonus to Magic checks,
and a +1 bonus to Nature checks, representing a lesser
degree of knowledge across a broader range of study.
All backgrounds also grant a character a +3 bonus to checks
with any personal skill groups. These personal skill groups
reflect the vocations, hobbies, and interests that are a part of
every character’s life, and will often connect to the character’s
backstory or environment.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
A player decides that his character was born in a coastal
settlement in a seafaring nation, and spent much time on
ships and the water. The player establishes that his
character uses the Sailor personal skill group, and takes a
+2 bonus to Sailor checks to reflect that backstory. He also
uses the Musician personal skill group and takes a +1
bonus to Musician checks, reflecting the character’s love of
the sea shanties once sung in the taverns of his homeland.
Background Benefit
Each background comes with a range of unique benefits, and
you can choose whichever one of those benefits feels like the
best fit for your character. Working with the GM, you can also
develop an alternative benefit that fits your character concept,
and whose value is in line with the benefits presented here.
Common Background Benefits
Individual backgrounds provide a wide range of options for
customizing your character, but all character backgrounds also
provide a number of consistent benefits.
Action Points
Your starting character gains one bonus feat slot to take the
Heroic Action feat, granting them 1 action point.
Chapter 5/Action Points (88)
Default Languages
By default, all characters can read, write, and speak or sign a
regional language (typically tied to the area in which they have
lived the longest or the most recently). Characters can also learn
the spoken Imperial language or Imperial Sign — the twinned
trade languages that became the universal lexicon of the
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 4: Backgrounds
Empire, and which are still used in most areas of the world.
Characters of all lineages except human also know a spoken or
signed lineage language tied to their lineage’s history.
Chapter 7/Languages (159)
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
As part of their background, your character gains three bonus
feat slots to take the Learn Language feat three times — for a
regional language, Imperial, and a lineage language. Because
Imperial is effectively the human lineage language, a human
character can choose any lineage language or a second regional
language (spoken or signed) at character creation. Characters
whose regional language and lineage language are the same, or
whose backstory means they never learned their expected
lineage language, can likewise choose a different lineage or
regional language. The GM has details on the regional and
lineage languages that are most commonplace in your
campaign.
Characters who want to can use feat slots to learn additional
languages using the Learn Language feat. The choice of
languages your character can learn is entirely up to you, as is the
choice of whether to take minimal fluency in a broad range of
languages, or take additional instances of Learn Language to
boost their fluency.
Chapter 7/Learn Language (165)
Chapter 7/Fluency and Language sidebar (165)
In certain cases, you might convince the GM to allow your
character to know a different language instead of the default
knowledge of Imperial. Be aware, though, that such a character
will have trouble communicating in a campaign that touches on
a number of different regions or cultures, with Imperial serving
as a common bridge language between different peoples.
Character Backgrounds
The following backgrounds can each reflect a character’s past
and help shape their future.
Criminal
You spent your formative years living outside the law, whether
you were forced from a young age to steal to survive, or whether
you recognized the need to fight against corrupt order meant to
break the will of free people. Whatever path you follow now, you
make full use of the talents you picked up while living on the
edge.
The criminal background grants you the following benefits.
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested abilities: Strength, Dexterity, or
Intelligence.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the
Investigation, Stealth, and Thievery skill groups. You also have a
total +3 bonus that can be applied to any personal skill groups.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Stealth (140); Thievery (143);
Personal Skill Groups (145)
71

Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your criminal character.
Criminal Element
You have advantage on Investigation and Stealth checks when
interacting with people you know to be criminals.
Roll With It
You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls.
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
Quick Touch
Under suitable circumstances and as determined by the GM (for
example, when attempting sleight of hand to conceal or pilfer
an object, or when hiding under near-perfect conditions), you
can make Thievery or Stealth checks as a minor action or a
reaction.
Exile
You were born to a place and culture that you were forced to
abandon, perhaps by personal choice, a disaster that displaced
countless folk, or a threat you couldn’t stand against. Though
you might have learned to love your new culture or homeland,
you still carry the weight of your exile with you, focusing your
sense of purpose and your perspective on the world.
The exile background grants you the following benefits.
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Constitution,
Wisdom, or Charisma.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the
Investigation, Perception, or Persuasion skill groups. You also
have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to any personal skill
groups.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Perception (134); Persuasion (137);
Personal Skill Groups (145)
Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your exile character.
Modest Needs
The time you’ve spent on the run has taught you how to live
comfortably in humble surroundings. When calculating the
expenses for your upkeep during campaign downtime, you pay
only half the weekly cost associated with your lifestyle. (For the
gentry lifestyle, your minimum upkeep cost is halved, with the
total cost determined as usual.)
Chapter 7/Campaign Downtime (194)
Stranger Sense
You have advantage on Investigation and Perception checks
when interacting with creatures not native to the local area, as
determined by the GM.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 4: Backgrounds
Voice of the Past
You gain two bonus feat slots to take Learn Language ×1 for
two languages that connect to your life before or during your
exile.
Chapter 7/Learn Language (165)
Gentry
You were born into a life that granted you the benefits of rank,
education, and wealth — and an innate understanding of the
power that comes from all those things. Though you might have
left your life of privilege behind, the things you learned as a
member of the gentry still define the scope of your mental and
social awareness.
The gentry background grants you the following benefits.
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Constitution,
Intelligence, or Charisma.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the Expertise,
Investigation, or Persuasion skill groups. You also have a total
+3 bonus that can be applied to any personal skill groups.
Chapter 6/Expertise (121); Investigation (126); Persuasion (137);
Personal Skill Groups (145)
Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your gentry character.
Financial Ties
At the GM’s determination, whenever you have access to a
suitable source of funds (a bank your family has dealt with,
another gentry you have managed to previously impress, and so
on), you can make a Persuasion check to borrow money, using
the rules for earning income during downtime. If you have a
personal skill group related to money (Financier, Accountant,
and so forth), you have advantage on the check. With a
successful check, you borrow an amount of money up to 1d4 + 1
times what you would earn in 1 week with that same check made
for a personal skill.
Chapter 8/Earning Income (207)
Any loans you successfully draw using this trait are interest free
as long as they are repaid within one month. If any loan isn’t
repaid within that time, the terms of repayment — and the
repercussions for not paying — are determined by the GM.
Voice of Authority
You have advantage on Expertise and Persuasion checks when
interacting with members of the gentry.
Multilingual
You gain two bonus feat slots to take Learn Language ×1 for
two additional languages, or to take Learn Language ×2 for one
of your other starting languages, gaining a broad knowledge of
that language’s scholarly and complex forms.
Chapter 7/Learn Language (165)
72

Magical
You were raised in the ancient traditions of magic — animys,
arcane, druidas, or psionic. Whether this was part of your
cultural upbringing or the result of specialized training or
apprenticeship, the knowledge and insight you gained in your
formative years will serve you over a lifetime of study and
spellcasting.
The magical background grants you the following benefits.
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Intelligence,
Wisdom, or Charisma.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the Expertise,
Healing, Magic, or Nature groups. You also have a total +3
bonus that can be applied to any personal skill groups.
Chapter 6/Expertise (121); Healing (123); Magic (128);
Nature (131); Personal Skill Groups (145)
Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your magical character.
Magical Aptitude
Choose magic attack rolls or magic challenge throws. You have
a +1 bonus to those rolls.
Chapter 10/Magic Attack Roll (335); Magic Challenge Throw (335)
Potent Caster
When you take the Spell Power feat at character creation, you
gain additional spell points equal to your spellcasting ability
modifier. If you take the Spell Power feat at character creation
for more than one sphere of magic, you gain additional spell
points equal to your highest spellcasting ability modifier, and
you can split these extra spell points between spheres as you
choose.
Chapter 10/Spell Power (323)
Spell Master
If you take the Well Heeled feat at character creation, you
increase the amount of gold you earn by 50 gp, which must be
spent on your starting spells.
Chapter 8/Well Heeled (206)
Military
You spent long years in proximity to battle, whether as a soldier
or guard in an organized militia, a mercenary fighting for coin
and prestige, or a reluctant warrior forced to take up arms for
survival. A strong focus on combat and conflict gives you
advantages in battle over those who don’t share your valorous
upbringing.
The military background grants you the following benefits.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 4: Backgrounds
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Strength, Dexterity,
or Constitution.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the
Acrobatics, Athletics, or Stealth skill groups. You also have a
total +3 bonus that can be applied to any personal skill groups.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Athletics (112); Stealth (140); Personal
Skill Groups (145)
Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your military character.
Warrior’s Training
Choose melee weapons or ranged weapons. You have a +1
bonus to damage rolls with all weapons of that type.
Chapter 9/Weapon Qualities (274)
Weapon Aptitude
You have a +1 bonus to attack rolls with one weapon of your
choice.
Chapter 9/Attacks (264)
Well Equipped
If you take the Well Heeled feat at character creation, you
increase the amount of gold you earn by 50 gp, which must be
spent on your weapons or armor, or on magical enhancements
to your weapons or armor.
Chapter 8/Well Heeled (206)
Outlander
Long years living far from the rules and rewards of cities and
settled lands have granted you an innate durability and strong
survival skills. As an outlander, you don’t necessarily reject the
comforts and advantages that can be found in towns and cities.
But in the end, you know that the resilience of mind and body
and the instincts honed by a life in the wilds serve you best.
The outlander background grants you the following benefits.
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Strength,
Constitution, Wisdom.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the Athletics,
Nature, or Perception skill groups. You also have a total +3
bonus that can be applied to any personal skill groups.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112); Nature (131); Perception (134); Personal
Skill Groups (145)
73
 Chapter 4: Backgrounds

Background Benefit Wilderness Adept

Choose one of the following benefits for your outlander If you take the Favored Terrain feat at character creation for any
character. wilderness terrain, when you make a Dungeoneering, Nature,
Perception, or Stealth check in that terrain and the roll is less
Defensive Spirit than 10, you can treat the roll as a 10.
While you wear light armor or no armor, you have a +1 bonus to Chapter 7/Favored Terrain (178)
defense rolls. Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134);
Stealth (140)
Chapter 9/Defense (237)

Two-Handed Combatant Urban

You have a +1 bonus to damage rolls with two-handed melee
weapons.
Chapter 9/Weapon Qualities (274)
Wilderness Lore
You have advantage on Perception and Nature checks when
finding tracks and following a creature’s trail in a wilderness
environment.
Rural
You come from a culture of sparsely settled lands, and were
raised to walk the forests, ride the steppes, or work the earth
and water. Though your upbringing has not necessarily made
you a stranger to the cities, you have learned to depend on
people rather than institutions, and to trust in your own
strengths and your instincts for survival.
The rural background grants you the following benefits.
You were raised in the city, adapting to the pace of urban life
and nurturing the social instincts inspired by being surrounded
by people day and night. Whether you continue to live an urban
life or have long since left the sanctuary of the city for wilder
lands, the lessons you learned on the streets continue to serve
you well.
The urban background grants you the following benefits.
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Dexterity,
Intelligence, or Charisma.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the Expertise,
Investigation, or Stealth groups. You also have a total +3 bonus
that can be applied to any personal skill groups.

Ability Score Increase Chapter 6/Expertise (121); Investigation (126); Stealth (140);
Personal Skill Groups (145)
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Strength, Dexterity,
or Wisdom. Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your urban character.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)

Skill Affinity City Living

You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the Athletics,
Healing, or Nature groups. You also have a total +3 bonus that
can be applied to any personal skill groups.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112); Healing (123); Nature (131); Personal
Skill Groups (145)
Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your rural character.
Aggressive Combatant
You have an additional +1 bonus to damage rolls with any
aggressive weapon.
Chapter 9/Weapon Qualities (274)
Animal Bond
You have advantage on Healing and Nature checks when
dealing with animals.
When calculating the expenses for your upkeep during
campaign downtime in an urban area (population 1,000 or
greater), you pay expenses as if you had chosen the next lower
category — paying nothing for a poor lifestyle, 1 gp per week
for a common lifestyle, and so on. (For the gentry lifestyle, your
minimum upkeep cost is reduced, with the total cost
determined as usual.)
Chapter 8/Character Upkeep (196)
Urban Adept
If you take the Favored Terrain feat at character creation for any
settled terrain, when you make a Dungeoneering, Nature,
Perception, or Stealth check in that terrain and the roll is less
than 10, you can treat the roll as a 10.
Chapter 7/Favored Terrain (178)
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134);
Stealth (140)
Blend with the Crowd
You have advantage on Investigation or Stealth checks made in
an urban area (population 1,000 or greater).

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 74

 Chapter 4: Backgrounds

Wanderer Background Feats

You spent your formative years traveling through diverse lands
or living on the cusp between cultures, and these experiences
have defined your sense of the world. You are adept at
navigating social boundaries as easily as you cross the border
from one land to another, and have an instinctive sense of how
to deal with the unknown.
The wanderer background grants you the following benefits.
Ability Score Increase
Increase one of your ability scores by 2 or increase two of your
ability scores by 1. Suggested ability scores: Constitution,
Intelligence, or Wisdom.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Skill Affinity
You have a total +3 bonus that can be applied to the
Investigation, Persuasion, or Stealth groups. You also have a
total +3 bonus that can be applied to any personal skill groups.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126); Persuasion (137); Stealth (140);
Personal Skill Groups (145)
The following feat allows a character to shape a stronger
connection to their background.
Formative Past
The things you learned when young make you what you are
today.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You select one additional background benefit from
your background, which can’t be a background benefit you
already have. As usual, you can develop an alternative benefit
that fits your character concept in consultation with the GM, and
whose value is in line with your background’s other benefits. You
can’t use this feat to select an additional ability score increase or
additional skill affinity from your background.
Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
slot. Each time you do so, you select a different background
benefit.

Background Benefit
Choose one of the following benefits for your wanderer
character.

Life on the Road

You treat your speed as being 10 feet faster for the purpose of
overland movement.
Chapter 7/Overland Movement (170)

Natural Linguist
You gain two bonus feat slots to take Learn Language ×1 for
two languages that connect to lands you once traveled through
or cultures with which you have spent time.
Chapter 7/Learn Language (165)

Outsider’s Edge
Whenever you make skill checks to interact with other creatures,
you ignore any disadvantage that would typically be imposed
because of unfamiliarity with those creatures’ language or
culture.

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 75


Alignment
A creature’s personality and principles can often be described
by what’s known in the game as their alignment, which
represents how beliefs, thoughts, and actions are shaped by
morality (the balance between good and evil), ethics (the
balance between law and chaos), or the neutral balance
between those extremes.
Alignment is a tool for developing your character’s identity. It
isn’t a set of restraints meant to dictate what you can and can’t
do. Except for characters who dedicate their whole self to good,
law, or some other facet of their morality or ethics, alignment is
flexible, used to help describe your character, not to define
them. Each alignment represents a broad range of personality
types and personal philosophies, so two characters of the same
alignment can still be quite different from each other — or even
different from the people they were a week or a month before.
Chapter 10/Ethos Magic (376)
As with all other aspects of your character, the choice of
alignment is yours to make. However, because of the potential
for problematic story and character conflict, many GMs don’t
allow evil characters in their campaigns, especially if most other
characters in a campaign are of good alignment.
Chapter 5/Safety Tools (95)
Fast-Start: Alignment
Choose one of the alignments below depending on your character’s
initial outlook and approach to adventuring life. Remember that you
always have the ability to decide what your character does, even if
that means your alignment changes over time.
Lawful good
You believe that always embracing law and order is the best way to
live life and explore the world.
Neutral good
You are dedicated to always doing what’s right, but you feel free to
ignore the law when it would get in the way of that.
Chaotic good
You know that personal freedom is the best weapon against
oppression, and you ignore the law at all times even as strive to do
what’s right.
Lawful neutral
You are dedicated to law and order above all else, fighting for good
only when evil arises to threaten that order.
Neutral
You mostly fight for yourself and those you care for, and you stand
against evil only when it threatens you — or when you have
something to gain.
Good and Evil
Good characters and creatures protect innocent life. Evil
creatures debase or destroy innocent life, whether for pleasure
or profit.
“Good” implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the
dignity of sapient beings. Good characters make personal
sacrifices to help others.
“Evil” implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others. Some evil
creatures have no compassion for others and kill without
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 4: Backgrounds
thought if doing so is convenient. Others actively pursue evil,
killing for sport or out of duty to some even-more-evil leader.
For most characters, being good or evil is an instinctive attitude
more than a conscious choice. Likewise, being neutral on the
good–evil axis usually represents a lack of commitment one way
or the other. Characters and creatures who are neutral with
respect to good and evil have no desire to kill the innocent, but
are committed only to protecting and helping the people they
know and care about.
Law and Chaos
Lawful characters tell the truth, keep their word, respect
authority, and honor tradition. Chaotic characters follow their
own conscience, favor new ideas over tradition, and keep
promises only if they feel like it.
“Law” implies honor, trustworthiness, respect for authority, and
reliability. But it can also represent close-mindedness,
judgemental behavior, and a lack of adaptability.
“Chaos” implies freedom, adaptability, and flexibility. On the
downside, it can also suggest recklessness, arbitrary actions, and
irresponsibility.
For most characters, devotion to law or chaos is a part of their
personality more than a conscious choice. Being neutral with
respect to law and chaos represents a respect for authority and
honesty, but with the understanding that defying authority or
deceiving others can often be justified.
The Nine Alignments
From all possible combinations of the lawful–chaotic axis and
the good–evil axis, nine alignments can broadly define the
moral and ethical outlook of a creature: lawful good, neutral
good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral,
lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil.
Each alignment description below depicts a typical character of
that alignment, with the understanding that any character might
act outside the regular scope of their alignment as they choose.
Characters with a largely neutral outlook often fight in defense
of what’s right, if only to prevent the power of evil from rising. A
free-willed chaotic character puts up with reasonable codes of
common law that protect those they care about. And even the
most staunchly good characters might be pushed to grim
revenge by personal pain.
The first six alignments, lawful good through chaotic neutral, are
the standard alignments for player characters. In most
campaigns, the three evil alignments are for villains and
malevolent monsters.
Lawful Good
A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected to
act. They combine honor and compassion, opposing evil and
fighting against it relentlessly. They tell the truth, keep their
word, help those in need, and speak out against injustice. A
lawful good character strives to see fair punishment for the
guilty based on appropriate restitution for their victims.
Neutral Good
A neutral good character does the best that a good person can
do. They are devoted to helping others, always doing what’s
right while not worrying about what people in authority might
think about their actions. They are happy to follow orders, but
never feel obligated to those who would give them orders.
76

Chaotic Good
A chaotic good character is kind and benevolent, helping others
as their conscience directs them with little regard for
consequences. They have no use for laws and regulations, and
hate it when people try to tell others how to act and what to do.
They always try to make the world a better place, whether or not
society agrees with their approach to doing so.
Lawful Neutral
A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal
code directs them. Order and organization are important to
them, as order encourages reliability and honor. Sometimes that
order is defined only by personal standards, but some neutral
characters believe in order established by strong, organized
leaders.
Neutral
A neutral character does whatever feels like the best idea at the
time, acting naturally without prejudice or compulsion. Some
neutral characters shrug in response to the pressure between
good and evil, law and chaos, as they do what makes sense for
them and those they care about. Others perceive good, evil,
law, and chaos as dangerous extremes that should all be actively
fought against.
Chaotic Neutral
A chaotic neutral character follows their whims as they avoid
authority, challenge traditions, and fight any restrictions placed
on them by others. They are an individualist, valuing their own
freedom but not fighting for anyone except themself and those
they care about. They are often unpredictable. However, their
behavior is never random or destructive simply for the sake of
destruction.
Lawful Evil
A lawful evil villain takes what they want no matter who they
might hurt, following tradition, expecting loyalty, and playing by
the rules — but with no mercy or compassion. They are
comfortable in a hierarchy, often wanting to rule but willing to
serve until the opportunity to rule presents itself. Some lawful
evil villains live by a code that they believe makes them better
than unprincipled villains, such as not killing in cold blood — but
having underlings do it instead.
Neutral Evil
A neutral evil villain is out for themself, and does whatever they
can get away with. They shed no tears for those they kill,
whether for profit, sport, or convenience. They ignore laws,
traditions, and codes, not wanting those things to get in the way
of their villainy. But they refrain from acting recklessly, and avoid
conflict with more powerful enemies when they can.
Chaotic Evil
A chaotic evil villain does whatever their greed, hatred, and
hunger for destruction drives them to do. They are hot-
tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. Chaotic
evil creatures typically work together only when forced to do so,
and attempt to overthrow or assassinate their own leaders at the
first opportunity.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 4: Backgrounds
Creatures With No Alignment
Alignment is a feature of sapient, conscious creatures with an
awareness of morality and ethics. Nonsapient creatures typically
have no alignment because morality and ethics have no
meaning to them, replaced instead by instinct and a focus on
survival.
Intelligent and Sapient Creatures sidebar (30)
Animals are a typical example of creatures with no alignment.
The most gentle herbivores are capable of attacking and even
killing other creatures without a thought if their own lives or the
lives of their young are threatened. Likewise, the most ferocious
carnivores are inclined to leave other creatures alone unless they
are hunting and perceive those creatures as prey. Animals given
gifts of food might develop a favorable attitude toward
characters, or even lend them aid as they can. But those
attitudes and actions are driven first by instinct before becoming
conscious choices.
A creature with no alignment might reflect the behavior of
certain neutral creatures, avoiding conflict and caring only about
themself. But having no alignment isn’t the same as having a
neutral alignment. As with all creatures with an alignment, the
behavior of a neutral creature can often be predicted based on
that alignment. The behavior of a creature with no alignment
often can’t be.
Characters and Alignment
Players often take one of two approaches to alignment for their
characters. Sometimes a player chooses an alignment and
allows that alignment to shape their character’s behavior. A
player who decides to play a chaotic good character makes sure
that the character always strives to oppose evil and watch out
for others, even as they look for reasons to oppose authority.
When deciding what their character might do, the player uses
alignment as a guideline.
Other times, a player runs their character by instinct and decides
what alignment is the best match to the character’s actions and
decisions during and between adventures. A character who
naturally tends toward helping others likely falls into one of the
good alignments, while a character who quickly learns to covet
treasure and focus on self-interest is likely one of the neutral
alignments. But even then, alignment is never an absolute. A
character might be personally neutral but socially good, fighting
against evil when she comes across it, but concerned only for
herself as long as evil stays out of her way. You might define the
alignment of such a character as “neutral/neutral good,”
“neutral (good),” or even “neutral with good tendencies.”
Alignment and Ethos
Only in the case that a character chooses an ethos does a clear
focus on alignment become important. Most players can safely
treat alignment simply as a shortcut for defining how a character
perceives the world and acts in accordance with that. But for
some adventurers, a singular focus on some aspect of their
alignment hones that alignment to an ethos, allowing them to
channel a unique form of personal magic as they fight foes
opposed to their morality or ethics.
Chapter 10/Ethos Magic Feats (376)
Alignment Change
Unless there are consequences for doing so (such as that
dictated by the Driven Ethos feat), characters can change
77
 Chapter 4: Backgrounds

alignment at any time with no effect. Sometimes, an alignment

change is gradual. A player whose character starts out chaotic
good might realize that the character’s actions are shifting more
toward neutral good, seeking not to constantly challenge the
law but to find a balance between social order and their own
personal freedom. A neutral character might shift to lawful
neutral the same way, acknowledging the suffering that results
from chaos and seeking a sense of order that might counteract
that.
Chapter 10/Driven Ethos (376)
Sometimes, an alignment change is drastic — usually in
response to catastrophic events. A lawful good character whose
home village is destroyed by corrupt cultists might lose her
sense of moral and ethical stability in the aftermath, becoming a
neutral character dedicated to vengeance. Or she might
become a chaotic neutral character who no longer cares for
anyone but herself, having lost everything she once fought for.

Magical Alignment Change

An alignment change driven by magic (most commonly a
magical curse or the side effect of using certain powerful magic
items) can’t simply be undone by a character. A character who
has undergone a magical alignment change must follow the
strictures of that alignment (or risk having those strictures
applied by the GM) until they can have the alignment change
reversed, usually with magic such as the remove curse or
atonement spell).

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 78

 Chapter 4: Backgrounds

Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Background Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Formative Past — Select one additional background benefit. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 79

Chapter 5: Playing the Game
As with all RPGs, most of what happens in a CORE20 game
takes place in the imaginations of and the conversations
between the GM and the other players. There are no rules
limiting how your character can interact with other characters
and the world around them, or what things they can try to do
within that world. But to determine whether your character is
successful at what they try to do, the game uses a framework of
rules that let you translate your character’s intentions into
actions.
The basic mechanics of the game include the dice that are used
to determine how successful your character’s actions are, and
how the many things your character can try to do are translated
into the different types of actions in the game. But just as
important as the written rules that define the mechanics of the
game are the unwritten rules that set out the feel of the game,
as players engage with each other, live through their characters,
and shape story together.
Using the Rules
Like every roleplaying game, the CORE20 system features many
different rules covering many different activities and mechanics.
As talked about in the “Introduction” section, you’re not
expected to ever memorize every rule in the book. As you play,
you’ll find that your own favorite parts of the game are likely to
stick in your mind, from the workings of favorite combat feats
when you play a hardened warrior, to how spells interact with
each other for a dedicated spellcaster, to how skill checks and
roleplaying intersect for a suave trickster. For everything else,
you’ll end up relying on the other players to share their own
sections of the rules that they know best, to quickly look things
up when time permits, and to rely on the GM’s judgement when
it’s important to keep the game moving and a ruling needs to
be made.
Introduction/The First Rule (5)
General and Specific Rules
There’s only one thing that’s important to keep in mind as you
build your character and shape that character’s story through
play. The game consists of many general rules, along with
specific rules that can let your character break the general
rules.
Most of the rules in the game represent activities that any
character can try to do. A healer character who’s never trained
with weapons can pick up a sword to defend themself if they
need to. An outlander who’s been suspicious of magic her
whole life can grab a wand of fireballs from her fallen arcanist
comrade and try to channel its magic with a supreme act of will
and a successful Magic skill check. Using skills, making attacks,
engaging enemies with roleplaying — any character can do any
of these things as part of the general rules of the game. But
then specific rules of the game become part of your character as
you select the feats that shape them, allowing your character to
do certain things that other characters without those feats can’t
do.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Combat (234)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Magic Items (ch. 2)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Spellcasting is an obvious example of a specific set of rules that
apply only to characters who take the appropriate feats. The
outlander above might be able to activate a wand, but she can’t
cast a spell herself no matter how hard she tries. Likewise, a
warrior attacking from hiding might catch an enemy entirely by
surprise, but that doesn’t let them deal extra damage with their
surprise attack, as that requires the Ruthless Attack, Sneak
Attack, or Sneak Shot feat.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting (320)
Chapter 9/Damage Feats (272)
In general, when a feat allows a character to do something,
other characters without the feat can’t do that thing. Such feats
create specific rules that apply only to characters who take
them. But if a feat makes your character better at something
(typically by granting them a bonus to do something or allowing
them to do something more often), every character can do that
thing. Those feats work with the game’s general rules, even as
they make characters better at the activities covered by those
general rules than characters who don’t take those feats.
Using Dice
The game features seven types of dice, each of which is referred
to with the letter ‘d’ following by the number of sides on the die.
The d4 is a four-sided die, used to generate numbers from 1 to
4. The d6 is the six-sided die used by many non-RPG games,
with the d8, d10, and d12 alongside it. The d20 is the largest
die, used to generate numbers from 1 to 20. The d20 is the die
you’ll roll most often to determine what happens in the game.
Whenever you need to roll dice, the game rules tell you which
dice to roll and how many. Your own group’s table rules will give
you additional guidelines for dice rolling.
Dice Etiquette (91)
For your skill checks, attack rolls, defense rolls, challenge throws,
saving throws, and initiative rolls, you always roll a d20. To
determine the effect that a magic pool has on your character,
you might be asked to roll a d4. When the GM wants to know
how many creatures appear during an encounter, they might roll
2d8, rolling a d8 twice and adding the results together. If there
are adjustments to be made, the rules provide you with a
modifier to a die roll. For example, to roll 3d10 + 3, you roll a
d10 three times, total the results, and then add 3.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237); Saving Throws (245);
Initiative (234)
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335)
Percentile Dice
A set of physical dice comes with two d10s, numbered from 0 to
9 and from 00 to 90. When rolled together, these dice can be
used to generate numbers from 1 to 100, and are sometimes
referred to as percentile dice or d100. When you roll, you
combine the two-digit die and the one-digit die to get the
number. For example, a roll of 60 and 7 is read as 67, while a roll
of 00 and 5 is read as 5. A roll of 00 and 0 is treated as 100.
80

Unusual Random Ranges
If ever need to generate a random number that doesn’t match
the dice used in the game, use the next largest die, then reroll if
you roll higher than the maximum. For example, if the players
can’t decide which of five characters should gain a magic item
found as treasure and want to decide randomly, the GM can roll
a d6 until they get a result from 1 to 5.
To obtain a random number in a range divisible by 10 (1–30, 1–
40, and so forth), you can roll a d10 for the ones digit (just as
with rolling percentile dice). Then roll a smaller die for the tens
digit, ignoring high results if necessary. For example, to
generate a number from 1 to 40, you would roll a d4 and a d10.
To generate a number from 1 to 70, you could roll a d8 and a
d10, rerolling any result of 8 for the tens digit.
Rules Overview
This chapter digs into the mechanics of the game in a big way, but
you don’t need to study or memorize any part of it. For most
players, the underlying rules of the game are something to consult
once in a while if you need to check something. Then, while you’re
playing, just keep a few things in mind.
Speak First
Whenever you want your character to do something, talk to the GM.
Many of the things your character can do don’t require any rules at
all, but simply involve you, the GM, and the other players talking
through the story as it unfolds.
Stay Safe
Be aware that as you and the other players come together to create
story, parts of that story might resonate differently with some
players — including players who have every right to not want to
engage in stories covering specific themes or materials. Safety tools
and open dialogue between the GM and the other players can help
make sure that the game remains fun for everyone.
The 𝖽20 Roll
Whenever your character wants to do something that involves the
risk of failure, you’ll roll a d20 to determine whether and how well
you succeed. Making d20 rolls happens most often during combat,
where your character’s success at attacking and defending all
involve rolling a d20.
Permanent Bonuses
Your character has a number of permanent bonuses that you always
add to d20 rolls and some other die rolls. Those bonuses determine
how good your character is at certain activities.
Short-Term Boons and Banes
Sometimes magic or some other effect makes your character better
or worse at the things represented by a d20 roll. When this happens,
you’ll roll a d4, d6, d8, d10, or d12 and add or subtract it from your
d20 roll, increasing or decreasing your chance of success.
Situational Advantage and Disadvantage
When you make certain types of d20 roll, or make a d20 roll under
special circumstances, you have advantage or disadvantage on the
roll. You roll the d20 twice, taking the better result for advantage or
the worse result for disadvantage, representing an increased chance
of success or failure.
Playing in Initiative
At points when it’s important to track what your characters are doing
in moment-by-moment detail, including combat, you’ll roll a d20 to
determine initiative — the order in which each character can act by
taking a turn.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 5: Playing the Game
Actions
While the game is in initiative, the things your character wants to do
on their turn are broken down into five types of actions:
• A standard action represents an activity that takes up most of your
time and focus on your turn.
• A minor action is an activity you can do more quickly.
• A move action covers any kind of movement your character can
make.
• A free action covers activities that take so little effort and focus
that you can do them automatically.
• A reaction is an extra action that you can sometimes take in
response to something happening to your character.
The 𝖽20 Roll
When your character attacks with a weapon, the blow might
strike true against your foe — or it might glance off their armor
to deal less damage, or no damage at all. When you make an
impassioned speech to convince the baron that a debased cult
has infiltrated the army, you might earn the gratitude of the
court — or you might make enemies among the baron’s
followers who fear that you’re trying to usurp their power.
Whenever you attempt an action that has some chance of
failure, from attacking or defending, to jumping across a pit, to
trying to win over suspicious townsfolk, to trying to shrug off the
effects of a potent poison, you use a d20 roll to determine how
your character succeeds or fails.
When you’re asked for a skill check, an attack roll, a defense roll,
a challenge throw, a saving throw, or an initiative roll, you roll a
d20. If you have advantage or disadvantage on the roll, you roll
the d20 twice.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237); Challenge Throw (245);
Saving Throws (245); Initiative (234)
Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
You then add any fixed modifiers to the roll. Your character
might have bonuses or penalties that apply to any of their d20
rolls.
You might then add the result of a boon die to the roll or
subtract the result of a bane die. Boons and banes are die rolls
that improve or hinder your d20 rolls.
You then compare the final total of your roll to a target number
that you hope to meet or exceed. Different types of d20 rolls
have different target numbers. Skill checks might be made
against a fixed DC (difficulty class) or another creature’s skill
check. Attack rolls are made against defense rolls. Saving throws
are made against challenge throws. In all cases, though, you
want your d20 roll to be as high as possible.
Measuring Success
For all d20 rolls, resolving the roll isn’t a simple decision about
whether you succeed or fail at what you were trying to do.
Depending on how the roll compares to the target number you
were trying to meet, you might attain a clear success for a high
roll, a clear failure for a low roll, or a partial success for a roll
somewhere in between.
An Athletics skill check to jump over a low wall might result in
your character clearing the wall easily, or clearing it but falling
down on the other side. You might crash into the wall, hurting
yourself as you hit. Likewise, an attack roll might make full
contact with an enemy, dealing full damage from your weapon
or spell. Or it might make partial contact to deal a bit of damage
81

or throw a foe off balance, or miss cleanly as your enemy ducks
out of your reach. A challenge throw as you cast a spell might
be met with multiple saving throws, determining whether
creatures take the full brunt of your magic, shake off its worst
effects, or somewhere in between.
The later chapters on skills and combat talk about how you
measure the success of your d20 rolls in more detail.
Chapter 6/Measuring Skill Success (104)
Chapter 9/Measuring Saving Throw Success (246); Measuring
Attack Success (265)
Roll Play or Roleplay?
Dice provide the element of randomness that keeps the game
unpredictable, allowing events to play out in ways that can
surprise the GM and the other players alike. A die roll translates
the math of bonuses and penalties into a specific outcome when
characters stand against enemies or set themselves against the
challenges of the game world. A character with a high modifier
for an attack roll, challenge throw, or skill check facing off
against a creature with a lower defense roll, saving throw, or skill
check is more likely to succeed. In combat, rolling dice helps to
simulate the maximum level of uncertainty and risk that a battle
scenario entails. But skill checks move the game forward in just
as big a way as attack rolls, and rolling dice means that anything
can happen.
Some games embrace the idea of rolling dice every time the
player characters or the creatures and NPCs run by the GM want
to do something. If you play this way, each time the characters
enter a new area or encounter a new group of people,
Perception checks or Investigation checks are called for all
around. Whether a character recalls an NPC’s name is always
determined by an Expertise check, and the GM calls for
Athletics and Acrobatics checks at every door needing to be
forced open and every wall that needs to be climbed.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
This roll-first approach creates a fluid and wide-open game
where nothing is certain and anything can happen. Players
comfortable with this style are likely to attempt risky maneuvers
and challenging tasks, knowing that there’s always a chance for
success.
Other games reserve dice rolling only for the most extreme
moments of uncertainty, rolling lots in combat but rarely at
other times. If this is your style of play, you’ll find that it creates a
strongly character-focused game, with roleplaying driving the
story as much as possible. The characters’ success in planning a
heist, getting on the mayor’s good side, or finding something
hidden in a dungeon chamber or a gentry’s apartment will be
largely determined by how well the players describe their
strategy and how well they roleplay its key elements.
This role-first approach creates a character-focused and creative
game where the players take a strong lead in advancing the
story in consultation with the GM. Players who enjoy this style
are likely to engage more fully with the campaign story, and to
focus on the activities their characters are best at.
Though a game might lean strongly toward one style or the
other, many games shift back and forth between these two
modes. GMs shouldn’t be afraid to try both approaches at
different points, and players shouldn’t be afraid to suggest
rolling dice more or less often if they feel that doing so would
be more fun.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 5: Playing the Game
Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage
Whenever your character makes a skill check, an attack roll, a
defense roll, a challenge throw, a saving throw, or an initiative
roll, you roll a d20 and add a modifier to determine the
outcome. Three different types of benefit can affect that roll to
increase your chance of success — bonuses, boons, and
advantage. The opposite of those — penalties, banes, and
disadvantage — can decrease your chance for success.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237); Challenge Throw (245);
Saving Throws (245); Initiative (234)
Bonuses and Penalties
Permanent modifiers are the foundation of your character’s
ability to perform certain tasks. Melee attacks depend on your
Strength modifier, for example, while ranged attacks and
defense depend on your Dexterity modifier. Each skill you use is
built on an ability modifier. The armor you wear has a fixed
bonus that applies to your defense rolls, while the magic sword
you wield has a bonus that applies to your attack and damage
rolls. These fixed modifiers are always effective and are always
added to the appropriate rolls. Even though you can choose to
not use certain magic items, their fixed bonuses always apply
while you do use them.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Chapter 9/Armor (240)
Magic Grimoire/Weapons (ch. 2)
The opposite of a fixed bonus is a fixed penalty. If you have a
very low ability score, you might have a penalty that applies to
one or more of your d20 rolls. Long-term magical effects might
also apply a penalty to d20 rolls, as do broken tools, weapons,
or armor might also apply a penalty to d20 rolls.
Boons and Banes
Sometimes you gain a short-term benefit that improves your
combat prowess or your ability to accomplish a task. That
benefit takes the form of a boon — another die that you roll and
add to your d20 roll. A boon die can be any die from a d4 to a
d12. If you have a d4 boon on an attack roll, rolling a 3 on the d4
means you add 3 to the attack roll in addition to your usual
bonuses. If you have a d10 boon on Athletics checks, rolling the
boon lets you add anywhere from 1 to 10 to your skill check roll.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Boons most often result from spells and other effects that grant
benefits for a fixed amount of time — a number of rounds,
minutes, or even hours. You might get a number of boons to the
same rolls from different effects. If you do, you roll all boons and
take the highest result, then add that result to the original roll.
You never add multiple boon dice together.
A bane is the opposite of a boon, and hinders your attempts to
accomplish a task. You roll a bane alongside a d20 roll and
subtract the bane from the original roll. If you have multiple
banes, you roll them all and take the highest result, then
subtract that result from the original roll.
Cancelling Boons and Banes
Whenever you have a boon and a bane on the same d20 roll,
you can roll both or you can let the boon and the bane cancel
each other out, as long as the boon is equal to or greater than
the bane. When a boon and a bane cancel each other out, you
82

don’t roll either die. You must decide to allow a boon and a
bane to cancel each other before the dice are rolled.
A warrior under the effect of a bless spell and a dolor spell
at the same time has a d4 boon and a d4 bane on attack
rolls. The player of the character can either roll both dice,
hoping that the boon roll exceeds the bane roll, or can let
the dice cancel each other out and roll neither, to avoid the
risk of rolling a low boon and a high bane.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
An arcanist uses a spellmark of force shield to gain a d6
boon on defense rolls, but is then weakened to gain a d4
bane to defense rolls. Even though the character is likely to
roll higher on the boon than the bane, the player decides
to allow the two to cancel each other, rather than risk a
penalty to a defense roll against a hard-hitting foe.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Optional Rule: Boon Bonuses and Bane
Penalties
Boons and banes are meant to make it easier to differentiate
bonuses and penalties to a character’s d20 rolls (which are always
on) and modifiers that are short-term in nature. When you get a
boon or bane, having the extra die in front of you makes it easy to
remember to roll that modifier while it’s in effect. But for players
rolling electronic dice in online games, or who prefer tracking
bonuses and penalties in the same way regardless of whether
they’re permanent or short-term, boons and banes can be replaced
with fixed penalties as follows:
• d4: +2 or −2
• d6: +3 or −3
• d8: +4 or −4
• d10: +5 or −5
• d12: +6 or −6
Using fixed modifiers to replace boons and banes lowers the
average modifier slightly. But having a slightly lower average bonus
in place of a boon is balanced by never worrying about taking the
highest penalties for a bane.
When you use boon bonuses and bane penalties, you don’t worry
about additional boons or banes of the same type. You just use the
modifier for the highest bane that affects a d20 role. For example, a
character who is weakened with a d4 bane and under the effect of
the dolor spell for another d4 bane takes a −2 penalty to the
appropriate d20 rolls, ignoring the extra bane. If the character is
then weakened again to increase the bane to a d6, the penalty
increases to −3, and dolor’s −2 penalty is ignored.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Whether you’re a player or a GM, you can use regular boons and
banes or the replacement penalties as you wish. A GM might prefer
to use boons and banes when only one foe in an encounter is
subject to them, but switch to bonuses or penalties when handling
large numbers of creatures. However, the two approaches can’t be
mixed for the same creature at the same time. If your character is
weakened with a d6 bane while under the effect of the jump spell,
you can’t take a −3 penalty in place of the bane to avoid the risk of
rolling high, even while you keep the d12 boon when jumping to
increase the chance of rolling high.
Advantage and Disadvantage
Sometimes a specific circumstance gives you a benefit to skill
checks, attack rolls, defense rolls, challenge throws, saving
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 5: Playing the Game
throws, or initiative rolls. That benefit takes the form of
advantage, allowing you to roll a second d20 when you make
the roll, then use the higher roll. For example, if you roll a 17
and a 5, you use the 17. Unlike with boons, you can have
advantage only once. If multiple circumstances would grant you
advantage on a roll more than once at the same time, you still
roll only one additional d20.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237); Challenge Throw (245);
Saving Throws (245); Initiative (234)
Disadvantage represents a specific circumstance that interferes
with your combat ability, skills, or something else represented
by a d20 roll. If you have disadvantage, you roll the d20 twice
and use the lower of the two rolls. For example, if you roll an 8
and a 12, you use the 8. If multiple circumstances would grant
you disadvantage on a roll more than once at the same time,
you still roll only one additional d20.
If circumstances cause a d20 roll to have both advantage and
disadvantage, the advantage and disadvantage cancel each
other out and you roll one d20. This is true even if multiple
circumstances impose disadvantage and only one grants
advantage, or vice versa.
Advantage or disadvantage on opposed rolls don’t cancel each
other. If your character has advantage on attack rolls and their
foe has advantage on defense rolls, you and they both roll with
advantage.
Working With Numbers
Most of the math involved in playing the game is simple addition
and subtraction. When you make an attack roll, you add the roll to
your attack bonus, then you might add the result of a boon die or
subtract the result of a bane die.
Needing to divide and multiply in the game is less common. If you
ever do need to do so, two special rules apply.
Rounding Fractions
If the rules call for you to divide two numbers and you end up with a
fraction, round down even if the fraction is one-half or larger. For
example, some spells have effects keyed to caster level divided by 2
or 3. When a 5th-level caster divides 5 by 2, the result is rounded
down to 2.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Multiplying
Certain effects can sometimes multiply real-world values such as
weight or distance. If more than one such effect is present, you
multiply all the appropriate numbers together. For example, a
creature under the effect of an enlarge person spell multiplies their
weight by 8. If that enlarged creature is then struck by a petrify spell,
they have their weight further multiplied by 3, making them weigh
24 times their usual weight.
Actions
During a game, you often don’t need to track how much time
the characters spend doing things. While the party is exploring a
ruined chamber in a dungeon, your character might tap on a
wall searching for secret doors while another character tries to
pry up a drain grate in the floor to discover what’s underneath it.
The GM focuses on what one character does first, then focuses
on the other character, and no one worries about whether which
character’s activities take longer.
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Sometimes, though, the length of time an activity takes
becomes important. Characters engaging in combat is the most
common scenario for each player needing to know how long it
will take to accomplish an activity, because it’s important to
know how many times you can attack your enemies while they’re
attacking you — or how many times they can attack you while
you’re trying to do something else. But any scenario in which
the characters are dealing with pressure or threats can see their
activities broken down into specific actions.
There are five actions in the game, all of which are detailed
below.
• A standard action represents an activity that takes the most
focus and time. If your character wants to do something that
would take most of your attention and energy if you were
doing it in real life, that’s a standard action in the game.
• A minor action is an activity that takes just a little bit of focus
and time. If you could do an activity while also doing
something else, your character should be able to do that
same activity as a minor action.
• A move action is an activity that involves movement or
motion. Anything movement-based that you might do, from
walking to riding a horse, is a move action in the game.
• A free action represents an activity that takes almost no
effort. Anything you can do automatically, such as talking for a
few seconds or dropping something you’re holding, is a free
action in the game.
• A reaction represents an activity that only happens in
response to something else. A reaction might cover an
activity typically covered by a standard action, a minor action,
or a move action, but it makes that activity a spur-of-the-
moment response.
Round by Round
Whenever it’s important for the characters’ activities to be
broken down into actions, the GM slows the game down into
rounds. A round is approximately 10 seconds’ worth of time,
which is long enough for a character to perform one of each
type of action. Because combat is the most common scenario
for when the game plays slowly, rounds are sometimes referred
to as “combat rounds.” However, even a noncombat mystery
campaign has moments where tracking the characters’ actions
one after the other is important.
Chapter 9/The Combat Round (234)
Common Actions
Some of the most common actions are discussed in this section. This
list of actions covers many of the activities your character can
undertake during the game, but it isn’t meant to be exhaustive. Use
these actions as guidelines when determining what type of action is
most appropriate when your character wants to do something not
described here.
Standard Actions
A standard action allows you to do something requiring a
significant amount of time and focus. Making an attack, using a
combat maneuver, and casting a spell are all standard actions.
Making a skill check, using a special feature, and activating a
magic item are often standard actions.
A standard action that incorporates a number of individual
activities can usually be split up during a round. If your character
can make two attacks as a standard action, you can make one
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attack, take part of your move action, make a second attack,
then finish your move action.
Some feats and skills allow you to undertake standard actions
more easily than usual, usually turning them into minor actions.
For example, casting a spell is a standard action, but the
Quickened Spell feat lets you cast a spell as a minor action.
Chapter 10/Quickened Spell (374)
A creature can never take more than one standard action in a
round, even if they take no other actions.
Skills
Any skill check made while the game is in initiative is typically
made as a standard action if it requires a significant amount of
effort or focus. Such skill checks include activities such as picking
a lock, thoroughly searching a section of a room, kicking in a
locked door, bringing a dying ally back from the brink, or
attempting to hide from enemies.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Combat
Making an attack with a melee or ranged weapon is a standard
action, as is making a combat maneuver or providing combat
assistance. Certain feats allow you to make multiple attacks or
multiple combat maneuvers as a standard action, and many
creatures with natural attacks can attack multiple times.
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Combat Maneuvers (259); Combat
Assistance (290)
Monster Grimoire/Natural Attacks
Making a ranged attack with a ranged weapon or thrown
weapon triggers opportunity attacks that enemies around you
can make as a reaction, including the target of your attack.
Opportunity Attacks Sidebar
Chapter 9/Opportunity Attacks (299)
Opportunity Attacks
While in combat, if you move or engage in certain activities that
leave you momentarily vulnerable to an enemy, that enemy can use
a reaction to make a special attack against you called an opportunity
attack. Opportunity attacks can be triggered while you are in an area
where a creature can reach you with a melee attack.
Chapter 9/Opportunity Attacks (299)
Spellcasting
Casting a spell is a standard action that triggers opportunity
attacks from enemies around you. Using a counterspell is a
standard action that also triggers opportunity attacks.
Chapter 10/Casting a Spell (327); Counterspell (339)
Magic Item Activation
Many magic items have constant effects that don’t need to be
activated. Magic items that require activation — including
scrolls, wands, rods, staffs, and many wondrous items, as well as
many of the features of magic weapons — are usually activated
as a standard action or a minor action, as noted in the item’s
description.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Activating most magic items doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks,
since those items require only minimal focus. Schemas, scrolls,
84

and talismans are exceptions, as these items store spells for
spellcasters to use, and casting those spells triggers opportunity
attacks. If a magic item is activated as a minor action (including
potions and spellmarks, which also store spells), doing so
doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks.
Magic Grimoire/Schemas, Scrolls, and Talismans; Potions and
Spellmarks (ch. 2)
Special Features
Special features come in two types — natural features and
magical features. Many special features granted by feats, magic,
or lineage traits have constant effects that don’t need to be
activated. Special features that need to be activated are
activated as a standard action unless the feature description
indicates otherwise.
Appendix A/Special Features (A1)
Mundane Actions
Manipulating items sometimes requires a high level of finesse or
focus. Drawing a hidden weapon, using flint and steel to light a
fire, loading a heavy or repeating crossbow, reloading bullet
charges in a pistol, locking or barring a door, or removing or
stowing an item from a pack or a closed pocket are all typical
standard actions.
Chapter 9/Weapons (274)
Chapter 8/Adventuring Gear (210)
Minor Actions
A minor action takes less time and focus than a standard action.
Drawing a weapon, making a quick skill check, drinking a potion,
or flanking a foe in combat are all minor actions.
Because a minor action represents brief, focused activity, a
minor action can’t be split up by other actions during a round.
Minor actions never trigger opportunity attacks.
A character can give up a standard action or a move action to
take additional minor actions in a round.
Combat
Attacking a foe is always a standard action, but you can
undertake other activities in combat alongside your attacks.
Feinting or flanking to gain advantage against a foe are both
minor actions.
Chapter 9/Feint (289); Flank (289)
Initiative Actions
Your initiative roll at the start of combat determines your place
in the initiative order until the end of the encounter. However,
you can spread your actions out through the initiative order by
holding your turn as a minor action, allowing you to finish your
turn during a later creature’s initiative.
Chapter 9/Initiative (234)
Spellcasting
All spells require a standard action to cast, and spells that need
concentration require a minor action each round to keep them
active. For spells that don’t require concentration, redirecting
the spell to move its area or change its targets is usually a minor
action. Dismissing an ongoing spell cast by you to end its effect
is a minor action.
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Chapter 5: Playing the Game
The Quickened Spell feat and magic such as the haste spell lets
you cast any spell as a minor action, though you pay an
increased spell point cost to do so. Other feats allow certain
spells to be cast as a minor action.
Chapter 10/Quickened Spell (374)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Skills
A skill check that requires only a small amount of time or effort is
typically made as a minor action. Such quick skill checks include
activities such as recalling lore, scanning a room for hidden foes
while moving through it, assessing an enemy’s state of mind,
making an Endurance check to run, or attempting to stay silent
while moving.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Mundane Actions
Many items require only a low level of attention when used or
manipulated. Drawing or sheathing a weapon, drinking a potion
or using a spellmark, using a tindertwig to light a fire, loading a
hand crossbow or light crossbow, reloading a pocket pistol,
opening or closing a door, picking up an item, slipping on or
loosing a shield, or removing or stowing an item from an open
pocket are all typically minor actions.
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic (214)
Chapter 9/Weapons (274); Armor (240)
Magic Grimoire/Potions and Spellmarks (ch. 2)
Move Actions
A move action is focused on your character’s movement,
whether they are moving on their own or controlling something
else that’s moving. Moving your speed across the battlefield or
across a crowded ballroom is a move action, as is climbing,
jumping, driving a wagon, or directing a mount.
When your character is moving, your move action can usually be
split up during a round. For example, if your character has a
speed of 30 feet and wants to quickly steal items from a number
of locations in a gentry’s bedroom, they can pilfer a chest of
drawers, move, steal something from a desk, and move again as
long they have movement remaining. In combat, a character
who can make multiple attacks as a standard action can move
and attack repeatedly until their movement and attacks are
done.
A creature can give up a standard action to take a second move
action in a round. This lets you move twice in a round while the
game is in initiative if you don’t attack or cast a spell.
Movement
Making any sort of movement under your own power is a move
action. This can include moving your speed as a full move,
crawling at half speed because you are prone on the ground,
swimming or climbing at half speed, or shifting at half speed to
avoid opportunity attacks or to make multiple weapon attacks
on your turn. Certain actions, including standing up when you
are prone or making a skill check to determine whether you are
slowed by difficult terrain when you move, are made as part of a
move action. Some such actions take up part of your available
movement.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
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Actions that allow you to move not under your own power are
also move actions, including getting onto or controlling the
movement of a mount, controlling a vehicle, or flying using
magic. Any type of movement made as a move action usually
triggers opportunity attacks.
Righting and Standing
If you have fallen to the ground or have gone prone, you must
stand up or right yourself before being able to act and move
again. Righting yourself or standing up is part of your move
action, takes up some of your available movement, and usually
triggers opportunity attacks.
Chapter 7/Righting From Prone (168)
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Skills
Skill checks involving movement are made as part of your move
action, covering activities such as balancing or climbing with an
Acrobatics check, jumping with an Athletics check, or swimming
with an Endurance check. Skill checks made to improve your
movement, such as making an Endurance check to run, are
made as a minor action before you move.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Athletics (112); Endurance (118)
Reactions
A reaction is a special action you can take only in response to
some specific event that you are aware of. Even as you commit
to attacks, spellcasting, movement, and other activities, you
maintain enough awareness and have sufficient time to react to
threats and opportunities as they arise around you.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
A reaction interrupts the flow of events in the round. When a
reaction is triggered by an event, the reaction is immediately
resolved, then the round continues. If the reaction interrupted a
creature’s turn, that creature can take the rest of their turn when
the reaction is completed. If the reaction is triggered at the end
of a creature’s turn, the reaction is resolved and play continues
with the next creature in the initiative order.
All creatures can use a reaction to make an opportunity
attack — a special extra attack that triggers when another
creature is vulnerable. Additionally, certain feats can let you take
other types of reactions in response to specific triggering
events.
Opportunity Attack sidebar
Chapter 9/Opportunity Attacks (299)
Chapter 9/Combat Reaction Feats (300)
A creature can usually take only one reaction per round, unless
they have the Quick Reaction feat. Whenever you take a
reaction, you get that reaction back at the start of your next
turn.
Chapter 9/Quick Reaction (301)
Taking a reaction never triggers opportunity attacks.
There’s no hard limit to the number of free actions you can take
during a round. However, the GM can impose limits if the free
actions you take feel like they cover more than a few seconds’
worth of activity.
You can take a free action even when it isn’t your turn, but you
can’t use free actions if some effect prevents you from using any
actions — for example, being unconscious. Free actions never
trigger opportunity attacks.
Appendix B/Unconscious (A11)
Spellcasting
When casting spells with material components, you engage
those components as a free action as long as they are on your
person. Engaging with a focus for a spell is a free action as long
as the focus is easily accessible, but the GM might rule that it
takes a minor or a standard action to bring a focus into play
from inside a pocket or under your shirt.
Chapter 10/Components (329)
Some beneficial spells can be cast only on willing targets. You
declare yourself a willing target of a spell as a free action.
Chapter 10/Willing Target (333)
Mundane Actions
Activities that take little to no effort or focus are usually free
actions. This includes things such as turning to change the
direction you’re facing, dropping an item to the ground close to
you, intentionally dropping prone to the ground, or
communicating with allies or enemies.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
No Action
A small number of things your character can do in the game
require no action at all. These are typically instinctive and
automatic activities that you need to be able to do even when
you can’t take any actions, including using action points and
making saving throws.
Action Points (88)
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)

Free Actions
Free actions consume a minimal amount of time and conscious
effort. Speaking or signing a few words, changing the direction
you’re facing, dropping an item you hold, or dropping to the
ground to avoid being seen are all free actions.

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COMMON ACTIONS

Standard Action
Attack
Activate certain magic items (including schemas, scrolls, and talismans)
Cast a spell
Counterspell to disrupt another caster’s spell
Draw a hidden weapon
Light a torch, lantern, lamp, or campfire with flint and steel
Load a heavy or repeating crossbow
Lock or bar a door
Make a combat maneuver
Make a skill check
Provide combat assistance
Reload bullet charges in a pistol
Remove or stow an item from a pack or closed pocket
Use a natural feature
Use a magical feature

Minor Action
Activate certain magic items (including potions or spellmarks)
Cast a quickened spell
Dismiss a spell
Draw or sheathe a weapon
Feint against a foe in combat
Flank a foe in combat
Hold your turn
Light a torch, lantern, lamp, or campfire with a tindertwig
Load a hand crossbow or light crossbow
Make a quick skill check
Maintain an active concentration spell
Open or close a door
Pick up an item
Redirect an active spell
Reload a pocket pistol
Remove or stow an item from an open pocket
Slip on or loose a shield

Move Action
Climb onto or off a mount
Control a mount’s movement
Crawl at half speed
Control a mount or vehicle
Fly using magic
Make a movement-based skill check
Move at your speed
Right yourself from prone
Shift at half speed

Reaction
Opportunity attack

Free Action
Change the direction you’re facing
Declare yourself a willing target of a spell
Drop an item
Drop prone
Engage a spell’s material components or focus
Speak or sign to communicate

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Action Points
Any character can use the game’s available actions on each of
their turns, applying strategy and the luck of the dice to the
activities and tasks they wish to accomplish. In exceptional
circumstances, you can augment your character’s actions by
using an action point — a pool of special benefits you can draw
on to grant your character a heroic edge.
Creatures with action points start each new game session with
all their action points available. Action points used during a
session can’t be restored during the session, no matter how
much game time a session covers. Action points not used in a
session can’t be carried over to the next session, which starts
with all creatures restored to their full action points.
Acquiring Action Points
Your character gains action points by taking the Heroic Action
feat. All beginning characters have Heroic Action as a bonus
feat, granting them 1 action point. You can use your feat slots to
take Heroic Action again and gain additional action points.
Special Creatures and NPCs
Powerful creatures and special NPCs (whether enemies or allies
of the characters) might have action points at the GM’s
determination. NPCs and other creatures with action points can
use them in all the same ways that characters use their action
points.
Action Points in the Game
Action points give players a certain amount of control over their
own poor die rolls or the most potent rolls of their enemies.
Characters who throw caution to the wind can make use of
action points when they end up in trouble as a result. Characters
who tread cautiously can use action points to help ensure that
their well-laid plans have the best chance of success.
Action points also make it more likely for your character’s most
potent features to be used successfully. A spellcaster deciding
to exhaust her magical reserves with a desperate counterspell of
a necromancer’s circle of death spell makes for a heroic
moment — unless the Magic check to use the counterspell fails
badly. Having an action point in reserve increases the chance
that a character’s most daring tactics are remembered for the
right reasons.
Chapter 10/Counterspell (339)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Using Action Points
You can use 1 action point per round. Using an action point
doesn’t require any action, so that you can do so at any time
and even if you can’t take actions (as when your character is
stunned or unconscious). However, if you use an action point to
augment an action or gain an additional action, you must be
able to undertake the action in question. For example, if you are
immobilized, you can take only mental actions and have a speed
of 0 feet. So you can use an action point to help you with one of
those mental actions, or even take an additional mental action,
but not to take a physical action or to move.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
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Chapter 5: Playing the Game
Gain Advantage
When you make a skill check, an attack roll, a defense roll, a
challenge throw, a saving throw, or an initiative roll, you can use
an action point to grant yourself advantage on the roll. You can
use an action point before the roll is made to use advantage to
negate disadvantage, or you can use an action point after a roll
is made to gain a single reroll if the result isn’t to your liking.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237); Challenge Throw (245);
Saving Throws (245); Initiative (234)
You can use an action point to gain a reroll after the outcome of
the d20 roll is known, but not after the effects of that outcome
have been resolved. For example, if you know that your attack
roll is a partial hit against a badly wounded enemy’s defense
roll, you can reroll that attack roll in an attempt to get a clear hit.
But you can’t decide to deal half damage with your partial hit,
realize that damage wasn’t enough to drop the enemy, then
decide to roll the attack again.
Chapter 9/Measuring Attack Success (265)
Gain an Extra Action
You can use an action point to gain an extra minor action or an
extra move action on your turn, or to gain an extra reaction if
conditions trigger a reaction for you. You can’t gain an extra
standard action by spending action points.
Gain an Extra Attack
If you use an action point while you are attacking on your turn as
a standard action, you can make one additional attack that turn.
This extra attack doesn’t take the bane that multiple attacks
usually take, even if you are already making multiple attacks with
a bane imposed. It likewise doesn’t limit your move action to a
shift unless making multiple attacks has already done so.
Chapter 9/Multiple Attacks (296)
Regain Spell Points
If you are a spellcaster, you can use an action point to regain a
number of spell points equal to your spellcasting ability
modifier. You can’t increase your spell points beyond their
maximum this way.
Chapter 10/Spell Points (322)
Negate a Critical or Grievous Hit
If you are subject to a critical hit or a grievous hit, you can use an
action point to treat the attack as a regular attack, which gains
no extra damage and negated any special features of the critical
hit or grievous hit.
Chapter 9/Critical Hits (292); Grievous Hits (294)
Recover From Dying
If you are dying, you can use an action point to automatically
regain 1 critical point, forgoing the need to make death saving
throws. You can’t use an action point in this way until you are
dying, so that you can’t avoid initially going prone then
becoming immobilized or unconscious after being reduced to 0
critical points.
Chapter 9/Hit Points (252); Dying (254)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
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Share an Action Point

You can use an action point to bestow an action point upon Action Point Feats
another creature, temporarily granting that action point to These feats allow a character to use action points to gain a
someone else to use. This action point lasts only until the end of heroic edge.
the other creature’s next turn, and so must be used at once.
To share an action point, you must establish an in-game Heroic Action
narrative by which you grant your action point to the other Fortune favors you in the midst of combat or great challenge.
creature. Prerequisites: —
A player whose druidan character is dying has an action Benefit: You gain 1 action point.
point that they want to bestow on a warrior ally who has a
chance to drop the boss who dropped the druidan. The Mastery: You can take this feat three times, gaining a maximum
player describes their narrative intent in sharing the action of 3 action points.
point, wanting to have the warrior channel fury into their Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
attack in response to seeing their compatriot fall.
Times Taken 1 2 3

Hero’s Luck
You shrug off failure to gain the chance to fight again.
Prerequisites: Heroic Action ×1.
Benefit: When you use an action point to gain advantage on a
d20 roll but that roll is wholly unsuccessful, you can gain
advantage on another d20 roll before the end of your next turn.
Wholly unsuccessful rolls include a check or saving throw that is
a clear failure, an attack that is a clear miss, an attack against
your defense roll that is a clear hit, and so forth.
Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Running the Game
The rules of the game determine how characters interact with
the world sketched out by the GM. But as the GM and the other
players work together to shape the story of the characters
moving within that world, they follow a different set of rules
governing how the game is played at the table, whether that
table is physical or virtual. Playing an RPG can be a complex
process, as with any other activity involving multiple people and
even more options. As such, there are many things for players
(including the GM) to think about as they work together to run
the game.
A Place to Play
Whether your group plays in person or virtually, one of the first
things to decide is where you all want to play. Because the GM
typically needs access to more resources than the players, many
GMs offer to host games at their home or another location they
have access to, or suggest a virtual tabletop they’d like to use —
an app or website that creates a shared space for play through
video or voice chat online. But it’s fine to discuss alternatives if
the GM’s suggestions are problematic for any players — for
example, if the GM’s home is hard to reach, or if someone’s
computer or device has trouble with a virtual tabletop’s
technical specifications.
Some in-person groups like to change the location of games, so
that every player has a chance to host. And even if your group
meets at the same location every session, you can talk together
about sharing the responsibility for bringing snacks, ordering in
dinner while you play, or any of the other things that can be a
part of a group of friends gathering to have fun.
The Group
Gaming groups come in many different sizes and setups, with
each of those setups having a potential impact on how the
game is played. There’s no single right size for a group. But
many players find that having three to five other players in
addition to the GM is ideal, as that provides enough characters
to fill out a full party while not having so many characters that
players are waiting too long for their turns during combat.
In a group of any size, it’s most common for each player to run
one character, alongside any companion creatures the player
controls. This is the easiest approach, and usually the best one
for new players. But experienced players can have fun running
two or more characters each, which can be useful if a play group
has only two or three players in addition to the GM. Moreover,
in a difficult campaign meant to push the characters, or one in
which the risk of character death is an important story element,
having each player run multiple characters can make it easier to
deal with losing a character. In the event of a character’s death,
a player can simply continue with their surviving character, then
create a new additional character for the next session.
Chapter 7/Companion Creature (198); Spirit Guide (200)
A player should never have to take on an extra character if they
don’t want to. Likewise, if only one player wants to play multiple
characters, the GM needs to make sure that the player doesn’t
use that to dominate the game or push the party toward specific
goals. Anytime a course of action must be decided by a group
that has some but not all players running multiple characters —
which tunnel to take in a labyrinth, how to split up treasure,
whether to trust an NPC, and so forth — give one vote to each
player, not to each character.
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Chapter 5: Playing the Game
New Players and Characters
Sometimes new players join an established campaign and need
to create characters. Other times, an established player creates
a new character to replace a character who died, or one who
wasn’t as much fun to play as originally expected. When this
happens, new characters should be created with the same
number of feat slots as existing characters, so that there’s no
sense of the characters or their players being penalized or held
back.
Even if a new player joining an existing campaign has never
played a CORE20 game before, it’s better for them to play a
straightforward character with a lot of feat slots than a character
less capable than their allies. The GM and other players can
work with the new player to make sure their character focuses
on easy-to-use feat options to start, which can be swapped out
for more complex options as the player becomes more familiar
with the game.
Chapter 1/Retraining (13); Reworking a Character (13)
Jumping In
When a new character joins an existing campaign, the GM and
all the other players can work together to decide how to
integrate the new character into the game and the story. If the
campaign is in downtime, the new player might have ideas for
how their character can appear and join up with the party, or
another player might connect their own backstory to the new
character’s, setting them up as an old friend or ally.
Sometimes a new character needs a more dramatic entrance, as
can be the case if the party is in the middle of an adventure and
at an remote or unusual location. When this happens, the
players can work together to make the new character a prisoner
of the party’s enemies, a solo adventurer happy to seek safety in
numbers, a character brought to a new location by
malfunctioning magic, or any other option that makes a good
story.
Scheduling and Absences
An adventuring party can face many threats, from furious
monsters to hazardous environments to outraged NPCs. But
nothing presents a greater threat to the characters’ collective
ability to engage in heroic deeds than those characters’ players
being unable to schedule regular sessions of a game.
Real-life obligations affect everyone differently, so it’s important
to keep all the players’ situations in mind when creating a
schedule for getting together to play. For many people, a set
schedule (every week, every two weeks, twice a week, or what
have you) at a specific time works well. Other groups might set
up every game session on a different day and time to
accommodate work or school schedules, personal
commitments, and so forth.
Even when a group works out a regular schedule for play,
unexpected events can see one or more players unable to
attend on short notice. For when this happens, every group
should have a plan already in place for how to handle things.
Missing Players
Think about how many players need to miss a session before
your group cancels the game. A fun hack-and-slash campaign
with five players and a GM might run just fine if only two players
can make it. But a story-heavy campaign with lots of intrigue and
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roleplaying might be difficult to pull off unless every player is
present.
When a player is missing, how should their absence be handled?
Having the GM run the player’s character like an NPC is fine for
some GMs, but too much work for others. Having the character
run by another player — or even by all the other players
collectively — can also work, with the missing player’s
permission. Or if it works with the story, the character of a
missing player can likewise not take part in the adventure, either
temporarily stepping away, undertaking a side mission whose
details the GM and the player’s character can work out as
narrative, or staying with the other characters but hanging back
from the main action.
The Rules of the Table
Your gaming table might be an actual table in someone’s dining
room or game room, the floor of a living room, a virtual tabletop
online, or any other location where you and the other players in
your group have enough space to meet, play, and enjoy
yourselves. But whatever the space, the rules governing how
you play your game are often referred to as table rules.
Working out your group’s table rules should be a process
involving the whole group, not just rules dictated by the GM.
Because the GM has additional responsibilities and generally
puts more time into a game than the players do, players should
respect and consider the GM’s position when they talk about
the things they need to run a game effectively. But even in the
case of a veteran GM running a game for all first-time players,
table rules should be talked about and open to discussion.
Fun and Respect
Everyone playing an RPG has the same basic goal of having fun,
but one player’s fun should never come at the expense of other
players. Show respect to your fellow players, including the GM.
When disagreements or points of misunderstanding happen,
talk about them in an attempt to resolve them. Acknowledge
and respect everyone else’s personal space, by ensuring that
your books, character sheets, dice, and other supplies don’t drift
in front of other players. Make sure you don’t talk over other
players — especially online, where it can be more difficult to
judge when someone else wants to speak.
Everything that might happen during the interactions between
players while the game unfolds can be talked about to make
sure all players are comfortable. This can include things like
whether it’s okay to borrow another player’s books or dice,
whether snacks are welcome at the table in a physical gaming
space, whether it’s okay to use phones or other devices for
nongaming activities during the game, and more. When these
issues come up for discussion, be open to what other players
have to say. For example, some players find it distracting or
even rude when other players look at their phones or tablets
during play. But those players might be doing so because a
specific app or a small amount of distraction actually helps them
focus more clearly on the game.
Safety Tools (95)
Rules Time and Game Time
At some point in every game, there’ll be a break in the action
because of uncertainly over how a particular rule works. When
this happens, it’s good for all players to agree on how long of an
interruption is reasonable, and when stopping to look up rules
starts to hurt the fun of the game.
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The best approach when a rules question comes up is often to
decide as a group how to interpret the rule in the moment, with
the GM having the final say. Then make a note to check the rule
at a break or after the game, so that everyone knows how to
handle it the next time.
Metagaming
The prefix “meta” means “referring to itself,” and gives rise to
the idea of players metagaming by thinking about the game as
players, rather than thinking as their characters. One of the most
common forms of metagaming is when players take advantage
of knowing what a particular creature’s strengths and
weaknesses are, even though their characters have never
interacted with or studied that creature before. But players
might also metagame by trying to guess what the GM’s
intentions are for some part of the campaign, rather than letting
their characters discover those intentions.
Sometimes, metagaming is unavoidable. Experienced players
running starting characters always know things about the game
world or its creatures that their characters wouldn’t know, so the
GM can factor that into the setup of the campaign. At the same
time, players should understand that pretending their characters
don’t know things about the world of the game is part of the fun
of roleplaying.
Character Knowledge
An opposite scenario to metagaming sometimes occurs when
players forget things their characters should be aware of.
Because a player only inhabits the persona of their character for
a few hours at a time, it’s easy for a player to lose track of what
their character knows. A player might forget a story detail
revealed in a previous session, or one of the features of a magic
item, or even that they recently took a new feat that could help
them in a specific situation.
The players, including the GM, should always feel free to
respectfully remind each other of things a player might have
forgotten. In particular, a GM should never punish a character
because a player forgot or overlooked something their character
would have no problem remembering.
Dice Etiquette
Dice are the mechanical heart of the game, focusing the
moments of randomness that drive the story told by the GM and
the other players. But how dice are rolled can have as much
impact on the game as what numbers come up.
Open Rolling
When players are rolling dice, it’s good to roll where all the
other players can see, and to leave dice showing their rolls. It’s
natural to want to pick up dice right after they’ve been rolled,
especially if a poor roll makes you upset. But picking dice up
makes it easier to forget what was rolled. For example, a player
might get a clear failure on a saving throw, only to have the GM
realize they added up the challenge throw incorrectly and need
to compare the saving throw to a different number.
As well, scooping up dice quickly after they’re rolled can make it
appear as though a player is trying to hide their roll — or worse,
to pretend they rolled something they didn’t. Players should
never be so secretive about their rolls that it makes other players
wonder if they might be cheating.
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GM Exception
For the GM running a game, exceptions can be made to the
rule for rolling dice in the open. There are many times when a
GM needs a roll to be secret, including making challenge throws
to determine the DC for skill checks and saving throws where it’s
important that the players not be certain whether a character
has fully succeeded or not.
Chapter 6/Unknown Skill Check DCs (106)
Chapter 9/Unknown Saving Throw DCs (247)
As well, a GM rolling in the open can inadvertently allow the
other players to metagame even if they don’t want to, by
revealing a creature’s modifiers to die rolls. If the GM announces
that a character’s attack needs to hit a defense roll of 20 and the
d20 they roll shows a 15, the other players all know that the
creature’s defense modifier is +5, even if that’s something their
characters shouldn’t know.
Incomplete Rolls
If a die rolls off the physical game table and onto the floor, there
should be a consistent rule about whether the number it rolls is
read from the floor or whether the die is rolled again. Likewise, if
a die lands crooked against a book or other object on the table
so that it shows two or more numbers facing up, the group
should decide whether that requires a reroll or whether the
object can be moved to see how the die falls. Without
guidelines, some players might reroll an incomplete roll while
other players use the dice as they land — which might make it
look like a player is rerolling an incomplete roll they don’t like.
Same-Time Damage Rolls
The most common die rolls in many games are an attack roll or
challenge throw made for a weapon or spell, with a subsequent
damage roll to determine how effective the attack or spell is.
Though it might seem illogical to roll damage before
determining the success of the attack roll or challenge throw,
rolling the damage die at the same time as the attack roll or
challenge throw can greatly speed up combat.
Shared Responsibilities
However many players are at the table and no matter how well
prepared those players are, the GM usually does the most work
while running a game. Lots of GMs enjoy the challenge of being
a combination referee, loremaster, timekeeper, and rules
arbiter. But for a lot of GMs, especially newer GMs, juggling all
the different components of running a game can be a daunting
task.
One of the most important things that all the other players can
do to help a GM run a game and a campaign effectively is to be
focused and engaged. Showing up to a game on time, making
sure you know how your characters’ traits, feats, spells, and
magic items work, and paying attention to what’s going on in
the game — not just with your character, but with all the
characters — can make the GM’s job much easier. Focus and
engagement are the best way for the other players to show
respect for the job the GM is doing, and to inspire the GM to
show them respect in return. The question of the best way to be
focused and engaged isn’t the same for all players, though, and
is a good thing for the members of a gaming group to talk
about.
Session Zero (95)
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Chapter 5: Playing the Game
Players can also help the GM run better games by assisting with
some of the tasks that are part of running a game session. GMs
should always feel free to ask other players to take on certain
tasks, and players can always ask the GM if they’d like any help.
Many of the following tasks are most easily shared for a group
playing in person, and many virtual tabletops have built-in tools
that can help a GM with some of these responsibilities. But even
for those playing exclusively online, there are always ways for
the other players to make the GM’s job easier.
Tracking Initiative
Whenever the game moves into initiative, it becomes important
to not only keep track of when each player acts, but to make
sure players are ready to act. Some GMs like to keep track of
the initiative order, either writing it down as a list, setting up
index cards with the names of the characters and monsters in
initiative order, or using an app or virtual tabletop feature to
track initiative. By doing so, the GM can make notes the players
can’t see for specific combatants, and can track foes’ hit points
and other resources. But having another player track everyone’s
place in the initiative order can allow the GM to focus on the
creatures and NPCs they’re running.
Chapter 9/Initiative (234)
Whoever tracks initiative, recording the initiative order where it’s
accessible to everyone can make it easier for players to watch
for their turns coming up. Initiative can be recorded on a dry-
erase white board, or set up as magnetic or cling tokens that
can be moved into position. Alternatively, your group might
prepare a set of index cards numbered from 1 to 10 or so, then
hand out the cards so that each player and the GM can place
the appropriate card or cards in front of them, indicating when
characters, monsters, and NPCs act. Using this system, initiative
rolls aren’t important once the cards are handed out, with
everyone focusing only on who goes first, second, third, and so
forth.
Whatever system is used for initiative, the GM or the tracking
player can help keep things moving by not just calling out
whose turn it is, but advising whoever’s next in the order that
their turn is coming up. This idea of having a player calling
initiative so the GM can focus just on running NPCs and
monsters also works well in a virtual tabletop game.
Tracking Boons, Banes, and Conditions
When a player casts a spell or takes an action that bestows a
boon, a bane, or a condition on other creatures (allies or
enemies), they can help the GM by taking charge of tracking
that status. For example, each round when the GM takes the
turn of a group of foes, the player of the wizard who cast hinder
on those foes can make note of which foes are affected, then
clarify that information for the GM. Alternatively, one or more
players might take on the task of tracking boons, banes, and
conditions for all creatures, not just the creatures their own
character has affected.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Taking Notes
Sometimes a GM keeps copious notes and enjoys digging
through those notes when the players have questions about
events in previous sessions and adventures. But having one or
more players take running notes of NPCs the characters meet,
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information revealed during roleplaying, secrets discovered
through exploration, and the many other details that come up
during a game can free the GM from the pressure of making
sure their own notes cover everything that happens in the game.
As well, it means that multiple players can act as a resource
when someone else asks for information on a specific scene or
NPC from a previous session.
Rules Reference
Players who have a good memory for rules or who love looking
things up make a great resource for other players who need
help or reminders, freeing the GM up from having to be a rules
encyclopedia. Such players can even become a resource for
their GM when obscure rules need to be referenced during play.
Mapping
When playing in person, many GMs love to prepare maps
before the game or to draw them during the game. Other GMs
like the players to take responsibility for mapping the dungeons
and wilderness the characters explore. Some groups might have
one player who enjoys being the mapmaker. Others might like
to share out that responsibility.
When playing online, the GM is usually the one who creates or
purchases the map images used for a campaign. This makes
sense, especially when the maps are locations the characters
don’t know and are meant to explore. But if the campaign ever
features the characters going to a location they all know, one of
the other players can offer to seek out that map.
The Cost of Running Games
Along with typically doing the most work, the GM usually bears
most of the cost for running games and campaigns. Buying
books and accessories, high-quality maps, miniature figures or
tokens for the monsters and NPCs the characters will fight
throughout the course of a campaign — it can all add up
quickly. But it’s easy for the other players to step up and assist
the GM with the costs of running a campaign.
For in-person games, players might contribute to the GM’s
purchase of miniature figures and tabletop terrain. Or they
might bring in some of their own miniatures or terrain for the
GM to use. Other players can likewise work together to buy an
adventure book or supplement the GM wants to use in the
campaign, paying a relatively small price for something that will
bring everyone many hours of fun in the end. And if a GM has
an annual subscription to use extra features on the virtual
tabletop an online group uses, the other players joining forces
to pay for the GM’s subscription makes a great thank-you gift
for the time and energy put into running a campaign.
Giving Voice to the Game
Roleplaying games are an intensely narrative pastime, so it’s no
surprise that different players can have different thoughts on
how people should talk during the game. Sometimes a player
speaks as themself, asking questions about rules or wanting to
clarify something their character knows. Sometimes a player
speaks as their character, interacting with other players or the
GM like actors in a performance. Sometimes players talk among
themselves about things outside the scope of the game,
entertaining each other with jokes and anecdotes.
It’s good to establish ground rules for how your group prefers to
handle talk at the table. That might mean acknowledging that all
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forms of discussion are just fine, or establishing that players
should clearly indicate whether they’re speaking for themselves
or speaking for their characters. It might mean agreeing that
players should try to limit nongame conversation to specific
break times, or that the GM can call a halt to side conversations
if they start to become distracting.
Likewise, it can be good to talk about whether players can freely
share information their character wouldn’t know. This includes
players talking directly about their characters’ hit points, as
opposed to talking metaphorically about how wounded they
appear. Likewise, if one character splits off from the rest of the
party to explore a location or talk to an NPC alone, the group
should decide whether the other players can make suggestions
about what the lone character should do or say even though
their characters aren’t present.
Roleplaying
The act of taking on the persona of a character is what defines
roleplaying games. But just as with so many other parts of the
game, there’s no one right way to roleplay. You as a player take
on the role of your character as you speak for them, make
decisions for them, and pronounce their actions during the
game. But there are different ways to accomplish this kind of
roleplaying performance.
Roleplaying as Storytelling
Many players are naturally drawn to roleplaying as an exercise in
narrating their character’s story. They take on the part of a
storyteller, usually speaking of their character as “her,” “him,”
or “they” when they describe their character’s actions, ask the
questions their character would ask in a particular situation, and
summarize the things their character says.
This approach is similar to how someone might describe what
happens to a character in a book they’re reading or a show
they’re watching — except the character in this case is one the
player “writes” during the game.
Theosan, an elf archer, is leading their party through a
gloomy forest. When asked by the GM what Theosan is
doing, their player responds: “The signs of a fight from a
while back have Theosan worried about an ambush. They
think we should kill the lights and advance slowly. And
they’ll suggest that Oslyn cast low-light vision so she can
see. There’s a long journey ahead.”
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Roleplaying as Acting
Other players instinctively feel a connection to their characters
that lets them take on the persona of that character as a
performance. They take on the part of an actor, usually speaking
of their character as “I” when they describe their character’s
thoughts, interact with other players, and speak the words they
feel their character would say. The player might even go beyond
dialogue and use the body language they feel their character
would use.
This approach is similar to how someone might describe their
own thoughts or something that happened to them in real life,
with the player treating the character’s life as their own during
the game.
Oslyn the human mage is low on spell points after her party
deals with an attack by a ferocious peryton. When the GM
asks what the party’s next move is, Oslyn’s player responds:
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“My magic is all but spent. If we push on now, another fight
could cost us dearly. I’d suggest finding a place to rest —
and letting me focus spells more suitable for combat than
exploration. But if no one else needs a long rest, I can
definitely push on.”
Creature Compendium
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193)
A Bit of Both
In practice, very few players stick exclusively with one approach
to roleplaying over the other. Even in the examples above, the
way the player talks about their character can shift. All that’s
really important is that you think about what your character
wants to do, ask questions to cover the things they would ask or
wonder about, and describe their actions in as much detail as
you want to share with the other players.
During a game, you might find that you narrate your character’s
actions as a storyteller most of the time, but then take on a bit of
acting to speak as your character when interacting with NPCs. In
general, roleplaying as storytelling is more common among new
players, who sometimes feel self-conscious about acting as their
character, especially in a group where they don’t know the other
players well. But as new players become more experienced,
both with playing the game and with their character over
multiple sessions, they learn to enjoy roleplaying as acting when
doing so helps them do a better job of bringing the character to
life.
Driving the Game Through Roleplaying
Whenever the game unfolds as players speaking for the
characters and the GM speaking for NPCs and narrating the
actions of other creatures, anything can happen. The way the
GM and the other players interact while adopting the personas
they play is much like the way people interact in real life. So let
roleplaying scenes allow you to fully explore your sense of who
your character is, playing up their grace, their humility, their
stubbornness, their bravery, and any other aspect of their
personality, even as the GM roleplays the anger, fear, humor,
vanity, threats, and more of NPCs, villains, and monsters.
Just like in real life, the exchanges your character has with NPCs
and other characters often play out as a give-and-take scenario.
One side might have something the other wants, whether
general information, deeply held secrets, unusual goods, or
valuable treasure. On one side of the conversation, the focus is
on seeking and obtaining what’s desired. On the other side, the
focus might be to conceal what’s desired, or to get something
else in trade. Whether the characters, NPCs, or other creatures
approach this sort of exchange with threats, diplomacy, or
something in between is entirely up to the GM and the other
players. Likewise, the decision of how to react to the desires of
the other player characters, NPCs, monsters, and more who
want something from your character is entirely up to you. And
from those decisions, story is made.
Stepping Outside Yourself
Roleplaying comes naturally to many players, whether those
players are natural storytellers, would-be actors, or just people
comfortable revealing a different side of themselves at the
table. But even if roleplaying feels strange or stressful to you,
don’t fret. Just remember that the first rule of the game is to
have fun, focus on the things you love about your character, and
follow along with the story that you and all the other players are
creating together. Think about the things going on in the story
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that your character is happy, sad, or angry about. In short order,
you’ll be roleplaying as well as anyone else in your game —
perhaps even without realizing it.
Introduction/The First Rule (5)
There’s nothing wrong with simply describing how a character,
NPC, or other creature is feeling or acting. But just as the best
works of fiction bring their characters to life by revealing how
those characters feel through their actions, using your
character’s actions to show off their feelings can be more
powerful than simply describing how they feel. You might
change the way you speak when introduced to a powerful NPC,
either showing off nervousness or annoyance in response to that
NPC’s presence. You might describe your character kneeling for
a moment at the side of a fallen foe in the aftermath of a difficult
combat, whether to show respect or to callously loot them. You
might talk of how your character sits quietly by themself while
the other characters mingle at a gentry’s party, showing that
something weighs on you.
Impression and Expression
One of the biggest challenges for players and GMs is thinking
about whether to adopt a distinctive voice when speaking in
character. This doesn’t mean adopting a complex accent or
pushing your regular voice into a different pitch as a trained
actor might. But GMs and players can speak quickly or slowly to
portray a nervous or a moody character, or might speak quietly
to roleplay a timid character (though not so quietly that other
players have trouble hearing). You can pepper your speech with
words and phrases related to your character’s backstory,
whether you grew up on a farm, spent years as a soldier, or
trained at an exclusive wizarding academy. You might adopt
catch phrases or mannerisms that can help capture the spirit of
your character. This can include the harmless stock
characterizations of movie pirates, gangsters, surfers, and more,
or the speech patterns of a TV or movie character you really like.
And don’t stop with just your voice. As long as you’re not
encroaching on any other player’s personal space, you can use
hand and arm movements, stand up from the game table or
move around within the range of your computer’s camera and
microphone, and employ facial expressions to help channel the
essence of your character.
Shared Narration
As a game unfolds, the role of narrator passes back and forth
between players and GM. No matter whether the characters are
engaging in free-form roleplaying or locked down tight in
tactical combat, the baseline mechanic that moves the game
forward is a player determining what they want their character to
do, and the GM determining what happens as a result. But
within that back-and-forth, there are lots of different ways the
action can be described.
For some GMs, creating description in the moment is one of the
most fun parts of the game, and they’re happy doing that on
their own. Other GMs find that needing to be continuously
creative during a game can be stressful, and they welcome the
opportunity to have players join them in shaping the game’s
narrative.
Your group might work best with the GM describing all the
action in a game aside from how the players describe what their
characters are doing. A player might announce how they’re
moving, whether across a battlefield or down a dark hallway in a
country estate, then describe their intended attack or their
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approach to smooth-talking an unexpected NPC. From there,
the GM describes all the counterpoint and response to the
character’s actions, including how a foe reels back from a hit or
evades a blow that goes wide, the attitude and mannerisms of
NPCs, and more.
Other groups work well with the players taking a more direct
role in describing the things that happen around their
characters. When a character hits with a melee attack or casts a
spell successfully, the player can describe how the enemy
stumbles beneath the weight of their character’s weapon or
magic. When a character approaches a NPC in an attempt to
glean information from them, the GM can ask the player to
describe the NPC’s physical features and mannerisms, then
incorporate those things into how they play the NPC.
There are no hard and fast rules for how best to approach this
process of describing the game, so see what feels good for your
group. Some players and GMs like to define specific areas
where one or the other can take the lead in description, so that
one group of players might describe the outcome of all their
characters’ attacks, while another group prefers to narrate only
their critical hits or finishing blows. Some groups have the
players narrate the outcome of successful skill checks, saving
throws, and attacks, while the GM narrates the outcome of clear
failures and misses. And even within the same group, players
might enjoy different amounts of narrative responsibility, with
one player narrating as much as they can about what goes on
around their character, while another player gets more
enjoyment out of the GM handling that part of the story.
Chapter 6/Measuring Skill Success (104)
Chapter 9/Measuring Attack Success (265); Measuring Saving
Throw Success (246)
Session Zero
The first session of your campaign typically tells the story of how
your characters come together and what initially connects them.
But the session before that — session zero — is the story of how
the players come together, and of the agreements you forge
between yourselves to ensure that your game is respectful and
fun.
Your session zero might be an actual full game session where
the players come together to create their characters and learn
the GM’s broad plans for the campaign and the scope of its
story. Or it might be multiple sessions over the days or weeks
before the campaign begins, or any number of emails or other
online conversations dedicated to collaborating on those plans,
and to chart a course for how the characters are meant to fit into
that shared story.
Either way, session zero is an important starting point for any
campaign, and can cover a broad range of topics.
Story and Scope
In session zero, the GM lays out the broad strokes of the type of
campaign they want to run. This might be a series of straight-up
sword-and-sorcery adventures with only minimal connections
between them. It might be a complex campaign in which the
characters discover the existence of an ancient evil in the world,
then have to fight ever harder to contain the spread of that evil.
A campaign might be built around problem-solving and
mystery, or be a combat-heavy war story. One GM might talk
about enjoying a lighter tone during adventures, with lots of
opportunity for jokes and comedy. Another GM might discuss
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wanting to maintain a serious tone that won’t undermine the
grim flavor of the campaign.
Whatever the story, whatever the tone of the campaign, having
the GM talk about it before the campaign begins gives the
players a chance to think about the character they want to play
within that story — and about whether any elements of the story
are potentially troubling for them.
Safety Tools (95)
Setting Table Rules
During session 0, the GM and the players can talk about
everyone’s expectations for how the game should play out at
the table, whether that means a physical play space or a virtual
tabletop. This is an ideal time to first set up shared
responsibilities between the GM and the other players, to talk
about how to handle dice rolling, metagaming, and more. It’s
possible to talk about these things once the game is fully
underway, but doing so in a session zero makes it easy to
establish that all the players are on the same page in terms of
what they expect from each other, and that they feel they can
count on each other.
The Rules of the Table (91)
Outside the Game
For some players, being drawn into the story of a roleplaying
game is all consuming, creating the equivalent of an out-of-
body experience. For others, enjoying the game requires a
certain amount of focus, and specific tools that make it easier to
focus. The GM and the other players should use session zero to
establish whether it’s okay for players to use phones or other
devices during the game for nongame activities, and how
players who find that keeping busy helps them focus on the
game can best do so. Players can talk about whether game
sessions should have fixed breaks, or how they can take needed
breaks individually without disturbing others. They can discuss
whether everyone should expect to show up for a session ready
to play, or whether everyone wants time at the start of each
session for socializing.
Safety Tools
A fantasy roleplaying game tells stories of characters under
pressure, who routinely throw themselves into dangerous
situations, risk hazardous environments, and brave
confrontations with deadly foes. Against the high-stakes drama
in the world of the story, it’s easy to make the case that the
potential distress the game presents to the players of the
characters, living vicariously through their heroes’ successes and
failures, are thankfully minimal. But that’s not always the case —
and it’s good to talk about and to learn how to deal with the
potential for players to be hurt by what goes on within a game
before it can happen.
Staying Safe
One of the things that makes RPGs so much fun is the idea that
anything can happen in a game. But within the vast scope of
possibilities for the story, each player needs to be conscious of
how certain story elements might affect themself or the other
players. People who want to read a book or watch a movie can
generally seek out information regarding whether that book or
movie contains content they might find disturbing, or that they
know will keep them from fully enjoying the story. But the story
95

that unfolds when a RPG is played isn’t known to anyone until it
happens. Because many campaigns deal with the characters’
struggles against evil or tyranny, campaign stories can often
move into areas where descriptions, narrative, and the actions of
villains and monsters can be disturbing. If a campaign features
player characters whose complex backstories push into dark
themes, the potential for complex and potentially disturbing
story only grows. As such, if what happens in the game strays
into areas that makes players uncomfortable, there’s often no
way those players can know about it until it’s too late.
Safety tools can help fix that, by making sure that a game stays
within boundaries the players collectively set. Using safety tools,
your group can establish guidelines ahead of time for what
types of stories and conflicts all the players can enjoy, and which
specific story elements should be handled with care or avoided.
And for those moments when something arises that wasn’t
foreseen when the game’s boundaries were set, safety tools
give each player resources they can use during play to let others
know when the game is going in a direction they don’t want it
to, in a safe and respectful way.
Using Safety Tools
Every group’s approach to safety tools can be different,
depending on the needs of the group and the type of game
that group wants to play. For a group playing together for the
first time, the GM and the other players might want to set up the
widest range of safety tools to ensure that everyone has
potential access to any tool they might need. A group of close
friends who’ve been playing together for years might use a
smaller subset of safety tools that they’ve previously learned are
effective for their games and style of play. But no group of
players, no matter how well established, should assume that
safety tools aren’t warranted for their games.
It’s possible for players to assume they’ll never need safety
tools, only to discover that something in a game is affecting
them in a way they couldn’t have predicted. Like a lot of safety
equipment in real life, we embrace the use of safety tools in our
games even if we think and hope we’ll never have to use them.
Because at the moment we do need those tools, not having
them means there’s no way for the tools to help us.
Lines and Veils
Lines and veils are guidelines used to establish a clear sense of
which topics and subjects are potentially problematic for
players. They let players decide whether those topics and
subjects are something they need to avoid entirely, marking a
sharp line between a player and a topic, or whether players are
comfortable having the topic in the game but obscured, as if it
were behind a veil.
Lines and veils can be used as part of boundary setting during
session zero. But they can also be revisited at any point during a
campaign — or even in the middle of a specific session —
whenever the game seems poised to enter new territory that
might be problematic for some players. Bringing up new lines or
veils during a session can be made easier by the use of tools
that allow any player to interrupt the game for discussion.
The X-Card
Lines can cover all kinds of subjects, whether specific aversions
or taking part in certain types of stories. A player might know
that the game will stop being fun for them if specific types of
monsters come into play that tie to real-world fears or phobias.
Players might want to focus the story on the characters working
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 5: Playing the Game
together to right wrongs or get rich, avoiding interparty conflict
or player-versus-player scenarios where characters are
antagonistic toward each other. A specific story element might
be triggering for a player because of their own past
experiences. Whatever the source of a player not wanting to
engage in certain subjects, it’s not up to the player to explain
that to anyone else in the group. Instead, the player states that
those story elements are a hard line for them, establishing the
boundary that will let them feel safe during play.
Each player might also have certain subjects or story elements
that they’re not totally uncomfortable with, but which they’d
rather not experience played out during a game. By establishing
these topics as veils, a player gives consent to have those story
elements in a campaign, as long as they’re not directly
portrayed through roleplaying. The other players know that if
those elements come up, they should be played in such a way
that puts them “off screen,” much like a film scene cutting away
from a potentially disturbing image, or a scene in a book that
minimizes disturbing content by alluding to it but never
describing it directly.
Agency, Choice, and Consent
An important topic to keep in mind when thinking about lines, veils,
and making sure that all players are having fun is thinking about
what’s often referred to as character agency — the idea that
characters (and by extension, their players) should be able to make
free choices about what they do in the game. The freeform nature of
a roleplaying game creates the foundational idea that characters
can try to do anything. As such, much of the drama in a game comes
from the obstacles that fate, enemies, and the world create to make
it difficult for characters to follow their chosen narrative path. But the
game also features specific things that can affect character agency
and free choice in a more serious way.
Lots of magic in the game can control the thoughts and actions of
creatures. Spells like charm person, dominate creature, and fear can
be great fun when they’re used to turn an enemy into a temporary
friend, or to shift a foe’s state of mind from murderous to doting.
But magic that allows the manipulation or control of a creature’s
mind and emotions can become less fun when used to trick enemies
or other creatures into humiliating or harmful behavior. Likewise,
magic item curses or the magical features of creatures such as
aboleths and ysereinas can create awesome scenes and memorable
combats with their ability to temporarily override a character’s will.
But many players find that having their characters controlled in that
way makes the game frustrating to the point where it ceases to be
fun — or even becomes harmful.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Compendium
Mind control magic always runs the risk of removing agency, free
choice, and consent from characters and enemies alike. As such, it’s
a good thing to talk about in the context of your game’s safety
tools, whether as part of a session zero, or by use of an X-card or
check-in if a player suddenly realizes that a scene involving magical
coercion is making them uncomfortable. Be aware that for many
players, the use of magic to force creatures to engage in
nonconsensual behavior might be a hard line — even if the behavior
isn’t problematic in and of itself.
The X-Card
Even though a group takes effective precautions to ensure the
safety of all players during a game, the wide-open nature of
fantasy RPG storytelling means that an unexpected direction or
twist in the game might suddenly bring the narrative to a place
that a player didn’t know was going to feel problematic for
96
 Chapter 5: Playing the Game

them. Alternatively, any misunderstanding in the guidelines laid

down in session zero using lines and veils means one player Safety Tools Resources
might unintentionally misunderstand the scope of another The topic of safety tools in roleplaying games is an active and
player’s boundaries. When these moments arise in a game, the ongoing discussion, and the tools described in this section have
X-card allows a player to interrupt the flow of the narrative to been adapted from tools created and honed by numerous game
make their concerns known. designers, players, and consultants. More information on these and
many other safety tools can be found online, and many RPGs and
An X-card can be a physical card or token of some kind placed RPG publishers have their own free safety tools that are worth
on the gaming table for a group that plays in person, or a checking out.
special signal spoken out loud or typed into chat for groups
• The TTRPG Safety Toolkit by Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-
playing online. When something in a game makes a player
Monk discusses a number of tools that can help your games.
uncomfortable for any reason, they activate the X-card, and all
https://bit.ly/ttrpgsafetytoolkit
other players understand that the current moment in the game
• Lines and veils were created by Ron Edwards.
is problematic, and that play should stop. The player using the
https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/30906/what-do-the-
X-card has the choice of whether they want to explain what’s
terms-lines-and-veils-mean
troubling them, perhaps as a starting point to establishing new
• The X-card was created by John Stavropoulos.
lines and veils in the game. Alternatively, they can simply ask
http://tinyurl.com/x-card-rpg
that the scene restart at an earlier point without reference to a
• Stars and Wishes is a specific technique for collecting feedback
specific topic, or that the scene skip ahead to a point at which
from players, created by Lu Quade. https://www.gauntlet-
the troubling subject matter has been resolved and is no longer rpg.com/blog/stars-and-wishes
an issue.
• Monte Cook Games has produced a guide to safety and consent
in RPGs.
Check-Ins https://www.montecookgames.com/store/product/consent-in-
Because a player’s need to use an X-card often arises with little gaming/
warning, it can be a good idea to ask whether the player or the • MCDM Productions has created a Tabletop Safety Toolkit for
group as a whole would like to take a short break before RPGs. https://mcdm.gg/SafetyToolkit
resuming after an X-card has been used. Even with the player
satisfied that the other players have acknowledged their feelings
and helped move the game away from troubling content, it can
be nice to have a few minutes to recenter and refocus beyond
the problematic moment before continuing.
A check-in can be made any point in the game, not just when an
X-card is used (assuming that making a check-in at that time is
something the player using the X-card wants to do). Check-ins
can cover what happened in a previous session or earlier in the
game, what might be coming up in the campaign based on the
current state of the narrative, or any other topic related to
everyone’s ability to fully enjoy the game. If a player is feeling
uncomfortable enough that they want to use an X-card to stop
play, a check-in can happen at that point. Otherwise, reserving
check-ins for points when the game isn’t in active play is a good
idea. The beginning or end of a session, a scheduled break
during a session, or a natural break in the action are often good
times to talk.

Feedback
Feedback is also an important part of making sure everyone
feels safe at the table. It can be difficult for some players to talk
about potential concerns with the current campaign storyline or
how they’re feeling about where the game might be headed, so
the GM asking players for feedback can be useful. Such a
request might come at the end of a session, between sessions,
or at any break during the game. The GM might ask what parts
of the current encounter, session, or campaign the players are
enjoying most, or which parts are problematic and why. Players
might talk about whether any previously established lines and
veils need updating, or whether anything needs to be discussed
regarding the feel of how the game is playing out at the table.
The Rules of the Table (91)

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 97

 Chapter 5: Playing the Game

Feat Index
Action Point Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Heroic Action — Gain 1 action point. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Hero’s Luck Heroic Action ×1 When you use an action point 1 — — — — —
unsuccessfully to gain advantage on a d20 1 — — — — —
roll, take advantage on another roll.

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide 98

Chapter 6: Skills
Characters can undertake any actions their players want them
to. Your adventurer can swing a sword, cast a spell, climb a tree,
or swim across a raging river. During an adventure, you might try
to sneak silently past a guard post, neutralize a deadly trap, or
convince a retired mage to lend you the magic you need to
complete a quest. During quieter moments, you can help heal
your wounded comrades, further investigate magical lore
discovered in a dungeon, or try not to embarrass yourself at a
party thrown in your honor by the local duke.
The rules for combat and using spells in the game are covered
in later chapters. But for all the other challenging activities your
character can undertake along the engagement and interaction
sides of the game, skills determine how good you are at the
things you want to do.
Chapter 9/Combat (234)
Chapter 10/Spellcasting (320)
When you make a skill check, you roll a d20 to help determine
whether you succeed or fail outright at the action your character
is attempting — or what complications might result if you don’t
succeed quite as well as you wanted to.
Fast-Start: Skills
Alongside your character’s combat and magical training, your skills
set the scope for how you interact with the world around you, and
with the people in that world. To quickly build a character, choose
your skills by selecting one or more of the following feat packages,
each of which costs 3 feat slots. (The information presented here is
also presented as part of “Feat Packages” in Chapter 1.)
Burglar
3 Feat Slots
Whether you put it to use for the good of others or solely for
personal gain, your skill set includes the ability to get into places
you’re not wanted, and to get out with choice items you do want.
Take this feat package if you want to be good at neutralizing traps
and locks, remaining hidden, and moving quietly.
Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Thievery) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Thievery skill
checks.
Challenger
3 Feat Slots
Your natural talent at physical activity means no obstacles can stand
in your way for long. Take this feat package if you want to move
about the battlefield with ease, or to muscle your foes into
submission without getting caught up in combat.
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Endurance) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Endurance skill
checks.
Cutpurse
3 Feat Slots
Your talents for opening locks and second-storey work always come
in handy — as does your ability to move through impossibly tight
spaces and evade attempts to catch you when your talent gets
noticed. Take this feat package if you want your character to have
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
fast hands or be able to hinder foes in a fight without ever drawing a
weapon.
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Acrobatics skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Thievery) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Thievery skill
checks.
Enforcer
3 Feat Slots
You’ve always had the ability to make people understand your
position — and on the odd occasion when that doesn’t work, you’re
not above using force to remind them why they should make more
of an effort. Take this feat package if you want to get people firmly
on your side, one way or the other.
Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Athletics skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Persuasion skill
checks.
Explorer
3 Feat Slots
You yearn for a life of adventure, and you’ve made a long study of
how best to survive in the wilds and ruins of the world. Take this feat
package if you want to gain practical knowledge of how to deal with
a wide variety of potentially dangerous creatures and hazards.
Skill Focus (Dungeoneering) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
Dungeoneering skill checks.
Skill Focus (Nature) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Nature skill
checks.
Guide
3 Feat Slots
You feel at home in the outdoors, where your knack for detail and
familiarity with different types of terrain make you an excellent scout
and trailblazer. Take this feat package if you want to effectively lead
your allies through the wild parts of the world.
Skill Focus (Nature) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Nature skill checks.
Skill Focus (Perception) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Perception
skill checks.
Healer
3 Feat Slots
You’ve long been interested in the why of how creatures work, and
have made an extensive study of anatomy and biology. Take this
feat package if you want to establish your knowledge regarding the
workings of the body, the mind, and the natural world.
Skill Focus (Healing) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Healing skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Nature) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Nature skill checks.
Hierophant
3 Feat Slots
Your study of magic encompasses not just the art of spellcraft, but a
broader knowledge of the world that magic fills. Take this feat
package if you want to be familiar with a variety of subjects, with
magic ever at the fore.
Skill Focus (Expertise) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Expertise skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Magic) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Magic skill checks.
99

Innovator
3 Feat Slots
You spend your time poring over tomes and journals, learning
everything you can and discovering how to apply that
understanding. Take this feat package if you want to be
knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics, and to let your
knowledge fuel further discovery.
Skill Focus (Expertise) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Expertise skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Investigation
skill checks.
Seeker
3 Feat Slots
A love of detail and an ability to intuit the feelings of others makes
you excellent at rooting out the truth, no matter who or what might
be hiding it. Take this feat package if you want to maximize your
awareness of everything and everyone around you.
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Investigation
skill checks.
Skill Focus (Perception) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Perception
skill checks.
Shadow
3 Feat Slots
Your ability to move subtly and cautiously gives you a knack for
avoiding the notice of other creatures. Take this feat package if you
want to be able to find the best hiding places, and to move through
them no matter how difficult they are to navigate.
Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Acrobatics skill
checks.
Skill Focus (Stealth) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Stealth skill
checks.
Sleuth
3 Feat Slots
You’ve always been good at digging for the truth — and at
explaining yourself if you’re ever caught digging too deeply. Take
this feat package if you want to be a smooth talker with solid
insights into how the world and its people operate.
Skill Focus (Investigation) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Investigation
skill checks.
Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to Persuasion skill
checks.
What Do You Want to Do?
As a player, you work with the GM to tell the story of your
character. In the course of telling that story, you’ll describe what
your character is thinking and doing, with the vast majority of
the activities your character undertakes playing out simply
through talking. You tell the GM what your character does, the
GM determines what happens as a result, and you tell the GM
what your character does next, all without worrying about skill
modifiers or rolling dice.
Your character’s skills might not come into play even when you
want to undertake a challenging activity. If you want to scale a
rough stone wall to get a look inside the town mayor’s office
window, the GM might just narrate how much effort it takes,
based on your character’s level of climbing skill — their modifier
for Acrobatics checks to climb. The GM will usually ask for a skill
check only when they know the activity you want your character
to undertake is particularly challenging, and what consequences
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 6: Skills
or complications might hang in the balance for a less-than-
perfect attempt.
Just as there are no limits to the types of activities your
character can undertake, there are no restrictions on which kinds
of skill checks your character can make. Someone whose
extensive training provides a higher modifier on their skill check
has a better chance of success at a challenging activity than
someone without that training. But even if a character has a
minimal bonus on the Expertise checks that represent study and
knowledge, they can still roll high to remember an old story
about the ghost who haunts a ruined castle. In the same way, a
character with a terrible Acrobatics check to represent their skill
at careful balancing can have a wondrous turn of good luck as
they race along a rickety rope bridge to escape a swarm of
bloodsucking stirges.
Skill Groups
Within the broad range of things characters might attempt to do
during or between adventures, specific activities and types of
understanding lend themselves to being grouped together.
Thirteen skill groups cover the actions and knowledge your
character can make use of in the game, shaped by your talent
and training.
• Acrobatics is useful for any characters who want to remain
mobile in the midst of combat, or who like to spend time up
walls, hanging from chandeliers, and in other hard-to-reach
places.
• Athletics is beneficial to characters who use their physical
presence to keep other creatures close or away, or who enjoy
labor-intensive challenges or breaking things when they’re
not fighting.
• Dungeoneering is useful for characters who spend time in
dungeons, ruins, and other isolated and abandoned
locations.
• Endurance is useful for characters known for their physical
hardiness and their ability to stand up to punishment.
• Expertise is helpful for characters who love learning, who
want to remember important details and lore, and who like to
use knowledge to solve problems.
• Healing is useful for characters who want to help allies and
others recover from mental and physical hardship.
• Investigation is advantageous for characters who seek to
uncover secrets, whether concealed in objects or locations, or
within information or people.
• Magic is useful for characters who want to channel eldritch
power in the form of spells or magic items, or who want to
understand the inner workings of such power.
• Nature is valuable for characters who spend time in the
wilderness areas and unexplored lands of the world, or who
interact with animals and the wondrous beasts of the wilds.
• Perception is useful for characters who want to know what’s
going on around them, and who hope to notice danger
before danger notices them.
• Persuasion is helpful for characters who want other characters
to listen to them, or who like to talk their way out of
unnecessary fights.
• Stealth is useful for characters who love to explore or
infiltrate, who like to surprise other creatures, or who try to
avoid trouble by avoiding the notice of their foes.
• Thievery is useful for characters who covet access to others’
secure spaces, or who want to engage in delicate work with
machinery and other mechanical devices.
100

In addition to the standard skill groups of the game, your
character can also use any number of personal skill groups.
These are special skill groups you can create to cover the
vocations and talents that are part of your character’s life —
from Sailor to Musician, Hunter, Carpenter, Alchemist, and many
more — but which aren’t covered within the standard skill
groups.
Skill Groups and Skills
Within each broad skill group, characters can focus on
improving a number of specific skills if they wish to, with those
skills broken out in the “Skill Groups and Skills” table and in the
later sections of this chapter. The distinction between a skill
group and the skills within that group is important only if you
have an additional bonus to a specific skill, whether from having
taken the Skill Specialization feat, or as a bonus from a magic
item or some other source.
Skill Specialization (149)
If you have no additional bonuses to any Athletics skills, you
simply make Athletics checks using your bonus to that skill
group, no matter whether you are leaping over a pit, breaking
down a door, or engaging in any other activity covered by
Athletics. If you later come into possession of a ring of jumping,
you keep track of its additional bonus to Athletics/jump checks
separately, using that bonus only when jumping.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Choosing Skill Groups
Some players like to invest feat slots in skill groups that
complement their best ability scores, lineage traits, or
background traits. For example, a character with a high Strength
is automatically good at Athletics and Endurance checks. An elf
with the inquisitive lineage trait has a bonus to Investigation
checks, while all characters can show a skill affinity for certain
skills as part of their background. If your character takes the Skill
Focus feat for skill groups that they already have a solid bonus
in, they have a chance to quickly become exceptional at the
activities represented by those skill groups.
Alternatively, you might decide that good skill bonuses derived
from your character’s best ability scores or traits are enough to
get by on, and instead take Skill Focus for skill groups where
your baseline check is average or poor. A character with low
Constitution and Wisdom has a poor modifier for Perception
checks, so improving those checks with Skill Focus (Perception)
makes the character less likely to be caught off guard or miss
important details while adventuring.
Skill Checks
A skill check represents your character’s attempt to accomplish
a specific type of challenging task. It reflects both your natural
aptitude or talent for a skill, as well as your specific training or
practice.
Your skill check is equal to:
d20 + skill feat bonus
+ magic bonus + other modifiers
+ ability modifier
Skill Check Modifiers
Your skill feat bonus increases when you take the Skill Focus
feat for a skill group or the Skill Specialization feat for a specific
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 6: Skills
skill within a group. Skill Focus grants you a smaller bonus that
applies to a wide range of skill activities, while Skill
Specialization grants you a larger bonus with a single specific
skill. (The later sections of this chapter tell you everything you
need to know about skills, skill groups, and skill feats.)
Some magic items grant a magic bonus to checks with a skill
group or with specific skills in that group. For example, boots of
elvenkind grant a +5 bonus to Stealth checks made to sneak.
Other modifiers include bonuses gained from lineage traits or
background benefits.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Each skill group has core abilities associated with it, and the
ability modifier you use for a skill check is most likely one of
these core abilities. But you can add any ability modifier to a skill
check in consultation with the GM.
Skills and Abilities
Skills represent your training and practice with specific talents,
vocations, interests, and activities, backed up by your natural
physical and mental acumen. And even if you don’t have specific
training with a skill, your physical and mental prowess might be
all you need. Whenever you make a skill check, you use the
bonus you have for a skill group or specific skill, plus the ability
modifier for one ability score related to the type of skill check
you’re making.
Core Abilities
Each skill group has two core abilities associated with it,
representing the ability score modifiers most often applied to
checks made with skills from that group. (The Magic group is an
exception, with three core abilities.) A skill check’s core abilities
relate to the most common types of physical or mental activities
each skill represents.
Some skill groups are focused exclusively on physical abilities or
mental abilities. The Athletics group has Strength and Dexterity
as its core abilities, representing how physical might and
quickness can both help a character succeed at physical
challenges. The Expertise group has Intelligence and Wisdom as
core abilities, reflecting how comprehension and problem-
solving skills can both shape a character’s knowledge and
understanding. Other groups have one physical core ability and
one mental core ability. The Healing skill group has Constitution
or Intelligence as its core abilities, letting one character rely on
careful study to make Healing checks while another relies on
their own innate sense of bodily health and wellness.
Applying different core abilities to the same type of skill check
underlines how different characters can use different
approaches to making the check. A character who adds their
Strength modifier to an Athletics check to break down a door is
using sheer force to do so. A character who instead adds
Dexterity to Athletics checks is aiming a more precise kick that
doesn’t need to be as powerful. Likewise, a character who adds
Dexterity to Acrobatics checks employs supple movement to
escape from manacles or climb up a cavern wall. A character
who adds Constitution to Acrobatics checks trusts to physical
resilience, core strength, and innate steadiness instead.
Noncore Ability Modifiers
The notion of being able to make a skill check in different ways
using a skill group’s core abilities can be taken one step further.
101
 Chapter 6: Skills

As long as doing so makes sense to you and the GM, you can mean that you fail at the activity the check represents. In many
add the ability modifier of a different ability score to a skill cases, a low roll indicates that you succeed — just not as well as
check, instead of one of the check’s core ability modifiers. If the you’d hoped.
story supports it, ask the GM if a nonstandard ability modifier The GM usually sets a Difficulty Class (DC) for the check,
makes sense for a particular check. indicating how hard it is to accomplish a clear success based on
For example, a character with low Strength and Dexterity might what your character is trying to do. If you want to kick open a
try to use their Intelligence or Wisdom modifier to make an stuck door, pick the lock on a treasure chest, or convince a
Athletics check to kick down a door, representing the ability to suspicious city guard to share information with you, the GM
spot the weakest point on the door and take advantage of that. judges how difficult the chosen task is and assigns a DC based
A player whose character needs to carefully cross a floor at risk on that difficulty. If you are trying to jump up and grab onto a
of collapse might ask the GM if they can add their Intelligence ledge, the DC of the check might depend on how high you
modifier to their Acrobatics check rather than Dexterity or need to jump, whether the ledge is crumbling or slick with
Constitution, reflecting their ability to carefully study, pick out, water, and so on.
and avoid the floor’s weak spots. The Difficulty Class for skill checks is flexible, and is always
Characters will use noncore ability modifiers for skill checks most subject to the GM’s determination, but more-difficult tasks have
often in unusual situations. A warrior who has just slain three higher DCs. A DC can be any number, but breaking out skill
wights single-handedly has an excellent excuse to add Strength, check DCs by 5’s provides an easy shorthand for describing the
rather than Intelligence or Charisma, to a Persuasion check relative ease or difficulty of a check from a typical character’s
made to intimidate the necromancer who controlled those perspective.
undead. But adding Strength to Persuasion all the time wouldn’t • Routine (DC 5): A routine skill check can be easily
make the same kind of sense. Likewise, for a character who has a accomplished most of the time even by people with no
few minutes to carefully assess a difficult route up a cliff face, it’s training or special aptitude.
reasonable to use their Intelligence modifier for an Acrobatics
• Easy (DC 10): An easy check represents a task that an
check to climb. But if they need to climb that cliff while a pack of
average character can accomplish with a bit of training,
wolves is hot on their heels, the GM is likely to ask for the check
aptitude, magic, or luck.
to use the core abilities of Strength or Dexterity.
• Moderate (DC 15): A character needs a lot of luck, or a
Using noncore ability modifiers never allows a character to modest amount of training, aptitude, or magic (or some
permanently ignore the core abilities used by multiple skill combination) to succeed on a moderate skill check.
checks. Your high-Wisdom animyst can’t simply decide that they • Hard (DC 20): A hard skill check represents an activity that
should always be able to use their quick wit and problem- requires solid training, aptitude, magic, and luck in some
solving abilities to find the best handholds while climbing, to combination — or that requires extraordinary fortune for a
pick the optimum angle for throwing an object, to instinctively character with none of those other benefits.
know how best to intimidate someone, and so forth. • Formidable (DC 25): A formidable skill check requires
exceptional training, aptitude, magic, and luck in some
SKILL GROUPS AND SKILLS combination, and represents an activity that a character
Skill Group Core Abilities Specific Skills
without those benefits simply can’t succeed at.
Acrobatics1 Dex/Con Agility, climb, escape, handle rope • Insurmountable (DC 30): An insurmountable check defies
Athletics Str/Dex Grab, jump, slam, throw typical levels of aptitude, training, and even magic. With a DC
Dungeoneering Str/Cha Dungeon lore, hazards, monster
of around 30 or even higher, clear success on an
handling, survival insurmountable check is usually impossible except with
Endurance1 Str/Con Run, stand fast, subsist, swim
extreme luck, advanced training or aptitude, and the help of
the most powerful magic.
Expertise Int/Wis Architecture, geography, history,
mechanics Under most circumstances, the GM won’t ask for routine skill
Healing Con/Int Health lore, mental recovery, physical checks, but can automatically assume that characters succeed
recovery on such checks. The only time a routine check is usually called
Investigation Wis/Cha Espionage, insight, linguistics for is if a character is under some effect that makes failing the
Magic Int/Wis/Cha Handle magic, magical lore, spellcraft check a risk, including having a serious penalty to one of their
Nature Con/Cha Animal handling, hazards, survival, ability modifiers.
wild lore
Appendix B/Ability Modifier Penalties (A8)
Perception Con/Wis Listen, orientation, search, spot
Persuasion Int/Cha Deception, diplomacy, intimidate Easy skill checks are usually only called for while the game is in
Stealth1 Dex/Wis Disguise, hide, sneak initiative, and when the consequences for failure are high. The
Thievery Dex/Int Open locks, handle traps, sleight of GM can call for moderate and more difficult skill checks under
hand most circumstances, especially when there are consequences for
1. Characters wearing medium or heavy armor have disadvantage on an activity not turning out the way you want it to.
Acrobatics, Endurance, and Stealth checks.
Opposed Checks
Difficulty Class Sometimes the Difficulty Class of a skill check isn’t decided by
When you make a skill check, you hope to roll as high a number the GM, because the difficulty of the check can vary depending
on the d20 as possible, so as to maximize the result of your on the skill and luck brought to bear by another creature. In
check. The higher the result, the more skillfully the check has such cases, the DC for your skill check is set by an opposed skill
been executed. But even a low check doesn’t automatically check made by another creature.

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Opposed skill checks cover many situations where different
actions taken by two creatures directly oppose each other. Even
as you make a Persuasion/deception check to try to bluff your
way past a lone guard at a town gate, the guard is making
Investigation/insight checks to assess visitors entering the town.
The GM might decide that opposed checks are the best way to
determine whether the guard’s instincts for investigation
recognize your bluff or not.
Likewise, opposed checks are often the best way to handle two
creatures attempting the same activity at the same time. When a
mage tries desperately to hold a door shut against a minotaur
attempting to wrench it open, both might make opposed
Athletics checks. Two spellcasters who have both cast command
on the same creature must make opposed Persuasion checks if
they attempt to give that creature conflicting orders.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
When opposed skill checks are made, the GM decides which
check defines the DC and which check is then made against that
DC. This is important for determining the degree of success for
the check. The check that sets the DC is made first, as that check
defines the difficulty that a check made in response must
overcome. For example, an assassin’s Persuasion check to
deceive the characters defines the DC for the characters’
Investigation checks to recognize the falsehood. A character
holding a portal shut uses their Athletics check or Endurance
check to define the Athletics check DC of the monster trying to
wrench that portal open.
Measuring Skill Success (104)
Skill Checks and Saving Throws
Whenever a creature makes a skill check to perform an activity
that directly threatens another creature, and which that creature
must react to in the moment rather than having time to
undertake a focused action of their own, the skill check becomes
the challenge throw for a saving throw. The nature of the skill
check sets up what type of save is appropriate, as determined
by the GM. Combat maneuvers are the most common example
of this sort of check.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245); Combat Maneuvers (259)
Time and Skill Checks
The length of time required to use a skill depends on the activity
represented by the check. Some skill checks cover activity taking
a number of minutes, hours, or even longer, and aren’t meant to
be used when the game is in initiative and being played round-
by-round. Checks usable during initiative are made as a
standard action, a minor action, a reaction, or a free action, or
are made as part of the same move action you use to move.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
The GM decides how long a specific skill check takes, but the
later sections covering each of the skill groups and their skills
can be used as general guidelines.
Flexible Skills
Under many circumstances, the GM will allow characters to
make different checks for the same activity. Getting over a low
wall while running from monstrous spiders might work as either
an Acrobatics check or an Athletics check, depending on
whether a character wants to vault over lightly or to haul
themself across with sheer strength. Trying to identify an
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unknown dungeon hazard might be accomplished with a
Dungeoneering check or an Expertise check, depending on the
source of a character’s knowledge. Characters seeking an area
of corrupted magic within a dense forest might be told they can
make Magic checks, Nature checks, or Perception checks,
representing that finding the corruption might come down to
sensing its presence, noting subtle changes in the behavior of
local animals, or spotting the magical rot where it spreads.
This holds true for your character’s personal skill groups, and
you should always keep in mind when checks made with a
personal skill group might substitute for any of the standard
checks in the game. If your character has invested no feat slots
or bonuses in Acrobatics but has a good bonus on Sailor checks,
the GM will likely allow you to make a Sailor check to climb
through a ship’s rigging rather than an Acrobatics check. While
in the rigging, a Sailor check might also be used in place of
Perception to spot another ship approaching on a stormy sea.
Likewise, a character who uses the Tracker personal skill group
could make Tracker checks in place of Perception and Nature
checks to first spot, then follow tracks. The Merchant skill group
might be used instead of Investigation or Perception to make
checks observing the activities of buyers and sellers in a
guildhall or a public market.
Personal Skill Groups (145)
You can always ask whether a personal skill can be used in lieu
of checks with other skills, with the GM considering your
character’s backstory and the circumstances of the check. If your
character with the Tracker skill group has traditionally worked
only in forests, the GM might decide that Tracker checks are of
no use in a bare stone dungeon. Likewise, you’ll probably need
to make a Perception check rather than a Sailor check to search
the cabin of a ship for hidden maps or magic.
Calling for Checks
Most of the time, the GM sets up when it’s appropriate for
characters to make skill checks, and those checks are made in
the course of the other players describing their characters’
actions. Players are always free to ask if they can make a check,
but a check should always come after actions are described, not
before.
For example, if the party is wandering a marketplace looking for
an NPC with a particular tattoo, the GM won’t just ask for
Perception checks, and the players can’t just insist on making
checks. Instead, the GM might ask what strategy the characters
want to use to move through every part of the market, and to
keep a low enough profile that the tattooed NPC doesn’t spot
them first. Once the characters’ actions are described, then GM
then calls for skill checks, choosing appropriate skills and setting
check DCs based on those actions.
While in initiative, a character is always free to ask about making
a skill check appropriate to what’s going on in the scene. But
any such check should always require a standard action or a
minor action as the GM determines, representing the character
focusing actively on a task. By contrast, skill checks the GM calls
for while in initiative will often be free actions, representing the
characters responding in the moment to what’s going on
around them.
A scout caught in a bandit ambush worries that additional
bandits are still in hiding and waiting to spring out as a
second wave. If there are unseen foes, the player of the
scout knows they can wait until the GM asks for all the
characters to make Perception checks as a free action to
103

determine which characters notice the new bandits as they
emerge from hiding. But the player is also free to ask if they
can make a Perception check as a standard action or a
minor action, giving them a chance to spot the second
wave before they move.
Measuring Skill Success
The d20 roll plays a big part in determining how high your skill
check is. But that die roll doesn’t represent how good you are at
that particular skill. How good you are is all about your modifiers
to the check — from your aptitude, your skill training, your
magic, and your ability modifier. The d20 roll is about all the
ways in which what’s happening in the moment might make your
check go right or wrong.
When you make a skill check, you want the total of the check to
equal or exceed the fixed DC set for the check by the GM, or
the DC defined by the opposed skill check of another creature.
If it does, the skill check is a clear success and you accomplish
the activity the check represents. If your skill check is much less
than the DC you are trying to equal or beat, the GM might
determine that you simply fail outright at the task, and what
penalties that might incur. But for skill checks that are close to
but lower than the DC, the check is a success with
complications, letting you and the GM work together to
determine what other effects might play into or complicate your
check.
Opposed Checks (102)
As skill checks are made, this process of determining success,
success with complications, or failure turns those checks into
twists and unexpected turns in the narrative shaped by the
characters. Taken together with the twists and turns set up by
attack rolls and saving throws, those narrative beats help drive
the story of the adventure.
Clear Success
When a skill check equals or exceeds the DC for the check, the
check is a clear success. A character who rolls high on a
Perception check to search for a secret compartment in the
throne room finds the compartment and the treasure hidden
there. A character who rolls high on an Athletics check to jump
over a pit can safely clear the pit and keep moving.
Skill Checks that Succeed
Any rule or effect that makes reference to a successful skill check
includes checks that result in a success with complications as well as
saves that result in a clear success. For example, you make a Healing
check to restore critical points during a downtime rest. But where a
clear success restores critical points equal to your Constitution
modifier, a partial success might restore a lesser number of critical
points or restore full critical points but leave you weakened until the
next week of your downtime rest.
Chapter 9/Downtime Healing (257)
Clear Failure
In some circumstances, the GM can rule that an extremely poor
skill check means a clear failure to accomplish the intended
activity behind the check. A character who tries to climb a
slippery wall with a DC of 18 but gets a total of 5 on their check
gets partway up before tumbling back down, perhaps taking
damage from the fall. A character who badly fails an
Investigation check to decipher a coded message has no idea
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Chapter 6: Skills
how to break the code. A low roll on a Healing check to return a
dying comrade to life leaves that comrade closer to death.
Success With Complications
When your character makes a skill check and comes close to the
DC but doesn’t meet it, you still succeed on the activity the
check represents — but not quite as well as you wanted to. A
success with complications means you accomplished at least
some of your task, but with an extra cost, unexpected effect, or
additional difficulty.
Complications on a skill check are decided by the GM for
monsters and NPCs, and by the GM and the player if a character
makes the check. The GM has the final say in determining
possible complications, and a player is free to ask the GM to
decide on a complication without their input.
The range of complications that can affect a successful skill
check are as wide open as the GM’s and the other players’
imaginations, but generally fall into five categories.
Judging Success
The decision about how to interpret a skill check that isn’t a clear
success is made by the GM, who uses that decision as a tool to help
shape the story being played out by the characters. The GM judges
how a skill check plays out by instinct and a sense of how the
outcome might add to the fun, rather than worrying about a specific
comparison between the check and the DC.
That said, GMs who want to establish clear breakpoints for how to
assess skill checks can use the following guidelines:
• The skill check is 10 or so above the DC, or higher — clear success
with asset
• The check equals or is a bit higher than the DC — clear success
• The check is within 5 or so below the DC — success with
complication
• The check is 10 or so below the DC, or lower — clear failure
The GM always has the final say over what a skill check represents
and how it advances the story.
Partial Success
For some skill checks, getting a roll that’s close to a clear
success indicates that you succeed at some part of what you set
out to do.
When a character makes a low Perception check to search a
wizard’s bookshelf for valuable tomes, the GM and the
player might decide that the character finds one obviously
rare book, but is unable to recognize a number of less
impressive but more valuable works.
A character knows that their low Nature check to convince a
wounded wolf to stand down rather than fight has left the
creature only partially swayed. The player hopes for the
wolf to still hold back temporarily, with the GM deciding
that the creature will refrain from attacking for 2 rounds.
Not meeting the DC for a Stealth check to bypass a guard
post can still allow a character to sneak past successfully,
with the player suggesting that they make only a bit of
noise. The GM then determines that the noise causes one
guard to step out and look around, forcing the character to
slip down a side corridor rather than following their
intended route.
104

Unlucky Outcome
A low check might mean that you succeed on the main task, but
that the complication sets up how something else goes wrong
as a result of that success.
A low Acrobatics check to vault over the wall of a gentry’s
estate while chased by guard dogs allows a character to
clear the wall, with the player suggesting that the lead dog
should have one free attack first. The GM agrees — but
decides that instead of the attack dealing damage, the dog
rips through the seat of the character’s trousers, causing
the character to be slowed and drawing unwanted
attention when they later try to sneak into the gentry’s
dinner party.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
A low Dungeoneering check to forage for food while
underground still allows a character to find sufficient
resources for the party. But the GM decides that failing to
notice some of the food is tainted causes one or more
characters to be weakened until they finish a long rest.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11); Weakened (A12)
A poor Magic check made to activate a wand of lightning
bolt causes the wand to activate and be made usable. But
the GM and player agree that the wand’s magic is
temporarily unstable, imposing disadvantage on challenge
throws for the spell.
Magic Grimoire/Wands (ch. 2)
Extra Effort
When your skill check isn’t quite high enough for a clear success,
it might mean that in order to complete the task, extra effort is
needed.
A character tries to impress a powerful merchant with a
Persuasion check that doesn’t meet the DC. The player
decides that the merchant requires a quick bribe to
become more understanding, with the GM agreeing.
When working a complex lock that requires three Thievery
checks to open, a first check that falls short of the DC is still
a success. But the player and the GM might decide that
disadvantage on the character’s next check is a suitable
complication, as their thieves’ tools become temporarily
stuck.
Success at a Cost
For a skill check that comes with some amount of physical risk, a
success with a complication might mean that your character
takes damage or suffers a short-term condition when the check
goes wrong.
With a low Athletics check to leap across a pit, a player
knows their character can still successfully clear the
distance, but suggests that they catch the far edge with
their foot and take damage. The GM agrees, calling 1d4
bludgeoning damage a reasonable amount, but also
deciding that the character falls prone.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
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Chapter 6: Skills
A low Stealth check to quickly hide from a passing patrol
results in a character needing to cram themself into a
narrow alcove to stay unobserved. The player and GM
determine that the strain of doing so leaves the character
slowed until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
A Magic check made to assess the magic of a mysterious
pool isn’t quite high enough. Though the character fully
assesses the power of the unseen dweomer that represents
the magic imbued into the pool, the GM decides that a
pulse of magical feedback from that dweomer leaves them
dazed for 1 minute.
Appendix B/Dazed (A9)
Extra Time
In some cases, the complication arising from a skill check that
doesn’t meet or exceed the DC might mean it takes more time
or effort to succeed on the check than you’d intended.
A character’s Thievery check to pick a complex lock on the
door to the prince’s war room would typically take 1 minute
or so. When the check is low, the player suggests that
picking the lock takes twice as long, not wanting to
damage their thieves’ tools. The GM agrees — and decides
that the extra time lets the guards on patrol circle back just
moments before the door is opened.
A search for secret doors in an old tomb results in none of
the characters getting a clear success. The GM decides that
the character with the best check is the one who spots the
door — but not until partway through the combat
encounter planned for that area.
A character who observes a familiar NPC at a distance
might not be able to immediately recall how they know that
NPC with a low Expertise check. The GM decides to
impose an extra time complication on the check by having
the character recall the connection only at the end of the
party’s next short or long rest.
Success With Asset
Just as a skill check that falls short of the DC can represent a
success with a complication, a check that greatly exceeds the
DC can allow players and GMs to add even more to the success
of the check. This might take the form of an additional aspect of
success, a one-time benefit for the character making the check
or for the party, a negative impact on enemies, and more.
When a character rolls exceptionally high on an Athletics
check to make a running leap across a 15-foot chasm, their
player might ask the GM for an extra 5 feet of movement
on their current turn. The GM might in turn offer the player
the choice of that extra movement or advantage on the first
attack roll the character makes after completing the jump.
A character makes a stunningly high Persuasion check to
win the favor of a gentry, and hopes to get advantage on a
subsequent Insight check made with the gentry’s friends as
a result. The GM concurs — but decides that the gentry’s
favor is so great that everyone in the party has advantage
on the next Insight or Persuasion check they make involving
the gentry’s friends.
105

Adjusting DCs
In most cases, the GM sets the DC for a skill check based on the
general sense of how difficult the check is — easy (DC 10),
moderate (DC 15), hard (DC 20), formidable (DC 25), or
insurmountable (DC 30). But determining the difficulty of a skill
check is an art, not a science. In simplest terms, the GM thinks
about how relatively easy or difficult a task seems, based on the
circumstances under which a character is attempting the task.
Each set of complications that make a skill check easier or
harder can decrease or increase the difficulty of the check by at
least one category — turning an easy check into a moderate or
hard check, softening a formidable check into a hard or
moderate check, and so on. As well, the GM might determine
that circumstances adjust the DC by a lesser amount of +2 or
+3. If moving along a narrow ledge without falling is usually a
moderate Acrobatics/agility check, attempting the same action
in the rain might be a hard check. But if the ledge is simply
slippery with early morning dew, a smaller adjustment of the
moderate check DC (from DC 15 to DC 17, for example) would
be more appropriate.
Advantage and Disadvantage
In addition to adjusting a skill check DC based on the
circumstances of the check, the GM can determine whether
circumstances might grant advantage or impose disadvantage
on the check. Circumstances that might call for advantage on a
check include having access to well-made tools, possessing
information that makes the task easier, taking extra time to set
up or prepare for the check, or having another character grant
you skill assistance on the check. Circumstances that might
impose disadvantage include unusual distractions, making a
check more quickly than is ideal, making a check while trying to
ignore creatures attacking you, or having to use makeshift tools.
Skill Assistance (107)
Skill Checks and Roleplaying
Whenever a skill check is accompanied by roleplaying, the GM has a
free hand in deciding how much the roleplaying carries the success
of the check. As with all skill checks, it’s your character’s aptitude,
your skill training, your magic, and your ability modifier that
determine how good you are, while the d20 roll is about how the
outcome of the check might be affected by the world around you.
With roleplaying-based skill checks, the GM usually lets how well
you roleplay an encounter act as an additional measure of how
good your character is.
With great roleplaying, you might automatically succeed on your
attempt to convince the duke that her lands are being taken over by
a dangerous cult, even before you roll your Persuasion check. If the
check comes up a clear failure when the die is rolled, the GM can
then decide how to set up an overall failure while still honoring the
effect of the roleplaying — for instance, having the duke decide to
have the party imprisoned so that she can take full credit for
discovering the truth about the cult’s actions.
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Natural 20 Skill Checks
Rolling a natural 20 (showing a 20 on the die) can ensure a
character’s success for many skill checks, but it isn’t an
automatic success. Skill checks are different in this way from
attack rolls, defense rolls, and saving throws. Though luck plays
a part in skill checks, certain undertakings might remain out of
reach for you even with talent, training, and a 20 on the die.
Chapter 9/Automatic Hits (264); Automatic Misses (237);
Automatic Save Successes (246)
Unknown Skill Check DCs
Often, the GM tells the players the DC needed to get a clear
success with a skill check. A player whose character is
attempting to pick a lock is told that the task is a DC 18 Thievery
check. When the adventurers need to scale a short bluff to get
closer to a cultist camp, the GM can set the Acrobatics check at
DC 14 for the somewhat difficult climb.
In other cases, the GM can ask for a skill check without
announcing the DC, then simply inform the players of the
outcome. Having an unknown DC in this way gives the GM the
most leeway in deciding how a check moves the story forward.
When a scholar with a flair for languages makes an
Investigation check to translate a complex coded message,
the GM chooses to not reveal the check DC of 23. If the
scholar’s check is a 20, the GM can act as though the
seemingly high check was a clear success, giving the
players the content of the decoded message — even while
adding a complication by replacing a few key details of the
message with incorrect information.
Repeating Checks
When a skill check results in anything less than clear success, it’s
up to the GM to determine what that means. In some cases, a
failure or a success with a complication might take the form of a
temporary setback. A clear failure on a check to climb a wall
might leave a character prone at the bottom, but nothing
prevents them from trying the climb again. A partial success on
a Perception check to watch for approaching enemies might
reveal some enemies but still leave a character time to notice
other foes as they get closer.
In other cases, though, a failure changes the circumstances of
the check to make repeating it impossible. A clear failure on an
Athletics check made to jump over a pit means a character falls
into the pit and must contend instead with getting out. Likewise,
the terms set by the GM for a success might make it impossible
to repeat a skill check. With a partial failure on an Expertise
check to recall where a familiar sigil was observed before, the
GM might impose an extra time complication to say that the
answer is nagging at the character, but they won’t be able recall
the information until their next long rest. Trying to repeat the
check in that case makes no difference, even if a new check is
higher.
Even when the GM allows repeated skill checks, they might
decide that you can’t repeat a check unless you change the
circumstances of the check. If you have a clear failure on a
Persuasion check made to convince a creature to help you,
simply making the check again has no chance of succeeding.
But by offering the creature payment or service, the GM might
allow a new check as you try to undo the initial check.
106

Skill Checks Without Rolls
Often, your character makes skill checks while under some sort
of time pressure or distraction. The d20 roll you make for the
skill check represents the element of random chance that comes
into effect under such trying circumstances. However, if you are
making a skill check under less distracting conditions, or if you
can take your time while making the check, you can often
eliminate this random chance.
When your character isn’t being threatened or distracted, you
can take 10 on a skill check. Instead of rolling a d20, you
calculate the result of the check as if you had rolled a 10
(roughly the average when rolling a d20). Taking 10 makes most
easy tasks automatically successful, and is useful in situations
where you know that an average roll would succeed but a low
roll might introduce an unwanted complication, or even fail
outright.
Distractions or threats (including being in combat) make it
impossible for you to take 10 on a skill check.
Optional Rule: Passive Skill Checks
If the GM and other players all prefer a game where skill checks are
rolled only in specific challenging circumstances, many casual skill
checks can automatically be reckoned as if all the characters were
taking 10 to define a baseline level of success. This passive check
approach works best for checks focused on senses or knowledge,
including scenarios such as:
• Perception checks to spot trouble in an environment that doesn’t
seem threatening
• Investigation checks to notice whether someone in a crowded
tavern is watching the characters a little too closely
• Expertise checks to recall having heard an NPC’s name before
The GM can make note of passive skill check results for each
character, then refer to those results to determine when characters
can be treated as automatically making those checks and
succeeding on an average roll.
Skill Assistance
When you lend skill assistance, you use a standard action to
assist a chosen ally preparing to make a skill check. By doing so,
you grant the ally advantage on the skill check, which the ally
must use before the end of their next turn or lose it.
The GM decides whether it is possible to lend assistance to a
skill check. If you want to help a character kicking in a door, you
might not be able to do so if the narrow door doesn’t provide
enough room for both of you to kick at the same time. Likewise,
if it’s a DC 25 Acrobatics check to leap off a cliff and land on the
back of a griffon flying past, the check won’t be made any easier
if an ally gives you a push.
When a scoundrel attempts a Thievery check to pick a
simple padlock in a dungeon, there’s nothing any of their
allies can do to assist that focused task. However, during a
later attempt to deactivate a large-scale trap in a cursed
temple chamber, the GM might decide that the task can be
made easier by having another character lend assistance —
perhaps by holding tools in place and shining a light as the
scoundrel directs.
At the same time, the party’s wizard attempts an
Expertise/history check to recognize the unknown runes
scribed along the temple walls. Because the check
represents knowledge the wizard either does or doesn’t
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Chapter 6: Skills
have, her warrior ally can’t lend skill assistance. But if the
check in the temple is a clear failure, the warrior might be
able to assist the wizard when she researches the glyphs
some days later in a university library.
Group Skill Checks
When a number of characters all make skill checks to undertake
the same activity, those checks are usually independent from
each other. If everyone in your party needs to jump across a gap
in a bridge while fleeing from a troll, your character’s success
has no impact on the Athletics check of the character behind
you. Likewise, a group of characters climbing a rope one after
the other make Acrobatics checks separately.
Other times, a number of characters all attempt the same skill
checks as a group, with all characters working toward a singular
goal. Adventurers attempting to move silently down a dungeon
corridor all make Stealth checks together, with characters
potentially aiding each other by quietly pointing out loose
rubble that might crunch underfoot, holding a gloved hand out
to stop an ally’s scabbard from clanking, and so on. A group of
characters roped together to climb a cliff can make a group
Acrobatics check to reflect that multiple characters can assist
others having difficulty with the climb — and that if the group
fails in the climbing attempt as a whole, everyone will fall.
When a group of characters undertake an activity requiring skill
checks in a collective fashion, each character makes a check
against the DC set by the GM, as usual. If half or more of the
characters get a clear success on the check, the group as a
whole succeeds, including even characters whose individual
checks were clear failures. If more than half the characters get a
clear failure on the check, the group as a whole fails. If the result
is somewhere in between, the GM decides how to invoke a
success for the group with one or more complications.
When a group of characters roped up for climbing fails to
get a clear success on the group check, the GM might
decide that two characters with very low checks take
damage from slipping along the rocks, or are weakened
from the exertion of the climb until they finish a short or
long rest.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
When characters make a group check, not all characters need to
use the same skill. The GM decides which skills are appropriate
for a specific group check, and each player decides which skill
their character uses.
A group of characters trying to follow a treacherous path
through a dangerous forest make a group check to avoid
becoming lost. Each character can make a Nature check
(representing watching the ground, scanning for tracks, or
checking trees for signs of animals having passed by) or a
Perception check (representing seeking more obvious signs
of gaps in the trees or checking for hazards).
Complex Skill Checks
With most skill checks, a single die roll immediately determines
a character’s relative success. Whether jumping across a chasm
or recalling a specific piece of information, a single check
determines the outcome, for good or bad.
For complicated and time-consuming tasks, or at times when
the GM wants to build tension and suspense, a complex skill
check might be called for. With a complex skill check, a specific
number of clear-success skill checks must be achieved to
107

complete a task. The overall difficulty of the task is reflected not
just by the DC of the required checks, but by the number of
successes that must be obtained.
A complex skill check might involve only one type of check, as
with a reinforced and barred door that requires a series of
Athletics checks to batter open. Other complex skill checks
might require a number of different kinds of checks, as with a
complicated lock sealing a magical clockwork-driven gate
needing Thievery checks to work the lock, Athletics checks to
turn the gears, and Magic checks to assess and adjust the
unseen dweomer that is the flow of magic through the gate.
The length of time necessary to complete a complex skill check
depends on the checks being made and the timing of those
checks. Some complex skill checks might call for multiple
characters to make checks at the same time, while others might
call for checks to be made one after the other, or even at
intervals of a minute or more.
Using Complex Checks
In some situations, a complex skill check simply feels like a series
of regular skill checks. A burglar attempting a complex skill
check to deal with an advanced lock protected by a magical trap
makes a number of Thievery checks, much as she would if
dealing with separate locks and separate traps in succession. At
other times, a complex skill check might become an intricate
and multifaceted social encounter all on its own, as when the
characters must use Expertise checks, Persuasion checks, and
roleplaying to convince others that a series of ancient folk tales
are actually a prophecy of a kingdom’s fall.
When a complex skill check is called for, the GM sets out which
skills are to be used in the check and the DCs for each type of
check. Not all checks in a complex check have the same DC. A
complex check to search a library for an arcane formula might
call for DC 15 Magic checks or DC 18 Perception checks,
reflecting that characters with experience of magic will have an
easier time recognizing the formula if they come across it. A
complex skill check to open a magical lock might increase the
DC of each Thievery check, as each clear success causes the
lock to improve its defenses.
The individual checks that are part of a complex skill check can
produce complications or gain assets, like any other skill check.
Those individual complications and assets can feed into the
overall goal of the complex check, but the complex check
doesn’t create overall complications or assets of its own.
A mage and a scout work together to open an intricate
magical lock. A first check of 14 is just below the DC of 16,
so the GM decides that it adds a complication. The magic
of the trap is now disturbed, and any subsequent check
that isn’t a clear success deals 1d4 force damage to the
character making it.
An intricate trade negotiation requires a complex series of
Expertise and Persuasion checks from different characters.
For each low success that earns a complication, the GM
might impose disadvantage on one or more subsequent
checks, as inconclusive attempts to sway the other side
make it more difficult to win that side over. Likewise, a clear
success high enough to earn an asset might allow the
characters to draw the attention of factions not previously
part of the negotiation, potentially granting the party favors
and benefits beyond their initial expectations.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 6: Skills
Check Complexity
The number of clear successes necessary to succeed on a
complex check depends on the nature of the check, as the GM
determines. Just as the DC for a single skill check defines the
difficulty of that check, the number of clear successes
determines the complexity of a complex skill check, using the
same general categories as skill check difficulty.
• Easy: Two or three successes
• Moderate: Four or five successes
• Hard: Six or seven successes
• Formidable: Eight to ten successes
In many cases, the GM sets the difficulty and complexity of a
complex skill check in the same category, so that a moderate
complex check would require four successes using DC 15
checks. But this isn’t a hard and fast rule. A check with easy
complexity can have hard check DCs, representing a task that is
quick to succeed at but hard to pull off. In the same way,
formidable complexity and easy check DCs represent a process
where the individual tasks are easy, but it takes patience and
perseverance to pull off the overall objective.
Limited Failures
Overall success in most complex skill checks comes when the
specified number of checks are made as clear successes. The
number of clear failures or partial successes made along the way
matters only for the sake of the complications and setbacks they
add to the process, as the GM determines. But sometimes an
especially difficult skill challenge might need to be completed in
a limited amount of time, or might be set up in such a way that
too many failed checks makes overall success impossible.
In a complex skill check with limited failures, the complex check
is an overall success only if the appropriate number of clear
successes are made before a number of clear failures are
made — usually from one to three clear failures, as the GM
determines. If the specified number of clear failures arises
before the indicated number of successes, the complex check
fails.
Whenever this sort of complex check is an overall failure, the
goal of the check is negated and undone. A trap that can’t be
neutralized goes off, a failed negotiation results in short-term or
long-term enmity with members of the other faction, and so on.
A complex check that results in overall failure this way can’t be
retried, but the GM might set up a new complex skill check built
around the failure, allowing characters to attempt the same goal
in a different way.
Interrupting A Complex Skill Check
Most complex skill checks can be interrupted without adversely
affecting the result of the check. However, if timing is crucial to
the setup of the complex check, the GM is free to rule that an
interruption counts as a clear failure, introduces one or more
complications for subsequent checks, or causes the complex
check to fail outright.
Skill Assistance in Complex Checks
Other characters can use skill assistance to aid any character
making skill checks as part of a complex check. The usual rules
for skill assistance apply, but the GM might determine that
characters making skill checks as part of a complex check
outside of combat require all their focus to do so, leaving them
108
 Chapter 6: Skills

unable to lend skill assistance to other characters even when

they aren’t making checks. Knowledge and Lore
Skills representing knowledge and lore are scattered throughout
Taking 10 in Complex Checks different skill groups to represent a character’s learning and
proficiency in specific fields. A number of skill groups contain skills
You can take 10 on a skill check made as part of a complex pertaining to real-world or practical knowledge — dungeon lore in
check if you could do so on an individual check using that skill the Dungeoneering group, health lore in the Healing group, and so
under the same circumstances. on. The Expertise group contains knowledge skills more commonly
associated with academic or formally trained knowledge, but
Skill Checks without Rolls (107)
academic knowledge can be just as useful to an adventurer as real-
world knowledge. When determining how to collapse a stone wall
Using Skills as part of an ambush, a Dungeoneering check for dungeon lore or
an Expertise check for architecture might both be equally useful, as
The following sections break out each skill group and the
determined by the GM.
primary skills within that group, discussing the types of activities
covered by those skills, the type of action or amount of time
typically necessary to make a specific type of skill check, and
describing typical DCs for possible skill checks within each
group.
The sample DCs given for different tasks aren’t fixed standards
that must be memorized. Rather, they are a general summary,
meant to show how different types of activities translate into
levels of difficulty. By using these guidelines to compare to
other tasks, the GM can determine a task’s general level of
difficulty and set an appropriate DC for the task.

Skill Check or Saving Throw?

A character subjected to certain effects must make a saving throw. A
character trying to avoid an effect might make a skill check. What’s
the difference?
A skill check represents an activity for which a character can spend
time in regular practice, and which they have even a small amount of
time to prepare for. A character who has taken feats to boost their
Acrobatics check can potentially do things that an untrained
character can’t do. By contrast, a saving throw represents a level of
instinctive response or innate resistance possessed by a character,
and although saving throw bonuses can be increased through feats,
these increases represent a honing of instinct and luck, not formal
training.
When a character has a chance to consider options before
undertaking a specific action, a skill check is appropriate. A
character who notes the corridor ahead filled by a vent of fire can
choose the best approach, wait for the most opportune moment,
and then make an Acrobatics check to leap safely past the flames. A
character who triggers a fire blast trap has no time to plan how to
react, and so makes a Reflex save in an instinctive attempt to avoid
its full effect.

New Skills for Skill Groups

Skill groups in the game break down to cover a number of common
and useful skills. However, these aren’t the only skills that can be
part of a skill group, and players and GMs might decide to create
new skills within existing skill groups for a campaign.
For example, the Athletics group covers specific skills such as
slamming into an object to break it, overbalancing a creature to
send them prone, grabbing a creature or object, jumping, and
throwing. But in a desert setting, the characters might regularly
make Athletics checks to move through sand without being slowed.
In such a campaign, the sand-running skill would be a different skill
than the Endurance group’s run skill, and would likely be commonly
used.

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Acrobatics
Acrobatics skills focus on light and dexterous movement. Vigor,
quickness, and controlled motion are important for most
Acrobatics checks, which use Dexterity or Constitution as their
core abilities.
Your mobility and physical focus are compromised by anything
that hinders your movement and flexibility. If you employ certain
types of armor or shields, you have disadvantage on your
Acrobatics checks.
Chapter 9/Armor Hindrance (240)
The Acrobatics skill group contains the agility, climb, escape,
and handle rope skills.
Agility
Quick and instinctive movement is the hallmark of an
Acrobatics/agility check, whether you are walking along a
tightrope or narrow ledge, tumbling over an obstacle, or
moving through the space of an enemy. You make an
Acrobatics/agility check to force an object out of a creature’s
grasp with a disarm combat maneuver, or to leave a foe
hindered in a fight with a confound or impede combat
maneuver. You also use agility to feint in combat, hoping to gain
an edge against a foe.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259); Feint (289)
If you jump down from a height of more than 10 feet, you take
damage as if you had fallen unless you succeed on an
Acrobatics/agility check to absorb the impact of your landing.
The DC for the check is equal to the distance you jump down,
so that avoiding damage from a 10-foot jump is an easy check,
avoiding damage from a 20-foot jump is a hard check, and so
on. With a clear failure on a check made to jump down, you take
damage as if you had fallen and you go prone when you land.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Most checks for agility are made as a move action or as part of
a move action while you are moving. The disarm combat
maneuver usually involves making an Acrobatics/agility check as
a standard action.
Climb
Whether making a methodical ascent up a long rope, seeking
out handholds in a stone wall, or carefully slipping along a
crumbling cliff face, you use your Acrobatics skill to climb.
When you climb, you move at half your speed. You make an
Acrobatics/climb check as a move action. A successful check to
climb allows you to move half your speed. You need both hands
free to climb, preventing you from making use of weapons or a
shield. But while you aren’t moving, you can cling to a wall with
one hand while you cast a spell, attack with a melee or thrown
weapon, or take some other action that requires only one hand.
If you have a climbing speed, you don’t make Acrobatics checks
for routine climbing, but you might need to make checks to
climb in dangerous conditions, through difficult terrain, or
through obstacles, as the GM determines.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 6: Skills
Escape
Slow and methodical movement underlies your ability to use
Acrobatics to escape, whether freeing yourself from bonds or
manacles, slipping out of the grasp of a creature who has
grappled you, sliding between the narrow bars of a jail cell, or
twisting through a tunnel barely large enough to hold you.
You usually make an Acrobatics/escape check to break free of
bonds or confinement as a standard action.
When you are attempting to fit through an especially narrow
space, the GM might call for an Acrobatics/escape check as part
of your move action. The minimum size of a space you can
squeeze through is typically one through which you can move
your head but not your shoulders, which must be shifted to
force them through one at a time.
Chapter 7/Squeezing (168)
Handle Rope
A combination of reflexes and nimbleness is required to handle
rope and other large flexible objects, whether you are tying
lasting knots, sending a grappling hook attached to a rope to
land where you want it, or lassoing an object or creature.
You usually make an Acrobatics/handle rope check as a
standard action. This includes attempting to lasso a creature to
disarm or trip it as a combat maneuver.
Chapter 9/Trip (261)
Tools and Physical Checks
Skill checks involving physical movement (including Acrobatics,
Athletics, and Endurance checks) are typically made with hands,
feet, or some other part of a creature’s body. Sometimes, though, a
physical check can be made with appropriate tools, as when a
character uses a pry bar to force open a door or locked chest, or
employs a polearm as a makeshift lever to move a rock off a
trapdoor.
Certain tools provide advantage on physical checks, such as when a
pry bar is used to open a locked chest, or when an Acrobatics/agility
check to disarm an opponent is made using a weapon with the
disarm quality. If you are able to use only an improvised tool (for
example, trying to pick a lock with the tip of your dagger because
you don’t have access to thieves’ tools), you might have
disadvantage on the check, as determined by the GM.
Chapter 8/Adventuring Gear (210)
Chapter 9/Weapon Qualities (274)
Fly
The Acrobatics group has a fourth skill that isn’t included in this
section, because it isn’t a skill most characters routinely use. The fly
skill covers the specific kinds of maneuvering and movement made
by a flying creature. The flying creatures in the Creature
Compendium each have an Acrobatics modifier that reflects how
graceful they are in the air, and much of the magic that allows
characters to fly improves their Acrobatics check to do so. A
character who wants to improve their ability to fly is free to improve
their Acrobatics/fly modifier by taking the Skill Specialization feat.
110
 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Agility Climb Escape Handle Rope

Easy • Move along a ledge or run • Climb a knotted rope or a • Fit through an opening just • Tie a firm knot that can be
(10) across an uneven surface ship’s rigging in fair wide enough to admit your easily untied but which
without falling. conditions. body without becoming stuck. won’t slip by accident.
• Jump down 10 feet without • Climb a stone wall where you
taking damage or falling prone. can brace yourself against a
Appendix B/Prone (A10) support behind you.

Moderate • Clamber up and over a low • Climb a strong tree. • Slip out of a hastily tied rope. • Tie a slip knot, a sliding
(15) obstacle. • Clamber up a natural rock • Break free from an opening just knot, or some other special
• Jump down 15 feet without wall with a good number of wide enough to admit your type of knot.
taking damage or going prone. wide hand- and footholds. body, in which you are stuck. • Splice two ropes together.
• Break free of an animate rope • Identify a weak point in a
spell. knot or rope.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Hard • Walk a tightrope. • Ascend a rough stone wall • Break free of an entangle spell. • From a favorable position,
(20) • Jump down 20 feet without with infrequent narrow hand- • Squeeze through a space throw and secure a
taking damage or going prone. and footholds. barely wide enough for your grappling hook.
head and one shoulder. • While stationary, throw a
lasso to loop around an
outcropping of rock.
Formidable • Swing from a rope or • Clamber up a mostly flat rock • Slip out of a well-tied rope or • While stationary, throw and
(25) chandelier and drop into attack wall or a brick wall with a locked manacles of average secure a lasso to a bandit
position. rough surface but no construction trying to escape from you.
handholds. • Squeeze through a space wide • While moving, throw and
enough only for your head. secure a lasso or a grappling
hook around a statue to pull
it over.
Insurmountable • Wait for a bridge to collapse to • Climb a wall of smooth stone • Escape from locked, well-made • Lasso a wyvern in flight while
(30) the ground and avoid being or glass. manacles. giving chase on your own
crushed beneath it. mount.
• Jump down 30 feet without
taking damage or going prone.
Opposed • Your Acrobatics/agility check to — • An Acrobatics/escape check to —
move through an enemy’s break free of an opponent’s
space is opposed by the established grapple is opposed
opponent’s Acrobatics/agility by the opponent’s
or Athletics/grab check. Athletics/grab check.
• Your Acrobatics/agility check to
feint against an opponent is
opposed by the opponent’s
Investigation/insight check or
Perception/spot check.
• When you attempt the
confound combat maneuver,
your Acrobatics/agility check is
opposed by a creature’s Will
saving throw.
• When you attempt the disarm
combat maneuver, your
Acrobatics/agility check is
opposed by a creature’s Reflex
saving throw.
• When you attempt the impede
combat maneuver, your
Acrobatics/agility check is
opposed by a creature’s
Fortitude saving throw.
Chapter 9/Combat
Maneuvers (259); Saving
Throws (245)

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 Chapter 6: Skills

Athletics
Athletics skills reflect a character’s physical power and overall
quickness. Strength or Dexterity are the core abilities for
Athletics, whose checks often reflect muscle memory, timing,
and physical power.
The Athletics skill group contains the grab, jump, slam, and
throw skills.
clinging to the edge of the space you tried to jump over, then
needing to climb out on your next turn.
You make a vertical leap to reach a ledge, a rope, or some
other object above your usual reach. If you jump up to grab
something, a successful check indicates that you reached the
desired height. If you wish to pull yourself up, the GM will
usually ask for a follow-up Acrobatics/climb check. If you jump
up to grab onto a creature above you, the GM will usually ask
for an Athletics/grab check.

Grab
Whether you’re clinging desperately to a rope bridge as it
collapses, hanging onto a foe to keep them from moving, or
lifting an ally who’s fallen over a ledge — along with the bag of
loot they’re desperately clinging to — a successful
Athletics/grab check lets you find the right location to hold on
tight and pull. Against creatures, you most often make an
Athletics check to grab when you attempt to grapple a creature,
or when you are hanging onto them after a successful grapple.
Chapter 9/Grapple (260)
Grabbing onto an object that is immobile or is handed to you is
usually a free action, or might be done as part of another
action. Grabbing a moving object or an object held by a
creature is usually a standard action. Grabbing a creature as
part of the grapple combat maneuver is usually a standard
action.
The standard DCs for making a horizontal jump assume that the
place you are jumping from is on the same level as the place
you are jumping to. If you are jumping from a high place to a
lower place, the GM might decrease the difficulty of the jump by
one category. If you are jumping from a low place to a higher
place, the GM might increase the difficulty by two categories or
more, or the jump might become impossible.
Jump or Agility
Both Athletics/jump and Acrobatics/agility can allow you to get over
low obstacles with equal ease, but the two skills have a different
focus. When the distance you need to clear is your primary concern
(as when leaping over a pit), Athletics/jump is the appropriate check.
If the way you move while leaping is more important than where you
end up (as when jumping over a moving object or a low barrier set
with spikes), use Acrobatics/agility.
When you jump down from a height, your athleticism is of less
importance than your nimbleness. As such, you always use

Jump Acrobatics/agility to determine how soft your landing is after

jumping down, and whether you take any damage when you hit.
Making a leap of significant distance is the focus of an
Athletics/jump check, whether you are hopping across a pit,
hurdling over a table, or leaping straight up to reach a ledge or Slam
the feet of a flying foe. Whenever you drive forward with your body with the intent of
A check made to jump is made as part of a move action. overcoming the strength or inertia of an object or creature, you
Athletics/jump check DCs vary depending on whether you are make an Athletics/slam check.
jumping from a standing start. If you don’t move 10 feet or more Against objects, you most often make this check to damage the
before the check, the DC is doubled for the same distance. For object or compromise its structure. Smashing a locked chest to
example, a horizontal jump of 10 feet is an easy DC 10 check if open it, kicking a stuck door to break through it, knocking over a
you move at least 10 feet, then jump. But jumping 10 feet from a statue or other heavy object, or relentlessly smashing at the
standing start is instead a hard DC 20 check. chains or manacles that bind you are all examples of
Athletics/slam checks.
Athletics DC Athletics DC
Horizontal Jump(Running Start)(Standing Start) Against creatures, you most often make an Athletics check to
5 feet 5 10 slam when you attempt to move the creature with a shove or trip
10 feet 10 20 combat maneuver, or when you try to break an object they hold
15 feet 15 30 with a sunder combat maneuver. You also make use of the slam
20 feet 20 skill when you try to move through an enemy’s space by forcing
25 feet 25 them out of the way.
30 feet 30 Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
Athletics DC Athletics DC Whether you are striking an object or a creature, making an
Vertical Leap(Running Start)(Standing Start) Athletics/slam check is usually a standard action. The GM might
1 foot 5 10 allow you to slam an object as a minor action, but doing so
2 feet 10 20 might impose disadvantage on the check. Making the check as
3 feet 15 30 part of the shove, sunder, or trip combat maneuvers is usually a
4 feet 20 standard action. Breaking a sturdy object or making a
5 feet 25 mechanical device inoperative is usually a complex skill check
6 feet 30 requiring a number of successful individual checks.
Complex Skill Checks (107)
You make a horizontal jump across a pit, a chasm, a stream,
and so forth. With a clear success on the check, you land as If you are making an Athletics/slam check to push past an
intended at the far end. On a success with complications, you enemy creature, you make the check as part of your
might stumble or take damage when you land, or end up movement.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

Pushing and Pulling

In any scenario in which one creature pushes or pulls another
creature or an object, whether with an Athletics check, a ring of the
ram, an animate rope spell, or any other effect, the target creature
or object is assumed to be pushed or pulled along the ground, the
floor, or another horizontal surface. At the GM’s determination, a
creature can push a creature up and away from them or pull a
creature up from below them, but doing so typically decreases the
distance pushed or pulled, or raises the DC of any skill check
involved.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Magic Items (ch. 2)

Breaking or Attacking
Breaking an object is different than attacking in combat, because
objects have no hit points to determine their combat resilience.
Instead, an object has a damage DC that determines the
Athletics/slam check necessary to deal significant damage to it, then
usually requires a number of successful checks before it is
destroyed.
Complex Skill Checks (107)
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230)

Throw
Whether you are tossing a magic item to an ally with great care
or heaving a flask of alchemist’s fire into a mob of monstrous
spiders at maximum speed, you make an Athletics/throw check
to summon up the force and timing needed to get a thrown
object where you want it to go.
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic (214)
Making an Athletics/throw check is usually a standard action.
The GM might allow you to throw an object as a minor action,
but doing so might impose disadvantage on the check. The GM
sets the DC for the check depending on the circumstances,
including the distance of the throw, the weight and
aerodynamics of the object, and whether you’re distracted by
combat or movement. Round objects with enough mass to
overcome air resistance are easiest to throw. Odd-shaped
objects and objects containing liquid (including flasks holding
potions or alchemical fluids) are harder to throw, as are objects
that are extremely light.
Magic Grimoire/Potions and Spellmarks (ch. 2)
When throwing an object over a significant distance, the object
must typically rise half as high as the distance it travels. In a
dungeon corridor or other environments in which vertical space
is limited, you might be limited in how far you can throw an
object.
On a clear failure on the check to throw an object, the object
doesn’t reach its intended target, whether a creature or a
specific area. On a low success while throwing an item to an ally,
the GM might complicate the check by forcing the ally to make
an Acrobatics/agility check to grab the item. Complications on
checks to throw an item into a specific area usually involve the
item landing a distance away from that area, as determined by
the GM.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Grab Jump Slam Throw

Easy • While slipping slowly off a • Make a running jump • Open a slightly stuck wooden • Outside combat, toss a flask
(10) ledge, grab onto it to across a 10-foot-wide pit. door with one kick, or loosen up a 20 feet to a willing ally.
prevent falling. • Jump across a 5-foot-wide more rigidly stuck wooden door. • Throw an apple 100 feet to
• As a bridge begins to sway in crevasse from a standing • Push over a top-heavy statue. distract a catoblepas turning
a high wind, grab tight to start. • Push into a gaggle of kobold their deadly gaze toward you.
one of its rails to keep miners with enough force to move Creature Compendium
yourself from losing your through them. • Throw a round stone 50 feet
balance.
straight up to catch the
attention of an elf gryphon-
rider flying overhead.
Moderate • As a boiling mud flows down • With a running start, make • Damage the built-in lock or hinges • Throw a flask of alchemist’s fire
(15) a corridor toward you, grab a vertical leap to grab onto on a sturdy chest. though an open second-storey
onto a ledge above so you a rope 3 feet above your • Smash into a locked wooden door window from the ground.
can lift your feet safely above reach. with enough force to damage the • While riding your mount, toss
it. • With a running start, clear lock or hinges. a weapon to your nearby ally
• Pull up an ally clinging to the a 15-foot-wide pit. • While fleeing a gentry’s who’s been dragged to the
edge of a pit after nearly townhouse, kick out a window ground by a pack of hyenas.
falling in. frame to make a safe emergency
exit.
Hard • Grab onto a slow-moving • While trapped on the top • Deal a blow to a tavern door that • While an ogre scout stalks you,
(20) wagon to safely clamber of a pillar, make a damages the bar holding it shut throw a palm-sized rock 200
onto it. standing-start horizontal from the other side. feet to create a distraction.
• Topple a 20-foot-tall statue jump to reach safe footing • Knock over a solidly balanced 5- • Throw a palm-sized rock high
not attached to the ground on a ledge 10 feet away. foot-high urn to create an enough to strike the tin roof of
by pulling on a rope around obscuring cloud of dust from the a 100-foot-high wizard’s tower.
its head. ashes it holds. • In the thick of combat, throw a
• Damage average-quality manacles potion vial to an ally 50 feet
used to bind you by soldiers on away.
patrol.
Formidable • As you slide down a near- • With a running start, make • Weaken an average-quality chain • While fighting with a bandit
(25) vertical slope, grab an a vertical leap to grab onto in a village jail. chieftain on top of a moving
outcropping of rock to stop a ledge 5 feet above your • Push over an 8-foot-high standing wagon, throw a strongbox to
your descent. reach. stone to expose the secret tunnel an ally racing alongside you on
• Grab onto a fast-moving at its base. horseback.
wagon or horse and haul
yourself on.
Insurmountable • After leaping onto the back • Make a running-start • Weaken a high-quality chain used • Throw a round rock 300 feet to
(30) of an irate black dragon, horizontal jump across a to bind your feet by dwarf cultists. alert allies in your camp that
hold on while the creature chasm 30 feet wide. • Smash into a reinforced jail door you’ve come under attack
takes to the air. • Make a standing-start hard enough to damage the iron while scouting.
vertical leap to land on a or steel bar holding it shut. • Hurl a croquet ball 150 feet
ledge 3 feet above the • Drive through an unlocked into the air as a distraction
floor. wooden door with enough force during a royal garden party.
to push back the thieves’ guild • Throw a flask of alchemist’s fire
guards waiting on the other side. 150 feet to land at the feet of a
troll.
Opposed • When you attempt the — • When you attempt the shove or —
grapple combat maneuver, trip combat maneuver, your
your Athletics/grab check is Athletics/slam check is opposed
opposed by the creature’s by a creature’s Fortitude saving
Reflex saving throw. throw.
Chapter 9/Combat • When you attempt the sunder
Maneuvers (259) combat maneuver, your
Athletics/slam check is opposed
by a creature’s Reflex saving
throw.

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Dungeoneering
Adventurers who spend time in the catacombs and ruins
scattered across and beneath the world learn a special set of
skills encompassed by the Dungeoneering skill group. Physical
and emotional strength are important to surviving ancient
threats and the rigors of the subterranean depths, making
Strength or Charisma the core abilities for this skill group.
The Dungeoneering skill group contains the dungeon lore,
hazards, monster handling, and survival skills.
Dungeon Lore
The mysterious realms below the surface world are filled with
mysteries, and a Dungeoneering/dungeon lore check can reveal
them. The kinds of knowledge that fall under the
Dungeoneering skill include practical and current lore of ruins
and underground realms, but also covers the habits of the
unnatural creatures native to those realms — aberrations,
monstrous arthropods, oozes, wondrous beasts, and wondrous
worldborn.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
The GM sets the DC of a check for creature lore depending on
circumstances, including how common a particular creature is in
a particular area and what kind of lore you might have been
exposed to regarding it. Lore checks are easier when creatures
are common in an area, and more difficult when they are rare.
A Dungeoneering/dungeon lore check to recall lore you have
previously come across usually takes 1 or more minutes,
depending on the circumstances of the check. To glean new
information from resources at hand might require 1 or more
hours. A character can make a Dungeoneering/dungeon lore
check while the game is in initiative as a minor action, but such
a check can typically involve only recalled basic or obvious
information.
Wondrous Beasts and Wondrous
Worldborn
The Dungeoneering and Nature skills both cover knowledge and
lore of wondrous beasts and wondrous worldborn, and allow the
handling of wondrous beasts, with the GM determining which skill is
appropriate based on the environment inhabited by specific
creatures. For example, centaurs (a wondrous worldborn lineage)
are folk of the forests and dwell almost exclusively aboveground. As
such, knowledge of centaur physiology, culture, tactics, and so on
requires a successful Nature check. Vormloeks are another
wondrous worldborn lineage, but are cavern dwellers who rarely see
the light of the surface world. Understanding their physiology and
recognizing signs of their presence requires a successful
Dungeoneering check.
Creature Compendium
In some cases, the GM might allow checks to be made with either
Dungeoneering or Nature to assess or identify a particular creature,
with one check more difficult. If the GM sets a DC 15
Dungeoneering check to recognize that a dead adventurer was slain
by a darkmantle, a DC 20 Nature check might come to the same
conclusion, or would at least give the character a sense of the
physical properties and attacks of the unknown creature.
In other cases, a successful check from the wrong skill group should
at least confirm what manner of unknown creature a character is
dealing with. If a pack of troglodytes (wondrous worldborn who
dwell underground) makes their way to the surface world, a
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Chapter 6: Skills
character making a Nature check to inspect their tracks should have
no chance of determining what creatures made those tracks.
However, with a sufficiently high check, the character can confirm
that the tracks weren’t made by any creature native to local lands.
Hazards
When you try to recognize unstable stonework, pick out a path
that avoids an underground rockslide, or deal with molds,
slimes, and other unnatural dangers, you make a
Dungeoneering/hazards check. Such a check can also allow you
to set, modify, conceal, or trigger certain underground hazards
to hinder other creatures.
Engaging with an underground hazard to analyze, understand,
or trigger it might take a standard action or 1 or more
minutes, depending on circumstances. Subsequently dealing
with a hazard to make it safe might take a few minutes to a few
hours, as determined by the GM.
Dungeoneering or Nature
In many circumstances, the question of whether to make a
Dungeoneering or a Nature check depends less on the areas of
knowledge and understanding covered by those skills and more on
the setup of the environment. The GM will usually allow Nature
checks to be made underground and Dungeoneering checks to be
made in a natural setting, as long as both skills can be equally
effective at dealing with the universal hazards that exist in the world
below ground and the surface world. Characters trying to identify a
dangerously crumbling cliff use the same intuition, whether that cliff
is within a great underground cavern complex or along the edge of
the land’s highest peak.
However, even similar areas of knowledge often produce different
knowledge in the natural and underground realms. The
Dungeoneering skill is useful for identifying edible mushrooms in a
subterranean grotto, but yields no results if made in a forest setting,
which features varieties of fungi never observed belowground.
Likewise, hazards such as yellow mold and green slime are so rare
on the surface world that even when encountered there, a character
with Nature skill is unlikely to be able to tell them from mundane
mold and slime.
Chapter 7/Hazards (115)
Monster Handling
The creatures who dwell in dungeons and caverns are often
unique to those subterranean realms. A Dungeoneering check
for monster handling lets you interact with or control nonsapient
aberrations, monstrous arthropods, oozes, and nonsapient
wondrous beasts. You use Dungeoneering/monster handling to
interact with domesticated creatures of those types, including
those used as mounts, and to domesticate, train, or temporarily
control wild creatures.
Chapter 2/Intelligent and Sapient Creatures sidebar (30)
Aside from being used on different types of creatures,
Dungeoneering/monster handling otherwise functions as the
Nature/animal handling skill.
Handling Animals, Monsters, and Mounts sidebar (131)
At the GM’s determination, interacting with creatures with an
intrinsically destructive nature (including creatures who typically
have any evil alignment) might increase the DC of
Dungeoneering/monster handling checks made against them,
or make such checks impossible.
115
 Chapter 6: Skills

Survival
Foraging for food and water in an underground environment
requires unique skills. A Dungeoneering check for survival lets
you safely use natural flora and fauna to stay alive.
The length of time required to find water, forage, hunt, or trap
depends on factors such as terrain and the ecosystem of the
caverns or ruins you are in, but typically ranges from 1 hour to 1
day, as determined by the GM.
Making a Dungeoneering/survival check to follow tracks or
avoid becoming lost is usually done as part of your movement
while out of combat. If you make such a check while the game is
in initiative (typically when you are trying to track a fleeing
creature or making a snap judgement about which direction to
move), the GM might ask you to make the check as a standard
action. The GM determines how often you need to repeat the
check, based on how often you need to reestablish the trail or
how often you run the risk of becoming lost.

Dungeoneering or Nature Survival

Though the Dungeoneering/survival and Nature/survival skills cover
the same basic undertakings, the differences between a dungeon
and a natural environment mean that each skill covers very different
activities. Foraging in nature is usually a matter of hunting or
collecting edible roots and berries. In a dungeon or subterranean
realm, edible fungi, cave fish, crustaceans, and even insects are
more typically on the menu. Likewise, finding a water source is often
a challenge in nature, while underground, one develops a skill for
determining which of the many water sources available are safe to
drink.
Under certain circumstances, a GM might allow you to make
Dungeoneering checks for survival while in a natural environment, or
to make Nature checks for survival while underground. A wide area
of forest overgrowing magical ruins might be shunned by native
creatures, requiring the foraging skills of a dungeoneer, while a
huge cavern complex beneath the ground might be imbued with
magic that allows an aboveground ecosystem to flourish there.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Dungeon Lore Hazards Monster Handling Survival

Easy • Identify or recall mundane • Recognize a potentially • Direct an attack-trained ankheg • Find a source of clean water in
(10) lore regarding chokers, dangerous rockfall, the edges to assault a group of wild elves natural caverns or empty ruins.
gelatinous cubes, duergar, of a developing sinkhole, an set on executing you. • Forage, hunt, or trap to provide
or other unnatural or underground geyser, and • Direct a monstrous scorpion food for yourself in caverns or
subterranean creatures other obvious but subtle trained for guard duty to watch ruins well stocked with fungi,
common in the campaign hazards. your camp. arthropods, or animals.
or the local area. • Note telltale signs in scree or • Follow clear tracks across a dirt
Creature Compendium dirt that indicate a path is floor or cavern loam.
unsafe. • Identity common minerals, stone,
or metal.
Moderate • Identify or recall mundane • Note whether a rockslide or • Direct a monstrous spider • Find a source of clean water in
(15) lore regarding mimics, other natural hazard has trained as a mount to act as a deep caverns.
mesmeric mouthers, occurred by chance or has pack animal. • Forage, hunt, or trap sufficient
valaaks, or other unnatural been instigated by creatures. • Train a qyphis mount to food for three people in well-
or subterranean creatures • Recognize green slime, yellow perform additional tasks such stocked caverns or ruins, or for
who are rare in the mold, and other rare as tracking or defending you. yourself in mostly barren caverns.
campaign or the local area. unnatural hazards in isolation. • Moving with ample light, avoid
• Identify the tracks of a Chapter 7/Hazards (115) getting lost in unfamiliar or
troglodyte, vormloek, or • Sense that the air ahead is confusing underground terrain.
other unnatural or bad when warned by the • Follow occasionally obscured
subterranean creature if tracks through fungus fields or
scent of rot, sulfur, or some
you have encountered one other contaminant. across loose scree.
before.
Hard • Note whether the tracks, • Recognize yellow mold, • Domesticate a rhazogh in • Find a source of clean water in
(20) spoor, or leavings of a brown mold, and other rare preparation for training them. barren caverns or areas where
creature unknown to you unnatural hazards when • Direct the grick companion of a most water is polluted.
represent an unnatural or camouflaged by plants or dead oni to lead you to their • Forage, hunt, or trap sufficient
subterranean creature. mundane mold. master’s treasure vault. food for six people in well-
• Recall information on the • Sense that the air ahead is stocked caverns or ruins, or for
attacks, defenses, and traits bad even with no scent to three people in mostly barren
of an unnatural or betray it. caverns.
subterranean creature you • Moving only by the faint glow of
are aware of but have fungi, avoid getting lost in
never encountered before. unfamiliar or confusing terrain.
• Follow intermittent tracks across
bare rock.
Formidable • Intuitively guess at the •
Recognize that a gang of • Establish control over a • Locate an isolated field of edible
(25) attacks, defenses, and traits
zombies lurching toward you magically augmented fungi in otherwise bare caverns.
of an unnatural or are encrusted with deadly monstrous centipede. • Gain a brief warning of an earth
subterranean creature you yellow mold. • Direct a basilisk so that they tremor before it strikes, giving you
have no previous turn their gaze away from you time to get to shelter.
awareness of, based solely and your companions.
on your knowledge of • Direct a porphyrax to burrow a
similar creatures. new tunnel you can use as an
escape route.
Insurmountable • Recall lore about an • While fleeing from a pack of • Convince a flock of stirges to • Hunt or trap sufficient food for six
(30) ancient minotaur lord or vormloeks, chart the only ignore you and your people in empty caverns.
some other specific clear path through a cavern companions in favor of
unnatural or subterranean whose ceiling is dripping with attacking the ravenous
creature. green slime. fellhounds trailing you.
• Establish control over an ochre
jelly startled by your party’s
appearance near its pool.
Opposed — • — • If you and another character —
are both trying to direct a
creature at the same time, you
make opposed
Dungeoneering/monster
handling checks to determine
who the creature responds to.

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Endurance
An Endurance check allows a character to overcome challenges
to physical health and well-being. Strength or Constitution are
the core abilities for Endurance, which most often depends on
bodily vigor and innate toughness.
Your physical focus and resilience can be affected by extra
pressure on your body. If you employ certain types of armor or
shields, you have disadvantage on your Endurance checks.
Chapter 9/Armor Hindrance (240)
The Endurance skill group contains the run, stand fast, subsist,
and swim skills.
Run
Sometimes you need to undertake a short sprint to get away
from immediate danger — or to engage that danger as quickly
as possible. At other times, you might need to cover a large
stretch of ground at an accelerated pace. In both cases, you
make an Endurance/run check to determine your ability to stay
moving at speed.
While sprinting short distances, you make an Endurance check
as a minor action each round. The result of the check
determines how much you increase your speed for that round,
up to a maximum of ×4. That speed increase lasts until the end
of your turn, allowing you to move an increased distance with
each move action you take. If your check result is a clear failure,
you can’t run that round, though you can make a full move at
your speed.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
The GM sets the DC for an Endurance/run check depending on
terrain, environment, and the route you are running. Running
straight across open ground is relatively straightforward.
Running through difficult terrain (over mud or rocks, through
foliage, and so forth), along a twisting path, up and down
slopes, around corners, or through an area shrouded to your
senses typically increases the DC of the check by at least one
category. The GM can also decide that circumstances in the
moment impose disadvantage on the check, or might make it
impossible to run.
You can’t shift when you run, and you can’t run if you are
slowed.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
While running over long distances, your Endurance check
determines your running pace over a period of 1 minute to 1
hour or more. Increasing your speed for short sprints is easier
than increasing your speed for long-distance running, since
attempts to sprint over longer distances are eventually cancelled
out by the need to slow down and recover from those sprints.
As well, maintaining a consistent running speed over long
distances typically requires ideal conditions (open ground, flat
terrain, and good weather), and the GM can rule that it is
impossible to run for hours at a time regardless of your check.
Chapter 7/Overland Movement (170)
The GM determines how many checks to call for based on the
circumstances. If you are running for 10 minutes, a single check
might be appropriate if you are attempting only to meet up with
a courier before they leave town. But if you spend 10 minutes
running to escape a gnoll bounty hunter hoping to collect the
price on your head, the GM might ask for Endurance checks
each minute to compare your speed to the gnoll’s speed and
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Chapter 6: Skills
determine whether she catches up to you. For attempts to run
over the longest distances, the GM will usually call for an
Endurance check each hour.
If you start running while the game is in initiative and continue
for more than 6 rounds (1 minute), the GM might switch to
checks for long-distance running, which typically reduces your
speed after an initial hard sprint. If you run for more than 10
minutes, the GM can switch to checks to run for 1 hour, which
typically reduces your speed again.
Making an Endurance check for long-distance running is a free
action taken outside of combat. If an encounter occurs while
you are engaged in long-distance running and you want to keep
running, the GM will call for Endurance/run checks each round,
as noted above.
Creatures who attempt long-distance running must
subsequently rest. In general, each hour or day spent running
requires twice that amount of time spent resting to recover.
Stand Fast
Whether you are holding your ground while an enemy tries to
open a door you want to keep closed, trying to move across
shaking ground without going prone, or resisting the ongoing
effects of gale-force winds, standing fast lets you draw on your
innate physical resilience to hold yourself in place. When the
environment is doing its best to knock you over on an ongoing
basis, the GM sets the DC for an Endurance/stand fast check
based on circumstances.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Because an Endurance check to stand fast is usually made in
response to conditions around you, it is usually a free action. If
you need to put effort into standing fast, the GM might have
you make the check as a minor action or a standard action.
Stand Fast or Agility
When the world is moving around you, an Endurance/stand fast
check or an Acrobatics/agility check can both let you keep your feet,
but they do so in different ways. Acrobatics/agility is appropriate if
you have something to grab onto or a specific place of safety to
balance on. While on the deck of a ship plunging into a whirlpool,
you might try to keep from falling by using the rigging or a railing to
keep yourself upright. But if your ability to stay standing depends
only on you, such as when you try to balance atop a slab of rock
while the sandy ground crumbles around you, you’ll make an
Endurance/stand fast check.
Subsist
Whenever your character is challenged by environmental
conditions that can affect health but aren’t immediately deadly
in and of themselves, you might make an Endurance check to
subsist against those conditions. Exposure to extreme heat or
extreme cold are common hindrances to adventurers, who must
make checks to avoid becoming weakened in such
environments.
Chapter 7/Weather and Temperature (176)
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
118
 Chapter 6: Skills

Creatures who require water and food to survive can have their
physical and mental well-being affected if one or both of those
things are denied them. If your character goes without water or
food for specific periods of time, they must make checks to
subsist on minimal liquids and sustenance, or suffer thirst and
starvation that can easily lead to death.
Chapter 7/Thirst and Starvation (176)
Unless your character has some means of surviving without
needing to breathe, Endurance/subsist checks can help them
survive a lack of air, whether you are underwater, or caught in a
magical vacuum or a toxic environment.
Chapter 7/Suffocation (177)
The GM sets the DC for Endurance/subsist checks based on the
type of check and the circumstances. Because an Endurance
check to subsist is usually made in response to conditions
around you, it is usually a free action.

Swim
You most commonly swim to move through water, but skill at
swimming can also be of use when you are swept up by an
avalanche, trapped by quicksand, or are caught in a magical
effect that negates gravity.
When you swim, you move at half your speed. The DC for your
Endurance/swim check depends on the conditions around you
and what you hope to accomplish by swimming. Simply staying
afloat on a calm lake is relatively easy. Attempting to swim
against the current on white-water river is more difficult by far.
For Endurance/swim checks made underwater, available light is
also an issue for sighted creatures, and the GM might increase
the difficulty of the check if murkiness or depth makes it difficult
for you to see where you are swimming.
You typically make an Endurance/swim check as part of your
movement. If the check involves focused activity, the GM might
have you make it as a minor action or a standard action. The
number of checks you make depends on how far you’re
swimming and under what conditions. Over a long distance, the
GM might ask for only a single check to determine the success
of your swim or how long it takes. If you are fighting in the
water, you might make an Endurance/swim check each round.
If you have a swimming speed, you don’t make Endurance
checks for routine swimming. But you might need to make
checks to swim in turbulent conditions, through difficult terrain,
or through obstacles, as the GM determines.
Chapter 7/Movement (166)
The GM might increase the difficulty of a check made to swim if
you are heavily encumbered by gear. If you swim while wearing
medium or heavy armor, you have disadvantage on
Endurance/swim checks.
Chapter 8/Carrying Capacity (228)
Chapter 9/Armor Hindrance (240)
If you swim underwater, your Endurance/swim check covers your
ability to hold your breath while swimming. You don’t make
separate Endurance/subsist checks unless the circumstances
demand it (for example, if you become trapped underwater and
need to free yourself).

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CHECKS AND ACTIONS
Check (DC) Run
Easy • Increase your speed by ×2 for 1
(10) round down a straight dungeon
corridor.
Moderate • Increase your speed by ×2 for 1 •
(15) round across a rubble-strewn
cavern.
• Increase your local movement
speed by ×2 for 1 or more minutes
across open, dry grassland.
Hard • Increase your speed by ×2 for 1 •
(20) round across mud in a rainstorm.
• Increase your local movement
speed by ×2 for 1 or more minutes •
across snow-covered ground, or
across bare ground at night.
• Increase your overland movement
speed for 1 hour by ×2 while
running on a flat trail in good
weather.
• Increase your speed by ×3 for 1
round across open lawn.
Formidable • Increase your speed by ×3 for 1 •
(25) round through close-growing
foliage.
• Increase your local movement
speed by ×3 for 1 or more minutes
across open ground.
• Increase your overland movement
speed for 1 hour by ×2 while
running through sparse, level
forest or across open grasslands.
Insurmountable • Increase your speed by ×3 for 1 • Avoid taking critical point
(30) round along a switchback trail.
• Increase your speed by ×4 for 1
round along a straight path.
• Increase your local movement
speed by ×3 for 1 or more minutes
across uneven ground or in fog.
• Increase your overland movement
speed for 1 hour by ×2 while
running through steep hills or
thick forest, or along muddy trails.
Opposed — —
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Chapter 6: Skills
Subsist Stand Fast Swim
• Resist the effects of hot • Keep your feet when a heavy • Swim through calm water
weather in temperate climes, dungeon door is unexpectedly while unencumbered.
or mild exposure to the heat slammed open to hit you. • Swim down to retrieve an
or mundane or magical fire. object in 10 feet of water
in calm conditions.
Resist the effects of cold • After smashing through the wall • Swim across a fast-
spring or autumn weather or of a pool to release its water, moving stream or through
mild magical cold. avoid being dragged away by mildly stormy water.
• Resist the effects of hot the current. • Swim through calm water
weather in desert climes, or • Move at reduced speed against when your movement is
exposure to the heat of a gale-force wind strong enough restricted by heavy
moderate mundane or to break branches from trees. clothing or light armor.
magical fire. • Swim down 20 feet to
• Cope with the ongoing search the bottom of a
effects of having insufficient pool.
drinking water in mild
weather for 1 day.
• Cope with the ongoing
effects of having insufficient
food for 3 days.
• Avoid taking critical point
damage from suffocating
while swimming.
Resist the effects of freezing-• Stay standing when struck a • Swim across a rushing
cold winter weather or glancing blow by a horse river or through storm-
moderate magical cold. charging past you. lashed water.
Resist the effects of a • Prevent yourself from being • Swim across a small pond
volcanic environment, or blown away by tornado- or while wearing medium
exposure to intense hurricane-force winds. armor or carrying
mundane or magical fire. excessive amounts of
• Avoid taking critical point gear.
damage from suffocating • Descend 40 feet
while swimming in rapids or underwater to retrieve a
being caught in a magical valuable chest that falls
wind tunnel. off a boat.
Resist the effects of intense • While being dragged by a fast- • Founder from a dock to a
natural or magical cold. moving coach, lock yourself to nearby boat in heavy
• Avoid taking critical point the undercarriage to prevent armor without sinking.
damage from suffocating going under the wheels. • Descend 50 feet
while submerged in a pool • Move upstream at half speed in underwater to confirm the
of poison. a chest-deep, fast-flowing river. presence of a magical
relic at the bottom of an
ancient lake.
• Keep your feet while fighting on • While wearing medium or
damage from suffocating the slippery deck of a ship being heavy armor, stay afloat in
while trapped in an airless torn apart by a kraken’s rough water long enough
magical void. tentacles. for your allies to throw
you a rope.
• When you are holding a portal —
shut against the attempt of
another creature to open it, that
creature’s Athletics/grab or slam
check can be opposed by your
Endurance/stand fast check.
120
 Chapter 6: Skills

to tell which of an outlander clan’s legends are based on

Expertise
The Expertise skill group represents broad areas of knowledge
and lore that are most often learned in formal ways or an
academic environment. Even so, all Expertise skills have
applications in the real world, and you can make good use of
them during your adventures. Intellectual organization and
instinctive focus while solving problems are equally important to
learning, making Intelligence or Wisdom the core abilities for
this skill group.
The Expertise skill group contains the architecture, geography,
history, and mechanics skills.
An Expertise check made to scan a document might take 1 or
more minutes, while checks involving poring over old tomes,
assessing information gleaned through interviews, or creating a
document or plan based on your own knowledge might take 1
or more hours. A character can make a quick Expertise check
while the game is in initiative as a free action, but such a check
can typically involve only recalling already known information, or
assessing evidence directly in front of you. Trying to recall or
process obscure information is usually a minor action or
standard action.
The Expertise skill group represents not only your specific
knowledge but also your natural instincts and processes for
learning and retaining information. Any time there’s a chance for
your character to previously know information not covered by
another skill group, the GM might call for an Expertise check.
historical truth and which are strictly fancy.
Recalling commonly known history is typically always a routine
check not requiring a roll. However, it takes a higher-DC check
to separate true history from legend and hearsay.
Mechanics
The Expertise/mechanics skill encompasses knowledge of a
wide range of moving and movable mechanical devices, from
carts and wagons to siege towers and ships. An Expertise check
for mechanics also demonstrates your skill with any of a variety
of small-scale engineering techniques, from clockwork devices
to glassblowing to metalsmithing.
In addition to building and repairing certain mechanical devices,
an Expertise/mechanics check allows you to sabotage any
mechanical device, from rigging a wheel on a cart to force it off
the road after a certain distance traveled, to jamming the
mechanism on a portcullis so it can’t be lowered or raised.
Depending on the nature of the device, determining how to
sabotage it might then be followed by other checks
(Athletics/slam, Thievery/sleight of hand, and so on) to complete
the task.
Although skill in mechanics is necessary to understand the
processes of crafting items in metal or glass, the specific skill
involved in crafting those items relies on personal skill groups
related to those items (Glassblower, Metalsmith, and so on).
Personal Skill Groups (145)

Architecture
Studies of architectural design, building techniques, and the
large-scale engineering of buildings, bridges, and so on are all
part of architectural knowledge. You make an
Expertise/architecture check to design or renovate a building,
bridge, or other fixed structure, to assess the soundness of such
structures, or to know how to compromise their structural
integrity.
Under some circumstances, architectural knowledge can grant
you information in related areas of knowledge. For example,
knowledge of building styles over different periods of history
might allow you to make an Expertise/architecture check to try
to date the age of ruins.

Geography
Geography encompasses specific insights into the maps and
landscapes of local and far-off lands. It covers both the
academic studies of cartography and map reading, as well as
the real-world ability to assess terrain and weather.
Recalling the geographical features of areas you know well or in
which you have spent time is typically a routine check not
requiring a roll. Characters are assumed to have a full working
knowledge of the roads, paths, settlements, rivers, and hazards
of their home territories and any other areas they have spent
significant time in. But it takes Expertise/geography skill to
accurately recall or identify the features of an area passed
through only once or observed only on maps.

History
The lore of contemporary and fallen kingdoms, royal lines,
mythology, and legends are all part of the Expertise/history skill.
You might make an Expertise check for history to determine the
age of ruins, to recognize the banners of an advancing army, or

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 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Architecture Geography History Mechanics

Easy • Know how to shore up a • Recall specific features such • Know or learn details of the • Intuit how to quickly break a
(10) decaying shed or a mineshaft as rivers, trade roads, and lives of lesser-known wagon, a mill wheel, or some
to make it safe to enter. settlements in an area you monarchs and political figures other simple mechanical
• Assess a bridge or ladder have studied or passed active within the past two device.
while on it to determine through once. generations. • Determine the best way to
whether it’s safe to use. • Recognize a large town from a• Recognize the sigils of local effectively jam a lock.
distance after having studied lords, militias, and mercenary • Design or craft toys, carts, or
maps of the area. companies. other simple items with
moving parts.
Moderate • Design or plan renovations for • In an area you know well, • Relate tales from the life of an • Design or craft complex but
(15) a basic one-storey house. determine subtle signs that obscure merchant lord of the basic items with moving parts,
• Determine the weak spots in a can point out the location of a recent age. including wagons and siege
wooden palisade so that it hidden bandit enclave or • Know or learn the details of a engines.
can be brought down with previously lost ruins. well-known order of warrior- Chapter 8/Siege Engines (225)
ropes. • Create accurate maps of an priests active three or more • Design or plan basic items of
• Determine that the stone elf forest freehold you are generations ago.
glass or metal (including
stockade wall around a troll exploring. • Identify which aspects of the weapons and armor).
lair is of dwarf construction. local legends of a cunning • Design a basic clockwork
bandit lord are based on device such as a chronometer.
truth. • Plan how to sabotage a
• Recognize emblems and sigils
wagon wheel without leaving
of foreign but contemporary any evidence of wrongdoing.
houses and gentry families, or • Plan how to break a gearwork
of local gentry lost to history.
pump if you have no interest
• Recount the once well-known in it working again.
legends of the old gods.
Hard • Design or plan renovations for • Recognize that an • Spot elements of consistency • Design a clockwork device
(20) a two-storey inn. approaching storm is out of among the legends of whose function appears
• Assess a crumbling stone sync with local weather dwarves and essaruks that almost magical.
bridge from a distance to conditions and has some sort suggest a common historical • Design or plan high-quality
determine whether your of unnatural or magical origin to those legends. objects of metal or glass.
party’s combined weight will source. • Recognize the emblems and • Determine how to override or
collapse it. • While traveling an unfamiliar sigils of houses and gentry make inoperative a
• Find the building faults in a frontier, successfully guess at from the distant past or far- complicated mechanical
castle wall that allow a the location of a waterway or away lands. mechanism for automatically
battering ram the best chance a settlement from clues in the opening a vault door.
to break through. immediate landscape.
Formidable • Design or plan renovations for • In an area of nondescript •
Spot the key details implying • Determine how to temporarily
(25) a multistory fortress. farmsteads, discover evidence
that the outlandish legend of sabotage a complex system
• Plan to rebuild a shattered that some manner of magical a famous explorer is based on of gears and pulleys in a mine
defensive wall so that the destruction wreaked havoc onan all-but-forgotten historical when you need to activate it
repairs leave no weak spots. the landscape hundreds of event. again at a moment’s notice.
years ago. •
Recognize the difference
between a legitimate ancient
royal seal and a clever forgery.
Insurmountable • Find the one spot on a • Determine that some • Discover the command signal • Design a clockwork device
(30) functioning bridge or powerful magical artifact must for a permanent staff of power whose operation is
defensive wall where a well- be buried within a remote from references found in old indistinguishable from magic.
placed battering ram can forest, based on adventurers’ journals.
compromise some part of the discrepancies in natural rates Magic Grimoire/Magic
structure’s integrity. of tree growth. Items (ch. 2)
Opposed — — — —

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Healing
Healing skills encompass a broad understanding of physical and
bodily processes, and allow a character to aid those processes
as part of the healing arts. Careful study and a personal
understanding of the body’s strengths and capabilities are most
effective as a foundation of healing knowledge, making
Constitution or Intelligence the core abilities for this skill
group.
The Healing skill group contains the health lore, mental
recovery, and physical recovery skills.
Identifying Pestilence and Poison
Healing checks help identify or treat the many types of pestilence
and poison that adventurers might fall under the effect of.
Pestilences and poisons are each grouped into three categories
according to how commonplace they are, and the difficulty involved
in identifying them and treating creatures under their effects —
common (DC 15), unusual (DC 20), or rare (DC 25).
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
Treating Pestilence or Poison
When you use a Healing check to treat pestilence or poison, you
minister to a creature under the effect of the pestilence or poison
(including yourself), and which is still making saving throws to ward
off its effects. When you make your Healing check, the poisoned
creature can use your check result as their saving throw result if your
check is higher than their save. A creature gains this benefit only for
the first Healing check made to aid them for a particular saving
throw.
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
A scout in the vanguard of a party triggers a poisoned dart trap
and is weakened by oil of taggit. Their healer ally quickly works to
aid them, making a Healing/physical recovery check of 22. When
the scout makes a second save against the poison 1 minute later
and rolls an 8 on their second save, they can use the 22 instead.
However, the healer and other characters can’t make additional
healing checks during the intervening minute hoping to roll
better.
Chapter 7/Traps (189)
Health Lore
Your knowledge of the living body and its physical and mental
systems can provide insight into identifying pestilence,
recognizing poisons and their effects, or assessing how a
creature was injured or killed.
Identifying an unfamiliar pestilence typically requires at least 1
hour of research or interviews with those who have suffered
from or witnessed the pestilence’s effects. Identifying a
pestilence you have knowledge of but haven’t seen firsthand is a
standard action. The DC to identify a pestilence depends on
how commonplace it is.
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180)
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Chapter 6: Skills
Identifying a poison by studying and testing a sample requires
at least 1 minute, or you can study the effects of poison in a
creature to make a Healing/health lore check as a standard
action. The DC to identify a poison depends on how
commonplace it is.
Chapter 7/Poison (183)
Identifying Pestilence and Poison sidebar
Making a Healing/health lore check to determine how a creature
was in injured or killed usually takes 1 minute or more. If a dead
creature shows no obvious signs of how they met their end, it
might take 1 hour or more to catalogue all the subtle signs of
their demise. The GM sets the DC for the check based on the
nature of the injury or cause of death — including whether any
creature involved has tried to conceal what happened.
Mental Recovery
Mental recovery provides benefits not only for conditions
affecting the mind, but can help with fatigue, focus, and
restoring the will to fight.
A Healing check for mental recovery restores defense point
damage during short-rest healing or long-rest healing, and can
be used during downtime healing to restore ongoing penalties
to your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier.
Chapter 9/Healing (123)
Some poisons affect the mind, confusing a creature’s thoughts
or instincts by imposing a penalty to Will saving throws, magic
challenge throws, or mental-focused skill checks. Such mental-
effect poisons can be treated with a successful Healing/mental
recovery check as a standard action, allowing a creature to use
the check or their saving throw against the poison.
Temporary loss of mental focus can also be inflicted by magic,
including such spells as confusion and scoured mind. A Healing
check can’t be used to replace the saving throw for such an
effect, but a successful check for mental recovery made as a
standard action might allow a creature to temporarily regain
their focus as the GM determines.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Dealing with severe mental distress is almost always a long-term
process. Mental distress induced by magic or trauma can
sometimes be temporarily alleviated by a character with healing
skill spending a few minutes to a few hours with the affected
creature, as determined by the GM. Helping a creature
permanently deal with the effects of mental trauma might take
months or years of treatment.
Some creatures, including many aberrations, have an alien
mindset and logic that can seem incomprehensible to mortal
creatures. Such a mindset isn’t a dysfunction or injury, and so
doesn’t need be “healed.” However, a character can use a
Healing check made while spending a few minutes to a few
hours with such a creature to better understand their worldview,
enabling the character to more easily interact with or question
them.
123
 Chapter 6: Skills

First Aid
Whenever a character needs to make a Healing check for themself,
including when attempting to recover hit points through natural
healing, another character can administer first aid by making the
check for them. A character can administer first aid to multiple
creatures as the GM determines.
Three wounded party members need to heal critical point
damage during a week of downtime rest, and their healer ally
wants to help. Because the week of downtime provides ample
time for the healer to look after all their companions, the GM
allows the healer to make the Healing checks for all three allies.
However, if the healer also needed to make their own Healing
check to deal with a penalty to their Strength modifier, the GM
might decide that aiding three allies takes up all the character’s
time and focus, giving them no opportunity to rest and recover
themself.
Chapter 9/Natural Healing (257)

Physical Recovery
Physical recovery focuses on conditions of the body as well as
physical wounds and maladies. During downtime healing, it aids
in the restoration of critical point damage and can negate
penalties to a creature’s Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution
modifier.
Chapter 9/Healing (123)
Many poisons attack the body, sapping a creature’s motor
control or physical vitality by imposing a penalty to their
Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution modifier. Such mental-effect
poisons can be treated with a successful Healing/physical
recovery check as a standard action, allowing a creature to use
the check instead of their saving throw against the poison.
All magical and mundane pestilences temporarily impact a
creature’s physical health, even if their effects are largely
mentally focused. While a creature is affected by pestilence, you
can attend the creature in an attempt to treat them, allowing
them to use the check instead of their saving throw against the
pestilence. Doing so takes 1 hour or more, and is typically done
as part of a long rest.
With a successful DC 15 Healing/physical recovery check made
to aid a dying creature, that creature regains 1 critical point and
is no longer dying.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Health Lore Mental Recovery Physical Recovery

Easy • Identify wounds caused by different • Restore defense points at the end of a • Restore a creature’s critical points at the
(10) types of weapons. short rest. end of a downtime rest.
• Restore all defense points at the end of a
long rest.
Moderate • With sufficient time, identify a sample of• Reduce a penalty to one of a creature’s • Bring a dying creature back with 1 critical
(15) a common poison such as oil of taggit. mental ability scores during downtime point.
• Identify that an ally has been affected by healing. • Reduce a penalty to a creature’s critical
a common poison. • Have a good chance of treating a point maximum or to one of their
• Recognize a common pestilence such as common mental-effect poison such as physical ability scores during downtime
red ache. ungol dust. healing.
• Confirm that a dead palace guard was • Have a good chance of treating a • Have a good chance of treating a
moved to a new location after being common mental-effect pestilence such common physical-effect poison such as
killed. as mindfire. greenblood oil.
Hard • With sufficient time, identify a sample of• Build trust with a prisoner impacted by • Have a good chance of treating an
(20) an unusual poison such as black lotus abuse, allowing you to convince them to unusual physical-effect poison such as
extract. accept your aid. black lotus extract.
• In the middle of a meal, determine that • Have a good chance of treating an • Have a good chance of treating an
the soup course has been tainted with unusual mental-effect poison such as unusual physical-effect pestilence such
common striped toadstool poison. mind-reaver mist. as blood tears.
• Identify that an ally has been affected by• Have a good chance of treating an
an unusual poison. unusual mental-effect pestilence such as
• Recognize an unusual pestilence such as cackle fever.
blood tears.
• Confirm that a priest was poisoned
rather than dying of natural causes.
Formidable • With sufficient time, identify a sample of • Temporarily restore the clarity of a • Have a good chance of treating a rare
(25) a rare poison such as dragon bile. creature impacted by fell magic, allowing physical-effect poison such as dragon
• Identify that an ally has been affected by you to question them as to the source of bile.
a rare poison. the malady. • Have a good chance of treating a rare
• In the midst of combat, recognize that • Over the short term, help alleviate the physical-effect pestilence such as
the venom coating an assassin’s blade is distress from mental trauma of a creature mummy rot.
unusual deathblade. subjected to abuse.
• Recognize a rare pestilence such as • Temporarily understand the chaotic
mummy rot. behavior of a mesmeric mouther,
allowing you to more easily
communicate with them.
Insurmountable • — • Over the long term, help alleviate the • —
(30) distress from mental trauma of a creature
subjected to abuse.

Opposed — — —

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Investigation
Investigation skills are built around actions and knowledge that
allow you to study, analyze, and make use of information,
whether written, signed, spoken, or observed. Quick wits and
the ability to react to others are important to investigation,
making Wisdom or Charisma the core abilities for this skill
group.
The Investigation skill group contains the espionage, insight,
and linguistics skills.
Espionage
Whether you’re poring over documents in search of key
information, listening in on conversations in a crowded tavern,
carefully following someone in the hope of discovering a cult’s
hidden sanctum, or shaping the questions for an interrogation,
clandestine intelligence gathering is a key part of investigation
activities.
Engaging in espionage with an Investigation check takes an
amount of time determined by the circumstances and the
difficulty. Uncovering commonly known information by
eavesdropping or engagement might take as little as 1 minute.
Seeking out obscure lore or uncovering rumors and legends
typically involves 1 or more hours of asking around, quietly
eavesdropping, or conducting research. Successfully uncovering
secret information might take days or weeks of activity and one
or more complex skill checks, as determined by the GM.
Complex Skill Checks (107)
If you are attempting to eavesdrop to glean information from a
conversation, you might make a Perception check first to
determine how much of the conversation you have access to. As
the GM determines, the result of that check might increase the
difficulty of your Investigation/espionage check.
Gathering information in a social setting might require
additional activities on your part, from buying a round of drinks
at a tavern to paying off an informant, as the GM determines.
Insight
You make an Investigation check for insight to determine your
ability to read another creature’s speech or actions, letting you
sense another creature’s motivations, try to avoid being
deceived, determine whether someone is under magical
enchantment, or just generally note when a creature is acting
suspicious.
You can make an Investigation/insight check as a standard
action, representing your quick “gut instinct” assessment of
another creature. To get the best sense of a creature’s motives
or intentions requires that you interact with or observe the
creature for 1 or more minutes.
When you make an Investigation/insight check to assess the
behavior of a creature you observe interacting with others, the
GM assigns a DC to the check based on the creature and any
prevailing circumstances. If you are interacting with the creature
directly, your Investigation/insight check might instead be
opposed by the creature’s Persuasion/deception check.
Linguistics
Your study of scripts and languages allows you to create or
decipher codes, forge written documents or detect when a
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 6: Skills
document is forged, read lips or signs to decipher unknown
speech, or loosely translate certain other languages.
An Investigation/linguistics check lets you glean basic
information from speech, signing, or writing in a language you
don’t know yourself, but which is related in some way to a
language you know (the same alphabet, a shared grammar, and
so forth). The time required to examine a text, listen to speech,
or observe signing is typically a minimum of 1 minute of
observation or 1 minute per page. With a successful check, you
understand the general content of the information. The GM
determines whether a complication on the check means that
some of the text you believe to have accurately deciphered is
actually false.
Written, spoken, or signed information that is in code can be
decoded with an Investigation/linguistics check. The DC is
dependent on the effort put in by those creating the code.
Using a language or symbol set you aren’t familiar with typically
increases the DC of the Investigation/linguistics check to crack a
code by at least one category. Decoding information usually
requires at least 1 minute, and might take hours or days for
complex codes.
Investigation/linguistics can allow you to read lips or pick up
signing at a distance, with a DC that depends on the distance to
the creature communicating, how well you can observe them,
and whether they’re trying to hide what they’re saying. Likewise,
eavesdropping is made more difficult if you need to hide the
fact that you are observing someone. You can’t read the lips or
pick up the signing of someone at a distance if they are using a
language you don’t know. Assessing a single sentence might be
done while the game is in initiative as a standard action, while
observing longer conversations might take 1 or more minutes.
With a successful check to read someone’s lips or observe
signing at a distance, complications might include you assessing
some of what you’ve observed incorrectly, as the GM
determines.
Using Investigation/linguistics to forge a document or detect a
forgery typically takes a minimum of 1 minute. Unfamiliarity with
the type of document you work with (for example, trying to
assess the veracity of orders from an enemy commander without
having seen that commander’s handwriting before) increases
the difficulty of the check, or might make it impossible, as the
GM determines. Creating an effective forgery might also require
checks with a personal crafting skill to properly reproduce a
gentry’s seal, an ornate page background, or some other
nonwritten aspect of the forgery.
126

CHECKS AND ACTIONS
Check (DC) Insight
Easy • Get a sense that the elf guard
(10) threatening you is intoxicated.
• Detect signs of lying in a captured spy
nervous about being found out.
Moderate • Note when a mercenary captain well
(15) practiced in deceit is lying to you.
• Determine the difference between an • Learn the truth behind a recent rumor that specialized document.
aging sage being forgetful or showing
signs of magical corruption.
• Determine that an ally is under the
effect of enchantment magic after
noting strange behavior or a change in
personality.
Hard • Determine whether a career scoundrel • Discover some aspect of the truth behind • Replace an original document with a well-
(20) is telling the truth.
• Note when a conversation overheard in • Uncover additional lore regarding the
a tavern contains coded information.
Formidable • Sense that the king is under the effect • Uncover the secret of a missing ledger
(25) of mind-control magic despite any
obvious telltale signs.
Insurmountable • Quickly intuit that an orc mercenary
(30) offering to surrender is really a much
more dangerous oni using their
shapechanger ability.
Creature Compendium
Opposed • When you are focused on and
interacting with a creature attempting
to deceive you, your
Investigation/insight check might be
opposed by the creature’s
Persuasion/deception check.
• If a creature feints against you in
combat, its Acrobatics/agility or
Persuasion/deception check can be
opposed by your Investigation/insight
check.
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Chapter 6: Skills
Intelligence Linguistics
• Discover the location of a local wizard’s • Forge a letter, a bill of sale, or some other
tower or other commonly known mundane document not subject to much
information. scrutiny.
• Obtain directions or a map to the site of • Get across a hidden meaning in a
well-known historical battle. conversation or message.
• Crack a simple letter-swap code used by
a hapless criminal gang.
• Uncover obscure lore regarding a town’s • Forge military orders, a government
former mayor. decree, a business ledger, or some other
a local priest has engaged in banned • Loosely translate a few sentences of a
magic. language related to one you know.
• Track down a map to the hideout of an • Read the lips of a patron at the next table
obscure bandit gang. in a noisy tavern.
• Crack a word-swap code used by a trade
guild to protect its orders.
old rumors regarding a gentry’s health. made copy.
• Loosely translate a short document in a
obscure origins of a magical fountain. language related to one you know.
• Uncover the forgotten last words of a • Read the lips of a noble walking by on the
once-well-known hero. far side of the street.
• Recognize a copy of a map showing long- • Crack a word-swap code used by a trade
forgotten trails through a haunted forest. guild to protect its orders.
• Alter an original document with new
that a criminal guild is actively hiding from information.
you. • Read the lips of a criminal seen through a
dirty window.
• Crack a series of long messages in a
military cipher.
• Loosely translate a spoken or signed
conversation or a long document in a
language related to one you know.
• Obtain the secret word that unlocks a • Forge a royal seal or a unique document.
magical vault, thought to be known only • Crack a magically enhanced code or
by the dead mage who created it. cipher used by a mage’s guild.
• Crack a short message in a military cipher.
• Read the lips of a courtier whispering into
a friend’s ear from across a crowded
room.
• If you are trying to glean information from • If you attempt to forge a document or
an overheard conversation, your check seal, your check might be opposed by the
might be opposed by the Investigation/insight or Perception/search
Investigation/linguistics checks of check of a creature studying the forgery.
characters trying to conceal hidden
meaning in their words.
127

Magic
The skills of the Magic skill group allow you to interact with
magic in all its real and theoretical forms. Though the different
spheres of magic channel power in different ways, the
mysterious underlying mechanics of eldritch power function
similarly. As such, Magic checks are made the same way
regardless of your own spellcasting ability — or even if you have
no spellcasting ability — no matter what sphere of magic the
check interacts with.
Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma are the core abilities for the
Magic skill group, reflecting that magic can be channeled
equally through focused learning, instinct, or force of
personality. If you are a spellcaster, you typically use your
spellcasting ability as the ability used for your Magic checks, but
you can use a different ability score if your modifier in that score
is higher.
The Magic skill group contains the handle magic, magical lore,
and spellcraft skills.
Interacting With and Assessing Magic
To assess magic, you must be able to interact with it in some way.
Observing the effect of an ongoing spell allows you to assess it, as
does having a spell cast upon you or observing a spell’s effect on
another creature. You must handle a magic item, touch a magic
portal, make contact with the waters of a magic pool, and so on in
order to assess that magic. In general, you can’t assess magical
effects that you can’t directly observe unless you employ the detect
magic spell or similar magic. (That spell also grants you a d10 boon
on your Magic check to assess magic, making it much easier to do
so.)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
As with all skill checks, circumstances can alter the check DC as the
GM determines. For example, fire trap is a 3rd-level spell, so
identifying it requires only a DC 15 check. But if the spell were cast
by an archdruid at caster level 15, the GM might decide that it takes
a DC 20 check to assess the more powerful patterns of that
particular casting’s magic.
At the GM’s determination, assessing an especially unusual magical
effect or object increases the difficulty of the Magic check by at least
one category. Additionally, in areas containing many magical
effects, or where strong and weak magic is in close proximity, some
magical effects might be obscured by other effects, making it more
difficult — or even impossible — to assess them.
Handle Magic
A Magic check to handle magic allows you to assess and employ
objects imbued with magical power. This includes magic items
such as weapons, armor, potions, and scrolls, but also covers
magic pools, teleportation portals, and other magical locations.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
You make a Magic/handle magic check to try to determine the
purpose and function of a magic item or location. Doing so
usually takes 1 or more minutes. Making a quick check while
the game is in initiative can be attempted as a standard action,
but doing so might impose disadvantage on the check.
Identifying a magic item requires a successful Magic/handle
magic check whose DC is determined by the item’s rarity. For a
magical location, the GM assigns a DC using the same scale
according to how common, unusual, or rare its magic is.
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Chapter 6: Skills
Magic Item Rarity DC to Assess
Common
Unusual
15
20
Rare 25
Artifact 30+1
1. Artifacts can be assessed only at the GM’s determination.
With a successful Magic/handle magic check, you learn all the
magical properties and features of a magic item or location,
including how many charges an item has, and how the item or
location is used or triggered. However, you don’t automatically
learn any command signal an item or location has, or whether it
has any drawback or curse. (The identify spell can determine
these things for you, as can research or trial and error.)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Using Restricted Items
Though the magic of many magic items and objects (from
magical pools to strange shrines) can be used by any creature
once the object’s function is known, certain magical objects can
usually only be wielded by a spellcaster. This includes spell-
storing magic items as schemas, scrolls, talismans, wands, and
staffs. Likewise, some types of magic items require a command
signal to activate, and usually won’t function for any character
who doesn’t perform the signal.
With a successful Magic/handle magic check, you can attempt
to activate a magic item that you can’t otherwise activate. The
DC of the check depends on the type of item.
Item Check DC
Wand (0 to 6th level) 20
Wand (7th to 8th level) 25
Schema, scroll, or talisman (0 to 6th level) 15
Schema, scroll, or talisman (7th to 12th level) 20
Schema, scroll, or talisman (13th to 18th level) 25
Staff or unique spell-storing item 25
Common item with unknown command signal 20
Unusual item with unknown command signal 25
Rare item with unknown command signal 30
If you try to activate a spell-storing item that also requires an
unknown command signal, you make only one check, using
whichever DC is higher.
On a clear failure for your check to activate a magic item, the
item doesn’t discharge its magic or lose any charges, but you
lose the action you used to make the check. Complications to
successful checks to activate a magic item might cause the
item’s magic to become temporarily erratic or inert, as the GM
determines.
Magical Lore
A Magic/magical lore check can allow you to glean insight from
ancient tomes, recall legends of eldritch power, channel
knowledge of other dimensional realms, and assess magical
effects that aren’t the product of spells (including the innate
magical features possessed by many creatures). [“Dimensional
realms” is the CORE20 shorthand notation for planes, which
exist to some extent in the game but not as “alternative
worlds.”]
Campaign Handbook/Dimensional Realms
Whenever you consult a magical tome, investigate mystic runes,
or study magical writing (with the exception of the spellbooks an
arcanist studies to learn new spells), you make a Magic/magical
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 Chapter 6: Skills

lore check to determine how much information you can glean. If the spell you attempt to identify is rare or unique, the GM
The GM sets the DC for the check according to what might increase the difficulty of the check by at least one
information is present and its level of complication. Studying category.
magic books or magical writing generally takes at least 1 Magic/spellcraft checks are also made whenever you attempt to
minute, and could run to 1 or more hours or days of research. learn a new spell. Learning a spell takes 1 day per spell level
For longer periods, the GM decides how many Magic/magical and a requires a successful Magic/spellcraft check, with a DC
lore checks are necessary, or whether your efforts require a dependent on the spell’s level and the manner in which you
complex skill check. learn the spell — from instruction by another caster, by
Complex Skill Checks (107) observation, or from a written source.
Chapter 10/Spellbooks sidebar (326)
Chapter 10/Learning New Spells (324)
While the game is in initiative, you can attempt to glean a
Method of Learning Magic/spellcraft DC
general sense of the content or importance of magical writing as
Instruction or recorded 10 + spell level
a standard action, but the GM might limit how much you can
Observation 15 + spell level
learn.
A Magic/magical lore check lets you identify magical effects
created by the magical features of creatures. The GM assigns a Spellcraft, Handle Magic, or Magical
DC according to how common, unusual, or rare the creature is
in a particular area or environment, adjusted for whether you’ve
Lore?
A certain amount of crossover exists between the different skills in
observed the magic of similar creatures before. the Magic group, but each has a specific focus. Magic/spellcraft
Creature Rarity DC to Assess checks are made to assess the effect of spells. Magic/magical lore
Common 15 checks are made to assess magical effects that aren’t spells. But
Unusual 20 Magic/handle magic checks are made to assess item- or location-
based magic whether that magic is spell based or not. This means
Rare 25
that assessing a mysterious pool or a magic item requires a
Magic/handle magic check when you first examine it. But if you have
You can also use Magic/magical lore to identify materials
a chance to observe the pool or the item’s magic in operation, a
created or shaped by magic, even if the magic that created Magic/spellcraft or Magic/magical lore check becomes appropriate.
them has faded. For example, wall of stone is an instantaneous
spell, meaning the wall it creates doesn’t radiate magic. But with
a Magic/magical lore check, you can determine whether a stone
wall was created by magical or by mundane means. Studying
magically created materials generally takes 1 or more minutes,
with a DC set by the GM.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Magic/magical lore also covers knowledge of creatures who
have an inherently magical nature or which are not native to the
material world — celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals,
fiends, fey, and undead, and can be used in place of similar
creature knowledge checks made with the Dungeoneering or
Nature skill.

Spellcraft
A Magic check for spellcraft lets you assess or interact with spell
magic, whether that spell was cast by a creature (including
spelltouched manifestations and primordial invocations),
channeled from an item (potions, scrolls, wands, staffs, and so
forth), or is part of a location (a permanent teleportation circle
and so forth).
You make a Magic/spellcraft check to try to determine what
spell another creature is using, either by observing the creature
casting it or by studying its effects. Because identifying a spell
by observing it being cast must be done in a moment, it is
usually a minor action. Observing the effect of a spell is usually
a standard action.
Identifying a spell requires a successful Magic/spellcraft check
with a DC determined by the strength of the spell.
Spell Level DC to Assess
0 to 6th 15
7th to 12th 20
13th to 18th 25

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CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Handle Magic Magical Lore Spellcraft

Easy • Identify a wand of shocking grasp (a • Determine that fabricate (a 9th-level • Learn the druidcraft spell (0 level) as
(10) common item) with the help of detect spell) was used to create a stone shrine taught by a fellow druidan.
magic. in an elf forest temple far from any • Learn the mage touch cantrip as taught
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2) quarry. by a fellow arcanist.
• Identify an entropic shield spell (2nd
level) as it is cast, with the help of detect
magic.
Moderate • Identify a brooch of shielding (a common • With sufficient study time, learn the • Learn the aura of vengeance animys spell
(15) item) by handling and inspection. meaning of the magical runes adorning a (5th level) from a schema.
• Identify bracers of strength +2 (an crypt. • Identify the effect of an inviolate ethos
unusual item) with the help of detect • Over days or weeks, use commonly- circle spell (9th level) with the help of
magic. known legends of a secret arcane order detect magic.
• Cast from a schema of immortal favor (a to try to make contact with one of its • Identify the enthrall spell (4th level) by
1st-level spell). members. observation as it is cast.
• Cast from a scroll of bestow curse (a 6th- • Identify or recall lore regarding
level spell). uncommon but well-known magical
creatures, such as dragons, fey, or
undead.
Hard • Activate a wand of magic missile (a 2nd- • Recall a little-known tale of a once- • Learn the permanency spell (10th level)
(20) level spell). famous wizard. as taught by a fellow arcanist or from a
• Activate a wand of greater controlled • Quickly scan a magical parchment to try spellbook.
image (a 5th-level spell). to determine the command signal for an • Learn the cloudkill arcane spell (10th
• Cast from a scroll of greater fly (a 10th- out-of-control cursed magic item. level) from a spellbook or scroll.
level spell). • Identify or recall lore regarding an earth • Identify a flame strike spell (8th level) by
• Activate a ball of lightning (a common spawn (rare and little-known). observation as it is cast.
item) without knowing its command • Note whether the tracks, spoor, or • Identify the effect of a symbol of
signal. leavings of a creature unknown to you mayhem spell (15th level) with the help
• Identify a rod of wonder (an unusual represent a magical creature. of detect magic.
item) by handling and inspection. • Determine that a group of unconscious
• Identify a staff of healing (a rare item) kobolds were affected by the breath
with the help of detect magic. weapon of a brass dragon (uncommon
• Assess the function of a magic shrine but well known).
whose engravings hint at its purpose.
Formidable • Cast from a scroll of firestorm (a 15th- • Determine which stonework in a dwarf • Identify the effect of a dominate monster
(25) level spell). fortress was magically created and which spell (17th level) by observation.
• Activate a wand of greater invisibility (a was mundanely created.
7th-level spell). • Sort through several contradictory tales
• Activate a staff of frost. of a hero’s magical exploits to determine
• Activate shoes of flying (an unusual item) which one is true.
without knowing their command signal. • Recall the special attacks and defenses
• Identify a ring of three wishes (a rare of the tarrasque (rare and little known).
item) by inspection and handling.
• Determine the effect of drinking from a
glowing magical pool whose water can
be studied for a time.
Insurmountable • Activate a stolen carpet of flying (a rare • Quickly assess the magic runes on two • Identify the spell magic channeled from
(30) item) without knowing the command doors to determine which one is an an artifact with the help of detect magic.
signal. escape route.
• Activate the unknown function of a
mysterious magical shrine in the hope it
harms the ghouls closing in around you.
Opposed — — —

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Nature
The Nature skill group represents the physical faculties and
mental insight necessary to engage with and survive the threats
and creatures of the wilds. Physical resilience and forceful
determination are equally important in the wilderness, making
Constitution or Charisma the core abilities for this skill group.
The Nature skill group contains the animal handling, hazards,
survival, and wild lore skills.
Animal Handling
A Nature check for animal handling lets you interact with or
control animals and some nonsapient wondrous beasts
(including magically augmented animals). You use
Nature/animal handling to interact with domesticated animals,
including those used as mounts, and to domesticate, train, or
temporarily control wild animals.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Wondrous Beasts and Wondrous Worldborn sidebar (115)
Handling Animals, Monsters, and Mounts sidebar
When you control or direct an animal or wondrous beast, you
make a Nature/animal handling check to have the creature
perform a task they are trained to do or that they are physically
able to perform. Directing a trained creature to perform a task is
usually a minor action. Directing a wild creature to perform a
task, or controlling one or more wild or out-of-control creatures,
is usually one or more standard actions. Controlling a moving
mount is usually done as part of a move action. When you ride
a mount in combat, you gain access to a number of additional
uses of Nature/animal handling.
Chapter 9/Mounted Combat (308)
You use Nature/animal handling checks to train an animal or
wondrous beast (including a mount) to respond to commands
and direction. Training a creature takes a length of time
according to the task you hope to train them for, but is typically
1 or more weeks. Training a wild creature involves first
domesticating them with a Nature/animal handling check. The
length of time involved in domesticating a wild creature
depends on the nature and mindset of the creature, but is
typically 1 or more months.
Because animals and wondrous beasts typically respond to
danger and threats more viscerally than sapient creatures, the
difficulty of the check increases if you are attempting to handle
an animal or wondrous beast who is threatened or wounded.
Attempting to control a number of creatures likewise increases
the difficulty of the check, at the GM’s determination.
With a clear failure on a check made to domesticate or train an
animal or wondrous beast, you can usually try the check again
with more time. However, the GM might determine that the
check result indicates the creature can’t be tamed or is resistant
to being trained by you.
Handling Animals, Monsters, and Mounts
Any nonsapient creature who can be affected by the Nature/animal
handling or Dungeoneering/monster handling skill can be trained
using those skills. Training a creature allows you to direct that
creature to perform specific tasks that they know (including carrying
a rider if the creature is trained as a mount), or to attempt tasks they
don’t know but are physically and mentally capable of. A creature
can typically be trained for up to three tasks if they have Intelligence
1, or for up to six tasks if they have Intelligence 2 or higher.
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Chapter 6: Skills
For a creature trained as a mount, most actions involved in casual
riding are easy checks requiring no roll, including saddling, riding
through safe terrain, and mounting and dismounting. However, the
GM might ask for checks from a character who tries to ride an
unsuitable mount (a human riding a small pony, a halfling riding a
full-sized gryphon) or who rides a mount bareback without suitable
experience.
Typical tasks that a creature can be trained or directed to perform
include the following.
Attack: The creature attacks apparent enemies. You point to a
particular target that you wish the creature to attack, and they
comply if they are able to. An animal or wondrous beast typically
shies away from attacking unnatural creatures such as aberrations or
undead, and commanding one to do so increases the difficulty of
the check. Aberrations and monstrous arthropods typically attack
any other creature on command.
Come: The creature comes to you, even if they usually would not do
so.
Chase: The creature pursues a target creature you identify. If the
target is caught, the creature can attack them, defend them, or
guard the area around them as you direct.
Defend: The creature defends you, or is ready to defend you if no
threat is present. Alternatively, you can command the creature to
defend a specific other creature.
Down: The creature breaks off from combat or otherwise backs
down. A creature who doesn’t know this task continues to fight until
they must flee (usually because of injury or being compelled to flee
by magic) or their opponent is defeated. Aberrations and monstrous
arthropods are typically more difficult to order out of combat than
animals or wondrous beasts.
Fetch: The creature goes and gets something. If you don’t point out
a specific item, the creature fetches some random object.
Guard: The creature stays in place and prevents others from
approaching.
Heel: The creature follows you closely, even to places where they
typically wouldn’t go.
Perform: The creature performs a variety of simple tricks, such as
sitting up, rolling over, roaring or barking, and so on.
Seek: The creature moves into an area and toward any creature they
can sense.
Stay: The creature stays in place, waiting for you to return. They
don’t challenge other creatures who come by, though they defend
themself if they need to.
Track: A creature with the scent ability tracks the scent presented to
them.
Work: The creature pulls or pushes weight up to a heavy load.
Chapter 8/Carrying Capacity (228)
Hazards
The hazards of the wilderness can be thwarted with a successful
Nature check for hazards, whether you are attempting to not set
off an avalanche, spotting quicksand, or identifying poisonous
flora and other natural hazards. You can also use this skill to
safely modify, conceal, or trigger certain natural hazards to
hinder other creatures.
Engaging with a natural hazard to analyze, understand, or
trigger it usually takes a standard action or 1 or more minutes,
depending on circumstances. Subsequently dealing with a
hazard to make it safe might take a few minutes to a few
hours, as determined by the GM.
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 Chapter 6: Skills

Survival
In areas of isolated wilderness, adventurers must live off the
land. A Nature check for survival lets you locate fresh water,
forage for food, or hunt and trap small game.
The length of time required to find water, forage, hunt, or trap
depends on factors such as terrain and weather, but typically
ranges from 1 hour to 1 day, as determined by the GM. Making
a check to assess the weather typically takes 1 or more
minutes.
Making a Nature/survival check to follow tracks or avoid
becoming lost is usually done as part of your movement while
out of combat. If you make such a check while the game is in
initiative (typically when you are trying to track a fleeing creature
or making a snap judgement about which direction to go), you
do so as a standard action. The GM determines how often you
need to repeat the check, based on how often you need to
reestablish the trail or how often you run the risk of becoming
lost.

Wild Lore
A Nature/wild lore check provides insight into the flora and
fauna of the natural surface world. The knowledge of the Nature
skill encompasses a wide range of creatures, including animals,
botanicals, giants, wondrous beasts, and wondrous worldborn.
Wondrous Beasts and Wondrous Worldborn sidebar (115)
The GM sets the DC of a check for creature lore depending on
circumstances, including how common a particular creature type
is in a particular area and what kind of lore you are likely to have
been exposed to regarding such creatures. Lore checks are
easier when creatures are common in an area, and more difficult
when they are rare.
A Nature/wild lore check to recall lore you have previously come
across usually takes 1 or more minutes, depending on the
circumstances of the check. To glean new information from
resources at hand might require 1 or more hours. A character
can make a Nature/wild lore check while the game is in initiative
as a minor action, but such a check can typically involve only
recalled basic or obvious information.

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CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Animal Handling Hazards Survival Wild Lore

Easy • Direct an attack-trained guard dog to • Recognize quicksand, • Find a source of clean water • Identify or recall mundane
(10) snarl at the bandits you are unstable slopes, potentially in a forest or grasslands. lore regarding wolves,
attempting to intimidate. dangerous rockfalls, and • Forage, hunt, or trap to owlbears, centaurs, or other
• Direct a trained packhorse to carry other obvious but subtle provide food for yourself in surface-world creatures
the body of a fallen comrade. hazards. forest or grasslands. common in the campaign or
• Note telltale signs in scree • Follow clear tracks across the local area.
or dirt that indicate a path is soft or wet ground. Creature Compendium
unsafe.
Moderate • Direct a horse trained only for riding • Note whether a rockslide or • Find a source of clean water • Identify or recall mundane
(15) to come to you where you lie other natural hazard has in wilderness hills or lore regarding hallaeks,
wounded on the ground. occurred by chance or has mountains. doppelgangers, razor boars,
• Train a domestic dog to perform a been instigated by • Forage, hunt, or trap food or other surface-world
task such as tracking or defending creatures. sufficient for three people in creatures who are rare in the
you. • Stabilize a potential rockfall forest or fertile grasslands, campaign or the local area.
or the crumbling edges of a or for yourself in hills or • Identify the tracks of a gnoll,
pit to make it safe to mountains. doppelganger, or other
descend. • In good weather, avoid surface-world creature if you
getting lost in unfamiliar or have encountered one
confusing terrain. before.
• Predict the weather for the
following day.
• Follow occasionally
obscured tracks in grass or
through a forest.
Hard • Direct a farm dog not trained in • Recognize rare poisonous • Find a source of clean water • Note whether the tracks,
(20) tracking to help you find the trail of plants or mushrooms in a barren desert. spoor, or leavings of a
the bandits who slew their master. hidden within nonharmful • Forage, hunt, or trap food creature unknown to you
• Domesticate a wounded wolf unable plants or fungi. sufficient for six people in represent a surface-world
to fend for themself, so as to be able forest or fertile grasslands, creature.
to train them. or for three people in hills or • Recall information on the
mountains. attacks, defenses, and traits
• In bad weather or at night, of a tiger, a girallon, or some
avoid getting lost in other surface-world creature
unfamiliar or confusing you have knowledge of but
terrain. have never encountered
• Note an unexpected change before.
in the weather a few hours
before it occurs.
• Follow intermittent tracks
across bare rock.
Formidable • Calm a fearful wild lion before they • Along the top of a • Locate an area of lush grass • Intuitively guess at the
(25) have a chance to attack. crumbling cliff, determine in a desert or mountains attacks, defenses, and traits
• Establish control over a guard dog the precise place to try to where horses can graze. of a surface-world creature
that has gone out of control after lure an ogre brigand so that • Predict the weather you have no previous
being badly injured. their weight causes a accurately for the next three awareness of, based solely
• Direct a group of untrained farm cats collapse. days. on your knowledge of similar
to howl outside a dire rat’s den to creatures.
help flush the rat out.
Insurmountable • Calm a flock of crows whose noise • While running through a • Hunt or trap food sufficient • Recall lore about an ancient
(30) threatens to give away your forest swamp pursued by a black for six people in an empty lamia noble or some other
hiding spot. dragon, determine which desert. specific surface-world
• Establish control over a small herd of points of ground are • Predict the weather creature.
cattle running amok after being navigable and which are accurately for the next seven
startled. dormant quagmoras. days.
Creature Compendium
Opposed • If you and another character are both — — —
trying to direct an animal at the same
time, you make opposed
Nature/animal handling checks to
determine who the animal responds
to.

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Perception
The skills of the Perception group allow you to sense and scan
your surroundings, making use of subtle hints of sight, sound, or
sensation. Well-honed instincts and vigorous senses are
important to one’s awareness, making Constitution or Wisdom
the core abilities for the Perception group.
The Perception skill group contains the listen, orientation,
search, and spot skills.
Listen
A Perception/listen check lets you sense noise at a distance or
through a closed door, and is often an adventuring party’s first
sign of trouble to come. Making a Perception check to listen is
usually a standard action. Under circumstances such as lying in
wait to ambush an approaching party, the GM might ask you to
make one or more checks to listen over a period of 1 or more
minutes.
Overhearing the conversation of creatures close to you or the
noise that accompanies everyday activities is usually a routine
check not requiring a roll. Making a Perception check to listen is
only required whenever a creature is trying to not be heard, or
when distance or barriers such as walls or doors make it harder
for you to hear, with the number of barriers and the distance
determining the check DC. If you are listening for the sound of a
charging minotaur, the difficulty might be the same at any
distance. While listening for the footsteps of an invisible
assassin, the check might become impossible from the other
side of a closed door.
In the case where you are listening for a single creature
attempting to sneak toward you without being heard, your
Perception/listen check might be opposed by the creature’s
Stealth/sneak check.
Orientation
With a Perception check for orientation, you use your innate
sense of direction and location to determine which way is north
without the use of a compass or celestial reckoning. You can
also determine how far below ground you are, determine which
way is up while underwater or in an area with unusual gravity,
deduce whether a long dungeon passageway is level or sloping,
and keep track of your previous travel through a labyrinth or
maze.
A Perception/orientation check involves a certain amount of
focus, and usually takes 1 or more minutes. While the game is
in initiative, you can attempt a check as a standard action, but
doing so might impose disadvantage on the check.
If you make Perception/orientation checks to navigate a
labyrinth or prevent yourself from becoming lost, the GM
determines how many checks are necessary or whether the task
requires a complex skill check.
Complex Skill Checks (107)
Search
When you make a Perception check to search, you undertake a
close inspection of an area, allowing you to seek out traps, try to
locate a secret door or hidden compartment, reveal the control
mechanism on a complex mechanical device, detect a creature’s
tracks in dusty rubble or on open ground, and so on. You must
typically be within 10 feet of an object or location to search it, so
that a search doesn’t automatically mean you are in contact with
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Chapter 6: Skills
an object. However, certain searches might not be possible
without physically inspecting an object, clearing away dust or
rubble from it, and so on.
Making a Perception/search check typically requires 1 or more
minutes. Searching an especially large area might require
multiple checks or a complex skill check, as the GM determines.
While the game is in initiative, you can attempt a fast search as a
standard action to locate a secret door, ransack a chest seeking
a specific item, and so forth, but doing so might impose
disadvantage on the check.
The DC of a Perception/search check depends on the
particulars of the object or area you are searching, as
determined by the GM. Searching for lost objects is usually
easier than searching for casually hidden objects, which in turn
are easier to search for than carefully hidden objects or traps.
Chapter 7/Traps (189)
Spot
A Perception check to spot lets you notice things at a distance,
including catching sight of creatures approaching, noting a
hidden creature or obscured object, or instinctively recognizing
that someone is in disguise.
Making a Perception/spot might take 1 minute or more
depending on the size of the area you are scanning. While the
game is in initiative, making a Perception/spot check is usually a
standard action. The GM might allow you to try to quickly spot
something as a minor action, but doing so might impose
disadvantage on the check.
The GM determines the DC for a Perception/spot check
depending on circumstances and conditions. Spotting a large
number of creatures is usually easier than spotting a single
creature, and spotting moving creatures is easier than spotting
creatures holding still. Available light, weather, fog, foliage, and
distance can increase the difficulty of a Perception/spot check
by at least one category. Circumstances such as being
distracted by combat or some other scenario that affects your
vision and focus might impose disadvantage on the check.
Creatures with low-light vision can spot things while in dim light,
and creatures with darkvision spot things in dim light or
darkness. Other creatures have disadvantage on
Perception/spot checks in dim light, and can’t make checks in
darkness.
Appendix A/Special Features (A1)
In a situation where a single creature is attempting to hide from
you and you are focused on spotting them, the GM might call
for your Perception/spot check to be opposed by the creature’s
Stealth/hide check.
Search or Spot
The Perception/search and Perception/spot skills are similar in their
setup and most often involve vision, but each has a different
application. A Perception check to search is a focused effort to scan
a small area hoping to find a specific thing. You might search a
section of wall or floor for traps, check a chest for a secret
compartment, inspect a ladder to determine if it’s strong enough to
hold you, and so on. A Perception check to spot lets you scan a
large area for whatever you might detect, and can include such
activities as standing watch, staying alert for creatures hidden in
shadow or beneath debris, or noticing that some detail of a distant
creature’s appearance feels wrong.
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Scent
Bugbear and kobold characters, as well as many other creatures,
have the scent ability, which expands on their use of existing skills. A
creature with scent can use their sense of smell when making
Dungeoneering, Perception, Nature, and personal-group skill
checks related to seeking or sensing. Creatures without the scent
ability can notice obvious scents and odors, but can’t make
Perception checks to pick up the most subtle scents.
Appendix A/Scent (A6)

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CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Listen Orientation Search Spot

Easy • Hear the footsteps of a • Visually determine north with a • Sort through a chest full of • Notice a group of bandits trying
(10) group of animals or a clear view of the sun or stars. junk to find a certain item. to hide behind their horses as
party of unarmored • Track how much distance you’ve • Search a creature to find a they walk past you.
characters moving covered in a day of walking in good weapon concealed within • Note the signs that someone is
through an area where weather and on good forest trails. their clothing. wearing a hasty or badly prepared
you are hidden. • Avoid becoming lost in unfamiliar • Discover tracks or footprints disguise.
moors with good weather and in soft or wet ground.
landmarks.
Moderate • Overhear the spoken • Determine north under cloud. • Search a creature to find a • Spot a bandit raiding party
(15) conversation of • Notice that a dungeon corridor has letter hidden within their moving through thin trees.
characters on the other a slope leading down. armor. • Recognize the telltale signs of a
side of a door or a thick • While underground or at night, • Find tracks or signs of person wearing an effective
curtain. determine how much time has movement in grass or across disguise they aren’t accustomed
• Follow the signed passed since you last rested. a forest floor, or on a dusty to.
conversation of • Prevent yourself from becoming or rubble-strewn surface. • While moving carefully along a
characters partly lost in unfamiliar forest with few • Note signs in a pillar’s cavern floor, spot a sinkhole in the
concealed by thin landmarks or in bad weather. masonry that it’s been set shadows ahead.
curtains or shrubbery. • Determine your depth in an up as a collapsing column • While walking a forest path,
• Hear the sound of a underground grotto with trap. notice where a side path has been
sword being drawn in a knowledge of your route in. Chapter 7/Traps (189) intentionally covered over to
quiet tavern. • Navigate a labyrinth with material conceal it.
• Discover the concealed
assistance (marking walls, laying holes in a wall that confirm
down a trail behind you, and so an arrow gauntlet trap.
forth).
• Find the signs of a poorly
concealed secret door at
the back of a closet.
Hard • Overhear a whispered • Determine your direction relative to • Search a creature to find a • Spot the movement of
(20) conversation next to you north while underground, or while magic ring concealed in a underbrush that marks a group of
in a crowded room. aboveground under unnatural secret pocket. gnome assassins crawling
• Hear a dying companion shadow that blots out the sun or • Find tracks or signs of beneath it.
50 feet away call for stars. movement on bare rock or a • Observe a group of elf scouts
help while you are • Prevent yourself from becoming clean floor. slipping slowly through the forest
fighting with a behir. lost in an unfamiliar prairie with no • Catch the signs that a lock is by daylight.
• Hear the sound of a visible landmarks. protected by a needle jab • Expose the well-made disguise of
sword being drawn in a • Determine your depth at an trap. a creature with extensive
crowded park. underground temple you arrived at • Discover the invisible experience at wearing it.
by way of a teleportation circle. presence of a glyph of • While fleeing from a pack of
• Successfully navigate a hedge-maze warding. wolves, spot a tree a short
labyrinth with no material Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) distance off that can be quickly
assistance. • Find the signs of a well- and easily climbed.
hidden secret door along a
dungeon corridor.
Formidable • Catch the sound of • While fleeing a combat encounter, • Search an elf spy to notice • Spot a pack of monstrous hunting
(25) multiple monstrous quickly determine which of two the presence of a magical spiders in tangled trees at dusk.
spiders moving across forking passageways leads due pocket within their cloak or • Catch a subtle mistake in their
the webs that cover a north toward the dungeon exit. shirt. uniforms that tells you the guards
dungeon ceiling. at the prince’s banquet are
impostors.
Insurmountable • On a moonless night, • Successfully navigate a minotaur • While searching in the chaos • Spot a trio of lizardfolk following
(30) hear an owl gliding in king’s labyrinth, whose magic is of combat, discover a secret you along a riverbank at dusk,
for the kill. designed to confuse you and door and the mechanism while half-submerged in the
obscure any material assistance. that opens it. water.
Opposed • If a single creature is — • When carefully inspecting a • If a single creature tries to hide
trying to move past you written document that you from you, your Perception/spot
without being heard, believe to be a forgery, you check might be opposed by their
your Perception/listen might make a Stealth/hide check.
check might be Perception/search check • If a creature feints against you in
opposed by their opposed by the forger’s combat, its Acrobatics/agility or
Stealth/sneak check. Investigation/linguistics Persuasion/deception check can
check. be opposed by your
Perception/spot check.

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Persuasion
Persuasion skills govern your ability to influence the attitude or
behavior of other sapient creatures. A focused mind and force
of personality are both important when interacting with others,
making Intelligence or Charisma the core abilities for
Persuasion checks.
The Persuasion skill group contains the deception, diplomacy,
and intimidate skills.
Deception
Attempting to bluff a sapient creature, tell a believable lie, or
make the truth seem even more attractive requires a successful
Persuasion check for deception. Concocting an elaborate lie in
the moment or attempting to dissemble is usually a standard
action, but setting up that lie might require 1 or more minutes
of interaction, as the GM determines. A Persuasion/deception
check to feint combat is made as a minor action.
Chapter 9/Feint (289)
For general Persuasion/deception checks, the GM sets the DC
depending on how believable the deception is and the specific
circumstances. Convincing a tavern full of people that you are a
famous adventurer might typically be a hard check of DC 20.
However, if you spend money freely beforehand, the crowd
might become more agreeable, lowering the DC by at least one
category.
A check for deception targeted at a single creature might be
opposed by the Investigation/insight check of the creature you
are attempting to deceive or lie to, or it might be against a DC
set by the GM depending on circumstances. If your deceit or lie
is particularly believable, you might gain advantage on the
check, with the creature having disadvantage on its check if they
are predisposed to trust you.
With a successful check for deception, you can make creatures
believe what you want them to believe, and those creatures
react as you wish for a short time. Even if you are successful,
your deception ends if the creature receives any information
that directly contradicts your deception. A Persuasion/deception
check can’t change a creature’s thoughts in the manner of a
charm person or suggestion spell.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
If you and another creature are actively engaged in deceiving a
third creature, the GM might ask for opposed
Persuasion/deception checks to help determine which of you
spins the more believable lie.
Diplomacy
With the Persuasion/diplomacy skill, you can attempt to defuse
the anger of a hostile sapient creature, win the favor of an NPC,
or help bring a positive end to arguments or tense negotiations.
The time required to enter into a delicate or complex
negotiation is determined by the GM, but is typically 1 or more
minutes. A check for diplomacy made in the heat of combat is
made as a minor action as part of communicating, but such
circumstances usually increase the difficulty of the check.
The GM determines the DC of a check for diplomacy based on
circumstances and the natural inclinations of the creatures being
engaged with. NPCs and creatures can have one of four
different attitudes toward the player characters.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 6: Skills
Attitude Means… Possible Actions
Hostile
Unfriendly
Will take risks to hurt you Attack, interfere, berate, flee
Wishes you ill Mislead, gossip, avoid, watch
suspiciously, insult
Indifferent Doesn’t care about you Socially expected interaction
Friendly Wishes you well Advise, offer aid, advocate
Improving the attitude of creatures or NPCs by one step (from
hostile to unfriendly, from unfriendly to indifferent, and so on) is
a moderate task (DC 15). Each additional step by which you wish
to improve the creature’s attitude increases the difficulty of the
check by one category, so that attempting to turn a hostile
creature friendly is effectively an insurmountable task.
The GM also adjusts the difficulty of the check based on
additional factors — the details of your diplomatic effort, the
number of creatures you are attempting to engage with, and so
on. As with all skill checks that accompany roleplaying, your
success might be carried by roleplaying alone, with the check
simply providing confirmation or complications for your effort.
Skill Checks and Roleplaying sidebar (106)
Just because creatures are friendly toward you doesn’t
automatically make them willing to aid you. In most cases, the
GM will ask for roleplaying or additional enticements if you are
attempting to use diplomacy to convince creatures to fight
alongside you or put themselves in danger. A
Persuasion/diplomacy check can’t change a creature’s thoughts
in the manner of a charm person or suggestion spell.
If you and another creature are actively engaged in courting the
favor of a third creature (as when you and an enemy attempt to
convince a third party to enter a fight on your behalf), the GM
might ask for opposed Persuasion/diplomacy checks to help
determine which of you is more effective at influencing the
target.
Intimidate
Through sheer force of will and your ability to read weaknesses
in other sapient creatures, you can coerce those creatures to
follow your demands with a Persuasion/intimidate check.
You typically try to intimidate creatures whose attitude you know
you have no hope of changing through diplomatic means. With
a successful Intimidate check, you force creatures to temporarily
treat you as if they were friendly toward you, making them
grudgingly offer up aid and information. Such tactics alienate
those they are used against, though, and creatures you have
intimidated inevitably become hostile toward you (even though
they might remain too afraid to act on that hostility).
Intimidating one or more creatures might take 1 or more
minutes. Making a Persuasion/intimidate check as part of the
demoralize combat maneuver is usually a standard action.
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)
The GM usually sets a DC for your Persuasion/intimidate check
based on the nature of the creatures you are interacting with.
Creatures who are fearful for their lives are easy to intimidate,
but intimidating creatures who abhor acknowledging weakness
or fear is more difficult. As with all skill checks that accompany
roleplaying, your success might be carried by roleplaying alone,
with the check simply providing confirmation or complications
for your effort.
Any creature successfully intimidated by you remains
intimidated as long as they are in your presence, and for a
length of time afterward determined by the GM.
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If you and another creature are actively engaged in intimidating

a third creature — for example, you and the oni leading an orc
mercenary band trying to force the members of the band to flee
or to fight — the GM might ask for opposed
Persuasion/intimidate checks to help determine which of you
comes off as the more threatening presence.
Creature Compendium
Unlike with attempts at diplomacy, intimidation typically can’t be
made easier with offers of bribes or promises of favors. A
creature who is intimidated by you is too wary to trust your
promises.
Creatures you hope to intimidate must typically be able to
observe you. The difficulty of the check might increase if they
can’t, or if they don’t share a language with you.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Deception Diplomacy Intimidate

Easy • Bribe gullible pirates to make them think • After presenting your credentials, • Use a show of force to get a group of
(10) you are an envoy sent to bring treasure convince a group of wary sentries that you bandit scouts to reveal the location of
to their captain. bear an important message for the their lair.
Mountain King.
Moderate • Convince city guards that a monstrous • Talk a group of street toughs into • After defeating their leader, inspire an
(15) attack is imminent, and that they should standing down, with promises to do them outnumbered pack of gnolls to run away
let you through the gates. a favor at a later date. from you.
Creature Compendium

Hard • Make a mob of wererat gangsters • Talk a superior force of wood elves into • After inflicting significant damage to a
(20) believe that you’ll lead them to a letting you pass after you inadvertently dragon, convince them to end their fight
valuable treasure if they let you live. wander into their territory. with you before it’s too late.
Formidable • Convince a group of suspicious soldiers • Sway a group of wary palace guards to • With a display of strength and a trophy
(25) that the stolen goods you carry were stand down after they find you in the royal from a patrol you previously vanquished,
planted on you. bedroom without leave. convince a powerful giant clan to let you
pass through their territory.
Insurmountable • Make a powerful vampire believe that • Engineer a temporary truce between two • Use a display of potent magic to
(30) you carry a magical curse that will infect outlander clans with generations of convince a hamatula that a fight with you
them if they feed on you. feuding between them. would be a mistake.
• Convince a gentry who believes you • Unleash a scream of fury that causes a
murdered one of their family members to charging owlbear to stop in its tracks and
grant you aid. back away from you.
Opposed • Your Persuasion/deception check might • If you and another creature are • If you and another creature both try to
be opposed by a target creature’s attempting to sway the opinion of a third intimidate a third party, you might make
Investigation/insight check, with creature, the GM might call for opposed opposed Persuasion/intimidate checks
adjustments determined by the GM. Persuasion/diplomacy checks to to determine who is successful.
• Your Persuasion/deception check to determine the outcome. • When you attempt the demoralize
feint against an opponent is opposed by combat maneuver, your
the opponent’s Investigation/insight Persuasion/intimidate check is opposed
check or Perception/spot check. by a creature’s Will saving throw.
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)

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Stealth
The skills of the Stealth group allow you to avoid notice and
detection, whether while adventuring or in social situations.
Subtle movement and quick wits are equally valuable to stealthy
characters, making Dexterity or Wisdom the core abilities for
this skill group.
Your ability to conceal your presence against others’
observations is compromised by anything that hinders or
amplifies the sound of your movement. If you employ certain
types of armor or shields, you have disadvantage on your
Stealth checks.
Chapter 9/Armor Hindrance (240)
The Stealth skill group contains the disguise, hide, and sneak
skills.
Disguise
You adopt a disguise to pass unnoticed among other creatures,
or even to take on the guise of a specific creature. If you are
attempting to fit in with a crowd or disguise yourself in a
soldier’s livery or other uniform, the DC of the check is
determined by the GM depending on the circumstances. If you
are attempting to impersonate a specific person while
interacting with other creatures, your Stealth/disguise check
might be opposed by the Investigation/insight or
Perception/spot checks of those creatures.
The time necessary to create and employ a disguise is
determined by the GM, but typically takes 1 or more minutes
to 1 or more hours, depending on the complexity of the
disguise and the availability of the materials needed to craft it.
The GM will typically call for a check each time new
circumstances force you to determine how good your disguise
is.
When a hobgoblin investigator disguises themself as a
human to evade the sentries at a meeting of followers of a
human-only temple, the GM will likely call for just one
check for them to get past the guards and wander inside.
But if the hobgoblin then attempts to push through a
crowd listening to the human high priest speak, or if they
interact with a specific follower who challenges their
presence, additional checks might be called for.
A Stealth/disguise check is easiest when you are passing
yourself off as a person of the same lineage and general build as
you. If you attempt to alter your lineage or build with a check to
disguise yourself, the difficulty of the check typically increases by
at least one category, at the GM’s determination.
With a successful check, the creatures who meet or observe you
are fooled by your disguise. On a failed check, the disguise
gives itself away, either because of some error in setup or
because an observer intuitively suspects that something about
you isn’t quite right.
A check to disguise yourself covers only your physical
appearance, movement, and general mannerisms. If you are
interacting with other characters, the GM might call for
Persuasion checks and roleplaying to determine whether your
actions and communications undermine your disguise.
Hide
When you make a Stealth check to hide, you attempt to conceal
yourself or your movement from observers. You must have
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 6: Skills
either concealment or cover to make a Stealth/hide check
against a creature, and you can’t move while hiding. Most times,
you roll your check against a DC set by the GM, representing
the difficulty of hiding from all possible observers. Other times,
your check result might be opposed by the Perception/spot
check of a specific creature in close proximity to you or actively
seeking you.
If your check to hide is successful, creatures can’t observe you,
granting you total concealment against those creatures. Hiding
while the game is in initiative is a minor action. If you spend 1
or more minutes hiding, as when you are preparing an ambush,
you have advantage on your Stealth check to hide.
Chapter 9/Concealment (306)
If you do anything to draw attention to yourself after successfully
hiding, including attacking, you are automatically noted by any
creature who can observe you.
If a creature is directly observing you, you can’t hide from that
creature without additional distraction or a change in whatever
circumstances grant you concealment or cover.
A rampaging gargoyle observes an archer drop down
behind a pile of rubble, meaning the archer can’t attempt
to hide before popping up from behind that same rubble
again. However, by crawling unobserved behind the rubble
to emerge from a new position a good distance away, the
archer has a chance to make a Stealth check to hide and
catch the gargoyle unaware.
Creature Compendium
If you have total cover or total concealment, you don’t need to
make a Stealth check to hide from sighted creatures, which can’t
see you. However, the GM might call for a Stealth check to
remain silent, or to hide from creatures with clearsense,
truesense, or some other means to observe you.
Appendix A/Special Features (A1)
Sneak
Whenever you move or carry out a physical activity while
wanting to avoid the notice of other creatures, you make a
Stealth check to sneak. This lets you focus on staying silent or
keeping your movements subtle enough to not draw attention.
If you are moving when you make a Stealth/sneak check, you
make the check as part of a move action. If you are trying to
make no noise while you hide, the GM might ask for a check as
a minor action, or as a standard action if staying quiet
represents a significant amount of effort — for example, an
armored knight trying to remain unheard inside a moving
tinker’s cart filled with pots and pans.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
You can make a Stealth/sneak check to attempt virtually any
action clandestinely, including speaking in a whisper or signing
subtly so as to not be noticed. If you are picking the lock of an
occupied guardroom, the GM is likely to ask for a Thievery/open
locks check plus a Stealth/sneak check. Even if you are
successful at opening the lock, your attempt might be noticed if
a clear failure on the Stealth check indicates an excess of noise
or movement.
Thievery (143)
The DC of a Stealth/sneak check is determined by the relative
difficulty of staying inconspicuous in a particular environment or
under specific circumstances. The more people nearby who
might observe you, the more difficult the check. Likewise,
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attempting a Stealth/sneak check to get past hearing creatures

while moving through rubble, broken glass or crockery, dense
undergrowth, or deep snow is more difficult than moving across
a smooth stone floor.
If you attempt a Stealth/sneak check while moving up on a
specific creature, or if a specific creature is trying to eavesdrop
on your conversation, your check is usually opposed by that
creature’s Perception/listen or spot checks.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Disguise Hide Sneak

Easy • Disguise yourself as a merchant, a • Conceal yourself behind furniture when a • Walk past the campsite of a group of
(10) laborer, or some other commonly distracted group of guards passes slumbering dwarves without waking
encountered character. through the room you’re burgling. them.
• Set up an ambush in a dark alley with • Sneak up to someone’s door in the
plenty of time to choose the best place corridor of a noisy inn.
to hide.
Moderate • Effectively play the part of a gentry, a • Fade back into shadow when an • Slip by a group of distracted but silent
(15) crafter, or some other specialized unexpected light reveals you skulking in guards who can’t observe you.
character. the darkness. • Stand silently within a stand of trees
• Quickly drop back to conceal yourself when you notice a dire wolf moving past
from an owlbear within a stand of trees. you.
Creature Compendium• Speak or sign a message to an ally
without being observed by casual
passersby.
Hard • Take the guise of a local military • Fall back against a wall in a light fog and • Sneak past a group of alert guards.
(20) commander with specific mannerisms hide from an enemy patrol. • Tiptoe unnoticed past a squabbling
and appearance. • Set yourself up for ambush behind a band of kobold tinkers.
barrier that hides only half your body. • Move through deep snow without
attracting the attention of a passing
wiirdhar.
• Speak or sign a message to an ally
without being observed by the soldiers
closing in around you.
Formidable • Pass yourself off as a well-known public • Stay concealed while moving slowly • Navigate a cracked and rubble-strewn
(25) figure of the same lineage and body through fog or undergrowth with cavern floor without attracting the
type. enemies to all sides of you. attention of the fire bats nesting
• Take on the appearance of a castle • Try to hide within the concealment overhead.
servant of different lineage or body type. provided by an enemy sorcerer’s
obscuring mist spell with enemies all
around you.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)

Insurmountable • Disguise yourself as a well-known hero of • After hitting with a ranged attack, drop • In a silent area with guards on alert,
(30) a different lineage and body type. down, roll 10 feet, and hide within light move unnoticed across a floor strewn
underbrush. with broken glass or open ground
covered with dry leaves.
Opposed • Your Stealth/disguise check might be • Your Stealth/hide check might be • Your Stealth/sneak check might be
opposed by the Investigation/insight or opposed by the Perception/spot check opposed by the Perception/listen checks
Perception/spot check of specific of creatures close to you or actively of a creature you’re sneaking past, or of
creatures interacting with you. seeking you. a creature actively trying to observe you.

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Thievery
Thievery skills cover a wide range of activities, useful not only in
the context of illicit pilfering but as general adventuring tools. A
steady mind and sharp reflexes are often important for such
well-timed physical activity, making Dexterity or Intelligence
the core abilities for this skill group.
The Thievery skill group contains the open locks, handle traps,
and sleight of hand skills.
Open Locks
An adventurer might come up against a deadbolt-sealed back-
alley door, a padlocked treasure chest, or an ancient crypt
locked down behind complex clockwork barriers. For all these
challenges and more, a Thievery check to open locks allows you
to spring open magical or mechanical locking mechanisms with
equal ease.
Opening a lock is complex process that usually requires 1 or
more minutes. You can often open a relatively simple lock while
the game is in initiative as a standard action, but doing so
might impose disadvantage on the check.
Pick It or Break It?
Whether you’re dealing with closed doors, windows, chests, or
strongboxes, a Thievery check and Athletics check are often equally
effective at getting something open. However, depending on the
action, one check might be easier than the other. For a crooked
door that’s barred from the other side, an easy Thievery check (DC
10) might jimmy the bar up and out of its brackets, even as it takes a
hard Athletics check (DC 20) to kick through the door with enough
force to tear the bar’s brackets from the wall. Likewise, a rusted
padlock might be especially difficult to pick open, even as the
weakness of its metal makes it easier to break.
Making an Athletics check to break open a locked door, chest, or
other object almost always leaves the locking mechanism broken —
a built-in deadbolt lock shattered, a padlock clasp wrenched free,
the brackets that once held a locking bar in place bent, and so on. A
door or chest that’s been kicked in can probably be closed again,
but its damaged state might alert others to it having been opened.
A successful Thievery check to open a lock leaves that lock intact
and workable unless the GM indicates otherwise. Some complex
locks are designed to break even if they are successfully picked, and
magical locks might be designed to be opened only once.
Sometimes, time is the biggest factor in determining whether an
Athletics check or a Thievery check is appropriate. Picking a lock
takes time, which might make it difficult to do so while danger
surrounds you. Kicking a door in or smashing open a locked chest
with a mace is always more effective as a quick tactic.
Handle Traps
An insight into the construction and operation of traps, snares,
and other mechanical hazards lets you reset, bypass, or render
inoperative such devices with a Thievery/handle traps check.
With enough skill at handling traps, you can even attempt to
bypass or temporarily neutralize a magical trap, though handling
such traps is often more easily done with other magic.
Permanently deactivating a trap takes an amount of time
determined by the GM, usually 1 or more minutes. You might
be able to deactivate a simple trap while the game is in initiative
as a standard action, but doing so might impose disadvantage
on the check. The GM might also determine that such a quick
effort neutralizes the trap for only 1 round before it resets.
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Chapter 6: Skills
The difficulty of handling a trap depends on how well designed
or complex the trap is. Neutralizing, rigging, or jamming a
mechanical trap is a moderate task at a minimum. More intricate
devices and magical traps have harder checks.
If your check to handle traps succeeds, you deactivate or reset
the trap for a period of time determined by the GM. By their
nature, some traps can easily be deactivated or left activated
indefinitely, but others might remain jammed or activated only
for a short time. With a clear failure on a check to handle a trap,
the trap is activated and you become its target unless you have
some ability to make your Thievery/handle traps check from a
distance.
Sometimes a successful check to temporarily deactivate a trap
can be followed up by additional actions to fully complete the
task. For example, a successful Thievery/handle traps check
might allow you to temporarily deactivate a missile gauntlet trap
hidden in a wall. While the trap is deactivated, if you can fill the
holes from which the trap’s arrows emerge, you might prevent
the trap from firing even if reactivated.
With a suitably high check, you might be able to change a trap’s
triggering conditions or alter its target, depending on the
nature of the trap. For example, you might set a trapped door
to trigger the second time it’s opened, allowing you to safely
run through it, then have it triggered when a palace guard
follows you through. However, your ability to adjust the
performance of existing traps doesn’t allow you to create traps,
which is a function of the Trapsmith personal skill group.
Personal Skill Groups (145)
Sleight of Hand
A Thievery check for sleight of hand lets you palm small objects,
hide a weapon on your person, quietly cut the strings on a
gentry’s purse, and engage in similar delicate activities. If your
check is made to manipulate a loose object or an object held by
you, the check is made against a DC set by the GM. If you
attempt a Thievery/sleight of hand check on an object in the
possession of another creature who is on guard against such
attempts, or if a creature is focused on watching you while you
manipulate a loose object, the GM might ask you to make your
check against that creature’s Perception/spot check.
Because speed and focus are of the essence with sleight of
hand, making a Thievery/sleight of hand check is usually a
standard action. The GM might allow a check to be made as a
minor action, but doing so might impose disadvantage on the
check.
When you use Thievery/sleight of hand to conceal an object on
your person, you only prevent that object from being noted by a
casual observer. If you are searched, the chance of the object
being discovered depends on where it was hidden.
Perception (134)
Loose Objects
The rules for skills and spells sometimes make reference to ‘loose
objects.’ These are any objects that aren’t wielded, worn, or held by
a creature.
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CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Open Locks Sleight of Hand Handle Traps

Easy • Jimmy the bar on a small-town tavern’s • Palm or vanish a coin-sized object. • Safely break the tension on a snare lift
(10) back door. • Conceal a hand-sized object on your trap to prevent it from activating.
• Pick a cheap padlock on a soldier’s person so it can’t be noticed. • Prod a collapsing column trap from a
footlocker. • Pick the outside pocket of a distracted or distance to cause it to collapse safely.
intoxicated character. Chapter 7/Traps (189)
Moderate • Bypass the lock on a well-made treasure • Conceal a dagger-sized object on your • Properly seal all the holes of a poison
(15) chest. person so it can’t be noticed. gas trap to prevent it from discharging
• Open a deadbolt-sealed door on a • Pick the outside pocket of a passerby on into a room.
merchant’s office. the street. • Reset or deactivate the mechanism of a
• Pick a typical padlock. missile gauntlet trap.
• Shim up certain weak spots in a
collapsing wall trap so that it targets a
different area than expected.
Hard • Pick the deadbolt on the front door of a • Conceal a longsword- or longbow-sized • Safely deactivate the trigger mechanism
(20) gentry’s estate. object beneath your cloak so it can’t be of a needle jab trap set into the lock on
• Open a well-made padlock with no time noticed. the treasury door.
pressure. • Pluck an object from the inside pocket of • Carefully deface the trigger area of a
• Pick a typical padlock or deadbolt while a character’s jacket unnoticed. glyph of warding to temporarily
distracted by combat. • Snatch a key ring from the belt of a deactivate it.
palace guard. Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)

Formidable • Pick a high-grade padlock on a • Remove a small object from a hidden •Disrupt the trigger of a spell trap spell
(25) merchant’s strongbox. pocket in a gentry’s shirt. storing a lightning bolt spell so that it
• Pick the high-grade deadbolt on the • While arguing with an irate elf scout, activates in response to different
thieves’ guild storeroom. draw their long-knife from their scabbard creatures than originally specified.
before they have a chance to attack you. • Rework the triggering mechanism of a
flooding room trap so that it begins to
drain before completing filling with
water.
Insurmountable • With time for study and no distractions, • While bumping into a high priest, take • In combat, quickly adjust the mechanism
(30) open a complex magical lock. the scepter from their hand while of an executioner statue trap so that it
replacing it with a forgery pulled from a spins around to attack a foe pressing you
hidden pocket in your cloak. when you trigger it.
• While carrying a funeral urn almost as tall
as you are, use your body to momentarily
conceal the urn as you walk past a group
of gatehouse guards.
Opposed — • If a creature is on guard against sleight —
of hand or closely watching your
attempt, you might make your
Thievery/sleight of hand check against
the creature’s Perception/spot check.

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Personal Skill Groups
Personal skill groups function the same way as other skill groups,
but are defined by each player for their character’s backstory
and experience. A personal skill group represents focused
personal training or aptitude that can cover any aesthetic
discipline, practical craft, personal pursuit, vocation, or pastime
a character can undertake.
Getting Personal
Personal skill groups function exactly the same way as the other skill
groups in the game — in large part because the other skill groups
can all be thought of as personal skill groups. The default skill
groups simply cover the skills that are the most common and the
most useful in a typical fantasy campaign. The Acrobatics skill is
functionally identical to an Acrobat personal skill that you might
make up for a character with a background related to climbing,
tumbling, and balance. Likewise with Dungeoneering (equivalent to
a Dungeoneer or Dungeon Explorer personal skill), Healing
(equivalent to a Healer or Physician personal skill), and so forth.
In a campaign set in a nontraditional world or unusual environment,
or one that makes use of unique technologies or magic, players can
set up any number of personal skill groups, and might spend more
time making checks with those skills than they do with the standard
skills.
Creating a Personal Skill Group
When you create a personal skill group, you choose a single
broad aspect of your character’s background or history for that
skill group to represent. One character might create a personal
Sailor skill group to represent years spent at sea before
beginning adventuring. Another character might use a personal
Hunter skill group to reinforce the idea that tracking and
stalking in the wilds has always been a singular focus, while a
third creates a personal Merchant group to represent a sideline
interest in commerce and business.
As part of your background, you gain a +3 bonus to checks with
any personal skill groups. In consultation with the GM, any
calling, pastime, personal interest, or occupation can be used to
define a personal skill group for your character, using whatever
connection to their background you desire. Just as with other
skills, you don’t need to take the Skill Focus feat for a personal
skill group to use the skills in that group, but you can if that skill
group is something you want your character to excel at.
Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
Using Personal Skill Groups
A skill check for a personal skill group is made like any other skill
check. If an adventure takes place in and around a busy port, a
character might make a Sailor check to demonstrate the ability
to help crew a ship. Another character could make a Musician
check to earn income performing on the docks, or to impress
with an impromptu ode at a ship captain’s table.
The core ability scores for a personal skill check are left to the
player and GM to determine. Physical vocations or pastimes
commonly use Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution — a
Carpenter check made to create or fix a wooden object,
Wagoner checks made to drive a coach, and so on. Checks for
less physical vocations and interests might work best with
Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma — a Sheriff check made to
assess the honesty of a village’s town guards, Innkeeper checks
made to manage an inn’s finances, and so on. And as with all
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Chapter 6: Skills
skill checks, a character is free to use any ability modifier for a
check with a personal skill group if doing so fits the narrative, in
consultation with the GM.
You and the GM also determine whether a physical-based
personal skill group (Dancer, Hunter, Sailor, and so forth) has
armor hindrance applied.
Chapter 9/Armor Hindrance (240)
Making a check with a personal skill might be a standard action
or minor action while the game is in initiative, might take a
minimum of 1 or more minutes outside of combat, or could
cover a number of hours or days of activity for complex tasks.
Skill checks that cover days of activity are often made during
campaign downtime.
Chapter 7/Campaign Downtime (194)
Skills Within Personal Groups
Just as the standard skill groups contain specific skills, players
can define specialized skills within any personal skill group. A
character with Skill Focus (Sailor) ×4 might decide to define the
navigation skill as part of that group, then take Skill
Specialization (Sailor/navigation) if that skill is useful to the
character. If any personal skill group plays a large enough part in
your game, you and the GM can decide what specialized skills
might be appropriate for it.
New Skills for Skill Groups sidebar (109)
Crafting, Performance, and Profession
Though the range of personal skill groups your character can take is
as wide-open as your campaign and your imagination, many
personal skill groups break down as some form of art (producing
goods or providing services for entertainment or aesthetic
purposes), crafting (producing goods for practical use), or profession
(providing services of value to others). The following are common
choices for personal skill groups.
Art
Actor • Comedian • Dancer • Keyboard Musician • Orator •
Percussionist • Poet • String Musician • Wind Musician • Singer •
Storyteller
Crafting
Alchemist • Armorsmith • Artist • Basketmaker • Blacksmith •
Bookbinder • Bowyer • Calligrapher • Carpenter • Clockmaker •
Clothier • Dyer • Gemcutter • Glassmaker • Jeweler •
Leatherworker • Locksmith • Potter • Sculptor • Shipwright •
Shoemaker • Stonemason • Tailor • Tanner • Trapsmith •
Weaponsmith • Weaver
Profession
Advocate • Animal Trainer • Apothecary • Architect • Attorney •
Baker • Boater • Bookkeeper • Brewer • Cartographer • Cook •
Courier • Driver • Engineer • Farmer • Fisher • Guide • Healer
• Herbalist • Herder • Hunter • Innkeeper • Laborer • Logger •
Midwife • Miller • Miner • Navigator • Notary • Porter • Rancher •
Sailor • Scout • Scribe • Soldier • Tanner • Teamster • Woodcutter
• Wrestler
145
 Chapter 6: Skills

Crafting and Time

The DCs indicated in the table for creating items using a crafting
skill group aren’t minimum DCs, but rather reflect the range of DCs
needed to craft certain types of items in a minimal amount of time.
Except for magic items, items can be crafted with lower checks, but
their crafting takes more time.
Full rules for crafting mundane items using personal skill groups are
found in chapter 8 of the Player’s Guide. Rules for crafting magic
items are found in chapter 2 of the Magic Grimoire.
Imbue Magic Item (148)
Chapter 8/Earning Income (207); Crafting for Personal Use (208)
Magic Grimoire/Creating Magic Items (ch. 2)

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 Chapter 6: Skills

CHECKS AND ACTIONS

Check (DC) Typical Crafting Skill Group Typical Performance Skill Group Typical Profession Skill Group
Easy • Create cutlery, crockery, pots, and other • Make a pleasant but unmemorable • Complete a day’s work in an adequate
(10) basic mundane items. performance of oratory in a public but not noteworthy way.
• Create sketches, sculptures, or other square.
artworks of average quality. • Sing or play a song on a street corner
• Create basic alchemical items such as without offending anyone.
acid, breathing masks, and smelling
salts.
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday
Magic (214)
• Design or construct simple traps such as
a collapsing column or a pit trap.
Traps (189)

Moderate • Craft chests, toys, basic clockwork • Engage in a memorable performance in • Demonstrate a level of skill and
(15) devices, and other items with moving a local theater. professional knowledge that earns praise
parts. • Play music that wins the favor of patrons and word-of-mouth from your
• Create somewhat complex alchemical in a friendly tavern. employers.
items such as alchemist’s fire, radiant
essence, and smokesticks.
• Design or construct straightforward traps
such as a collapsing wall or a missile
gauntlet trap.
• Cut gems of good quality.
Hard • Craft weapons, ammunition, and armor. • Sing heroic ballads that win the favor of • Conduct your work at a level that
(20) • Build a clockwork lock or some othe r patrons in a rough roadhouse. establishes you as a clear leader in your
complex mechanical device. • Relay a stirring story that softens the profession, bringing in new clients faster
• Craft complex alchemical items such as intent for violence of a group of than you can take them on.
antitoxin. hoodlums you cross.
• Design or construct complex traps such
as a compacting room, a needle jab trap,
or a barrier trap.
• Create artwork of impressive quality.
• Craft common magic items.
Formidable • Design or set up extremely complex • At a banquet, shape a dramatic • Demonstrate a level of skill that has
(25) traps such as an executioner statue trap performance so impressive that it gains others in your profession lining up to
or a flooding room trap. you the friendship of a merchant lord. work with you.
• Forge and assemble jewelry whose
exceptional quality provides an invitation
to a gentry’s inner circle.
• Craft uncommon magic items.
Insurmountable • Craft a clockwork toy whose functioning • Use a song or an impassioned speech to • Demonstrate a new way of doing
(30) is indistinguishable from magic. calm angry tempers and prevent a brawl business that changes the way your
• Craft rare magic items. between two long-feuding families. chosen profession is performed in the
local area.
Opposed — — —

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 Chapter 6: Skills

Favored Terrain
Skill Feats Your familiarity with the terrain around you gives you an edge
The feats in this section boost a character’s checks with against those you hunt.
preferred skill groups and skills, grant a character special
Chapter 7/Environment and Terrain Feats (178)
benefits with skill checks made under certain circumstances, or
allow characters to apply the effects of skill checks in unique
ways. Imbue Magic Item
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another Your ability to handle eldritch power allows you to channel
section, that feat is relevant to skills but has its full write-up in magic into the items you create.
that other section. Prerequisites: Skill Specialization (Magic/handle magic) ×1.
Benefit: You can imbue magic into an object to create an
Controlled Fall ephemeral magic item.
You twist in midair to land upright and reduce the impact of a
Magic Grimoire/Creating Magic Items (ch. 2)
deadly fall.
Imbuing magic into an item requires the power of a spellcaster,
Chapter 7/Movement Feats (173) but that caster doesn’t need to be you.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fade Away
Your well-honed sense of stealth allows you to disappear into
the background with ease.
Jack of All Trades
Your innate talent with many different tasks grants you an edge
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Stealth) ×4. when you work outside your skill set.
Skill Focus Prerequisites: Skill Focus (any three groups) ×4.
Benefit: You can use a minor action to grant yourself advantage Benefit: You have a +1 bonus to checks with skills in any group
on a Stealth/hide check made while the game is in initiative. for which you have not taken Skill Focus.
Stealth (140) Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. bonus to a maximum +3.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Fast Climb Times Taken 1 2 3
You can clamber up any obstacle at speed.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4. Skill Focus
Benefit: When you make an Acrobatics/climb check, you can You increase your mastery of a group of related skills.
climb at full speed.
Prerequisites: —
Acrobatics (110)
Benefit: Choose a skill group. You gain a +1 bonus to checks
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. with all skills of that skill group.
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
Favored Adversary Each time you do so, you take it for a different chosen skill
You know these foes well, and they feel your wrath. group.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus x1. You can take this feat nine times for a single skill group,
increasing the bonus to a maximum +9.
Benefit: Long hours spent in learning the ways and habits of
specific creatures grant you an edge when you face off against Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
them. Select a creature type from the table below. You have Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
advantage on Dungeoneering, Investigation, Perception,
Persuasion, and Nature checks when using these skills against or
in reference to creatures of that type. In addition, when you hit Skill Mastery
with an attack against a creature of that type, you have favored Your training with select skills lets you succeed even under
damage with the attack. adverse conditions.
Aberrations Dragons Lycanthropes Prerequisites: Skill Specialization ×2.
Botanicals Elementals Monstrous arthropods
Benefit: When making a check with any skill for which you have
Animals Fey Oozes
taken Skill Specialization, you can always take 10 on the check
Celestials Fiends Undead
even if you are threatened or distracted.
Constructs Giants Wondrous beasts
Skill Checks without Rolls (107)
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
This feat applies only to specific skills for which you have taken
Creature Compendium/Lycanthropes
Skill Specialization. It provides no benefits to checks with other
Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat skills in the same skill group.
slot. Each time you do so, you take it for a different favored
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
adversary.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

Skill Paragon
Even your casual efforts are better than most.
Prerequisites: Skill Specialization ×3.
Benefit: Whenever you make a check with a skill for which you
have taken Skill Specialization, you treat any roll of 1 to 9 as a
roll of 10.
This feat applies only to specific skills for which you have taken
Skill Specialization. It provides no benefits to checks with other
skills in the same skill group.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Skill Specialization
You undertake a specialized mastery of a single skill.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (chosen skill group) ×4.
Benefit: Choose a specific skill from the chosen skill group. You
gain a +2 bonus to checks with that skill.
This feat applies only to the specific skill. It has no effect on
other skills in the same skill group.
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
Each time you do so, you take it for a different skill.
You can take this feat three times for a single skill, increasing the
bonus to a maximum +6.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Stealth Shot
You keep an especially low profile while attacking at range.
Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment Feats (307)

Wild Empathy
Your connection to nature allows you to establish a bond of trust
and control with animals.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Nature) ×1.
Benefit: You can make Nature/animal handling checks to
influence the behavior of animals in more nuanced ways,
treating such checks as if you were making
Persuasion/diplomacy checks against sapient creatures.
Nature (131); Persuasion (137)
The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent,
while wild animals are usually unfriendly. You can also make
checks to influence the behavior of nonsapient wondrous
beasts, but you have disadvantage on such checks.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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 Chapter 6: Skills

Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Skill Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Controlled Fall Dexterity 13+ Treat fall as jumping, with advantage on 1 — — — — —
Acrobatics/agility checks to reduce 1 — — — — —
damage.
Fade Away Skill Focus (Stealth) ×4 Use a minor action to gain advantage on 1 — — — — —
Stealth/hide checks 1 — — — — —
Favored Adversary Weapon Focus ×1 Against specific enemies, have advantage 1 — — — — —
on skills, attacks have favored damage. 1 — — — — —
Favored Terrain Skill Focus (one of Dungeoneering, In specific terrain, gain advantage on 1 — — — — —
Nature, Perception, or Stealth) ×1 Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception, and 1 — — — — —
Stealth, advantage on initiative.
Fast Climb Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4 When making Acrobatics/stealth checks, 1 — — — — —
climb at full speed. 1 — — — — —
Imbue Magic Item Skill Specialization (Magic/handle magic) Imbue magic into an object to create an 1 — — — — —
×1 ephemeral magic items. 1 — — — — —
Jack of All Trades Skill Focus (any three groups) ×4 Gain a +1 to skill checks for any group for 1 2 3 — — —
which you haven’t taken Skill Focus. 1 2 3 — — —
Skill Focus — Gain a +1 to skill checks with skills from a 1 2 3 — — —
specific skill group. 1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —
Skill Mastery Skill Specialization ×2 Take 10 even if threatened or distracted. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Skill Paragon Skill Specialization ×3 When making checks for kills with Skill 1 — — — — —
Specialization, treat any roll of 1 to 9 as a 1 — — — — —
10.
Skill Specialization Skill Focus (chosen skill group) ×4 Gain a +2 to skill checks with one specific 1 2 3 — — —
skill. 1 2 3 — — —
Stealth Shot Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Weapon Focus ×1 After missing with a ranged attack while 1 — — — — —
hiding, make a Stealth check to stay 1 — — — — —
hidden.
Wild Empathy Skill Focus (Nature) ×1 Make Nature checks to influence animals 1 — — — — —
as if they were sapient creatures. 1 — — — — —

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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
Whether they explore ancient ruins, traverse a wilderness
frontier, or investigate wrongdoing in the biggest city in the
realm, all characters engage with a world of adventure through
the rules of the game. At the same time, though, characters
have lives that extend beyond just dungeons and danger,
reflected in their relationship to the wider world, and the way
that the history and past of that world push inexorably toward
the future.
This chapter digs into the world of the game on multiple levels,
and explores some of the many ways in which your character will
engage with life in that world. It talks about the world of
Isheridar, just one of many settings in which your campaign can
make its home, covering the broad strokes of history, faith, and
legend as those things feed into the rules of the game. It details
the languages of the world, then explores companions and
threats, movement rules and the environment, and the different
ways in which characters can mark and make use of the passage
of time in the game.
Isheridar
The world of Isheridar is the world of the CORE20 game — a
supercontinental dominion of more than forty broad regions,
hundreds of nations, thousands of territories and holds, and
more than three billion sapient folk. But whether Isheridar
becomes your world as you and your fellow players create and
shape a CORE20 campaign is entirely up to you. The rules of
CORE20 are broadly consistent with many other fantasy games,
and campaign settings built for those other games can easily be
adapted for a CORE20 campaign. Likewise, many GMs prefer to
work with their own homebrew worlds, and the freeform,
narrative-focused character play of CORE20 is ideal for molding
the past and present of a homebrew world to define the
conflicts and challenges of the campaign.
Even for players who like the setup of Isheridar, that world
effectively remains a kind of homebrew campaign, as no single
monolithic campaign setting exists for the world as whole.
Rather, a selection of some of Isheridar’s regions and nations
provide a framework on which GMs and players can shape the
world of their own campaign together. But no matter whether
your group wants to adventure in Isheridar, to take CORE20 into
another published realm, or to work up a world entirely your
own, it can be helpful to keep in mind the ways in which the
history, realties, and secrets of Isheridar provide a foundation for
the game, and can potentially shape the stories the game tells.
A World of Adventure
Isheridar is both the name of the world and of the
supercontinent comprising that world’s terrestrial lands. Orbited
by twin moons — the brighter, closer Clearmoon and the more
distant, slow-moving Darkmoon — the world completes each
pass around the sun in a little over 365 days, marking the year by
the passage of its four seasons. Akin to the supercontinent of
Pangaea in our own world, Isheridar is surrounded on all sides
by a singular world-ocean whose vast expanses and
unpredictable nature have named it the Great Sea of Storms. All
the territories of Isheridar are effectively contiguous, connected
by land or across the relative calm of smaller seas protected
from the great ocean.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Dragons were the first sapient rulers of Isheridar, having
inherited that world from their great saurian ancestors whose
remains are the oldest relics of Isheridar’s living past. The name
“Isheridar” passed into multiple languages from the oldest
Draconic dialects of the kobolds and lizardfolk, originating in the
archaic “izhiir’daara” — “each people.” And though which
peoples the name might originally have referred to are long lost
to memory, Isheridar has always lived up to that heritage.
All evidence points to the dragons having dwelled in great cities
for countless millennia before abandoning those sites to live in
isolation, with the reason for this self-imposed exile remaining
unknown to this day. In the long prehistory of the world, a much
more sparsely populated Isheridar was also the domain of titans
whose existence is all but lost to history, though they are
thought to have been the progenitors of the giants of later
ages.
Those giants laid claim to much of the world-continent over
millennia in their own right. But their dominions were
interspersed with the enclaves of smaller fey, wondrous
worldborn, and other sapient folk. Worldly centaurs, sylvan
pixies, avian ayrluhkals, aquatic merfolk, subterranean
vormloeks, extradimensional wurfrurs, and many more have long
played a role in the grand narrative of the world — including the
earliest groups of the sapient creatures now known as the
twelve worldborn lines.
Creature Compendium
For nearly fifty thousand years, as archaeology and divination
suggest, the worldborn have been the dominant peoples of
Isheridar, alternating between cycles of conflict and
collaboration with each other since spreading out from their
original homelands over a hundred millennia earlier than that.
The connection that folk of a particular lineage forge with the
story of their line is uniquely strong. But stronger still are the
connections folk forge with the disparate and fast-changing
worldborn cultures that have shaped and reshaped the world,
ever-evolving at the points where the worldborn lines have met,
merged, and cycled past each other throughout history.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
During the long spread of worldborn culture and civilization,
innumerable regional empires have arisen, expanded, and
eventually collapsed back to local fiefs or been swept away by
the rise of new empires. But some fifteen centuries past, a
burgeoning empire in the lands of Lothela in the far west of
Isheridar would do what no other group had ever done, by
establishing control over the entire world-continent and its
peoples.
Legacy of Empire
The Empire of the Lothelecan endured for more than fifteen
hundred years, and controlled all Isheridar for the last
millennium of that. Though it was originally a human-dominated
commonwealth, the Lothelecan came to encompass all the
lands and peoples of the world-continent, built on the bones of
countless great empires before it, and held together with magic
and a degree of political will that had no precedent or equal.
From the time of its inception and initial expansion in the west,
the Lothelecan allowed each nation-province within its
jurisdiction to operate as its own autonomous region under the
151

rulership of an elected Imperial regent. With input from all
quarters, a master council governed the Empire from the
Imperial capital, the far-western city of Ulannor Mor in Lothela.
Disputes were settled by the council and enforced by the
Lotherasien — the legendary Imperial Guard, whose members
were stationed in every province of the Empire, and which made
use of still-secret portal magic that allowed whole armies to
appear in a heartbeat anywhere in the world as needed.
Unlike history’s sometimes-selective memories of the “glory” of
the conquest-driven empires of the more distant past, the
fifteen hundred years of the Lothelecan were a true golden
age — fifty generations of order and peace that had no parallel.
And then in a heartbeat, the Empire fell. A century ago, an
arcane cataclysm destroyed Ulannor Mor and left a plain of
black glass in its wake more than three hundred leagues across,
seeded with rubble and ash. Fifty million people are thought to
have died in the moment. Countless millions more died from
epidemics, famine, and the collapse of governance across
Lothela in the aftermath of the disaster.
The social and political shock waves of Ulannor Mor’s
destruction spread quickly, and without the strength of its
center, the web of Empire began to unravel. Local control in key
territories was quickly reasserted, with the disruption of Imperial
control leading to civil strife in many lands — and the nigh
unthinkable reality of nations once more waging war on each
other. With the destruction of the Lothelecan, the order of the
Lotherasien shattered as its heart and focus died. Attempts to
reestablish control of the Empire by recreating the master
council as an assembly of newly ordained national leaders failed
over a period of twenty years, as the millennia-old political fault
lines over which the Empire had been built were once again
exposed. Lands whose historical ambition for expansion had
been halted by the Empire were suddenly free to redefine the
scope of their nationalism. Smaller nations suddenly vulnerable
to powerful neighbors felt that the Lotherasien had abandoned
them. And all nations in turn abandoned the Empire.
Some two decades after the destruction of Ulannor Mor came
the event long since named the Dispersal of the Lotherasien,
with the truth of what that day represents still unknown. Even
with the ranks of the Imperial Guard depleted over years of
uncertainty, still some tens of thousands of elite warriors,
arcanists, lorists, healers, and more had remained in the service
of the fallen Empire — until every member of the Lotherasien
vanished to the last without a trace, and the Empire of the
Lothelecan was no more.
The Wondrous World
The most extraordinary achievements of the world and its
peoples were all forged long before the rise of the Lothelecan.
But under the guidance of the Empire, those achievements
reached every part of the world, becoming known and used in
every land and culture. Since the dawn of the Imperial age, the
right to freedom of association, expression, industry, and living
was made the birthright of all sapient creatures within the lands
of the Lothelecan. For the thousand years of full Imperial rule
across all the world-continent, no war was fought on Isheridar.
For fifteen millennia, the Imperial Guard enforced peace,
responded to natural disasters, and protected all folk from
threats seen and unseen. And though that world is gone now, its
legacy endures even for many folk who chafed under Imperial
rule — and even as the question of what new world will replace
the world that was lost remains to be answered.
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
Magic is arguably the greatest of worldborn achievements,
suffusing every culture in the world. Magic has always been
evident in the power and majesty of creatures such as dragons,
and in the dangerous spaces of world and underworld where
unknown eldritch power lingers to curse or destroy the unwary.
But the mastery of personal magics by worldborn folk have long
granted all peoples an understanding of the workings of
spellcraft and the imbuing of magical dweomer into items, and
few are those who have never witnessed magic’s power first
hand. Spells and magic items channeling the power of healing
and protection are commonplace in even the smallest villages,
and the crafting and sale of magic items is an integral part of the
world’s economy. Even so, the wide array of cultures across the
world include peoples whose historical distrust of magic runs
deep, isolated areas of wild magic where the rules of
spellcasting are broken and rewoven into something new, and
whole territories where arcane magic simply fails.
The development and use of nonmagical technology likewise
flourished under the Empire. Alchemy, clockwork, engineering,
metallurgy, and many other fields experienced unheard-of
advancements as the Imperial peace engendered the sharing of
knowledge and lore between formerly distant nations. Some of
the greatest marvels of the present-day world are a product of
rarefied research in which the magical, alchemical, and
engineering concepts perfected among different peoples
interconnected. These range from the alchemically powered
firearms common in most parts of Isheridar to the much rarer
flying ships that ply the skies of far-flung lands, and which
performed the first successful circumnavigations of the world in
the Imperial age.
Whether in settled territories, trackless wilderness, or the realms
of nomadic or itinerant folk, literacy is widespread across the
world, and has been since even before the Lothelecan. In cities,
towns, and larger villages, letterpress and lithographic print
shops turn out news broadsheets, books of popular fiction,
histories, manuals, artistic anthologies, textbooks, and more. In
nomadic and sparsely settled lands, tales and legends, lore and
warnings might be most commonly shared person to person,
but the recording of written knowledge for posterity and wider
dissemination is commonplace.
Of equal importance to most folk, engineering dedicated to the
movement of running water and sanitation has long been the
norm in cities, towns, and well-organized villages, and
sophisticated agricultural practices produce bountiful herds and
harvests across the world. The healing arts are likewise well
advanced in Isheridar, with dedicated healers in even the
smallest villages and hamlets well versed in the treatment of
body and mind through reasoned diagnostics, herbology,
alchemy, and surgery — with those healing skills often
augmented with magic for optimal effect.
The Age to Come
For all the advancements bequeathed to the world by the
Imperial age, and despite most of the world still holding tight to
the stability of the Imperial peace, the people of Isheridar are
pressed on all sides by challenges — including many whose full
threat is being reckoned only now, a century after the Empire’s
fall.
Every part of the world-continent has been explored and settled
to some degree, by worldborn, giants, fey, and other wondrous
folk. Even so, much of the space between settlements and
alongside the territories of nomadic folk remains unmapped
wilderness, home to animals and wondrous beasts that sapient
152

folk will never outnumber. Even more daunting than the ever-
present threats of nature in the wild places and frontier lands of
the world are the threats of true monsters, evil or otherwise.
Oozes and monstrous arthropods, aberrations and undead
thrive in sparsely settled lands, and in the unseen spaces of
towns and cities. And whether in wild lands, close-held villages
and farmsteads, or the most densely populated settlements,
worldborn and other folk have always produced cults, brigands,
and villains ready to succumb to avarice, malice, or the
corruption of fell magic, and seeking wealth and power at
others’ expense.
Fell magic is an ever-present and oft-unseen threat in its own
right, whether found in ancient ruins, arcane workshops, or the
estates of gentry collecting eldritch relics whose true nature is
unknown. Whether in the most remote wilderness or down a
side street in a crowded city, ambient magical power can cause
reality to fold in on itself and create spaces orthogonal to the
world. The hidden domains of the fey are the most common of
these extradimensional worldly realms. But such fracture points
in reality can reach into realms of elemental power, cross over to
the magical nonspace of the astral realm, or connect to places
shaped by raw magical energy — including the endless
extradimensional demesnes of the khimereans, legendary fiends
said to dwell deep within the world.
Campaign Handbook/Dimensional Realms
The Ways of Faith
Isheridar is a world without gods. Or if any gods are truly
present in the world, existing as more than symbol and myth,
they’ve shown no true sign of that presence through ten
millennia of recorded history. The legendary ages of the world-
continent can name countless deities, demigods, and higher
powers said to have walked settled lands, held court in
mountain temples, and shaped the formation of the world and
its peoples. The cultures of the worldborn, giants, fey, and more
each have their own long traditions of mythology and faith.
However, the gods of old don’t manifest in the world of the
game, allowing characters to make choices of faith and belief
that are entirely personal, and never driven by otherworldly
whim.
Faith and Empire
The nation of Lothela was officially an atheist state by the time it
began the economic expansion that defined the first borders of
the Empire of the Lothelecan. However, the fast-growing Empire
had no mandate to erase the faiths of the people of its client
states, and made no prohibition against personal belief or
public worship. As such, the folk of the Empire maintained
whatever cultures of faith had long held sway in their lands, from
the most devoutly monotheistic states, to cultures in which
beliefs in personal and local gods made every family and village
the shaper of its own pantheon.
The Lothelecan’s only mandate was to see clear lines drawn
between faith and government, ensuring that religious doctrine
and dogma had no ability to shape law, justice, or the inherent
rights of sapient folk. Within a small number of newly-shaped
Imperial territories, the Imperial Guard were called upon to
stand against priesthoods who fought to maintain the theocratic
autocracy long granted to them by control of their people’s
faiths. But such conflicts were only distant memories by the time
the last territories of Isheridar came under Imperial rule.
Whether as an inevitable by-product of the Imperial age, or
whether such an outcome had secretly been a part of the
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Empire’s plan all along, the separation of theology from political
rule slowly diminished the power of faith in most lands. But even
as fewer people engaged in worship of what became known
across the Empire as “the old gods,” the culture and history
represented by the old faiths often flourished in new ways.
Myth and History
The number of faiths once part of the world are beyond
reckoning, and nearly every culture to have passed through the
world has had its own origin tales and creator faiths, its own
deities and pantheons. Whether shaped from novel fears or
yearnings, borrowed from conqueror cultures or conquered
peoples in periods of war, or plucked as threads from older
forgotten histories, legends of the gods have ever endured.
The world has never had a universal cosmology of deities and
their attendant churches, however, even before the age of
Empire allowed the faiths of the innumerable old gods to quietly
fade away. Where folk talk about the myths and histories of
faith, they speak of the faith of their people, their nation, and
their culture, not of the world. As such, the details of different
faiths and the pantheons of the old gods are detailed in specific
regional settings, or are left to the GM to develop as part of a
campaign.
The long history of the world reflects the beliefs of many
peoples in deities and creator myths at different points in time.
But over a millennia-and-a-half of Imperial influence, faith and
belief underwent a subtle but profound change whose effects
are still felt, and which sets out each character’s relationship to
faith in the context of four broad modes of understanding.
Gods and Heroes
There are no true deities in CORE20, and different aspects of the
narrative foundation of the game (for example, the origins and
nature of spellcasting and magic) reflect this. Isheridar has no
pantheons of gods dwelling on other planes. No metaphysical
entities spawned by the worship of sapient peoples and dependent
on that worship for survival. No gods and demigods walking the
world in humanoid form for their own mysterious ends, no battles of
omnipotent immortals fought with mortal proxies, and no divine
retribution laying waste to the landscape.
But all that said — your game is your game, and if you want to
establish an alternative cosmology in which manifest deities
maintain strong ties to the mortal world and can act as holy patrons
or unholy villains, you’re more than welcome to. The old gods of
Isheridar can easily be remade as living pantheons, or the familiar
pantheons of other games and settings can be repurposed for a
CORE20 campaign. Just bear in mind that part of the rationale for
keeping the game a deity-free zone is to maximize the idea that the
characters (and by extension, the players) are the ones whose
decisions, choices, and sacrifices are meant to change the world in
some way. And sometimes, having characters beholden to the
directives of immortals or obliged to respond to those immortals’
destructive behavior can make it feel as if the game is less about the
heroes than about the deities who control them.
Faith of Self
“Faith of self” was the common term for the essential
philosophy of life under the Lothelecan. For fifteen hundred
years, the laws and morality of Isheridar were defined by the
principle that no gods or mystical forces control the fate of the
world. Rather, the Imperial model maintained that the sapient
peoples of the world were ultimately responsible for their own
destinies, and for shaping the future of the world as a whole.
153

Even after the fall of the Lothelecan, the Empire’s essential
philosophical, legal, and political traditions still hold sway in
much of Isheridar. To those who retain a belief in the Empire’s
faith of self, the presence of magic in the world is an ever-
present proof of the nonexistence of gods. In the ages before
the Empire, spellcasters might have claimed their power as a gift
of one god or another, with many spellcasters (animysts in
particular) tying their power to faith and believing that magic
would be denied them if that faith ever flagged. However, the
firm establishment of spellcasting as an entirely worldly art — as
well as the advances seen in that art over the Empire’s history —
has long eroded such beliefs.
Characters who follow the teachings of the Imperial age
(whether consciously or by social default) are a clear majority in
the world. However, there is no standard moral code or
common behavior among observers of the faith of self. Many
are altruistic, believing in the sanctity of sapient life and working
toward goals that preserve and defend that life. But just as many
are entirely self-serving, seeing in themselves the worthy
successors of the Imperial power which the credo of faith of self
forged.
Culture and Creed
Throughout the Imperial age, even as their institutions of faith
weakened, folk continued to draw strength and succor from the
heroes and legends of the past. However, even after the fall of
Empire, the deities who held sway over the world in millennia
past are still considered myth in many nations. A farmer might
maintain a shrine to the spirits of the land as a means of
demonstrating her unspoken connection to that land. A warrior
might invoke the name of a venerated hero of legend before
battle as they draw on their deepest reserves of strength and
will. However, in neither case does this personal connection to
myth and history connect to larger structures of faith. Nothing
resembling an organized national church or clergy exists in most
lands of the world, whose peoples continue to shape their ethics
and morality according to their own needs and will, not any
guidance from on high.
Characters who have adopted the common faith of one or more
cultures are not religious in any standard sense of the word.
They revere the past and seek to draw strength and insight from
its legends and lore, perhaps even believing in a personal
communion with that past’s heroic figures and gods. But they
accept and acknowledge that the gods of old have always been
and will forever remain cultural myth, their power entirely
personal and symbolic.
The Old Gods
The Empire inspiring the movement of its client peoples away
from the old gods was never an act of forceful suppression. As
long as animyst orders, clan chiefs, governors, and others
claiming the right to rule by some god’s will kept the tenets of
their faith separate from the codes of law that guided and
protected all folk, the Imperial regents and the Imperial Guard
showed full respect for those who kept the beliefs of their
ancestors alive. As such, even under the separation of faith and
state under the Empire, many peoples held onto the old ways.
Right down to the last days of the Lothelecan, the animysts of
certain cultures venerated the old gods that their peoples had
worshiped for ten thousand years, praying to their patron deities
for their spellcasting power — and quietly believing such power
to be a boon granted solely by their gods, and which all other
folk had stolen.
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With the fall of the Empire, many of the peoples whose faith
endured most strongly in the Imperial age have used the old
ways as a foundation for a new order. For some, the destruction
of the Lothelecan is seen as divine retribution for the Empire’s
refusal to acknowledge the supremacy of the true gods — which
is to say, the specific narrow pantheon venerated by each group
of true believers. But even those groups taking a less
apocalyptic view have embraced the restored faiths of their
people, with worship of the old gods common in some lands,
and an animyst-based clergy at the center of political life.
A character who believes in the manifest existence of the old
gods and pays fealty to the clergy of those gods might base
their most important decisions — or in some cases shape their
entire lives — on their perception of their gods’ plans for them.
For many, their devotion to one or more patron deities includes
an obliging belief that the Empire’s subtle suppression of faith
was an attempt to destroy the gods of old using fell magic, and
that the destruction of the Empire was the price paid when the
old gods finally reclaimed their power.
At the same time, just as many characters define themselves by
having broken away from the renewed zealotry of their
homelands, acknowledging their connection to the faith of
family, clan, and tradition but wanting no part in a world in which
their freedom to make choices is curtailed by divine obligation.
A certain amount of such agnosticism is prevalent among many
folk dwelling in lands known for worship of the old gods, and
relatively few of such lands enforce the tenets of faith with
anything like the dictatorial extremes of the religious oligarchies
of the pre-Imperial age. Moreover, despite the resurgence of
the old gods in many lands, theists remain a clear minority
across the world, and many characters observant of one of the
faiths of the old gods learn to treat their beliefs as a private
matter while living or traveling in other lands.
The Age of Cults
In the long years since the destruction of Ulannor Mor marked
the start of the world’s transition from Imperial client states to
independent nations once more, many people have come to
define a new vision of faith alongside the new political realities
of the post-Imperial age. Across the world, thousand of new-
faith cults have arisen, dedicated to understanding what forces
might have ended the Empire — and how those forces might
affect the future as it unfolds.
Though cults are almost always known by their worst examples,
so that folk often associate the word “cult” with corrupting
power and malevolent acts, most such groups are so-named
simply for their embrace of a faith with a singular and
unconventional focus. Those who create cults seek to explore
and reveal the details of unknown truths and mysteries, and to
understand the power promised by those truths. Most often, a
cult is established and thrives under the leadership of those who
seek to unlock the secrets of the world in order to build a better
world. But not all secrets can be learned safely — especially
those secrets seeded into the world by creatures intent on
spreading corruption.
Cults and their mysteries of faith can spring up anywhere, from
the most populated cities to sparsely settled frontier lands.
Some cults establish entirely new theological and philosophical
ground with their doctrines. Others break down and reassemble
elements of different old faiths, or are built on the foundations
of knowledge forgotten under the Empire — or suppressed for
its dangers. Regardless of the specifics of their beliefs, though,
many cults share the central tenet that the destruction of
154

Ulannor Mor heralded not just the fall of the Lothelecan but a
turning point for the world and its people. And with no Empire
to guide the next age of the world, many of those who embrace
the tenets of a cult believe that it’s up to them to learn the
secrets behind the Empire’s fall, and in so doing, to take control
of the world to come.
The Endlands
“The Endlands” is a name not necessarily known to characters
at the start of their adventuring careers. For that name was kept
secret by the Lotherasien and the Empire of the Lothelecan for
fifteen centuries, and only now does it make its way freely
through the world as a whisper of doubt, disbelief, or fear.
The fiends known as khimereans — the feral qhoragkri and the
depraved ubaizeth — were once creatures of the mortal realm,
but were driven into the depths of the world and vast
dimensional realms locked into those depths when the life
energy of surface lands became toxic to them. [It will be clear to
most that khimereans are the devils and demons of d20 fantasy,
given a new name and a new spin.] Worldborn and other
sapient folk, animals and wondrous beasts, plants and fungi,
insects and slimes — every living thing in the world produces
the energy of life that fuels druidas and animys magic, and
which eats away at the khimereans’ unnatural arcane life force to
turn them into empty husks.
For untold millennia, the khimereans have lurked within their
extradimensional domains, able to reach the surface only while
protected by powerful magic, or to manifest in locations where
potent levels of arcane power make it safe for them to dwell for
a time. For the fifteen hundred years of the Imperial age, the
Lothelecan and the Lotherasien worked to suppress and shut
down points of contact between the world and the Khimerean
realms, understanding that with limited ability to wreak havoc in
the world themselves, the khimereans sought always to corrupt
and control the sapient folk of the world as proxies. One of the
Empire’s subtlest tools in this fight was seeding a cultural
understanding that the khimereans were mere myth — the one
element of a fantastical world that was too fantastical to be true.
In so doing, the Empire systematically destroyed or hid away all
lore regarding the khimereans and their power, preventing the
folk of the world from reaching for and bargain with that power.
Through all their long history, the khimereans have never
forgotten their time in the world, and they have ever yearned to
stand in the clear air and gaze upon horizon and stars once
more. Thus do all khimereans hold tight to a dream of all
Isheridar being scoured by an arcane conflagration. Whether the
cataclysm that destroyed Ulannor Mor had some connection to
khimerean power remains unknown. But the sight of the Black
Glass that now spreads where the great city and the lands of
Lothela once stood bears a horrifying similarity to the
khimereans’ dream. For they whisper of the world-continent
destroyed and remade by hurricane and earthquake, ice and
fire, eventually leaving all the life of land, air, and sea turned to
ash that will spread across a dead landscape. This is the world
the Khimereans will rule once more, and which they call
Nhar’zhoriith in their ageless Khthonic language — “The
Endlands.” The world that marks the end of life, the end of time.
The end of all.
A World of Heroes
One of the core attributes of CORE20 is the idea that
adventures should always be rooted in the struggles of
individuals as they react to fate and circumstance — not in the
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machinations of gods and ultra-powerful entities manipulating
the flow of events from behind the scenes. The nature of the
world of Isheridar is thus set up to feed this game narrative. The
conflicts that fuel the stories of a campaign are driven by threats
that might herald the end of peace and prosperity — and
against which characters must fight to determine what new
order will ultimately take the place of the old.
Isheridar is a world filled with the potential for conflict, whether
rooted in the political instability of the post-Imperial age, the
widespread presence of magic and the chaos it can inspire, the
mundane machinations of people coveting power at the
expense of others, or the reality of folk living in a world in which
monsters are very real. Across the lands of the former Empire of
the Lothelecan, leaders and lorists have long since come to
terms with a specific understanding of the conflicts facing the
world, and how those conflicts might shape the framework of
the unfolding future.
For fifteen hundred years, the Empire of the Lothelecan
established an era of peace and prosperity, magic and
advancement never before seen in history. But even more
importantly, over those fifteen centuries, the Empire and the
Lotherasien dedicated themselves to dealing with the most
significant threats to order and peace across Isheridar. Now,
with the fall of the Empire, the world has shifted into a new
order whose final form isn’t yet complete, and within which the
evils that the Empire once quelled and controlled have begun to
spread once more — requiring a new generation of heroes to
face those threats.
For fifteen hundred years, the Lotherasien secretly quelled the
Khimerean menace, holding back their threat of fell magic and
ancient corruption. Throughout the age of Empire, powerful and
ambitious figures who sought to escape the Lotherasien’s notice
had to go underground — in many cases literally, creating
secret dungeon sanctums in cities and wilderness alike. For
fifteen centuries, the Lotherasien sought out and destroyed
corrupted magic and fell relics, hiding away any of that magic
too powerful to be destroyed. They engaged in embassy and
detente with the dragons, establishing unofficial accords that
would see those great creatures agree to never threaten the
lands of the worldborn and other sapient folk — or to depart
those lands, as many did.
But the Lotherasien are gone now.
Today, the dragons have long since begun to return to
worldborn lands. Lost relics of corrupted magic reveal
themselves where the Lotherasien once hid them away, with
many of those items possessed of a sapient malevolence that
sees them yearn to corrupt new wielders. Ancient ruins and
Imperial-age dungeons sealed and concealed by the forces of
Empire are opening. And unchecked by the Lotherasien’s
control, the whispers of khimerean power drift through the living
world once more, seeding corruption and malice intended to
bring the fiendish dream of the Endlands one step closer to
reality.
For many folk, the fall of the Empire makes clear the need for
new forces to take up the Lothelecan’s fight to keep the world
safe from its worst threats. But for just as many, the fall of
Empire is the fall of despotism, and an invitation to rebuild the
world as it would have evolved if not for centuries of Imperial
oppression. Your character might have a natural inclination to
one side of that dichotomy or the other. Or they might turn
away from both sides, focusing instead on their own needs and
dreams, or the well-being of local homelands and kinfolk who
simply desire to be left alone.
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The threats of the world are manifold, however, and even

characters who enter a campaign initially seeking nothing more
than danger and the treasure that is danger’s reward will often
find themselves drawn inevitably into larger challenges. A
character might learn of things they never thought to learn, and
be driven to take up causes and follow paths that shape a life
very different than the life they expected.
With the Lothelecan and the Lotherasien gone, the world is
changing.
How it changes is up to the newest generation of heroes —
including you.

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Creatures of the World
In Isheridar, the tapestry of life is a complex weave, threaded
through with magic and uncountable lines of biological history,
and detailing creatures both wondrous and terrifying. Even for
creatures who channel no magic innately, including the folk of
the worldborn lines, it is understood that life evolving in a world
suffused with magic has been shaped by that magic in a
multitude of ways. An astonishing array of creatures can be
found in every part of the world as a result of this eternal
process, both on, above, and beneath Isheridar’s lands and
seas.
One of the key developments of this magical diversity is the
range of sapient creatures who call Isheridar home, whether that
sapience channels a belief in common understanding and
worldly weal, or a malevolent instinct for control and
destruction. Among sapient and nonsapient creatures alike, the
boundary between noble and monstrous is often an ever-
shifting blur.
Creature Types
All the creatures of the world are divided into sixteen broad
creature types, references to which appear in lineage traits,
certain feats, and spells and other magic.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Aberrations
Aberrations are unnatural creatures, sometimes sapient and
sometimes not, and often corrupted by magic. Many feature a
bizarre anatomy, strange innate magical abilities, an alien
mindset, or any combination of the three. Aboleths, mesmeric
mouthers, xenogosts, and zhyrilids are among the best
known — and most frequently avoided — of often-malevolent
aberrations. Flumphs and otyughs are aberrations well known
for their beneficent worldview.
Creature Compendium
Animals
Animals include the nonsapient mammals, reptiles, and birds of
the wilds, large and small. The cornerstone of the natural world’s
ecology, animals have no magical abilities and no innate
capacity for language. In addition to the common animals
known in all the settled world and the wilderness around it,
animals in certain environments evolve to what are known as
dire forms, showing off advanced size and unusual power.
Arthropods
Arthropods include insects, arachnids, myriapods, crustaceans,
and other ancient creatures, both in their usual minute forms
and in larger monstrous forms. Monstrous ants, centipedes,
scorpions, and spiders are common in most areas of the world,
but any arthropod (including crabs and other marine life) can
evolve to a monstrous form.
Botanicals
Botanicals are plants and fungi evolved to advanced levels of
activity — and sometimes to advanced intelligence, most often
by magic. Many are carnivorous, with their ability to
unexpectedly move making them a potent threat. Assassin vines
and shriekers are commonly known mindless botanicals.
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Quagmoras and tendriculoses are intelligent and mobile
botanicals. Myrmuses and treants are perhaps the best-known
sapient botanicals-
Celestials
Celestials are mysterious sapient creatures suffused with life
energy, many of whom originate and dwell in remote
dimensional realms. None of the celestials are particularly well
known, appearing only rarely in the world. But lillends,
oncaeylas, and yilchons appear often in the tales of adventurers
exploring ancient temples and locations suffused with the magic
of life.
Constructs
Constructs are creatures manufactured by mechanical or
magical processes and infused with magical life. Some are
programmed by their creators to follow a simple set of
instructions, while others are sapient and capable of
independent thought. Animatas, animated objects, and
homunculuses are the most commonly known constructs.
Dragons
Dragons are the ancient reptilian overlords of the earliest ages
of history. In the present age, the largest and oldest of the
dragons are the most powerful creatures in the world. True
dragons, including the metallic dragons and the chromatic
dragons, are highly intelligent and possess formidable innate
magic. But lesser draconic creatures such as faedracas,
praetyrians, and wyverns abound in the world, each channeling
some small aspect of the true dragons’ power.
Elementals
Elementals are usually-sapient creatures infused with the energy
of the elemental realms of air, earth, fire, and water. Elemental
spawn are little more than animate masses of their respective
elements. But many other elementals have biological forms
infused with elemental energy, including the azers, erharaqs,
and janasmis.
Campaign Handbook/Elemental Realms
Fey
Fey are sapient creatures suffused with the magic of nature.
They dwell in twilight groves and misty forests, many of which
connect to extradimensional sylvan realms. All channel some
measure of innate magic, often tied to the power of nature in a
general sense, or to some specific magical force or location.
Multitudes of fey are found in all areas of the world, including
dryads, grigs, pixies, quicklings, fuirashlans, satyrs, and more.
The Look of Life
Many celestials, elementals, and fiends, most fey, giants, and
wondrous worldborn, and all worldborn share a similarity of physical
form — bipedal creatures with two arms, similar sensory organs, and
consistent internal anatomy. Scholars of nature and living history
have long understood that all those forms of life must share a
common origin point, just as the worldborn share common
ancestors with the animals of the world. But whether that origin
point is a lost common ancestor, or whether one of those classes of
creatures was the ancestor of all the others, remains unknown.
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Fiends
Fiends are sapient creatures suffused with arcane power, often
driven by wrath and a thirst for destruction. They are found in a
variety of forms, and channel unnatural innate magic. A few
fiends such as achaierais, barghests, concubuses, and invisible
stalkers dwell in the world. But the most powerful fiends are the
legendary khimereans — the qhoragkri and ubaizeth — who
dwell in dimensional realms deep beneath the surface of
Isheridar. Khimereans manifest only rarely in the realms of the
living, often at sites corrupted by arcane magic, or summoned
by those who enter into fatal bargains to channel fiendish
power.
Worldborn
The worldborn are the twelve lines of sapient creatures whose
cultures and migrations have shaped the world and its current
age of history. Dwarves and gnomes, elves, halflings, and
humans, essaruks and orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears,
kobolds and lizardfolk make up the worldborn peoples of the
world. Though worldborn have no innate magical power, the
members of those lines have learned to channel magic in the
most powerful ways.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)

Giants
Giants are a towering folk whose cultures dominated the world
in ages past. All are known for their great strength, and many
channel powerful innate magic. The dominant giant lines are the
clohmads, fiirmars, hallaeks, rohkhads, wiirdhars, and
istruhmads, but even the less populous cyclopses, ettins, ogres,
and other giant kin can be found in all areas of the world.

Oozes
Oozes are mindless creatures shaped of protoplasm and viscous
fluids, and are often amorphous in form. They are mostly
subterranean, dwelling in caves, dungeons, and sewers, and
feeding on refuse, carrion, or creatures unlucky enough to get in
their way. Black puddings, gelatinous cubes, and ocher jellies
are among the most recognizable oozes.

Undead
Undead are creatures of other types who have died and been
animated to a semblance of life by necromantic magic. Many
undead are animated as mindless corpses such as skeletons or
zombies, with little or no additional undead power. Other
undead are transformed to specific new sapient forms
channeling dread natural or magical features, whether corporeal
creatures such as ghouls or wights, or incorporeal creatures such
as ghosts, specters, and wraiths.
Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)

Wondrous Beasts
Wondrous beasts are creatures closely related to animals, but
which are defined by some kind of magical nature or unnatural
origin. They are often sapient and able to manifest innate
magic, but many show their unusual origins only in their curious
appearance or behavior. Some wondrous beasts are strongly
suspected to be the results of specific magical experiments
gone awry, including ankhegs, bulettes, and owlbears. Others
developed their unusual natures through long evolution in areas
of strange or corrupt magic, including basilisks, chimeras,
vocoeurs, and wurfrurs.

Wondrous Worldborn
Wondrous worldborn creatures represent a wide range of
sapient folk who possess unusual forms or capabilities, often
with a connection to magic. Many such folk can trace their
earliest histories to territories suffused with unusual magic that
shaped their evolution, from ayrluhkals to centaurs to minotaurs.
Others are thought to represent a more sudden and drastic
transformation of animal, wondrous beast, or worldborn
creatures in response to magical calamity or curse, including
doppelgangers, gnolls, and xyraasts.

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Languages
Languages across Isheridar show a great range of distinction
and dialect, and there’s no such thing as a universal version of
any language. By default, all characters know Imperial or
Imperial Sign, the twinned trade languages of the fallen Empire
that once spanned the world-continent. But each character
knows the versions of those languages native to their own land
and culture, which feature countless borrowings from local
languages, and dialectical differences from the versions of those
languages in common use in other regions.
Likewise, the enduring lineage languages of the golbrhenee, the
essaruks and orcs, the kobolds and lizardfolk are all built on
common linguistic roots. But each individual version of those
languages is distinct, often down to the level of nations or clans
whose historical conflicts might well have been exacerbated by
not fully understanding one another.
A character who takes one instance of the Learn Language feat
for any language (including Imperial or Imperial Sign) learns only
a localized version of that language, and might have minor
difficulty comprehending, being understood, or disguising
accent or idiom outside the area where they have spent the
most time speaking, signing, reading, or writing their known
languages. A character can take additional instances of the
Learn Language feat for a particular language to become more
fluent in its varied forms.
Learn Language (165)
Fast-Start: Languages
Take Imperial or Imperial Sign, a regional language, and a lineage
language for your starting languages, using the three bonus feat
slots for the Learn Language feat that all characters gain as part of
their background. Talk to the GM to determine your regional
languages (including regional sign languages), or if you want your
character to know a different language in place of one of those
default languages.
Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
Because humans have no true lineage language, your human
character can select a second regional language, or a spoken
lineage language from one of the other worldborn lines:
• Draconic (kobolds and lizardfolk)
• Dwargiir (dwarves)
• Essar (essaruks)
• Gnomyha (gnomes)
• Golbrhen (goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears)
• Halfling (halflings)
• Ilvani (elves)
• Orcishna (orcs)
In addition to or instead of spoken languages, your character can
take any number of the sign languages that are widespread across
the world, many of which are historically and culturally tied to the
different worldborn lines:
• Bruul (essaruks and orcs)
• Draynar or Ilaeratha (elves)
• Halfsign (halflings)
• Imperial Sign
• Kiarlex (kobolds and lizardfolk)
•
•
Mairnash (dwarves and gnomes)
Norlhen (goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears)
• Spellsign
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Regional Languages
All areas of the campaign world feature numerous regional
languages, both spoken and signed, and typically known and
used by all or most of the members of a geographic area or
politically defined nation. In some cases, a regional language or
sign language is known in many nations or areas, though in
slightly different forms. The GM knows or decides the details of
the regional spoken and sign languages in your campaign, and
you can decide which of those languages it makes sense for
your character to know.
The regional languages of the many cultures across the world
tend to be fragmented. Though regional languages in close
geographical proximity are often related to each other, adjacent
regional languages might incorporate wholly different
vocabularies, grammars, and writing systems. A character who
knows the language of one region has no automatic ability to
understand the language of another region, even one that
borders directly onto their homeland.
Local Languages
Against the tapestry of regional languages that covers the
world, countless local languages exist. Sometimes these are
offshoots of a regional language whose unique dialects have
become languages unto themselves. Other times, these are
languages that once covered a wider region, but have been
displaced by other regional languages to leave only small
numbers of settlements, families, or clans still practicing them. In
some places, isolated populations separated by geography or
custom might create a wholly unique spoken and sign
languages with unique scripted or tactile alphabets known only
among their people. Such languages are often rich with
vocabulary relating to local environment and culture that proves
difficult to translate to other languages.
If it fits your game (for example, a campaign taking place
entirely in a relatively small area, or one in which ancient lore in
what’s now a local language plays a big part), you can talk to the
GM about having your character know a local language instead
of a regional language or lineage language.
Bonus Languages
Any character can take the Learn Language feat to allow them to
learn a new language. Additionally, a number of background
features can grant your character bonus feat slots with which to take
Learn Language, demonstrating your fluency in the languages
you’ve used all your life. However, if your character has some
element of their backstory tied to language use, you can ask the GM
about gaining a bonus feat slot for Learn Language at no cost.
Learn Language (165)
Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
Such a backstory might include a character whose close-knit clan
shared a local language unknown to other folk, a character born of
elf and dwarf parents for whom it makes sense to speak both Ilvani
and Dwargiir as lineage languages, or a character with a deaf family
member who would have grown up knowing a regional or
widespread sign language. When a single extra language can let
backstory fuel roleplaying, players shouldn’t have to use
background features or feat slots to bring that backstory to life.
Spoken Lineage Languages
All lineages have a shared spoken language built up over
thousands of years of common culture. These lineage languages
aren’t monolithic entities, and all incorporate regional
159

differences and clear distinctions of dialect and accent. But they
are widespread enough to be understood by all creatures who
know them, regardless of those creatures’ geographic origin.
Imperial
One of the youngest of the world’s languages is also its most
widespread — Imperial, which became the de facto lineage
language of the human line as the common trade language of
the Empire of the Lothelecan. For the fifteen centuries that the
rule of the Empire connected all Isheridar, Imperial become the
language of shared culture and commerce, and a secondary
language learned by most citizens. Wide-ranging and open to
much variation, Imperial borrowed words and constructions
from hundreds of different regional cultures, with many of those
linguistic elements spreading across the world-continent and
into common use. It’s not unusual for the folk of the Elder
Kingdoms, Daegraleth, or Takriti in the far east to use Imperial
peppered with words and phrases of Lothela, Ilmar, or the
Dragonsea Reaches in the west, and vice versa, without ever
knowing or understanding the origins of those words.
Imperial is a broad descendent of the Lothelan regional
language in ancient use across the lands where the Empire first
arose, and where the Lothelecan remained centered before its
fall. In many of the lands around the now-ruined far-western
realm of Lothela, Imperial is still referred to as Lothelan, even
though that precursor to Imperial is now effectively extinct
except as a local language in isolated enclaves.
The Imperial alphabet is likewise a descendant of the now-dead
Lothelan script. It underwent significant evolution in the first
centuries of the Empire, expanding and standardizing as
hundreds of local languages adopted Imperial script as an
alternative written form. During that period, Imperial script was
altered by design to be usable as a tactile script as well,
adopting tight angles and clear letter styles whose embossed
forms can be read as easily by touch as by sight.
The Common Cant
In the Elder Kingdoms, the Imperial language was contemptuously
dubbed “the common cant,” as the people of those last lands to
join the Lothelecan fought against Imperial assimilation for
centuries. In the aftermath of the Empire’s fall, many cultures and
nations that name the Lothelecan a force for tyranny have adopted
that epithet. At the same time, though, the peoples of those lands
continue to use Imperial for the advantages it lends to trade, and to
avoid the need to translate fifteen hundred years of shared science,
philosophy, history, and literature from across the Empire.
Draconic
The language of dragons is known innately by all those great
creatures, despite the absence of any unified culture among
their kind. As a product of the thought processes of inherently
magical creatures, Draconic long ago also became the de facto
spoken and written language of arcane magic, and has been
used by arcanists for millennia to codify and record their studies
and spellcraft. A lack of cultural shift and linguistic pressure
means that the arcanist variant of Draconic is effectively a dead
language, making it especially suitable to magical description
but more difficult for expressing concepts outside the scope of
magic.
The Draconic language as known among kobolds and lizardfolk
consists of variant dialects that can trace their way back to those
lineages’ connections to dragons in their earliest histories.
These lineage-specific versions of Draconic vary from region to
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region and even clan to clan, and absorb numerous loan words
from neighboring regional languages.
Draconic script features complex linear letterforms equally well
suited to ink, inscription, or engraving. In the latter two forms, it
is often written in relief, with outlines inscribed to allow letters to
be readable as a tactile script.
The Languages of Magic
Four languages are commonly associated with the three dominant
spheres of magic — Celestial for animys magic, Draconic and Kiarlex
for arcane magic, and Druidic for druidas magic.
Draconic is a wide-ranging language spoken by dragons, kobolds,
and lizardfolk, while Kiarlex is a sign language that originated
among the kobolds but has long since spread across the world.
Both are well suited to recording and sharing arcane lore and
spellcraft.
Celestial is a dead language that combines spoken and signed
lexicons, most commonly used by animysts and the rare sapient
celestial creatures who channel the raw power of life magic.
Creatures of the World (157)
Druidic is a secret magical language that can be signed or spoken,
and that can be learned only by a character who channels druidas
magic. Anyone can learn Draconic or Celestial with sufficient time
and effort, but no creature who doesn’t channel druidas magic can
learn or understand Druidic, even with the help of other magic.
Dwargiir
Often called Dwarven or Dwarvish by those who don’t know it,
Dwargiir is the spoken language of the dwarves. In common use
across countless dwarf cultures, Dwargiir features many regional
variations of dialect and a standard runic alphabet. It can also be
written using a stylized variation of the Imperial alphabet,
created during the height of the Empire to facilitate an easier
mode of writing on parchment, as opposed to the stone and
metal for which the dwarf runes were created. The blocky
letterforms of Dwargiir’s runic alphabet have long seen it used
as a tactile script, though the subtleties of its inscribed form can
be difficult to master.
Essar
Essar is the spoken language of the essaruks, and is just as
commonly called Essaruk by other folk. The countless regional
dialects that make it up are built around an older language and
a logographic script system that is related to Orcishna, but
whose origins are lost to time. Under the Empire, the essaruk
realms adopted the Imperial alphabet to create a phonetically
scripted version of their language, which remains dominant in
trade and mercantilism but is seldom used for history, poetry,
literature, and other creative enterprises.
Gnomyha
The spoken language of the gnomes (most commonly called
Gnome or Gnomish by folk not fluent in it) bears a similarity to
the Dwargiir language it is related to, but can’t be understood
by creatures fluent only in Dwargiir. Gnomyha’s countless
dialects all use a consistent alphabet derived from Dwargiir runic
script, but rounded for use on parchment and paper. Gnomyha
features a relatively large degree of regional and cultural
variation, such that the farthest-separated gnome cultures have
speech and writing that can be easily understood only by the
scholars and polymaths of each folk.
160

Golbrhen
The spoken language of the goblins, hobgoblins, and
bugbears — collectively, the golbrhenee — is a complex and
lyrical language built around a dizzying array of dialects. Strictly
speaking, Golbrhen is the collective name given to the full range
of spoken golbrhenee languages, but the golbrhenee think of
their language in terms of its thousands of uniquely named
variants.
Though individual dialects of Golbrhen may or may not be
understandable by anyone fluent in the Golbrhen dialects of a
far-flung land, written Golbrhen is understood by all, using a
logographic script originally designed for scribing clay tablets in
the golbrhenee empires’ earliest histories. When scribed on
parchment or paper, Golbrhen is written with punched
endpoints and vertices to serve as a tactile alphabet, with a
reading order reversed from that of the visual alphabet.
Halfling
The itsaba and ryta halflings of the eastern and western reaches
of Isheridar developed two broad spoken language groups,
both of which originated in a now-lost root language but
diverged greatly over time. Over fifteen hundred years of
Empire, the halfling nations and subnations of east and west
were inspired to reestablish a strong shared culture, resulting in
their two spoken languages being reconnected and reformed
into a single rich and complex language. With no natural name,
that resulting language was called Halfling by all folk. It
comprises hundreds of dialects, and typically features at least a
half-dozen synonyms for any given concept.
During its reconstruction, Halfling was written in more than a
dozen variant regional scripts, though it was adapted to the
Imperial script with relative ease. That modern variation remains
the most common form of Halfling writing.
Ilvani
The elves’ dedication to recording myth and history created a
unified and formalized spoken and scripted language millennia
before the rise of the first human nations. Commonly called
Elven or Elvish by those who don’t know it, Ilvani maintains a
remarkable consistency among the elf cultures spread across
Isheridar. Many dialects exist among the Ilvani, evidenced most
strongly by the naming conventions of different elf cultures.
However, a high ilvani from the Elder Kingdoms and a wild ilvani
from the Ilmar will understand each other easily if both meet.
The dialects of the wood elves and the drow are the most
distinct strains of Ilvani.
Ilvani can be written in two forms — a flowing script designed
for ink and paper, or a tactile alphabet consisting of impressed
dots filling out a rosette-like pattern of letterforms. Much Ilvani
history and literature is scribed line by line in both forms.
Orcishna
The spoken language of the orcs is called Orcishna by those
who use it, and named equally frequently as Orc or Orcish by
others. Orcishna and Essar both split off long ago from the same
lost root language, but although the two languages remain
phonetically related, they are linguistically distinct. Speakers of
Orcishna can’t understand Essar, and vice versa, but to the ears
of those who speak neither language, the two sound
frustratingly similar.
Prior to the Empire, Orcishna used dozens of regional writing
systems, all of which were slowly codified into a common
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logographic script still in use today. Orcishna can also be written
phonetically using the Imperial script, but many orcs consider
Imperial poorly suited to Orcishna’s subtleties of expression.
Sign Languages
Sign languages have existed for as long as all other forms of
natural language, arising alongside — and in many cases,
predating — countless spoken lineage languages, regional
languages, and local languages. Sign languages can make use
of facial expressions, hand gestures, and body movements,
creating complex grammars and morphologies only sometimes
related to the spoken languages alongside which they evolved.
Sign languages are common in all cultures, from village sign
originating in small communities, to more widespread regional
sign languages, to a number of sign languages whose use over
millennia has seeded them across the world. Sign languages
trace their earliest origins to communities needing alternatives
to spoken language — including settlements in which deaf folk
were common, and areas in which certain of the old gods
demanded silence of their worshipers. Over time, sign
languages grew and prospered among ancient folk seeking
generalized ways to communicate across cultures and other
languages in a nonauditory fashion. This included countless
peoples whose cultures arose and flourished while needing to
stay inconspicuous in monster-haunted realms — a description
covering virtually all the world at different points in history.
In concert with the thousands of regional and local spoken
languages that can be found in a campaign, different regions
and local areas have their own sign languages as well, as
determined by the GM. But the nine most widespread sign
languages, many of which are lineage languages in their own
right, are used by folk across all lands and cultures.
Bruul
The sign language known as Bruul is thought to have been
coexistent to the now-lost root language from which Essar and
Orcishna both split off long ago, as suggested in the degree to
which Bruul’s grammar shares elements with both those
languages. Folk fluent in spoken Essar or Orcishna can’t
understand the other language despite their shared evolution,
but with Bruul widespread in lands where essaruks and orcs
were historically common, that sign language was often used as
a means of translation between essaruk and orc cultures with no
other common speech.
Draynar
Commonly known in Imperial as “Drow Sign,” this language was
created by the elf clans whose subterranean empire once
stretched beneath the world-continent. Featuring broad
physical motion meant to be recognizable at the far edge of
darkvision range, Draynar is also used by the folk of many
subterranean cultures whose people traded with or were
dominated by the drow empire before its fall.
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
Halfsign
Even as the Halfling language was codified from hundreds of
local halfling languages from across the world through the
Imperial age, a signed version of that language grew and was
shaped alongside it. Like Halfling, Halfsign is infused with
hundreds of dialects, and is thus noteworthy for the number of
synonymic signs it possesses for most common concepts, and
161

for incorporating more lip- and mouth-reading into its linguistic
markers than many sign languages.
Ilaeratha
Ilaeratha is thought to have originated among the wood elves of
the east, born from the village sign languages of isolated
enclaves with strong populations of deaf folk, and evolving to
create a rich language that could reflect both the beauty and
the silence of the elves’ great forest realms. Used by and
evolved among elven folk and cultures across the world,
Ilaeratha is known for its delicate and complex hand and finger
movements, and for its close grammatical relationship to written
and spoken Ilvani.
Imperial Sign
Over the same centuries in which the Imperial trade language
evolved from the older languages of Lothela, a sign language
common in that region was chosen to be a standard nonspoken
language of the Empire, and named Imperial Sign. The
development of Imperial Sign was driven by a number of deaf
members of the Imperial court of those days, and popularized
by its use among the ambassadors of that court and the soldiers
of the Imperial Guard as they traveled across the world. Focused
on hand movements and finger signs, Imperial Sign is commonly
used in all former lands of the Lothelecan.
Kiarlex
Thought to have originated in the oldest underground realms of
the kobolds, Kiarlex is built on a complex morphemic structure
in which simple symbols are built into words that function as full
sentences. Like many aspects of kobold culture, Kiarlex is said to
have been first taught to those folk by dragons, and many
contemporary dragons use it — especially those who travel
among other peoples in worldborn form. Like the spoken
Draconic language, Kiarlex is closely associated with arcane
magic, and has long been used to record and share magical
theory and spellcraft.
Mairnash
Created by the dwarves, this sign language was first known in
predominantly dwarven lands and subterranean realms within
the sphere of dwarven trading. It incorporates broad
movements visible at a distance, features an especially rich
vocabulary relating to art and crafting, and has deep
connections to extensive traditions of visual storytelling.
Mairnash can be written in Dwargiir runes or the Imperial script
adopted for spoken Dwargiir, allowing relatively easy translation
of signed, spoken, and written works.
Norlhen
The goblins are said to have had a rich sign language that
predated the first writing in the oldest root languages of spoken
Golbrhen. The rich lexicon of Norlhen has absorbed much from
the various dialects of Golbrhen over centuries, making it a
popular option for communication between golbrhenee folk
whose accents and idioms render their own individual versions
of spoken Golbrhen difficult to parse.
Spellsign
Spellsign is known for the complexity of its predominantly
finger-based signs, and for the speed with which those complex
signs can transmit information. Its symbolic roots have
connections to the complex somatic components used by
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arcane casters, though no knowledge of magic is necessary to
use Spellsign, and it remains less popular than Kiarlex for
recording magical lore.
Special Languages
In addition to the regional languages, lineage languages, and
sign languages in common use among the various worldborn
lines, a number of other languages can be found across
Isheridar. Most special languages are rare, and predominantly
used by even rarer creatures. Some have connections to magic,
the forgotten past of the world, or realms beyond the material.
And many feature a combination of signed and spoken forms
that can be used independently or combined as a single mode
of expression.
Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran
Elementals and other creatures use four languages built around
both sound and movement-based signing, all of which have an
innate magical connection to elemental power. Aquan is used
by creatures with a connection to elemental water, Auran by air-
connected creatures, Ignan by fire-connected creatures, and
Terran by earth-connected creatures. Those names are the
Imperial descriptives given to the four elemental languages,
which are all unique among languages in having no word to
describe themselves.
Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran are magical in nature and
inherently learned by any elemental creatures who know them.
The cultures and societies of those creatures (at least in the
sense that the mortal lineages treat such things) are largely
monolithic, creating very little evolution and drift in the
elemental languages. The single exception to this is Aquan,
which has also long been used as a universal language of trade
and common culture by merfolk, aquatic elves, locathah,
sahuagin, and other peoples of the world’s seas, and which has
developed countless dialects and regional variations among
those folk.
The expressive version of each elemental language is unique,
and speaking or signing one language lends no ability to
understand or communicate in one of the other elemental
languages. When written, however, all these language use a
similar orthographic script system involving thousands of
different sigils, so that a creature able to read one language has
a partial understanding of the written form of the others.
Celestial
Celestial is a mundane but mystically flavored language tied to
the practice of animys life magic, and claimed by many pre-
Imperial cultures to be a language of the old gods. A scholarly
and dead language, Celestial has difficulty expressing many
real-world concepts, and is learned most often as a means of
translating historical and religious texts. Additionally, a number
of rare sapient creatures are said to know Celestial innately as a
product of channeling the raw power of life magic, and to use a
signed version of the language that remains all but unknown in
the world.
Druidic
The language of the druidan is a secret magical language that
can be learned and understood only by characters with the
Spellcaster (druidas) feat, as its eldritch nature involves a kind of
collective unconscious understanding threading through all
living things. Nonwritten Druidic is a combination of signed and
spoken components, either of which can be used independently
162

for full fluency, and with those signs making use of movement
patterns that tie to the traditions of crafting druidic talismans.
Druidic’s connection to magic means that its signs, sounds, and
written patterns often change even when repeating the same
concepts, creating a kind of cipher that can’t be understood or
translated by any creature not fluent in Druidic — even with the
use of magic such as comprehend languages.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Ethos Cant
Characters who channel a chosen ethos into a source of magical
power can automatically speak an Ethos Cant — a magical
language that connects all creatures magically bonded to the
chosen ethos. Each Ethos Cant is built on verbal and sign
components, and can be freely spoken using one, the other, or
both modes. It has no written form, though its verbal and signed
presentations can be approximated and written down using
other languages and scripts. Only creatures who have taken the
Driven Ethos feat for the appropriate alignment component can
understand an Ethos Cant. You can take Learn Language only
once for an Ethos Cant, reflecting that it has no variations or
dialects, and isn’t usable for exchanging complex information.
Chapter 10/Driven Ethos (376)
When you use an Ethos Cant, creatures who don’t share your
ethos can’t understand your speech or signs, translate it, or
recognize what ethos it is associated with, even with the use of
magic such as comprehend languages.
Magical and Natural
Druidic and the various Ethos Cants are magical languages by virtue
of their connection to the life magic threading through the world,
which makes them impossible to use or understand by creatures not
tied in to that magic. However, the ability to speak, sign, write, or
understand one of these languages remains a natural feature built
on a creature’s intrinsic understanding of magic. As such, that ability
can’t be dispelled, doesn’t radiate magic to a detect magic spell,
and functions in an antimagic field and similar effects.
Giant
The archaic language of the long-fallen titans who were the first
nondraconic rulers of Isheridar is the baseline on which the
contemporary language of the giants is built. Each giant lineage
has its own dialect of this communal spoken and signed
language, as do ogres, trolls, and many other folk whose culture
is at least partially defined when they were subjugated by the
giants millennia ago. Each dialect has its own name, and all
feature huge numbers of geographical and cultural variations
that often complicate the difficulty of understanding or
translating Giant. Likewise, the written versions of the languages
of the various giant lineages employ distinct but related scripts.
Khthonic
The native language of the khimereans comprises dozen of
dialects, all sharing a common lost root language. Those
dialects are used by specific types of fiends and followers of
distinct philosophies and political orders, and are sharply
divided by ancient lines that divide the khimereans into the
qhoragkri and the ubaizeth. However, knowledge of qhoragkri
Khthonic typically allows a creature to understand ubaizeth
Khthonic, and vice versa.
In addition to its use by Khimereans and other fiends, Khthonic
has long been a common language among subterranean folk
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and cultures touched by Khimerean corruption or conquest. It is
built around signed and spoken components, and can be fully
used in either mode. When written, Khthonic uses a wide range
of related but subtly different scripts and symbologies, making it
one of the hardest languages to fully master.
Codes and Cants
In addition to any widespread languages they know, characters
might invest time and effort into learning mundane secret
languages in either spoken or signed form, commonly known as
cants. Such coded languages are popular among thieves’ guilds,
societies of assassins, secret military orders, and other organizations
whose members need to engage in open communication without
revealing the details of what is being spoken, signed, or set down.
One cant might be relatively widespread, as with a thieves’ cant
studied by the members of a powerful thieves’ guild spread across
multiple nations and hundreds of cities. Another might be known
only to a single battalion of elite soldiers with a dire need for
secrecy.
Using a code or cipher to conceal information in a written message,
or employing simple code phrases or word substitution in speech or
signing, is a different and simpler process than using a cant, and is
typically handled by Investigation skill checks. A cant is a complete
language, whether created by usage over time (for example, a
specific cultural group employing secret slang that eventually
evolves into a de facto language all its own) or crafted for specific
purpose. Cants are typically built around the grammar of existing
languages, both spoken and signed, but are drastically modified by
complex substitutions, words and syntax borrowed from other
languages and given different meanings, the creation of a complete
dictionary of artificial words and phrases, and other convoluted
linguistic measures.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126)
Learning a cant takes as much effort as learning any other language,
represented by the need to invest 1 feat slot in Learn Language for
the cant. But once a cant is learned, a character speaking, signing,
or writing in that cant can pass on information that is unknowable to
anyone not fluent in the same cant, or without the use of magic such
as the comprehend languages spell. A character can’t make an
Investigation check to glean information from speech, signing, or
writing in an unknown language unless they are familiar with a
related language — and cants are typically designed so as to be
related to no other languages.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
To learn a cant, a character must have access to someone willing to
teach the cant, or a good amount of recorded material making use
of the cant with appropriate translation. As a rule, however, those
who employ a cant go to great lengths to ensure that knowledge of
the cant is never shared.
Sylvan
Sylvan is a magical language known innately by all fey creatures,
and which is often learned by other creatures who dwell near fey
realms. It features numerous variant dialects of speech and
signing spread among the various lineages of the fey, but the
magical nature of the language means that fey can easily
understand each other. Other folk communicating with or
translating the fey typically have more difficulty, and non-fey
creatures whose native language is Sylvan often employ
strangely flavored variants of the language. Moreover, fey must
often use complex constructions when describing objects and
events not of the fey realms.
The written form of Sylvan is known instinctively by all Sylvan
folk — even those who have never had reason to read or write it.
163
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The sweeping script of written Sylvan bears a striking

resemblance to the Ilvani script, though Sylvan and Ilvani have Languages of Other Lines
no linguistic or orthographic connection to each other. As such, The lineage languages of the worldborn folk have spread across the
some speculate that the concept of writing might first have world with the migrations and explorations of those worldborn
been borrowed by the ancient ilvani from the fey, perhaps peoples and their cultures. But countless other lines of sapient
feeding into the common but erroneous sense of a connection creatures have their own languages, from relatively common folk
between the elves and the fey folk. such as trolls and ayrluhkals, to rarely seen creatures such as
aboleths and jraals. Such languages are typically unrelated to the
common languages of the world, or splintered off from other
WIDESPREAD LANGUAGES
languages so long ago that no effective connection between them
Language Common Users Alphabet remains. As such, they often have their own unique alphabets,
Imperial, Folk of former Imperial states Imperial though many sapient creatures who engaged or traded with the
Imperial Sign and those who traded with the Empire of the Lothelecan adopted alternative writing systems using
Empire the Imperial script.
Aquan Water-connected elemental Aquan
creatures
Auran Air-connected elemental Auran
creatures
Bruul Essaruks, Orcs —
Celestial Animysts, creatures channeling Celestial
life magic
Draconic Arcanists, dragons, kobolds, Draconic
lizardfolk
Draynar Elves, folk of underground —
realms
Druidic Druidan only Druidic
Dwargiir Dwarves Dwargiir, Imperial
Essar Essaruks Essar (logographic and
script)
Ethos Cant Characters of a specific ethos —
Giant Giants Giant (distinct versions)
Gnomyha Gnomes Gnomyha
Golbrhen Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears Golbrhen
Halfling Halflings Halfling (variant
versions), Imperial
Halfsign Halflings —
Ignan Fire-connected elemental Ignan
creatures
Ilaeratha Elves Ilvani
Ilvani Elves Ilvani
Kiarlex Arcanists, dragons, kobolds Draconic
Khthonic Khimereans, other fiends, folk of Khthonic
subterranean realms
Mairnash Dwarves, folk of subterranean Dwargiir, Imperial
realms
Norlhen Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears —
Orcishna Orcs Orc
Spellsign Arcane casters —
Sylvan Fey Sylvan
Terran Earth-connected elemental Terran
creatures

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 Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring

Language Feats
The following feat grants a character fluency and special insight
into the languages used in the campaign.

Learn Language
Through study and training, you master one of the countless
languages of the world.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You learn a new language, which you understand in all
its local everyday forms. When you learn a language, you can
partially understand other languages related to the language
(including complex, scholarly, or archaic forms) as the GM
determines.
A character who takes Learn Language (Ilvani) knows how
to speak, understand, read, and write the common form of
the Ilvani language. But the character would have trouble
understanding nonlocal dialects of Ilvani, and reading
archaic or scholarly Ilvani texts.
A character who takes Learn Language (Imperial Sign)
understands how to sign with that language as it is used in
the area where they learned it. But traveling far afield into
other former territories of the Empire might bring them into
contact with slightly different dialects of that language,
making it more difficult, though never impossible, to
communicate.
Starting Languages: A starting character gains three bonus feat
slots with which to take Learn Language, typically using those
feat slots to learn Imperial, the character’s regional language,
and the character’s lineage language. A player can work with the
GM to have their character gain an additional bonus feat slot to
take Learn Language if doing so fits the character’s story.
Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
Each time you do so, you take it for a different language.
You can take this feat up to three times for a chosen language.
Each time you do so, you increase your ability to understand,
translate, or communicate in the chosen language.
Fluency and Language sidebar
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Fluency and Language

Having Learn Language ×1 means that a character is fully fluent in a
language, but only in the dialects that are local to the area in which
the character was exposed to the language or regularly practiced it.
The character can easily comprehend common speech, signing, or
writing, but has difficulty understanding other languages only
related to the chosen language. They also have no chance of
understanding advanced scholarly texts, archaic speech or writing,
unusual signing variations, and so forth.
With Learn Language ×2, a character can speak or sign,
comprehend, read, and write all common forms of a language, and
has partial understanding of other languages related to it. However,
they won’t be fluent in complex and scholarly forms of the language,
and might not fully understand rare regional dialects.
With Learn Language ×3, a character can speak, sign, comprehend,
read, and write complex and scholarly forms of a language, and can
understand all its forms, related languages, and regional dialects.

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 Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring

Local Movement (Feet/Minute)2

Movement — Speed —
Movement during the campaign works on many different scales, 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
and can be tracked in different ways depending on the needs of Walk 120 180 240 300 360 420 480 540 600
the players. If your character undertakes a weeks-long journey 240 360 480 600 720 840 960 1,080 1,200
Run (×2)
trekking through inhospitable wilderness or sailing in search of a 360 540 720 900 1,080 1,260 1,440 1,620 1,800
Run (×3)
mysterious island, you track the distance of the journey in miles
or leagues. While tracking down a target in the city, you might
measure your movement in hours, not caring about the specifics Overland Movement (Miles/Hour)3
of distance. While the game is in initiative, you might measure — Speed —
each step of advance and retreat, calculating your movement 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
foot by foot and round by round. 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Walk
No matter what the scale of your character’s journey, all Run (×2) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
movement follows a consistent set of rules. 3 4.5 6 7.5 9 10.5 12 13.5 15
Run (×3)

Many Leagues to Go Overland Movement (Miles/Day)4

A league is the standard unit of long-distance measurement in
— Speed —
Isheridar, approximately equal to 3 miles or 5 kilometers.
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
5 7.5 10 12.5 15 17.5 20 22.5 25
Speed Walk
Run (×2) 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
All creatures have a speed, which describes their default means
1. Tactical movement can also be measured in squares on a tactical map,
of motion on land — walking, rolling, slithering, skittering, with 1 square = 5 feet.
sliding, and so forth. Some creatures also have burrowing 2. Assumes a double-move pace (two move actions per turn).
speeds, climbing speeds, flying speeds, or swimming speeds 3. Hourly overland movement rates represent straight-line distance
representing other forms of movement. along open trails and roads on flat or low-grade terrain. Travelling in
A badger has a speed of 30 feet and a burrowing speed of 10 more challenging terrain reduces the speed of overland movement.
feet. A young gold dragon has a speed of 40 feet, a flying speed 4. Daily overland movement rates represent distance traveled on a map,
of 80 feet, and a swimming speed of 40 feet. All of a creature’s and reduce the rate of “straight-line” travel to factor in terrain
speeds represent the distance they can travel at a usual pace as conditions, weather, elevation and grade, regular stops to rest and
a move action, letting them move at that pace in 1 round while eat, and other factors.
also undertaking other activities. Overland Movement (170); Terrain (170)

Chapter 5/Actions (83)

For a player character, speed depends on your lineage, any Tactical Movement
lineage traits or feats you’ve taken that increase your speed, and You use tactical movement for time-sensitive scenarios
how much gear you carry. (including combat) where tracking time round by round is
• Gnomes, goblins, halflings, and kobolds have a speed of 20 important, and where the distance you move each round is
feet. critical to keeping you away from threats — or putting you into
position to destroy those threats.
• Bugbears, dwarves, elves, essaruks, hobgoblins, humans,
lizardfolk, and orcs have a speed of 30 feet. Tactical movement is measured by the number of feet you can
• The fleet lineage trait and the Fast Movement feat both move as a move action. The number of move actions you can
increase a character’s speed by 5 feet. take in a round then determines the total distance you can
move.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Movement Feats (173)
An effect that increases a creature’s speed doesn’t also increase
Open and Occupied Spaces
An open space is any area that doesn’t contain any creature or
their burrowing speed, climbing speed, flying speed, or
object large enough to make it impractical for you to occupy the
swimming speed unless the effect specifies that it affects all
same space at the same time. This includes areas occupied by
speeds.
other creatures close to your size or larger, areas filled by
magical effects that can be felt, areas filled by furniture, pillars,
MOVEMENT AND DISTANCE or natural features such as boulders, and so forth.
Tactical Movement (Feet/Move Action)1 When you move, it is always assumed that you are moving
— Speed — through open spaces. If you move through an occupied space,
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 that space might be considered difficult terrain or treated as an
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 obstacle.
Full Move
Shift 5 7 10 12 15 17 20 22 25 Difficult Terrain; Obstacles
Run (×2) 10 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 You must end your move in an open space. If a creature tries to
Run (×3) 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 end their movement in a space filled with an obstacle where
40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 they’re not allowed to stop, they move back to the last open
Run (×4)
space they were in before the obstacle’s space. Certain rules in

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the game talk about needing to end your movement in an open
space, including effects that let you teleport.
Appendix A/Teleportation (A7)
Tactical Map
A tactical map is a large-scale map — either a prepared
cartographer’s map or an impromptu map prepared by the GM —
divided into squares that represent 5 feet of distance. As the name
suggests, a tactical map can be useful for encounters where precise
positioning is important to the characters’ tactics, whether the
encounter is a full-on battle with a pack of ghouls in a nighttime
graveyard, or a social encounter where the movement and position
of NPCs is important to a party’s goals.
When playing out encounters without a tactical map, the players
communicate information regarding their characters’ positions while
the GM tracks the movement of foes, NPCs, and other creatures.
When movement issues arise (including questions of whether an
enemy can move far enough to attack a character, or vice versa), the
GM and the players discuss and resolve such issues. All the rules in
this book are written for encounters that play out without a tactical
map, and the Campaign Handbook has more information for the
GM about running games this way.
Using a tactical map allows movement in a location to be directed
with more precision, but a tactical map doesn’t need to be used for
every location or encounter. Some groups like to use a tactical map
only for climactic encounters, or for encounters taking place in a
location with complex environmental features. But just as many
groups like to use a tactical map for all locations, because being
able to perceive a location in detail and move miniature figures or
tokens within that location helps bring an encounter to life.
Throughout this book, a number of “Tactical Map” sidebars like this
one present optional rules for playing out scenes and encounters on
a gridded map.
Walking
A creature can move their speed as a move action. This full
move is the most basic part of tactical movement, and is the
movement that your character will most often make while the
game is in initiative. A full move is often accompanied by a
standard action — making an attack, casting a spell, activating a
magic item, and so on.
A creature who gives up their standard action to take a second
move action can make two full moves equaling twice their
speed. A creature who moves twice each turn is moving at a
quick walking pace — just over 4 miles per hour for a creature
with a speed of 30 feet.
Shifting
As a move action, a creature can shift at half their speed to
allow them to focus on things other than moving. Shifting
instead of making a full move allows you to avoid opportunity
attacks that would otherwise be provoked by your movement.
(You can still trigger opportunity attacks for things you do while
you’re shifting, such as casting a spell or making a ranged
attack.) Shifting also lets you make more than one attack on your
turn if you have the ability to do so.
Chapter 9/Multiple Attacks (296); Opportunity Attacks (299)
Running
When a creature uses a move action to make a full move, they
can increase their speed by making an Endurance check to run
as they move. A creature who runs at 2 × their speed moves at
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
fast jogging pace — about 8 miles per hour for a creature with a
speed of 30 feet. A creature who runs at 3 × their speed moves
at a fast long-distance running pace — about 12 miles per hour.
A creature who runs at 4 × their speed moves at a fast sprinting
pace — about 16 miles per hour for a creature with a speed of
30 feet.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Tactical Map — Half Speed
[All of the “Tactical Map” sidebars will eventually have useful
graphics to go with them.]
If a creature has a speed not evenly divisible by 2, that creature’s
movement at half speed (from crawling, shifting, difficult terrain, and
so forth) doesn’t convert easily to movement on a tactical map. For
example, a goblin with a speed of 25 feet (5 squares) who shifts or
moves through difficult terrain moves 2.5 squares.
This uneven movement can be accommodated by having creatures
round their half-speed movement down, then use the remaining half
square of movement for their next move, if applicable. So the goblin
above could shift 2 squares or move through 2 squares of difficult
terrain with one move action, then make the same type of
movement for 3 squares with their next move action (either on the
same turn or in their next turn). A creature loses any unused
movement if they don’t make the same type of reduced movement
as their next move.
Other Speeds
Creatures who have a burrowing speed, a climbing speed, a
flying speed, or a swimming speed can move at their full speed
for that mode of movement, and don’t usually make skill checks
for that movement. A creature without a climbing speed or a
swimming speed can climb or swim at half their speed, and
usually needs to make Acrobatics or Endurance checks to do so.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Endurance (118)
You can’t fly without having a flying speed, which specifies how
fast you can move, whether you can hover, and whether you can
run while flying. Certain spells and magic items can grant
creatures a flying speed.
Aerial Movement (172)
Chapter 6/Run (118)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Magic Items (ch. 2)
A creature can’t burrow without having a burrowing speed,
which specifies how fast they can move and whether they can
leave a tunnel behind them when burrowing. Most creatures
with a burrowing speed can move only through dirt and other
soft substances, but some can burrow through rock and solid
stone. Certain spells and magic items can grant creatures a
burrowing speed.
Just as a character moving along the ground might make an
Acrobatics check to move through a maze or an area of difficult
terrain at full speed, a creature with a burrowing speed, a
climbing speed, a swimming speed, or a flying speed might
need to make skill checks to cover complicated movement or
moving while avoiding hazards.
Crawling
As a move action, a creature can crawl to move along the
ground, usually either because they can’t stand up or because
they’re trying to avoid danger or stay unobserved. A creature
crawls at half their speed.
167

Righting From Prone
If you go prone, returning to a usual upright position is done as
part of your movement and expends some of that movement
depending on your size. (Tiny or smaller creatures need to
expend no movement to right themselves from prone, so can
do so as a free action.)
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Size Movement
Tiny or smaller —
Small 5 feet
Medium 10 feet
Large 15 feet
Huge 20 feet
Gargantuan 25 feet
Colossal 30 feet
Because righting yourself is part of your movement, if you are
within reach of any enemy’s melee attack, you trigger
opportunity attacks from those enemies if you right yourself as
part of a full move. If you do so as part of a shift, you don’t
trigger opportunity attacks for righting yourself or for any
subsequent movement you make as part of the same shift.
Chapter 9/Opportunity Attacks (299)
A Large ogre warrior has a speed of 30 feet, then is slowed
to reduce his speed to 15 feet. Because shifting doesn’t
give him enough movement to stand, the warrior must
make a full move to stand, potentially provoking
opportunity attacks.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
If you don’t have enough movement to right yourself when
prone, you can use all of a move action to stand. You can
decrease the amount of movement it takes to right yourself by
taking the Swift Stand feat.
Movement Feats (173)
Tactical Map — Diagonal Movement
A creature moving 1 square horizontally or vertically on a tactical
map moves 5 feet. A creature moving 1 square diagonally moves
approximately one-and-a-half times as far. To track this distance,
when moving diagonally, count the first diagonal square as 1 square,
the second as 2 squares, the third as 1, the fourth as 2, and so on.
A creature can’t move diagonally if doing so takes them past a
square completely filled with a solid obstacle, such as the corner of
a corridor or a large pillar. A creature can move diagonally past a
square containing a smaller object or a creature (including an
opponent). At the GM’s determination, a creature can move
diagonally past a square containing an obstacle that can be hopped
over (such as a low barrier or a pit), but might need to make an
Acrobatics or Athletics check to do so.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Athletics (112)
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
Skill Checks and Movement
When you make a skill check that allows you to move in an
unusual way, including making an Acrobatics check to climb or
an Endurance check to swim, your movement is reduced to half
speed. If you shift while engaging in one of those forms of
movement (to avoid opportunity attacks when climbing past a
monstrous spider in their web, to make more than one attack
while fighting underwater, and so forth) you move at half your
already-reduced speed.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Endurance (118)
Difficult Terrain
Difficult terrain includes such things as mud, loose gravel, heavy
undergrowth, and any other environmental effect that can slow
a creature down. Each 5 feet of difficult terrain a creature moves
through costs 5 extra feet of movement.
An animyst takes on a pack of ghouls in a crypt whose floor
is strewn with bones. The bones are difficult terrain, so that
each 5 feet any of the combatants move costs 10 feet of
movement. If the animyst has a speed of 30, she can move
only 15 feet with a move action in the crypt, and can shift
only 7.5 feet.
Flying and incorporeal creatures are usually not hindered by
difficult terrain.
Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)
Tactical Map — Difficult Terrain
On a tactical map, each square of difficult terrain counts as 2
squares of movement. Each diagonal move into a difficult terrain
square counts as 3 squares, the same as 2 squares of diagonal
movement usually do.
Combining Difficult Terrain
Being forced to move carefully at half speed allows a creature to
overcome the effects of difficult terrain no matter what its source. As
such, the effects of different types of difficult terrain don’t add
together. If an area of loose rubble is difficult terrain, the same area
coated in wet snow or obscured by fog doesn’t slow a creature
down even more.
Squeezing
In some cases, a creature might need to squeeze through an
area that isn’t wide enough for them to move comfortably. A
creature can squeeze through a space that is just barely wide
enough for their body, but when they do, they move at half
speed and are weakened.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
At the GM’s determination, a creature can attempt an
Acrobatics/escape check to force themself through a space
even narrower than their body.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
168

Tactical Map — Squeezing
On a tactical map, a creature needs to squeeze when moving
through any space that is half as wide as their usual space.
Chapter 9/Creature Size (264)
For Large and larger creatures who take up a space two or more
squares on each side on a tactical map, the creature’s miniature
figure or counter is centered in the area they squeeze into, and must
overlap any adjacent areas.
Observation and Movement
A creature who can’t observe the area around them (for example, a
sighted creature unable to see clearly) must move slowly or risk
striking obstacles or tripping. All areas that impose concealment or
total concealment on sighted creatures while within those areas
become difficult terrain. Additionally, any sighted creature in an area
featuring total concealment is treated as sight disoriented.
Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment (306)
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
As with some other types of difficult terrain, the GM might allow a
creature to move at full speed through areas they can’t observe at
the risk of tripping and falling, or of taking damage from striking
objects.
A thief fleeing from drow guards elects to move at full speed
through the magical darkness their foes cast to slow them down.
The GM decides that while moving through the darkness at full
speed, the thief must make a Reflex saving throw to avoid
tripping over rubble and going prone, and will be denied a saving
throw to avoid falling into a pit if they inadvertently blunder into
it.
Obstacles
Obstacles are specific hindrances to tactical movement, and can
include doors, low walls, boulders, furniture, and other large
objects. Some obstacles block movement entirely, preventing
creatures from moving through them. Other obstacles cost extra
movement for a character moving over or through them.
A scout is fleeing a cockatrice’s lair, with the creature hard
on her heels. Her escape route takes her through an
unlocked but latched door. Using her movement of 30 feet,
she can move 20 feet up to the door. It then takes an
additional 10 feet of movement to open the latched door,
completing her movement — and perhaps giving the fast-
moving cockatrice a chance to reach her.
The movement cost for an obstacle covers the movement
necessary to get onto or through it. If an obstacle is a surface
that is subsequently moved across, a creature must spend that
movement as usual. Some obstacles might also be difficult
terrain, costing extra movement to move across.
Difficult Terrain
A warrior fighting in a guard hall wants to attack a captain
standing on the opposite side of a 10-foot-wide table. The
table is a waist-high obstacle, which costs 5 extra feet of
movement to clamber onto. Moving onto and across the
table costs the warrior 15 feet of movement in total.
Some obstacles might also require a skill check to cross.
Adventurers fleeing a troglodyte war band decide to
clamber up and over a 6-foot-high ruined wall to escape
the troglodytes’ shortspear attacks. Crossing the wall
requires 15 extra feet of movement, in addition to an easy
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
Acrobatics check to clamber over it. A character who gets a
clear failure on the check might not be able get up and
over the wall, even if they have movement remaining.
Unless the GM determines otherwise, jumping down from an
obstacle costs no additional movement.
Flying and incorporeal creatures can avoid many obstacles.
Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)
COMMON OBSTACLES
Obstacle Movement Cost
Unlatched or broken door1 5 feet
Latched door1 10 feet
Furniture or rubble, knee height 5 feet
Furniture or rubble, waist height 10 feet
Furniture or rubble, chest height2 15 feet
1. Unlocked door. Doors that are locked must be unlocked or broken
open first.
2. Obstacles that are chest height or higher typically also require a skill
check to clamber onto.
Moving Through Creatures
You can move through a space occupied by a friendly creature,
but doing so slows you down. Spaces occupied by allies thus
count as difficult terrain. You usually treat enemies as obstacles,
so that you can’t move through a space occupied by an enemy
unless they are immobilized or unconscious, or you succeed on
an Acrobatics or Athletics check to dodge or push past them.
On a clear failure on such a check, you stop moving in the space
from which you tried to move past the enemy.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Athletics (112)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Very small and very big creatures are exceptions to the above
rule. A Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creature can move through any
occupied space, but they trigger opportunity attacks when
doing so. Any other creature can move through a space
occupied by a creature three or more size categories larger than
they are (for example, a Small creature moving through the
space of a Huge creature), typically by moving under them or
between their legs. A big creature can move through a space
occupied by a creature three size categories smaller than they
are (for example, a Gargantuan creature moving through the
space of a Medium creature) by simply stepping over the
creature.
Certain creatures, such as a gelatinous cube, completely fill the
spaces they occupy. You can’t move past such a creature except
by moving outside their space, regardless of size difference or
how you move.
Creature Compendium
You can’t end your movement in a space occupied by another
creature, whether an enemy or an ally, unless they are
immobilized or unconscious.
Local Movement
Outside of combat and similar situations, there’s usually no
need to track time round by round. However, it can be
important to know how long it takes characters to explore or
cross through a large area. Characters doing so use local
movement, measured in feet per minute.
169
 Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring

While moving minute-by-minute, a creature can run to increase TERRAIN AND OVERLAND MOVEMENT
their speed by ×2 or ×3 with a successful Endurance check.
Terrain Road Trail Trackless Example
Chapter 6/Endurance (118) Caverns ×1 ×1/2 ×1/4 Natural caves, tunnels,
passageways
Overland Movement Desert
Forest
×1
×1
×1/2
×1
×1/2
×1/2
Badlands, sandy wastes
Arboreal forest, rainforest, jungle
Characters covering long distances across open ground,
Hills ×1 ×3/4 ×1/2 Gentle rolling slopes
whether outdoors or in large underground cavern complexes,
Marsh ×1 ×3/4 ×1/2 Bog, swamp
use overland movement, measured in miles per hour or miles
Mountains ×3/4 ×3/4 ×1/2 Steep rocky slopes
per day. For traveling long distances or for reckoning distances
Plains ×1 ×1 ×3/4 Grassland, meadow, cultivated
between settlements and landmarks, overland movement is
farmland
often measured in leagues.
Scrubland ×1 ×1 ×3/4 Moors, tundra, rocky lowlands
Many Leagues to Go sidebar (166) Snow ×3/4 ×1/2 ×1/4 Seasonal, glaciers, frozen wastes
A day’s travel consists of 8 hours of travel time plus breaks and A road is a relatively smooth course suitable for foot, mounted,
resting as needed, but an all-day overland movement rate isn’t or large cart and wagon traffic. In settled lands, many roads are
simply a character’s hourly movement rate multiplied by 8. paved or graveled to prevent erosion and limit washouts and
Rather, all-day overland movement represents the distance a areas of mud in bad weather. In rural areas, the GM might treat
character can cover on a map in 1 day’s travel. It takes into roads as trails for the purpose of determining overland
account the typically twisting course of most roads and trails, movement rates.
the conditions of those roads and trails, hills, weather, the need
to occasionally push through difficult terrain (a shortcut through A trail is narrow track typically wide enough only for foot traffic,
a forest, a road reduced to mud by recent rain), and so on. mounted traffic, and the smallest carts and wagons. Movement
along a trail is slower than on a road because trails typically
Difficult Terrain feature more frequent stretches of difficult terrain, including
It’s possible to run at overland movement rates with a successful mud, washouts, fallen trees, and so on.
Endurance check, with a maximum increase to your speed of ×2. Trackless terrain includes any wild area with no trails or roads.
The changing nature of overland terrain (a combination of open Such terrain might feature paths made by worldborn or animals,
roads and slower grasslands, moving through occasional but such paths are useful only for guidance. They don’t increase
patches of difficult terrain, through a mix of clear trails and the speed at which a creature can move.
rough forest, and so forth) means that the GM typically calls for
Endurance/run checks each hour, with varying DCs.
Extended Overland Movement
Chapter 6/Endurance (118) In a typical day of overland movement, a creature is actively
moving for approximately 8 hours. The rest of the daylight time
Pursuit and Escape is spent making and breaking camp, resting, and eating.
When comparing two creatures’ speeds during a scenario in which A creature can travel for more than 8 hours in a day, but doing
one creature is being pursued by another, it’s impossible for a slow so takes a physical toll. For each hour of marching beyond 8
creature to get away from a determined fast creature. Likewise, it’s hours, the creature is weakened until they finish a long rest. A
no problem for a fast creature to get away from a slower one unless creature already weakened and at a d12 bane when they are
external factors affect the speed of one creature or another. weakened in this way instead takes a −1 penalty to their critical
When two creatures are moving at the same speed during a points.
relatively short chase, both make opposed Endurance/run checks to
determine who is the faster during the chase. If the creature being Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)
chased wins, they escape. If the pursuer wins, they catch the fleeing Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
creature. At the GM’s determination, a creature carrying an exceptional
Sometimes a chase occurs overland and could last all day, with the amount of weight (including a mount bearing a rider, or a pack
two sides only occasionally getting glimpses of each other at a animal bearing gear) is weakened every half hour of extended
distance. In the case of a long chase, the GM determines how often overland movement.
Endurance checks are made (typically once per hour).
Chapter 6/Endurance (118) Mounts and Vehicles
Characters traveling on horses and other mounts or in vehicles
Terrain pulled by draft animals use the overland movement rates for
those mounts or vehicles.
The terrain through which a character travels affects how much
overland distance they can cover in an hour or a day. When
moving through terrain of certain types, the distance traveled is
reduced as indicated.

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Overland Movement
Mount (carrying load)/Vehicle Speed Miles Miles
Per Hour1 Per Day2
Light horse or light warhorse3 60 6 30
Heavy horse or heavy warhorse3 50 5 25
Pony or warpony3 40 4 20
Donkey or mule3 30 3 15
Dog, riding3 40 4 20
Cart or wagon 30 3 15
1. Hourly overland movement rates represent straight-line distance
along open trails and roads on flat or low-grade terrain. Travelling in
more challenging terrain can limit overland movement.
2. Daily overland movement rates represent distance traveled on a map,
and reduce the rate of “straight-line” travel to factor in terrain
conditions, weather, elevation and grade, and other factors.
3. Movement rate for an unladen mount, carrying only a single
appropriately sized rider with light armor or no armor, and minimal
gear. A laden mount — including one carrying excessive gear or a
rider in medium or heavy armor — has its overland movement rate
reduced by half.

Terrain (170); Overland Movement (170)

Watercraft
Unlike for creatures moving on land, the water-based movement
of ships, boats, and other watercraft calculates daily open-water
movement rates as hourly open-water movement rates
multiplied by the number of hours over which a watercraft can
move.
For rowed watercraft, a day’s travel represents 10 hours of
rowing. For a sailing ship, a day represents 24 full hours as a ship
sails through the day and night. If a ship can’t travel by night, its
speed drops accordingly.

Open-Water Movement
Watercraft Miles Miles
Per Hour Per Day1
Barge (poled or towed)2 3 30
Canoe2 4 40
Canoe, outrigger (paddled) 5 50
Canoe, outrigger (sailed) 5 120
Keelboat (sailed)2 4 40
Longship (sailed) 8 190
Longship (rowed) 4 40
Rowboat2 4 40
Sailboat 5 120
Sailing ship (slow)3 2.5 60
Sailing ship (average)3 4 90
Sailing ship (fast)3 5 120
1. Maximum open-water movement rate, based on hourly movement
rate multiplied by 10 hours for rowed craft or 24 hours for sailing ships.
2. Barges, canoes, keelboats, and rowboats are used on lakes and rivers.
If going downstream, increase speed by 3 miles per hour to account
for the current. These vehicles can’t be rowed against any significant
current, but they can be pulled upstream by draft animals on the
shore at 3 miles per hour.
3. Smaller coastal craft or deep-water ships fully loaded with cargo
typically travel at a slow speed. Ships loaded with relatively light cargo
(including passenger ships) travel at an average speed. Empty cargo
ships, warships, and courier or exploratory ships typically travel at a
fast speed.

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Aerial Movement Ground-to-Air Distance

Characters exploring a city or fighting their way through a
forgotten temple typically track their movement only along the
ground. However, when adventurers engage flying creatures —
or use magic or flying mounts to take to the skies themselves —
movement becomes more complicated.
Moving In Three Dimensions
When a creature is in the air, standing on a rooftop or balcony, or
otherwise above the ground, calculating the distance between that
creature and another creature on the ground isn’t as easy as when
both creatures are on the ground. The height of one creature above
another creature adds to the linear distance between them, so that
a creature 100 feet away from you and 30 feet above you is more
than 100 feet away — and thus out of range of any attack or effect
with a range of only 100 feet.

Aerial movement is three-dimensional, and requires that each
creature track their height in addition to their position.
A creature’s flying speed is the speed at which they move more
or less horizontally — no more than 45 degrees up or down. If
ascending at an angle of more than 45 degrees, a creature’s
flying speed is halved. If descending at an angle of more than 45
degrees, a creature’s flying speed is doubled.
A creature with a flying speed can make an Endurance check to
run while flying, with a DC determined by the GM based on
wind conditions and surroundings. Flying at speed in open air in
good weather is relatively straightforward. Flying at speed in a
windstorm or while darting through treetops is more difficult.
Some magical flying effects limit the maximum speed that can
be attained by running.
Creature Compendium/Flying Creatures
Calculating the exact distance of a creature who is both away from
you and above you requires using the Pythagorean theorem, which
states that the linear distance is the square root of the horizontal
distance squared + the vertical distance squared. But you can
approximate the distance much more easily by taking the longer of
the horizontal or vertical distance and adding one-half of the shorter
distance.
A warrior on the ground makes a shortbow attack against a
wounded and fleeing wyvern, hoping to drop the predator before
they get out of range. At the moment of the shot, the wyvern is 60
feet away from the warrior and 30 feet in the air, giving an
approximate distance between them of 60 + 15 = 75 feet —
within the shortbow’s normal range of 80 feet.

Hovering and Minimum Flying Speed

Some flying creatures have the ability to hover, allowing them to
stay in one place while airborne. All other flying creatures must
maintain a minimum speed of one-half their flying speed
(including shifting while flying) to stay airborne. A flying creature
who can’t hover and fails to maintain that minimum speed on
their turn must land at the end of their movement. If they don’t,
they fall during their next turn.
A flying creature who doesn’t have the ability to hover can
attempt to do so with a DC 20 Acrobatics check. On a success,
the creature can hover until the end of their turn, but must move
or make another check to hover at the start of their next turn.
On a failure, the creature spends the next round falling, and can
continue their flying movement in the following round if they
don’t hit the ground.

Turns and Reversing

Flying creatures must typically turn while they move, following
an arcing path as opposed to making a sudden shift in direction.
Some flying creatures have the ability to turn more sharply,
whether creatures whose magical flight gives them precise
control over their movement, or creatures who can execute a
wingover maneuver to quickly reorient themselves in midair.
Flying creatures able to reverse can change direction while
using their flying speed, altering their course by anywhere up to
180 degrees. Some creatures can reverse their course while
flying without spending any movement, but most creatures must
shorten their move by a particular amount when they reverse on
their turn.
A flying creature who doesn’t have the ability to reverse can
attempt to do so with a successful DC 15 Acrobatics check. On a
success, the creature spends 10 feet of movement and can
change course anywhere up to 180 degrees. On a failure, the
creature spends the next round falling, and can continue their
flying movement in the following round if they don’t hit the
ground.

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Movement Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to improve their base
movement or expand their movement options.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to movement but has its full write-
up in that other section.

Controlled Fall
You twist in midair to land upright and reduce the impact of a
deadly fall.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: As long as you are not immobilized, restrained, or
unconscious, you treat any fall as if you had intentionally
jumped. You have advantage on Acrobatics/agility checks to
reduce the damage you take from a fall, and you don’t go prone
when you land unless you take enough damage from the fall to
leave you dying.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Fast Movement
You move at a fast pace both in and out of combat.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: Your speed increases by 5 feet.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing your
speed by a maximum 15 feet.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Repositioning Strike
Your well-timed movement gives your ally the opportunity to
improve their position.
Chapter 9/Combat Style Feats (303)

Swift Stand
You have an instinct for quickly reorienting yourself when
upended.
Prerequisites: Strength 13+.
Benefit: When you are prone, it costs you 5 feet less movement
than usual to right yourself.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Righting From Prone (168)

Unfettered Movement
Your intrinsic knowledge of your terrain allows you to move
freely within it.
Environment and Terrain Feats (178)

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concealment and making such creatures sight disoriented while

Observation and Awareness in darkness. Such creatures can’t observe their surroundings in
darkness, but might remain aware of those surroundings
In many places, including combat and spellcasting, the rules talk
through hearing, touch, or scent.
about whether a creature can observe other creatures and
objects around them, or whether they are aware of creatures Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
and objects around them.
Observing creatures or objects means that you can perceive Low-Light Vision and Darkvision
them directly, as with sight or clearsense. When you observe a Creatures with low-light vision and darkvision are exceptions to
creature, you know their exact location relative to you, and you the above rules. Creatures with low-light vision (including elf,
can directly assess their physical presence (knowing their size, essaruk, gnome, and orc characters) can see in dim light or
what they wear, what gear they carry openly, and so forth). shadow as though it were bright light, allowing them to see fully
Appendix A/Clearsense (A2) outdoors under moonlight and starlight, to read by candlelight,
and so on. They ignore concealment caused by dim light and
Being aware of creatures or objects means that you can shadow, and a creature who has concealment only from dim
perceive them only indirectly, as with hearing or tremorsense. light or shadow can’t hide from a creature with low-light vision.
When you are aware of a creature, you know they’re somewhere
in the area around you, but you don’t know their exact location Appendix A/Low-Light Vision (A6)
and can only guess as to their physical presence (judging their Creatures with darkvision (including bugbear, dwarf, goblin,
size by their footsteps, and so forth). hobgoblin, and kobold characters) can see in bright light, and
Appendix A/Tremorsense (A7) can also see in dim light, shadow, or natural darkness within 60
feet of them. A creature who has concealment only from dim
Although sight and clearsense are the primary senses by which light, shadow, or darkness can’t hide within 60 feet of a creature
creatures and objects can be observed, other senses might with darkvision.
allow observation if those senses can be made accurate enough.
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
An arcanist in magical darkness can’t see a bezekira
stalking him, with that fiend’s darkvision functioning even in
magical darkness. But if the bezekira walks across a field of Light Sources
broken glass, the player and the GM might decide that the The “Light Sources and Illumination” table shows the lighting
sound of the fiend’s movement is loud and precise enough effect of the most common light sources an adventurer might
to allow the arcanist to target the bezekira with a spell. use. The “Bright” entry for a light source indicates the central
radius out to which it casts bright light. The “Dim” entry
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
indicates the additional radius out to which a light source sheds
When the bezekira then grapples the arcanist, the arcanist’s dim light beyond the range of its bright light. For example, the
sense of touch lets him observe the fiend’s location, full range of a hooded lantern is 60 feet, made up of bright light
allowing the bezekira to be targeted by touch-range spells over the 30 feet closest to the lantern, then dim light for another
or ranged spells. 30 feet.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
LIGHT SOURCES AND ILLUMINATION
Light and Vision Object Bright Dim Duration
By default, sighted creatures use vision to observe the world Candle —1 5-ft. radius 1 hour
around them. But different types of vision mean that sighted Evenlamp2 20-ft. radius 20 ft. 3 days
creatures can view the world in different ways. Lamp, common 15-ft. radius 15 ft. 6 hours3
Lantern, bullseye4 60-ft. cone 60 ft. 6 hours3
All sighted creatures can see in bright light, which includes
Lantern, hooded 30-ft. radius 30 ft. 6 hours3
outdoor daylight conditions under clear or cloudy skies, or the
Sunrod 30-ft. radius 30 ft. 6 hours
light shed closest to a torch, lantern, open fire, or magical light
Torch 20-ft. radius 20 ft. 1 hour
source. Bright light makes it impossible to hide from sighted
creatures unless a hiding creature has some means of becoming Spell Bright Dim Duration
unobserved (including being invisible or having cover). Continual flame 20-ft. radius 20 ft. 1 day/caster level
Dancing lights 20-ft. radius 20 ft. (each) 1 minute
Chapter 6/Stealth (140) (torches) (each)
Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment (306)
Light 20-ft. radius 20 ft. 10 minutes
Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)
Greater light 60-ft. radius 60 ft. 10 minutes/caster level
Dim light or shadow includes outdoor daylight conditions Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
shrouded by heavy storm clouds, outdoor night conditions with
1. A candle doesn’t provide bright light, only dim light.
ample starlight and moons-light, shadow cast by large objects,
2. Magical evenlamps are created with the continual flame spell.
or the light shed at a distance by a torch, lantern, open fire, or
3. Duration is per pint of oil burned.
magical light source. Many sighted creatures can see only faintly
4. A bullseye lantern illuminates a cone that is a total 120 feet long and
in an area of dim light, granting concealment throughout the
120 feet across where it fades to darkness.
area and making it possible to hide from such creatures.
Darkness is the absence of any light, including outdoor night
conditions under heavy storm clouds, mine shafts and caverns
deep underground, and sealed chambers with no windows.
Many sighted creatures can’t see in darkness, granting total

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Environment and Terrain
Environmental features — whether natural, unnatural, or shaped
by creatures — play a part in many adventures, from travels
through trackless wilderness, to excursions into long-lost ruins,
to mysteries unearthed in the heart of the world’s largest cities.
Wild Terrain
Nine types of terrain cover different aspects of the natural world,
and might come into play whenever characters explore the
wilderness or travel between settlements in populated lands.
Aquatic
Aquatic terrain includes all broad areas of open water, from
large rivers to lakes and seas. For most characters, aquatic
terrain covers only the surface of a body of water, but other
creatures — and many adventures — can be found beneath that
surface.
Caverns
Cavern terrain encompasses expansive areas of natural caves,
tunnels, and passageways in an underground environment.
Desert
Desert terrain covers all areas whose dominant feature is heat
and a lack of rainfall, including sandy wastes and rocky
badlands.
Forest
Forest terrain encompasses any area whose dominant feature is
large trees, including arboreal forests, rainforests, and jungles.
Hills
Hill terrain refers to broad areas where gentle rolling slopes are
the dominant terrain feature. Areas of hills covered by other
terrain types often use the features of those terrains.
Marsh
Marsh terrain covers low-lying wetlands that are regularly or
continually flooded, including bogs and swamps.
Mountains
Mountain terrain includes areas of high elevation dominated by
steep rocky slopes. Where such areas include mountain
meadows, terraced farmland, or dense forest, they might use
the features of plains or forest terrain.
Plains
Plains terrain covers any broad, relatively flat area of grassland,
meadow, or cultivated farmland.
Scrubland
Scrubland terrain includes areas dominated by low levels of
plant growth because of climate or poor soil, including moors,
tundra, and rocky lowlands.
Snow
Snow terrain covers areas dominated by ice and snow, whether
seasonally (in which case, snow terrain overrides an area’s usual
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
terrain type) or permanently (including glaciers and frozen
wastes).
Settled Terrain
In contrast to wild terrain, settled terrain covers areas where
development and settlement become the dominant factor in
how characters interact with the environment.
Ruins
Ruins cover any location (or the remains of such a location)
created by sapient creatures but no longer settled in an
organized fashion. A castle long-abandoned by its builders is a
ruin, as is a settlement destroyed by war or natural disaster, or a
series of unoccupied subterranean dungeon halls roamed by
packs of fell creatures or used as a trade route by duergar and
drow.
Creature Compendium
Urban
Urban terrain includes all settlements where the inhabitants
number more than 1,000 (any community of small town size or
larger). Except in warded terrain, smaller settlements are treated
as if the local wild terrain remains the dominant environment,
working with the sense of settlers dwelling within the wilds as
opposed to reshaping the wilds to suit their purposes.
Warded
Warded terrain covers any location settled and protected by
sapient creatures in an organized fashion. A well-defended keep
or walled village in frontier lands, a castle in the heart of a town
or city, a heavily fortified underwater sahuagin lair, or a desolate
dungeon defended by dwarf cultists on guard against incursion
are all warded terrain.
Using Terrain
In some cases, terrain types overlap with each other, or an area
might include features from different terrain types. While the
characters are staying in a city, the GM might use the
surrounding terrain to determine changes in the weather.
Likewise, an expansive glacier might receive little or no
precipitation, so that GM might treat the overall area as a
combination of snow terrain and desert.
For an area to be considered as a certain type of terrain, that
terrain must dominate the area to a degree determined by the
GM. For example, a wide swath of woods that interrupts the
prairie is likely forest terrain, especially if the woods are home to
creatures not found in the surrounding plains. But the GM is
unlikely to treat a small orchard set in the middle of farmland as
forest terrain, even if abandoned and densely overgrown.
Changes in Terrain
During any adventure, the terrain can change frequently as the
characters explore. A party of adventurers might make their way
across the steppes (plains terrain), crossing in and out of forest
and scrubland terrain as they do, with the GM deciding which
terrain features dominate for the purpose of determining
movement and random encounters. After arriving at a large
frontier town (urban terrain), the characters ply the settlement’s
residents for information on a nearby cave rumored to harbor
evil aberrations and great wealth.
175

The next day, the adventurers make their way through
overgrown woods (forest terrain) to the fallen citadel (ruins
terrain) that is the entrance to the caves. Pushing through a
complex maze of monster-infested tunnels (caverns terrain), the
characters discover a secret pass to a hidden city deep within
the mountains (urban terrain). Within the city, they infiltrate a
stronghold (warded terrain) where they must defeat an oni
overlord to free the city folk from that creature’s domination.
Weather and Temperature
Bad weather can increase the DCs of certain skill checks, from
Perception checks to spot enemies in fog, to Nature checks
made to track creatures in rain or snow. Weather can also affect
the ease of travel, with mud, snow, rain, or fog all potentially
reducing a creature’s speed for the purpose of overland
movement. And weather that produces extremes of cold or heat
can be a hazard in its own right.
Overland Movement (170)
Cold Hazards
When exposed to cold weather (below 40 degrees F or 5
degrees C), an unprotected character can easily become
debilitated or even freeze to death. Creatures wearing cold
weather outfits or similar protective gear, as well as creatures
adapted to cold environments or who have resistance or
immunity to cold damage, are protected against the effects of
cold weather. Any other creature must succeed on a DC 15
Endurance/subsist check each hour or become weakened.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Chapter 8/Clothing (221)
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
If the temperature is below 0 degrees F or −20 degrees C, the
DC increases to 20 and a creature takes 1d6 critical damage on
a failed check. In conditions of extreme cold (below −20
degrees F or −30 degrees C), cold weather outfits might cease
to protect creatures, the DC increases to 25 or higher, and the
GM might call for checks more frequently.
Heat Hazards
When exposed to hot weather (above 90 degrees F or 30
degrees C), an unprotected character can suffer potentially
deadly dehydration and heat stroke. Creatures who have access
to drinkable water and who are protected from the worst of the
heat by shade or by wearing hot weather outfits, as well as
creatures adapted to hot environments or who have resistance
or immunity to fire damage, are protected against the effects of
hot weather. Any other creature must succeed on a DC 10
Endurance/subsist check each hour or become weakened.
If the temperature is above 120 degrees F or 50 degrees C, the
DC increases to 15 and a creature also takes 1d6 critical damage
on a failed check. In conditions of extreme heat (above 140
degrees F or 60 degrees C), hot weather outfits might cease to
protect creatures, the DC increases to 20 or higher, and the GM
might call for checks more frequently.
Creatures wearing heavy clothing or medium or heavy armor
have disadvantage on Endurance checks to subsist in hot
weather.
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
Winds
Mundane winds are usually of no consequence while
adventuring, but stronger winds can interfere with skill checks
and hinder characters in combat.
A light wind is a gentle breeze of up to 10 miles per hour, and
has little or no game effect. It might create noise that can be
mistaken for nearby creatures by blowing through branches,
narrow vents, and other fixtures.
A moderate wind blows steadily at 11–20 miles per hour. It can
extinguish small, unprotected flames such as candles, and slowly
blows away mundane smoke or fog, but not magical fog and
similar effects.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Blowing as sustained gusts of 21–30 miles per hour, a strong
wind automatically extinguishes unprotected flames (candles,
torches, and the like), quickly blows away mundane smoke or
fog, and imposes disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks and
Perception/listen checks.
Blowing at 31–50 miles per hour, a severe wind can blow out
even protected flames such as lanterns. It stirs up objects and
debris to create concealment in its area, and objects driven
against other objects by the wind might be damaged or
destroyed.
A windstorm of 51–74 miles per hour is powerful enough to
bring down branches and dead trees, and extinguishes all
nonmagical flames unless they have special protection. Small
and Medium creatures can’t make ranged weapon attacks in a
windstorm, and attacks with larger ranged weapons (including
siege engines) are made with disadvantage. A creature who
starts their turn in a windstorm might take 1d6 bludgeoning
damage from debris driven on the wind.
Chapter 8/Siege Engines (225); Chapter 9/Weapons (274)
At 75–174 miles per hour, a hurricane wind makes
Perception/listen checks impossible, and can bring down living
trees. A creature who starts their turn in a hurricane wind might
take 2d6 bludgeoning damage from debris.
A tornado features winds of 175–300 miles per hour, makes all
ranged weapon attacks impossible, and can destroy buildings in
just a few rounds. A creature who starts their turn in a tornado
might take 4d6 bludgeoning damage from debris, and Small
and Medium creatures might be lifted off the ground by the
wind.
Thirst and Starvation
Characters might find themselves without food or water and
with no means to obtain them. Over time, thirst and hunger can
prove deadly.
In mild weather, a Medium living creature needs at least 1 gallon
of water per day to avoid debilitating thirst, or 2 gallons per day
in hot weather. A creature who drinks less than half their
required water must succeed on a DC 15 Endurance/subsist
check at the end of each long rest or take 1d6 necrotic damage
and be weakened. A creature with no access to water
automatically fails the check, and takes the damage to their
critical points even if they have defense points remaining.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
A Medium living creature needs 1 pound of edible food per day
to avoid starvation. Eating half the required amount of food in a
day counts as half a day without food. After 3 days without food,
176
 Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring

a creature must succeed on a DC 15 Endurance/subsist check at Damage from falling is applied to defense points first as usual,
the end of each long rest or take 1d4 necrotic damage and be allowing a creature to roll with the fall or cushion the impact just
weakened. A creature with no access to food automatically fails as they would roll with a blow in combat. However, a falling
the check, and takes the damage to their critical points even if creature who is immobilized or unconscious has no opportunity
they have defense points remaining. to cushion their fall, applying all damage to their critical points
A creature with insufficient food and water must make an even if they have defense points remaining.
Endurance check for both. A creature weakened by thirst or Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
starvation can’t have that condition negated by any effect until
A hobgoblin scout climbing high along a cavern wall is
they have access to food and water again.
picked off by a drow sentry’s arrow coated with drow
Smaller and larger creatures require proportionally more or less poison. A failed saving throw against the poison causes the
water and food, as noted on the table. scout to fall unconscious and drop to the cavern floor 30
feet below. If the scout had been conscious, they could
WATER AND FOOD MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS have twisted while falling or tumbled when they hit to let
their defense points soak up some of the damage. But
Creature Size Water per Day1 Food per Day1 being unconscious means the fall deals 3d6 bludgeoning
Fine —2 —2 damage applied to the scout’s critical points.
Tiny 1/8 gallon 1/4 pound
Small 1/2 gallon 1/2 pound
Intentionally jumping down from a height deals damage in the
same manner as a fall. However, when you jump and drop only a
Medium 1 gallon 1 pound
short distance, you have a chance to control the jump with an
Large 8 gallons 20 pounds
Acrobatics check, potentially reducing the damage.
Huge 20 gallons 100 pounds
Gargantuan 50 gallons 250 pounds Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
Colossal 100 gallons 500 pounds A relatively short fall or jump onto a yielding surface such as soft
1. Certain creatures have the ability to consume large amounts of water ground, spongy undergrowth, or mud might reduce the
and food, then subsist on those stores for long periods. effective height of the fall by 10 feet or more, at the GM’s
2. Most Fine creatures can survive on negligible amounts of water and determination.
food.

Falling INTO Water

Falling When you fall into water that is at least half as deep as the
An uncontrolled fall can be deadly to even the toughest height of the fall, you take half damage from the fall. If you fall
creatures, as the speed of a falling creature rises so quickly that into a shallower depth of water, you take damage as usual from
any impact with a solid surface deals significant damage. A the combination of striking the water, then striking the surface
creature who falls from a height takes one die of damage per 10 beneath it.
feet fallen, with the damage die, the maximum damage, and the
distance fallen per round determined by the creature’s size.
Suffocation
The Distance Fallen column in the table below gives the A living creature able to fill their lungs with air and not under
distance a creature falls in the first round of falling, then a significant stress can typically hold their breath for a number of
distance fallen in each subsequent round. Because most falls in minutes equal to their Constitution modifier (minimum 1
the game will see a creature hit the ground well within the first minute). This includes creatures caught underwater who can’t
round, the subsequent-round distances are rough surface, who are trapped beneath a landslide or avalanche, who
approximations only, reflecting the effect of air resistance enter an area filled with toxic gas, and so forth. A creature who
eventually slowing a falling creature down, and smaller creatures runs out of breath, begins to choke, or was unable to fill their
slowing faster than larger creatures. lungs before becoming unable to breathe begins to suffocate.
Damage Maximum Distance Fallen per A suffocating creature takes 1d6 necrotic damage at the start of
Size Die Damage Round each turn, and must succeed on an Endurance/subsist check or
Fine, diminutive* — — 10 ft./10 ft. take that damage to their critical points even if they have
Tiny d4 10d4 150 ft./150 ft. defense points remaining. The DC for this check can range from
Small, Medium d6 20d6 1,200 ft./1,800 ft. DC 15 for running out of air while swimming, to DC 20 or higher
Large d8 30d8 1,600 ft./6,000 ft. for suffocating within a vacuum, in a blast of magical wind that
Huge d10 40d10 1,600 ft./8,000 ft. makes breathing impossible, within a cloud of poisonous gas, or
Gargantuan, Colossal d12 50d12 1,600 ft./10,000 ft. under other conditions that cause additional physical stress.
500 Diminutive and fine creatures typically take no damage from
A creature reduced to 0 critical points from suffocation
falling.
automatically fails death saving throws and can’t regain hit
For example, a Small or Medium creature falls approximately points until they can breathe again.
1,200 feet in the first round of falling (about 10 seconds), and
1,800 feet each round thereafter. If the creature reaches the
ground in any round, they take damage from the fall equal to
1d6 per 10 feet fallen, to a maximum of 20d6. If they don’t hit
the ground in the first round because they’re falling an
enormous distance, a creature can try to stop their fall if they
have the resources to do so, and continues to fall the next
round.

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represents an instinctive understanding of the threats typically

Environment and Terrain Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to take advantage of
the effects and features of specific terrain.
Camouflage
encountered in such areas, and the habits and movements of
the creatures who dwell there.
When an adventure moves between different types of terrain,
the GM determines which of your favored terrain types is
applicable.

Your familiarity with a chosen terrain lets you make full use of Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
even minimal cover. slot. Each time you do so, you take it for a different chosen
terrain.
Prerequisites: Favored Terrain (chosen terrain) ×1, Skill Focus
(Stealth) ×4.
Ruins, Urban, or Warded?
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148) The distinction between ruins, urban, and warded terrain as it relates
Benefit: While you are in the chosen terrain, you have to citadels and fortresses depends on the occupants of a particular
advantage on Stealth/hide checks. Additionally, if you have location, not on the construction or age of that location. A ruined
fortress taken over by an organized gang of smugglers is treated as
sufficient time to plan out or create a hiding place (as
warded terrain, while the king’s palatial summer retreat might
determined by the GM), you can treat any cover or concealment
become ruins terrain after being abandoned when a host of
provided by natural features of the chosen terrain as total cover
monstrous spiders is accidentally summoned by the royal vizier. If
or total concealment, meaning sighted creatures can’t see you
the encounters in a specific interior location are predominantly
even without you making a Stealth check. organized along military lines (guards or soldiers at specific posts or
Chapter 6/Stealth (140) on patrol, all with specific orders for the handling of intruders), treat
the terrain as warded. If the encounters are predominantly random
Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat (different creatures all hostile to intruders, but not working together
slot. Each time you do so, you take it for a different chosen in an organized fashion), treat the terrain as ruins.
terrain.
Any location with a localized population greater than 1,000 is
automatically treated as urban terrain. However, within that urban
Favored Terrain terrain, there might be localized ruins or warded areas. For example,
Your familiarity with the terrain around you gives you an edge a sprawling city (urban) might contain a palace or keep (warded) and
against those you hunt. a burned-out marketplace now haunted by undead (ruins). Likewise,
the smaller farming communities that typically surround a city use
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (one of Dungeoneering, Nature,
the terrain determined by the local landscape if their individual
Perception, or Stealth) ×1. populations fall below the small town threshold.
Benefit: Your specialized survival training gives you an edge in
familiar terrain. Select a terrain from the table below. You have
advantage on Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception, and Stealth
Trackless Step
checks when using these skills in the chosen terrain, and you You can pass through familiar terrain and leave no trace of your
have advantage on initiative rolls when beginning combat in the passage.
chosen terrain. Prerequisites: Favored Terrain (chosen terrain) ×1.
Environment and Terrain (175) Benefit: While you are in the chosen terrain and not running or
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131); Perception (134); using magic to move faster than your speed, you can’t be
Stealth (140) tracked by mundane means unless you want to be. Whether you
avoid leaving noticeable footprints or a scent trail by careful
FAVORED TERRAIN movement, walk in the tracks of another creature, or cover your
prints to obscure them, attempts to track or locate you with
Wilderness Example
Dungeoneering, Nature, or Perception checks automatically fail.
Aquatic Rivers, lakes, seas (on or under the water)
Caverns Natural caves, tunnels, passageways You can still be tracked by magical means, and you can be
Desert Badlands, sandy wastes noticed if you are directly observed by a creature, downwind of
Forest Arboreal forest, rainforest, jungle a creature with the scent feature, moving noisily near creatures
Hills Gentle rolling slopes who can hear you, and so on. The GM might decide that certain
Marsh Bog, swamp
circumstances (for example, moving across a deep field of
Mountain Steep rocky slopes
unbroken snow) reduce the speed at which you can use
Trackless Step by requiring you to spend extra time obscuring
Plains Grassland, meadow, cultivated farmland
your movement.
Scrubland Moors, tundra, rocky lowlands
Snow Seasonal, glaciers, frozen wastes Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
Settled Example slot. Each time you do so, you take it for a different chosen
Ruins Abandoned castles, ruined settlements, subterranean terrain.
dungeons
Urban Towns, cities Unfettered Movement
Warded Castles, walled settlements, occupied subterranean Your intrinsic knowledge of your terrain allows you to move
dungeons freely within it.
In the wilderness, favored terrain represents an understanding
Prerequisites: Favored Terrain (chosen terrain) ×1.
of the environment, topography, weather, and typical
encounters in areas of that type. In settled areas, favored terrain

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Benefit: While you are in the chosen terrain, you ignore difficult
terrain caused by any natural feature. This lets you ignore
limitations to movement, effects or conditions imposed by the
difficult terrain, and damage dealt to creatures moving through
the difficult terrain. Depending on the environment, difficult
terrain might include thorns and briars, mud, gravel and scree,
silt and coral, thick undergrowth, rubble, crowds and traffic, and
so on.
Difficult Terrain (168)
Difficult terrain created or enhanced by magic still affects you,
even if that magic only reproduces or reinforces existing natural
terrain. You are still affected by obstacles and hindering terrain.
Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
slot. Each time you do so, you take it for a different chosen
terrain.

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Pestilence
Minor infections and illnesses are common inconveniences for
all characters, but it is assumed that routine rest and healing
takes care such of ailments. Pestilences are a more formidable
threat — illnesses driven by the spread of pathogens, parasites,
or magic whose effects can be extensive and daunting.
When a character is breathes air tainted by pestilence, is injured
by an attack contaminated by pestilence, touches a
contaminated item, or consumes pestilence-tainted food or
drink, they have the potential to come under the pestilence’s
effect. Pestilence typically affects a creature slowly, building up
during an incubation period specific to each type of pestilence.
A character generally has no idea whether they have been
exposed to pestilence until the end of the incubation period, at
which point the GM asks them to make a Fortitude saving throw
to resist the pestilence.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
On a clear success, the character’s immune system has fought
off the infection and the pestilence has no effect. But on a
failure or partial success, a physical or mental ailment takes hold
that can include any of the following:
• The target takes an ability modifier penalty
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
• The target has a condition imposed on them
• The target takes a penalty to their critical point maximum
When a creature has a condition imposed by a pestilence, that
condition can’t be negated by magic as long as the creature
remains under the pestilence’s effects. An affected creature
must make additional Fortitude saving throws once per day or
once per hour, depending on the pestilence. The creature
suffers the pestilence’s full effect again on a clear failure, or a
partial effect on a partial success. It takes a specific number of
clear-success saving throws for the creature to fight off the
pestilence and recover. Multiple successful saving throws don’t
need to be consecutive.
The saving throw DCs given in the “Pestilence” table reflect
exposure to specific pestilences in the world. When a creature
inflicts a pestilence with their attacks, the save DC might be
different.
Types of Transmission
Pestilences can be transmitted in a number of different ways,
determining how rapidly they spread and the types of activity
likely to infect creatures.
Ingested
Pestilences of this sort typically spread through tainted food or
water, and flourish in unhygienic conditions.
Inhaled
Some pestilences are spread through the air, making any
creature infected by the pestilence able to infect other creatures
in the same area, and causing such pestilences to spread quickly
in areas of high population. Many inhaled pestilences can also
be spread by being ingested.
Injury
A pestilence of this sort is generally harmless if ingested, but
infects a creature if it directly enters the bloodstream. Bite and
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claw attacks from an infected creature are the most common
means of spreading pestilence by injury, but weapon attacks
made in an area where the pestilence is present can also spread
it. As well, minor injuries that usually go unnoticed (including
scratches and insect bites) can spread pestilence this way.
Contact
Even more potent than pestilences that spread through injury
are those that can be spread by even the briefest touch. As with
pestilences that spread by being inhaled, contact pestilences
can quickly grow out of control in dense populations.
Pestilence Characteristics
In addition to the regular mechanics that determine how they
spread and how dangerous they are, all pestilences have a
number of unique characteristics.
Cackle Fever
Also known as “the shrieks,” this pestilence’s symptoms include
high fever, bewilderment, and frequent bouts of uncontrollable
laughter.
Blood Tears
Blood tears is often spread in tainted water, and causes
creatures to suffer from sight disorientation as they bleed from
the eyes. Variants of this pestilence can affect other senses, or
even more than one sense.
Fiend Chills
This infection is inflicted by certain types of fiends and often
present at sites channeling fiendish power. In addition to
suffering the pestilence’s mechanical effects, affected creatures
are wracked by unrelenting shivering and can’t seem to get
warm.
Fiend Plague
This virulent pestilence is spread by the attacks of fiendish
creatures, and often channeled into the weapons of cultists
dedicated to fiends (knowingly or otherwise). In addition to the
pestilence’s regular effects, it produces a dreamlike state that
makes creatures suffering from it hear screaming voices.
Filth Fever
This pervasive pestilence is spread by creatures who live in filthy
surroundings, many of which are immune to its effects. Any
piercing or slashing damage taken while in suitably dirty or
unhygienic surroundings can infect a creature.
Ghoul Fever
Undead ghouls are infected with this potent pathogen, which
spreads through their bite and lingers in areas where ghouls are
active. An affected worldborn who dies while infected with
ghoul fever rises as a ghoul or ghast (the GM’s choice) 1 day
later, and is thereafter under the control of the GM.
Mindfire
Mindfire causes affected creatures’ thoughts and reflexes to
slow, producing intense discomfort that makes them feel as
though their brains are burning.
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Mummy Rot
This dread pestilence is spread by undead mummies and often
found in ancient tombs and sepulchers. Creatures who suffer the
effects of mummy rot can’t use downtime healing to remove the
penalties with downtime healing. Only magical healing can
undo the effects of this pestilence.
Creature Compendium

Red Ache
Red ache fills affected creatures with constant physical
discomfort, and causes their skin to turn red, bloated, and warm
to the touch.

Jumbletouch
While infected with jumbletouch, a creature suffers from the
sensation that creatures and objects around them are constantly
shaking and moving, making physical interaction difficult.

Slimy Doom
One of the most feared of common pestilences, slimy doom
turns creatures into infectious goo from the inside out. Those
affected are wracked with pain and give off a foul acidic stench.

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PESTILENCES

Common Pestilences Type and DC Incubation Save Interval Saves to End Effects
Jumbletouch Contact DC +3 1 day 1/day 1 −1d8 Dex modifier penalty
Slimy doom Contact DC +4 1 day 1/day 2 Slowed, −1d4 critical point penalty
Mindfire Inhaled DC +5 1 day 1/hour 2 Dazed, −1d4 Int modifier penalty
Fiend chills Injury DC +4 1d4 days 1/day 3 Weakened
Filth fever Injury DC +2 1d4 days 1/day 1 −1d4 Dex modifier penalty, −1d4 Con modifier penalty
Ghoul fever Injury DC +2 1 day 1/day 2 −1d4 Dex modifier penalty, −1d4 critical point penalty
Red ache Injury DC +5 1d4 days 1/day 2 −1d6 Str modifier penalty
Unusual Pestilences Type and DC Incubation Save Interval Saves to End Damage
Blood tears Ingested DC +10 1d4 days 1/day 2 Disoriented (sight), −1d4 Str modifier penalty
Cackle fever Inhaled DC +10 1 day 1/day 2 −1d6 Wis modifier penalty
Fiend plague Injury DC +8 1 day 1/day 3 Disoriented (hearing), weakened, −1d6 critical point
penalty
Rare Pestilences Type and DC Incubation Save Interval Saves to End Damage
Mummy rot Contact DC +15 1 day 1/day 2 −1d6 Con modifier penalty, −1d6 critical point penalty

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Poison
The purchase, possession, and use of poison is usually restricted
in settled lands, legally obtainable only by exterminators,
sanctioned monster hunters, alchemists, and the like. However,
poison is usually freely obtainable from specialized, less-than-
reputable sources in larger towns and cities, and makes a potent
tool for use against monsters and other enemies.
All poisons have an initial effect and a secondary effect, which
can include any of the following:
• The target takes an ability modifier penalty
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
• The target has a condition imposed on them
• The target takes a penalty to their critical point maximum
When a creature is poisoned — whether by a hit with a
poisoned weapon, touching an item smeared with contact
poison, inhaling poison on the air, or consuming poisoned food
or drink — they must make a Fortitude saving throw. On a failed
save, the creature takes the poison’s initial effect. Even if the
save is successful, the creature must make another saving throw
1 minute later to avoid the poison’s secondary effect.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
When a creature has a condition imposed by a poison, that
condition lasts for the indicated time or until negated by magic
such as the restoration spell. Having a condition negated from a
poison’s initial effect doesn’t protect a creature from having the
condition imposed again by the poison’s secondary effect.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Preparing Poison
A poison’s price indicates the cost of one dose (a single vial) of
poison. It isn’t possible to use or apply poison in any quantity
smaller than one dose, which affects a single target no matter
how it is administered. Preparing poison is a standard action,
whether that involves poisoning a weapon, lacing a creature’s
food, preparing an airtight container with an inhaled poison, or
smearing contact poison on an object.
Inhaled poisons released from their container lose their potency
after 1 minute as they disperse on the air. All other poisons lose
their potency 1 month after being poured from a vial, but
remain fully potent until that point even when exposed to the
elements. Over that period, a poisoned weapon or object
retains its poison until the weapon scores a hit or the object is
touched, or until the poison is wiped off as a standard action.
Though poisons are sometimes sourced from creatures who
have a magical nature, poisons are never magic in and of
themselves.
Types of Delivery
Poisons are divided into four basic types according to the
method by which their effect is delivered.
Contact
Contact poison can be smeared on any object, remaining
potent until the object is touched or the poison is wiped off. A
creature who touches contact poison with exposed skin suffers
its effects. Chests, coffers, and other objects can be smeared
with contact poison to create a trap, but contact poison can also
be actively delivered by a successful weapon attack.
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The oily residue of contact poisons allows them to be noticed
on an object with a DC 15 Perception/spot check, unless placed
on a surface that is already oily, or if additional effort is made to
conceal them.
Ingested
Ingested poisons are typically administered by being slipped
into a creature’s food or drink, making them difficult to utilize in
combat. However, a character might attempt an
Acrobatics/agility check to throw a vial of ingested poison into a
monster’s mouth.
A creature must swallow an entire dose of ingested poison to
suffer its full effect. The GM might determine that a partial dose
of ingested poison allows advantage on the saving throw or has
some form of reduced effect.
Inhaled
Inhaled poisons are usually created by mixing solid or liquid
reagents in a fragile vial, which can be thrown up to 60 feet with
a successful Athletics check. When a vial strikes a hard surface, it
releases its poison in a cloud. Each creature within 10 feet of the
spot where the vial breaks is exposed to the poison’s effects.
Holding one’s breath is ineffective against inhaled poisons,
which can enter the body through the lungs, nasal membranes,
eyes, tear ducts, or skin.
Injury
Injury poison can be applied to weapons, ammunition, or traps
and hazards that deal piercing or slashing damage. It remains
potent until delivered through a wound or washed off. A
creature who takes piercing or slashing damage from an object
coated with the poison is exposed to its effects.
Perils of Using Poison
Whenever a creature readies poison for use, they must make a
DC 15 Thievery/sleight of hand check or a check with a personal
skill group related to poison use (Alchemist, Apothecary, and so
forth). On a failed check, the creature inadvertently exposes
themself to the poison and must save against it or suffer its
effects.
Treating Pestilence or Poison
A creature under the effect of a pestilence or poison can use the
assistance of a character employing the Healing skill. A character
treating an affected creature makes a Healing check, which the
creature can use in place of their saving throw against the pestilence
or poison.
Chapter 6/Healing (123)
Poison Immunities
Creatures with natural poison attacks are immune to their own
poison and the poison of other creatures of the same kind.
Nonliving creatures (constructs and undead) and creatures
without a natural metabolism (such as elementals and oozes) are
always immune to poison.
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POISONS

Common Poisons Type and DC Initial Effects Secondary Effects Price

Nitharit Contact DC +3 −1 critical point penalty −1d4 critical point penalty 90 gp
Arsenic Ingested DC +3 −1d4 Con modifier penalty Weakened (1d4 hours) 25 gp
Oil of taggit Ingested DC +5 Weakened (1 minute) Unconscious (1d10 minutes) 30 gp
Id moss Ingested DC +4 −1d4 Int modifier penalty −1d6 Int modifier penalty 40 gp
Striped toadstool Ingested DC +0 −1d4 Wis modifier penalty −1d6 Wis modifier penalty, −1d4 Int modifier penalty 45 gp
Ungol dust Inhaled DC +5 −1d4 Cha modifier penalty −1d4 Cha modifier penalty 25 gp
Greenblood oil Injury DC +5 Slowed (1 minute) Slowed (1d10 minutes) 6 gp
Monstrous bee venom Injury DC +1 −1 Con modifier penalty −1d4 Con modifier penalty 6 gp
Viper venom Injury DC +1 −1d4 Con modifier penalty −1d4 Con modifier penalty 15 gp
Monstrous centipede venom Injury DC +1 −1d4 Dex modifier penalty −1d4 Dex modifier penalty 15 gp
Blue whinnis Injury DC +4 −1d4 Cha modifier penalty Unconscious (1d10 rounds) 20 gp
Drow poison Injury DC +3 Unconscious (1 minute) Unconscious (1d10 minutes) 20 gp
Monstrous spider venom Injury DC +4 −1d4 Str modifier penalty −1d4 Str modifier penalty 20 gp
Bloodroot Injury DC +2 Dazed (1 minute) −1d4 Wis modifier penalty, −1d4 Cha modifier penalty 25 gp
Unusual Poisons Type Initial Effect Secondary Effect Price
Malyss root paste Contact DC +6 −1d4 Dex modifier penalty −1d4 Dex modifier penalty 80 gp
Sassone leaf residue Contact DC +6 −1d4 critical point penalty −1d4 Con modifier penalty 100 gp
Terinav root Contact DC +6 −1d4 Dex modifier penalty −1d8 Dex modifier penalty 110 gp
Black lotus extract Contact DC +10 Dazed (1 minute) −1d6 critical point penalty + stunned (1d4 minutes) 180 gp
Lich dust Ingested DC +7 −1d8 Str modifier penalty Weakened (1d4 hours) 45 gp
Dark reaver powder Ingested DC +8 −1d8 Int modifier penalty −1d4 Int + 1d4 Str modifier penalty 85 gp
Burnt othur fumes Inhaled DC +8 Weakened (1 minute) −1d6 critical point penalty 30 gp
Mind-reaver mist Inhaled DC +10 −1d4 Wis modifier penalty −1d6 Wis modifier penalty 40 gp
Shadow essence Injury DC +7 Weakened (1 minute) Weakened (1d4 hours) 8 gp
Deathblade Injury DC +10 Dazed (1 minute) Immobilized (1d4 minutes) 15 gp
Monstrous scorpion venom Injury DC +8 −1d4 Str modifier penalty −1d4 Str modifier penalty 25 gp
Monstrous wasp venom Injury DC +8 −1d4 Dex modifier penalty −1d4 Dex modifier penalty 25 gp
Wyvern venom Injury DC +7 −1d8 Con modifier penalty −1d4 critical point penalty 40 gp
Rare Poisons Type Initial Effect Secondary Effect Price
Dragon bile Contact DC +15 −1d10 Dex modifier penalty −1d4 critical point penalty 240 gp
Porphyrax venom Injury DC +17 −1d4 Str modifier penalty −1d8 Str modifier penalty 50 gp

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Hazards
The lost ruins, deep caverns, and other hidden spaces that call
out to explorers and adventurers are uniformly dangerous, often
suffused with old magic and strange forms of life. Any number
of unnatural hazards might be encountered in dungeons and
ruins, including a number of threats common enough that all
adventurers know of their deadly reputation.
Slimes, Molds, and Mosses
In the dark recesses of dungeons, ruins, and forgotten city
cellars, all manner of primal botanical life thrives. Most mosses
are harmless, and many are an important part of the food chain
in subterranean realms, alongside mushrooms, puffballs, and
other fungi. Slimes and molds are occasionally noxious but
rarely dangerous, except from long-term exposure. But a
number of slimes, molds, and mosses found in desolate
locations can be deadly to those who stumble upon them
unawares.
Hazardous slimes, molds, and mosses are nonsentient and
nonactive, possessing none of the skills, hit points, defenses, or
other features a botanical creature has. However, they are living
things, and are treated as creatures for the purpose of being
affected by spells and other effects.
Creatures of the World (157)
Boneyard Moss
This moss feeds on and spreads across the bones of living
creatures, and is commonly found in cemeteries, ossuaries, and
battle sites with unburied dead. Boneyard moss is the color of
unbleached bone, so is easily noticeable only on bones exposed
to the sun. If bones contaminated by the moss are disturbed,
they send forth a cloud of milky white spores that fill the area
around them for 1 minute. Each living creature who starts their
turn within 10 feet of the disturbed bones must succeed on a
Fortitude saving throw (challenge throw +6) or take 1d6 necrotic
damage and become contaminated by the spores if they have
an internal skeleton of bones.
When a contaminated creature takes any bludgeoning, force, or
thunder damage, it sets up a resonance in their bones, causing
excruciating pain that makes them weakened. Unless negated
with magic, this weakened condition lasts until the creature
finishes a long rest.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
Boneyard moss can be made dormant for 1d6 hours by any
effect that deals acid, cold, fire, or lightning damage. It can be
destroyed by any effect that deals necrotic damage. Boneyard
moss can’t survive on the bones of the undead, and is destroyed
on bones that are raised as an undead creature.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Brown Mold
This mottled-brown mold feeds on warmth, drawing heat from
anything around it. It typically grows in patches up to 5 feet in
diameter, and the temperature is noticeably cold in a 30-foot
radius around it. Any living creature who starts their turn within 5
feet of brown mold takes 3d6 cold damage, making a Fortitude
saving throw (challenge throw +3) for half damage.
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Fire brought within 5 feet of brown mold causes it to instantly
double in size. Any cold damage in the area of the mold
instantly destroys it.
Esurient Slime
Thriving in dry, warm areas underground, this glossy olive-green
slime clings to walls and floors in patches up to 5 feet in
diameter. It has a faintly sweet scent, which attracts the
arthropods it feeds on. Esurient slime is nonmobile but drops to
the ground in response to illumination, making it a danger to
explorers bearing light sources in dark places.
Any creature who starts their turn in contact with esurient slime
must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw (challenge throw +4)
or take 1d6 psychic damage. If the slime is in an area of bright
light, the saving throw is made with disadvantage. It takes 1d4
standard actions by one or more creatures to wipe or scrape
away the slime.
When a creature takes damage from the slime, traces of slime
are drawn into their body, lingering to produce a powerful
compulsion that remains even after the slime is removed. While
under the compulsion, a creature must eat twice as much food
as usual each day or take 1d6 psychic damage at the end of
each long rest. A creature who dies while under the effect of this
compulsion transforms into esurient slime over a period of 1d4
days.
Esurient slime can be destroyed by any effect that deals cold,
fire, or necrotic damage (which is also taken by a creature if the
slime is targeted while in contact with them). A remove
pestilence spell or similar magic ends the slime’s ongoing effect.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Green Slime
This emerald-green dungeon peril is highly caustic, devouring
flesh, organic materials, and metal on contact. Bright green,
wet, and sticky, it clings to walls, floors, and ceilings in patches
up to 5 feet in diameter, consuming moss, insects, and other
organic matter it comes in contact with. Though nonmobile, it
drops from walls and ceilings in response to vibrations, letting it
home in on movement (and possible food) below.
Any creature who starts their turn in contact with green slime
must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw (challenge throw +7)
or take 1d4 acid damage and a −1d4 penalty to their
Constitution modifier. It takes 1d4 standard actions by one or
more creatures to wipe or scrape away the slime.
Appendix B/Ability Modifier Penalties (A8)
Green slime can be destroyed by exposure to sunlight, or by
any effect that deals cold, fire, or necrotic damage (which is also
taken by a creature if the slime is targeted while in contact with
them).
Any nonmagical organic or metal item exposed to the slime
(including an implement used to wipe or scrape it off a creature)
is damaged or destroyed as the GM determines.
Leeching Moss
This mottled purple-black moss thrives in moist surroundings,
but absorbs that moisture to leave the area around it bone dry.
Leeching moss constantly releases a cloud of natural soporific
spores, so that any living creature who starts their turn within 5
feet of the moss must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw
(challenge throw +2) or fall unconscious. An unconscious
185

creature can be woken as a standard action, or wakes if they
take damage from any source other than the moss.
Appendix B/Unconscious (A11)
Sensing the moisture in an unconscious creature, the moss
quickly spreads to grow over them, covering a Medium or
smaller creature in 10 minutes. (A Large creature is treated as
four Medium creatures for the purpose of how long it takes for
the moss to cover it, a Huge creature as eight medium
creatures, and so on.) A creature covered by leeching moss
takes 1d6 necrotic damage every 10 minutes as the moisture is
leeched from their body. A creature who dies while covered in
leeching moss has their body consumed by the moss over 1d6
hours.
Leeching moss can be destroyed by any effect that deals cold,
fire, or lightning damage (which is also taken by a creature if the
moss is targeted while in contact with them).
Mordant Slime
This potent acidic slime clings to walls and ceilings, and thrives
in the darkest conditions. The slime is light sensitive, and
responds to being exposed to bright light by weeping an acidic
mist into the area around it. Each creature who starts their turn
within 10 feet of a patch of weeping mordant slime must
succeed on a Reflex saving throw (challenge throw +3) or take
1d6 acid damage. A creature who takes this damage takes it
again at the start of their turn for 3 rounds, unless the acid is
neutralized with at least 1 gallon of water, alcohol, or other
liquid. A creature takes this ongoing damage in addition to
taking new damage for remaining in the area of the mist.
Mordant slime can be made dormant for 1d4 hours by any effect
that deals cold damage. It can be destroyed by any effect that
deals radiant damage, or by exposure to sunlight.
Sanguine Slime
This oily, violet-colored slime thrives in watery conditions, and
spreads across the surface of pools and slow-moving streams in
patches up to 5 feet in diameter. Any living creature who comes
into contact with sanguine slime while in water suffers no
immediate effect. But if not removed before the creature leaves
the water, the slime instantly dries to a cement-like consistency
and begins to drain blood and other bodily fluids from the
creature through their skin.
A creature who starts their turn in contact with the slime while
out of the water takes 1d4 necrotic damage and a −1d4 penalty
to their Strength modifier. It takes 1d4 standard actions by one
or more creatures to wipe or scrape away the slime, or 1d6
standard actions if the affected creature is in the water.
Appendix B/Ability Modifier Penalties (A8)
Sanguine slime can be destroyed by any effect that deals fire or
radiant damage (which is also taken by a creature if the slime is
targeted while in contact with them).
Yellow Mold
This dusty-looking, bright-yellow mold can grow in patches of
any size, often covering whole rooms and caverns if left to
spread. It is deadly if disturbed, with each 5-foot square of mold
bursting forth with a cloud of poisonous spores that linger in the
area for 1 minute. Each living creature who starts their turn
within 10 feet of disturbed mold must succeed on a Fortitude
saving throw (challenge throw +5) or take a −1d4 penalty to
their Constitution modifier.
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Yellow mold is temporarily made dormant while exposed to
sunlight. Any fire damage in the area of the mold destroys it.
Zombie Blood Mold
Rust-red zombie blood mold prospers in areas of damp and
darkness, and is easily mistaken for rust or mundane red mold at
a distance. It usually spreads as patches up to 5 feet in diameter.
When anything warmer than the mold moves within 5 feet of it
(including most living creatures), the mold releases an invisible
cloud of spores that linger in the area for 1 minute.
Each living creature who starts their turn within 5 feet of the
mold when its spores have been released must succeed on a
Fortitude saving throw (challenge throw +5) or take a −1d6
penalty to their Constitution modifier and be contaminated by
the spores. This contamination lasts until the ability modifier
penalty is removed, or until the creature is subject to a remove
pestilence spell or similar magic.
Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A creature who dies while contaminated with zombie blood
mold rises after 24 hours as a zombie contaminated by the
mold. Each time the zombie takes damage, each creature within
5 feet of them must make the Fortitude saving throw to avoid
contamination, as above. When a contaminated zombie is
destroyed, it transforms into a patch of zombie blood mold over
a period of 2d12 hours.
Zombie blood mold can be destroyed by any effect that deals
acid damage. It can also be destroyed if exposed to at least 1
gallon of alcohol.
Magical Hazards
Magical traps abound in the game, and are equally as likely to
be found warding ancient ruins, a gentry’s estate, or a bandit
chieftain’s strongbox. Magical hazards are of a different nature,
marking sites where an accumulation of eldritch power has
become corrupted to create unpredictable, uncontrollable, and
often deadly effects.
Traps (189)
Incarnate Spells
When a spell is cast, its magic always eventually fades away,
even with the period of dormancy for spells that are triggered.
But when spell magic is corrupted by exposure to other magic—
including certain times when a spellcaster is killed by magic that
corrupts the magic they channel—an enduring and eternal
incarnate spell can be the result.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
An incarnate spell is an entity of pure eldritch power, possessing
the magic of a specific spell and driven to use it. The effect of an
incarnate spell reflects the effect of the spell it’s based on, but
might also be altered by the spell’s corruption, as the GM
determines.
When a party explores a ruin, an incarnate cone of cold
spell appears as a sphere of roiling snow, then explodes
out to a cone of deadly magical energy when the spell
senses creatures nearby.
An incarnate control weather spell manifests as a shifting
field of cloud and swirling wind, randomly changing the
weather in the rural countryside as it drifts from place to
place. But when adventurers are called to deal with the
186

incarnate spell and the chaos it’s creating for farmers, the
spell might make use of any of the effects it can usually
produce to defend itself, targeting melee combatants with
lightning, bludgeoning spellcasters with hail, making
movement impossible with tornado-force winds, and so
forth.
An incarnate spell casts itself at the level of the spell or at the
caster level of the caster whose death created the incarnate
spell. This effective level determines the space that the spell’s
energy fills, how fast it moves, and how many times per day the
spell can cast itself.
Spell Level or Manifested Castings DC to Checks to
Caster Level Size Speed per Day Disrupt Destroy
0 Small 15 ft. 1 15 1
1st–6th Medium 30 ft. 2 15 3
7th–12th Large 45 ft. 4 20 6 A phantom resembles the creature who spawned it, but might
13th–18th Huge 60 ft. 6 25 9 appear younger or with different features and garb than at the
When an incarnate spell manifests its power for the final time, it
vanishes, then manifests again at the same location 24 hours
later.
An incarnate spell acts on an initiative count equal to its
effective level, can take one move action and one standard
action per turn, and usually moves and casts itself at random. It
understands what targets it affects and won’t cast if it can’t
affect targets, and it moves toward any targets who appear
within 120 feet. An incarnate spell manifested from the death of
a spellcaster sometimes retains a measure of that caster’s
memories, which can determine how the spell moves and its
choice of targets.
An incarnate spell uses all the regular mechanics for casting the
original spell. An incarnate flame strike can disappear from one
location, then appear at any other location with the spell’s 120-
foot range and unleash its power. An incarnate aid spell, with a
range of touch, must move into the space of the creature it
targets.
Incarnate spells aren’t creatures or objects, and so are immune
to most attacks. Like all magical effects, they wink out in the area
of an antimagic field spell or similar effect. A dispel magic spell
shuts down an incarnate spell for 1d4 rounds, but permanently
destroying an incarnate spell of level 1 or higher is a complex
skill check with the DC and the number of successes based on
effective level.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Characters engaging in the skill challenge can make
Magic/spellcraft checks to disrupt the incarnate spell’s eldritch
energy, or can make Athletics/slam checks to compromise its
manifested form. An Athletics/slam check made using a magic
weapon is made with advantage.
Memory Candles
These free-floating flickering lights drift through ruins and
subterranean spaces, resembling the flames of candles and
drawn to sapient creatures. When a sapient creature starts their
turn within 60 feet of memory candles, they must succeed on a
Will save (challenge throw +6) or take 2d6 psychic damage and
have their memory compromised. Until the end of their next
short or long rest, the creature is weakened as each mental and
physical activity they undertake feels unfamiliar.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
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At the same time, the character receives a random assortment
of memories from other creatures previously affected by the
lights. This can include knowledge of the local area gleaned
from explorers, random thoughts and impressions of creatures
long dead, a choice selection of epithets in another language,
advantage on the next check the character makes with a specific
skill group, or any other effect determined by the GM.
Phantom
In a place where a living creature succumbs to a violent death,
the shock to the spirit and life energy can leave a lasting imprint.
A phantom is the echo of such a once-living spirit. Though its
nonsolid and translucent state might make it resemble a
spectral undead, a phantom isn’t a creature, but merely the still-
active impression of a creature’s last moments.
actual moment of death. In response to the presence of other
living creatures in an area, it manifests and repeatedly plays out
the last few minutes before the death of the creature who
spawned it, moving through the actual locations involved. The
phantom is always the center of this spectral vision, but that
vision might also include significant creatures and objects from
the dead creature’s last moments.
A phantom can’t affect the world around it or react to creatures
interacting with it, and it has no attacks. However, each creature
who sees a particular phantom for the first time must succeed
on a DC 13 Will save or be frightened and driven for 1 minute.
Whether the save succeeds or fails, a creature can’t be
frightened by the same phantom again.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Because it isn’t a creature or object, a phantom is immune to
most attacks. However, as a magical effect, it can be
permanently dismissed with a dispel magic spell (DC 20).
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Hazards
Many of the creatures who lair within or wander through ruins,
dungeons, catacombs, and other adventuring sites are
possessed of an unusual nature. That nature often shapes the
hazards in an area, whether from minor creatures presenting a
threat in and of themselves or larger creatures leaving
something of themselves behind.
Earworm
Earworms are minute multilegged arthropods that can be found
lairing in any rotting organic materials, including wood,
compost, and leaf mold. Though harmless in their adult form,
earworms are much feared (and so-named) for their habit of
entering the ears of living creatures as a birthplace for their
voracious young, which require flesh for sustenance.
When a creature has been exposed to earworms, the worms can
be noticed by that creature or a nearby creature with a
successful DC 15 Perception/search check, and easily brushed
away before they reach the ears. On a clear failure, the
earworms are free to lay hundreds of eggs inside the creature’s
ear canal, causing the creature to be hearing disoriented until
the eggs hatch 1 day later. The larvae immediately consume
their parents, then burrow into the flesh of their host.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
187
 Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring

A creature who finishes a long rest infested with earworm larvae magical energy can weaken the structure of even stone or metal
is weakened and takes 1d4 piercing damage. The earworms walls and floors in a lair.
continue to feed for seven days, after which they burrow back to In an area made potentially dangerous because of damage or
the ear canal and escape as a larval swarm, ready to pupate in unusual decay caused by the presence of unusual creatures, it
rotting organic material. A remove pestilence spell or similar takes a successful DC 15 skill check to notice that danger, either
magic ends an infestation. using Perception/search or spot, or skills from an appropriate
Appendix B/Weakened (A12) personal group. Ceilings, walls, and floors that collapse can be
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) treated as collapsing ceiling traps, collapsing wall traps, or pit
traps.
Sewage, Offal, and Ordure Traps (189)
The familiar scents of rot and farmyard manure are pungent but
can usually be ignored. However, areas filled with sewage or Webs
monstrous offal and ordure — the before-and-after remnants of
Creatures such as monstrous spiders and certain arthropod
a monster’s meals — are noxious to the point of becoming
swarms make use of spun silk webbing for trapping prey or
hazardous for living creatures.
creating a secure lair space. Even long after those creatures
Most cities and towns in the world make use of sewer-based have abandoned or been driven from a particular area, their
sanitation, depending on an underground labyrinth of foul webs can linger behind to create a hazard of their own.
spaces to help keep living spaces above ground clean. And
An area of webs is difficult terrain, and any creature who enters
even the most benign location can be turned into a place of filth
that area or starts their turn there must succeed on a DC 13
and decay by the presence of monsters, just as the already-foul
Reflex save or be restrained. A restrained creature can be freed
places of the world are made even fouler by the presence of
as a standard action with a DC 15 Acrobatics/escape or
unnatural creatures.
Athletics/grab check, by themself or any creature who can reach
Areas featuring sewage, offal, or ordure can usually be detected them.
at a distance with a successful DC 12 Perception check, or
Difficult Terrain (168)
automatically by a creature with the scent feature. Each living
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
creature who enters such an area must succeed on a DC 15
Fortitude saving throw or be weakened while they remain in the Breaking through an area of webs requires a successful DC 15
area. Creatures immune to disease or poison might succeed on Athletics/slam check. Making use of a weapon or tool that deals
this save automatically, as the GM determines. Areas of sewage, slashing damage grants advantage on the check. Webs are also
offal, or ordure are usually difficult terrain, and offal or ordure flammable, with an area of webs 10 feet across burning away in
might be obstacles as the GM determines. A creature who starts 1 round, and dealing 1d6 fire damage to any creature in that
their turn mostly or entirely submerged in sewage, offal, or area.
ordure must succeed on a DC 15 Endurance/subsist check
(maximum once per round) or be weakened while they remain
submerged.
Difficult Terrain (168)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Sewage, offal, and ordure can also be a vector for pestilence,
with any form of pestilence — or unique pestilence-like effects
of the GM’s devising — found in areas filled with such hazards.
Pestilence (180)
If not routinely added to, sewage, offal, and ordure decompose
naturally to become relatively innocuous over a few weeks or
months. However, when creatures such as aberrations die or
when corporeal undead are destroyed, the unnatural essence of
those creatures often makes the rotting of their bodies a more
unpleasant process than usual, even as it keeps the scavengers
at bay who would typically hasten the dispersal of those
remains. The body of an aboleth, nightcrawler, or otyugh slain
by heroes might remain a fetid mass of slow decay in a dungeon
for years afterward, making an unpleasant welcome for new
groups of adventurers.
Creature Compendium

Monstrous Damage
In areas where the most unusual creatures lair or battle, they
might leave lasting effects behind long after they flee, wander
off, or die. Huge and larger monsters can weigh many tons,
potentially leaving the structural underpinnings of their former
lairs undermined just in time for adventurers to show up and
explore. Creatures who channel elemental energy or unusual

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Traps
A trap is any mechanical or magical augmentation of a location
or object designed to hinder, damage, or kill creatures
interacting with it, whether by intention or by accident. By their
nature, most traps are constructed with a specific defensive
purpose in mind. A pit trap might protect the area around a
stockade. Mechanical arrow traps are installed to turn the
corridor leading to the castle treasury into a deadly gauntlet, or
a flame strike trap can unleash the deadly power of that spell
when a temple’s sacred reliquary is approached by a
nonbeliever. But a structure or location that collapses after
being damaged by time or decay can become a pit trap, a
collapsing ceiling trap, or a collapsing wall trap even if not built
with that intention.
Common Mechanical Traps (190)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Mechanical or Magical
A trap can be mechanical or magical in nature, with mechanical
traps including pits, arrow traps, falling stones, water-filled
rooms, swinging blades, and anything else that depends on a
mechanism to operate. A mechanical trap is activated by some
form of mechanical trigger, often a pressure plate, a switch, a
tripwire, or a clockwork or alchemical device sensitive to
changes in weight, disturbances in the air, or vibrations.
Magic traps are most commonly built around spell magic,
whether trigger-based spells whose casting makes them
function as magical traps, or spells imbued into the spell trap
spell for later release.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Elements of a Trap
All traps, whether mechanical or magical, have a number of
things in common. A trap must be triggered, whether it can be
triggered once or can be reset. It has a DC to detect and
disable it, a challenge roll modifier to resist its effects, and a
detailed description of those effects. Some traps also have
additional information regarding unique ways to bypass them.
Trigger
A trap’s trigger determines how it is sprung, most commonly in
one of the following ways:
• A location trigger, usually a floor pressure plate or a tripwire,
springs a trap when someone stands in a particular area.
• A proximity trigger is a compact clockwork or alchemical
device that activates a trap when something moves within a
certain distance of it, horizontally or vertically. Proximity-
trigger traps can be triggered by flying or levitating creatures,
but are also sometimes accidentally triggered by brisk winds.
Magic traps often have proximity triggers that are sensitive
only to certain types of creatures.
• A sound trigger is an alchemical or clockwork device that
activates in response to noises above a certain volume. It can
be accidentally triggered by thunder and other natural
sounds.
• A touch trigger is a pressure plate built into a trap, which
activates when the trap is touched with a certain amount of
weight or pressure.
• A timed trigger is a clockwork device that springs a trap
repeatedly on a certain schedule.
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Reset
Many traps incorporate clockwork mechanisms that
automatically reset them each time they are triggered, making
them usable repeatedly. Other traps must be reset manually, or
might need to be rebuilt in order to be reset.
Even traps that need to be manually reset can have an effect
after being triggered, as with an open pit trap that becomes an
obstacle or a collapsed wall that becomes difficult terrain.
Difficult Terrain (168)
Challenge Throw
Most traps are avoided with a Reflex saving throw, with the trap
making a challenge roll to set the DC of the save. Some
especially formidable traps affect targets automatically.
Damage, Effects, and Features
Each trap produces a specific effect against creatures it targets,
whether dealing damage, imposing a condition, or a
combination of effects. Some traps target only the creature who
triggers the trap, some traps can target a different creature if
the trap and the trigger are in different places, and some traps
target multiple creatures.
Some traps deal no damage or effects on their own, but act as
delivery systems for alchemical items or poison. Other traps can
have their effects augmented by poison.
Poison (183)
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic (214)
Bypass
Most traps can be bypassed simply by staying away from them.
For other traps that are unavoidable, the trap’s builder often
creates a mechanism by which the trap can be bypassed. This
might be a lock, a hidden switch, or some other mechanism that
temporarily disarms the trap, a hidden access point that allows
the trap’s trigger to be disabled, or a secret passage that allows
creatures to move around the trap.
Many magical traps can be bypassed by creatures who perform
a bypass signal, temporarily disarming the trap’s magical
triggering conditions.
Chapter 10/Spells with Signals sidebar (334)
DC and Cost
At the end of each trap’s write-up, a DC is given that covers skill
checks to find the trap if it is hidden, to reset, rework, or disable
it, or to build it. (A deadly trap meant to keep creatures away
from an area might not be hidden, with the intent that creatures
seeing it will be too intimidated to try to get past it.)
Each trap also has a gp value noted, which is the nominal cost
for materials and labor to create the trap. The cost is used for
characters buying traps that can be built as portable versions,
characters hiring NPCs to create traps at a specific location, or
for a character with an appropriate personal skill group (most
commonly Trapsmith) to create a trap themself, using the rules
for crafting items for personal use.
Chapter 8/Crafting for Personal Use (208)
Detection and Disabling
Each mechanical trap has a default DC indicating how difficult it
is to locate with a Perception/search check, to disable with a
189

Thievery/handle traps check, and to build or set up with a
Trapsmith check or other appropriate personal skill group
check. The DCs for specific traps encountered in adventures can
vary from these defaults according to their construction or the
intent of the creatures who built them, as determined by the
GM. Many traps can be disabled with just one Thievery check,
but a complex trap might require a complex skill check to fully
disable, or be only temporarily disabled with a single success.
Chapter 6/Thievery (143)
All magical traps can be detected with a DC 20 Magic/spellcraft
or Perception/search check, as well as with detect magic, and
can be neutralized with a DC 20 Thievery/handle traps check.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A clear failure on a Thievery check made to disable a trap
triggers the trap, whether mechanical or magical, and a partial
success to disable a trip might trigger some minor part of its
damage or effects. A failed attempt to dispel a magical trap with
dispel magic triggers the magical trap.
Other Ways To Beat a Trap
In addition to making Thievery checks, it’s possible to disable
many types of traps simply by destroying them or their
triggering mechanisms by other means. Once a trap’s location is
known, it might be possible to use Athletics/slam checks to
smash its mechanism, to cut a tripwire, to jam a pressure plate
to keep it from being pressed down, block it or cover it with dirt
or rocks, and so forth. A discovered pit trap can likewise be
jumped over or crossed on a beam or ladder.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
The dispel magic spell is the most common way of disabling
magical traps, as it allows them to be disabled at a distance.
Common Mechanical Traps
A typical hunting trap can be purchased in most wilderness
locales, and setting light snares for hunting is easily
accomplished with a Nature or Dungeoneering check. But the
mechanical traps found in dungeons, gentries’ estate, and
hidden sanctums are more elaborate and more challenging by
far.
This section details a number of the most common mechanical
traps known to adventurers.
Alchemical Action
This trap is attached to a location trigger, whose clockwork
delivery mechanism activates an alchemical item in the space of
the creature who triggered the trap. Any alchemical item that
deals damage or otherwise hinders creatures — acid,
alchemist’s fire, a smokestick, and so forth — can be activated
by the trap, which must be manually reset and restocked. The
coast of the alchemical item used in the trap is separate from
the cost of the trap. DC 13; 5 gp.
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic (214)
Barrier
In response to a location trigger, a concealing flap is pushed
aside in the ceiling, wall, or floor of a corridor or other narrow
space. Some form of barrier — a portcullis gate, a solid door,
and so forth — then slides out through the flap at high speed,
slamming into the wall opposite.
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The barrier blocks forward movement, and holds creatures in
the location if a paired barrier trap also triggers behind them. A
creature in the path of the barrier must make a Reflex save
(challenge throw +5) or take 2d6 bludgeoning, piercing, or
slashing damage (depending on whether the bottom of the
barrier is flat, spiked, or sharpened). The creature ends up on
whichever side of the barrier they choose.
The barrier is held in place by a powerful clockwork mechanism,
and can be moved only with a successful DC 20 Athletics/grab
check. That mechanism automatically opens some barrier traps
after a set time, but others must be manually reset. A barrier
trap can often by bypassed through a secret tunnel, or through
a hidden access space revealing a crank wheel that can easily
move the barrier. DC 20; 150 gp.
Collapsing Ceiling
A location or touch trigger activates this trap when a ceiling is
walked beneath or prodded to detect for secret spaces. As the
ceiling collapses, bricks, stones, or timbers fall into a 10-foot-
diameter area. Each creature in the area takes 4d6 bludgeoning
damage, making a Reflex save (challenge throw +6) for half
damage. Once triggered, the trap must be rebuilt. DC 20; 240
gp.
Collapsing Column
This freestanding broken stone column is held together by wire
or some kind of camouflaged wrapper, and is set with a
location, proximity, or touch trigger. When triggered, the
column splits apart to send rubble crashing to the ground in a 5-
foot-diameter area. Each creature in the area takes 4d6
bludgeoning damage, making a Reflex save (challenge throw
+6) for half damage. Once triggered, the trap must be rebuilt.
DC 10; 100 gp.
Collapsing Wall
A proximity trigger causes a specially prepared brick, stone, or
wooden wall to collapse onto a 10-foot-diameter area. Each
creature in the area takes 4d6 bludgeoning damage, making a
Reflex save (challenge throw +6) for half damage. Once
triggered, the trap must be rebuilt. DC 15; 350 gp.
Compacting Room
Any trigger can be used to activate this trap, which causes the
floor, ceiling, or one or two walls of a small room to speedily
smash inward and slam the surface opposite. Variations on this
trap have the walls move slowly, and incorporate additional
barrier traps to prevent creatures from fleeing the trap’s area.
Each creature in the trap’s area automatically takes 8d10
bludgeoning damage, after which the trap’s clockwork
mechanism retracts the walls, floor, or ceiling and the trap resets
itself. DC 20; 2,500 gp.
Executioner Statue
This statue takes the form of a figure holding a weapon, and is
filled with alchemical and clockwork mechanisms connected to a
location or proximity trigger. When triggered, the statue’s
weapon lashes out repeatedly into a 5-foot-area in front of or
around it. Each creature in the area must succeed on a Reflex
save (challenge throw +7) or take 3d8 + 3 piercing, slashing, or
bludgeoning damage, depending on the weapon. The weapon
then returns to its original position and the trap resets itself. DC
22; 1,300 gp.
190

Flooding Room
This windowless area features doors that are shut and sealed by
clockwork in response to a location, proximity, or sound trigger.
Water then pours into the room through hidden floor drains,
driven by clockwork pumps, and filling the room within minutes.
Unless able to break open a door with a DC 25 Athletics/slam
check, creatures in the room must hold their breaths when the
water reaches the ceiling, and might suffocate. After a set time,
the drains open to empty the room, then the doors open to
reset the trap. DC 25; 1,800 gp.
Suffocation (177)
Missile Gauntlet
A missile trap uses a proximity trigger (usually a pressure plate)
to fire four darts, arrows, or bolts into the area directly next to it.
One creature in the area per missile fired must succeed on a
Reflex saving throw (challenge throw +4) or take 1d6, 1d8, or
1d10 piercing damage, depending on the type of missile. If
fewer creatures than missiles are in the area, a failed save deals
damage from multiple missiles.
Larger variations on this trap can fire spears that deal 1d8 + 4
piercing damage, usually one spear at a time.
Missile traps use a clockwork mechanism to automatically reset
until they run out of missiles. They are usually stocked with
twenty darts, arrows, or bolts, or five spears. DC 15; 200 gp.
Needle Jab
Most commonly found protecting tight spaces where a creature
might extend some part of their body (including in and around
locks), a needle trap has a proximity or touch trigger that forces
a short, sharp needle to jut out and pierce anything directly in
front of the trap. One creature in the area must succeed on a
Reflex saving throw (challenge roll +4) or take 1 piercing
damage. A clockwork mechanism then retracts the needle and
resets the trap.
Though needle traps are sometimes used when wanting to give
a nonlethal warning to someone picking a lock they shouldn’t,
most are designed to be coated in injury poison. DC 20; 130 gp.
Traps and Poison sidebar
Traps and Poison
Traps that deal piercing or slashing damage, include those that fire
arrows, bolts, or darts, or make use of blades, spikes, or needles, are
often augmented with poison. Any injury poison can be used to
make a trap of this sort deadlier, at the increased cost of the poison.
Poison (183)
Contact poison can act as a trap in its own right, whether slathered
on a doorknob or latch, a padlock or inset lock, or any other surface
likely to be touched.
Net Drop
A location or proximity trigger causes a wall or ceiling panel to
open up, with a net launched by a spring mechanism from a
secret compartment within to cover a 10-foot-diameter area,
usually around the trigger. Each creature in that area must
succeed on a Reflex save (challenge throw +4) or be caught by
the net, leaving them slowed. Nets are sometimes heavily
weighted to leave affected creatures prone as well. It takes a DC
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
15 Acrobatics/agility check to escape from the net. A net trap
must be manually reset. DC 18; 300 gp.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Pit
A pit trap is activated by a location trigger, often a pressure
plate that activates when a creature above a certain weight
moves onto the floor surface covering the pit. That floor then
falls away and any creatures in the area of the pit drop into it,
but can make a Reflex save (challenge throw +5) to grab onto
the edge. On a failure, a creature falls to the bottom of the pit,
taking 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen. The difficulty
of climbing out of the pit depends on its materials and
construction. A pit trap must have the surface that covers it
rebuilt or manually reset before it can be used again. DC 15; 20
gp per 10 feet deep.
Augmented Pit Traps
Some pit taps have their floors set with spikes or lined with razor-
sharp blades. A creature who falls into the pit takes damage from
the fall as usual, plus an extra 1d6 piercing or slashing damage.
Spikes or blades add 50 gp to the cost of the pit trap.
Some pit traps with solid floors are built with advanced clockwork
mechanisms that cause their floors to snap up again after being
triggered, resetting the pit and also sealing in creatures who fall into
it. A creature who reaches the top of the pit can force it open with a
successful DC 20 Athletics/slam check. This reset mechanism adds
250 gp to the cost of the pit trap.
Pendulum
Set on a location or timed trigger, a ceiling panel drops down to
let a concealed pendulum descend in a sweeping arc into a
hallway or other narrow space. The pendulum is either a heavy
block or a sharpened double-edged blade, forcing each
creature its area to succeed on a Reflex save (challenge throw
+4) or take 3d12 bludgeoning or slashing damage. After the
pendulum passes through the area, clockwork systems retract it
and pull the ceiling panel back up, resetting the trap. DC 15;
1,400 gp.
Poison Gas
A location trigger sets off this trap to release a cloud of inhaled
poison that fills a 10-foot-diameter area. Each creature in the
area must make saving throws appropriate to the poison placed
in the trap. A poison gas trap must be manually reset. The coast
of the poison used in the trap is separate from the cost of the
trap. DC 15; 150 gp.
Rolling Rock
This trap consists of a large rock that has been set at the top of
a ramp and concealed, then is activated by a location, proximity,
or timed trigger to roll through a confined space at speed. Each
creature in the space must succeed on a Reflex saving throw
(challenge throw +4) or take 6d6 bludgeoning damage. If the
rock is only slightly smaller than the space, creatures might take
that damage automatically and make the save for half damage.
A rolling rock trap can often be bypassed by a secret tunnel or
corridor. This trap must be rebuilt once used. DC 12; 150 gp.
Scything Blade
In response to a location trigger, a section of floor opens up and
a sharpened blade arcs up and down again through a 10-foot-
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wide space. Each creature in that space takes 3d8 slashing

damage, making a Reflex save (challenge throw +4) for half
damage. The clockwork mechanism of the scything blade then
reseals the floor and resets the trap. DC 17; 600 gp.

Snare Lift
Attached to a location trigger, this heavy-duty snare trap is
crafted of heavy cord or light chain, and is set with a
counterweight or strong spring whose force pulls a Medium or
smaller target off their feet and into the air. To prevent easy
escape by a creature able to reach their snared feet, the snare
swing trap usually features a mechanism that locks the snare
loop in its tightened position.
It takes a DC 18 Acrobatics/escape or Athletics/slam check to
slip free, break, or cut through the loop. A check made to cut
through a cord loop has advantage if made with a weapon or
tool that deals slashing damage. DC 10; 80 gp.

Tripline
This straightforward trap consists of a solid line of cord, wire, or
thin rope tied across an open space above the ground. A
tripline has no trigger, but simply trips up creatures who move
into it unawares. Any such creature must succeed on a Reflex
saving throw (challenge throw +5) or go prone. If the creature is
running, they have disadvantage on the save.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Some tripline traps are made with barbed wire, razor wire, or
spiked chain. This can make them easier to spot but deals 1d4
or 1d6 piercing or slashing damage to a creature moving
through them. DC 12; 2 gp.

Clockwork Tripline
This tripline trap is connected to clockwork mechanisms that lift
the line from concealment along the ground, in response to a
location or proximity trigger. It allows barbed wire, razor wire, or
spiked chain to be used as the line without increasing the
visibility of the trap. After a fixed time, the tripline lowers and
the trap resets automatically. DC 18; 100 gp.

Wall Spikes
Activated by a location, proximity, or touch trigger, panels or
decorative flourishes along a wall are shifted to one side by
clockwork mechanisms behind them. Long, sharp spikes then
slam out of the wall from floor to ceiling, potentially impaling
any creature within 5 feet of the wall. Each such creature must
succeed on a Reflex saving throw (challenge throw +7) or take
8d10 piercing damage and be restrained. A restrained creature
can be freed as a standard action with a DC 15
Acrobatics/escape or Athletics/grab check, by themself or any
creature who can reach them.
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
After a set time, the spikes retract, automatically freeing
restrained creatures (or dropping their bodies to the floor). The
wall then returns to its original state as the trap resets. DC 18;
1,300 gp.

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A character can take only 1 short rest per hour.

Time in the Game
At any point where keeping track of the passage of time in the
game is important, the GM determines the scale of time
required to best represent the characters’ movement and
actions.
Introduction/Time and Pacing (4)
While the characters are exploring dungeons and other indoor
locations, time passes on a scale of minutes. It might take a
party about a minute to creep down a long hallway, another
minute for characters to check for traps on the door at the end
of the hall, and a good ten minutes to search the chamber
beyond for anything interesting or valuable.
In settled areas or wilderness, a scale of hours is often more
appropriate. Adventurers seeking the haunted tower fifteen
miles away at the heart of a forest can cross those fifteen miles
in 5 hours’ time. While searching for a missing mercenary
captain in the city, the characters might spend 2 hours
questioning city guards and sellswords in local taverns, then
spend 6 hours setting up surveillance at the local thieves’ guild
to follow up on leads.
For long journeys, a scale of days or weeks works best.
Following the road from the Free City of Yewnyr to Highport on
the Sea of Galvas will take a party 12 days on foot or 6 days on
horse. If their adventures in Highport direct them to travel to
Claygate Keep on the Isle of Myrnan, that voyage takes 8 days in
steerage on a loaded merchant ship, 6 days on a passenger
ship, or 4 days on a faster charter vessel.
Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms (A14)
Whenever the game goes into initiative, including during
combat, time is reckoned in rounds of approximately 10
seconds each. The moments when the game is measured in
rounds are the only times when characters, NPCs, and other
creatures are expected to act in a specific order, and when it’s
important to track what a character can do in a specific length of
time.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
Chapter 9/The Combat Round (234)
Long Rest
A long rest is 8 hours of uninterrupted inactivity and
recuperation. By taking an extended break from physical and
mental activity, you can refocus your mental and physical
strength, and restore some measure of resilience. During a long
rest, you bind your wounds, sleep, and can engage only in
nonstrenuous activities and minimal movement. This means
refraining from combat, spellcasting, skill use, prolonged
argument or debate, or any other physical or mental task during
the rest period. You can stand watch during a long rest, but any
combat or extended movement interrupts the rest.
At the end of a long rest, you can do all the following.
• Use long-rest healing to recover lost defense points.
• Recover expended spell points.
• Refocus spells.
• Recover expended primordial magic invocations.
Chapter 9/Long-Rest Healing (257)
Chapter 10/Spell Points (322); Focused Spells (327); Primordial
Magic (383)
If a long rest is interrupted, you can continue the rest once the
interruption is done, extending the length of the rest by 1 hour
for each interruption. At the end of the long rest, you don’t
restore any defense points you lost or spell points you
expended during an interruption.
A character can take only one long rest per 24 hours. Characters
who don’t need sleep (including elves) must still have 8 hours of
restful calm to finish a long rest. An elf character might trance
for 4 hours, then meditate or stand watch for 4 hours to finish a
long rest.
Downtime Rest
Campaign downtime covers the weeks between adventures,
when characters have the opportunity to take long-term rest, as
well as undertake other nonadventuring activities.
Campaign Downtime

Resting
As your characters explore dangerous subterranean realms,
make their way along dark dungeon corridors, set out across
trackless wilderness, or engage in espionage in the heart of
great cities, they often expend resources in the form of hit
points and spell points. These resources are replenished when
characters take either a long rest or a short rest during their
adventuring.

Short Rest
A short rest is 15 minutes of uninterrupted inactivity and
recuperation. By taking a quick break from physical and mental
activity, you can quickly recharge and refocus before moving on
to your next challenge. During a short rest, you bind your
wounds and can engage in nonstrenuous activities and
movement. This means refraining from combat, spellcasting,
skill use, prolonged argument or debate, or any other physical
or mental task during the rest period.
At the end of a short rest, you can use short-rest healing to
recover lost defense points.
Chapter 9/Short-Rest Healing (257)

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Campaign Downtime
Player characters are noteworthy in any campaign by virtue of
being constantly caught up in adventure. Some characters seek
out quests intentionally, while others are caught up in
dangerous escapades by accident. Some are would-be heroes
hoping to make the world a better place, while others are
laughing blackguards looking out only for themselves. Either
way, though, adventures are the high points of the campaign for
every player character, filled with the deadliest challenges and
the most valuable rewards.
Adventuring isn’t all that goes on in a character’s life, however.
Between bouts of deadly jeopardy, all characters need to rest
up, spend time with family or friends, travel, study, engage in
research, train, seek out NPCs to perform specific tasks, find the
best places to buy or sell loot and equipment, and engage in all
the other possible activities of life. Such activities take place
during campaign downtime — the stretches of campaign time
between adventures, measured in weeks of seven days.
Downtime Activities
During campaign downtime, player characters can partake in a
number of different activities, depending in part on the style of
the campaign. Downtime might be dispensed with quickly for a
group of characters in a sword-and-sorcery campaign, who
simply spend their downtime resting up to return to full health,
and training while waiting for the next adventure to find them. In
a campaign ripe with political intrigue or evolving backstory,
downtime might take up one or more entire gaming sessions, as
characters interact with NPCs, follow up on information
discovered during recent adventures, or engage in activities that
set the tone and direction of the campaign.
You make skill checks during downtime in the same way you do
whenever the game is out of initiative, but checks during
downtime generally represent multiple day’s worth of activities
rather than specific tasks in the moment. Just as your character’s
choices, the progression of skill checks and attack rolls, and the
degree of success or failure all drive the story while the game is
in initiative, your choices, checks, and degree of success drive
the narrative during downtime.
Chapter 6/Measuring Skill Success (104)
Chapter 9/Measuring Saving Throw Success (246); Measuring
Attack Success (265)
Healing During Downtime
Characters who engage in combat regularly will spend much of
their downtime engaging in downtime healing. This week-by-
week healing lets you heal damage to your critical points,
remove penalties to your critical points (incurred during
adventures when characters use magical healing), and removing
penalties to your ability modifiers inflicted by pestilence, poison,
or magic.
Chapter 9/Downtime Healing (257)
During downtime healing, you bind, stitch, and splint your
wounds, undertake careful exercise, and can engage in other
nonstrenuous and nonstressful activities. While engaged in
downtime healing, you can undertake moderate mental and
physical activity, including low-impact labor and short-distance
travel. But you can undertake long-distance travel only in a
vehicle (a wagon, a ship, and so on), and only if the travel
doesn’t constitute a physical and mental challenge.
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
It’s important to track how much campaign downtime is devoted
to healing, especially in a campaign where the player characters
are engaging in other time-sensitive activities.
Working and Healing sidebar
Training
The new feat slots that your character earns through
adventuring and over the course of the campaign might boost
your combat prowess, your magical power, your skill use, your
fluency in languages, and more. There are no specific rules for
how much time you must devote to training in support of
improvements to existing abilities or the gaining of new abilities.
As long as reasonable downtime is part of the structure of the
campaign, the GM will usually allow training to take place
alongside other activities.
Where certain types of training feel like they require more
downtime than the players have committed to — for example, a
character learning a new language in a quick 2-week
downtime — it’s easy to assume that a character has been
undertaking that training behind the scenes during previous
campaign downtime. That way, the downtime in which they gain
the new feat representing that training is simply the end of a
longer process.
Roleplaying and Investigation
For campaigns in which intrigue or intelligence-gathering plays
a big part in setting up or connecting adventures, GMs and
players often play out downtime just like any other gaming
session. In many cases, these kinds of downtime sessions can
feature just as much dice rolling as a combat-heavy adventure
session. During downtime, the characters might interact with
members of the prince’s court or the local thieves’ guild, or
engage in skill checks to study or translate information gained
during previous adventures. They might investigate rumors or
spread rumors of their own, as they painstakingly put the pieces
of the campaign’s story puzzle together.
Such downtime sessions might need only minimal tracking of
how much time passes, with the GM deciding that the party’s
course of activity or investigation takes a certain number of
downtime weeks. In other cases, the machinations of NPCs in
the campaign provide a timeline against which the player
characters must compete. If a failed skill checks to gather
information or track down important NPC contacts mean that it
takes an extra 2 weeks for the characters to come into
possession of a key piece of information, the villainous cult that
is the centerpiece of the next adventure session might have
time to set up defenses before the characters come calling.
Working
Working during downtime gives characters a chance to
supplement their adventuring income, or can give players and
GMs a chance to run a campaign focused less on heroes
amassing treasure, and more on heroism against a backdrop of
everyday life.
Chapter 8/Earning Income (207)
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Working and Healing

Characters can work during downtime healing, but undertaking rest
and recuperation makes it more difficult to engage in the focused
physical or mental activity required to ply a trade or vocation, and
vice versa. If you work to earn income in a week that you undertake
downtime healing, you have disadvantage on both your check to
earn income and on your Healing check.
Chapter 8/Earning Income (207)
The GM can rule that especially rigorous labor or mental activity are
incompatible with downtime healing, but characters are free to seek
out alternative means of earning income. For example, a warrior
unable to take a short-term contract to patrol with the city guard or
protect a caravan during downtime could instead offer her services
as a weapons trainer. A character who earns income as a musician
might find performing at taverns every night too taxing while
recuperating from injury, but could hire themself out for more
sedate private parties.

Earning Campaign Feat Slots

For any activity besides downtime healing, characters can
usually earn campaign feat slots by spending a significant
amount of the campaign engaging in downtime. Adventure-
hungry characters who insist on spending only the minimal
amount of campaign downtime necessary to heal their wounds
might limit their ability to earn campaign feat slots, though they
might make up the difference with more adventuring feat slots.
Chapter 1/Earned Feats (10)

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Character Upkeep
Chapter 8 provides costs for such things as staying at an inn and
buying a meal, which is useful if your character needs to do so a
few specific times during an adventure. But during campaign
downtime, you don’t calculate meals and other living expenses
on a day-by-day basis. Instead, you decide what kind of lifestyle
and level of upkeep your character wants to enjoy, then price
that lifestyle week by week.
Chapter 8/Food, Drink, and Lodging (221)
Easy Come, Easy Go
Many players enjoy the side activity involved in thinking about a
character’s income and upkeep during downtime, as well as the
process of turning whatever coin is earned in excess of expenses
into new weapons, armor, spells, magic items, and more. But for
players with less interest in their character’s downtime activities, or
for campaigns where the focus is almost exclusively on adventuring,
you can shortcut the process of determining earnings and upkeep.
Simply assume that whatever a character’s upkeep amounts to
during downtime, it’s exactly covered by their earnings as long as
they have the opportunity to sell their skills in some way. For
expenses such as upgrades to magic and equipment, characters are
thus limited to whatever coin they earned on their previous
adventures — and have a great incentive to get back to adventuring
when the loot begins to run out.
Characters who choose this option must use it consistently. A player
can’t calculate earnings and upkeep while their character lives an
austere lifestyle, then suddenly decide to go for the easy accounting
when the campaign forces the characters to upgrade to several
months’ of an affluent lifestyle. Likewise, the GM can impose
limitations on what kind of lifestyle is available to characters using
this approach, and might keep the affluent and gentry options off
the table.
Lifestyle and Upkeep
The way your character lives determines how much it costs for
the basic necessities of living. Renting or owning a fine home
costs more than renting a modest apartment. Taking a room at
an inn costs more than sharing a room in a boarding house,
which in turn costs more than camping rough. During each
period of campaign downtime, you choose one of six different
types of lifestyle to determine your character’s upkeep.
Upkeep Cost
Lifestyle (per week)
Rough 1 gp
Austere 3 gp
Self-sufficient 10 gp
Prosperous 20 gp
Affluent 35 gp
Gentry 100+ gp
Upkeep expenses cover the basics of living, including food,
shelter, clothing, entertainment, and maintenance of equipment
and gear. Specific expenses — including new equipment,
mounts, magic items, and travel — comprise additional costs
over and above upkeep and are always paid for separately.
Upkeep for a mount costs half as much as upkeep for a
character, covering such things as fodder and stabling,
replacing tack and equipment, horseshoes and grooming, and
so on. A mount’s upkeep must be calculated based on the same
lifestyle or a higher lifestyle as a character. It’s easy for a
character living rough to splurge on a common lifestyle level of
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
care for a mount, so as to reduce the chance of the mount
contracting some pestilence through poor stabling. However, a
character living an affluent lifestyle will find it difficult to skimp
on care for a mount, especially when grooms, stablehands, and
others are involved in that mount’s care.
Rough
With expenses totaling no more than 1 gp per week, a
character living a rough lifestyle spends as little as possible on
food, clothing, and sundries, relinquishing money only when
absolutely necessary. A rough lifestyle covers such things as
camping rough in the wilderness or city parks, sleeping in cheap
rooming houses or alleyways, and hunting or scrounging for
most food.
Austere
An austere lifestyle affords a character the basic necessities of
life for 3 gp per week but holds few extravagances, and is the
position of many students, day laborers, and beginning
mercenaries, as well as characters down on their luck. An
austere lifestyle is one in which a character lives in shared
accommodations or boarding houses, eats food that is mostly
self-prepared, and engages mostly in entertainments that are
inexpensive or free.
Self-Sufficient
A self-sufficient lifestyle offers the best balance of security and
cost for most adventurers. At a cost of 10 gp per week, this is
the lifestyle most specialized workers, experienced mercenaries,
and entrepreneurs enjoy. A character living a self-sufficient
lifestyle dwells in a small house, rented apartments, or common
rooms in an inn, eats self-prepared food or simple tavern fare,
and indulges in fine dining and entertainment from time to time.
Prosperous
A prosperous lifestyle suits adventurers who wish to become
known for their exploits — and for the wealth those exploits
have won them. Costing 15 gp per week, this lifestyle is
enjoyed by especially skilled workers or crafters, guard captains
and guild operatives, and high-level bureaucrats with skill and
seniority. Living a prosperous lifestyle features a large house, a
well-appointed apartment, or a private room in an inn, a mix of
modest and fine dining, and a sense of showing off the
trappings of modest wealth.
Affluent
Representing a life of financial ease, an affluent lifestyle costs 35
gp per week and is the kind of life enjoyed by the most
successful skilled laborers and entrepreneurs, guild leaders,
senior bureaucrats, and specialist professionals. An affluent
lifestyle allows a character to live in a fine house, an apartment,
or the best-appointed inn rooms, to eat at fine dining
establishments for most meals, and to engage in expensive
entertainments.
Gentry
A gentry lifestyle represents the peak of living in most societies,
and is typical of wealthy landowners, guild masters, and
powerful lords. However, in many locations or societies, it’s one
thing to spend like a gentry, but something else entirely to be
accepted as one. A gentry lifestyle has no set upkeep cost, but
features a minimum upkeep of 100 gp per week on which the
GM can build. The GM and the player will work together to
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determine the specifics of administering the gentry lifestyle for a

character during campaign downtime.

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Special Companions Companion Creature Feats

Characters have the opportunity to purchase mounts and guard The following feat allows a character to gain the benefits of
animals to make their adventuring lives easier, and to seek out having a loyal creature at their side, both in and out of combat.
NPC hirelings for specific tasks or assignments. But the
relationship between adventurers and the creatures and people Companion Creature
working alongside them sometimes takes on special
A creature you bond with becomes your faithful companion.
significance, letting both establish a bond that shapes a larger
role for a devoted adventuring companion. Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Dungeoneering, Magic, or Nature)
×1.
Companion Creature Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
A companion creature is an arthropod, animal, or nonsapient Benefit: By dedicating yourself to rearing and training an
wondrous beast who serves your character in the same manner arthropod, an animal, or a wondrous beast as a trusted
as a mount, a guard dog, a tracking hound, or some other companion, you gain a faithful ally with unique abilities. You
trained creature. But by virtue of the special bond that builds gain a companion creature who can be any nonsapient creature
between you both over time, your companion creature becomes of tier 0.
more friend than servant, and has the opportunity to grow more
Special Companion: Instead of selecting a creature of tier 0 as a
powerful from that relationship.
companion creature using the base feat slot cost, you can use
Chapter 2/Intelligent and Sapient Creatures sidebar (30) additional feat slots to gain a more powerful companion.
Although they start with all the statistics and features of a usual Choosing a tier 1 companion creature costs an additional 3 feat
creature of their kind, a companion creature is more advanced slots, while a tier 2 companion costs an additional 6 feat slots.
than even a typical trained animal. Your companion creature Any companion above tier 0 must be selected in consultation
accompanies you on your adventures as appropriate for a with the GM.
creature of their kind, and is automatically trained in any tasks A scout taking a tier 0 badger as her first companion
you choose according to their Intelligence. creature uses 1 feat slot to do so. A druidas caster in her
If your companion creature dies or is released from service, you party wants to take a tier 1 leopard as their first companion
can retrain any instances of this feat or gain a new companion of creature, so must use 4 feat slots to do so. If the characters
the same tier as your original companion. A fallen companion instead are each taking a second companion creature, a
can also be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected like any other badger costs 2 feat slots while a leopard costs 5 feat slots.
creature. The table below presents a wide range of possible companion
creatures, but almost any creature of the same general size and
Actions and Control challenge as those on the list makes a suitable companion.
Your companion creature acts on your turn, and generally uses Companions and Intelligence sidebar
their actions as you direct them. You can usually handle a
companion with no need to make Dungeoneering or Nature SAMPLE COMPANION CREATURES
checks (depending on the type of companion). However, if
handled under extreme duress, checks might be called for at Base Cost (Tier 0) +3 Feat Slots (Tier 1) +6 Feat Slots (Tier 2)
the GM’s determination, just as you might need to make checks Baboon Ankheg Basilisk
to convince an NPC to work with you. Other creatures, including Badger Bear, black Bear, brown
your allies, must make skill checks to interact with your Bat Boar Bear, polar
companion creature as the GM determines. Cat Cockatrice Gorilla
Deer Dog Hippopotamus
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Nature (131)
Donkey Dolphin1 Jaisuto
Eagle Hippogriff Lion
Advancement Hawk Horse Moose
A companion creature benefits from their relationship with you Lizard Leopard Monstrous scorpion
and the extraordinary experience they gain from your Monkey Monstrous dragonfly Monstrous stag beetle
adventures. They gain adventuring feat slots for adventures they Monstrous ant Monstrous spider Orca1
undertake with you, but they don’t gain campaign feat slots. Monstrous bee Monstrous wasp Owlbear
Chapter 1/Earned Feats (10) Monstrous fire beetle Mule Qyphis
Owl Octopus1 Rhinoceros
You select the feats earned by your companion creature, which Pony Shark1 Tiger
can be taken from among any of the feats available to Rat Snake, constrictor
characters or other creatures. A companion creature can take Raven Storm lizard
any feat for which they meet the prerequisites.
Snake, viper Waranna
Stirge Wolf
Toad
Weasel
1. Available only in an aquatic environment.

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Mastery: You can take this feat three times, at a cost of 1 or

more feat slots. Each time you do so, you gain a new companion
creature.
Feat Slot Cost 1+ 2+ 3+
Times Taken 1 2 3

Companions and Intelligence

The Companion Creature feat is meant to create a bond between a
character and an intelligent creature who bonds with the character
in response to care and training. However, in consultation with the
GM, that feat can also be used to select a nonintelligent companion
of the appropriate CR (including botanicals and oozes, or even
constructs and undead). Player and GM simply need to work out the
story details of how that companion bonds with a character using
instinct and awareness that bypasses their lack of reasoning and
ability to learn.
Sapient creatures — those with an Intelligence of 3 or higher who
understand language — can’t be chosen as companion creatures.
The combination of intelligence and language creates a baseline of
self-awareness that requires sapient creatures to be treated as
independent creatures or NPCs. It’s possible to have a sapient
wondrous beast join an adventuring party, work and train with the
characters, and even take direction from them. But that scenario is
handled in the same way as having a worldborn mercenary or
specialist work with the party, not as a scenario in which the
wondrous beast is treated as a dependent extension of a single
character.
Chapter 2/Intelligent and Sapient Creatures sidebar (30)
The only possible exception is a creature companion who becomes
a sapient creature by use of the awaken spell or similar magic. In
consultation with the GM, you might decide that it works to have
that creature continue as a companion. But if doing so isn’t feasible,
the creature becomes an NPC (even if maintaining a strong
friendship with you), and you can retrain the feat slots you used to
take Companion Creature for that companion.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)

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Spirit Guide Actions and Control

Your spirit guide can use a standard action to manifest in the
The energy of life can manifest even after death, focused
world, or to vanish and retreat to a personal extradimensional
around points of emotional resonance and connections to other
refuge. You can use a standard action to call the spirit to
creatures. When a creature who dies had a suitably strong
manifest from their refuge, but they do so only as they desire.
relationship of devotion with a partner, friend, family member,
While in their personal refuge, a spirit guide is in a state of
or even a nemesis, their spirit energy can manifest as a spirit
meditative rest, but they remain aware of you and any activity
guide, bonding with that creature as a deathless friend and
within 120 feet of you unless they wish not to be.
companion. When your character bonds with a spirit guide, you
forge a magical connection that can grow stronger over time. Observation and Awareness (174)
Any creature of tier 0 except a construct or an undead can Your spirit guide acts on your turn, and generally uses their
become a spirit guide. A spirit guide must be willing to bond actions as you direct them. A nonsapient spirit guide is
with you, and you’ll consult with the GM to determine whether effectively under your control, as with a companion creature. A
the creature you intend to make your spirit guide satisfies the sapient spirit guide is an independent NPC who generally
criteria of being devoted enough to remain with you even after follows your directives, but who might counter those directives
death. You can establish a narrative where a spirit guide bonds at the GM’s determination. If real conflict develops between
with your character unexpectedly, but you can’t compel a you, any spirit guide might become an independent NPC run by
creature to bond with you in this way. the GM, allowing you to retrain the Spirit Guide feat you used to
bond with them.
When a creature becomes your spirit guide, they gain a number
of special features: Companion Creature (198)
• The creature’s type changes to celestial, and they radiate
necromancy magic to a detect magic spell. Essence and Existence
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) A spirit guide’s existence is a continuation of their former
existence, and a creature retains all their memories and
• If the spirit guide doesn’t already have a flying speed, they
personality when they become a spirit guide. If the spirit guide’s
gain a flying speed of 30 feet.
original form is ever raised from the dead, their new living form
• The spirit can move no farther than 120 feet from you. If an
remembers being a spirit guide. A spirit guide uses the baseline
effect causes you and your spirit guide to be more than 120
statistics of their original form. This includes any baseline traits
feet apart, the guide vanishes but can be manifested again.
of a creature’s stat block and all lineage traits for a worldborn,
• The spirit guide can communicate using language if they did but no feats. (If your spirit guide is a former character or
so in life. Additionally, you and your spirit guide can companion creature, the mortal experience represented by
communicate telepathically. earned feats is erased by their death.)
Appendix A/Telepathy (A6)
If you wish to permanently dismiss your spirit guide, or if the
• A spirit guide has vulnerability to necrotic damage and to creature who spawned your spirit guide is ever returned to life,
damage dealt by cold iron weapons. If the guide is reduced the spirit guide fades away and can no longer be manifested.
to 0 critical points, they vanish but can manifest again at full You can bond with a new spirit guide in consultation with the
hit points after the end of your next downtime rest. GM, or you can retrain the Spirit Guide feat, as usual.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Though a spirit guide isn’t undead, their appearance makes
Advancement
them easily mistaken for a ghost or other spectral undead, A spirit guide benefits from their relationship with you and the
inspiring the expected responses from other creatures. extraordinary experience they gain from your adventures. They
gain adventuring feat slots for adventures they undertake with
you, but they don’t gain campaign feat slots.
Corporeal Spectral Form
You select the feats earned by your spirit guide, which can be
A spirit guide appears as a corporeal spectral representation of
taken from among any of the feats available to characters or
the creature they were in life, and can shift at will between a
other creatures. A spirit guide can take any feat for which they
form resembling translucent mist and an apparition of their
meet the prerequisites, and might be able to take other feats in
preferred visage in life. The spirit guide can manifest their bodily
appearance in whole or part, appearing as a well-defined figure, consultation with the GM.
a hazy form, a spectral face or hand resolving within the mist,
and so on. The spirit isn’t incorporeal, but they can move
through any gap 1 inch wide or more.
The spirit’s bodily appearance doesn’t carry gear or wear
clothing, but the spirit can pick up and handle objects, and can
shape their mist form to resemble mundane garments or objects
(but not weapons). A spirit guide can manipulate objects only if
they could so while alive, so that spirit guides without hands
can’t wield weapons.
A spirit guide who manipulates objects drops those objects
when fully in mist form or when dismissed. Objects manifested
by a spirit guide disappear if the spirit guide no longer holds or
wears them.

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Spirit Guide Feats
The feats in this section let a character gain a spirit guide, and
allow that spirit guide to shape the bond between themself and
the character. The latter feats, whether they grant special
features to a spirit guide or grant a character special features in
conjunction with their spirit guide, can be taken only by a spirit
guide.
Extended Senses
You channel your spirit guide’s senses to perceive as they do.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a spirit guide.
Benefit: You can use your spirit guide to extend your senses. As
a minor action, you get a momentary impression of everything
you would experience if you were at the guide’s location
(selecting from one or all of sight, sound, touch, taste, and so
forth). As a standard action, you gain the ongoing experience of
what you would sense from the guide’s location, but you are
disoriented for all your senses until you use a minor action to
end that connection.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Mastery: Your spirit guide can take this feat once, at a cost of 1
feat slot.
Martial Spirit
By focusing the life force that shapes them, a spirit guide can
manifest potent magical attacks.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a spirit guide.
Benefit: Your spirit guide can manifest weapons out of their
own misty form as a minor action, with those weapons dealing
their usual damage type or radiant damage, as the spirit guide
determines. Manifested thrown weapons or ammunition
disappear after being used to attack.
Chapter 9/Weapons (274)
A spirit guide’s manifested weapons can be targeted by spells
such as magic weapon and magic fang, but can’t be crafted into
magic weapons or use weapon icons. If magic augments a
manifested weapon, that magic persists for its regular duration
for any one weapon the spirit guide manifests. If a spirit guide
dismisses a weapon and manifests another weapon, the magic
continues to affect the new weapon.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Shared Instincts
Your connection to your spirit guide sharpens your acuity with
chosen tasks.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a spirit guide.
Benefit: At the end of each long rest, choose one of your spirit
guide’s full skill check modifiers (including the default core
ability modifier). You can use that modifier in place of your own
full modifier for that skill a number of times per day equal to
your Charisma modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
This is a magical feature.
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Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring
Mastery: Your spirit guide can take this feat once, at a cost of 1
feat slot.
Skilled Spirit
The strength of your connection to your spirit guide allows them
to channel your knowledge and skills.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a spirit guide.
Benefit: For any skill for which you have taken Skill Focus, you
can make skill checks through your spirit guide. You use the
same action to direct the spirit guide as the guide uses to make
the check, as determined by the GM.
Chapter 6/Skill Focus (148)
Worried about magical wards in an ancient tomb, an
arcanist sends her cat spirit guide forward to read the
inscription on the door of a crumbling vault. The GM
determines that it takes a standard action to make an
Investigation check to attempt to decipher part of the runic
text, so each check requires a standard action from the
spirit guide and the arcanist.
For checks involving the manipulation of objects, the spirit
guide engages those objects in a way suitable to their form. For
example, an animal spirit guide used to make a Thievery check
to pick a lock might extend a misty paw into the lock or scratch
at it until it opens.
Mastery: Your spirit guide can take this feat once, at a cost of 1
feat slot.
Spirit Guide
The spirit of a creature you knew in life becomes a bonded
mystical companion.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You gain a spirit guide manifested from the life energy
of a dead creature who was devoted to you in life — a beloved
pet or companion creature; a friend, partner, family member, or
devoted nemesis; a creature with which you had a mystical
connection in life; and so forth.
Special Guide: When you take this feat, you can select any
creature of tier 0 as the basis for your spirit guide. Alternatively,
you can use additional feat slots over and above the base feat
slot cost to gain a more powerful spirit guide. Choosing a spirit
guide manifested from a tier 1 creature costs an additional 3
feat slots, while a guide manifested from a tier 2 creature costs
an additional 6 feat slots. Any powerful spirit guide must be
selected in consultation with the GM.
An arcanist gains a spirit guide manifested from a much-
loved tier 0 elf apprentice who met an untimely end,
spending 1 feat slot to do so. But if their warrior companion
slays a tier 2 basilisk, having that creature return
unexpectedly as a spirit guide costs 7 feat slots.
For the purpose of being chosen as a spirit guide, worldborn
creatures with no feats are tier 0.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 or more feat
slots.
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 Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring

Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Language Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Learn Language — You can speak, sign, read, and write a new 1 2 3 — — —
language. 1 2 3 — — —

Movement Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Controlled Fall Dexterity 13+ Treat fall as jumping, with advantage on 1 — — — — —
Acrobatics/agility checks to reduce 1 — — — — —
damage.
Fast Movement — Your speed increases by 5 feet. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Repositioning Strike Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus (any Hit a creature with a weapon attack, use a 1 — — — — —
group) ×1 minor action to let an ally shift. 1 — — — — —
Swift Stand Dexterity 13+ Spend 5 feet less movement to right 1 — — — — —
yourself when you are prone. 1 — — — — —
Unfettered Movement Favored Terrain ×1 Ignore difficult terrain in specific terrain. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —

Environment and Terrain Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Camouflage Favored Terrain ×1, Skill Focus (Stealth) In favored terrain, have advantage on 1 — — — — —
×4 Stealth/hide checks, and treat natural 1 — — — — —
cover or concealment as total cover or
total concealment.
Favored Terrain Skill Focus (one of Dungeoneering, In specific terrain, gain advantage on 1 — — — — —
Nature, Perception, or Stealth) ×1 Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception, and 1 — — — — —
Stealth, advantage on initiative.
Trackless Step Favored Terrain (chosen) ×1 In favored terrain, leave no trail. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Unfettered Movement Favored Terrain (chosen) ×1 In favored terrain, ignore difficult terrain 1 — — — — —
caused by natural features. 1 — — — — —

Companion Creature Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Companion Creature Skill Focus (Nature) ×1 Inspire a loyal and exceptional creature to 1 2 3 — — —
fight at your side. 1 2 3 — — —

Spirit Guide Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Extended Senses Taken by spirit guide Gain a momentary or ongoing impression 1 — — — — —
of spirit guide’s senses. 1 — — — — —
Martial Spirit Taken by spirit guide Your spirit guide can manifest weapons 1 — — — — —
and deal radiant damage with attacks. 1 — — — — —
Shared Instincts Taken by spirit guide Use spirit guide’s full skill check modifier 1 — — — — —
for a selected skill instead of your own. 1 — — — — —

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 Chapter 7: Life and Adventuring

Skilled Spirit Taken by spirit guide Make skill checks through your spirit guide. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Spirit Guide — The spirit of a dead creature devoted to 1 — — — — —
you becomes your companion. 1 — — — — —

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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
Adventurers throw themselves into danger for all sorts of
reasons — fighting against evil or oppression, the pursuit of
knowledge, the simple love of a good brawl, and more. But
whatever the impetus, the attainment of gold, gems, and other
riches is often the end result of adventuring, followed inevitably
by the opportunity to spend those riches.
Success on an adventure often comes down to relying on the
right equipment, including well-crafted weapons, strong armor,
and powerful magic. Thus, the more your character earns from
each successful adventure, the better the equipment that can be
brought to bear against the threats of the next adventure.
Starting Wealth
Each character starts the game with wealth equal to 150 gp.
From that sum, a character must purchase all their equipment,
including weapons and armor for warrior types, spells for
spellcasters, and mundane gear to suit any adventurer. This
starting wealth isn’t literally a purse full of gold coins with which
your character wanders into the adventuring store to stock up.
Rather, it’s the value of the equipment or magic your character
has earned and collected up to a point in their life — spells
learned while apprenticing to a more powerful caster, weapons
and armor inherited from a family member or previously won
through guile or effort, gear purchased for previous work or with
the expectation of travel, and so on.
If specific gear you wish to purchase at the start of the campaign
is too expensive to be covered by your starting wealth, you must
earn additional wealth before you can purchase the item. This
means that combat-focused starting characters might need to
work toward getting the best arms and armor, just as
spellcasting characters likely won’t have immediate access to all
the spells they really want. Gaining additional wealth typically
means completing your first adventures (and hoping they earn
you sufficient coin for the gear you wish to purchase), or taking
the Well Heeled feat to grant you additional starting wealth.
Starting characters usually can’t loan each other money from
their starting wealth before the campaign begins, but the GM
might make an exception for characters whose backstories are
closely connected.
In addition to the gear you buy, assume that your starting
character owns at least one outfit of clothing at no cost. Choose
from among an artisan’s outfit, entertainer’s outfit, explorer’s
outfit, laborer’s outfit, scholar’s outfit, or traveler’s outfit.
Clothing (221)
Generational Wealth
If it fits your character concept, you can talk to the GM about having
your 20-feat-slot starting character begin their adventuring career
already in possession of specific gear with a strong connection to
their backstory, but whose price sets it beyond what you can afford.
As an alternative to taking the Well Heeled feat, such gear — half
plate armor, a wand of aid, a directed wheelchair, or what have
you — can be treated as an heirloom bequeathed to you by a family
member or mentor, claimed from an unexpected encounter, stolen
during the events that drove you from your homeland, and so forth.
Well Heeled (206)
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Any gear up to 250 gp in value can be gained in this way with the
GM’s approval. Your character will then forego taking a share of
magic and treasure found by the party during your adventures, until
the GM determines that the treasure you’ve given up covers the
worth of the bequeathed item.
If the gear you want gives you a notable advantage over the other
starting characters, the GM might decide to extend the offer of
increased starting wealth to the other players as well.
Advanced Starting Characters
When a character starts with more than 20 feat slots, it’s usually
assumed that they’ve earned those feat slots through the
dangerous activities adventuring characters are known for. A big
part of the compensation for the risks of an adventuring life is
the wealth that characters earn from their adventures, and the
magic they earn or purchase as part of that wealth. As such, a
character who starts with more than 20 starting feat slots gains
an additional 750 gp per 10 additional feat slots, multiplied
by a factor of ×1 to ×5 depending on the tone and magic level
of the campaign.
At the low end, 750 gp per 10 feat slots fits a low-magic, low-
treasure campaign where wealth is the least important part of
character progression. (That 750 gp roughly represents one
year’s honest labor for a character succeeding on DC 15 skill
checks to earn income.) At the high end, 3,750 gp per 10 feat
slots represents a high-treasure campaign where characters are
collecting magic items at a steady rate—and where the peril of
the campaign means they need those items to stay alive.
Earning Income (207)
Coinage and Currency
The wealth that characters earn over the course of their lives
most often comes in the form of the coins that are the currency
of the game world. Coins are used to pay laborers their daily or
weekly wages, to purchase food, lodging, or professional
services, to invest in arms, armor, or spells, and to conduct
payment for other day-to-day business.
The most common coin in most realms is the silver piece (sp).
Silver pieces are the coins with which laborers, artisans, and
professionals are paid for a full day’s work, and which are used
to pay for quality goods and services (clothing, bedding, crafted
items, transportation, and so forth). The rarer and more valuable
gold piece (gp) is worth 10 sp. It is most often used to pay for
wages, services, or rents calculated by the week or month, and
to cover the costs of the most expensive goods and services
(armor, weapons, consultations with a sage or alchemist, the
highest-quality crafted items, specialized adventuring gear, and
so on).
The least valuable coin in common use is the copper piece (cp),
with 10 copper pieces equal to 1 silver piece. Copper is most
commonly found as pocket money, or used to pay for the most
common goods or short-term services (a single meal in a tavern,
home sundries, deliveries or couriers, a quick coach ride, and so
forth). The most valuable coin is the platinum piece (pp), worth
10 gp and rarely used outside cities and the commercial
transactions of merchants and gentry buying or selling large
quantities of goods.
204

Standard coins are differently sized according to their value,
with more valuable coins being slightly smaller than less
valuable coins. A copper piece is a little larger than the width of
a human’s thumb, with a platinum piece roughly the width of the
little finger, and silver and gold in between. Because they are
made of different metals, the varying sizes of coins mean that
they all weigh approximately the same, averaging 100 coins per
pound.
COINS
CP SP GP PP
Copper piece (cp) = 1 1/10 1/100 1/1,000
Silver piece (sp) = 10 1 1/10 1/100
Gold piece (gp) = 100 10 1 1/10
Platinum piece (pp) = 1,000 100 10 1 1,000 gp
A World of Wealth
The standard decimal-based system of coinage in place across most
of the world is the result of fifteen hundred years of Imperial
influence. The Lothelecan had no distinct coinage of its own, instead
allowing each province of the Empire to maintain control over its
economy and the minting of its own coins. But an Imperial standard
was imposed that dictated the size and metal content of those
coins, creating a system in which the coins of different provinces
would hold precise value for the purpose of Imperial trade.
Even after the fall of the Empire remade the provinces of the
Lothelecan as nations once more, virtually all those nations continue
to use the Imperial standard for coinage. The sheer volume of
existing coins in the world makes it impractical to recall and remint
those coins, and the leaders of all nations are aware that revaluing
their currency by resizing coins or adjusting metal content could
lead to financial instability.
Even though the coins of one land are identical in size and worth to
the coins of another land, spending foreign coins can be difficult. It’s
usually possible to spend foreign coins for their full value in towns
and cities, but the folk and merchants of smaller settlements might
shy away from taking payment in foreign silver or copper, or will
demand an exchange fee of 10 to 20 percent. The coins found in
lost treasure hoards and hidden underground lairs often originate in
foreign lands, having often been amassed by unscrupulous means
and hidden from sight of the authorities. As such, spending foreign
currency is a problem that adventurers deal with more often than
other folk.
Trade Goods, Notes, and Bars
Merchants, farmers, laborers, and other folk commonly
exchange trade goods without using currency. Rather than a
character producing a product or service, receiving coins when
selling it, then using those coins to buy other goods and
services, characters simply trade what they produce for what
they need.
At the other end of the economy, financial transactions
amounting to hundreds or thousands of gold pieces rarely
involve the actual movement of coins. Instead, notes of promise
are signed and notarized to represent a specific cash value,
which is then transferred from one party to another. A merchant
who receives a trade note from one party can issue trade notes
of her own that make use of the wealth promised by the first
note.
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
COMMON TRADE GOODS
Cost Item
1 cp One pound of wheat
2 cp One pound of flour, or one chicken
1 sp One pound of iron
5 sp One pound of herbs or copper
1 gp One pound of common spices, or one goat
2 gp One pound of rare spices, or one sheep
3 gp One pig
4 gp One square yard of linen
5 gp One pound of salt or silver
10 gp One square yard of silk, or one cow
15 gp One pound of rare imported spices, or one ox
100 gp Gold trade bar (1 pound)
Platinum trade bar (1 pound)
When trade notes are finally settled, it is usually by way of credit
transfers at a merchant bank (which always takes a fee for the
service), or with trade bars. These are specially crafted bars of
gold or platinum, notarized for authenticity, weighing one
pound, and equivalent to the amount of coinage that can be
minted with that amount of metal. Trade bars are seldom
melted down for minting, but are rather used as a placeholder
indicating how much wealth a person or business has and can
transfer to others.
Portable Wealth
Characters who deal with high-value noncommercial
transactions often seek to hold their wealth in portable form.
Gold and platinum coins are sought out by such characters,
including adventurers. A warrior who wishes to commission a
suit of half plate armor is better off making the 600 gp payment
in gold or platinum than lugging 6,000 sp into the smithy. An
arcanist wanting to learn a 5th-level spell must invest 125 gp for
the tutelage of an experienced caster, who is unlikely to be
impressed if paid with a sack of copper coins.
For even more portable forms of wealth, characters can seek out
or invest in gems, jewelry, and art objects, which can have value
equivalent to hundreds or even thousands of gp. Whenever
adventurers earn coins, gems, jewelry, or other loot with a value
in gp, that loot can be traded in for equipment and magic of the
same value in large towns or cities. Using gems and other finery
as currency in smaller settlements is more difficult, if only for the
lack of a qualified NPC to appraise that finery and prove its
worth.
Unless the GM determines otherwise (usually because seeking a
place to sell valuable gems or art objects is part of an
adventure), characters can sell gems, jewelry, and other valuable
items for the value assigned to them as treasure. That value
subsumes any bartering, haggling, or fees for appraisal and
exchange required to convert items to cash.
Buying and selling
The goods available for sale in markets and through private
transactions are many and varied. The “Equipment” section in
this chapter notes some of the most common goods and
services found in the markets and settlements of the campaign,
but the size of the settlement in which such goods are bought
and sold often determines how easy to find and readily available
they are.
Equipment (210)
205
 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

The “Goods and Services Availability” table gives general

guidelines for the maximum value of goods readily available in
settlements of various sizes. Goods of higher value are often
Money and Wealth Feats
The following feat allows a character to improve their financial
available in smaller settlements at the GM’s determination, but
status.
might need to be specially sought out.
A scout who needs to replace a broken compass (worth 10
gp) isn’t going to find one for sale at the market in a
Well Heeled
farming thorp. But asking around can reveal that a retired Your life experience grants you a comfortable surplus of wealth.
mercenary living in the thorp has a compass they might Prerequisites: —
consider selling.
Benefit: You come into possession of money equal to 5 gp
times your current number of feat slots, including starting feat
GOODS AND SERVICES AVAILABILITY slots but not counting bonus feat slots gained at character
Settlement Population Maximum Value
creation. A starting character with 20 feat slots earns 100 gp by
Thorp 20–100 5 gp
taking this feat.
Hamlet 100–500 10 gp If you take this feat at character creation, the gold you earn is
Village 500–1,000 20 gp part of your starting wealth, and is assumed to represent the
Small town 1,000–5,000 80 gp overall wealth you have earned before beginning play. If you
Large town 5,000–10,000 300 gp take it after character creation, it represents an unexpected
Small city 10,000–30,000 1,500 gp windfall whose source can be determined by you and the GM.
Large city 30,000–100,000 4,000 gp Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Metropolis 100,000 or more 10,000 gp

When selling equipment not typically treated as trade goods or

portable wealth, the GM determines the value of those goods
and the circumstances under which they can be sold. A pound
of salt can almost always be used as trade goods in even the
smallest hamlet or village. However, such a settlement might not
have anyone present who has the need or the coin to purchase
a surplus longsword or a suit of leather armor, even though such
items can be easily sold in towns or cities.
When characters do sell arms, armor, and adventuring gear,
they do so for half the cost to buy the same item new. Even if
such gear is in reasonably good shape, used goods always have
lower value than newly crafted gear in most markets.
Even in cases where the characters have new equipment to sell,
the default sale value is 50 percent of original cost. A dozen
brand new longswords collected after breaking up a local
weapon-smuggling ring can certainly be sold one at a time for
15 gp each, with the characters charging the same as the local
weaponsmith charges for the longswords they forge. But given
the time that would take — not to mention dealing with local
trade ordinances and taxes — the characters are better off
selling all the swords at 50 percent of cost to that same
weaponsmith, who is in a better position to sell them over time.
Chapter 9/Weapons (274)
Ephemeral magic items are among the most valuable goods in
any campaign. As such, they are always sold for half their cost
unless the GM determines otherwise. Though permanent magic
items have a nominal worth of ten times the worth of ephemeral
magic, they can’t be bought or sold for any flat cost. Trading or
selling a permanent magic item should always be a major part of
an adventure or campaign.
Magic Grimoire/Ephemeral and Permanent Magic (ch. 2)

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Earning Income
Adventuring player characters are often among the wealthiest
characters in a campaign, amassing vast amounts of the treasure
and magic that are the rewards for their high-risk lifestyle.
Sometimes, though, reluctant heroes remain firmly attached to
their lives and vocations between bouts of adventuring. Or full-
time adventurers might just like to keep busy between trips
down to the dungeon. All characters can earn income over and
above adventuring treasure through old-fashioned labor.
Earning While Adventuring
For each day your character spends making use of a specific skill
while in an appropriate location during an adventure — most
often passing through or passing time in a settlement — you
can make a check with that skill to represent an attempt to earn
income. In consultation with the GM, any of a character’s skills
can be used to earn income on a day-to-day basis — especially
checks from a personal skill group that ties directly to a
vocation. Whether crafting, performance, or profession, the type
of labor represented by personal skill groups is usually self-
explanatory. A character with the Alchemist skill engages in
creating and selling alchemical substances, or taking a wage as
an assistant in an alchemy lab. A character with the Musician skill
engages in public performance and busking, or private
performance for a fee.
For any of the standard skills, you can work with the GM to
determine what kind of activity a skill check to earn income
might cover. A character who uses their Thievery skill to earn
income might be casually picking pockets in taverns, or
engaging in sleight-of-hand to win at cards or pilfer stalls at the
local market. But they might also hire themself out to assist a
locksmith, jeweler, or master clockwork creator. Working using
Athletics checks can cover all kinds of manual labor, Expertise
checks can be used by a character doing contract research for a
sage or guild, and Nature checks might be apropos for hunting,
trapping, or guiding.
The amount you earn for daily labor depends on your skill
check.
DAILY EARNINGS
Check Result Daily Earnings
10 1 gp
15 1d6 gp
20 2d6 gp
25 3d6 gp
With a result of 10 or higher, your earnings of 1 gp per day are
the same as those of an untrained hireling. A result of 15 or
higher lets you earn the average rate for a trained hireling. As
with all skill checks, a partial success might see the GM lessen
the amount you earn, or add a complication to the check. You
can’t take 10 on a personal skill check made to earn income.
Transportation and Services (226)
Chapter 6/Skill Checks without Rolls (107)
The amount you can potentially earn for a personal skill check is
limited by logic and your surroundings. A stellar check result of
25 for a musical performance in an isolated hamlet can’t earn
you the expected rate for that check if the people applauding
you don’t have access to that much ready cash. Likewise, the
best Sailor check in the world won’t earn you anything while
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
traveling with a desert caravan, where an Athletics or Acrobatics
check might have to cover only general labor instead.
Earning During Downtime
Making skill checks to earn income on a day-to-day basis is
appropriate for isolated attempts to ply a trade or sell your
labors during an ongoing adventure. If you attempt to earn
income by working for a period of 1 week or more, you instead
use rules for working during campaign downtime.
Chapter 7/Campaign Downtime (194)
For each week of working during downtime, you make a check
with any appropriate skill, using the same general rules as for
earning daily income, but tabulating your earnings for the week.
DOWNTIME EARNINGS
Check Result Weekly Earnings
10 5 gp
15 15 gp
20 25 gp
25 50 gp
These weekly earnings are based on the daily wages a character
can earn using a skill, multiplied by a 5-day workweek. For jobs
such as caravan guard or sailor, you might work seven days per
week for long stretches, then take longer breaks when not
travelling during downtime, but the average wage remains the
same.
The money you earn from this check might represent a weekly
wage if you work in someone else’s service. Or it might
represent money earned from different clients, or as advances
or installment payments if you hire yourself out on a freelance
basis. Whether you find a place as a tavern performer with a
Musician check, take work as a wagon carter with an Athletics
check, or craft alchemical reagents and items with an Alchemist
check, the money you earn is the same.
Circumstances might limit the amount you can earn for a
specific job. If you are hired on as a caravan guard, a DC 15
Soldier check likely gains you a position as head guard and a
preferential rate of pay. But even with a check of 25 or higher,
the merchant you’re working for might have no budget to pay
you what that check might otherwise entitle you to. However, a
check that high can certainly help spread your reputation
among other merchants, which might lead to other offers of
employment or adventuring opportunities.
Easy Money
Under certain circumstances, you might not need to make checks to
earn income during downtime if you have regular income from
another source — for example, if you have a patron or organization
financing your adventuring exploits, or if you take long-term service
with a gentry, freelord, duke, or other powerful figure. In such cases,
the GM can use the numbers in this section as a guideline to
determine the level of such earnings.
207

Crafting Income
If your downtime labors allow you to create items for sale — whether
art and jewelry, weapons and armor, or alchemical items, magic
items, and other specialized equipment — you roll for your working
earnings just as though you were plying that trade for someone else.
There’s no need to track the specific details of how many items you
make, what expenses you incur, and so forth.
Even if your work takes the form of owning a business that involves
sourcing and procuring raw materials, buying and maintaining tools,
and overseeing a staff of ten, just roll for your income. What you
earn for the week is treated as your own personal profit, with the
business’s other profits covering your investments and overhead.
Crafting for Personal Use
If you work during downtime to craft items for your own use, you
make the skill check as for earning income to determine your
level of success. But rather than that check determining your
personal profit for the week, it determines your crafting
success — or lack thereof.
Any of the crafting talents that can be represented by personal
skill groups can be used to craft items used by characters in the
game, including armor and weapons, alchemical items, magic
items, and any other gear available on the open market. (The
game’s standard skills generally aren’t suited for crafting items
unless the GM allows otherwise.) When you make your check,
the result determines how many items you make — or how
much of the process you complete for crafting a single higher-
cost item — in one week. During the crafting process, you pay
for the items you create at 50 percent of their usual cost,
essentially paying only for materials and overhead while you
perform the necessary labor for free.
Magic Grimoire/Creating Magic Items (ch. 2)
The number of low-cost items you can make in 1 week, or how
long it takes to make a higher-cost item, depends on the cost of
the item and the result of your crafting check, as determined on
the “Crafting Check and Creation Time” table.
CRAFTING CHECK AND CREATION TIME
Number of Items Portion of Item Cost
Check DC per Week per Week
10 10/gp cost 10 gp
15 30/gp cost 30 gp
20 50/gp cost 50 gp
25 100/gp cost 100 gp
Each item you can craft has a minimum DC for the appropriate
personal skill check, reflecting the higher level of skill required
to craft things like armor, weapons, alchemical items, and magic.
If your check is a clear failure for that DC, you make no progress
on your crafting and earn no income. When you succeed on a
check for crafting, start in the “Number of Items Per Week”
column of the table. If the result of dividing the number of items
by each item’s cost in gp is greater than 1, that result is the
number of items you make in that week.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
A character who uses the Alchemist personal skill group
likes to stock up on alchemist’s fire during campaign
downtime. For each week of downtime, she makes an
Alchemist check to attempt a successful week of work. With
a DC 20 check that gives a clear success for “50/gp cost,”
the number of flasks of alchemist’s fire the character can
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
create in a week is equal to 50 divided by 5 (the item’s cost
in gp), or ten flasks. With a clear success of DC 25, the
number of flasks she creates is 100 divided by 5, or twenty
flasks. (If this calculation produces a fraction, round that
fraction down unless the character works to craft
alchemist’s fire over successive weeks.)
As always, a low success on a check might involve a
complication — for example, creating fewer than the
maximum number of flasks, or creating a full batch of faulty
alchemist’s fire that deals only 1d4 fire damage.
The character’s expenses for creating the alchemist’s fire
equals half the usual cost of buying it (2.5 gp for each flask),
reflecting that she is “paying” the difference between that
and the full cost in the value of her labor. The amount paid
is assumed to cover all expenses, including raw materials,
maintaining a private workspace, renting or borrowing
space in another alchemist’s lab, and so forth.
In any week that results in a clear failure on a check, no
alchemist’s fire is produced, reflecting problems in the
laboratory, issues with raw materials, and so forth. This
failure doesn’t incur any costs or impose any consequences
on subsequent checks.
If the result provided by the “Number of Items per Week”
column is less than 1, it takes more than 1 week to craft a single
item. In that case, consult the “Number of Items per Week”
column to determine how much of a single item’s cost you cover
in one week of work.
A character with the Weaponsmith personal skill group
wants to create a custom two-bladed sword bearing the
sigil of his clan, with that weapon typically costing 100 gp
and requiring a minimum check result of 20. If his first week
of work is accompanied by a clear success of 25 or higher,
the first table indicates that his extraordinary effort lets the
blade be forged and finished that first week. With a result
of around 20, the calculation of the “Number of Items per
Week” column comes up less than 1, meaning that it takes
more than 1 week to produce the weapon.
Checking the “Portion of Item Cost per Week” column for
DC 20 indicates that the week accounts for 50 gp of the
sword’s cost, leaving another 50 gp worth of work to
accomplish. In the second week, a check result of 20 or
higher completes the sword, but any other result means a
lost week before the next check.
Creating the sword also costs the crafter half its usual cost,
or 50 gp, to cover materials and expenses.
When an item requires multiple weeks of work to craft, those
weeks don’t need to be consecutive. As long as the partially
created item isn’t damaged or spoiled, the work can be
continued at any time.
208
 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Crafting Magic Items

An item meant to become a magic item is initially crafted like
any other item, using the appropriate personal skill.
Weaponsmith and Woodcarver skills are appropriate for
creating many weapons, the skills of the Cobbler group create
boots and shoes, Jeweler skills can create amulets, armor and
weapon icons, and so forth. Because magic items must be of
exceptional quality, an item intended to become a magic item
requires a DC 20 check to craft, replacing the item’s usual
crafting DC if it is lower. Such items are more expensive than
typical items of their kind.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Magic Grimoire/Creating Magic Items (ch. 2)
Once the base item is complete (or if an existing item of suitable
quality is found), magic is imbued into the item by a character
with the Imbue Magic Item feat and by a spellcaster (or by one
character who can take both roles). The process for doing so
uses the same general rules for crafting an item, but makes use
of a Magic check rather than a personal skill check for crafting.
Chapter 6/Imbue Magic Item (148)

To Market, To Market
The discussion of crafting items assumes a simple breakdown of
expenses based on the cost of the item on the open market. One-
half of that cost is expenses involved in crafting. The other half is the
wages or net income of the character crafting the item. When a
smith forges and finishes a greataxe (cost 20 gp), 10 gp of that cost
is materials (iron for the blade, wood and leather for the haft) and
overhead (rent or mortgage payments on the smithy, fuel for the
forges, wages for an assistant). The other 10 gp represents the
smith’s wages for the labor involved in forging, tempering, honing,
and finishing the weapon.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Backpack
Equipment A backpack is typically made of leather or waterproof canvas.
This section details some of the most common equipment, Worn on the back and secured by shoulder straps, it features
tools, goods, and services that adventuring characters can seek multiple pockets and pouches, as well as outside tie-downs that
out for purchase or hire. For items not found here, the GM can other objects can be lashed to.
use items of similar worth or construction to determine a price.
Pricing and details for weapons and armor are found in CONTAINER CAPACITY
“Chapter 9 — Combat.”
Container Volume1 Maximum Weight
Chapter 9/Armor and Armor Groups table (241) Backpack2 1 foot on each side 30 pounds
Chapter 9/Weapons and Weapon Groups table (276) Barrel 2 feet on each side/40 400 pounds
gallons
Fast-Start: equipment Basket
Bottle
1 foot on each side
2 pints (1/4 gallon)
40 pounds

Depending on what type of adventuring your character is planning,

Bucket 0.5 feet on each side/2
you can make use of a number of different equipment packages,
gallons
each of which features equipment found in the different sections of
this chapter. Choose any package that feels useful to your character, Chest 2.5 feet on each side 300 pounds
with each package’s cost coming out of your 150 gp starting wealth. Flask or mug 1 pint (1/8 gallon)
Jug or pitcher 1 gallon
Explorer Package Pot, iron 1 gallon
Cost: 5 gp Pouch 0.5 feet on each side 5 pounds
This package is useful to all types of wilderness- and dungeon- Sack 1 foot on each side 30 pounds
adventuring characters. It consists of a backpack, a bedroll, a Vial 4 ounces (1/4 pint)
waterskin, trail rations for ten days, and a traveler’s outfit. If you want Waterskin 4 pints (1/2 gallon)
this package with a more utilitarian explorer’s outfit, add 10 gp to 1. Small characters have no trouble carrying containers sized for
the cost. Medium characters, but containers specifically made for Small
characters carry 3/4 to 1/2 of their usual volume and maximum weight.
Urban Package 2. You can also strap items such as a bedroll or a coil of rope to the
Cost: 5 gp
outside of a backpack.
This equipment is useful to characters in an urban campaign who
only rarely need to worry about the weather or having a roof over Barrel
their heads. It consists of two belt pouches, ten candles, ten
tindertwigs, a signal whistle, a waterskin, and an artisan’s outfit or A wooden barrel is typically used to store dry goods, but can be
traveler’s outfit. waterproofed to hold liquid.

Illumination Package Basket

Cost: 5 gp
This package provides options for working in the dark in any
environment, depending on what sort of light a character favors.
Choose one of the following options:
• Three sunrods.
• A hooded lantern, five 1-pint flasks of lamp oil, and ten
tindertwigs.
• Ten torches, ten 1-pint flasks of lamp oil, scrap cloth, and forty
tindertwigs.
Climbing Package
Cost: 5 gp
Characters expecting to scale remote cliffs or the high walls of a
gentry’s estate can benefit from this package — two hempen ropes
(50 feet each), two grappling hooks, 10 pitons, and a utility hammer.
Thievery Package
Cost: 20 gp
Characters who excel at the delicate arts of breaking and entering
can use this package — thieves’ tools, a silk rope (50 feet), and a
grappling hook.
Adventuring Gear
The equipment favored by adventurers and explorers covers a
wide range of mundane and specialist gear. Containers and
other gear used for carrying things have their volumes and the
maximum weights they can carry summarized on the “Container
Capacity” table.
Woven of wicker, branches, or reeds, a basket is a simple yet
durable container.
Bedroll
A bedroll consists of a sleeping sheet and four light wool
blankets, which can be layered depending on the weather, used
as cover on cold ground, folded to create a pillow, and so on.
When rolled up and tied tightly, a bedroll can be easily lashed
to a backpack.
Bell
Typically cast of copper or bronze, this hand bell can be used for
signaling. If attached to a trip line to alert you of a creature’s
approach, a bell can be heard within 120 feet. If rung vigorously,
a bell can be heard within 600 feet.
Belt Pouch
Strong straps attach this small pouch of leather or canvas to a
belt or bandolier.
Blanket, Winter
A winter blanket is crafted of quilted wool for maximum warmth
in cold weather.
Bottle, Glass
Glass bottles of various shapes are commonly used to hold wine
or spirits.

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Bucket
A sturdy bucket can be made of light metal or metal-banded
wood.
Caltrops
A caltrop is a four-pronged iron spike, crafted so that one
sharpened prong faces up no matter how it comes to rest. You
scatter caltrops on the ground in the hope that your enemies
step on them or are forced to slow down to avoid them. One
bag of caltrops covers an area 10 feet across.
The GM determines an appropriate Perception check to spot
caltrops, depending on the environment and circumstances.
Creatures who can observe caltrops can ignore them by treating
their area as difficult terrain. Each time a creature moves into an
area covered by caltrops they aren’t aware of, they step on them
to take 3d4 piercing damage, making a DC 15 Reflex saving
throw for half damage. They must then treat the area as difficult
terrain or step on caltrops again.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168)
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
Caltrops are sharp enough to pierce even steel-toed boots and
similar footwear. The GM might determine that very small or
unusually thick-skinned creatures are able to safely move
between caltrops or ignore their effect.
Candles
Made of beeswax or tallow, a candle sheds dim light in a 5-foot
radius and burns for 1 hour. Tallow candles produce a smoky
flame, but beeswax burns cleanly.
Canvas
Made of hemp, flax, or cotton, canvas is a resilient material that
can be made waterproof with the application of beeswax and
paraffin.
Case, Map or Scroll
Rolled paper or parchment is stored in this tube, crafted of light
leather or metal. Most map or scroll cases are water-resistant
but not waterproof.
Chain
A sturdy chain is composed of welded links and hard to break. It
takes a DC 25 Athletics/slam check to damage an average chain,
and five successful checks to break it.
Damaging Objects (230)
Chalk or Charcoal
Chalk and charcoal is useful for marking stone walls and other
surfaces, making it a great resource for dungeon exploration.
Chalk is typically white, but can be purchased in different colors.
Chest
Constructed of strong wood reinforced with bands of iron or
bronze, a chest has a hinged or double-latched lid and can
usually be sealed with a lock.
Compass
This palm-sized concave disk carved of wood or bone features a
finely balanced needle charged by lodestone. When the
compass is carefully held, the needle points always along the
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
same northerly bearing, helping you stay oriented even in bad
weather that prevents observation of the sun, moon, or stars.
Crowbar
A crowbar is a strong length of iron or steel with one tapered
end. It can be used to pry open locked doors or sealed chests,
to crack the lid off a sarcophagus, to help break a chain, and so
on. It grants advantage on Athletics/slam checks made for such
purposes.
A crowbar can be treated as an improvised weapon that deals
1d6 bludgeoning or piercing damage.
Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
Earplugs
Usually shaped of wax and cotton, reusable earplugs can be
worn in areas of noise or where sound might trigger harmful
effects. While wearing earplugs, a character has advantage on
saving throws against becoming hearing disoriented, and
against effects that only affect creatures who can hear them.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Firewood
Firewood for purchase is dried, split, and bundled to make it
easy to pack.
Flask
A flask is typically made of glass, ceramic, or metal, and holds 1
pint of liquid. It has a tight lid or stopper that prevents its
contents from leaking out.
Grappling Hook
This large metal hook has a loop through which a rope can be
fitted and tied. When properly tied, the grappling hook is strong
enough to anchor up to 500 pounds if hooked to the top of a
stone wall, the bough of a tree, a sturdy window ledge, and so
forth. Throwing a grappling hook successfully requires an
Acrobatics/handle rope check.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
Hammer, Utility
This small iron utility hammer can be used to spike a door shut,
to hammer pitons into a wall, and so on. A utility hammer can be
treated as an improvised weapon that deals 1d4 bludgeoning
damage.
Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
Ink
Standard ink is dark black and suitable for writing on paper or
parchment. Ink in other colors is generally available but costs
twice as much.
Inkpen
This stylus shaped of wood or quill is set with an absorbent nib
that draws ink into a reservoir for writing on paper or parchment.
An inkpen can be used to write on other surfaces, but with
unpredictable results.
211

Jug
This basic ceramic or glass jug is fitted with a stopper and holds
1 gallon of liquid.
Lamp, Common
A lamp casts bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an
additional 15 feet. It burns for 6 hours on a pint of oil. Lamplight
is better than torchlight for reading or searching, but a lamp’s
oil can spill easily. You can carry a lamp in one hand.
Burning Light Sources
Any burning light source (a candle, torch, lamp, or lantern) must be
held carefully and protected from the elements to ensure it stays
burning. Whenever such a light source is dropped or thrown, the
GM determines whether it stays lit or goes out. If the light source
contains an oil supply, dropping or throwing it might cause it to
break and ignite if the oil spreads before the flame is extinguished.
Lantern, Bullseye
This sealed lantern features a polished interior and a shutter that
can be opened to release a broad field of light in one direction.
A bullseye lantern casts light in a cone that is 120 feet long and
120 feet wide at its end, casting bright light in the first 60 feet of
the cone and dim light to 120 feet. It burns for 6 hours on a pint
of oil. You can carry a bullseye lantern in one hand.
Lantern, Hooded
This sealed lantern has shuttered sides that are raised all at
once. It casts bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an
additional 30 feet, and burns for 6 hours on a pint of oil. You can
carry a hooded lantern in one hand.
Lock
Padlocks can be found in all shapes and sizes, and are opened
and closed with metal keys of various designs. Without the key,
a lock can be picked with a successful Thievery/open locks
check, or can be broken with a successful Athletics/slam check.
The more expensive the lock, the harder it is to open or break.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
Marbles
These small spheres of carved stone or cast glass can be
scattered across a floor or other hard surface to impede
movement. One bag of marbles covers an area 5 feet across,
turning that area into difficult terrain. Any Medium or smaller
bipedal creature moving through the area must succeed on a
DC 15 Acrobatics/agility check or go prone. Large creatures
have advantage on the check, as do creatures with four legs.
Huge and larger creatures, as well as creatures with more than
four legs, are unaffected by marbles except at the GM’s
determination.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168)
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Mess Kit
This small two-part box is made of tin or copper, and contains a
cup and simple cutlery of the same material. When opened, one
side of the box serves as a cooking pan and the other as a
shallow bowl.
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
Mirror
Made of polished steel or silvered glass, a mirror is an essential
implement for grooming and for checking wounds in hard-to-
see locations. It can also be used to peer around corners, reflect
sunlight or lantern light to signal at a distance, and safely look at
creatures who have a gaze attack. A glass mirror is more
susceptible to breakage than a steel mirror, and is usually
wrapped in protective cloth for storage.
Appendix A/Gaze Attacks (A4)
Mug
This everyday mug is crafted of ceramic, glass, or pewter.
Notebook
This canvas- or leather-bound book is filled with ruled or plain
paper pages, ready to be used for writing or sketching.
Oil, Lamp
A pint of oil burns for 6 hours in a lamp or lantern, or can be
used to soak the cloth needed for six torches. A pint of oil can
also be poured onto the floor or an area of ground to cover an
area 5 feet across. If you light it, the oil burns until the end of
your next turn. Each creature who enters the area or starts their
turn there takes 1d4 fire damage (maximum once per round). A
creature can use a standard action to stamp out or smother the
flames.
Chapter 9/Round-by-Round Effects sidebar (253)
As a standard action, you can wrap a flask of oil in a burning rag
or fit it with a burning fuse. You then make an Athletics/throw
check as a standard action to throw the oil, with a DC
depending on distance and circumstances. With a successful
check, the oil lands and breaks at the spot you intend, then
burns as above.
Paper
The most common medium for writing, paper is made from
wood pulp fiber, cotton, or other plant-based materials. Paper is
typically light brown or yellow in color, and its surface is rough.
Bleached white or finer quality paper is typically twice the usual
cost.
Parchment
More durable than paper, parchment is animal hide that has
been specially prepared for writing. Parchment is thicker and
heavier than paper, but is resistant to tearing and water
damage. The ink used to write on parchment isn’t automatically
waterproof, however.
Pick, Miner’s
Built for digging and cracking rock, this heavy pick is durable
but not built for combat. If used as a weapon, a miner’s pick is
an improvised weapon that deals 1d6 piercing damage.
Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
Pitcher
This serving pitcher is crafted of ceramic, glass, or pewter. It has
a lid but isn’t watertight.
212

Pitons
A piton is a long, sturdy steel spike set with a hole below its top.
When climbing, you can hammer pitons into a wooden wall or
into clefts in a stone wall, then string a rope through the holes to
use the pitons for support. This makes it easier to climb where
handholds and footholds can’t be found.
One properly placed piton can hold 100 pounds, but multiple
pitons with weight spread between them can hold virtually any
amount of weight. Pulling out a piton after use typically requires
a DC 20 Athletics/grab check.
Pole
Though not heavy enough to be used as a weapon, this length
of wood (usually from 5 to 10 feet) is useful when exploring
strange places. A pole can be used to tap the floor in search of
pressure plates, to test for traps or unseen creatures in a portal
or a dark hole, to lever a door open without touching the
unknown mold growing across it, and so on.
Pot
Cast of iron or copper, this cooking pot features a tight-fitting
lid. A pot can be used as an improvised weapon that deals 1d4
bludgeoning damage, plus 1 fire damage if it has just been
taken off a fire.
Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
Quiver
A quiver holds twenty arrows or crossbow bolts, and features
straps that allow it to be slung across the back, or fitted to the
waist or leg. If you purchase a bow or crossbow, the cost
includes a quiver.
Rope, Elven
Crafted in a style first mastered by the elves, elven rope is made
of regular plant fibers but is more supple even than silk rope.
When you make an Acrobatics/handle rope check using elven
rope, you have advantage on the check. It takes a DC 20
Athletics/slam check to damage elven rope, and five successful
checks to break it.
Rope, Hempen
Hempen rope is sturdy but heavy. It takes a DC 15
Athletics/slam check to damage hempen rope and three
successful checks to break it.
Rope, Silk
Light, supple silk rope grants advantage on Acrobatics/handle
rope checks made to use it. It takes a DC 15 Athletics/slam
check to damage silk rope, and four successful checks to break
it.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
Sack
Made of heavy canvas or multiple layers of lighter cloth, a sack
can be closed with a heavy drawstring, which also serves as a
carrying handle.
Scabbard
Crafted of wood lined inside and out with cloth or leather,
scabbards come in various sizes for various types of daggers
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
and swords. If you purchase a dagger or sword, the cost
includes a scabbard.
Shovel
Useful for excavation, interment, or helping free a cart from a
muddy road, a shovel can be crafted with a single long handle
or with a folding handle that makes it easier to pack and carry.
Signal Whistle
This brass or tin whistle can be sounded as a standard action,
releasing a shrill tone that can be heard within 600 feet.
Sledgehammer
Though not balanced for combat, this heavy two-handed
hammer is ideal for breaking open chests, doors, and other
sturdy obstacles. If used in combat, a sledgehammer can be
treated as an improvised weapon that deals 1d8 bludgeoning
damage.
Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
Soap
Crafted from wood-ash lye and vegetable oils, soap is essential
for cleaning and disinfection.
Spikes
These large iron spikes are of a size used for nailing together
house beams and ship’s frames. They are ideal for spiking doors
shut, raising the DC to force the door open with an
Athletics/slam check by one or two categories, as the GM
determines.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
Tent
Crafted of waterproofed canvas, this two-person tent features
rope ties for attaching it to trees or to stakes driven into the
ground.
Tinderbox
This small metal container holds flint, striking steel, and easily
replenished dry cloth soaked in lamp oil, used to kindle a fire.
When the flint and steel is struck together, it creates a spark that
ignites the cloth or separate dry tinder (leaves, grass, and so
forth). Lighting the cloth is a minor action. Holding the burning
cloth to a torch, lamp, lantern, pool of oil, or prepared campfire
to ignite it is a minor action.
Torch
A torch consists of a length of wood tightly wound with cloth
that has been soaked in lamp oil, pitch, tallow, or some other
flammable substance. When burned, the cloth acts as a wick for
the oil, allowing a used torch stem to be rewrapped and reused
as long as a supply of cloth and oil is at hand.
A torch burns for 1 hour, casting bright light in a 20-foot radius
and dim light for an additional 20 feet. Torches are usually set
with protective collars to block heat and limit the light shining in
a wielder’s eyes while the torch is held overhead.
If used in combat, a torch can be treated as an improvised
weapon that deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage plus 1 fire damage
while it is burning.
Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
213
 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Trail Rations High grade (DC 25)

Marbles
25 gp
1 sp
1 lb.
1 lb.
When fresh food is unavailable or too heavy to pack, trail rations Mess kit 2 sp 1 lb.
provide a balanced adventuring diet. These rations typically Mirror, steel 2 sp 0.5 lb.
include meat jerky, dried fruit, nuts, oats, hard biscuits, and Mirror, glass 5 sp 0.5 lb.
other bland but high-energy fare.
Mug 2 cp 1 lb.
Notebook 1 sp 2–5 lb.
Vial Oil, lamp (1-pint flask) 1 sp 1 lb.
This stoppered container is usually 1 inch wide and 3 inches Paper (10 sheets) 1 cp —
high, and holds 1 ounce of liquid. Parchment (10 sheets) 1 sp —
Pick, miner’s 3 gp 10 lb.
Waterskin Pitcher 2 cp 5 lb.
Used for storing and carrying water, this tightly sewn leather Pitons (10) 1 gp 5 lb.
pouch tapers to a narrow neck fitted with a watertight stopper. Pole 2 sp 8 lb.
Pot 2 sp 10 lb.
Wedges, Wooden Quiver 3 sp 2 lb.
Rope, elven (50 feet) 20 gp 5 lb.
Durable wooden wedges of various sizes can be used to keep
Rope, hempen (50 feet) 1 gp 10 lb.
doors, windows, pressure plates, and other movable fixtures
Rope, silk (50 feet) 10 gp 5 lb.
temporarily open or closed. Wedging a door shut can impose
Sack 1 sp 0.5 lb.
disadvantage on Athletics/slam checks to force it open, as the
Scabbard 1 sp 1 lb.
GM determines.
Shovel 1 sp 8 lb.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112) Signal whistle 1 sp —
Sledgehammer 1 sp 10 lb.
Whetstone Soap 2 cp 1 lb.
This block of finely grained stone is the ideal consistency to Spikes (10) 1 gp 5 lb.
sharpen the edge of a sword, axe, or other metal blade. Tent 10 gp 20 lb.
Tinderbox 5 sp 1 lb.
ADVENTURING GEAR Torch 1 cp 1 lb.
Trail rations (per day) 5 sp 1 lb.
Item Cost Weight1 Vial 1 gp 0.1 lb.
Backpack 2 gp 2 lb. Waterskin 1 gp 4 lb.
Barrel 2 gp 30 lb. Wedges, wooden (10) 1 sp 0.5 lb.
Basket 1 sp 1 lb. Whetstone 2 cp 1 lb.
Bedroll 1 sp 5 lb. — No weight worth noting, or not an item that is carried.
Bell 1 sp — 1. Items sized for Small characters typically weigh 3/4 to 1/2 of the
Belt pouch 1 gp 0.5 lb. indicated weight.
Blanket, winter 5 sp 3 lb.
Bottle, glass
Bucket
2 sp
5 sp
—
2 lb.
Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic
Caltrops 1 gp 2 lb. Items crafted with alchemy are highly sought after by
Candles (10) 1 sp 0.5 lb. adventurers. Though relatively expensive, such items last longer
Canvas (5-foot-by-5-foot section) 1 sp 1 lb. than ephemeral magic items, meaning they rarely fail when
Case, map or scroll 1 gp 0.5 lb. needed.
Chain (10 feet) 30 gp 2 lb. Any of these alchemical items can be made by a character with
Chalk or charcoal, 10 pieces 1 cp — the Alchemist personal skill group. Evenlamps and radiant
Chest 2 gp 25 lb. essence are created by a character who can cast the continual
Compass 10 gp — flame or hallow water spells.
Crowbar 2 gp 5 lb.
Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
Earplugs 1 sp —
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Firewood (per day) 1 cp 20 lb.
Flask 3 cp 1.5 lb.
Grappling hook 1 gp 4 lb.
Acid
Hammer, utility 5 sp 2 lb. Alchemical acid can burn metals and organic materials, and is
Ink (1-oz. vial) 8 gp — especially corrosive to flesh. As a standard action, you make an
Inkpen 1 sp — Athletics/throw check to throw acid, against a DC set by the GM
Jug 3 cp 9 lb.
depending on distance and circumstances. With a successful
Lamp, common 1 sp 1 lb.
check, the flask of acid lands and breaks at the spot you intend.
Lantern, bullseye 10 gp 3 lb. When the flask of acid breaks, it covers an area 10 feet across.
Lantern, hooded 4 gp 2 lb. Any creature in that area takes 1d6 acid damage, after which the
Lock acid is neutralized.
Cheap (DC 10 to pick) 1 sp 1 lb.
Typical (DC 15) 1 gp 1 lb.
Well made (DC 20) 10 gp 1 lb.

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Alchemist’s Fire
This potent substance explodes in flame when exposed to air,
and is typically hurled so as to break its flask and ignite it. As a
standard action, you make an Athletics/throw check to throw
alchemist’s fire, against a DC set by the GM depending on
distance and circumstances. With a successful check, the flask of
alchemist’s fire lands and breaks at the spot you intend.
When the flask of alchemist’s fire breaks, it explodes to fill an
area 10 feet across with flame, burning until the end of the next
turn of the creature who threw it. Each creature who enters the
area or starts their turn there takes 1d6 fire damage (maximum
once per round). A creature can use a standard action to strike
at and smother the flames.
Chapter 9/Round-by-Round Effects sidebar (253)
Antitoxin
Antitoxin helps to break down poison in the body and negate its
effects. If you drink antitoxin, you have a d10 boon on Fortitude
saving throws against poison for 1 hour.
Breathing Mask
Lined with crushed charcoal and other alchemical compounds
that can absorb noxious gases from the air, this breathing mask
can be adjusted to cover the nose and mouth of most Small or
Medium creatures. While wearing the mask, a creature can
ignore nonharmful noxious odors, and has advantage on saving
throws against inhaled pestilence and poison, as well as other
airborne effects. The mask is of no benefit against effects that
specify a creature is affected even if they hold their breath.
After being used for 1 hour in total, the mask must be replaced.
Evenlamp
An evenlamp can be created from any object that has a
continual flame spell cast upon it, but these items are typically a
short rod of metal or wood that can be held or placed into a
sconce. Once continual flame is cast, an evenlamp casts bright
light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet.
An evenlamp usually glows for 3 days (the default level at which
continual flame is cast), after which its magic fades away and the
object is consumed and reduced to a corroded husk.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Life Draught
This herbal alchemical concoction was first created by the elves,
and is commonly found in lands where healing magic is rare.
You drink a life draught as a minor action, after which you
restore 2d4 hit points at the start of your next turn as the
draught heightens your body’s natural healing ability.
If you have taken critical point damage, the first time you imbibe
a life draught, its healing doesn’t impose a penalty to your
critical point maximum. If you subsequently take another life
draught before your critical points have been restored to your
current maximum, doing so imposes a −1 penalty to your critical
point maximum, just as making use of magical healing does.
Chapter 9/Magical Healing (257)
Medicinal Compounds
The therapeutic power of certain herbs, seeds, barks, plant-
extracted oils, and other natural substances is well documented
among apothecaries, healers, midwives, and surgeons. Such
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
substances can be freely collected in areas where they are
naturally found by characters with the skill to recognize them.
But they are also commonly available as alchemically processed
powders, tinctures, salves, and more that increase effectiveness,
eliminate impurities, and allow for longer storage. Available
compounds include analgesics, healing herbs, anti-
inflammatories, contraceptives, antifungals, antiparasitics,
soporifics, and sedatives. The cost of any medicinal compound
typically covers a one-month supply.
Potions or Spellmarks
A number of the most commonly sought-after potions and
spellmarks (including cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds,
lesser restoration, and magic weapon) are readily available for
sale in most areas.
Magic Grimoire/Potions and Spellmarks (ch. 2)
Radiant Essence
Radiant essence is a magical liquid created by the hallow water
spell, and damages undead creatures and fiends the same way
acid damages most other creatures. Treat a flask of radiant
essence as a flask of acid for determining how it can be thrown
and the area it affects, but radiant essence deals 1d8 radiant
damage to undead and fiends only.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Smelling Salts
This vial of aromatic spirits is designed to shock sleeping or
unconscious creatures awake with its pungent scent. Whenever
an unconscious creature can be woken as a standard action,
they can instead be woken by a creature waving smelling salts
before them as a minor action.
Smelling salts are exhausted after ten uses.
Smokestick
This alchemically treated wooden stick instantly ignites when it
strikes a hard surface, creating thick, opaque smoke that fills an
area 10 feet across. As a standard action, you make an
Athletics/throw check to throw a smokestick, against a DC set by
the GM depending on distance and circumstances. With a
successful check, the smokestick lands and ignites at the spot
you intend.
The smoke obscures all sight, including darkvision, to grant
concealment in its area. The stick is consumed at the start of the
next turn of the creature who activated it, with the smoke
clearing at the end of that turn in still air. A moderate (11 miles
per hour) or stronger wind dissipates the smoke immediately
after the stick is consumed.
Chapter 7/Winds (176)
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
Sunrod
This 1-foot-long iron rod has a tip coated in gold-colored
alchemical alloy, which glows brightly when struck against a
solid surface as a minor action. A sunrod casts bright light in a
30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. It glows for
6 hours, after which the tip is burned out.
Tanglefoot Bag
This canvas bag is filled with a potent alchemical glue and
designed to rupture when it strikes a solid surface. As a standard
215
 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

action, you make an Athletics/throw check to throw a tanglefoot Radiant essence (1-pint flask) 5 gp 1 lb.
bag, against a DC set by the GM depending on distance and Smelling salts 1 gp —
circumstances. With a successful check, the bag lands and Smokestick 5 gp 0.5 lb.
breaks at the spot you intend. Sunrod 2 gp 1 lb.
When the bag lands, it bursts to cover an area 10 feet across. Tanglefoot bag 5 gp 4 lb.
Any creature in the area when the bag hits must succeed on a Thunderstone 5 gp 1 lb.
Reflex saving throw (challenge throw +7) or be restrained. Each Tindertwigs (10) 1 gp —
creature who subsequently enters the area or starts their turn 500 No weight worth noting, or not an item that is carried.
there must succeed on a Reflex saving throw (challenge throw
+2, maximum once per round) or be restrained. Even for
creatures not restrained, the area of the tanglefoot bag is
Specialized Tools and Equipment
The nature of adventuring requires specialized equipment, and
difficult terrain.
sometimes inspires characters to use mundane equipment in
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168) ways beyond its typical use by other folk.
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
Tools that allow characters to make skill checks (from high-end
A creature affected by a tanglefoot bag can escape its grip and thieves’ tools to artisan’s tools or a mundane crowbar) are
end the restrained condition with a successful DC 17 crafted at the same high level of quality as combat-ready
Athletics/slam or Acrobatics/escape check. A stuck creature weapons and armor. It is possible to use tools of lesser quality
doused in strong alcohol has advantage on checks to break free. to make skill checks, or even to use improvised tools if the
An application of universal solvent to a stuck creature dissolves proper tools aren’t at hand. But checks made with lesser-quality,
the alchemical goo immediately. The glue otherwise becomes damaged, or improvised tools are typically made with
brittle and fragile after 2d4 rounds, cracking apart and losing its disadvantage.
effectiveness.
Abacus
Magic Grimoire/Wondrous Items (ch. 2)
This counting and calculation device consists of a wooden
Huge or larger creatures are unaffected by a tanglefoot bag. A frame, within which sliding beads are set on vertical dowels. Wit
tanglefoot bag doesn’t function in an airless environment, proper training, an abacus lets you perform both basic
including underwater. arithmetic and complex mathematical calculations.

Thunderstone Artisan’s Tools

A special mix of alchemical substances is held within different
compartments in a clay sphere, which explodes with a
thunderous roar when the sphere is cracked and the substances
mix. As a standard action, you make an Athletics/throw check to
throw a thunderstone, against a DC set by the GM depending
on distance and circumstances. With a successful check, the
stone lands and breaks at the spot you intend.
When the stone lands, each creature within 10 feet of it must
succeed on a Fortitude save (challenge throw +5) or be hearing
disoriented for 10 minutes.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Tindertwig
The alchemical substance on the end of this finger-length thin
wooden stick ignites when struck against a rough surface.
Igniting a tindertwig and immediately using to light a torch,
lamp, lantern, pool of oil, or prepared campfire is a minor
action.
These professional-quality tools include a range of items
needed for any check you make with a personal crafting skill,
including checks for carpentry, stoneworking, sewing and
embroidery, cartography and calligraphy, glassmaking and
jewelry, painting and drawing, and many more.
Battering Ram, Portable
This iron-shod wooden beam can be used to help break
through doors and other obstacles. A battering ram grants you
advantage on Athletics/slam checks made to break open a door
or smash an object.
Damaging Objects (230)
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
Block and Tackle
A block and tackle is a complex set of pulleys and ropes that can
be attached to a fixed object and used to lift or pull another
object weighing up to 1,000 pounds.

ALCHEMICAL ITEMS AND EVERYDAY MAGIC Book, Lore

Item Cost Weight From history to poetry, engineering to fiction, press-printed
Acid (1-pint flask) 1 gp 1 lb. paper books of general lore can be easily purchased in most
Alchemist’s fire (1-pint flask) 5 gp 1 lb. towns and cities. Cheap lore books typically have paper or
Antitoxin (1-ounce vial) 10 gp — canvas covers, while expensive varieties are bound in leather or
Breathing mask 1 gp — cloth-covered boards.
Evenlamp 9 gp 1 lb.
Life draught 2 gp — Candle, Timekeeping
Medicinal compounds 1 sp — This candle is crafted to burn slowly and with little illumination,
Potion or spellmark (0 level) 2 gp — shedding dim light only in a 1-foot radius. The candle is marked
Potion or spellmark (1st level) 5 gp — at regular intervals equivalent to 1 hour of burning, allowing it to
Potion or spellmark (2nd level) 10 gp — be used for tracking time. A timekeeping candle burns for 12
Potion or spellmark (3rd level) 20 gp — hours in total.

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Climber’s Kit
Consisting of boot spikes, special gripping gloves, and a
harness that can be used to support your weight, a climber’s kit
is designed to aid climbing on tricky or difficult surfaces — a
wall of ice, crumbling stone, an overhang, and so forth. Using a
climber’s kit on such a surface grants advantage on
Acrobatics/climb checks, but the kit is of no benefit on regular
surfaces.
Chronometer, Fixed
A large tower of clockwork gears and pistons encased in wood
and glass, a fixed chronometer is meant to be installed at a
single location and to accurately track the passage of time at
that location over days, weeks, and months. A fixed
chronometer is accurate enough to track movement and
position at sea, far beyond sight of land.
Chronometer, Portable
Small enough to be carried in a pack, this clockwork device
allows its user to track the passage of time by day or night. A
portable chronometer is as accurate as a sand timer but can be
easily set for different measures of time. Using it for more than
few days requires regular recalibration.
Marking time
Chronometers and timekeeping candles make it easy to reckon the
passing of time. However, such devices are used mostly by
alchemists, metalsmiths, and other crafters who require precise
timing for the processing and preparation of formulas, reagents,
acid baths, tempering, and the like. Cities and fortresses might use a
fixed chronometer to maintain the schedule of the watch, with bells
sounding out at regular intervals to mark the changing of the guard.
But merchants, workers, traders, and other folk consistently ignore
such artificial divisions of time to direct their lives according to the
cycle of the day and night, shifting at its familiar pace from one
season to the next.
Disguise Kit
A small leather case holding makeup, various dyes, hairpieces,
and the spirit gum to attach them, a disguise kit is useful for
changing your appearance. When you use a disguise kit while
making a Stealth/disguise check, you can affect a disguise in the
minimum amount of time, as determined by the GM. A disguise
kit is exhausted after ten uses.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
Fishing Net
Woven and knotted from fine cord, a fishing net is 5 feet on a
side and ideal for use in waters where fish school in large
numbers.
Fishing Tackle
Lines, lures, and hooks make up this fishing tackle kit, which is
stored in a small cloth pouch.
Flotation Vest
This large leather vest is made to be worn over clothing or
armor, and features inflatable bladders sewn into expanding
side pockets. While you wear the vest with its bladders inflated,
you have advantage on Endurance/swim checks made to stay on
the surface of the water, but you have disadvantage on checks
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
to submerge. Blowing up the vest takes 1 minute, and it can be
deflated as a minor action.
Grappling Shaft
This reusable hollow steel arrow or crossbow bolt has a
balanced grappling hook at its head and a fixed loop partway
up the shaft to which a rope can be attached. Whenever you
would make an Acrobatics/handle rope check to throw and
attach a grappling hook, you can instead shoot a grappling shaft
with a bow or crossbow, reducing the difficulty of the check by
one category if you are shooting with hempen rope, or by two
categories if you are shooting with elven rope or silk rope.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
Healer’s Kit
This leather pouch holds unguents and salves, healing herbs,
analgesics and sedatives, gauze and bandages, sterilizing spirits,
and other materials useful to the healer’s arts. The first time you
make any Healing check on a creature (including yourself)
before the end of that creature’s next long rest, using the
healer’s kit grants advantage on the check. A healer’s kit is
exhausted after ten uses.
Hunting Trap
The two steel half-rings of this trap are locked open when it is
set, and slam together under the force of a powerful spring
when it is triggered. You use a standard action to set the trap,
which is typically hidden within leaves, grass, or detritus, and
which is attached by a short chain to a tree, a spike driven into
the ground, or some other immobile object. The GM
determines the DC to spot the concealed trip.
When a creature steps on the trap’s pressure plate, the trap
slams shut, and the creature must make a DC 15 Reflex save. On
a failed save, the creature takes 1d4 bludgeoning or piercing
damage (depending on whether the half-rings are flat or set
with spikes) and is restrained. While restrained, the creature can
move only as the trap’s chain allows. The trap can be forced
open with a successful DC 18 Athletics/slam check, freeing the
trapped creature.
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
Incense
This sweet-smelling incense is burned in a censer or thurible for
meditation or ceremonies.
Ladder
This sturdy, 10-foot wooden ladder can be used to climb walls
or serve as a makeshift short bridge.
Manacles
Manacles are designed to bind the limbs of a Small or Medium
creature, and are sealed with a separate lock. In addition to the
lock being picked, a bound creature can escape from manacles
with a successful Acrobatics/escape check, or the manacles can
be damaged and eventually broken with successful
Athletics/slam checks. The DC for these checks depends on the
quality of the manacles.
Damaging Objects (230)
Manacles made to bind larger or smaller creatures are at least
double the price of typical manacles, as determined by the GM.
217
 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Musical Instrument
A character who has a personal skill involving musical
performance can select from a number of durable and easily
carried wind instruments (including the flute, recorder, pipes, or
oboe) or stringed instruments (the lute, mandolin, bandora, and
so forth). Workable instruments can be found at relatively low
cost, but premium-quality instruments are more expensive.
Oil, Aromatic
that most spell component pouches are designed to be securely
attached and difficult to remove.
Spellbook, Wizard’s (Blank)
This leather-bound tome is ready to be filled by an arcanist’s
archived spells. The spellbook’s one hundred pages are high-
quality parchment, prepared in such a way as to prevent the
complex magical notation of arcane spells from fading or
blurring with time.

Stored in vials and available in a wide range of natural and
alchemically enhanced scents, aromatic oil can be added to a
pint of lamp oil to create a sweet scent while burning. Aromatic
oil can also be used as an insect repellent, or to try to disrupt a
scent trail to prevent tracking.
Perfume
A vial of fine scent can help show others your dedication to the
finer things in life — or can help hide how long it’s been since
your dungeon delving has allowed you to bathe.
Periscope
This one-foot-long, glass-mirror periscope lets you easily see
around corners and other obstacles.
Chapter 10/Spellbooks sidebar (326)
Thieves’ Tools
This nondescript leather case is filled with an array of picks,
skeleton keys, pries and pliers, wedges and shims designed for
the testing and bypassing of locks and traps with a
Thievery/open locks or Thievery/handle traps check. Making
such checks with improvised tools imposes disadvantage on the
check.
Wax, Beeswax
This yellow-to-light-brown wax is useful for waterproofing,
sealing canned food, and lubricating axles, hinges, drawers, and
other objects.

Printing Press, Portable Wax, Sealing

A traditional wood-block printing press features a pull-down This high-quality mix of paraffin wax, shellac, and resin is used to
screw and can be used to create pamphlets, book folios, seal important documents. It adheres strongly to paper and
business cards, and other printed materials one sheet at a time. parchment when liquid, but becomes hard and brittle when
The press is small enough to be moved easily and set up in any cooled, making it all but impossible to open a document
available space. A printing press can’t be used in the creation without breaking its wax seal.
of magical written materials, including schemas and scrolls.
SPECIALIZED TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
Magic Grimoire/Schemas, Scrolls, and Talismans (ch. 2)
Item Cost Weight1
Sand Timer Abacus 2 gp 2 lb.
This device features two connected glass hemispheres in a Artisan’s tools 5 gp 5 lb.
wooden frame. Sand spills from one hemisphere to the other Battering ram, portable 20 gp 20 lb.
when the sand timer is upended, marking out the passage of 1 Block and tackle 5 gp 5 lb.
hour or some other specific length of time. Book, lore 1–5 sp 1–3 lb.
Candle, timekeeping 1 gp 0.5 lb.
Scale, Balance Climber’s kit 10 gp 5 lb.
Chronometer, fixed 25 gp 50 lb.
This set of balance scales has two pans and comes with an
Chronometer, portable 5 gp 2 lb.
assortment of reference weights, allowing you to precisely
Disguise kit 10 gp 8 lb.
weigh any small object of up to 5 pounds.
Fishing net 1 gp 5 lb.
Fishing tackle 1 sp —
Sewing Kit Flotation vest 5 gp 2 lb.
Needles of various sizes, thread of different weights and colors, Grappling shaft 5 gp 2 lb.
straight pins, and a thimble make up this small repair kit, Healer’s kit 10 gp 1 lb.
suitable for patching clothing, stitching a torn cloak, and so Hunting trap 3 gp 25 lb.
forth. Incense (1 days’ supply) 1 sp —
Ladder (10 feet) 5 cp 20 lb.
Signet Ring Manacles 2 lb.
The large face of this ring is carved with a complex and Cheap (DC 15 to escape or 1 gp 2 lb.
distinctive insignia. When pressed into still-warm sealing wax, damage)
the ring leaves a relief marking that can be used to identify the Typical (DC 20) 5 gp 2 lb.
person who created the seal. Well made (DC 25) 10 gp 2 lb.
High grade (DC 30) 15 gp 2 lb.
Spell Component Pouch Musical instrument 2–25 gp 3 lb.
The material components required for many arcane spells can Oil, aromatic (1-ounce vial) 1 sp —
be stored in the numerous compartments of this broad, Perfume (1-ounce vial) 1 gp —
watertight belt pouch. An arcanist must have their material Periscope 2 gp 1 lb.
components on their person to cast spells requiring them, so Printing press, portable 50 gp 120 lb.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Sand timer
Scale, balance
1 gp
5 gp
1 lb.
3 lb.
Cane
Sewing kit 5 sp — A straight length of wood, bone, or light metal, a cane provides
Signet ring 5 gp —
support for balance and stability while moving. Typically 2 to 3
Spell component pouch 5 gp 2 lb.
feet long when sized for a Small or Medium character, a cane
might end in a single base point or in a pronged base with three
Spellbook, wizard’s (blank) 5 gp 3 lb.
or more feet for extra stability.
Thieves’ tools 10 gp 1 lb.
Wax, beeswax 1 sp 1 lb. A cane isn’t strengthened and weighted for combat like a club.
Wax, sealing 1 gp 1 lb. If used to attack, a cane is treated as an improvised weapon that
— No weight worth noting, or not an item that is carried. deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage.
1. Items made for Small characters typically weigh 3/4 to 1/2 of the Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
indicated weight.
Cane, Long
Fast-Start: Magical Gear A long cane is a narrow shaft of light wood, metal, or bonded
A wide range of potions channel the power of protection, healing, wood and sinew. Typically 5 to 10 feet long when sized for a
and combat prowess, and are inexpensive enough to make them Small or Medium character, long canes are sometimes length-
indispensible gear for many starting adventurers. Each package has adjustable for indoor and outdoor use. A character familiar with
a fixed cost that comes out of your 150 gp starting wealth, with each the cane’s use can sweep it to observe the area around them if
potion also available as a spellmark at the same price. that area can’t be observed by sight or other senses, allowing
The CORE20 Magic Grimoire has full information on potions and the character to overcome the effects of concealment or total
spellmarks, and on the spells these items channel. concealment. Specialized training is usually required to use a
long cane.
Combatant Magic Package
Cost: 20 gp Chapter 9/Cover and Concealment (306)
Characters who spend a lot of time in combat can use magic to
boost their attacks, and to help them heal up afterward. This Crutch
package consists of two potions of cure light wounds and two Whether used singly or as a pair, a crutch aids a character’s
potions of magic weapon. balance while moving by transferring weight from the legs to the
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Potions and Spellmarks (ch. 2) upper body. Typically crafted to support the body under the
arm or with the forearm and hand, a crutch allows a character to
Healer Magic Package move without putting weight on one leg.
Cost: (20 gp)
Some characters like to always have healing at the ready, whether False Teeth
for themself and their allies. This package consists of four potions of Carved of bone or ivory, false teeth replace a full or partial
cure light wounds. range of teeth in a character’s upper or lower jaw. False teeth
are attached to a plate that fits firmly to the gums or palette,
Defensive Magic Package and must be custom fitted to the character wearing them.
Cost: 20 gp
For characters who like to stay on the defensive in combat — or to Fidget Gadget
stay out of the fight altogether — magic can provide a needed
edge. This package consists of one potion of expeditious retreat, This small device is crafted with numerous moving parts that can
one potion of mage armor, and two potions of shield of life. be engaged individually or in concert with each other. It
provides an aid to concentration and can alleviate distraction or
Alternatively, if you wear armor, this package consists of one potion
of expeditious retreat, one potion of force shield, and one potion of anxiety.
shield of life.
Glass Eye
Carved of glass and finished with paint, inscription, or metal leaf,
Assistive Gear this artificial eye can be fitted to a character who is missing an
Characters requiring aid with specific tasks — or who want to be eye, replacing that eye for cosmetic purposes. A glass eye must
prepared to assist others who have such needs — can avail be custom crafted to the character requiring it, and can be
themselves of a broad range of mobility, accessibility, and finished to resemble a natural eye or with a wholly unique look.
sensory aids.
Grabber
Brace This sturdy hollow pole of wood or light metal has a movable
Crafted in a variety of shapes and sizes of leather or heavy cloth, handle at one end, an arrangement of movable claws at the
and reinforced with bone or wood, a brace is used to stabilize other, and a length of wire running inside it that connects
and support a joint. Braces are usually fitted to a specific joint handle and claws. When the handle is manipulated, the claws
(elbow, shoulder, knee, wrist, and so forth) or within boots, tighten to allow a character to grab or manipulate an object at a
shoes, gloves, or clothing to apply pressure and support distance.
movement.
Grabbers can range from 1 or 2 feet in length for light domestic
Braces can be made to specifically fit the varying anatomies of duty, to 10 feet long or more for dungeon delving and other
characters of different lineages, animals, and other creatures, or activities where distance lessens risk. Longer versions often fold
can be made adjustable to accommodate a wide range of up for easier carrying when not in use. You can’t undertake any
creatures. activity with a grabber that requires a skill check.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Hearing Aid Walking Stick

This small device encloses an arrangement of tiny alchemical This stout length of wood, bamboo, light metal, or other sturdy
and mechanical membranes that actively amplify sound around material is typically the same height as the character using it,
a character, then focus that sound into the ear to be heard. and provides light support and additional stability while moving.
Some characters who are hearing disoriented can negate some A walking stick is not strengthened or balanced for combat as a
or all of that condition with a hearing aid, but if worn by a quarterstaff is. If used to attack, a walking stick is treated as an
character not hearing disoriented, the hearing aid amplifies improvised weapon that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
sound to the point of distortion.
Chapter 9/Improvised Weapons (285)
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Hearing aids are either custom fitted to the ear of the character Walking Frame
using them, or are designed to be held to the ear of any Shaped of wood, bone, or light metal and held together with
creature. sinew or leather, a walking frame consists of three or four strong
vertical posts locked into a frame that can be gripped from
Magnifying Glass above. A walking frame provides support and aids balance while
This simple lens focuses images in close-up, providing a sharper standing or moving. It is either lifted between steps as a
visual perspective on small objects, allowing faint text to be character moves, or set with wheels that allow it to be rolled.
read easily, and so forth. When you use a magnifying glass to Some walking frames are fitted with seats that allow a user to
make any skill check involving fine visual detail, the check can be take breaks from movement, or for wheeled seats to be pushed
made in the minimum amount of time, as determined by the for short distances.
GM. Such checks might include a Perception check to search a
desk, a Jeweler personal skill group check to appraise jewelry, a Wheelchair
Healing check to study a puncture wound for signs of poison, Usually crafted of some combination of wood, light metal, bone,
and so forth. and leather, a wheelchair is a specially designed seat fitted with
A magnifying glass can also be used to start a fire by focusing wheels at front and back, allowing a character sitting in the chair
sunlight into tinder (dry cloth soaked in lamp oil, leaves, grass, or a character pushing from behind to easily roll the chair in any
and so forth) to ignite it. Starting a fire with a magnifying glass direction. The creature directing the wheelchair can use a move
can take up to 1 minute, depending on the strength of the action to move the chair up to their speed (in addition to
sunlight. moving with the chair on their own if they are pushing the chair).
A creature can run while using a wheelchair with a successful
Prosthetic Endurance/run check, as usual. While you use a wheelchair and
Usually crafted of some combination of wood, metal, bone, have one hand on it or are strapped into it, you are considered
leather, or heavy cloth, a prosthetic is used to replace a missing to be holding the chair.
or damaged limb, and reproduces some of the limb’s function. Wheelchairs come in a variety of styles and forms. Chairs of
Prosthetics come in a variety of forms and sizes, and are generic design are typically used for occasional mobility
attached to the body with straps, belts, or cuffs. A prosthetic is assistance indoors. Personalized chairs are customized to a
typically custom designed and fitted to the character wearing it, specific user’s body and needs, and are often lighter than
and characters might have different prosthetics for different generic wheelchairs. That includes heavy-duty personalized
functions (casual use, melee combat, archery, and so forth). chairs designed to withstand any amount of wear and tear
Attaching or detaching a prosthetic is a standard action. through everyday use in multiple environments — including
adventuring.
Spectacles
A pair of glass lenses (or, less commonly, a single lens) in a ASSISTIVE GEAR
frame of light metal or bone, spectacles can correct Item Cost Weight1
nearsightedness, farsightedness, depth perception, and other
Brace 20 sp 0.5 lb.
issues with a character’s vision. For worldborn, they are typically
Cane 10 sp 2 lb.
worn in front of the eyes, and held in place either with a pincer
Cane, long 1 gp 2 lb.
bridge that grips the nose, or with arms that wrap behind the
Crutch 30 sp 2 lb.
ears.
False teeth 1 gp —
Spectacles are typically custom crafted for the vision of the Fidget gadget 1 sp —
character wearing them. General-use spectacles to make Glass eye 1 gp —
reading easier or improve vision at a distance can be worn by Grabber 5 sp–1 gp 1–3 lb.
any character, and typically cost half the usual price. Hearing aid 1 gp —
Magnifying glass 5 gp —
Spyglass Prosthetic 1–5 gp2 1–10 lb.2
A carefully constructed two-lens optical device, a spyglass helps Spectacles 2 gp —
to visually focus distant objects or environments and bring those Spyglass 50 gp 1 lb.
views closer. When you use a spyglass to make a
Perception/spot check, you have advantage on the check.
However, a spyglass can be used only to make Perception/spot
checks at distances greater than 120 feet away from you, and
might limit your field of vision at the GM’s determination.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Walking stick
Walking frame
10 sp
1 gp
5 lb.
5 lb.
Hot Weather Outfit
Wheelchair 10 gp 30 lb. A hot weather outfit includes a light tunic, a protective hat, a
headscarf that can cover the face, and a sleeveless, loose-fitting
— No weight worth noting, or not an item that is carried.
cloak designed not to restrict airflow around the body as an aid
1. Items made for Small characters typically weigh 3/4 to 1/2 of the
to keeping cool. The light shoes that come with the outfit have
indicated weight.
2. Depending on size and materials.
heavy soles that can endure hard travel. This outfit allows a
character to endure hot weather without needing to make
Endurance/subsist checks.
Clothing Chapter 7/Weather and Temperature (176)
Your character’s starting equipment includes a set of clothing,
chosen from among an artisan’s outfit, entertainer’s outfit,
explorer’s outfit, laborer’s outfit, scholar’s outfit, or traveler’s
Laborer’s Outfit
outfit. This clothing is taken at no cost, and doesn’t count This simple outfit includes sandals or boots, loose breeches, a
against the weight a character can carry while it is worn. shirt, and an overtunic tied with sashes or a leather belt. The
Characters who wish to own additional types of clothing can outfit is designed to give you maximum mobility, and to stand
purchase that clothing. up to hard labor.

Artisan’s Outfit Scholar’s Outfit

This outfit includes a shirt with buttons, a skirt or trousers with a Perfect for a scholar, this outfit includes a robe, a belt, a cap,
drawstring, shoes, and a cap or hat. It often includes a belt or a soft shoes, and possibly a cloak.
leather or cloth apron for carrying tools.
Traveler’s Outfit
Cold Weather Outfit This set of clothes consists of boots, a wool skirt or breeches, a
A cold weather outfit includes a wool coat, linen shirt, wool cap, sturdy belt, a shirt (perhaps with a vest or jacket), and an ample
heavy cloak, thick trousers or skirt, and boots. This outfit allows a cloak with a hood.
character to endure cold weather without needing to make
Endurance/subsist checks. CLOTHING
Chapter 7/Weather and Temperature (176) Item Cost Weight1
Artisan’s outfit 1 gp 4 lb.
Courtier’s Outfit Cold weather outfit 8 gp 7 lb.
This outfit includes fancy tailored clothes in whatever fashion Courtier’s outfit 30 gp 6 lb.
happens to be the current style in the courts of local gentry. Entertainer’s outfit 3 gp 4 lb.
Anyone trying to influence gentry or officials known to favor Explorer’s outfit 10 gp 8 lb.
gentry while wearing street dress typically has a more difficult Gentry’s outfit 75 gp 10 lb.
time, including having disadvantage on Persuasion checks as Hot weather outfit 6 gp 7 lb.
the GM determines. Laborer’s outfit 5 gp 2 lb.
Scholar’s outfit 5 gp 6 lb.
Entertainer’s Outfit Traveler’s outfit 1 gp 5 lb.
This set of flashy, perhaps even gaudy, clothes is for 1. Items made for Small characters typically weigh 3/4 to 1/2 of the
entertaining. While an entertainer’s outfit often appears indicated weight.
whimsical, its practical design lets you tumble, dance, walk a
tightrope, or run (if the audience turns ugly). Food, Drink, and Lodging
With the amount of time they spend on the road far from any
Explorer’s Outfit real home, most adventurers become well acquainted with inns,
This is a full set of clothes for someone who never knows what to taverns, and other places catering to travelers. It’s possible to
expect. It includes sturdy boots, leather breeches or a skirt, a seek cheap lodgings in a barn, corral hut, or woodshed, or to
belt, a shirt (perhaps with a vest or jacket), gloves, a scarf or camp out and live off the land, but most characters end up
wide-brimmed hat, and a cloak. Rather than a leather skirt, a paying for food, drink, and lodging from time to time.
leather overtunic might be worn over a cloth skirt. The clothes
have plenty of pockets (especially the cloak). Ale, Beer, or Cider
Ubiquitous beverages usually brewed from grains or fruit,
Gentry’s Outfit hundreds of varieties of ale, beer, and cider are available in a
This set of clothes is designed to be expensive and to show it. wide range of alcoholic content.
Tiny gems and silver or gold thread are worked into a fine robe
or a shirt matched with trousers or skirt, worn high to show off Banquet
fine shoes or boots. A hat, gloves, and scarves complete the A fine banquet dinner at a restaurant is a long event
ensemble, which can be improved upon with a signet ring and incorporating several courses. More often than not, characters
jewelry of appropriate value and appearance. attend a banquet as much to talk to specific attendees as for the
Adventuring Gear (210) food.

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Bread
Baked using flours of wheat, oats, barley, rye, and other grains,
bread is a staple food for folk from all walks of life.
Cheese
Hard and soft cheeses are produced from the milk of cows,
goats, sheep, and other animals, and are favored for their
tendency to spoil relatively slowly.
Confections
Fudge, rock candy, caramel, fruit tarts, cookies, cakes, pastries,
and other sweet treats are readily available in most settlements,
but are often more expensive in areas where spices and sugar
are hard to come by.
Eggs
More resistant to spoilage than fresh meat, eggs are most
commonly sourced from domesticated poultry or waterfowl.
Fruit
Different fruits are available on a seasonal basis in most parts of
the world, including apples, baobab, dates, pears, figs,
breadfruit, berries, oranges, bananas, and more. Because they
spoil quickly, fresh fruits are generally only available in the areas
in which they are grown.
Fruit, Dried
Dried fruits can be stored for long periods without spoiling, and
are thus easier to find out of season and in far-flung locations.
Herbs and Spices
Common herbs and spices are inexpensive and readily available
in most markets, with imported spices increasingly expensive
and difficult to obtain in smaller settlements.
Inn Stay
Poor accommodations at an inn amount to a place on the floor
near the hearth, with a blanket that is warm but has been much
used. Common accommodations consist of a place on a raised,
heated floor, and the use of a blanket and a pillow. Good
accommodations at an inn consist of a small, private room with
one or two beds, a closet and chest of drawers, and access to
washing and a toilet.
Luxury inn accommodation is available in many cities, towns,
and specialty resorts, with pricing determined by the GM.
Legumes
Peas, beans, lentils, groundnuts, and other legumes come in
dozens of varieties, all of which can be stored indefinitely if
dried.
Meat
Depending on the season and the territory, the menu at a meat
market might include beef, mutton, poultry, goat, horse, pork,
or more unusual fare. Fresh meat must be prepared or
processed quickly to avoid spoilage.
Meat, Dried
Meat that is salted and dried to prevent spoilage can last for
months if stored properly.
Mushrooms
Edible mushrooms come in seemingly endless varieties, from
common button mushrooms to oak mushrooms, oyster
mushrooms, snow puffs, girolles, hen of the woods, and many
more. Though they hold only modest nutritional value, fresh or
dried mushrooms are added to cooking for their flavor and
health benefits.
Nuts and Seeds
With a long storage life when properly prepared, hazelnuts,
macadamias, pecans, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, sunflower
seeds, pumpkin seeds, and many more varieties of nuts and
seeds are a staple dried food throughout the world.
Rice
Whether cultivated or wild, rice is one of the world’s most
common cereal grains, and a staple foodstuff in most
marketplaces.
Vegetables, Fresh
Lettuce, cabbage, kale, tomatoes, maize, peas, eggplant, and
other fresh vegetables are available in most marketplaces on a
seasonal basis.
Vegetables, Squash and Root
From potatoes to carrots, cassava, beets, yams, taro, onions,
pumpkin, gourds, and more, squashes and root vegetables are
known for their nutrition and long storage life.
Spirits
Endless varieties of alcoholic spirits are created through the
fermenting and distilling of grains, fruit, and vegetables. Spirits
have a higher alcohol content than ale, beer, or cider.
Wine or Mead
Wine is fermented from grapes or other fruits, while mead is
fermented from honey. Both have a similar or slightly higher
alcohol content than ale, beer, or cider.
FOOD, DRINK, AND LODGING

Item Cost Weight

Meals Ale, beer, or cider
For customers of an inn, tavern, or café, poor meals might Gallon 1–5 sp 8 lb.
consist of bread or rice, baked root vegetables, and water. Mug 1–5 cp 1 lb.
Common meals might include bread and rice, meat or nut stew, Banquet (per person) 10 gp —
root vegetables, and watered-down ale or wine. Good meals Bread (per loaf) 2 cp 0.5 lb.
might be composed of bread and pastries, a special meat or nut Cheese, block of 1 sp 0.5 lb.
dish, rice, fresh vegetables, and ale or wine. Confections 1 cp 0.25 lb.
Eggs (10) 2 cp 1.5 lbs.
Fruit 5 cp 1 lb.

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Fruit, dried 1 sp 1 lb. Training feat, and has disadvantage only on Acrobatics, Endurance,
Herbs and spices (1 ounce) 5 cp–1gp — and Stealth checks while wearing medium or heavy barding.
Inn stay (per day) Chapter 9/Armor Hindrance (240)
Good 1 gp —
Common 5 sp —
Poor 1 sp —
Camel
Legumes 1 sp 1 lb. With their ability to go long periods without water, camels are
Meals (per day) the most common mount and pack animal in deserts, arid
Good 5 sp — mountains, and other environments where water is scarce. A
Common 3 sp —
camel is a Large mount.
Poor 1 sp — Warcamels have been trained for battle, and can be ridden
Meat 5 sp 1 lb. more easily in combat than regular riding camels. However,
Meat, dried 1 gp 1 lb. even a warcamel typically refuses to enter dungeons and other
Mushrooms (fresh or dried) 1 sp 1 lb. dark or threatening places.
Nuts and seeds 1 sp 1 lb.
Chapter 9/Mounted Combat (308)
Rice 5 cp 1 lb.
Vegetables, fresh 5 cp 1 b.
Vegetables, squash and root 2 cp 1 lb.
Dog, Trained
Spirits (bottle) 3–5 gp 1.5 lb. Dogs are commonly trained to guard and protect other
Wine or mead creatures or specific locations, to track creatures by scent, to aid
Common (pitcher) 2 sp 6 lb.
characters requiring sensory or physical assistance, and many
Fine (bottle) 1–3 gp 1.5 lb.
other tasks. A trained dog easily responds to the commands of
the creature who cares for them.
500 No weight worth noting, or not an item that is carried.
Chapter 6/Handling Animals, Monsters, and Mounts sidebar (131)
Mounts and Related Gear
Though few characters can afford it when starting out, owning a Dog and Pony Show
riding horse or a wagon and a team to pull it can make travel — Canines and horses were both independently bonded with by
and carrying vast amounts of loot — much easier. multiple worldborn lines in prehistoric times, beginning with the
goblins’ domestication of wolves and the essaruks’ taming of ponies
Barding in both those peoples’ original homelands. As such, dogs and
horses are by far the most common trained animals in the world.
Barding is a type of armor that covers the head, neck, chest, However, depending on the locale of the campaign, the nature of
body, and sometimes legs of a mount. Barding styled after the campaign story, and the desires of players and characters, any
medium or heavy armor provides better protection than light animal, monstrous arthropod, or nonsapient wondrous beast can be
barding, but at the expense of what other gear a mount can trained as a guard, a tracker, a service creature, or a mount, in
carry. Barding can be made of any of the armor types found on consultation with the GM.
the “Armor and Armor Groups” table, and bestows the same Chapter 2/Intelligent and Sapient Creatures sidebar (30)
bonus to defense. Barding has the same cost and weight as
armor, except as increased for larger creatures.
Dog, Riding
Chapter 9/Armor (240); Armor and Armor Groups table (241);
This large-breed dog specially trained to carry a Small
Chapter 9/Armor Size (242)
worldborn rider, and to be ridden into combat. A riding dog is a
Just as with armor, barding that is being worn doesn’t count Medium mount.
against the weight a mount can carry, and doesn’t affect the
mount’s speed. However, a mount in light barding can carry Donkey or Mule
their rider plus saddlebags, while a mount in medium or heavy
Donkeys and mules are stolid in the face of danger, hardy,
barding can carry only their rider. Flying mounts can’t fly in
surefooted, and able to carry heavy loads over long distances,
medium or heavy barding.
making them the preferred choice for a pack animal. Unlike a
Barding is typically only worn when combat is expected, and horse, a donkey or a mule is willing (though not eager) to enter
removing and fitting barding takes five times as long as dungeons and other dark or threatening places.
removing and fitting armor. Mounts who wear barding all day —
and especially mounts forced to sleep in barding — can develop Elephant
sores and chafing, and might be weakened at the GM’s
The largest land animals, elephants are domesticated in many
determination.
parts of the world for labor, for pulling vehicles, and for use as
Chapter 9/Putting On and Taking Off Armor (243) mounts. In addition to a specialized saddle, an elephant can be
Appendix B/Weakened (A12) trained to carry a lightweight canopied seating platform that can
carry two to four Medium creatures, and which costs the same
Barding Training as a specialized saddle.
A mount can be trained to handle wearing barding well enough, but
typically not to the specialized level of a character with the Armor Feed
Training feat. As such, a mount wearing barding is considered Camels, horses, and other Large herbivores can graze to sustain
untrained with that barding, and has disadvantage on any skill check themselves, but they do better with specialized feed (often
made using Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution. A companion including corn, barley, or oats) that provides more energy.
creature mount who gains adventuring feat slots can take the Armor Riding dogs and other naturally carnivorous Medium creatures

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

eat less but require food that is higher in protein, most Dog, trained 15 gp 50 lb.
commonly featuring meat, offal, or eggs. Dog, riding 50 gp 75 lb.
Elephant 200 gp 8,000 lb.
Chapter 7/Water and Food Minimum Requirements table (177)
Donkey or mule 25 gp 900 lb.
Feed (per day) 5 cp 1–20 lb.
Horse Horse
Commonly used as mounts and work animals, horses are found Horse, heavy 200 gp 1,800 lb.
in all areas of the world, often in varieties bred for their local Horse, light 75 gp 1,000 lb.
climate and geography. The costs in the table reflect the cost of Pony 30 gp 500 lb.
a trained riding horse. For pack and draft horses, reduce the Warpony 60 gp 500 lb.
cost by 25 gp. A horse is a Large mount. Warhorse, heavy 400 gp 1,800 lb.
A pony is smaller than a horse, and makes a suitable mount for Warhorse, light 150 gp 1,000 lb.
Small characters. A pony is a Medium mount. Saddle 10 gp1 25 lb.1
Saddle, military 20 gp1 30 lb.1
Warhorses and warponies have been trained for battle, and can
Saddle, pack 5 gp1 15 lb.1
be ridden more easily in combat than regular riding horses and
ponies. However, even a warhorse typically refuses to enter Saddlebags 4 gp1 8 lb.1
dungeons and other dark or threatening places. Stabling (per day) 5 sp —
Tack 2 gp1 1 lb.1
Chapter 9/Mounted Combat (308) — No weight worth noting, or not an item that is carried.

Saddle
A standard saddle is sized for a Large creature such as a camel
or horse, and supports a single rider. Most saddles feature
straps and tabs to attach saddlebags and light gear.
Saddles must usually be specially crafted for unusual mounts
(including flying mounts and mounts with more than four legs)
or unusual riding arrangements (for example, a saddle specially
designed to hold a rider and their companion creature). They
have the same cost and weight as a standard saddle.
Chapter 7/Companion Creature (198)
Saddle, Military
A military saddle is less comfortable than a riding saddle, but is
designed to hold a rider in place. When riding a mount with a
military saddle, you have advantage on Nature/animal handling
checks to ride your mount.
Saddle, Pack
A pack saddle holds gear and supplies, but not a rider. It holds
as much gear as a mount can carry.
Saddlebags
This pair of leather packs are designed to be attached to a
saddle, and can be sealed against dust and rain.
Stabling
A fee for stabling includes a clean, dry stall for your mount, as
well as grooming and proper feed.
1. This is the cost and weight for a Large mount such as a camel or
horse. Cost and weight are halved for a Medium mount, doubled for a
Huge mount, and quadrupled for a Gargantuan or larger mount.
Vehicles and Watercraft
Most adventurers only ever need to hire or rent transportation
from time to time. But if needs demand it, characters might find
that purchasing a wagon, coach, boat, or ship makes more
sense for long-term travel — or they might find themselves in
possession of a vehicle or watercraft and looking to sell it.
Land vehicles require the labor of creatures to pull them,
whether people, horses, camels, oxen, buffalos, or more unusual
creatures. The speed of a land vehicle is determined by the
creature or creatures pulling it, and the cost of the vehicle
includes the necessary harness and rigging for such creatures.
Chapter 7/Overland Movement (170)
General varieties of watercraft can be found in a multitude of
different designs, including many local to specific regions.
Watercraft are usually focused on transporting either cargo or
passengers, but can be customized to carry both in any
combination.
Barge
This broad, flat-bottomed boat is used for transport along
canals, lakes, and slow-moving rivers. Typically 25 to 40 feet long
and 12 to 15 feet wide, a barge can carry 10 tons of cargo or 25
passengers. It is either poled in shallow water, rowed, or pulled
by harnessed creatures along the shore. A barge moves at
roughly 3 miles per hour.

Tack Coach
This essential gear for your mount includes bridle, halter, reins, A four-wheeled coach can transport as many as four people
grooming supplies, and all other necessary gear in addition to comfortably within an enclosed cab, plus two drivers and 250
your saddle. pounds of baggage or cargo. Two large creatures typically pull a
coach over short distances, with teams of four of more creatures
MOUNTS AND RELATED GEAR used for long-distance travel.

Item Cost Weight Canoe

Barding
Medium mount As armor As armor A canoe is a narrow watercraft, 12 to 16 feet long with a tapered
Large mount As armor ×2 As armor ×2
bow and stern. It is propelled by paddle along lakes, rivers, and
Camel 125 gp 1,100 lb.
relatively calm coastal waters. Typically built of light lacquered
wood or bark on a wooden frame, a canoe can carry three
Warcamel 250 gp 1,000 lb.

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passengers or paddlers, or one paddler and 200 pounds of carries mostly passengers (typically soldiers) with a small amount
cargo. A canoe travels at about 4 miles per hour. of cargo, letting it maintain a speed of 5 miles per hour.
Siege Engines (225)
Canoe, Outrigger
Usually 15 to 30 feet long and 5 feet wide, this sturdy watercraft Sled
features a tapered bow and stern, and is set with one or two
A sled features an open or enclosed cargo deck on long
floating outriggers to lend stability in rough waters. With the
wooden or metal runners designed for moving through soft
help of its outriggers, this canoe can easily handle long sea
terrain. Sleds come in many variations and styles, including
voyages with crew of 5 to 10 paddlers, assisted by a single-mast
those designed for snow and ice, desert sand, and wet bogland.
sail, and carry up to 1,0000 pounds of cargo. An outrigger canoe
Two Large creatures or a team of smaller creatures typically pull
travels at about 5 miles per hour.
a sled.
Cart Wagon
This simple two-wheeled vehicle can be drawn by one or two
A wagon is a four-wheeled, open-box vehicle, designed to
creatures, depending on whether it carries a single passenger or
transport heavy loads or carry multiple passengers in
more weighty cargo. A cart can carry up to 500 pounds.
questionable comfort. Two Large creatures typically pull a
wagon.
Keelboat
This 50- to 75-foot-long ship is 15 to 20 feet wide and has a few VEHICLES AND WATERCRAFT
oars to supplement its single mast and sails. It has a crew of
eight to fifteen and can carry 40 to 50 tons of cargo or 100 Item Cost Weight
passengers. It is sturdy and stable enough to make sea voyages, Barge 100 gp —
and can also sail down rivers thanks to its flat bottom. It moves Coach 100 gp 600 lb.
about 4 miles per hour. Canoe 25 gp 50 lb.
Canoe, outrigger 1,000 gp —
Longship Cart 15 gp 200 lb.
Keelboat 3,000 gp —
This 75-foot-long ship with forty oars requires a total crew of 50.
Longship 10,000 gp —
It has a single mast for its sails, and can carry 50 tons of cargo or
120 passengers. A longship is built for sea voyages and travel Rowboat 50 gp 100 lb.
along deep rivers, and moves about 8 miles per hour when Sailboat 250 gp —
under sail, or 4 miles per hour while being rowed. Sailing ship 10,000 gp —
Warship 25,000 gp —
Rowboat Sled 20 gp 300 lb.
Wagon 35 gp 400 lb.
Built in a wide variety of styles for different purposes and water
500 No weight worth noting, or not an item that is carried.
conditions, rowboats are generally 8 to 12 feet long, with a
pointed bow and square stern, and locked oars. A rowboat is
sometimes fitted with a triangular sail, not strong enough to Siege Engines
drive the boat on its own at any speed, but making rowing Siege engines include a number of outsized mechanical devices
easier. In addition to its rower, a rowboat holds two to four used throughout history to attack castles, fortresses, walled
Medium passengers or 500 pounds of cargo. A rowboat moves settlements, and other defensive emplacements. A siege engine
about 4 miles per hour. can be used to damage walls, buildings, ships, or any other
large structure or object.
Sailboat Siege engines are operated using checks with the Siege
Used for fishing, short-distance cargo hauling, and maritime Engineer personal skill group, with Dexterity or Intelligence the
courier services, sailboats range from 20 to 35 feet long, and ability score typically used for such checks. They aren’t weapons,
feature a multitude of designs and placements for their single- and skill with weapons is of no benefit when using a siege
mast sails. A sailboat is usually also fitted with oars for when the engine. A Siege Engineer check determines how forceful the
wind fails, or to navigate tight spaces. A sailboat can carry up to siege weapon’s strike is, and how accurately that strike lands for
1,000 pounds of cargo or fifteen passengers (including a crew of siege engines that fire a payload at a distance. The GM sets the
one to three), and moves at about 5 miles per hour. DC for the check depending on the strength of the object or
structure targeted, the distance to the target, weather and
Sailing Ship visibility, and so forth. On a clear failure for a check with a siege
Built for sea travel, this large ship is 75 to 90 feet long and 20 engine that fires a payload, the GM determines how badly that
feet wide, and has a crew of 20. It has two masts whose sails are payload goes off target, and what it might strike instead.
set in a variety of configurations, and can carry 150 tons of cargo Chapter 6/Personal Skill Groups (145)
or 300 passengers. A sailing ship moves about 2.5 miles per
A siege engine used at range has an effective range and a
hour when heavily loaded, 4 miles per hour with a moderate
maximum range, as noted on the “Siege Engines” table. When
load, or 5 miles per hour with a light load (including passenger
targeting at greater than effective range, the Siege Engineer
ships).
check to operate the engine is made with disadvantage. A
A warship is a sailing ship fitted with deck-mounted siege ranged siege engine can’t target objects beyond its maximum
engines, and has its hull reinforced as protection against siege range.
engine attacks from other ships and coastal settlements. It

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Each siege engine has a typical minimum crew depending on drive a fixed arm into the air. A catapult payload typically weighs
the actions required to use the engine. It’s possible to operate a between 100 and 300 pounds.
siege engine with a smaller crew, but doing so forces the engine It takes two crew 1 minute to winch a catapult’s mechanism, two
to operate slower. or more crew (depending on the weight of the payload) 1
When a siege engine payload successfully strikes a target minute to load it, and one standard action to aim and release it.
structure, that structure is damaged or destroyed as the GM The Siege Engineer check to use a catapult can be made by a
determines, according to the guidelines in each engine’s write- character loading, winching, or aiming the catapult, as its
up. If a siege engine’s payload strikes a creature, that creature accuracy is a balance between payload, tension, and direction.
takes bludgeoning damage as the GM determines, using the In addition to its maximum range, a catapult has a minimum
guidelines in the engine’s write-up. range of 100 feet, owing to the need to arc its payload upward
before it comes down. A catapult can’t target objects within that
SIEGE ENGINES minimum range.
Effective Maximum Minimum A catapult can destroy most wooden structures, vehicles, or
Engine Cost Range Range Crew Weight ships with one successful strike, and can destroy stone buildings
Ballista 350 gp 120 ft. 240 ft. 2 400 lb. with two or more successful strikes. It deals 6d6 to 12d6
Bolts (10) 50 gp — — — 100 lb. bludgeoning damage to each creature it strikes directly,
Cannon 700 gp 300 ft. 600 ft. 3 1 ton depending on the weight of the payload. A catapult set with a
Shot (10) 75 gp — — — 250 lb. burning payload (typically a barrel of oil or pitch set alight
Charges (10) 150 gp — — — 50 lb. before being launched) can set fire to wooden targets it strikes.
Catapult 800 gp 200 ft. 400 ft. 4 3–10 tons
Ram 250 gp — — 10 1–2 tons Ram
This heavy wooden or iron pole is 30 feet long, set with handles,
and suspended by rope or chains from a movable scaffold. The
Ballista scaffold is usually set with wheels but can also be lifted and
A ballista resembles a huge heavy crossbow 5 feet across, which carried. It usually features a protective overhead-and-side
is mounted to a battlement, a ship’s deck, a wheeled platform, barrier that grants total cover to the ram’s crew.
and so forth. It takes a standard action to load a ballista’s special
heavyweight bolt, a standard action to aim it, and a minor action A crew of ten stands on either side of the ram, using the handles
to fire it. The character aiming the ballista makes its Siege to swing it back, then release it to strike a structure or barrier. It
Engineer check. takes ten or more creatures using a standard action in the same
round to pull back a ram and let it fly. One of those creatures
A ballista can badly damage wooden buildings, vehicles, and directs the operation and makes the ram’s Siege Engineer check
ships with one successful strike, but usually can’t damage stone to coordinate the crew’s actions, which determines how much
structures. It deals 3d8 bludgeoning damage to each creature it power the ram delivers on impact.
strikes directly. A burning ballista bolt (typically covered in pitch
and set alight before being launched) can set fire to wooden A ram can shatter most wooden barriers with one successful
targets it strikes. strike, and can shatter metal and stone barriers with two or more
strikes. It deals 3d6 bludgeoning damage to each creature it
strikes directly.
Cannon
Built using the same advanced alchemy as firearms, a cannon
uses an alchemical charge to fire a cannonshot — a heavy ball of
Transportation and Services
lead or iron — with great speed and destructive power. A Sometimes the best solution for a problem is to hire someone
cannon is typically 10 feet long and 2 feet across, and is else to take care of it. Even adventuring characters need
mounted to a battlement, a ship’s deck, a wheeled platform, specialized assistance from time to time, or to employ the labor
and so forth. It takes a standard action to load and prepare a of others in support of their own endeavors.
cannon’s alchemical charge, a standard action to load a
cannonshot, a standard action to aim the cannon, and a minor Coach or Cart Service
action to fire it. The character aiming the cannon makes its Coaches for hire transport people and light cargo between
Siege Engineer check. cities and towns along regular routes, and can be chartered for
Chapter 9/Firearm Group (280) trips to smaller settlements.

A cannon can badly damage or destroy wooden structures,
vehicles, and ships with one successful strike, and can damage
stone structures with one successful strike. It can often destroy a
stone structure with three or four successful strikes. It deals 4d8
bludgeoning damage to each creature it strikes directly.
Catapult
A catapult consists of a massive throwing arm attached to a
wheeled platform, usually 15 or 20 feet across, able to throw
large rocks or other heavy objects with great force. Different
types of catapult use different mechanisms for driving the
payload being thrown, including pulling back and releasing a
flexible spring arm, or raising and dropping a counterweight to
Within a city or large town, a ride in a covered cart (usually
pulled by a person) can be the fastest way to get around.
Courier
Whether mounted or on foot, couriers can be hired to carry
verbal messages, letters, and light parcels within and between
towns and cities. If quick delivery isn’t important, a courier will
often work for half their usual rate, hoping to fit the delivery in
with another assignment to the same location. If a delivery is
needed to an out-of-the-way location, a courier usually charges
double.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Hireling, Untrained If any hint of danger is revealed regarding the journey to be

A rate of 1 gp is a typical daily wage for diggers, builders,
porters, cooks, maids, and other general laborers.
Hireling, Trained
A wage of 3 gp per day is typical for mercenary warriors,
masons, crafters, scribes, teamsters, and other hirelings with
specialized training.
Hireling, Expert
Expert hirelings include translators, artists, crafters, professional
musicians, and others with specialized training and experience.
A wage of 5 gp per day is typical for expert hirelings, though
some might ask as much as double that depending on their
availability and the nature of the job. An expert hireling typically
asks for part payment in advance for any assignment.
Hireling, Master
A master hireling practices at the highest level of trade or craft.
They might be universally acknowledged as a master in their
field, or as someone who can oversee expert and trained
hirelings engaged in ventures as complex as constructing a
keep or outfitting an army with weapons. A wage of 10 gp per
day is an absolute minimum for a master hireling, and some
might charge two or three times that amount. A master hireling
might also agree to work only for a minimum length of time —
usually one or more weeks — and demand part or full payment
in advance.
undertaken before casting a spell, or if the casting holds
inherent risk, the baseline price for casting and travel might
double or triple. For example, if you approach a healer with a
request to cast remove pestilence, they’ll likely insist on casting
the spell on themself afterward as well to make sure they haven’t
been infected by you. In other cases, you might be unable to
find a spellcaster willing to make the trip or cast the spell at all.
If the spell to be cast includes a material component with a gp
cost (including spells such as restoration and raise dead), add
the cost of that component to the cost of the spell. If the spell
has a feat slot cost (including atonement, permanency, and
others), that cost is always paid by one of the characters paying
to have the spell cast.
Not every settlement has a spellcaster of sufficient level to cast a
needed spell. Most hamlets and villages have one or more
spellcasters on hand with a mastery of spells up to 2nd or 3rd
level, but those casters’ narrow magical repertoire means you
might need to travel to a small town or larger settlement to find
someone who can cast a specific spell. Casters of 4th level and
higher are most common in towns and larger settlements, but
even in a metropolis, 10th-level spellcasters are relatively rare.
Seeking a spellcaster who can cast spells of even higher levels
typically becomes the focus of an adventure, as casters of such
power are few and far between — and often like to be left
alone.
The “Spellcaster Availability” table indicates the level of the
most knowledgeable spellcasters typically found in settlements
of different sizes.

River Ferry SPELLCASTER AVAILABILITY

Ferry service on river crossings is typically on a small barge
driven by ropes pulled by crank wheel, whether by the Settlement Population Caster Level
boatmaster or by animals or laborers on shore. Thorp 20–100 1st
Hamlet 100–500 2nd
Ship’s Passage Village 500–1,000 3rd
Small town 1,000–5,000 4th
Ships designed to carry passengers typically offer private or
Large town 5,000–10,000 5th
semi-private accommodation in small cabins. By seeking
Small city 10,000–30,000 6th
cheaper passage on a cargo ship, characters can sleep on the
Large city 30,000–100,000 8th
floor or in provided hammocks in the dry steerage hold. Most
Metropolis 100,000 or more 10th
captains charge a premium for transporting mounts or other
creatures, or for passengers carrying excessive gear.
TRANSPORTATION AND SERVICES
Spellcasting
Service Cost
When you hire a spellcaster to cast a spell for you, the cost
Coach or cart service 1 sp per mile
depends on both the spellcaster’s prowess and the power of the
Courier 5 cp per mile
spell you seek. This baseline cost assumes that you travel to the
Hireling, untrained 1 gp per day/5 gp per week
spellcaster and have the spell cast at their convenience — often
Hireling, trained 3 gp per day/15 gp per week
the next day if the spell you’re asking for gives the caster any
Hireling, expert 6 gp per day/30 gp per week
reason to want check your credentials and ensure no risk to
Hireling, master 10 gp per day/50 gp per week
themself from the casting. Before a learned wizard targets a relic
you’ve procured with a greater identify spell, they might wish to River ferry 5 cp
spend time with the relic to assess it for corruption, or first make Ship’s passage (cabin) 1 gp per 10 miles
local inquiries as to whether it’s stolen. Ship’s passage (steerage) 1 gp per 50 miles
Spellcasting (Caster level × spell level) gp1
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) 1. To hire a spellcaster to cast a 0-level spell, treat the spell’s level as 0.5.
If you need to have the spellcaster come to you or travel to
another location, each day of travel time is typically charged the
same fee as for casting the spell. In the case of spells such as
teleport that transport the caster and characters over a distance,
you typically have to pay for two castings of the spell so the
caster can return, even if you aren’t returning with them.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Carrying Capacity Partial Adjustments

Picking up additional weight that brings you just over the next
Your Strength score determines the amount of weight you can category of your carrying capacity doesn’t need to automatically
lift or carry, and how that weight affects your movement. Your reduce your speed by the full amount. With the GMs’ okay, a
base carrying capacity in pounds is your Strength score character who slings an unconscious ally over their shoulder to
multiplied by 5. Your carrying capacity determines a light load push them 10 or 15 pounds into the range of a medium load
for you, which is how much weight you can carry and still move might take only a 5-foot reduction to their speed in the thick of
at your full speed. combat. But a character who takes on the same weight by
Carrying additional weight up to twice your carrying capacity is a loading up on bulky treasure or by carrying their comrade in
medium load, which reduces your speed by 10 feet. Taking on their arms likely takes the full penalty.
more weight up to your three times your carrying capacity is a A scout stumbles across a hoard of five thousand silver
heavy load, reducing your speed by 20 feet. As long as this pieces weighing in at 50 pounds, well within a light load for
doesn’t reduce your speed to 0, a heavy load is the maximum them. Those coins are easy to carry if they come in sacks
amount of weight you can carry and still move. that can be stowed away in a backpack. But if the only way
If you need to move more weight than a heavy load, you can lift to carry the coins is in the bulky clay jar they’re stored in,
up to twice the maximum of your heavy load off the ground and the GM might rule that needing to balance the jar reduces
hold it there for a few rounds. You can also push or drag up to the scout’s speed by 5 feet.
twice your maximum heavy load at a speed of 5 feet.
The “Carrying Capacity” table breaks out the weight a Small or Larger and Smaller Creatures
Medium bipedal creature can carry based on Strength. Larger creatures are much heavier than smaller creatures.
Doubling a bipedal creature’s height typically increases their
CARRYING CAPACITY weight by a factor of four, and the musculature and skeletal
systems of such creatures are built for moving that weight. As
Carrying Light Load Medium Load Heavy Load Lift, Push, such, larger creatures can bear more weight, whereas smaller
Str1
Capacity1 (Full Speed) (−10 ft.) (−20 ft.) or Drag creatures can carry less.
1 5 lb. Up to 5 lb. 6–10 lb. 11–15 lb. 30 lb.
For bipedal creatures, multiply the values in the “Carrying
2 10 lb. Up to 10 lb. 11–20 lb. 21–30 lb. 60 lb.
Capacity” table by the following factors for size:
3 15 lb. Up to 15 lb. 16–30 lb. 31–45 lb. 90 lb.
4 20 lb. Up to 20 lb. 21–40 lb. 41–60 lb. 120 lb. • Tiny or smaller ×1/2
5 25 lb. Up to 25 lb. 26–50 lb. 51–75 lb. 150 lb. • Large ×2
6 30 lb. Up to 30 lb. 31–60 lb. 61–90 lb. 180 lb. • Huge ×3
7 35 lb. Up to 35 lb. 36–70 lb. 71–105 lb. 210 lb. • Gargantuan ×4
8 40 lb. Up to 40 lb. 41–80 lb. 81–120 lb. 240 lb. • Colossal ×5
9 45 lb. Up to 45 lb. 46–90 lb. 91–135 lb. 270 lb.
When the characters witness an ogre burglar steal a
10 50 lb. Up to 50 lb. 51–100 lb. 101–150 lb. 300 lb.
valuable statuette from a museum, they have their work cut
11 55 lb. Up to 55 lb. 56–110 lb. 111–165 lb. 330 lb.
out trying to catch the thief. With a Strength of 21, the ogre
12 60 lb. Up to 60 lb. 61–120 lb. 121–180 lb. 360 lb.
has a base carrying capacity of 105 pounds, which is
13 65 lb. Up to 65 lb. 66–130 lb. 131–195 lb. 390 lb.
doubled to 210 pounds for their Large size. This lets them
14 70 lb. Up to 70 lb. 71–140 lb. 141–210 lb. 420 lb.
easily carry the 200-pound statuette over their shoulder
15 75 lb. Up to 75 lb. 76–150 lb. 151–225 lb. 450 lb.
while running at full speed to escape.
16 80 lb. Up to 80 lb. 81–160 lb. 161–240 lb. 480 lb.
17 85 lb. Up to 85 lb. 86–170 lb. 171–255 lb. 510 lb. To determine the carrying capacity for larger creatures with
18 90 lb. Up to 90 lb. 91–180 lb. 181–270 lb. 540 lb. Strength 21 or higher, you can add the carrying capacity for two
19 95 lb. Up to 95 lb. 96–190 lb. 191–285 lb. 570 lb. Strength scores that add up to the desired score. For example,
20 100 lb. Up to 100 lb. 101–200 lb. 201–300 lb. 600 lb. Strength 10 and Strength 20 give a baseline light load of 50
pounds and 100 pounds, respectively. So Strength 30 gives a
1. For Small and Medium worldborn.
baseline light load of 150 pounds, multiplied by a larger
Larger, Smaller, and Multilegged Creatures
creature’s size factor.

Armor and Clothing Multilegged Creatures

Because armor and clothing is fitted to spread its weight over
Medium or larger creatures with four or more legs are better
your body, it is treated as part of the weight of your body and
equipped to carry weight, as they can distribute that weight
doesn’t count against your carrying capacity. However, you
better along their bodies. Smaller multilegged creatures gain no
count the weight of armor and clothing if you are carrying it, as
such advantage. For Medium or larger creatures who move on
opposed to wearing it.
four or more legs, multiply the values in the table by ×1.5 after
The weight of your armor is also treated as weight carried when making any adjustments for size.
determining the carrying capacity of a mount you ride, when
When a character prepares their horse for an excursion into
another creature tries to lift or drag you, when you make
the wilds, they are careful to not overload the mount in
Endurance checks to swim (unless you have a swimming speed),
case escaping from threats becomes important. As a Large
and in other unusual situations where your armor’s weight might
quadruped with Strength 14, the horse’s carrying capacity is
hinder your movement or actions.
210 pounds (70 pounds × 2 × 1.5). With the scout and their
Chapter 6/Endurance (118) gear (including their armor) totaling 190 pounds, the horse
has no problem moving at full speed.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Flying Creatures
Most flying creatures can fly freely over long distances only while
carrying up to a medium load. A flying creature might be able to
make short aerial hops while carrying a heavy load, as the GM
determines.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Light wooden shield 15 3

Damaging Objects Heavy wooden shield
Light steel shield
15
20
4
3
Creatures have hit points that define their physical resilience (in
Heavy steel shield 20 4
the form of critical points) and combat prowess (defense points).
Adamantine weapon or shield +10 +2
Even creatures such as undead or constructs are controlled by
Mithral weapon or shield +5 +1
magical energy that grants them defense points. But with no
Magic weapon or shield +10 ×2
animating energy or defensive capability, objects don’t use hit
points to measure how much damage they can take. Instead, Generic Objects DC to Number of
breaking an object or rendering it inoperable requires one or Damage Checks
more Athletics/slam checks, representing a focused application Clay, ceramic, crystal, glass, or ice 5 1–2
of physical force meant to overcome the object’s innate Cloth, paper, or parchment 5 1
strength and hardness. Rope, vellum, or soft leather 10–20 3–5
Hardened leather 15–20 2–4
Chapter 9/Critical Points and Defense Points (252) Common metal1 10–20 1–5
Mithral 15–25 2–6
Displays of Combat Adamantine 20–30 3–7
The fact that objects don’t have a defense modifier or hit points Stone 20–25 3–10
comes into play when characters show off their combat prowess Wood or bone 5–10 1–3
against inanimate objects, such as shooting in an archery Magic item +10 ×2
tournament, or tilting against targets or mannequins in tests of Common Adventuring Items DC to Number of
mounted combat. Such activities should generally use Athletics or Damage Checks
Acrobatics checks rather than attack rolls, reflecting that using a Chest with padlock 10 1
weapon in and out of combat are two subtly different activities.
Chest with built-in lock 15 1–2
Combat prowess isn’t just about accuracy with a weapon, but about Chain 25–30 4–6
instinct in the midst of motion and chaos. The absence of those Iron bars (grate or portcullis) 20 2–3
conditions can actually make it harder for a combatant to hit, in the Steel bars (grate or portcullis) 25 3–6
manner of basketball or soccer players who score well while in
Manacles 15–30 2–5
motion, but who struggle with free throws and penalty kicks.
Wall, masonry (1 foot thick) 25 4–6
All objects have a damage DC determining the Athletics/slam Wall, hewn stone (3 feet thick) 30 6–10
check to damage them, and must be damaged a number of Doors and Portals DC to Number of
times before they break or cease working. Fragile objects (made Damage Checks
of glass, clay, ceramics, brittle stone, light metal, flimsy wood, Stuck wooden door 10 1
and so on) typically need to be damaged only once to break Locked wooden door 15 1–2
them, and don’t require an Athletics check if the damage DC is Barred wooden door 20 2–3
routine. More-resilient objects (including those made of strong Barred iron door 30 2–4
stone, thick metal, or heavy wood) must be damaged multiple 1. Common metals (ranked by increasing strength) include lead, gold,
times as a complex skill check before they break or malfunction. silver, bronze, brass, iron, and steel.
Chapter 6/Complex Skill Checks (107)
As with all skill checks, the GM can adjust both the DC to Implements of Destruction
damage an object and the number of successful checks needed As with many skill checks, using an appropriate tool can grant
to destroy it. Likewise, a check that isn’t a clear success might advantage on an Athletics/slam check to damage an object.
damage an object but impose a complication to the attempt, This includes such tools as a crowbar or battering ram, or a
just as an overwhelming success might grant an additional asset, weapon with the sunder quality.
including weakening the object to grant advantage on
Equipment (210)
subsequent checks, or reducing the number of successes to
Chapter 9/Sunder (261)
destroy the object.

DAMAGING OBJECTS Mithral and Adamantine

Mithral and adamantine are two rare and unnaturally hard metals
DC to Number of used in the forging of exceptional weapons, armor, rings, and other
Weapon or Shield Damage Checks items. The DC to damage an object made of mithral increases by
Light steel weapon 15 3 one category compared to the same object made of steel, and
One-handed steel weapon 15 4 breaking or destroying a mithral object takes one additional
Two-handed steel weapon 15 5 successful check.
Light wooden weapon 10 2 The DC to damage an object made of adamantine increases by two
One-handed wooden weapon 10 3 categories compared to the same object made of steel, and
Two-handed wooden weapon 10 4 breaking or destroying an adamantine object takes two additional
Metal ammunition 10 1 successful checks. Additionally, an adamantine weapon or tool with
Wooden ammunition 5 1 enough heft to be used to strike another object grants advantage
Light armor 15 3 on Athletics/slam checks to damage objects.
Medium armor 20 4 Chapter 6/Difficulty Class (102)
Heavy armor 25 5 Chapter 9/Special Materials (286); Sunder (261)
Buckler 15 2

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Damaged or Destroyed?
Most objects can be permanently broken or made inoperable well
before being wholly destroyed. A character making an
Athletics/slam check to smash open a chest isn’t focused on
battering the chest to splinters, but on breaking its hinges, snapping
its latch, or smashing through a weak point. Likewise, a rope or
chain used to bind a character can be broken at a single point, even
though that creates two shorter lengths that are perfectly usable.
Kicking open a locked wooden door with one successful check
covers the straightforward process of breaking the door’s lock or
latch. If the same door is barred from the other side, the two or
three checks needed to break it open cover the more difficult task of
shattering the bar or ripping its brackets from the walls. In either
case, though, the door remains intact.
Damaging Mundane Objects
When a mundane object takes damage but isn’t broken, the
effect of the damage is determined according to the nature of
the object. In some cases, the effect might be only cosmetic. A
locked door that requires two kicks to break through it might
develop loose hinges or cracks in the wood with only one kick,
but it remains a locked door. In other cases, an object that is
damaged might have its function compromised, as the GM
determines.
An ogre mercenary works a massive crank wheel to lower a
drawbridge, even as a warrior tries to prevent that by
making the sunder combat maneuver with her warhammer
against the wheel. If she damages the wheel, it continues to
work, but the might ogre might need to make Athletics
checks to turn it, potentially extending the time until the
drawbridge is down.
Damaging Weapons and Armor
Unlike most mundane objects, weapons and armor are
designed to inflict and absorb damage, respectively. As such,
weapons and armor that are damaged with Athletics/slam
checks lose some of their effectiveness in combat. Each time a
weapon is damaged with a successful Athletics/slam check, it
takes a cumulative −1 penalty to attack rolls made with it. Each
time a suit of armor or a shield is damaged, it takes a cumulative
−1 penalty to its defense modifier.
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237)
Damaged armor and shields might become effectively useless
even before being destroyed. For example, a buckler requires
two successful checks to destroy it, but loses its +1 defense
bonus after one successful check. Any penalties incurred by
damage remain until a weapon, suit of armor, or shield is
repaired. Repairs cost 25 percent of the item’s full cost and
require 1 day to 1 week, as the GM determines. No matter what
penalty a damaged item incurs, it can still be repaired as long as
it isn’t destroyed.
Damaging Magic Items
The magical dweomer that imbues a magic item renders that
item unnaturally resistant to being damaged or destroyed. The
DC to damage a magic item increases by two categories
compared to a nonmagical version of the same item, and
breaking or destroying a magic item requires twice as many
successful checks.
Chapter 6/Difficulty Class (102)
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Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment
The GM might decide that a mundane silver signet ring is
damaged with a DC 10 Athletics/slam check and destroyed with
two successful checks. The same ring dweomered as a ring of
protection would be DC 20 to damage, and would be destroyed
only after four successful checks. Likewise, a mundane
longsword is DC 15 to damage and requires four successful
checks to destroy, making it difficult but not impossible to
sunder in combat. But a magic longsword requires a DC 25
check to damage it and is destroyed only after eight successful
checks, making it more difficult to destroy than a stone wall.
Magic Grimoire/Rings (ch. 2)
For certain magic items, the strength of their dweomer is of
limited use in protecting them against damage. Magic scrolls of
paper or parchment are harder to slash or tear than mundane
scrolls, but they burn just as easily. And a potion’s magic is held
entirely within its liquid, providing no extra protection to the
mundane vial it’s held in.
Object Damage From Effects
When objects are exposed to effects that deal damage to
creatures (including damage from falling, mundane fire or acid,
magical energy, and so on), the GM determines the outcome
based on the effect and the object.
A statue pushed off a cliff will be shattered (if stone) or bent
beyond recognition (if metal) when it hits the rocky ground a
hundred feet below. The GM doesn’t worry about how the fall
translates to the Athletics/slam checks needed to smash the
statue with a hammer. When a gust of wind spell is cast in the
middle of the duke’s dinner party, the GM decides whether the
dishes or candles on the table are blown off, and whether such
objects are damaged or broken when they hit the floor.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Effect Damage From Spells
Spell magic affects creatures more readily than objects, but
certain spells specify that they damage objects in addition to, or
instead of, damaging creatures. When an object is damaged by
a spell effect, the spell often indicates that the object has the
DC to damage it or the number of successful checks to destroy
it lowered, or that it might be destroyed outright at the GM’s
determination.
Breaking through a locked wooden door in a great hall
would usually take two DC 15 Athletics checks. But when
the door is caught in the area of an arcanist’s fireball spell
and blasted with flame, the GM decides that it takes only
one DC 12 check for the arcanist’s warrior ally to kick
through the smoldering door as the party flees the fight in
the hall.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Some spells that deal fire and lightning damage talk of igniting
combustible materials, with those materials catching fire and
burning automatically. Such items are typically destroyed unless
they can be extinguished quickly.
Effect Damage to Items and Gear
The items and gear carried by a creature don’t take damage
from effects as creatures do, and usually don’t take damage
from magical effects that target only loose objects. If your
character is forced to run through fire, hit by a magical trap
dealing bludgeoning or force damage, or buried in a cave-in,
231
 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

the GM decides what happens to your weapons, armor, and

other gear.
If the effect is moderate, it might break fragile items
automatically but impose only cosmetic damage to stronger
items. After a bad fall, potion vials in an outside pocket or
bandolier might be shattered, but your armor will only be
scratched. For more powerful effects, your backpack or cloak
might be torn or singed enough to need repair, or your armor
and weapons might be treated as though successfully damaged
with an Athletics/slam check.
A mage surprised by a red dragon is caught by the
creature’s breath weapon and nearly killed. The GM
decides that the amount of fire damage taken by the
character means that some of the mage’s items are
affected by the intense heat — the wand of lightning bolt
the mage has in hand, their cloak, the quarterstaff strapped
to their back, and their bracers of armor +1.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
The GM rules that the mundane cloak is destroyed, burned
away by the dragon’s fire, but that the quarterstaff is only
lightly damaged, taking a −1 penalty to its attack rolls until
repaired. Because the mage’s magic items are stronger
than their mundane equivalents, both are superficially
damaged but still function.
In response to catastrophic effects, the GM might rule that items
you wear or carry are wholly destroyed.
A warrior takes pride in his magic longsword and magic
armor being as impervious to harm as a stone wall. But
after the warrior is crushed to death by enough force to
destroy that hypothetical stone wall, the GM rules that the
fallen character’s allies have no chance to reclaim the
destroyed gear and sell it in his memory.

Loose Objects
The rules for skills and spells sometimes make reference to ‘loose
objects.’ These are any objects that aren’t wielded, worn, or held by
a creature.

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 Chapter 8: Wealth and Equipment

Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Money and Wealth Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Well Heeled — Earn 5 gp for each feat slot you have. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —

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Chapter 9: Combat
Your character can engage in any activity you desire, from
wilderness exploration to court intrigue and any scenario in
between. However, a life of adventure almost inevitably brings
you into conflict with other creatures, from rivals to enemy
agents to the fell creatures who populate the abandoned ruins
where many heroes earn their fortunes. The combat rules for the
game cover all these interactions and more.
The Combat Round
Whenever an adventure turns to combat or some other equally
fast-paced scene, the passage of time in the game is measured
in rounds. Your character, other characters in your adventuring
party, NPCs and bystanders, and your enemies all take turns
acting one at a time, once per round. Each round is
approximately 10 seconds, so that there are 6 rounds to the
minute. However, a round doesn’t represent a precise amount
of time as if the GM were holding a stopwatch. Rather, it’s the
amount of time it takes for each creature involved in the scene
to take their actions.
Chapter 5/Round by Round (84)
Initiative
Whenever the game is measured in rounds, the order in which
creatures take their turns is determined by initiative. Your
initiative is a number that indicates how quickly you act relative
to everyone else, determined by an initiative roll.
Your initiative roll is equal to:
d20 + ability modifier
+ initiative bonus
+ magic bonus
Dexterity or Wisdom are the core abilities for your initiative
roll, determining whether you trust to quick reflexes or cool
instinct to guide you when time is of the essence. Your initiative
roll never uses a noncore ability.
Your initiative bonus increases when you take the First Strike
feat. Certain magic items can also provide bonuses to initiative.
Combat Round Feats (236)
Each player rolls initiative for their own character, so that each
character acts separately. Because the GM controls more
creatures than the players controlling their characters, the GM
will usually make one initiative roll for a group of the same kind
of creature, all of whom act on the same initiative count in
whatever order the GM decides. Special creatures, including
leaders, will sometimes get their own initiative roll.
An animyst, an arcanist, a scoundrel, and a warrior enter a
tomb whose occupants suddenly rise as four zombies and
three skeletons, all ready to fight. The players roll
initiative — 18 for the scoundrel, 14 for the warrior, and 12
for the animyst and arcanist. The GM decides to make
three initiative rolls — one for the skeletons (a 14), one for
three of the zombies (an 11), and one for a zombie wielding
a magical mace (a 16).
If two or more creatures have the same initiative roll, they act in
the order of their initiative modifiers, with the highest modifier
going first. If two characters with the same initiative roll have the
same modifier, the players can decide who goes first. If
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
characters and enemies have the same initiative roll and the
same modifiers, the GM determines who goes first.
In the scenario above, the animyst and the arcanist have
the same initiative and the same +1 initiative modifier, so
the players of those characters decide that the arcanist can
go first. The warrior and the skeletons have the same
initiative, but the warrior’s +3 initiative modifier is less than
the skeletons’ +7 modifier, so the skeletons go first.
Round by Round
Creatures act in initiative order round after round, from the
highest initiative to lowest. Once initiative is rolled, round 1
begins when the creature who comes first in the initiative order
takes their turn. Each other creature then takes their turn one at
a time, moving down in the initiative order from highest to
lowest.
Though rounds are tracked starting from the turn of the first
creature in the initiative order, a round can be measured starting
from any point in the initiative order, and runs until the same
point in the initiative order comes up again. From the start of
any character’s turn until the start of their next turn is a round.
Turn By Turn
Each round on their turn, a creature can undertake a range of
actions, including attacking, casting spells, using magical
features, making skill checks, and moving. Creatures can also
take one or more reactions — special actions triggered by
certain events — and a creature can hold their turn to spread
their actions out and let them overlap the turns of other
creatures.
Holding Your Turn
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
When you take your turn, your character usually gets to take all
their actions for the round. Other creatures then get to take
their actions on their turns, responding to what other creatures
did on earlier turns.
Even though all the creatures in a combat encounter or other
time-sensitive scene take separate turns one after the other,
their actions are treated as simultaneous. Those portions of an
adventure can be thought of as something like a fight or heist
scene in a movie. Each creature’s turn is a close-up focusing on
what that creature is doing, but it’s understood that the other
creatures are doing their own things at the same time.
In most circumstances, creatures never act at exactly the same
time, with one always having a split-second edge. However,
simultaneous actions might occur if one creature holds their
turn.
Holding Your Turn
Even if you are unable to take some or all of your actions
(including when you are stunned or unconscious), you keep the
same initiative as long as the game is in initiative. Your turn
simply comes and goes without you doing anything.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
234
 Chapter 9: Combat

You can hold your turn only if you have other actions still to use.
Start and End As such, if your minor action is your last action and you use it to
Many rules and effects in the game refer to the start and end of hold, you end your turn anyway.
a creature’s turn. The start of your turn is the point when your
character’s place in the initiative order comes up but you
haven’t acted yet. Anything that happens at the start of your
Combined Actions
turn happens before you take any actions. The end of your turn Though the length of a round isn’t fixed at 10 seconds exactly,
is the point immediately after you take and resolve your last the GM can rule that certain combinations of actions and
action. Anything that happens at the end of your turn happens movement coordinated between different creatures can’t be
after your character has done everything else they can do. performed in 1 round if those actions would reasonably take
more than 10 seconds. This can include situations where a
number of creatures are each holding their turns until other
Holding Your Turn creatures complete their actions — for example, multiple
When a creature’s turn comes up in the initiative order, they characters holding to try to use a single magic item on the same
typically take all their actions before the next creature takes their turn by passing it around.
turn. But under certain circumstances, a creature might wish to
hold their turn because they want to respond to what an enemy
does, to wait for allies to act before they do, or to extend the Surprise
effect of some beneficial feature that lasts until the end of their The rules for taking turns while the game is in initiative in a
turn. combat encounter assume that all creatures are aware of each
other and able to act. However, at the start of combat, if certain
You use a minor action to hold part or all of your turn, either
combatants are unaware of their opponents, those combatants
before you take any other actions or after you take some of your
are surprised.
actions for the turn. You might want to move and cast a spell,
but need to hold first while an ally gets out of the spell’s area. Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
Or you might move to get ready to attack, then hold to delay
your attack while you wait for a creature to get closer to you. Determining Surprise
An arcanist standing behind her warrior ally has a higher At the start of an encounter, Perception checks or other
initiative than the ogre zombie the warrior is fighting, but circumstances might determine whether combatants are aware
doesn’t want to waste spell points on magic missile if the of each other. Any combatant who is unaware of all opponents
warrior can keep the zombie occupied. On her turn, the is surprised.
arcanist holds as a minor action, allowing the zombie to act.
Sometimes all creatures in an encounter are aware of each
But when the zombie pushes past the warrior rather than
other, as happens when two groups come across each other in
engaging her, the arcanist can take her standard action to
the open. Sometimes only the combatants on one side of a
cast magic missile at the undead, then can take her move
battle are aware of opponents, such as in an ambush.
action to move back 30 feet.
Sometimes a few combatants on each side are aware while the
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) other combatants remain unaware, as can happen when some
Once you hold, you tell the GM when you want to take your creatures on either side are hiding or invisible.
remaining actions. You can take those actions after another
creature’s turn, or can let the GM know if you want to take one Surprised Creatures
or more actions in the middle of another creature’s turn. If you A creature who is surprised rolls initiative as usual, but is
do, the GM decides whether your actions interrupt the hindered while they enter the fray. For the first round of combat,
creature’s actions or whether your actions must follow their the surprised creature is dazed and weakened until the end of
actions. Under certain circumstances, the GM might decide that their turn. They can take only one action, and have a d4 bane on
you and the other creature take your actions simultaneously, d20 rolls. After the first round, combatants are no longer
with both actions resolved at the same time. surprised and combat proceeds as usual.
A wounded warrior holds their turn to wait beside a Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
doorway, wanting to attack a cult leader about to charge
through it. If the cult leader isn’t aware of the warrior, the
warrior’s attack might interrupt the leader’s turn, after
which the leader can continue by making their own attack
or retreating. If the leader is aware of the warrior, they
might get to finish their turn by attacking before the warrior
has a chance to attack. Or the GM might decide that both
attacks come at exactly the same moment, creating a
chance that both combatants might drop each other at the
same time.
Holding your turn doesn’t change your place in the initiative
order. After you have taken your held actions, you take your
next turn when your place in the initiative order comes up again.
If you hold long enough that the initiative count comes back to
you without you having taken your held actions, you must use
those actions immediately or lose them as your turn ends. You
then start your next turn.

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Combat Round Feats

These feats allow a character to get ahead of their foes right
from the start of the battle.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to the combat round but has its full
write-up in that other section.

Favored Terrain
Your familiarity with the terrain around you gives you an edge
against those you hunt.
Chapter 7/Environment and Terrain Feats (178)

First Blood
When you have the drop on your enemies, your attacks are
particularly potent.
Prerequisites: First Strike ×1, Weapon Focus ×4.
Benefit: In the first round of any combat, you have advantage
on attack rolls against any creature below you in the initiative
order.
Initiative (234)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

First Strike
By staying ready for combat at all times, you are consistently the
first into the fight.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to initiative rolls.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
bonus to a maximum +6.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Ready Combatant
Your natural instincts allow you to collect yourself for battle
quickly.
Prerequisites: First Strike ×1.
Benefit: If you are surprised when initiative is rolled, you are
surprised only until the start of your turn. To creatures who act
before you in the initiative order during the first round of
combat, you are dazed and weakened, as usual. Then at the
start of your turn, you are no longer surprised, losing those
conditions and taking all your actions.
Surprise (235)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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 Chapter 9: Combat

However, when the size difference between two creatures

Defense widens, larger creatures can find it more difficult to target a
much smaller foe. A Diminutive toad has no problem targeting a
When pressed by an attacker in combat, a creature makes a
Fine fly for their next meal, but that same fly presents a much
defense roll to attempt to predict the attack, engage with it, and
more difficult target for swatting by a distracted dwarf.
attempt to lessen its effect or turn it aside. A defense roll
reflects the strength of your armor, your magical protection, and Creature Size (264)
your ability to react to attacks while dealing with the distractions Whenever a creature is attacked by a creature who is two or
of combat. more size categories larger than they are, the creature being
Attacks (264) attacked has advantage on their defense roll.
Your defense roll is equal to: A bugbear warrior, a halfling scout, and an elf arcanist face
off in a final showdown against an evil hallaek shaman. That
d20 + Dexterity modifier
giant is a Large creature, and can target the Medium
+ armor bonus + shield bonus
bugbear and elf effectively. But the Small halfling presents
+ defensive bonus + magic bonus
a more daunting target to the hulking foe, gaining
advantage on defense rolls against the giant’s weapon
Defense Modifiers attacks and spells.
Your Dexterity modifier represents your ability to react quickly Creature Compendium
and avoid your enemies’ attacks. Armor limits your Dexterity
bonus, so if you’re wearing armor, you might not be able to
apply your whole Dexterity bonus to your defense rolls. Certain Total Defense
feats allow you to use a different ability score instead of When in combat, you typically use your standard action to
Dexterity as a bonus to your defense modifier. attack, make a combat maneuver, or cast a spell. However, if
you are trying to avoid fighting, even for the short term, you can
Defense Feats (238)
instead focus wholly on defending yourself, gaining an edge
Each type of armor has an armor bonus that adds to defense against your foes’ attacks. When you take total defense as a
rolls. Shields have a shield bonus. The higher the armor or standard action, you have a d4 bane on attack rolls and
shield bonus, the better the protection. However, armor and challenge throws, and a d10 boon on defense rolls and saving
shields with better protection typically weigh more, potentially throws, both of which last until the start of your next turn.
hindering your ability to move freely.
Attacks (264); Combat Maneuvers (259)
Certain feats and lineage traits can grant you a permanent Chapter 10/Casting a Spell (327)
defensive bonus representing an innate ability to get out of the
way of attacks.
Defense Feats (238)
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Many magic items can provide a bonus to defense rolls, usually
by wrapping you with magical energy that helps deflect attacks
or lets you actively avoid them. This includes magic armor and
shields, as well as magic items that offer protection for
characters not wearing armor.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)

Automatic Misses
Your ability to defend yourself often depends as much on luck
as on skill. As such, your defense roll can sometimes grant you
success regardless of your skill and training, or the precision of
your foe’s attack. If your defense roll is a natural 20 (showing a
20 on the die), you automatically turn an opponent’s attack into
a miss, regardless of how high the attack roll is. The only time
this doesn’t happen is if the attack roll is also a natural 20, which
automatically hits and is a critical hit.
Automatic Hits (264)

Larger and Smaller Creatures

Creatures who are roughly the same size can target each other
effectively in combat, even if one creature is noticeably smaller
than the other. A gnome wildling fighting a human cultist
presents less of a target to the cultist than the cultist presents to
them, but the cultist still has no problem focusing their attacks
on a slightly smaller area.

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Defense Feats
The feats in this section let a character hone their combat
defense to lessen the chance of being hit in battle, even without
the use of armor.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to defense but has its full write-up in
that other section.
Fast-Start: Defense
The ability to not get hit is a big part of surviving combat —
especially if you have little interest in getting into combat in the first
place. To quickly build a character, choose your defensive style by
selecting one or more of the following feat packages, at the
indicated cost in feat slots. (The information presented here is also
presented as part of “Feat Packages” in Chapter 1.)
Remember that your choice of feats for armor must line up with your
choice of what armor you purchase.
Fast-Start: Weapons and Armor sidebar (274)
Lightly Armored
2 Feat Slots
You value speed and agility in battle over the sturdy protection of
heavy armor. Take this feat package if you want to wear inexpensive
and unobtrusive armor to maximize your mobility. You’ll benefit the
most from this feat package if Dexterity is one of your best ability
scores.
Armor Training (light armor group) ×1: You can wear leather,
studded leather, and other types of light armor.
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must have a
Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self Taught feat for
Dexterity, to take Dodge.)
Moderately Armored
3 Feat Slots
You strive for a balance between protection and maneuverability on
the battlefield. Take this feat package if you want to wear sturdier
armor and wield a shield, and to trust to your training to move freely
both in and out of combat. You’ll gain less benefit from this feat
package if your Dexterity is 18 or higher.
Armor Training (medium armor group) ×1: You can wear scale
mail, chain mail, and other types of medium armor.
Armor Training (shield group) ×1: You can wield a shield.
Armor Optimization ×1: You do not have disadvantage on your
Acrobatics and Stealth checks when wearing medium armor or using
a shield.
Heavily Armored
4 Feat Slots
You place your trust in the solidity of steel, relying on your armor to
protect you from the assault of your enemies. Take this feat package
if you want to be a juggernaut on the battlefield, shrugging off all
but the most vicious attacks. You’ll gain less benefit from this feat
package if your Dexterity is 16 or higher.
Armor Training (heavy armor group) ×1: You can wear banded
mail, half plate, and other types of heavy armor.
Armor Training (shield group) ×1: You can wield a shield.
Armor Optimization ×1: You do not have disadvantage on your
Acrobatics and Stealth checks when wearing heavy armor or using a
shield.
Shield Cover: You add your shield’s defense bonus to your Reflex
saving throws.
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Chapter 9: Combat
Unarmored
You move unhindered across the battlefield, trusting your defensive
instincts and your quick reflexes to keep you alive. Take this feat
package if you wish to wear no armor, relying on training and
instinct rather than leather or steel to protect you. You’ll benefit the
most from this feat package if Dexterity is one of your best ability
scores.
2 Feat Slots
Dodge ×1: You have a +1 bonus to defense rolls. (You must have a
Dexterity of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self Taught feat for
Dexterity, to take Dodge.)
Unarmored Defense ×1: While you wear no armor and carry no
shield, you have a +2 bonus to defense rolls.
Accustomed Defense
A creature who gets the drop on you in combat doesn’t find you
as easy a followup target.
Prerequisites: Dodge ×1, Skill Focus (Investigation) ×1.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: When a creature hits you with an attack, you have a d8
boon on defense rolls against attacks made by that creature
until the end of your next turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Defensive Mastery
Focusing on defense over offense helps protects you in combat.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus ×1.
Attack Feats (268)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: As a free action at the start of your turn, choose a boon
from d4 to d10. Until the start of your next turn, you gain that
boon on defense rolls and saving throws, but you take an
equivalent bane on combat maneuver skill checks, attack rolls,
and challenge throws.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Defensive Surge
Your superior reflexes let you stay safe while moving through
combat.
Prerequisites: Dodge ×1.
Benefit: You have advantage on defense rolls against
opportunity attacks triggered by your movement.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Divert Missile
With a fluid motion, you safely knock aside a ranged weapon set
to strike you.
Combat Reaction Feats (300)
Dodge
Your quickness makes you harder to hit.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to defense rolls.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
bonus to a maximum +3.
238
 Chapter 9: Combat

Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3

Mobile Defense
Times Taken 1 2 3 A preternatural awareness prevents you from being caught off
guard by attacks.
Evasive Shot Prerequisites: Dodge ×1.
You can take out foes at range without fear of reprisal. Benefit: As long as your speed isn’t 0, you never have
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+, Point Blank Shot ×1, Weapon disadvantage on defense rolls.
Focus (group with a ranged or thrown weapon) ×4. Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: You do not trigger opportunity attacks for making a Spell Shield
ranged attack. You have an innate resilience against spell effects.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Saving Throw Feats (248)

Focused Defense Two-Weapon Defense

An innate sense of your enemies’ movement lets you focus to all
sides of you at once.
Prerequisites: Dodge ×2, Mobile Defense ×1.
Benefit: As a reaction when a foe gains advantage against you
from feinting or flanking, you negate that advantage. The foe
can attempt to feint or flank again if they have sufficient minor
actions, and can gain advantage against you for other reasons.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Your prowess with two-weapon combat helps you fend off your
enemies’ attacks.
Prerequisites: Dodge ×1, Two-Weapon Attack ×1.
Multiple Attack Feats (297)
Benefit: While you wield a weapon in each hand, you can use a
minor action to gain a d4 boon on defense rolls until the start of
your next turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Focused Parry Unarmored Defense

Your focus on defensive strategy lets you defy your enemies’
Your natural resilience and free-moving combat style allows you
attacks.
to avoid your enemies’ attacks.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (group with a melee weapon) ×1.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: While you wield a melee weapon, when you are
Benefit: While you wear no armor and carry no shield, you have
targeted by a weapon attack, you can use a reaction to grant
a +2 bonus to defense rolls.
yourself advantage on your defense roll.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
bonus to a maximum +6.

Hardened Defense Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3

Your great strength lets you force attacks away from you, Times Taken 1 2 3
making you more resilient in combat.
Prerequisites: Strength 15+, Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1,
Toughness ×1.
Hit Point Feats (255)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: While you wear light armor or no armor, you can use
your Strength modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier as a
bonus to defense rolls.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Instinctive Defense
An instinct for combat helps you avoid even the deadliest
attacks.
Prerequisites: Wisdom 15+, Skill Focus (Perception) ×1.
Benefit: While you wear light armor or no armor, you can use
your Wisdom modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier as a
bonus to defense rolls.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Armor
If you expect — or hope — to regularly end up in the thick of
combat, armor is likely a significant component of your
character’s defense. Your choice of armor or shield makes it
harder for your enemies to land damaging attacks, but the best
choice of armor depends also on your mobility and preferred
combat style.
No Armor Training
If you wear armor or use a shield for which you have not taken
the Armor Training feat, your ability to move freely is even more
hindered. For any such armor or shield you wear, including
those that have no armor hindrance, you have disadvantage on
any skill check made using Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Armor Feats (243)

Fast-Start: Armor Arcane Casting Check

Even the lightest armor and shields can interfere with an arcane
The choice of weapons and armor is an important part of building a
spellcaster’s ability to perform the complex gestures that make
martial-focused character. The “Weapons” section presents
up the somatic components of arcane spells. To cast an arcane
equipment packages collecting some of the most common and
spell while wearing armor or carrying a shield, you must first
cost-effective combinations of weapons and armor.
succeed on a Magic/spellcraft check with a DC determined by
Fast-Start: Weapons and Armor sidebar (274)
the armor or shield. If you wear armor and carry a shield, you
add the DCs together.
Armor Groups Chapter 10/Arcane Magic (355)
A character who wants to wear armor (including shields)
effectively must train with that armor. An armor group is a Weight
collection of different armor or shield types whose form and
Each type of armor and shield has its weight noted, when sized
function is similar, allowing a character trained in the use of one
for a Medium bipedal creature. Armor or a shield sized for a
type of armor or shield to use any other type in the group with
Small bipedal creature typically weighs 3/4 to 1/2 of the
equal ease.
indicated weight. Armor for other creatures weighs more.

Armor Statistics Armor Size (242)

Twelve types of armor and five types of shield are commonly
available throughout the world, as broken out on the “Armor
and Armor Groups” table. The following information is noted for
each type of armor or shield.
Cost
The indicated value is the armor or shield’s cost in gold pieces,
when sized for a Small or Medium bipedal creature. Armor for
other creatures is more costly.
Armor Size (242)
Defense Bonus
Each type of armor or shield grants a bonus to defense rolls
when you wear or wield it, making it harder for you to be hit by
an enemy’s attack.
Defense (237)
The weight of your armor and shield has no effect in combat,
and the weight of armor doesn’t count against your carrying
capacity while it is worn. The weight of your shield counts
against your carrying capacity, as does the weight of your armor
if it is carried.
Armor by Armor Group
The armor descriptions in this section are generic, but armor of
the same type crafted in different regions and according to the
traditions of different lineages and cultures can appear quite
different in style and construction. For example, bronze is
favored over steel for metal armor in many areas of the world,
while folk of other regions have developed techniques for
crafting armor from animal shells or monstrous arthropod chitin
that offers the same defensive benefit and other features as
metal armor.

Maximum Dexterity
Your Dexterity modifier adds to defense rolls just as your armor
does. However, heavier armors can restrict your ability to dodge
blows. When wearing any type of armor, the Dexterity bonus
you add to defense rolls is limited to the maximum indicated.
This maximum has no effect on your Reflex saving throw, skill
checks made using Dexterity, or other uses of Dexterity while
wearing armor.
Shields have no maximum Dexterity modifier.

Armor Hindrance
Heavier armors and shields hinder your ability for fine and
stealthy movement. Any armor or shield for which armor
hindrance is indicated imposes disadvantage on your
Acrobatics, Endurance, and Stealth checks made while you wear
the armor or carry the shield.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Endurance (118); Stealth (140)

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ARMOR AND ARMOR GROUPS

Defense Maximum Armor Arcane Casting

Armor Cost Bonus Dexterity Hindrance Check Weight1
Light Armor Group
Padded armor 5 gp +1 +4 — DC 10 7 lb.
Leather armor 10 gp +2 +4 — DC 12 12 lb.
Studded leather 25 gp +3 +4 — DC 12 15 lb.
Chain shirt 100 gp +4 +5 — DC 13 20 lb.
Medium Armor Group
Lacquered armor 25 gp +4 +3 Y DC 15 20 lb.
Scale mail 50 gp +5 +3 Y DC 14 25 lb.
Chain mail 150 gp +6 +2 Y DC 16 35 lb.
Breastplate 250 gp +6 +3 Y DC 14 25 lb.
Heavy Armor Group
Splint armor 200 gp +7 +1 Y DC 18 40 lb.
Banded mail 300 gp +7 +2 Y DC 20 30 lb.
Half plate 600 gp +8 +1 Y DC 20 40 lb.
Full plate 1,500 gp +9 +2 Y DC 22 45 lb.
Shield Group
Buckler 15 gp +1 — — DC 52 3 lb.
Light steel shield 10 gp3 +2 — — DC 52 7 lb.
Light wooden shield 2 gp +2 — — DC 52 5 lb.
Heavy steel shield 20 gp3 +3 — Y DC 102 12 lb.
Heavy wooden shield 5 gp +3 — Y DC 102 8 lb.

1. The weight of armor doesn’t factor into your carrying capacity while 3. A light or heavy steel shield fitted with shield spikes costs +10 gp.
you wear it, but the weight of a shield does. Chapter 8/Carrying Capacity (228)
2. The DC assumes you use your nonshield hand to perform the spell’s Unarmed Group (284)
somatic components. You usually can’t use your shield hand to
perform somatic components.

Light Armor Group Medium Armor Group

Light armor is favored by characters who rely on quickness in
dangerous situations, and offers modest defensive protection. It
is composed of materials that allow for maximum agility, from
cloth and leather to lightweight chain links.
Chain Shirt
Interlocking links of steel chain are layered above supple leather
or padded fabric to create a chain shirt, protecting the vital
areas of the torso and cushioning the body against chafing and
blows. It can be worn under loose clothing, but the noise of the
rings often gives its presence away.
Leather Armor
A shirt and leggings of supple reinforced leather offer good
overall protection with this armor, while sections of shaped and
stiffened leather provide increased protection for the chest,
shoulders, and thighs.
Padded Armor
This armor consists of quilted layers of cloth and batting. It
offers minimal protection, but can be easily worn under loose
clothing without being noticeable as armor.
Studded Leather
Made of supple leather strengthened by hardened leather in
key areas, this armor is further reinforced with close-set metal
rivets.
Medium armor offers solid defensive value while still allowing
reasonable agility. This armor is more rigid than light armor,
whether cast and shaped, or featuring metal arrayed over
leather underneath. Medium armor usually comes with a
matching helmet and gauntlets.
Breastplate
This armor protects you front and back with a two-piece set of
fitted plate, and features a studded leather skirt and fitted
greaves to protect the legs. Despite its weight, breastplate
allows for good defensive movement by keeping the shoulders
and hips relatively free.
Chain Mail
Chain mail consists of supple leather or quilted fabric beneath
multiple layers of interlocking steel chain links. The inner layer
helps to prevent chafing and to cushion the impact of blows,
while the overlaid sections of chain are arranged to provide
maximum protection to vital areas. Because it isn’t tightly fitted,
chain mail allows a good degree of movement.
Lacquered Armor
Lacquered armor consists of thin sheets of relatively weak
materials, often including hide and paper, which are shaped,
layered, and fixed with lacquer to create strong and resilient
armor plating. Though stiff, it offers relatively good ease of
movement.

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Scale Mail
This armor consists of a coat, skirt, and leggings of supple
leather, onto which is stitched an overlapping layer of scales for
additional protection. Whether metal, animal shell, hardened
leather, or other materials, the relative lightness of the armor’s
scales offers good defensive movement.
Heavy Armor Group
Heavy armor offers the best defensive value in combat, but at a
higher cost to agility and stealth. A sturdy outer shell is the
primary protection of heavy armor, usually worn over leather or
padding for added protection and comfort. Heavy armor usually
comes with a matching helmet, gauntlets, and boots.
Banded Mail
This armor features an inner layer of leather and chain mail
strengthened by overlapping bands of steel, bronze, or animal
shell that protect the most vulnerable areas. Closely fitted with
buckles and straps that spread the armor’s weight across the
body, banded mail allows reasonable ease of movement.
Full Plate
Full plate armor consists of shaped and interlocking metal plates
that are carefully fitted with buckles and straps over a thick suit
of padded cloth, covering the entire body. Because it is so
closely fitted, the weight of full plate is evenly distributed across
the body, allowing for reasonable ease of movement.
Half Plate
This armor consists of chain mail over supple leather or padded
cloth, with shaped plates of metal or shell buckled above the
chain to protect the arms, shoulders, and torso. Greaves protect
the legs. Though sturdy, the armor’s combination of chain and
plate limits ease of movement.
Splint
Splint armor consists of layered leather and cloth as a backing
for narrow vertical strips of riveted steel, bronze, shell, or other
resilient materials. Sections of chain mail provide mobility at the
shoulders and other joints, but the armor’s overall inflexibility
limit its ease of movement.
Shield Group
Steel bucklers or light shields made of wood or metal are small
and easy to carry, but are strong enough to ward off an enemy’s
attacks. Heavy shields of wood or metal are employed by
characters who require maximum protection even at the cost of
carrying additional weight.
Buckler
This small metal shield is worn strapped to your forearm. A
buckler isn’t heavy enough to be used to make a shield attack,
but its compact size allows you to use a bow or crossbow while
you wear it, or to use your shield arm to wield a second weapon
or a two-handed weapon. However, you have disadvantage on
any attack roll that makes use of your shield arm.
Multiple Attacks (296); Unarmed Group (284)
Shield, Heavy or Light
Though they differ in their construction, all heavy and light
shields are worn strapped to your forearm and gripped with
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Chapter 9: Combat
your hand. Light and heavy shields differ in their protective
value, while wooden and steel shields differ only in their weight
and their susceptibility to damage.
Chapter 8/Damaging Weapons and Armor (231)
When you wield a light shield, you can carry a single small item
(a lantern, for example) in the same hand, though you can’t use
a weapon with your shield hand. When you wield a heavy shield,
you can’t use your shield hand for holding anything else.
While you employ a light or heavy shield, you can use it to make
a weapon attack as part of the unarmed weapon group. If you
make an attack with your shield, you have a d4 bane on defense
rolls until the start of your next turn.
Unarmed Group (284)
Armor Size
The armor and shields in this section are sized for use by
Medium worldborn characters. Small characters can employ
light shields sized for Medium characters, in the same way they
can employ weapons sized for Medium characters. However,
they must wear armor that is properly sized for them.
Larger and Unusual Armor
In most areas of the world, armorsmiths and crafters can be
readily found who are experienced in crafting armor for non-
worldborn creatures. This includes giants, trolls, minotaurs, and
other larger creatures of the same general bipedal form as
worldborn, as well as creatures such as centaurs, gnolls, and
kreath’an with unique physical forms or multiple limbs. The cost
and weight of armor and shields sized for such creatures is the
same as the cost of armor sized for characters, adjusted
according to the “Armor by Size” table.
ARMOR BY SIZE
Size Cost Weight
Small ×1 ×1/2
Medium ×1 ×1
Large ×2 ×2
Huge ×4 ×5
Gargantuan ×8 ×8
Colossal ×16 ×12
Resizing Armor
Even when crafted for creatures of the same size, armor is
typically customized and fitted for its wearer. When you buy a
suit of armor, the cost includes any necessary fitting and
modifications. If you find a suit of armor of your size, fitting it to
you requires customization running from minor (for most light
and medium armors) to extensive (for breastplate, half plate,
and full plate). Resizing any armor to fit a creature of the same
size costs 1/10 of the armor’s usual cost.
Armor can also be reworked and recrafted for a creature smaller
than its intended user, whether resizing armor worn by a Large
ogre to fit a Medium worldborn, or resizing a Small gnome’s
armor for a Medium elf. Wanting to wear larger or smaller magic
armor found as treasure is the most common reason for resizing,
and requires the labor or a master armorsmith. The cost of
having armor resized is half the cost of nonmagical armor of the
same type.
Chapter 8/Transportation and Services (226)
242
 Chapter 9: Combat

Putting On and Taking Off Armor

The time required to put on armor depends on the type of Armor Feats
armor and whether a character needs to do so in a hurry. These feats allow a character to master the use of armor for
maximum protection.
Put On
Armor Type Put On Hastily Remove Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
Shield (any) Minor action n/a Minor action section, that feat is relevant to armor but has its full write-up in
Padded, lacquered, leather, 1 minute 3 rounds 1 minute1 that other section.
studded leather, or chain shirt
Breastplate, scale mail, chain 4 minutes1 1 minute 1 minute1 Armor Optimization
mail, banded mail, or splint Your advanced training allows you to reduce the hindering
Half plate or full plate 4 minutes2 4 minutes1 1d4 + 1 effects of your armor.
minutes1
Prerequisites: Armor Training ×1.
1. If the character has some help, cut this time in half. A single character
doing nothing else can help one or two other characters put on their Benefit: When you use any armor or shield for which you have
armor. Two characters can help each other put on armor as long they taken Armor Training, you do not have disadvantage on
do so one character at a time. Acrobatics and Stealth checks. You still have disadvantage on
2. The wearer must have help to put on this armor. Without help, it can Endurance checks.
be put on only hastily. Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
The minor action necessary to don a shield assumes that you are
already holding it and are strapping it on to be used. If you Armor Training
need to first pick the shield up, you must spend another minor You can move and fight effectively while armored.
action to do so, as with any item.
Prerequisites: —
When you attempt to put on your armor hastily, you decrease its
effectiveness, imposing disadvantage on defense rolls and on Benefit: Choose an armor group. You can wear any armor or
Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, and Stealth checks. employ any shield from that group.

Defense (237) If you wear armor or use a shield for which you have not taken
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Athletics (112); Endurance (118); this feat, you have disadvantage on any skill check made using
Stealth (140) Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Resting in Armor Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
Though you can take a short rest while wearing any armor slot. Each time you do so, choose a different armor group.
without difficulty, you can’t take a long rest while wearing
medium or heavy armor, which interferes with your attempts at
sleep and recuperation.
Armored Arcane Casting
Your focused training reduces your chance of arcane spell failure
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193) while wearing armor.
Chapter 10/Arcane Magic Feats (355)

Buckler Fighter
Your combat prowess can overcome your buckler’s effects on
your attack.
Prerequisites: Armor Training (shield group) ×1.
Benefit: While you wear a buckler, you negate the disadvantage
on attack rolls using your shield arm.
Shield Group (242)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Shield Cover
Your experience with shields grants you extra protection.
Prerequisites: Armor Training (shield group).
Benefit: As long as you are wielding a shield for which you have
taken Armor Training, you add your shield’s defense bonus to
your Reflex saving throws.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Shield Protector
Your skill with a shield protects your allies as well as you.
Combat Reaction Feats (300)

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Shield Striker
You have learned to let your shield do double duty in combat.
Attack Feats (268)

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Challenge Throw
A challenge throw is a d20 roll that represents an attempt to
hamper or damage a creature, but not as a focused attack with
any sort of weapon. Rather, a challenge throw affects a
creature’s body or mind in a way that ignores their armor,
forcing them to make a saving throw against a threatening
physical or mental effect.
Attacks (264)
Challenge throws are most often made when casting spells,
using magic items, or using combat maneuvers. Spellcasting
uses a specific formula for calculating a challenge throw, while
magic items and other magical effects usually have a fixed
challenge throw modifier.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335)
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
When a character makes a combat maneuver, the challenge
throw for that maneuver is the skill check tied to the maneuver.
Combat Maneuvers (259)
Sometimes the GM makes a GM challenge throw for
environmental effects, including pestilence and poison.
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
Group Challenge Throws
For area effects that require a saving throw to avoid or negate,
including many area-effect spells such as calm emotions and
fireball, if the number of targets is especially large, it’s easier to
make challenge throws for a group of targets who all have the
same saving throw modifier, rather than for each creature
individually. A single challenge throw sets the DC for one saving
throw that covers a number of creatures, with all those creatures
succeeding or failing the saving throw together. A player or GM
can decide whether to make group challenge throws or to make
challenge throws individually.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Saving Throws
A saving throw — sometimes abbreviated “save” — is like a
defense roll, except that it is based only on your physical and
mental ability to evade, overcome, or shrug off threats. When
you are the target of a trap, a spell, a dragon’s breath weapon,
or some other unusual effect, you often get a saving throw to
avoid or reduce the effect.
Saving Throw Roll
All creatures can make three different saving throws —
Fortitude, Reflex, and Will — each of which is effective against a
specific type of effect. Each saving throw uses an ability modifier
from one of two core abilities of your choice. Unlike with Skill
checks, saving throws don’t use noncore abilities.
Each saving throw is equal to:
d20 + magic bonus
+ saving throw bonus
+ ability modifier
Fortitude
A Fortitude saving throw measures your ability to stand up to
physical punishment or effects that would damage your bodily
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Chapter 9: Combat
health and well-being. Strength or Constitution are the core
abilities for your Fortitude save, allowing you to shake off the
effects of pestilence or poison, to resist magic that would drain
your vitality, or to overcome physical effects through sheer
resilience.
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
Reflex
A Reflex saving throw tests your ability to respond to sudden
and unexpected physical threats, whether by quick response or
sharp instincts. Dexterity or Intelligence are the core abilities
for your Reflex save, which you make to avoid the worst effects
of spells that release explosive energy, roll with the destructive
force of a dragon’s breath weapon, or make a quick movement
to avoid stumbling into a pit trap.
Chapter 7/Traps (189)
Creature Compendium
Will
A Will saving throw reflects your resistance to mental influence
and to effects that would dull your thoughts or allow your
strength of mind and personality to be overcome. Wisdom or
Charisma are the core abilities for your Will save, which lets you
resist spells that affect your mind, or shrug off the magical
features of creatures who can charm or control their enemies.
Appendix B/Charmed (A9)
Saving Throw Modifiers
In addition to the different ability modifiers used by each saving
throw, your saving throw bonus increases when you take either
the Great Fortitude, Iron Will, or Lightning Reflexes feat.
Saving Throw Feats (248)
Certain magic items can also provide bonuses to one or more
of your saving throws.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Saving Throw Difficulty
A saving throw typically has a fixed DC if you are saving against
a static effect. When you make a Fortitude save to resist being
overwhelmed by the stench of sewage, or if you make a Reflex
save to avoid falling into a hidden pit trap, you make your saving
throw against a fixed number determined by the effect or
chosen by the GM.
The DC for saving throws against effects that have a variable
strength or are created by other creatures is determined by a
challenge throw. You then make your saving throw in an attempt
to equal or beat the DC set by that challenge throw.
Challenge Throw
For creatures with magical attacks and other effects that require
saving throws, challenge rolls for those effects are usually a
function of how powerful the monster is. For example, a dragon
makes a challenge throw for their breath weapon, with powerful
dragons having breath weapons that are harder to resist.
For spellcasters, the challenge throw modifier for a spell is
determined by the caster’s level or spellcasting ability modifier.
Chapter 10/Magic Challenge Throw (335)
245

Automatic Save Successes
Your ability to shrug off or circumvent debilitating effects often
depends as much on luck as on your aptitude and resilience. As
such, your saving throw can sometimes grant you success
regardless of your ability to avoid trouble, or how good an
enemy is at dishing it out. If your saving throw roll is a natural 20
(showing a 20 on the die), you automatically succeed on the
saving throw regardless of the DC set by the GM or by the
challenge throw of another creature. This automatic success
works even against a creature’s challenge throw that is a natural
20. Unlike with attack rolls and defense rolls, a natural 20 has no
special effect on a challenge throw.
Challenge Throw (245)
Measuring Saving Throw
Success
The d20 roll plays a big part in determining how high your
saving throw is. But that die roll doesn’t represent how good
you are with that particular save. How good you are is all about
your modifiers to the saving throw — from your aptitude, your
well-trained instincts and resilience, your magic, and your ability
modifier. The d20 roll is about all the ways in which what’s
happening in the moment might make your saving throw go
right or wrong.
When you make a saving throw, you want the total of the save to
equal or exceed the fixed DC set for the save by the GM or the
DC defined by the challenge throw of another creature. If it
does, the saving throw is a clear success and you negate all or
part of the effect you are trying to avoid. If your saving throw is
much less than the DC you are trying to equal or beat, the GM
might determine that you simply fail outright at your attempt to
avoid the effect. But for saving throws that are close to but lower
than the DC, the save is a success with complications, letting
you and the GM work together to determine what other effects
might play into or complicate your save.
As saving throws are made, this process of determining success,
success with complications, or failure turns those saves into
twists and unexpected turns in the narrative shaped by the
characters. Taken together with the twists and turns set up by
skill checks and attack rolls, those narrative beats help drive the
story of the adventure.
Clear Success
When a saving throw equals or exceeds the DC for the save, the
save is a clear success. A character who rolls high on a Reflex
saving throw against an enemy arcanist’s fireball spell takes half
damage from the fireball, as noted in the spell description. A
character who rolls high on a Fortitude saving throw after being
hit by a wyvern’s poison sting shrugs off the effect of that
poison.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Compendium
Saving Throws that Succeed
Any rule or effect that makes reference to a successful saving throw
includes saves that result in a success with complications as well as
saves that result in a clear success. For example, the Defiant
Combatant feat allows you to make a Fortitude save to avoid being
reduced to 0 critical points. On a clear success, you drop to 1 critical
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Chapter 9: Combat
point, as noted in the feat description. On a partial success, you
might drop to 1 critical point and be temporarily dazed.
Combat Style Feats (303)
Clear Failure
In some circumstances, the GM can rule that an extremely poor
saving throw means a clear failure to overcome the effect
underlying the save. A character who rolls an 8 on a DC 20
Fortitude save for deathblade poison takes the poison’s full
effect. A character who gets a minimal Will saving throw against
an enemy caster’s hold person spell is held fully immobilized by
the spell’s magic. A character who rolls poorly on the saving
throw against filth fever suffers that pestilence with full severity.
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Success With Complications
When your character makes a saving throw and comes close to
the DC but doesn’t meet it, you still succeed on overcoming the
effect tied to the saving throw — but not quite as well as you
wanted to. A success with complications means you managed to
avoid at least some of the threat the saving throw was meant to
undo, but with an extra cost, unexpected effect, or additional
difficulty.
Complications on a saving throw are decided by the GM for
monsters and NPCs, and by the GM and the player if a character
makes the save. The GM has the final say in determining
possible complications, and a player is free to ask the GM to
decide on a complication without their input.
The range of complications that can affect a successful saving
throw are as wide open as the GM’s and the other players’
imaginations, but generally fall into three categories.
Judging Success
The decision as to how to interpret a saving throw that isn’t a clear
success is made by the GM, who uses that decision as a tool to help
shape the story being played out by the characters. The GM judges
how a saving throw plays out by instinct and a sense of how the
outcome might add to the fun, rather than worrying about a specific
comparison between the saving throw and the DC.
That said, GMs who want to establish clear breakpoints for how to
assess saving throws can use the following guidelines:
• The saving throw is 10 or so above the DC, or higher — clear
success with asset
• The save equals or is a bit higher than the DC — clear success
• The save is within 5 or so below the DC — success with
complication
• The check is 10 or so below the DC, or lower — clear failure
The GM always has the final say over what a saving throw represents
and how it advances the story.
Partial Save
For some saving throws, getting a roll that’s close to success
might indicate that you succeed at some aspect of avoiding a
damaging or debilitating effect. A partial save might allow more
damage through than a full save, or impose a lessened effect
compared to a clear failure.
When a warrior caught in the area of a lightning bolt spell
rolls a saving throw that’s slightly low, the player and GM
agree that the character takes a bit more than the half
246

damage a clear success would have entailed. The GM
might decide that three-quarters damage is appropriate, or
might roll a d6 of additional damage.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
An archer hits a vengeful ogre with an arrow tipped in
monstrous scorpion venom, hoping to diminish that foe’s
great strength before they close to melee range. When the
ogre rolls a low saving throw, the GM decides that the
poison deals its first ability modifier penalty, but that the
ogre doesn’t have to make the follow-up save for the
poison’s final effect.
A wildling takes damage from the bite of a wolf that is
secretly a werewolf. At the next full moon, the GM asks for
a Fortitude saving throw to determine whether the
character has contracted the magical doom of lycanthropy.
If the save is a bit low, the character’s player and the GM
might decide that the character has contracted lycanthropy,
but can fight off the initial transformation for the first night.
Creature Compendium/Lycanthropes
Unlucky Outcome
A low saving throw might mean that the save is treated as a
success, but that the complication sets up how something else
goes wrong as a result of that success.
A low Reflex saving throw to get out of the way of a rubble
fall allows a character to avoid the rocks and take no
damage. But the player and the GM decide that the
character’s desperate leap to get out of the way leaves
them on the wrong side of the rubble and needing to make
a risky climb to get back to the rest of the party.
An enemy captain rolls just under the DC on their Fortitude
saving throw to resist a character’s impair senses spell. The
GM allows the save to succeed, but decides that the
captain’s anxious response to narrowly avoiding the spell
affects the soldiers fighting with her, imposing
disadvantage on their next saving throws against the
character’s magic.
A character needs to make a Reflex save to avoid falling
into a pit trap. When the player rolls low, they and the GM
decide that the save succeeds but the amount of noise the
character makes while hauling themself to safety might
attract the attention of other creatures nearby.
Success at a Cost
In any situation where threats abound, a success with a
complication might mean that your character takes damage or
suffers a short-term condition when a saving throw goes wrong.
When a character makes a low Fortitude saving throw
against drow poison, they want to treat it as a success to
avoid falling unconscious. The GM agrees, and gives the
character’s player the choice of instead being dazed or
weakened for 1d6 rounds by the poison’s lingering effects.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
An evil cultist casts dominate person against a character,
whose Will save is just under the DC set by the challenge
throw. The GM and the player decide that the save can
succeed, but that the mental trauma of just barely shaking
off the effect deals 1d4 psychic damage to the character.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
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Chapter 9: Combat
A character exposed to fiend plague after fighting a night
hewna rolls low on their Fortitude saving throw. The GM
offers the character a chance to succeed on the save, but at
the cost of possibly having spread the pestilence to one or
more allies during its incubation period.
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180)
Success on Death Saving Throws
Death saving throws can take complications and assets like any
other type of save. Because death saving throws have a narrow focus
and the ultimate penalty for failure, they don’t work well as partial
saves. But there are lots of ways to work a death save with an
unlucky outcome or as a success at a cost.
For an unlucky outcome, a low saving throw can be treated as a
success even as it taxes the dying creature, so that they have
disadvantage on their next death saving throw. Or witnessing the
dying creature clinging tenaciously to life might anger the foe who
dropped them, granting that foe advantage on their next attack roll.
For success at a cost, when the creature finally gets their third
successful death save and regains 1 critical point, they might be
dazed or slowed for 1 minute. Alternatively, the complication might
represent a particularly arduous healing process that imposes an
additional −1 penalty to the creature’s critical point maximum the
next time they take magical healing, or which restores the minimum
number of defense points during their next long-rest healing.
Hit Points (252)
A death saving throw rolled high enough to become a success with
an asset might grant advantage on the dying creature’s next death
saving throw. Alternatively, a creature who rolls exceptionally high
on two or more death saves as they recover might regain 1d4 critical
points rather than 1 critical point.
Success With Asset
Just as a saving throw that falls short of the DC can represent a
success with a complication, a save that greatly exceeds the DC
can allow players and GMs to add even more to the success of
the save. This might take the form of an additional aspect of
success, a one-time benefit for the character making the saving
throw, a negative impact on enemies, and more.
The first character to enter melee against a krenshar rolls
exceptionally high on their Will saving throw against the
creature’s scare action. The GM and the player decide that
the character’s show of bravado inspires the other
characters with advantage on their own saving throws if the
krenshar subsequently targets them with scare.
When a character tries to use the trip combat maneuver to
knock a villainous troll prone, the troll’s saving throw greatly
exceeds the DC set by the character’s skill check. The GM
decides that the troll’s immovability throws the character
off balance, allowing the troll an opportunity attack.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Unknown Saving Throw DCs
Often, the GM tells the players the DC needed to get a clear
success with a saving throw, whether that DC is fixed or comes
from another creature’s challenge throw. It might take a DC 16
Reflex save to avoid falling rubble, or a DC 12 Fortitude save to
shrug off the effects of foul air.
At other times, the GM can ask for a saving throw without
revealing the DC, then simply inform the players of the
outcome. Leaving the DC unknown in this way lets the GM avoid
247

letting the players know whether a character’s save was a clear
success or a partial success.
In an ancient temple, a malevolent curse on an old shrine
can leave a character at the mercy of the specters who
haunt the temple, by making them weakened and imposing
disadvantage on defense rolls when the specters attack. If
an animyst investigating the shrine gets an 18 on the DC 20
Will save against the shrine’s magic, the GM can tell them
they feel fine, having shrugged off magic that would have
weakened them. But the GM has also decided that the
complication on the save imposes the additional
disadvantage effect, which the character won’t realize until
the shrine’s specters attack.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Saving Throw Feats
These feats allow a character to boost the protective bonus of
their saving throws, or to focus on specific exploits that allow
them to minimize danger with a successful save.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to saving throws but has its full
write-up in that other section.
Fast-Start: Saving Throws
Boosting your saving throws helps protect you from magic and other
effects that don’t care how well armored you are — and which can
prove as deadly as your enemies’ most potent weapon attacks. To
quickly build a character, bolster your saving throws by selecting
one or more of the following feat packages, each of which costs 2
feat slots. (The information presented here is also presented as part
of “Feat Packages” in Chapter 1.)
Bodily Might
2 Feat Slots
Your robustness helps you shake off some of the worst effects that
can physically impair you. Take this feat package if you want your
character to be particularly resistant to pestilence and poison. You
must have Great Fortitude ×1 or better to take this package.
Hale Body ×1: You have advantage on saving throws against
pestilence.
Resilient Blood ×1: You have advantage on saving throws against
poison.
Defended Mind
2 Feat Slots
The strength of your thought and will lets you resist the unnatural
conditions others attempt to instill upon your mind. Take this feat
package if you want your character to be resilient in the face of
magical control or fear. You must have Iron Will ×1 or better to take
this package.
Fearless ×1: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
that would make you frightened.
Still Mind ×1: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
that would make you charmed.
Increased Fortitude
2 Feat Slots
Your innate toughness makes you even more resilient to poisons,
pestilence, and debilitating magic. Take this feat package if you
want to strengthen your physical resilience.
Great Fortitude ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Fortitude saving
throws.
Potent Will
2 Feat Slots
Improved strength of mind keeps you safe from mental effects and
magic. Take this feat package if you want to improve your sense of
will and mental clarity.
Iron Will ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Superior Reflexes
2 Feat Slots
Your ability to stay in motion helps keep you safe from area effects
and unexpected pitfalls. Take this feat package if you want to
improve your reflexive nimbleness.
Lightning Reflexes ×2: You have a +2 bonus to Reflex saving
throws.
248
 Chapter 9: Combat

Swift Response Fearless

2 Feat Slots
You shrug off effects that would make lesser creatures quail.
Your superior reflexes are even more acutely focused when facing
specific threats. Take this feat package if you want your character to Prerequisites: Iron Will ×1.
be especially resilient to traps and mundane elemental energy. You Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
must have Lightning Reflexes ×1 or better to take this package. that would make you frightened.
Trap Sense ×1: You have advantage on saving throws made against Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
the effects of traps.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Elemental Aversion ×1: You have advantage on saving throws
against nonmagical effects that deal acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage. Full Speed
You can shake off almost any attempt to limit your mobility.
Attentive Prerequisites: —
Your ability to maintain your sensory focus is second to none. Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
Prerequisites: — that would make you slowed.

Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
that would make you disoriented. Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Great Fortitude
Your physical resilience lets you shrug off bodily effects that
hamper you.
Cogent Focus
You have a knack for not succumbing to effects that would leave Prerequisites: —
you struggling to act. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to Fortitude saving throws.
Prerequisites: — Mastery: You can take this feat nine times, increasing the bonus
Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects to a maximum +9.
that would make you dazed. Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Appendix B/Dazed (A9) Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Grounded
Death’s Door You have learned to hold your position against any force or
No matter how often you fall, you are quick to come back. adversary.
Prerequisites: — Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You have advantage on death saving throws. Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
that would force you to move.
Death Saving Throws (254)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Elemental Aversion Hale Body

Your robust physical health helps you alleviate the effects of
You have a knack for rolling with the deadly effects of primordial pestilence.
nature.
Prerequisites: Great Fortitude ×1.
Prerequisites: Great Fortitude ×1 or Lightning Reflexes ×1.
Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against
Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against pestilence.
nonmagical effects that deal acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage. Chapter 7/Pestilence (180)

Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Evasion Iron Will

Your heightened reflexes let you roll with the deadliest area Your mental and emotional focus lets you resist effects that
assaults. hinder the mind.
Prerequisites: Lightning Reflexes ×4. Prerequisites: —
Benefit: If you succeed on a Reflex saving throw against an Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to Will saving throws.
effect that lets you make a Reflex save to take half damage, you Mastery: You can take this feat nine times, increasing the bonus
instead take no damage. to a maximum +9.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Keep Away Safe Hold

A preternatural awareness of threats against your possessions You know how to hold onto the most important objects.
helps you keep them from harm. Prerequisites: —
Prerequisites: — Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects that would cause you to lose your hold on an object (including a
that would damage or destroy an object (including a weapon) weapon).
you hold.
Disarm (260)
Sunder (261)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Smooth Escape
You can slip out of even the tightest situations.
Lightning Reflexes Prerequisites: —
Quick instincts and faster movement keep out of the path of
danger. Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
that would make you restrained.
Prerequisites: —
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to Reflex saving throws.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Mastery: You can take this feat nine times, increasing the bonus
to a maximum +9.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Spell Shield
You have an innate resilience against spell effects.
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
Prerequisites: One of Great Fortitude ×4, Iron Will ×4, or
Lightning Reflexes ×4.
Out of Harm’s Way Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against spells.
An instinctive ability for shirking danger saves you even when
your luck fails. Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Prerequisites: Lightning Reflexes ×7.

Spell Stalwart
Benefit: If you fail a Reflex saving throw against an effect that You shrug off the effect of spells cast by any creature foolish
lets you make a Reflex save to take half damage, you take only enough to face you in melee.
half damage instead of full damage.
Prerequisites: One of Great Fortitude ×1, Iron Will ×1, or
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Lightning Reflexes ×1.
Benefit: Whenever a creature within 30 feet of you casts a spell
Rallying Presence that has you as a target, you have advantage on the saving
Your fearless nature bolsters your allies when they stay close to throw or defense roll against the spell.
your side.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Chapter 10/Ethos Magic Feats (376)
Stay Standing
Resilient Blood You are able to keep your feet under even the shakiest of
Your strength of body lets you shrug off the effects of poison. circumstances.
Prerequisites: Great Fortitude ×1. Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against poison. Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
Chapter 7/Poison (183) that would make you prone.

Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Resist Magical Essence
A sensitivity to innate magic helps you resist that magic from Still Mind
your foes. Your mental control grants you an edge against having your
Prerequisites: One of Great Fortitude ×4, Iron Will ×4, or mind turned.
Lightning Reflexes ×4. Prerequisites: Iron Will ×1.
Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against any Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws against effects
creature’s innate magical features. Such features don’t include that would make you charmed.
spells, spelltouched manifestations, or primordial invocations.
Appendix B/Charmed (A9)
Chapter 10/Primordial Magic (383); Spellcasting (320);
Spelltouched Magic (380)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Trap Sense
An innate understanding of traps helps you avoid their worst
effects.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Thievery) ×1.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: You have advantage on saving throws made against
the effects of traps.
Chapter 7/Traps (189)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Hit Points
The potential rewards of an adventuring life are great, but the
risks that balance those rewards are often daunting — and can
sometimes be lethal. Whenever your character takes damage
from a weapon attack, a spell, the environment, or any other
effect, your hit points are the measure of how that damage
affects your overall health. Whether you are cut by a sword,
burned by a wildfire, shocked by a spell, or land hard after a fall,
your character’s hit points measure how much hurt you can take
before being critically injured or killed.
Fast-Start: Hit Points
When you take damage, the robustness of your hit points
determines how long you stay in the fight — or whether you quickly
become a liability for allies who need to pull you to safety. To
quickly build a character, choose your hit points by selecting one of
the following feat packages, at the indicated cost in feat slots. (The
information presented here is also presented as part of “Feat
Packages” in Chapter 1.)
Front-liner
5 Feat Slots
You place equal importance on defensive training and inherent
toughness, making you hard to drop no matter which way the fight
turns. Take this feat package if you expect to be always in the thick
of combat. You’ll benefit the most from this feat package if
Constitution is one of your best ability scores.
Combat Savvy ×3: You have 15 defense points.
Hit Point Feats (255)
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 × your
Constitution modifier.
Reluctant Combatant
2 Feat Slots
You have no interest in getting into trouble in combat, so you
ensure that you stay as far from your enemies as possible. Take this
feat package if you want to gain only enough defensive training to
keep you safe while you flee the fight.
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Skirmisher
4 Feat Slots
You understand the value of a good defense, but prefer to avoid the
thick of combat while your tougher allies take point. Take this feat
package if you expect to fight, but not always to stand at the center
of the fray. You’ll benefit the most from this feat package if
Constitution is one of your best ability scores.
Combat Savvy ×2: You have 10 defense points.
Toughness ×2: You have additional critical points equal to 2 × your
Constitution modifier.
Critical Points and Defense Points
Overall hit points represent both your innate toughness and
ability to withstand physical punishment, as well as your ability
to shrug off damage or turn a serious blow into a less serious
one. Whenever you take hit point damage, these properties are
tracked using two separate numbers — critical points and
defense points.
Critical points measure your capacity to withstand physical
injury. All creatures except constructs and undead have critical
points that represent their overall bodily health. When a
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
creature takes critical point damage, it means they have
sustained physical injuries that can eventually lead to death.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Defense points represent your ability to turn potentially lethal
damage into minor damage through defensive prowess, innate
hardiness, or sheer luck. Not all creatures have defense points,
but when those who do take defense point damage, it means
they are being worn down in a way that might eventually lead to
real injury in the form of critical point damage.
In the game, critical points and defense points are always noted
in that order. For example, if a character has 22/15 hit points,
they have 22 critical points and 15 defense points. (Defense
points are always a multiple of 5, which can make them easy to
note if you ever forget the order.)
Gaining Hit Points
Critical points represent physical stamina and vigor. All
characters have starting critical points equal to their starting
Constitution score. These base critical points are fixed at
character creation, and don’t fluctuate if a character’s
Constitution score changes. A character can gain additional
critical points by taking the Toughness feat.
Hit Point Feats (255)
Defense points represent a creature’s ability to shrug off
damage as a result of martial prowess, mental stamina, and
sheer luck. As such, defense points are gained only by the
training and instinct represented by taking the Combat Savvy
feat.
Your full critical points and defense points are known as your
critical point maximum and defense point maximum. Your
overall hit points can’t ever go beyond those maximums unless
you gain additional critical points or defense points by taking
the Combat Savvy or Toughness feats.
Taking Damage
The most common way your character can get hurt is by taking
damage and losing hit points. Any damage you take from
environmental hazards, traps, magic, combat, and other threats
is usually deducted from your defense points first. In a fight in
which your character takes only defense point damage, you’ll
likely emerge with no more than minor cuts, bruises, and
fatigue.
When your defense points have been reduced to 0 (or if you
have no defense points), you have exhausted your ability to
shrug off attacks and turn potentially lethal strikes into glancing
blows. Attacks that deal damage when you are at 0 defense
points, including leftover damage from an attack that reduced
you to 0 defense points, deal critical point damage,
representing actual lasting wounds incurred as you continue to
fight.
Neither critical points nor defense points ever go below 0.
A wary thief has full hit points of 13/5 critical points and
defense points. In combat, she takes 4 damage from a
guard’s attack and deducts the damage from defense
points first, taking her to 13/1. When she triggers a dart
trap while fleeing the guard and takes another 6 damage,
that damage uses up the last of her defense points to take
her to 13/0. The leftover 5 damage is then applied to
critical points, reducing the character to 8/0 critical points
252

and defense points, and indicating that she has suffered a
serious injury.
Damage you take doesn’t affect your ability to fight until you are
bloodied or dying.
Critical Hits
A critical hit is a powerful attack that deals damage directly to a
character’s critical points, and which deals additional damage to
defense points. Because it applies directly to critical points, a critical
hit can easily kill a creature even if that creature has plenty of
defense points left.
Critical Hits (292)
Bloodied
Whenever you have taken any critical point damage — even just
1 point — you are bloodied. At this stage, you have taken your
first obvious wounds and show clear signs that you are injured.
Being bloodied imposes no penalties or conditions, but it can
trigger special features and feats reflecting a creature’s reaction
to serious injury.
Some effects trigger when you are first bloodied, which is the
point when you take your first critical damage after being at your
critical point maximum. Such effects don’t trigger when you take
subsequent critical point damage while already bloodied.
Round-by-Round Effects
Many of the effects that deal damage to a creature represent a
single event. Whether a weapon attack, a magic missile spell, a red
dragon’s fiery breath, a trap, or a fall from a height, the event occurs
and the creature takes damage once as a result.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Other effects, including exposure to mundane fire and acid, or
spells with a long duration, can deal damage repeatedly to a
creature. Likewise, some spells and other magical effects have a
chance to impose conditions round by round if a creature enters the
area of the effect or starts their turn there (a common way of talking
about effects that deal damage or can impose effects repeatedly). If
a creature is trapped in a vat of acid or a burning building, they take
more damage the longer it takes them to escape. A creature who
lingers in the area of an entangle spell increases their chances of
being restrained by its grasping plant life. But a creature subjected
to such an effect can take its damage or be subjected to its
conditions only once per round.
Any creature who enters a magical sacrificial pit or starts their turn
there takes 2d6 fire damage and must succeed on a Will save or
be restrained by the pit’s mind-control magic. A mage and a
scoundrel battling cultists both enter the pit when they are
pushed into it by cult warriors, taking the damage and making the
save. When the characters’ turns come up, each starts their turn in
the pit. But because they suffered the pit’s effects in the current
round (measuring from the start of the turn of the cultists who
pushed them in until the start of those cultists’ next turn), they
don’t take the damage and don’t need to make the save a
second time. If the mage succeeded on her save, she can leave
the pit and won’t suffer its effects again unless she enters the area
again. But if the scoundrel fails his save and is restrained, he can’t
leave the pit, and will take its damage again at the start of his
next turn.
Critical Damage Out of Combat
Even the deadliest noncombat threats — including falling from a
height, exposure to fire or lava, being caught in a cave-in or
landslide, and so forth — deal damage that is usually applied to
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Chapter 9: Combat
a creature’s defense points first. One exception to this rule is a
creature who takes damage from environmental effects while
immobilized or unconscious, including damage from falling,
being exposed to acid or fire, and so forth. In such an event, the
creature has the damage applied to their critical points even if
they have defense points remaining, forced to depend only on
their innate toughness when unable to roll with damaging
effects.
Chapter 7/Falling (177)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Suffocation is another exception, potentially dealing critical
point damage even to a creature with defense points remaining.
Chapter 7/Suffocation (177)
Critical Point Penalties
Certain effects, including taking magical healing, being
poisoned, or contracting a pestilence, can impose a penalty to
your critical point maximum. While such a penalty is in effect,
you have a lower-than-usual number of critical points, and you
can’t regain critical points in excess of that number through
magical or mundane healing until the penalty is removed.
Magical Healing (257)
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
A critical point penalty can’t be undone by magic that heals hit
point damage, or by restoration spells and similar effects that
end conditions and other penalties. It can be removed only by
rest and recuperation during campaign downtime.
Downtime Healing (257)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A creature dies if their critical point maximum ever drops to 0.
Marks of Battle
Combat in the game is abstract, and players always get to choose
the appearance of their characters. As such, a player can decide
when and whether a hero bears permanent scars, a slight limp, a
pain that never goes away, and other physical mementos of combat.
Whenever a character takes significant critical point damage, a
player might think about whether that damage leaves a lasting mark,
scar, or minor injury as an enduring reminder of mortality.
Such physical mementos of combat never impose mechanical
effects — no penalty to movement for a permanent limp, no
disadvantage on Persuasion checks for a face scar, and so forth.
Additionally, players who want their characters to show mementos
of battle should ensure that doing so avoids echoing real-world
physical conditions or disabilities. The question of which sorts of
physical effects work best as permanent injuries or tokens of combat
is a good one for session zero of a campaign.
Chapter 5/Session Zero (95)
Temporary Hit Points
Temporary hit points are special third type of hit point, which
represent a short-term ability to prevent damage from taking a
toll on you. They can be granted naturally by lineage traits or
feats, or magically by spells and other effects.
Temporary hit points are lost first whenever you would take
critical point damage or defense point damage. If an attack
deals both critical point and defense point damage, temporary
hit points reduce critical point damage first.
An arcanist has full hit points of 10/5 critical/defense points,
then gains 8 temporary hit points from an animyst ally’s aid
253

spell. When the arcanist takes a critical hit that would
usually deal 7 critical points and 5 defense points damage
the 7 critical points is taken from the temporary hit points,
as is 1 defense point. The remaining 4 damage is then
taken from the character’s defense points.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A creature can’t gain temporary hit points while at 0 critical
points, and temporary hit points can’t be restored by healing.
Temporary hit points also don’t add together. If you gain
temporary hit points while you already have temporary hit
points, the new temporary hit points replace your current
temporary hit points if doing so would give you more temporary
hit points.
Temporary hit points sometimes have a duration, and you lose
any temporary hit points you have remaining when that duration
ends. If an effect that grants one-time temporary hit points
doesn’t have a duration, you lose any temporary hit points you
have remaining when you finish a long rest.
Dying
When a player character, NPC, or other creature is reduced to 0
critical points, they are dying. A dying creature usually goes
prone, then becomes either immobilized or unconscious, as
chosen by the creature who reduced the dying creature to 0
critical points, or by the GM if an effect did so.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
A creature can be dying at 0 critical points even if they have
defense points remaining. Certain feats and magic items make it
possible for a creature to remain active even while dying and at
0 critical points.
Hit Point Feats (255)
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Death Saving Throws
Each round that a creature is dying, they make a DC 10
Fortitude saving throw at the end of their turn, called a death
saving throw. You track the number of successful or failed death
saving throws your character makes. The GM tracks death saving
throws for NPCs and other creatures.
Fortitude (245)
A creature who succeeds on three death saving throws recovers
and is no longer dying. Usually, a creature who fails three death
saving throws is dead. Depending on the results, a creature
might make up to five death saving throws, getting two
successes and two failures before a final save determines their
fate. (A creature who takes nonlethal damage can fail a higher
number of death saves before succumbing to death.)
Recovering From Dying; Dead
Nonlethal Attacks (267)
Because a creature with a +10 or better bonus to Fortitude
saving throws can’t fail a death saving throw, that creature
usually recovers from dying automatically after 3 rounds.
However, a number of factors can impose failed death saving
throws even without a dying creature failing the saving throws
they make.
Dying From Exceptional Damage
When the damage that drops a creature to 0 critical points is
high enough, it leaves that creature in worse shape than a
weaker assault by automatically imposing one or more failed
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Chapter 9: Combat
death saving throws. The most extreme damage — from a
devastating weapon attack, powerful magic, a high fall, and so
on — can automatically impose three failed death saves, leaving
a creature instantly dead.
Attack’s Failed Death
Damage Saving Throws
25 1
50 2
75 3
Dying From a Critical Hit
If the attack that drops a creature to 0 critical points is a critical
hit, that attack imposes one failed death saving throw. If the
critical hit deals exceptional damage, it can impose additional
failed death saves, as above.
Taking Damage While Dying
Damage taken while a creature is at 0 critical points isn’t applied
to the creature’s hit points, even if the creature has defense
points remaining. Rather, each such attack automatically
imposes one failed death saving throw. If the attack is a critical
hit, it imposes two failed death saving throws. If the attack deals
exceptional damage, it imposes additional death saving throws,
as above.
Recovering From Dying
In addition to succeeding on three death saving throws, a dying
creature can recover in other ways:
• If a creature succeeds on a DC 15 Heal/physical recovery
check as a standard action to aid a dying creature, the dying
creature regains 1 critical point and is no longer dying.
Chapter 6/Healing (123)
• A dying creature targeted by any magic or other effect that
heals hit point damage is no longer dying and has a number
of hit points dependent on the effect.
Magical Healing (257)
• A dying creature can use an action point to automatically
recover. The creature regains 1 critical point and is no long
dying.
Chapter 5/Action Points (88)
Once a creature is no longer dying, they are no longer
immobilized or unconscious because they were dying. However,
if they were immobilized or unconscious for some other reason
before being reduced to 0 critical points, those conditions
remain.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
A recovered creature can regain more hit points by taking a
short rest or long rest, or they can make use of magical healing.
Short-Rest Healing (257); Long-Rest Healing (257)
Dead
A creature is usually dead when they fail three death saving
throws. (A creature who has taken nonlethal damage during a
fight can fail more death saving throws, giving them more time
to recover from dying.)
Nonlethal Attacks (267)
254

A creature is also dead if penalties to their critical point
maximum reduce that maximum to 0. Additionally, certain
powerful spells and effects can leave a creature instantly dead,
regardless of how many hit points they have and without letting
them make death saving throws to recover.
For the purpose of spells and other effects that target creatures,
a creature remains a creature while they are dying. But their
body becomes an object as soon as they are dead.
Returning to Life
A dead creature can no longer benefit from magical or natural
healing, but can be returned to life with magic such as the
revivify, raise dead, or resurrection spells.
Chapter 10/Bringing Back the Dead (338)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Hit Point Feats
These feats allow a character to increase their critical points and
defense points, and to make the best use of those hit points.
Assuring Strike
When you a drop a foe in combat, a surge of vigor helps you
continue the fight.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Healing) ×1, Weapon Focus ×1.
Attack Feats (268)
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: Whenever you reduce a creature to 0 critical points,
you can use a free action to gain temporary hit points equal to
your Charisma modifier.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Battlefield Recovery
Your presence on the battlefield lets you lend aid to your allies.
Prerequisites: Charisma 13+, Skill Focus (Healing) ×1.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: As a minor action, choose one ally who is aware of you.
That ally gains temporary hit points equal to your Charisma
modifier.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Combat Savvy
Your ability to roll with damage lets you outlast your opponents.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You gain 5 defense points.
Mastery: You can take this feat nine times, gaining a maximum
of 45 defense points.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
Defiant Combatant
Your focus in combat pushes your body past its breaking point.
Prerequisites: Constitution 15+, Great Fortitude ×7.
Saving Throw Feats (248)
Benefit: Whenever you take damage that would reduce you to 0
critical points, you can attempt a Fortitude saving throw with a
DC equal to the damage. On a success, you instead drop to 1
critical point.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Diehard Combatant
You fight on even after lesser combatants would have fallen.
Prerequisites: Constitution 15+, Great Fortitude ×4.
Benefit: Whenever you are reduced to 0 critical points but
aren’t dead, you are dying but are not immobilized or
unconscious as a result. Instead, you are dazed while you remain
at 0 critical points. While active at 0 critical points, you can
attempt to regain hit points with a Healing check or healing
255
 Chapter 9: Combat

magic so that you are no longer dying, or you can undertake

other activities as you wish.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Though you remain active, you follow all the rules for being at 0
critical points — making death saving throws at the end of each
turn, gaining failed death saves for taking damage, and so forth.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Reflexive Defense
Rolling with a potentially lethal blow keeps you in the fight.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Lightning Reflexes ×4.
Benefit: Whenever a weapon attack would reduce you to 0
critical points, you can use a reaction to halve the attack’s
damage. If the weapon attack is a critical hit, the critical point
damage and the additional defense point damage are each
halved, then applied.
This reduced damage might still drop you to 0 critical points.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Resilient Response
The harder you are hit, the stronger your determination to stay
in the fight.
Prerequisites: Combat Savvy ×4.
Benefit: While you are bloodied, you can use a minor action to
grant yourself 5 temporary hit points. You can use this feat a
number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier
(minimum three times).
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Toughness
Your physical resilience lets you fight on after lesser combatants
would have fallen.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: You gain a number of critical points equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum 1).
Mastery: You can take this feat nine times, gaining a minimum
of 9 critical points.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9

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Healing Damage
After you take damage from a weapon attack, a spell, escaping
a burning building, or some other danger, you can recover hit
points through natural healing or magical healing. Natural
healing is the most effective way to restore your full hit points,
but the process takes time. Magical healing is faster in the short
term, but it has a disruptive effect on your natural healing ability
that might ultimately take more time to correct.
Hit Points (252)
A creature can never recover more hit points than they have lost
from taking damage. Neither magical healing nor natural
healing can raise a creature’s critical points or defense points
higher than their critical point maximum or defense point
maximum.
Natural Healing
Natural healing covers the usual processes of rest and care that
allow the body to recover from injury. Your character’s state of
injury represented by critical point damage healed during
downtime healing, and by defense point damage healed during
short-rest healing or long-rest healing.
Short-Rest Healing
Defense point damage represents fatigue and minor injury that
responds to short periods of focused rest and recuperation.
Each time you finish a short rest (15 minutes of game time), you
can make a DC 10 Healing check for mental recovery. On a
successful check, you regain a number of defense points equal
to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1 point).
Chapter 7/Short Rest (193)
You can make this check even if unconscious but you can’t take
10 on the check. Another creature can administer first aid by
making the Healing check in place of the creature taking the
short rest.
Chapter 6/Healing (123); Skill Checks without Rolls (107)
Appendix B/Unconscious (A11)
By taking successive short rests, you can regain additional
defense points.
Long-Rest Healing
Instead of restoring defense points in increments during a short
rest, a character can undertake a longer period of rest and
recuperation. At the end of a long rest (8 hours of game time),
you make a DC 10 Healing check for mental recovery. On a
successful check, you regain all lost defense points. On a failed
check, you regain a number of defense points equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum 1 point).
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193)
You can make this check even if unconscious but you can’t take
10 on the check. Another creature can administer first aid by
making the Healing check in place of the creature taking the
long rest.
At the GM’s determination, any significant interruption during a
long rest prevents you from healing during that rest.
Downtime Healing
Critical point damage represents serious physical injury —
sprains, lacerations requiring stitches, torn muscles, cracked ribs,
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Chapter 9: Combat
internal bruising, and so forth — that responds only to
specialized care. Likewise, magical healing can impose a penalty
to your critical point maximum, and magical effects, pestilence,
poison, and the attacks of certain creatures can impose
penalties to your ability modifiers. All such serious injury and
long-term debilitation requires extensive rest and recuperation.
Magical Healing
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180); Poison (183)
At the end of 1 week of campaign downtime, you can make a
Healing check, choosing whether to regain lost critical points, to
remove a penalty to your critical point maximum, or to remove
penalties to your ability modifiers.
Chapter 7/Campaign Downtime (194)
To restore lost critical points, you make a DC 10 Heal/physical
recovery check. With a successful check, you restore a number
of critical points equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1
point).
To remove a penalty to your critical point maximum, you make a
DC 15 Heal/physical recovery check. With a successful check,
you reduce the current penalty to your critical point maximum
by 1.
To remove a penalty to an ability modifier, you make a DC 15
Heal/physical recovery check for a penalty to your Strength,
Dexterity, or Constitution modifier, or a DC 15 Heal/mental
recovery check for a penalty to your Intelligence, Wisdom, or
Charisma modifier. On a successful check, you lessen the
penalty by an amount equal to that ability score’s modifier
(minimum 1).
You make only one Healing check for each week of campaign
downtime. You can make this check even if unconscious but you
can’t take 10 on the check. Another creature can administer first
aid by making the Healing check in place of the creature
attempting downtime healing.
At the GM’s determination, any significant interruption during a
downtime rest prevents you from healing during that rest.
Because of the length of time involved, a creature engaged in
downtime healing automatically heals any damage to their
defense points.
Magical Healing
Healing magic is a powerful force that channels and magnifies
the body’s own natural healing properties, and is the quickest
way to get back in the fight when you are wounded. All magical
healing works the same way, restoring a number of hit points of
damage at once. The cure light wounds spell heals 1d8 + 1 hit
points when cast by an animyst of caster level 1, and a potion of
cure serious wounds heals 3d8 + 5 hit points when imbibed.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Potions and Spellmarks (ch. 2)
However, this flood of healing power can disrupt the body’s
healing energy in the long term. Continued use of spells and
potions that heal hit point damage limits the body’s ability to
naturally heal, requiring characters to balance magical healing
with natural restoration over the long term.
Each time you restore critical points using magic, you take a −1
penalty to your critical point maximum before the magical
healing takes effect. Magic whose use restores only your
defense points imposes no penalty, including any magical
healing you take while you are already at full critical points.
Hit Points (252)
257
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An animyst has full hit points of 12/5 critical and defense

points and is reduced to 6/0 during a battle with worgs. She
casts cure light wounds on herself to restore her hit points,
Healing Feats
These feats allow a character to more effectively channel their
but that magical healing first imposes a −1 penalty to her
body’s natural healing, letting them bounce back quickly from
critical point maximum, reducing her critical point
weariness and injury.
maximum to 11 before the healing is applied. Even after
she heals up fully, the animyst will have full hit points of
11/5 critical and defense points until the penalty is removed Natural Healer
during campaign downtime. Being centered allows your body to more easily recover from
serious injury.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Prerequisites: Great Fortitude ×4.
Magical healing restores your critical points first. If healing
remains after you are restored to full critical points, you heal Saving Throw Feats (248)
defense points with any remaining magical healing.
Benefit: When you recover defense points with short-rest
A warrior with full hit points of 18/25 critical and defense healing or long-rest healing, or when you recover critical points
points is reduced to 10/16 hit points during the same worg during downtime healing, you recover a number of points equal
battle, and imbibes a potion of cure moderate wounds to double your Constitution modifier (minimum 2 points).
during the fight. The potion restores 12 hit points, starting
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
with restoring 7 critical points to bring the character to
17 — the character’s new critical point maximum because
of the critical point penalty he takes from the magical Second Wind
healing. The remaining 5 points of healing are applied to You draw on your reserves of stamina even in the thick of
defense points, taking the character to 17/21 critical points combat.
and defense points. Prerequisites: Combat Savvy ×1.
A dying creature who receives magical healing that restores 1 or Hit Point Feats (255)
more critical points recovers and is no longer dying.
Benefit: As a minor action, you regain a number of defense
Recovering from Dying (254) points equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1 point).
You can’t regain critical points with this feat.
Ability Modifier Penalties You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Instead of dealing damage to your hit points, some attacks and Constitution modifier (minimum three times).
effects impose a penalty to the modifier of one of your ability
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
scores — Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, or
Charisma — representing physical or mental distress. Ability
modifier penalties last until you restore them through the rest and
recuperation of downtime healing. Magic such as the lesser
restoration and restoration spells can also reduce penalties to your
ability modifiers.
Downtime Healing (257)
Appendix B/Ability Modifier Penalties (A8)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Under certain circumstances, the GM might rule that a specific

Combat Maneuvers combat maneuver can’t be accomplished without the use of
objects or an environmental effect. If you try to use the trip
For many characters, the focus in combat is on dealing damage,
maneuver to send a multilegged behir prone, the GM can rule
using weapon attacks to first wear down the defenses, then
that simply kicking out one of the creature’s legs won’t be
break the physical resilience of a foe. But there are many more
sufficient. But snarling their legs with a rope or pushing a low,
ways than simple injury to deal with an enemy, especially if the
heavy table into them might do the trick.
goal is to take a foe out of the fight without seriously wounding
or killing them. Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Creature Compendium
Nine different combat maneuvers cover a wide range of
activities in combat, allowing you to: For certain applications of a combat maneuver, the GM might
decide to call for a different skill check more appropriate to a
• Confound a foe to leave them disoriented for one of their
specific approach for the maneuver. This might include calling
senses
for Acrobatics/use rope to disarm or trip a creature with a well-
Appendix B/Conditions (A8) placed lasso, Athletics/throw instead of Athletics/slam to sunder
• Demoralize a foe to leave them frightened a weapon at a distance, and so forth.
• Disarm a foe to take a weapon or other item from their Because combat maneuvers force a target creature to make a
possession saving throw, creatures can’t be affected by combat maneuvers
• Distract a foe to leave them dazed and limited in their actions that use a saving throw they don’t have. For example,
• Grapple a foe to leave them restrained and limit their incorporeal undead ignore the impede, shove, and trip
movement and attacks maneuvers, all of which require a Fortitude save. Additionally,
• Impede a foe to leave them slowed and limit their movement some creatures can’t be affected by certain maneuvers, such as
• Shove a foe to move them against their will oozes whose immunity to going prone makes them impossible
• Sunder a foe’s weapon or another object they hold to to trip.
damage or destroy it Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)
• Trip a foe to upend them and send them prone Appendix B/Prone (A10)
With the exception of grapple, each combat maneuver is a
short-term effect that hinders a creature in combat for 1 round. Making Maneuvers at Range
A combat maneuver is usually made as a standard action. If you All combat maneuvers can target creatures within 30 feet of you,
make multiple attacks on your turn, you can make a combat in consultation with the GM. Typically, attempting a combat
maneuver in place of any or all of those attacks. If you can make maneuver against a creature outside your reach requires some
a melee attack as a reaction (including an opportunity attack), sort of tool or other object. This might be a rope or cloak to
you can make a combat maneuver instead. snarl a weapon for a disarm maneuver, a net or lasso for a
grapple maneuver, a statue to push into a creature for a shove
Multiple Attacks (296); Opportunity Attacks (299)
maneuver, a barrel to roll into someone for a trip maneuver, and
Certain feats allow you to expand the utility of your combat so forth.
maneuvers, and to add combat maneuvers to your successful
weapon attacks. Maneuvers as Nonlethal Attacks
Combat Maneuver Feats (262) A nonlethal attack is one in which you avoid dealing debilitating
damage to your foe, or deal no damage at all in favor of
Making a Combat Maneuver hampering a foe’s ability to fight. With a successful nonlethal
attack, you can automatically impose the effect of a combat
Combat maneuvers are skill checks, and follow all the rules for
maneuver on the target of the attack, giving you another way of
making skill checks. However, instead of the creature targeted
making combat maneuvers — and one that can be especially
by the maneuver making an opposed check, the direct threat of
useful when you feel like your attack has a better chance of
a maneuver means the target creature makes a saving throw,
success than your combat maneuver skill check does.
with your check result treated as the challenge throw for the
save. The “Combat Maneuvers” table summarizes the skill Nonlethal Attacks (267)
checks, saving throws, and effects for each type of combat
maneuver. COMBAT MANEUVERS
Chapter 6/Skill Checks (101) Maneuver Skill Check Saving Throw Effect
Saving Throws (245)
Confound Acrobatics/agility Will Disoriented
As with many other skill checks, combat maneuvers can make Demoralize Persuasion/intimidate Will Frightened
use of objects or the environment. For example, slowing a foe Disarm Acrobatics/agility Reflex Item taken
with the impede maneuver might represent you stomping on Distract Persuasion/deception Will Dazed
their foot or hip checking them to send them off balance. But it Grapple Athletics/grab Reflex Restrained
could also involve throwing marbles or small stones under their Impede Acrobatics/agility Fortitude Slowed
feet, dumping a flask of oil on the ground where they’re moving, Shove Athletics/slam Fortitude Target moved
and so forth. Confounding a creature’s sight might involve a Sunder Athletics/slam Reflex Item broken
quick face smack that leaves their vision blurry, but might also Trip Athletics/slam Fortitude Prone
be accomplished by throwing sand in their eyes, pulling a cloak
hood down to cover their face, and so forth.

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Confound
Getting the edge on your enemies — or getting away from
those enemies if they mean you harm — can be made easier if
their confounded senses prevent them from easily targeting
you. As a standard action, you target a creature and make an
Acrobatics/agility check to slap their ears, pull a cloak hood
over their head, direct sand into their eyes, or otherwise target
their sensory organs or apparatus in some way. The target must
make a Will saving throw to refocus their senses, using your
check as the challenge throw. On a failed save, the target is
disoriented for one sense of your choice until the end of their
next turn.
Saving Throws (245)
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110)
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
You can attempt to confound a creature of any size, but the GM
might impose disadvantage on your check, advantage on the
saving throw, or both if the creature’s sense organs are specially
protected or hard to reach.
Demoralize
A well-timed show of strength in battle can temporarily rattle
the resolve of any foe. As a standard action, you target a
creature who can observe you or who is aware of you, making a
Persuasion/intimidate check to harry the target with threats, a
show of force, a display of weapon prowess, and so forth. The
target must make a Will saving throw, using your check as the
challenge throw. On a failed save, the target is frightened until
the end of their next turn.
Chapter 6/Persuasion (137)
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
You can attempt to demoralize any creature, but the GM might
impose disadvantage on your check, advantage on the saving
throw, or both if circumstances or the creature’s power relative
to you merit it.
Disarm
Sometimes getting the edge on a foe involves hindering their
ability to hurt you. As a standard action, you target a creature
and one weapon or other item they hold, and make an
Acrobatics/agility check to knock the item free, unbalance it so
it slips from their grasp, and so forth. The target must make a
Reflex saving throw to keep the object away from you, using
your check as the challenge throw. On a failed save, the target
drops the chosen item to the ground in a random location
within 30 feet of them, as determined by the GM based on the
weight and size of the object and how badly the saving throw
fails.
You can also attempt to disarm a creature of an item they wear.
Depending on how the item is worn, the GM might impose
disadvantage on your check, advantage on the saving throw, or
both. It is generally easier to remove large, loose items such as
cloaks than tightly worn or smaller items such as backpacks,
gauntlets, or shields. The GM can rule that certain disarm
attempts (for example, removing a ring from a foe’s finger or
slipping off a well-tied boot) are impossible.
You can’t disarm a creature more than one size category larger
than you. A creature can’t be disarmed of their natural weapons.
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Chapter 9: Combat
Distract
By keeping your foe unable to focus, you limit their options to
respond to you. As a standard action, you target a creature and
make a Persuasion/deception check to divert their attention,
throw them off guard, cause them to lose focus, and so forth.
The target must make a Will saving throw to focus past your
distraction, using your check as the challenge throw. On a failed
save, the target loses some of their ability to act, becoming
dazed until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Dazed (A9)
Grapple
Physically grabbing up a foe restricts both their movement and
their ability to attack. As a standard action, you target a creature
and make an Athletics/grab check to clutch at their body, their
clothing or armor, their shield or other worn gear, and so forth.
The target must make a Reflex saving throw to avoid you,
using your check as the challenge throw. On a failed save, the
target is restrained and you are slowed until you release the
target (a minor action), or until the target escapes your grapple.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can grapple only one creature at a time. You can drag a
grappled creature with you when you move, as long as their
weight doesn’t exceed a heavy load for you. If you do so, the
creature’s weight affects your speed, and both you and the
creature trigger opportunity attacks for your movement.
Chapter 8/Carrying Capacity (228)
To grapple, you must be able to lock part of your body around
the target in a way consistent with your usual movement. This
typically means you can’t grapple while fighting with a two-
handed weapon or a one-handed weapon and a shield unless
you have the Full-Body Fighter feat. You can’t grapple a
creature more than one size category larger than you.
Full-Body Fighter (303)
A grapple combat maneuver can usually be made from range
only with specialized equipment or a natural weapon such as a
tentacle.
Escaping a Grapple
A creature restrained by a grapple can attempt to break free as
a standard action. The restrained creature makes an
Acrobatics/agility check or an Athletics/slam check opposed by
an Athletics/grab check made by the grappling creature.
A creature can also escape a grapple by magical means such as
teleportation. If the grappling creature becomes unable to take
actions, any creature they have grappled is automatically freed.
Impede
Staying away from a foe is made easier if that foe’s movement is
impeded. As a standard action, you target a creature and make
an Acrobatics/agility check to cause them to stumble, push
them off balance, spread rubble or oil beneath their feet, and so
forth. The target must make a Fortitude saving throw to stay
steady, using your check as the challenge throw. On a failed
save, the target is slowed for one of their movement modes of
your choice until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
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If a creature’s usual means of movement is resistant to your
means of impeding them, such as scattering rubble to slow a
monstrous centipede, the GM might impose disadvantage on
your check, advantage on the saving throw, or both. The GM
can also rule that certain impede attempts (for example, trying
to leg-check a Gargantuan dragon) are impossible.
Shove
their wings, force them over their center of gravity, and so forth.
The target must make a Fortitude saving throw, using your
check as the challenge throw. On a failed save, the target goes
prone.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
You can’t trip a creature more than one size category larger than
you.

A foe’s ability to threaten you can be limited by forcing them to

move and leaving them in a less-than-optimal position. As a
standard action, you target a creature and make an
Athletics/slam check to slide them backward, cause them to
stumble away from you, and so forth. The target must make a
Fortitude saving throw to resist your momentum, using your
check as the challenge throw. On a failed save, the target is
moved in a direction of your choice up to 30 feet away from you,
as determined by the GM based on the weight and size of the
creature and how badly the saving throw fails.
If you shove a creature into a space occupied by another
creature or object, the GM determines what happens. A small
object might be broken, while a heavy object might stop the
creature being shoved and deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage. A
larger creature shoved into a smaller creature might also shove
that creature in turn.
A creature shoved into a hazard or a dangerous location (into a
fire, over a ledge, and so forth) always gets a saving throw of the
GM’s determination (usually Reflex) to avoid taking damage.
You can’t shove a creature more than one size category larger
than you.

Sunder
Perhaps the most effective way to force a foe out of combat is to
remove their means of attack and defense, sundering their
weapon or armor to damage or destroy it. As a standard action,
you target a creature and a weapon or object they hold, their
shield, or their armor, and make an Athletics/slam check to
weaken the object by cracking it, bending it, dulling its edge,
and so forth. The target must make a Reflex saving throw to
avoid contact with you, using your check as the challenge throw.
On a failed save, you compare your check result with the DC
required to damage the object targeted by the sunder attempt,
and track the number of successful checks needed to destroy
the weapon or make it inoperable.
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230); Damaging Weapons and
Armor (231)
It is possible to succeed at the opposed check and still fail to
meet the DC necessary to damage the target object. Weapons
and armor that are successfully damaged by a sunder combat
maneuver become less effective in combat, as usual.
At the GM’s determination, you might need to employ a tool or
weapon in a sunder attempt. Though it’s possible to crack a
wooden weapon by striking it with your boot, or to damage
chain mail by tearing at its leather straps with your bare hands,
damaging a greatsword or a suit of plate armor likely requires
that it be struck by stone or steel.

Trip
Upending a creature to knock them out of their regular
orientation is a most effective way of limiting their offensive and
defensive options. As a standard action, you target a creature
and make an Athletics/slam check to sweep their legs, twist

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Combat Maneuver Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to use their combat
maneuvers to greater effect.
Confounding Consequence
A foe who you disorient is temporarily deterred in their ability to
engage with the world around them.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: When you successfully use the confound combat
maneuver, a creature disoriented by the maneuver also has a d6
bane on Investigation and Perception checks making use of the
affected sense for 1 minute.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Focused Distraction
Your well-timed distraction limits your foe’s ability to respond.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×4.
Benefit: When you successfully use the distract combat
maneuver, a creature dazed by the maneuver has their action
options reduced, as you eliminate their ability to take a standard
action or a move action (your choice).
Appendix B/Dazed (A9)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Grasping Disarm
When you cause a foe to lose their grip, you can lay claim to the
weapon or object they give up.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4.
Benefit: When you successfully use the disarm combat
maneuver, you can decide that the object you force a creature
to drop ends up in your possession. You can’t use this feat if you
don’t have some means of holding onto the object.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Impeded Crowd
When you impede a foe’s movement, their instability affects
other foes close by.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4.
Benefit: When you successfully use the impede combat
maneuver, one other creature of your choice within 5 feet of the
slowed creature has their speed decreased by 5 feet for the
same movement mode until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Martial Maneuver
Your deft approach to combat lets you harry your foes in
between weapon attacks.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can
make a combat maneuver against that creature as a minor
action. If you make multiple attacks as a standard action, you
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Chapter 9: Combat
can make additional combat maneuvers each time you hit as
long as you have minor actions available.
In consultation with the GM, you can tie a successful combat
maneuver to the hit that triggered it, so that your sword strike
disarms a target, you trip a target after a sweeping quarterstaff
attack, and so forth. You can do this even with ranged attacks
when it makes narrative sense, so that a well-placed arrow might
cause a foe to drop their weapon, a thrown mace or club can
knock a creature off balance to impede or trip them, and so
forth. For combat maneuvers made as part of a ranged attack,
your skill check doesn’t represent a separate follow-up move,
but rather an extra layer of force or precision applied to the
attack.
Master Grappler
The intensity of your grapple leaves your foe reeling.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4.
Benefit: When you successfully use the grapple combat
maneuver, the restrained creature takes 1d4 bludgeoning
damage when you succeed on the initial Athletics check, and
each time you succeed on an Athletics check to prevent the
creature from escaping your grapple.
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Painful Trip
When you cause a foe to fall, they fall hard.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4.
Benefit: When you successfully use the trip combat maneuver,
the creature you make prone takes bludgeoning damage based
on their size, as their body twists over on itself or hits the
ground.
Creature Size/264
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Size Damage
Fine to Tiny —
Small 1d4
Medium 1d6
Large 1d8
Huge
Gargantuan or Colossal
1d10
1d12
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Powerful Sunder
The force you put into your weapon-breaking assault carries
straight through to your foe.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4.
Benefit: When you successfully use the sunder combat
maneuver, striking the object you target deals damage to the
creature holding it. Your sunder attempt deals damage equal to
the damage die of a weapon you sunder, or 1d4 or 1d6 damage
for armor, a shield, or a mundane object, as determined by the
GM and depending on the object’s size and weight. If the
object or weapon doesn’t break from your sunder attempt, this
damage is bludgeoning damage from the force of your strike. If
the object breaks, it might do piercing or slashing damage
instead.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
262
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Pugnacious Shove
You can keep pace with your foe as you force them back on the
battlefield.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4.
Benefit: When you successfully use the shove combat
maneuver, you can move up to half your speed as a free action,
following the path of the creature you moved and ending up in
any space they vacated.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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 Chapter 9: Combat

and background features can also grant a bonus to attack rolls

Attacks with certain weapons.
Combat often involves the back-and-forth of creatures making Attack Feats (268)
attacks against foes, then responding to those foes’ attacks in Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
turn. An attack is a standard action that represents an attempt to Chapter 4/Backgrounds (70)
strike an opponent on your turn. Certain feats allow you to make Additionally, magic weapons have a magic bonus (from +1 to
multiple attacks as a standard action. +5) that adds to your attack rolls, and some magic items grant
Multiple Attack Feats (297) an additional bonus to attacks against certain creatures or under
certain circumstances.
An attack roll represents your character’s ability to make contact
with a foe and land a significant blow. It reflects your combat Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
skill and any magical power of your weapon, offset by the You can always make an attack roll with a weapon, even if you
distraction and chaos of being in the thick of the fight. When haven’t taken Weapon Focus for the weapon. In that event, your
you make an attack, you roll a d20 and add all the modifiers that check relies only on your ability modifier (representing your
apply to your attack. natural talent) and any magic bonus and other modifiers
Your attack roll is made against the defense roll of the creature appropriate to the attack.
you’re attacking, which becomes the target number for the
attack. The roll determines how successful your attack is,
whether you get a high roll that allows the full brunt of your
Automatic Hits
Combat often depends as much on luck as on skill. As such,
attack to get through, a low roll that misses the target entirely,
your attack roll can sometimes grant you success regardless of
or something in between.
your skill and training, and despite the strength of your foe’s
Defense (237) defenses. If your attack roll is a natural 20 (showing a 20 on the
die), the attack hits automatically, no matter how high the
Melee Attacks target’s defense roll is, and is also a critical hit. This is true even
if the defense roll was a natural 20, which otherwise makes any
A melee attack is a close combat attack using a sword, dagger, attack an automatic miss.
mace, axe, or some other melee weapon. With a typical melee
weapon, you can strike any opponent within 5 feet of you. Some Automatic Misses (237); Critical Hits (292)
melee weapons have the reach quality, allowing you to strike
opponents within 10 feet of you.
Weapon Qualities (274)
Creature Size
Each creature has a particular size, from Fine (smallest) to
With a melee weapon, your attack roll is equal to: Colossal (largest), roughly categorizing creatures by their weight
and their height or length. Each size category then determines
d20 + Strength modifier
the amount of space a creature controls during combat, and
+ weapon attack bonus + magic bonus
how far away a creature can typically strike when making a
Certain feats allow you to use a different ability score instead of melee attack.
your Strength modifier for attack rolls with certain types of
weapons. CREATURE SIZE
Attack Feats (268)
Creature Size Example Creature Space Reach1
Fine Centipede, wasp 0.5 foot 0
Ranged Attacks Diminutive Mouse, toad 1 foot 0
A ranged attack is an attack at a distance, using a bow, a Tiny Cat, pseudodragon 2.5 feet 0
crossbow, a thrown dagger, or some other ranged weapon. Small Gnome, kobold 5 feet 5 feet
Each ranged weapon has a close range and a long range that Medium Dwarf, human 5 feet 5 feet
determine from how far away you can attack a target. You can Large Centaur, hallaek, werebear 10 feet 5–10 feet
shoot or throw at any creature you can observe who is within the Huge Aboleth, hydra, istruhmad 15 feet 10–15 feet
weapon’s long range. Gargantuan Ancient black dragon, 20 feet 15–20 feet
porphyrax
Close and Long Range sidebar (274)
Colossal Ancient red dragon, tarrasque 30 feet 20–30 feet
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
1. Typical natural reach for creatures of the indicated size. Specific
With a ranged weapon, your attack roll is equal to: creatures might differ.
d20 + Dexterity modifier Monster Grimoire
+ weapon attack bonus + magic bonus

Attack Modifiers
Strength is the usual modifier for melee attacks, which focus on
hitting hard. Dexterity is the usual modifier for ranged attacks,
which depend on precision and accuracy.
Your weapon attack bonus increases when you take the
Weapon Focus feat for a weapon group or the Weapon
Specialization feat for a specific weapon. Certain lineage traits

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Tactical Map — Space and Squares
[All of the “Tactical Map” sidebars will eventually have useful
graphics to go with them.]
Creatures smaller than Small have special rules relating to position
on a tactical map. Very small creatures — Tiny, Diminutive, and
Fine — take up less than one 5-foot square of space, so that more
than one such creature can fit into a single square on a map. For
example, a Tiny creature (such as a hawk) typically occupies a space
only 2.5 feet across, so four can fit into a single square. Twenty-five
Diminutive creatures or one hundred Fine creatures can likewise fit
into a single square.
Space and Reach
A creature’s space is the minimum area (in feet) that they need
to occupy in order to move and act freely, including during
combat. Reach is the general distance around a creature within
which they can make contact with other creatures or objects
without moving.
Space and reach aren’t expressions of a creature’s physical
dimensions. A typical Medium creature isn’t 5 feet wide, for
example, and doesn’t have 5-foot arms. But they effectively fill
that much space as they swing weapons or tools around and
duck out of the way if an attack comes toward them. In combat,
a creature can control an area around them equal to their space.
If a Medium hobgoblin stands in a 5-foot-wide doorway, other
creatures can’t get through unless the hobgoblin lets them.
The number of creatures who can surround another creature in
combat varies depending on the size of those creatures. For
creatures who take up the same space, eight creatures can
generally fit around one other creature, whether that’s eight
Medium or Small creatures surrounding another Medium or
Small creature, or eight Large creatures around another Large
creature. Five Large creatures can typically crowd tightly around
a Medium or smaller creature, while as many as twenty Medium
creatures can surround a Gargantuan one — or even more than
that if some of them are flying.
Moving Around Within Spaces
When creatures aren’t engaged in round-by-round combat, they can
generally move anywhere and in any manner that you can imagine
real people could. A 5-foot-square secret room, for instance, can
hold several characters hiding while standing close together. They
just can’t all fight effectively in that small space. The rules for space
are important for combat, but they shouldn’t impose unnecessary
hindrances on character activities outside of combat.
Measuring Attack Success
The d20 roll plays a big part in determining how high your attack
roll is. But that die roll doesn’t represent how good you are in
combat. How good you are is all about your modifiers to the
roll — from your aptitude, your combat training, your magic,
and your ability modifier. The d20 roll is about all the ways in
which what’s happening in the moment might make your attack
go right or wrong.
When you make an attack roll, you want the total of the roll to
equal or exceed the defense roll made by the target of the
attack. If it does, you hit the target and the attack deals its full
damage and effect. If your attack roll is much less than the
target’s defense roll, the GM might determine that the attack
simply misses. But for attack rolls that are close to but lower
than the target’s defense roll, the attack is a hit with
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Chapter 9: Combat
complications, letting you and the GM work together to
determine what other effects might play into or complicate your
hit.
Defense (237)
As attack rolls are made, this process of determining success,
success with complications, or failure turns those attacks into
twists and unexpected turns in the narrative shaped by the
characters. Taken together with the twists and turns set up by
skill checks and saving throws, those narrative beats help drive
the story of the adventure.
Clear Hit
When an attack roll equals or exceeds a target’s defense roll,
the attack is a clear hit. A character who rolls a 22 against an
enemy’s defense roll of 18 sends their weapon or spell exactly
where they wanted it despite the enemy’s best effort to keep
out of the way. An attacker who rolls low to get an 8 on their
attack roll hits against an even lower defense roll of 6, perhaps
marking an attack where the foe accidentally moves into a blow
that otherwise might have gone astray.
Attacks that Hit
Any rule or effect that makes reference to an attack that hits
includes attacks that result in a partial hit as well as attacks that
result in a clear hit. For example, the Sneak Attack feat deals its full
damage on a clear hit, but can also deal that full damage on a
partial hit if the attacker takes on a serious drawback, or can deal
reduced damage or convert its extra damage to some other effect
on a partial hit, as player and GM determine.
Sneak Attack (273)
Clear Miss
In some circumstances, the GM can rule that an extremely poor
attack roll means the attack is a clear miss. A character who rolls
a 10 against a defense roll of 24 makes no contact with the
intended target, who takes no damage and suffers no effect
from the attack.
Hit With Complications
When your character makes an attack roll that comes close to
the target’s defense roll but doesn’t meet it, you still hit with the
attack — but not quite as well as you wanted to. A hit with
complications means the attack connected with the target to
some degree, but with an extra cost, unexpected effect, or
additional difficulty.
Complications on a hit are decided by the GM for monsters and
NPCs, and by the GM and the player if a character makes the
attack. The GM has the final say in determining possible
complications, and a player is free to ask the GM to decide on a
complication without their input.
The range of complications that can affect how an attack hits are
as wide open as the GM’s and the other players’ imaginations,
but generally fall into four categories.
Judging Success
The decision as to how to interpret an attack roll that isn’t a clear hit
is made by the GM, who uses that decision as a tool to help shape
the story being played out by the characters. The GM judges how an
attack plays out by instinct and a sense of how the outcome might
add to the fun, rather than worrying about a specific comparison
between the attack roll and the defense roll.
265

That said, GMs who want to establish clear breakpoints for how to
assess attack rolls can use the following guidelines:
• The attack roll is 10 or so above the defense roll, or higher — clear
hit with asset
• The roll equals or is a bit higher than the defense roll — clear hit
• The roll is within 5 or so below the defense roll — hit with
complication
• The roll is 10 or so below the defense roll, or lower — clear miss
The GM always has the final say over what an attack roll represents
and how it advances the story.
Partial Hit
For some attacks, an attack roll that’s close to a hit might
indicate that you make only partial contact with the target. A
partial hit might deal half damage, minimum damage (as if the
attacker had rolled a 1 on all damage dice), or limit the attack’s
damage and effects in any other way of the player and GM’s
devising.
When an enemy archer makes a slightly low attack roll to
target a mage, the GM decides that the arrow wings the
mage, dealing half damage. When the mage’s attack roll to
respond with eldritch blast is just barely above a clear miss,
the mage’s player suggests dealing half damage as well,
but the GM decides that the lower roll should deal only
minimum damage.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A warrior rolls low on an attack to strike a red dragon with
an energy surge greataxe channeling lightning damage.
The warrior’s player suggests that the attack deals
minimum weapon damage but full lightning damage, with
the GM agreeing that the lessened contact of the blow still
allows the axe’s magic to connect.
Magic Grimoire/Weapons (ch. 2)
An arcanist’s ranged magic attack roll for the acid arrow
spell is less than the defense roll of the troll targeted by the
casting. The player suggests that the attack should deal
minimum damage each round, wanting to negate the troll’s
regeneration for as long as possible. But the GM decides
that the spell making only partial contact deals full damage
in the first round, then has its magic end early.
Chapter 10/Magic Attack Roll (335)
Alternative Effect
In the thick of combat, any loss of focus can hinder an attacker’s
momentum. A low attack roll might mean that the attack makes
no real contact with the target, but that avoiding the near-hit
leaves the target in a more vulnerable position.
A scout losing a battle against a wight rolls low on a
shortsword attack against the undead. Wanting to focus on
getting out of the fight, the scout’s player suggests that the
attack deal no damage, but that the wight be distracted
enough by the near-miss to not make an opportunity attack
when the scout flees. The GM decides that losing the
attack is too strong a benefit, but gives the wight
disadvantage on their attack roll.
An animyst with a low mace attack roll against a cult priest
thinks about dealing partial damage, but knows that her
greataxe-wielding ally is ready to step up behind her. The
player suggests instead that the animyst’s attack deals no
damage but sends the priest off balance for a moment as
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Chapter 9: Combat
they dodge it. The GM agrees, imposing disadvantage on
the priest’s next defense roll.
A ghoul lays into a warrior with two claws and a bite attack,
hitting with both claws but rolling a partial hit on the bite.
Instead of having the bite deal damage, the GM decides
that the warrior twisting away to avoid the ghoul’s fangs
temporarily breaks their focus — to grant disadvantage on
their saving throw against the ghoul’s immobilizing rend
attack.
Unlucky Outcome
A low attack roll might mean that you hit with the attack, but
that the complication sets up how something else goes wrong
as a result of that success.
A player makes a low attack roll in a tough, face-to-face
sword duel, but wants to deal all the damage of a clear hit.
They suggest a trade-off that leaves their attacking
character off balance and with disadvantage on their next
defense roll. The GM agrees — but decides that the
opponent duelist can use that drawback immediately, by
using a reaction to make an opportunity attack against the
off-balance character.
A mage’s ray of frost spell is cast against an enemy warrior
but has a low attack roll. The GM is fine with the warrior
taking the full effect of the spell, but decides that the
imperfect casting momentarily disrupts the flow of the
mage’s magic, giving them disadvantage on their next
magic attack roll or magic challenge throw.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
The GM decides that a scout’s slightly low attack roll with a
shortbow can be treated as a clear hit, but adds that the
bowstring struck the character’s bow arm to cause short-
term discomfort. The GM offers the player the choice of
having disadvantage on the next attack roll made with the
bow or dealing half damage with their next successful bow
attack.
Hit With a Cost
With the dangers of combat ever-present, a hit with a
complication might mean that an attacker takes damage or
suffers a short-term condition when their attack goes astray.
When an enemy guard makes a low attack roll while
delivering a pounding to an investigator in melee, the GM
decides that the wayward attack is a sign of the guard
getting careless. The attack deals its regular damage, but
allows the investigator to deal 1d4 slashing damage from
the guard accidentally pushing in against the investigator’s
blade.
An archer character makes a low attack roll but wants to
take down a wight on their last legs. The GM agrees to the
player’s suggestion that in exchange for the attack dealing
full damage, the attack throws the character badly off
balance to make them dazed until the end of their next
turn.
Appendix B/Dazed (A9)
Hit With Asset
Just as an attack roll that falls short of the target’s defense roll
can represent a hit with a complication, an attack that greatly
exceeds the defense roll can allow players and GMs to make the
hit even more potent. This might take the form of an even more
266

devastating hit, a one-time benefit for the attacker, a negative
impact on the target and their allies, and more.
A character who rolls exceptionally high on a crossbow
attack against a basilisk might leave the creature reeling,
with the player and the GM deciding that the basilisk has
disadvantage on their next defense roll, or that the first
character targeted by the basilisk’s petrifying gaze has
advantage on their saving throw.
Creature Compendium
A scoundrel’s overwhelming attack against an evil high
priest might inspire the player and the GM to decide that
the attacking character can make a combat maneuver
against the priest as a free action — or against one of their
allies if the attack leaves the priest on the ground.
Grievous Hits as Asset
A grievous hit is a special example of a high attack roll becoming a
hit with an asset. When an attack roll exceeds the defense roll by 20
or more, it is a grievous hit that deals maximum damage on weapon
damage dice. A GM and a player can decide that an attack that
exceeds the defense roll by 20 or more takes a different asset, but
that asset should not be any more valuable than this damage boost.
Likewise, maximum damage on an attack should never be used as
an asset on an attack that exceeds the defense roll by less than 20.
Grievous Hits (294)
Nonlethal Attacks
When creatures meet in combat, the intent on both sides is
often a fight to the bitter end. Whether a dwarf warrior facing off
against a derro clan chief, a wilderness ranger ambushed by an
injured owlbear, or a knight challenging the evil necromancer
whose plots she seeks to undo, two combatants engaging in a
fight to the death is a time-honored element of fantasy
storytelling. Under many circumstances, however, you might
seek out ways to take a foe down without mortally wounding
them, whether because lethal force is anathema to your
character, you know that your foe’s antagonism is a product of a
misunderstanding, or you and your enemy need to talk after the
fight is done.
You declare a nonlethal attack before you make your attack roll.
If the attack hits, you decide whether to deal nonlethal damage
to safely wear your foe down, or to use a combat maneuver to
disrupt their ability to fight.
Nonlethal Damage
When you hit with a nonlethal damage attack, you intentionally
avoid dealing life-threatening damage to your foe by avoiding
the most vulnerable areas of their body, instead targeting their
extremities and nonvital areas to wear them down. Your
nonlethal damage affects the target’s hit points as usual, and
the attack deals its other effects. But the number of successful
nonlethal attacks made against a creature are tracked over the
course of combat. Then, if the creature is reduced to 0 critical
points, each nonlethal attack they have taken increases the
number of death saving throws they can fail before they die,
from the default of three. This helps keep the creature alive
longer so they can returned to life or healed.
A fallen mage who has taken damage from two nonlethal
attacks over the course of combat must still succeed on
three death saving throws to recover with 1 critical point.
But those two nonlethal attacks give him two extra
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Chapter 9: Combat
opportunities to fail death saving throws, so that the mage
can fail up to four death saving throws and still be dying.
Only when he fails a fifth death saving throw does the
character die.
Death Saving Throws (254)
Extra death saving throws a creature can fail as a result of
nonlethal damage attacks reset if the creature dies or restores
any hit points. A creature who is already dying can’t be affected
by a nonlethal damage attack.
Nonlethal Maneuver
When you hit with a nonlethal maneuver attack, you deal no
damage with the attack but can automatically impose the effect
of one combat maneuver on the target. You don’t make the skill
check associated with the combat maneuver, with your hit
instead getting cleanly past your foe’s mental and physical
defenses to set the maneuver up.
Combat Maneuvers (259)
If you have an attack that imposes effects in addition to
damage, those effects are applied to a nonlethal maneuver
attack.
The GM determines whether a combat maneuver is appropriate
for the type of attack you’re making. For example, a bow or
crossbow attack might be used to distract or impede a creature,
but most likely can’t be used to trip them.
Nonlethal Critical Hits
If you score a critical hit on a nonlethal attack, the attack doesn’t
deal the usual combination of critical point damage and defense
point damage. Rather, you deal damage as if the attack was not
a critical hit, then impose the effect of one combat maneuver on
the target, as if making a nonlethal maneuver attack.
Alternatively, you can make the critical hit a nonlethal maneuver
by dealing no damage and imposing the effects of two combat
maneuvers on the target.
Critical Hits (292)
Nonweapon Attacks
Magical energy represents a serious disruption to life energy. As
such, unless a spell description indicates otherwise or a caster
has the Nonlethal Casting feat, spells can’t be used to make
nonlethal attacks.
Chapter 10/Nonlethal Casting (267)
Except for magic weapons, damage-dealing effects from magic
items can’t be used for a nonlethal attack unless the item’s
description says so. Unless the GM rules otherwise, damaging-
dealing items other than weapons (caltrops, alchemist’s fire, and
so on) can’t be used to make a nonlethal attack.
267

Attack Feats
The feats in this section help ensure that a character strikes true
when they attack in combat.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to attacks but has its full write-up in
that other section.
Fast-Start: Combat
Your character’s approach to combat can cover a wide range of
weapons and training. To quickly build a character, select one or
more of the following combat feat packages, each of which costs 5
feat slots. These packages make use of feats from the Attack Feats
section, the Damage Feats section, and the Combat Style feats
section. (The information presented here is also presented as part of
“Feat Packages” in Chapter 1.)
Attack Feats (268); Combat Style Feats (303); Damage Feats (272)
Remember that your choice of feats for weapons must line up with
your choices of what weapons you purchase.
Fast-Start: Weapons and Armor sidebar (274)
Archer
5 Feat Slots
You know that the safest place on any battlefield is as far away from
the action as possible, letting you safely rain down destruction upon
your foes. Take this feat package if you want to focus your combat
skills on fighting at range. You’ll benefit the most from this feat
package if Dexterity is one of your best ability scores.
Weapon Focus (bow group) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to attack
rolls with a longbow, a shortbow, or any other related weapon.
Point Blank Shot ×1: Whenever you make an attack with a ranged
or thrown weapon against a target within 30 feet of you, the attack
has favored damage.
Precise Shot ×1: When you make a ranged attack against a target
who has cover from being in melee with other creatures, that target
does not gain advantage on their defense roll from that cover.
Raging Attacker
5 Feat Slots
You might be as calm as anyone while off the battlefield. But when
the call of combat comes to you, a feral instinct drives you to victory.
Take this feat package if you want to make use of a focused but
unpredictable fighting style. You’ll benefit the most from this feat
package if Strength is one of your best ability scores.
Weapon Focus (heavy axe group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
attack rolls with a battleaxe, a greataxe, or any other related
weapon.
Raging Attack ×1: You channel a state of wild fury in combat,
gaining a d4 boon on weapon attack rolls, favored damage on
weapon attacks, and a d4 boon on combat maneuver skill checks.
However, you have a d4 bane to defense rolls.
Sweeping Attack ×1: When you hit with a melee attack, you can
repeat the attack against another creature within 5 feet, dealing
damage equal to your melee attack ability modifier.
Disorienting Strike ×1: Whenever you score a grievous hit, the
target is also disoriented for one sense of your choice.
Striker
5 Feat Slots
You hit hard, knowing that a single heavy blow can fell even the
most powerful of foes. Take this feat package if you want to do a lot
of damage while sticking always in the thick of the fight. You’ll
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Chapter 9: Combat
benefit the most from this package if Strength is one of your best
ability scores.
Weapon Focus (heavy sword group) ×3: You have a +3 bonus to
attack rolls with a longsword, a greatsword, or any other related
weapon.
Power Attack ×1: You impose a d4 bane on attack rolls with melee
weapons and gain favored damage on those attacks.
Cleave ×1: When you reduce a creature to 0 critical points with a
melee attack, you can make an extra melee attack with the same
weapon against one other creature within reach. (You must have a
Strength of 13 or higher, or must also take the Self Taught feat for
Strength, to take Cleave.)
Stealthy Attacker
5 Feat Slots
Some warriors specialize in hitting hard with heavy weapons, but you
know that a more delicate touch can be just as devastating in battle.
Take this feat package if you want to maximize the potential of your
attack with a lighter weapon — including weapons that are easier to
conceal when you want to stay out of trouble. You’ll benefit the
most from this feat package if Dexterity is one of your best ability
scores.
Weapon Focus (light sword group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
attack rolls with a shortsword, a rapier, or any other related weapon.
Finesse Attack ×1: Your melee attacks with weapons in the light
sword group use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength
modifier for attack and damage rolls.
Sneak Attack ×2: When you have advantage on a melee attack with
a light weapon or finesse weapon, a hit deals an extra 2d6 damage.
(You must have Dexterity 15+ and Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1 to take the
Sneak Attack feat.)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
Weapon Master
5 Feat Slots
You never rely on only a single type of weapon, instead making sure
you always have the right combat tool for the job. Take this feat
package if you want to be a versatile warrior, able to bring the fight
to any type of foe.
Weapon Focus (heavy sword group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
attack rolls with a longsword, a greatsword, or any other related
weapon.
Weapon Focus (heavy pole group) ×2: You have a +2 bonus to
attack rolls with a glaive, a longspear, or any other related weapon.
Weapon Focus (crossbow group) ×1: You have a +1 bonus to
attack rolls with a light crossbow, a heavy crossbow, or any other
related weapon.
Brawler’s Flurry
You make unarmed attacks at a speed that catches your
opponents off guard.
Multiple Attack Feats (297)
Cleave
When you drop a foe, your fury lets you carry on to the next
enemy with an unexpected attack.
Combat Style Feats (303)
268
 Chapter 9: Combat

Finesse Attack Shield Striker

You eschew the force of a brute-strength attack to strike with You have learned to let your shield do double duty in combat.
deadly accuracy. Prerequisites: Armor Training (light or heavy shield group) ×1;
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Weapon Focus (group with a Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×1.
finesse weapon) ×1.
Armor Feats (243); Unarmed Group (284)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29) Benefit: You ignore the bane to defense rolls imposed when
Benefit: When you make melee attacks with a finesse weapon, you make a melee attack with a shield.
you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
modifier as a bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Stunning Strike
Your furious attack leaves your foe reeling.
Deadly Critical Grievous Hit Feats (294)
Your most potent attacks hit with increasingly lethal effect.
Critical Hit Feats (293) Two-Weapon Attack
With a weapon in each hand, you lay into your foes with a
Insightful Attack deadly barrage of attacks.
You rely on your tactical sense and quick reasoning to spot
Multiple Attack Feats (297)
openings in an enemy’s defenses.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus (group with a
light melee weapon) ×1.
Weapon Focus
Your weapon training lends a decisive edge to your attacks.
Benefit: When you make melee attacks with a light or one-
Prerequisites: —
handed weapon, you can use your Intelligence modifier instead
of your Strength modifier as a bonus to attack rolls. Benefit: Choose a weapon group. Your attacks with any weapon
from that group gain a +1 bonus.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Weapons and Weapon Groups table (276)
Lethal Shot Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
By timing your shots with the attacks of your allies, your ranged Each time you do so, you take it for a different weapon group.
attacks gain a deadly potency. You can take this feat nine times for a single weapon group,
Advantage Feats (290) increasing the bonus to a maximum +9.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Point Blank Shot Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
Your ranged attacks against nearby targets have increased
power.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (group with a ranged or thrown
Weapon Mastery
The breadth of your combat skill gives you instinctive insight
weapon) ×1.
into weapons of all kinds.
Benefit: Whenever you make an attack with a ranged or thrown
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1 (three different weapon
weapon against a target within 30 feet of you, the attack has
groups), Weapon Specialization ×1.
favored damage.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with all weapons.
Favored Damage (271)
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. bonus to a maximum +3.

Rapid Attack Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3

Your weapon skill lets you unleash a flurry of attacks. Times Taken 1 2 3

Multiple Attack Feats (297)

Weapon Specialization
Rapid Shot Your specialized training with a single weapon makes you
deadly in combat.
With lightning speed, you pepper your foes with ranged or
thrown attacks. Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (chosen group) ×4.

Multiple Attack Feats (297)
Benefit: Choose a specific weapon from the chosen weapon
group. You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls made with that
weapon.
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
Each time you do so, you take it for a different weapon.

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 Chapter 9: Combat

You can take this feat three times for a single weapon,
increasing the bonus to a maximum +6.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Combat Feats and Chosen Weapons

Most weapon-focused combat feats grant you benefits that you can
apply to attacks you make with any suitable weapons. However,
some combat feats have prerequisites for a “chosen group” or
“chosen weapon,” indicating that the benefit of the feat is limited to
the weapon group or specific weapons you choose. Those feats
work only for a specific weapon group or weapon, and are of no
benefit to attacks you make with other weapons.

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Damage
When you hit with a weapon attack, you roll dice to deal
damage for the attack. The weapon used (including an unarmed
strike and the natural attacks of creatures) determines the
amount of damage the attack deals.
Creature Compendium/Natural Attacks
Each weapon that can be wielded by a Small or Medium
creature uses a specific damage die — a d4, d6, d8, d10, or
d12 — and deals either bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing
damage, depending on the weapon. The damage dealt by your
attack reduces a target’s current hit points.
Hit Points (252); Weapons (274)
Damage Roll
With some attacks, the physical power you put behind the attack
carries over into damage. With other attacks, the weapon alone
determines how much damage the attack deals.
With melee weapons, Strength determines how hard you hit,
affecting both your attack roll and your damage roll. With
ranged weapons, Dexterity determines the accuracy of your
attack but doesn’t add to damage. But for ranged attacks with
thrown weapons, certain composite bows, and slings, your
Strength adds extra power to your damage even though your
Dexterity determines whether you hit or not.
Weapons by Weapon Group (278)
Your damage roll with a melee weapon, a thrown weapon, a
sling, or a composite bow with a strength bonus is:
Weapon damage die roll + Strength modifier
+ weapon damage bonus + magic bonus
+ extra damage
Your damage roll with any ranged weapon except a thrown
weapon, a sling, or certain composite bows is:
Weapon damage die roll + weapon damage bonus
+ magic bonus + extra damage
Damage Modifiers
Your weapon damage bonus increases when you take the
Weapon Prowess feat. Additionally, magic weapons have a
bonus (from +1 to +5) that adds to your damage rolls.
Damage Feats (272)
The Finesse Attack feat lets you add your Dexterity modifier to
damage rolls for finesse melee weapons instead of your
Strength modifier.
Attack Feats (268)
Extra Damage
Extra damage includes any damage over and above that dealt
by a weapon’s damage dice, including damage from feats such
as Sneak Attack or Ruthless Attack, the elemental damage of a
fiery magic sword, and so forth. If extra damage doesn’t specify
a damage type, it uses the damage type of the weapon attack.
For example, a creature with the Ruthless Attack feat deals extra
bludgeoning damage with a quarterstaff and extra slashing
damage with battleaxe.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
Minimum Damage
A negative Strength modifier acts as a penalty on damage rolls,
and other effects might impose a penalty to damage rolls.
Penalties can reduce the result of a damage roll to 0, dealing no
damage, but can’t reduce the roll to less than 0.
Favored Damage
Certain lineage traits, feats, and other features grant favored
damage to your weapon attacks, boosting your damage to
reflect your combat prowess. When you have favored damage
and you hit with a weapon attack, you roll an extra weapon
damage die and use that roll if it is better than any of the other
damage dice rolled. The weapons characters wield typically use
a single damage die, so you roll two dice for favored damage
and use the best roll. Creatures with natural attacks or oversized
weapons who roll multiple dice for their damage roll one extra
die and can use it to replace the roll of one of the attack’s
damage dice.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Favored damage lets you roll an extra die only for an attack’s
weapon damage dice. Damage from magic and feats such as
Sneak Attack is not affected. An attack made with a spell or
other magic can’t use favored damage, even when that magic
takes the form of a weapon or deals damage through a weapon.
If multiple circumstances grant you favored damage on an
attack, you roll one additional damage die for each time you
have favored damage, but you use only the one best result from
all those extra dice.
Damage Types
Weapon attacks, damage-dealing spells, falling from a height, fire
and cold — these and all other effects that deal damage to a
creature’s hit points deal different types of damage. All damage
reduces hit points in the same way, unless magic grants a creature
resistance or immunity to certain damage types.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Each damage type is presented here, with examples of where it
appears in the game.
Acid damage is caused by caustic burning, whether from a vial of
alchemical acid, the acid arrow spell, or the attacks of a black
dragon or mesmeric mouther.
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic (214)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Compendium
Bludgeoning damage is dealt by blunt impact, as with weapons
such as hammers and staffs, the impact of falling or being hit by a
rock, or being punched, slammed, or squeezed by a creature.
Weapons (274)
Cold damage comes from extreme cold, including exposure to
arctic weather, the ice storm spell, or the attacks of a wiirdhar or
white dragon.
Fire damage comes from extreme heat, including contact with fire,
a flame flow spell, or the attacks of a gold dragon or fellhound.
Force damage is disruptive energy channeled through magic,
including a magical bead of force, the magic missile and eldritch
weapon spells, or the attacks of an androsphinx or earth mephit.
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Lightning damage comes from the violent release of electrical
energy, as channeled by lightning storms, a lightning bolt spell, or
the attacks of an arrowhawk or blue dragon.
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Necrotic damage causes a creature’s body to break down, whether

by natural causes such as starvation or suffocation, or the life-
destroying energy of a mask of the skull, a wearying weapon spell,
Damage Feats
the attacks of a shadow, or the breath weapon of a green dragon. The following feats help a character determine how effectively
Chapter 7/Suffocation (177); Thirst and Starvation (176)
and how quickly their attacks can take a foe out of the fight.
Piercing damage is dealt by puncturing and impaling, as with Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
weapons such as spears and daggers, creatures who attack with section, that feat is relevant to damage but has its full write-up
teeth or spines, and falling onto spikes. in that other section.
Psychic damage is mind-destroying energy channeled through
magical sources, including a vicious weapon, the phantasmal killer Bleeding Strike
spell, or the attacks of a banshee or concubus. The wounds you deal with your weapon attacks can quickly wear
Radiant damage is spirit-searing energy channeled through magical your foes down.
sources, such as the circlet of blasting, a flame strike spell, or the
Grievous Hit Feats (294)
attacks of a yilchon or ravid.
Slashing damage is dealt by cutting and tearing, as with weapons
such as longswords and axes, attacks with claws, or sliding along
Endgame Attack
sharp rocks. As your foe wearies, your attacks grow ever stronger.
Thunder damage comes from a concussive pulse of sound, whether Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Healing) ×1, Weapon Focus (any
from a horn of blasting, a thundering smite spell, or the attacks of a group) ×4.
destrachan or yrthak.
Attack Feats (268)
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: On your turn, when you hit with a weapon attack
against a creature who is bloodied, the attack deals an extra 1d6
damage. If you make multiple attacks on your turn, you apply
this feat only to one hit of your choice that you make against a
bloodied creature.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the extra
damage to a maximum 3d6.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Favored Adversary
You know these foes well, and they will feel your wrath.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)

Finesse Attack
You eschew the force of a brute-strength attack to strike with
deadly accuracy.
Attack Feats (268)

Full-Body Fighter
Your unarmed attacks are no less deadly even when your hands
are occupied.
Combat Style Feats (303)

Ruthless Attack
A target who grants you advantage in combat feels the full brunt
of your assault.
Prerequisites: Strength 15+, Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1, Weapon
Focus ×4.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: On your turn, when you use a one-handed weapon or a
two-handed weapon to hit with a melee attack against a target
who grants you advantage, the attack deals an extra 1d8
damage.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)

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 Chapter 9: Combat

If you make multiple attacks on your turn, you apply this feat You can take this feat three times for a single weapon group,
only to the first hit you make with advantage. increasing the bonus to a maximum +6.
You can’t use Ruthless Attack and Sneak Attack on the same Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
attack roll. Times Taken 1 2 3
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the extra
damage to a maximum 3d8.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Sneak Attack
When you have the advantage over a foe, you can catch them
off guard with a devastating strike.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Weapon
Focus ×1.
Benefit: On your turn, when you use a light weapon or a finesse
weapon to hit with a melee attack against a target who grants
you advantage, the attack deals an extra 1d6 damage.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)
If you make multiple attacks on your turn, you apply this feat
only to the first hit you make with advantage.
You can’t use Sneak Attack and Ruthless Attack on the same
attack roll.
Mastery: You can take this feat six times, increasing the extra
damage to a maximum 6d6.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–2 3–4 5–6

Sneak Shot
With perfect precision, you unleash a devastating shot against a
distracted foe.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Perception) ×1,
Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: On your turn, when you hit with a ranged weapon
attack against a target who grants you advantage, the attack
deals an extra 1d6 damage.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Appendix A/Incorporeal (A5)
If you make multiple attacks on your turn, you apply this feat
only to the first hit you make with advantage.
Mastery: You can take this feat six times, increasing the extra
damage to a maximum 6d6.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–2 3–4 5–6

Weapon Prowess
Every attack you make forces a foe to feel your wrath.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (chosen group) ×4.
Benefit: Your attacks with any weapon from the chosen group
gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls.
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
Each time you do so, you take it for a different weapon group.

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Weapons
Your character’s choice of weapons determines many aspects of
the attacks you make in combat. When you want your character
to use weapons effectively, you do so by taking feats that
represent your weapon training, from basic combat proficiency
to the most specialized tactics and attacks.
For the purpose of training, weapons are divided into different
weapon groups — a selection of specific weapons whose form
and function is similar enough that a character trained in the use
of one weapon can employ any weapon in the group with equal
ease.
Fast-Start: Weapons and Armor
The choice of weapons and armor is an important part of building a
martial-focused character. The following equipment packages
collect some of the most common and cost-effective combinations
of armor and weapons, each of which has a fixed cost that comes
out of your 150 gp starting wealth. Make sure that the choice of
weapons and armor in a package lines up with your initial choices
for your Weapon Focus and Armor Training feats.
Armor Feats (243); Attack Feats (268)
Light Melee Package
Cost: 25 gp
Characters who want to be effective in close-up combat but don’t
want to make melee their primary focus do well with this package. It
consists of leather armor and a longsword. Instead of a longsword,
you can instead choose a battleaxe (for a package cost of 20 gp), a
heavy mace or warhammer (22 gp), or a quarterstaff (11 gp). If you
are a Dexterity-based warrior with the Weapon Finesse feat, take a
shortsword instead of a longsword (for a package cost of 20 gp).
Armor (240); Weapons (274)
A character with gold to spare can upgrade to studded leather
armor for an additional 15 gp. A character not using a bow or
crossbow can add a light wooden shield for extra defense at a cost
of 3 gp.
Heavy Melee Package
Cost: 100 gp
A character planning on being a front-line melee combatant gets
good use from this package, which consists of scale mail and a
greatsword. To keep costs down, take a greataxe instead of a
greatsword (for a package cost of 70 gp).
Dedicated Archer Package
Cost: 75 gp
For characters whose preferred mode of weapon combat is
attacking at range, this package consists of a longbow and twenty
arrows. Though crossbows aren’t as quick to use in combat, you can
instead take a light crossbow and twenty bolts (for a package cost of
35 gp).
If you haven’t already purchased armor as part of a melee package,
add leather armor for an additional 10 gp, or studded leather armor
for an additional 25 gp.
Casual Archer Package
Cost: 30 gp
Characters who want to be effective at ranged combat but not make
it their primary focus can take this package — a shortbow and
twenty arrows.
If you haven’t already purchased armor as part of a melee package,
add leather armor for an additional 10 gp, or studded leather armor
for an additional 25 gp.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
Weapon Qualities
Weapons are divided into a number of different and
overlapping qualities, which determine how they’re used in
combat and how easy they are to wield. All weapons are classed
as either one-handed, light, or two-handed weapons, and as
melee weapons, ranged weapons, or thrown weapons. In
addition, some weapons have additional qualities that
determine specific rules for their use.
Melee
A melee weapon is used for creature-to-creature fighting,
allowing you to make an attack against any target within 5 feet
of you. (A melee weapon with the reach quality can be used to
attack creatures farther away.) Though they vary greatly in their
size, the damage they deal, and the way they are used, the
weapons of the heavy sword group, the light sword group, the
heavy axe group, the truncheon group, and more are all melee
weapons.
Ranged
The weapons in the bow and crossbow group are ranged
weapons, used to send ammunition against targets at a
distance. (Though slings operate in a similar fashion to ranged
weapons, the way they are used classifies them as thrown
weapons.) Ranged weapons typically need two hands to fire,
and all require two hands to load with ammunition.
Close and Long Range
In the “Weapons and Weapon Groups” table, any weapon with the
ranged or the thrown quality features two numerical ranges in
parentheses, indicating the distance in feet at which the weapon is
effective. The first number is the weapon’s close range. The second
number is the weapon’s long range. When a ranged attack targets a
creature beyond close range but within long range, the attack is
made with disadvantage. A ranged or thrown weapon can’t be used
to make an attack at beyond its long range, though a weapon can
usually be fired or thrown to harmlessly reach a random point at
greater than long range.
Weapons and Weapon Groups table (276)
Ammunition
Ranged weapons use ammunition: arrows for bows and bolts for
crossbows. When using a bow, a character can draw and nock
ammunition as a free action.
Thrown
Ranged weapons that are only ever hurled to make attacks are
thrown weapons, as are melee weapons that are designed and
balanced to be thrown in addition to being used in melee.
When you make an attack with a thrown weapon, you use your
Dexterity modifier on the attack roll and add your Strength
modifier to the damage roll. It takes coordination and reflexes
for a hurled weapon to reach its target, but the attack carries all
your strength when it hits.
Light
A light weapon is used one-handed, but its weight and balance
makes it especially easy to wield when making multiple attacks.
Light weapons are also easier to conceal than larger weapons.
Multiple Attacks (296)
274

One-Handed
A one-handed weapon requires only one hand to use
effectively, leaving your other hand free to employ a shield or
hold another object.
Two-Handed
By virtue of its size or setup, a two-handed weapon can be
wielded in combat only if you have both hands free, though it
can usually be held or carried in one hand when not in use. You
can’t wield a two-handed weapon while wearing any shield
larger than a buckler, and wearing a buckler imposes
disadvantage on your attack rolls.
Shield Group (242)
Double
A double weapon is held in the center and can be used to
attack with either end, from the simple quarterstaff to the
complex double axe and dire flail. You can use a double
weapon one-handed to make single attacks, but its balance
gives it an edge when used two-handed to make multiple
attacks.
Aggressive
An aggressive weapon is designed to make optimal use of its
wielder’s strength or speed, letting you hit especially hard with
it. When you wield an aggressive weapon, you gain a +1 bonus
to the damage roll.
Charge
A charge weapon is constructed to deal a more devastating
attack when backed up by the force of fast movement. When
you successfully charge before hitting with a charge weapon,
you roll one extra weapon damage die for the attack.
Charge (289)
Disarm
A weapon with the disarm quality is designed to hook into or
help twist away an opponent’s weapon or other held object. A
disarm weapon grants you advantage on your Acrobatics/agility
check when you use the disarm combat maneuver with the
Martial Maneuver feat.
Martial Maneuver (262)
Finesse
A finesse weapon is designed for quick strikes that more easily
get past a target’s defenses. A character who takes Finesse
Attack for a finesse weapon can make melee attacks with supple
dexterity rather than brute strength.
Attack Feats (268)
Heavy
A weapon with the heavy quality is of a weight or length that
makes it unwieldy in the hands of a smaller combatant. A Small
creature has disadvantage on attack rolls with a heavy weapon.
Misfire
All firearms have the misfire quality as a side effect of the
alchemical processes that provide their power. If the number
that accompanies the misfire quality is rolled on the attack roll
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Chapter 9: Combat
for a firearm, it fails and doesn’t fire. It takes a standard action to
reset the weapon, after which it can be fired again.
Reload
All weapons that use ammunition have the reload quality,
indicating what action is required to draw and load ammunition
for each attack. Weapons that require a minor action or a
standard action to reload can have that action reduced by
taking the Fast Reload feat.
Weapon Feats (287)
Certain weapons (including the repeating crossbow and some
firearms) load multiple pieces of ammunition and have two
reload actions, with a number accompanying the first action.
The weapon can be reloaded the number of times indicated
using the first action, then must be reloaded using the second
action before it can be used again.
Reach
A reach weapon is an oversized melee weapon (typically 9 to 12
feet in length), built to extend the distance at which you can
make an attack while you wield it. A reach weapon has a number
or numbers that indicates how many feet away you can attack a
target. A weapon with reach 10 is one that can be used to attack
a target 10 feet away from you, but it can’t be used to attack a
target that is only 5 feet away from you. A weapon with reach 5–
10 can be used to attack creatures who are either 5 feet or 10
feet away from you.
Sunder
Weapons with the sunder quality have a weight and strength
that makes them ideal for smashing through other objects. A
sunder weapon grants you advantage on your Athletics/slam
check when you use the sunder combat maneuver with the
Martial Maneuver feat.
Trip
A weapon with the trip quality is built in such a way as to more
easily upset an opponent’s balance. A trip weapon grants you
advantage on your Athletics/slam check when you use the trip
combat maneuver with the Martial Maneuver feat.
Versatile
A weapon with the versatile quality is a one-handed weapon,
but is built to strike harder when wielded in two hands. When
you make a melee attack wielding a versatile weapon in this
way, you have a +1 bonus to the damage roll.
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WEAPONS AND WEAPON GROUPS

Group/Weapon Cost Damage Critical Weight Length Width Weapon Qualities

Axe Group, Heavy
Battleaxe 10 gp 1d8 S 20/+2d 6 lb. 3 ft. 1 ft. One-handed, melee; sunder, versatile
Double axe 60 gp 1d8/1d8 S 20/+2d 12 lb. 6 ft. 1.5 ft. Double, melee
Greataxe 20 gp 1d12 S 20/+2d 8 lb. 5 ft. 2 ft. Two-handed, melee; heavy, sunder
Halberd 10 gp 1d10 P/S 20/+1d 10 lb. 5.5 ft. 1 ft. Two-handed, melee; charge, trip
Scythe axe 15 gp 1d8 S 20/+3d 10 lb. 4 ft. 2.5 ft. Two-handed, melee; trip
Waraxe 20 gp 1d10 S 20/+1d 7 lb. 3.5 ft. 2 ft. One-handed, melee; sunder
Axe Group, Light
Cleaver 10 gp 1d8 B/S 19–20/+1d 3 lb. 1.5 ft. 1 ft. One-handed, melee; sunder
Handaxe 5 gp 1d6 S 20/+2d 2 lb. 2 ft. 8 in. Light, melee, thrown (30/120); finesse
Hook axe 2 gp 1d6 S 20/+1d 2 lb. 1 ft. 1 ft. Light, melee; disarm, finesse, trip
Sickle axe 15 gp 1d8 S 20/+2d 3 lb. 2 ft. 1.5 ft. One-handed, melee; disarm
Bow Group
Arrows (20) 1 gp — — 2 lb. 24–32 in. 1 in. —
Composite longbow (+1 Str)1 100 gp 1d8 P 20/+2d 3 lb. 5 ft. 2 in. Two-handed, ranged (100/400); heavy, reload
(free)
Composite shortbow (+1 Str)1 75 gp 1d6 P 20/+2d 2 lb. 3.5 ft. 2 in. Two-Handed, ranged (70/280); reload (free)
Longbow 75 gp 1d8 P 20/+2d 3 lb. 6.5 ft. 2 in. Two-handed, ranged (120/480); heavy, reload
(free)
Shortbow 30 gp 1d6 P 20/+2d 2 lb. 4 ft. 2 in. Two-handed, ranged (80/320); reload (free)
Crossbow Group
Bolts (20) 2 gp — — 4 lb. 15–24 in. 1 in. —
Hand crossbow 75 gp 1d4 P 19–20/+1d 2 lb. 14 in. 12 in. Light, ranged (30/120); reload (minor)
Heavy crossbow 50 gp 1d10 P 19–20/+1d 8 lb. 3.5 ft. 2.5 ft. Two-handed, ranged (100/400); aggressive, heavy,
reload (standard)
Light crossbow 35 gp 1d8 P 19–20/+1d 4 lb. 3 ft. 2 ft. Two-handed, ranged (70/280); aggressive, reload
(minor)
Repeating crossbow 150 gp 1d8 P 19–20/+1d 6 lb. 3 ft. 2 ft. Two-handed, ranged (70/280); aggressive, reload
(free 5/standard)
Dagger Group
Baton dagger 2 gp 1d4 B 20/+1d 1 lb. 18 in. 6 in. Light, melee, thrown (30/120); disarm, finesse
Dagger 2 gp 1d4 P/S 19–20/+1d 1 lb. 14 in. 4 in. Light, melee, thrown (30/120); finesse
Hook dagger 2 gp 1d4 S 18–20/+1d 1 lb. 12 in. 6 in. Light, melee; finesse
Wedge dagger 2 gp 1d4 P 19–20/+1d 1 lb. 16 in. 4 in. Light, melee; disarm, finesse
Firearm Group
Bullet charges (20) 5 gp — — 1 lb. —
Pistol 100 gp 1d6 B 20/+2d 2 lb. 8 in. 1.5 in. Light, ranged (40/160); misfire 1, reload (free 5,
standard)
Pocket pistol 75 gp 1d4 B 20/+2d 1 lb. 5 in. 1 in. Light, ranged (30/120); misfire 1, reload (minor)
Long gun 150 gp 1d10 B 20/+2d 6 lb. 4.5 ft. 2 in. Two-handed, ranged (60/240); heavy, misfire 2,
reload (free 5/standard)
Short gun 200 gp 1d12 B/P 20/+1d 5 lb. 3 ft. 2 in. Two-handed, ranged (30/120); heavy, misfire 2,
reload (free 5, standard)
Flail Group
Dire flail 90 gp 1d8/1d8 B+P 20/+1d 10 lb. 6.5 ft. 5 in. Double, melee; aggressive, trip
Hand flail 2 gp 1d6 B 20/+1d 2 lb. 2 ft. 1 in. Light, melee; aggressive, disarm, finesse
Heavy flail 15 gp 1d10 B/B+P 19–20/+1d 6 lb. 5 ft. 6 in. Two-handed, melee; aggressive, heavy, trip
Light flail 10 gp 1d8 B/B+P 20/+1d 4 lb. 3 ft. 4 in. One-handed, melee; aggressive, disarm, trip,
versatile
Hammer Group
Heavy pick 10 gp 1d6 P 20/+3d 4 lb. 2 ft. 3 in. One-handed, melee; versatile
Hooked hammer 20 gp 1d6 B/1d6 P 20/+3d 4 lb. 2.5 ft. 3 in. Double, melee; trip
Light hammer 1 gp 1d4 B 20/+1d 2 lb. 1.5 ft. 3 in. Light, melee, thrown (30/120); aggressive
Light pick 5 gp 1d4 P 20/+3d 2 lb. 1.5 ft. 2 in. Light, melee; finesse
Maul 20 gp 1d12 20/+2d 7 lb. 5 ft. 5 in. Two-handed, melee; aggressive, heavy, sunder
Warhammer 10 gp 1d8 B 20/+2d 5 lb. 3 ft. 4 in. One-handed, melee; aggressive, sunder

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Group/Weapon Cost Damage Critical Weight Length Width Weapon Qualities

Hurled Group
Bolas 5 gp 1d4 B 20/+1d 2 lb. 2 ft. 2 in. One-handed, thrown (30/120); trip
Combat net 20 gp 1d4 B 20/+1d 6 lb. 4 ft. 0.5 in. One-handed, thrown (30/120); trip
Dart 1 gp 1d6 P 20/+1d 0.5 lb. 2 ft. 0.5 in. Light, thrown (30/120)
Sling 1 gp 1d6 B 20/+1d 0.5 lb. 2 ft. — One-handed, thrown (100/400); aggressive, reload
(minor)
Sling bullets (20) 1 gp — — 5 lb. — — —
Throwing stars (20) 2 gp 1d4 P 20/+1d 1 lb. 2.5 in. — Light, thrown (30/120)
Pole Group, Heavy
Glaive 10 gp 1d10 S 20/+1d 6 lb. 7 ft. 6 in. Two-handed, melee; heavy, reach 5–10
Guisarme 10 gp 1d8 S 20/+2d 8 lb. 8 ft. 9 in. Two-handed, melee; heavy, reach 10, trip
Lance 10 gp 1d8 P 20/+2d 6 lb. 6 ft. 3 in. One-handed, melee; charge, heavy, versatile
Longspear 5 gp 1d10 P 20/+2d 5 lb. 9 ft. 2 in. Two-Handed, melee; charge, heavy, reach 10
Ranseur 10 gp 1d8 P 20/+2d 8 lb. 8 ft. 6 in. Two-handed, melee; disarm, heavy, reach 10
Pole Group, Light
Bladespear 20 gp 1d8 P/1d8 S 20/+2d 7 lb. 5 ft. 1 ft. Double, melee; charge
Quarterstaff 1 gp 1d6/1d6 B 20/+1d 3 lb. 6 ft. 1 in. Double, melee; aggressive, finesse
Shortspear 1 gp 1d6 P 20/+1d 3 lb. 5 ft. 1 in. One-handed, melee, thrown (50/200), versatile
Spear 2 gp 1d8 P 20/+2d 4 lb. 7 ft. 1 in. Two-handed, melee, thrown (40/160); charge
Trident 10 gp 1d8 P 19–20/+1d 5 lb. 6.5 ft. 1 ft. One-handed, melee, thrown (50/200); disarm
Sword Group, Heavy
Backsword 20 gp 1d10 S 20/+2d 5 lb. 4 ft. 4 in. One-handed, melee
Bastard sword 35 gp 1d10 S 19–20/+1d 5 lb. 4.5 ft. 6 in. One-handed, melee
Greatsword 50 gp 1d12 S 19–20/+1d 6 lb. 6 ft. 6 in. Two-handed, melee; heavy, sunder
Longsword 15 gp 1d8 P/S 19–20/+1d 3 lb. 3.5 ft. 5 in. One-handed, melee; versatile
Scimitar 15 gp 1d8d S 18–20/+1d 4 lb. 4 ft. 4 in. One-handed, melee
Two-bladed sword 100 gp 1d6/1d6 S 19–20/+1d 5 lb. 6 ft. 3 in. Double, melee; finesse
Sword Group, Light
Falchion 10 gp 1d6 S 20/+2d 2 lb. 2.5 ft. 3 in. Light, melee; finesse
Long-knife 10 gp 1d6 P/S 20/+1d 2 lb. 1.5 ft. 3 in. Light, melee, thrown (30/120); finesse
Rapier 20 gp 1d6 P 18–20/+1d 2 lb. 3.5 ft. 4 in. One-handed, melee; finesse
Shortsword 10 gp 1d6 P 19–20/+1d 2 lb. 2.5 ft. 4 in. Light, melee; finesse
Truncheon Group
Club 1 gp 1d6 B/B+P 20/+1d 3 lb. 2.5 ft. 5 in. One-handed, melee, thrown (30/120); aggressive;
finesse
Greatclub 5 gp 1d10 B/B+P 20/+1d 6 lb. 4 ft. 8 in. Two-handed, melee; aggressive, sunder
Heavy mace 10 gp 1d8 B 20/+1d 5 lb. 3 ft. 5 in. One-handed, melee; aggressive, sunder
Light mace 5 gp 1d6 B 20/+1d 3 lb. 2.5 ft. 4 in. Light, melee, thrown (30/120); aggressive, finesse
Morningstar 10 gp 1d8 B+P 20/+2d 4 lb. 3 ft. 6 in. One-handed, melee; aggressive
Unarmed Group
Gauntlet 2 gp2 1d6 B/B+P 20/+1d 1 lb. — — Light, melee; finesse
Heavy shield 5 gp/20 gp3 1d8 B/B+P 20/+1d 8/12 lb. 4 ft. 2.5 ft. One-handed, melee; sunder
Light shield 2 gp/10 gp3 1d6 B/B+P 20/+1d 5/7 lb. 2 ft. 2 ft. One-handed, melee; finesse, sunder
Unarmed strike — 1d4 B 20/+1d — — — Light, melee; finesse
Whip Group
Lash 5 gp 1d6 S 18–20/+1d 2 lb. 4 ft. 2 in. One-handed, melee; finesse
Spiked chain 25 gp 1d6 P 20/+1d 6 lb. 7 ft. 3 in. Two-handed, melee; finesse, reach 5–10, trip
Sword-whip 30 gp 1d6 S 19–20/+1d 4 lb. 8 ft. 2 in. One-handed, melee; finesse, reach 5–10
Whip 1 gp 1d4 S 20/+1d 2 lb. 12 ft. 2 in. One-handed, melee; disarm, finesse, reach 10–15

1. Each additional point of Strength rating costs an extra 100 gp, to a
maximum +4 for a composite longbow or +2 for a composite
shortbow.
2. Cost for a pair of gauntlets. Spiked gauntlet costs +3 gp, and deal
bludgeoning and piercing damage. A character wearing medium or
heavy armor automatically has gauntlets at no cost.
3. Cost for wooden shield/steel shield. A steel shield can be fitted with
shield spikes at a cost of +10 gp, and deals bludgeoning and piercing
damage.
Armor (240)

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Weapon Statistics
The “Weapons and Weapon Groups” table lists the most
common weapons in the campaign world. The following
information is noted for each weapon.
Cost
The indicated value is the weapon’s cost in gold pieces, when
sized for a Small or Medium creature. Weapons for larger
creatures are more costly.
Weapon Size (285)
Where a weapon comes with miscellaneous gear such as a
scabbard for a sword or a quiver for a bow or crossbow, the cost
includes such gear.
Damage
The Damage column indicates the damage die that is rolled
when an attack using a weapon hits. Double weapons note the
damage for each end of the weapon.
Each weapon also notes an abbreviation for the type of damage
it deals — either bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing. Some
creatures have resistance or immunity to weapon attacks that
can be overcome by weapons that deal damage of a particular
type.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Some weapons deal damage of multiple types, depending on
how they are used. If a weapon has two damage types linked by
“/”, it can deal either type of damage as the wielder chooses. If
a weapon has two damage types linked by “+”, all of its
damage is of both types simultaneously.
Critical
Each weapon has a critical range used to determine when it
scores a critical hit, and a critical modifier used to determine
how many extra damage dice after a critical hit deals its initial
damage.
Critical Hits (292)
Most weapons have a critical range of 20, meaning they score a
critical hit only when the attack roll shows a 20 on the die.
Weapons with a critical range of 19–20 or 18–20 can score a
critical hit when the attack roll shows any number in that critical
range on the die.
Most weapons have a critical modifier of +1d, indicating that
they deal one additional die of damage to a target’s defense
points on a critical hit. For a weapon with a critical modifier of
+2d or +3d, that many extra damage dice are rolled.
Weight, Length, and Width
The weight of each weapon is noted in pounds, with its overall
length and its width at the weapon’s widest point noted in feet
or inches. A weapon’s weight has no effect in combat, but it
counts against your carrying capacity when it is wielded or worn.
The weight, length, and width noted on the table is for weapons
sized for Medium or Small creatures. Weapons for other
creatures are lighter or heavier.
Weapon Size (285)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
Weapons by Weapon Group
The weapon descriptions in this section are generic, but
weapons of the same type crafted in different regions and
according to the traditions of different lineages and cultures can
appear quite different in style and construction. For example,
the techniques used for crafting composite bows vary greatly
across the world according to the availability of materials and
how climate might affect the life of a bow. Likewise, the range of
styles, fittings, and designs for a weapon as ubiquitous as a
longsword might make two longswords from different parts of
the world appear to be wholly different weapons, even though
their combat statistics are the same.
Axe Group, Heavy
These large axes are either single or double bladed, but all can
deal devastating damage with their broad curved blades.
Battleaxe
A sturdy, single-bladed axe that can cut through armor with
ease, a battleaxe is light enough to be wielded one-handed.
Double Axe
This heavy-hafted weapon features a deadly axe head at either
end. A double axe is a double weapon, meaning you treat it as a
one-handed weapon when used with the Rapid Attack feat. You
can wield a double axe in one hand, but you can’t use the Rapid
Attack feat with it if you do.
Double (275); Rapid Attack (297)
Greataxe
A heavy two-handed weapon, the greataxe is favored by
powerful warriors and legendary for its destructive potential.
Halberd
A halberd is a long axe with a solid haft and a relatively small,
spiked head, allowing it to be used for potent slashing or
stabbing attacks.
Scythe Axe
This heavy, two-handed axe features a huge, curved blade that
can slice through armor as easily as it wrenches foes off their
feet.
Waraxe
The waraxe is a heavy two-handed weapon that features a
narrower blade to focus its damage.
Axe Group, Light
These smaller axes are light and quick to wield, but still deal
potent damage with their wide blades.
Cleaver
This short, thick axe can deal a devastating attack with either its
sharpened front edge or its flat back edge.
Handaxe
This small axe is heavy enough for melee combat, but is also
weighted and balanced for throwing.
278

Hook Axe
The hook axe features a downward-facing blade set
perpendicular to the haft, which is equally adept at dealing
damage or catching a foe’s weapons or limbs.
Sickle Axe
This small axe features a heavy blade whose broad curve is
sharpened along its outer edge, and whose inner edge excels at
hooking the enemy.
Bow Group
One of the oldest weapons, the bow is a deadly tool for hunting
and long-range offense. The longbow and the shortbow are
both crafted in their traditional form as a single shaft of resilient
wood, or as composite bows built of and reinforced with
different materials.
All bows require two hands to shoot, but can be held it in one
hand when not in use.
Arrows
Arrows are the ammunition used with bows. Usually crafted of
wood, bamboo, or similar materials, they are fletched with
feathers for accuracy, and fire-hardened or tipped with
sharpened heads of metal, stone, or bone for maximum striking
power.
Drawing and nocking an arrow to be ready to shoot is a free
action. Arrows come in a leather quiver that holds twenty
arrows, and are typically sized for a shortbow or a longbow. If
you use arrows that are drastically too long or too short for your
bow, you have disadvantage on attack rolls.
Any bonuses and benefits you gain for the bow group or a
specific bow, as well as the properties of a magic bow, are
temporarily imparted into arrows when you attack. As well,
magic arrows have their own bonuses and benefits that add to
those of your bow.
If you throw an arrow at a foe or attempt to stab a target with
one, you treat the arrow as an improvised weapon dealing 1d4
piercing damage. None of the bonuses or benefits for feats
you’ve taken for your bow attacks apply to such attacks.
Improvised Weapons (285)
Reusing Ammunition
Ammunition has a 50 percent chance of being destroyed or lost
when shot, but can otherwise be reclaimed for immediate reuse or
for reuse after minor repairs. If you have sufficient time after combat,
you can reclaim half of any arrows, bolts, sling bullets, darts, or
throwing stars you used to attack, and can make any necessary
repairs to the ammunition during a short rest.
Magical ammunition can be reclaimed after combat, but its magic is
spent after being shot, whether it hits or misses. Bullets from
firearms can’t be reclaimed as ammunition, as the alchemical
detonation that launches a bullet causes damage that prevents it
being reused.
Alchemical Ammunition
Master fletchers can incorporate commonly available alchemical
materials into arrows and bolts, creating unique ammunition for
special uses.
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic (214)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Fire Ammunition
These composite arrows have the upper part of the shaft crafted
with more fragile materials than the nock end, typically hollow
bamboo or soft wood scored so as to absorb oil. After soaking for 1
day, fire arrows must be held in a sealed container (usually a glazed
jar or a quiver lined with oilskin) to prevent them from drying out. It
takes a minor action to draw a fire arrow and a minor action to ignite
its oil before shooting it. If there’s no source of fire present to ignite
the arrow, it might take additional actions to spark the tindertwig or
other source of fire used to ignite it.
A fire arrow’s weight and construction reduce the effective range of
any bow used to shoot it by one-half. A burning fire arrow that hits a
target creature deals 1d4 piercing damage plus 1 fire damage, but
fire arrows are more commonly used to ignite oil, thatch, and other
flammable materials at range.
Weight and Cost: As typical arrows or bolts
Smokestick Ammunition
Smokestick arrows are created by treating the head end of regular
arrows with the same alchemical process used to create
smokesticks, so that the smokestick ignites when the arrow strikes
the ground or some other hard surface. A smokestick arrow fills a 5-
foot-radius sphere with thick, opaque smoke centered on the place
where it hits, as a regular smokestick. If it hits a creature, a
smokestick arrow deals 1d4 piercing damage and creates its cloud
around that creature.
Chapter 8/Alchemical Items and Everyday Magic (214)
Weight: 0.5 lb. Cost: 20 gp each
Sunrod Ammunition
These arrows feature brittle shaft pieces fitted into the hollow top
and bottom of a specially constructed sunrod. When fired to strike
the ground or some other hard surface, the head shaft shatters to
activate the sunrod, which casts bright light in a 30-foot radius and
dim light for an additional 30 feet for 6 hours.
A sunrod arrow’s weight and construction reduce the effective range
of any bow used to shoot it by one-half. A sunrod arrow that hits a
creature deals 1d4 piercing damage, and has only a 50 percent
chance of activating the sunrod.
Weight: 1 lb. Cost: 2 gp each
Composite Longbow
A composite longbow is shaped of laminated materials —
typically a combination of wood, horn, sinew, and bone — and
holds its curve even when unstrung. A composite longbow is
compact enough to be used while mounted.
A composite longbow adds your Strength modifier to its
damage rolls, to a maximum of +4.
Composite Bow Strength Rating
A composite bow’s construction and materials allow it to be built
with a stronger draw than a standard bow, letting you apply some or
all of your Strength modifier to your damage rolls. Each composite
bow has a Strength rating indicating the maximum Strength
modifier that can be applied to the bow’s attacks. If your Strength
modifier is higher than the bow’s rating, your bonus to damage rolls
is limited to the bow’s rating. If your Strength modifier is less than
the strength rating of a composite bow, you can still use the bow,
but your bonus to damage rolls is equal only to your Strength
modifier.
A baseline composite bow has a +1 Strength rating. Each extra
point of Strength rating adds 100 gp to a bow’s cost, and can’t be
increased after the bow’s initial construction.
279

Composite Shortbow
A composite shortbow is shaped of laminated materials —
typically a combination of wood, horn, sinew, and bone — and
holds its curve even when unstrung. It offers the least range of
all the bows, but it is the most compact and the easiest to
conceal.
A composite longbow adds your Strength modifier to its
damage rolls, to a maximum of +2.
Longbow
Carved of a solid length of resilient wood from 6 to 7 feet long
unstrung, a longbow offers the best range of any weapon.
However, its length makes it too unwieldy to use while mounted.
Shortbow
A shortbow is carved of a single length of wood, usually from 3.5
to 5 feet long unstrung. It offers good range in combat but is
relatively easy to handle and stow.
Crossbow Group
Crossbows are a favorite weapon among adventurers,
mercenaries, and garrison soldiers, varying in size and ease of
use. Each type of crossbow shares a similar design, featuring a
limb of spring metal or resilient wood whose tension drives a
bolt as a ranged attack. You use a lever to draw the crossbow’s
string back and lock the limb before you load its ammunition.
Using a crossbow requires two hands for loading, and two hands
for shooting except for the hand crossbow. You can shoot a
larger crossbow with one hand, but doing so imposes
disadvantage on your attack roll. Any crossbow can be held in
one hand when not in use.
Bolts
Bolts are the ammunition used with crossbows. Usually made of
hollow-tube metal or fire-hardened wood, they are fletched with
feathers to stabilize their flight, and typically tipped with metal
or bone for the most formidable impact.
Levering back a crossbow’s limb, drawing a crossbow bolt, and
loading it to be ready to shoot is either a minor action or a
standard action, though this can be reduced with the Fast
Reload feat.
Weapon Feats (287)
Bolts come in a leather quiver that holds twenty bolts, and are
sized for a light crossbow or heavy crossbow. If you use bolts
that are drastically too long or too short for your crossbow, you
have disadvantage on attack rolls. A hand crossbow uses bolts
that are 8 to 10 inches long, and which can’t be used in any
other crossbow.
Any bonuses and benefits you gain for the crossbow group or a
specific crossbow, as well as the properties of a magic crossbow,
are temporarily imparted into bolts when you attack. As well,
magic bolts have their own bonuses and benefits that add to
those of your bow.
If you throw a bolt at a foe or attempt to stab a target with one,
you treat it as an improvised weapon dealing 1d4 piercing
damage. None of the bonuses or benefits for feats you’ve taken
for your crossbow attacks apply to such attacks.
Improvised Weapons (285)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Hand Crossbow
A hand crossbow has less range than many weapons, but is
easily concealed. Reloading a hand crossbow is a minor action
that requires two hands.
A hand crossbow’s limb folds down, allowing it to be more
easily stored or concealed. Folding down the limb or locking it
into combat position is a minor action.
Heavy Crossbow
This large crossbow is known for its exceptional stopping power.
Reloading a heavy crossbow is a standard action that requires
two hands.
A heavy crossbow has a fixed limb that can’t be folded down.
Light Crossbow
A light crossbow is designed for an optimal balance of power
and speed. Reloading a light crossbow is a minor action that
requires two hands.
A light crossbow’s limb folds down, allowing it to be more easily
stored or carried. Folding down the limb or locking it into
combat position is a standard action.
Repeating Crossbow
A repeating crossbow is a light crossbow fitted with a lever-
action case holding 5 crossbow bolts. As long as the case holds
bolts, you can reload a repeating crossbow by pulling its
reloading lever as a free action. When the bolt case is emptied,
loading a new case is a standard action.
A repeating crossbow’s limb folds down, allowing it to be more
easily stored or carried. Folding down the limb or locking it into
combat position is a standard action.
Dagger Group
These short blades are ideal for concealment, stealthy combat,
and fast multiple attacks.
Baton Dagger
A baton dagger features a slender, flat-ended shaft rather than
a sharpened blade, designed to punch into a foe with a pinpoint
bludgeoning attack. Its curved handle excels at locking against
an enemy’s weapons.
Dagger
The dagger is a long, slender blade commonly used as a backup
weapon, or by those who like to keep their weapons well
hidden.
Hook Dagger
A single-edged small blade, the hook dagger has an inward
curve that focuses its slashing power.
Wedge Dagger
The long blade of a wedge dagger is rippled to help trap the
blades or hafts of other weapons, and to deliver potent
thrusting attacks.
Firearm Group
First crafted in lands where the development of advanced
alchemy was inspired by the absence of arcane magic,
280

alchemical firearms make up a potent array of ranged weapons.
Unlike a bow or crossbow, a firearm doesn’t convert the
strength of its user into kinetic force. Rather, the weapon
detonates an alchemical charge around a metal bullet to launch
it from the weapon at great speed. The advanced stopping
power of firearms is weighed against the complexity of their
operation, which can cause them to misfire.
Misfire (275)
All firearms except the pocket pistol hold a clip of five bullet
charges, and feature a reloading control that ejects a spent
charge and prepares a new bullet charge to be fired. As long as
a firearm holds bullet charges in a loaded clip, you can reload
the weapon by activating its reload control (typically a pump or
lever) as a free action. Reloading five bullet charges into a clip is
a standard action that triggers opportunity attacks.
Using a firearm requires two hands for loading, and the long
gun and short gun require two hands for shooting. You can
shoot a long gun or short gun with one hand, but doing so
imposes disadvantage on your attack roll. Any firearm can be
held in one hand when not in use.
Bullet Charges
Bullet charges are the ammunition used with firearms. They
consist of brass, iron, or lead bullets set within a worked
container of metal or bone, which holds the alchemical reagent
that provides the weapon’s power.
Bullet charges come in a leather pouch that holds four clips of
five charges. Except for the pocket pistol, charges are usually
loaded into a firearm as a full clip, requiring a standard action.
The crack of a detonating bullet charge is about as loud as the
snap of a crossbow being fired.
Any bonuses and benefits you gain for the firearm group or a
specific firearm, as well as the properties of a magic firearm, are
temporarily imparted into the bullets when you attack. As well,
magic bullet charges have their own bonuses and benefits that
add to those of your firearm.
A firearm bullet is too light to deal damage if thrown, and the
alchemical component of the bullet charge detonates only in
response to the tightly focused force of pulling a firearm’s
trigger. A bullet charge that is struck against a hard surface with
a successful DC 20 Athletics/slam check detonates to deal
damage to the surface and any object used to strike it, as
determined by the GM. A creature in contact with a bullet
charge as it detonates takes 1d4 bludgeoning damage.
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230)
Pocket Pistol
This hand-sized weapon can be concealed virtually anywhere,
though its small size requires its bullet charges to be loaded one
at a time.
Pistol
A light and unassuming weapon, a pistol has significant
stopping power and is easily concealed.
Long Gun
The weapon of dedicated hunters and wilderness scouts, a long
gun features a smooth-bored barrel designed to maximize its
accuracy over distance.
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Chapter 9: Combat
Short Gun
A short gun is a squat firearm designed to maximize damage. Its
design and relatively short range allow a short gun to fire bullet
charges using a traditional solid bullet, or special fragmenting
bullets that deal piercing damage to a target they tear through.
Flail Group
A flail is a multipart weapon, consisting of a haft and a striking
head separated by a length of chain or leather. These weapons
vary in size, but all make use of the formidable momentum their
design provides.
Dire Flail
This two-headed flail features a deadly spiked ball of iron, steel,
or bronze at either end. It is a double weapon, meaning you
treat it as a one-handed weapon when used with the Rapid
Attack feat. You can wield a dire flail in one hand, but you can’t
use the Rapid Attack feat with it if you do.
Double (275); Rapid Attack (297)
Hand Flail
This small flail is easily concealed for close-quarters combat, and
is designed to wrap around an enemy’s weapons. Both of its
hardwood ends can serve as either handle or striking head.
Heavy Flail
This versatile weapon is known for its formidable damage, but
the length of chain or leather that connects its heavy wooden
haft to its metal head can also wrap around a creature’s limbs to
haul them to the ground. A heavy flail with a spiked head deals
piercing damage in addition to bludgeoning damage.
Light Flail
Though its heavy metal ball deals solid damage and can easily
unbalance a foe or knock their weapon away, this flail is light
enough to use in one hand. A light flail with a spiked head deals
piercing damage in addition to bludgeoning damage.
Hammer Group
Building on the form of common tools, the martial hammer is a
heavy bashing weapon whose cast metal head helps maximize
the power behind a strike. The pick is a closely related weapon,
but its head is tapered to focus its damage.
Heavy Pick
With its long wooden haft and heavy head of bronze or iron, a
heavy pick pushes the full power of your swing into its point,
dealing a devastating piercing attack.
Hooked Hammer
The hooked hammer features a heavy hammerhead at one end
and a wickedly curved spike at the other.
A hooked hammer is a double weapon, meaning you treat it as
a one-handed weapon when used with the Rapid Attack feat.
You can wield a hooked hammer in one hand, but you can’t use
the Rapid Attack feat with it if you do.
Double (275); Rapid Attack (297)
281

Light Hammer
Balanced and weighted for throwing, this small hammer’s
momentum gives it better range than many thrown weapons.
Light Pick
Small and easy to conceal, a light pick has a tapered head that
focuses the force of your attack.
Maul
This heavy two-handed hammer can unleash devastating
damage against creatures and objects alike.
Warhammer
Though heavy enough to deal solid damage, a warhammer’s
precision balance allows it to be wielded one-handed.
Hurled Group
The hurled group consists of ranged weapons that are hurled
when used to attack. This includes the sling, which is classed as
a hurled weapon because of how it is used and the space
needed to swing it.
Bolas
Constructed of three spheres of heavy wood or durable stone
connected by leather thongs, bolas are hurled to batter foes
and wrap around their legs, making them ideal for using the trip
combat maneuver at range.
Trip (261)
Combat Net
Woven of durable cord, a combat net is set with weights that
give it impressive momentum when hurled. In addition to the
damage it deals from those weights slamming into a target
creature, a combat net can wrap around a target if it hits,
making it ideal for using the trip or impede combat maneuvers
at range.
Trip (261); Impede (260)
Dart
A dart is a weighted shaft resembling an oversized arrow, and is
intended for throwing. Although darts are thrown weapons, they
are treated as ammunition for the purpose of drawing them,
crafting them, imbuing them with spells such as magic weapon
or keen weapon, and whether they can be recovered after being
thrown.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Darts are usually holstered in a belt or bandolier. Drawing a dart
to throw it is a free action.
If you use a dart as a melee weapon, you treat it as an
improvised weapon dealing 1d6 piercing damage. None of the
bonuses or benefits for feats you’ve taken for your dart attacks
apply to such attacks.
Improvised Weapons (285)
Sling
A simple leather pouch strung on a length of cord or a leather
thong, a sling uses ammunition like a ranged weapon, but it is
treated as a thrown weapon because of how it is used and the
space needed to swing it. As with all thrown weapons, you use
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
your Dexterity modifier for attack rolls with a sling and add your
Strength modifier to damage rolls.
Using a sling requires two hands for loading and one hand for
shooting.
You can hurl ordinary stones with a sling, but stones aren’t as
aerodynamic as sling bullets. A sling attack using a stone is
made with disadvantage.
Sling Bullets
Small spheres typically cast of lead, bronze, or steel, sling bullets
are the ammunition used with a sling. Bullets come in a leather
pouch that holds 20 bullets. Drawing a bullet and loading a sling
is a minor action.
Any bonuses and benefits you gain for a sling, as well as the
properties of a magic sling, are temporarily imparted into the
bullets when you attack. As well, magic sling bullets have their
own bonuses and benefits that add to those of your sling.
If you throw a bullet at a foe, you treat it as an improvised
weapon dealing 1d4 bludgeoning damage. None of the
bonuses or benefits for feats you’ve taken for your sling attacks
apply to such attacks.
Throwing Stars
Throwing stars are palm-sized discs of metal, bone, or heavy
ceramic with their edges cut down to sharpened spikes, and
balanced for throwing. Although throwing stars are thrown
weapons, they are treated as ammunition for the purpose of
drawing them, crafting them, and imbuing them with spells such
as magic weapon or keen weapon.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Throwing stars are usually holstered in a belt or bandolier that
holds twenty throwing stars. Drawing a throwing star to throw it
is a free action.
If you use a throwing star as a melee weapon, you treat it as an
improvised weapon dealing 1d4 piercing damage. None of the
bonuses or benefits for feats you’ve taken for your throwing star
attacks apply to such attacks. Because a throwing star is
sharpened on all sides, you take 1 piercing damage for each
such attack unless you wear suitable gauntlets or other
protection.
Improvised Weapons (285)
Pole Group, Heavy
The weapons of the heavy pole group are built for maximum
reach, featuring deadly blades or spikes set atop long hafts of
wood or metal.
Glaive
A glaive is set with a long, single-edged blade optimized for
broad slashing attacks. It has reach 5–10, so you can use it to
target creatures who are 5 feet to 10 feet away from you.
Guisarme
A polearm set with a curving hooked blade, a guisarme is as
equally deadly on the thrust as it is on the pull back. A guisarme
has reach 10. You can strike opponents 10 feet away with it, but
you can’t use it against closer foes.
282

Lance
A lance is sturdy pole weapon crafted of wood and reinforced
with metal, designed to deal formidable damage on a charge.
As a one-handed weapon, a lance can be easily wielded by a
mounted combatant.
Longspear
With a long bronze or steel head honed to a razor point, this
polearm can be used to make devastating attacks when you
charge. A longspear has reach 10. You can strike opponents 10
feet away with it, but you can’t use it against closer foes.
Ranseur
This polearm is set with a narrow pointed blade with a hook
below, making it extremely effective at disarming foes. A
ranseur has reach 10. You can strike opponents 10 feet away
with it, but you can’t use it against closer foes.
Pole Group, Light
Light pole weapons generally feature a haft of solid wood with a
metal head. They are light enough that many can be thrown, but
are fully optimized for use in melee.
Bladespear
The bladespear is a heavy spear whose lower haft is set with a
broad slashing blade. A bladespear is a double weapon,
meaning you treat it as a one-handed weapon when used with
the Rapid Attack feat. You can wield a bladespear in one hand,
but you can’t use the Rapid Attack feat with it if you do.
Quarterstaff
Shaped and crafted of heavy hardwood, a quarterstaff is a
simple weapon that can prove deadly in the right hands. A
quarterstaff is a double weapon, meaning you treat it as a one-
handed weapon when used with the Rapid Attack feat. You can
wield a quarterstaff in one hand, but you can’t use the Rapid
Attack feat with it if you do.
Double (275); Rapid Attack (297)
A walking stick, a sturdy branch, or a length of wood grabbed
up to use in combat lacks the balance and strength of a properly
crafted quarterstaff. Such an item is treated as an improvised
weapon that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
Shortspear
A short length of balanced wood set with a metal or fire-
hardened point, a shortspear is light enough to be thrown, to be
wielded one-handed in melee, or to be used for quick attacks
with its butt end.
A shortspear is a double weapon, meaning you treat it as a one-
handed weapon when used with the Rapid Attack feat. You can
wield a shortspear in one hand, but you can’t use the Rapid
Attack feat with it if you do.
Spear
Set with a razor-sharp metal head and heavy enough that it must
be used two-handed in melee, a spear is weighted and
balanced to be thrown.
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Chapter 9: Combat
Trident
With a sharpened three-pronged fork as a head, a trident can be
wielded one-handed or thrown. In melee, its multiple tines make
it ideal for disarming enemies.
Sword Group, Heavy
Though they come in many forms, all these heavy blades are the
tools of veteran warriors and the bane of even the most
powerful foes.
Backsword
This heavy sword is impeccably balanced and has a slight curve
to its single-edged blade, allowing you to focus its cutting
power.
Bastard Sword
A bastard sword is a long, heavy blade that deals formidable
damage even while wielded one-handed, but which isn’t as
versatile as lighter blades.
Greatsword
The largest of swords, a greatsword is a heavy, two-handed
blade well known for dealing devastating damage. Greatswords
are too large to be worn at the hip, and so are often set in a
back scabbard or simply carried over the shoulder.
Longsword
Known for its versatility and power, the longsword is the
preferred weapon of many warriors, able to deal damage in a
devastating slash or a piercing thrust.
Scimitar
This long sword has a heavy curve to its single-edged blade,
which is weighted toward the tip for extra cutting power.
Two-Bladed Sword
This long, heavy sword is edged at both ends, with its hilt at the
center of its two blades. A two-bladed sword is a double
weapon, meaning you treat it as a one-handed weapon when
used with the Rapid Attack feat. You can wield a two-bladed
sword in one hand, but you can’t use the Rapid Attack feat with
it if you do.
Double (275); Rapid Attack (297)
Sword Group, Light
These mid-sized bladed weapons are supple and light,
designed for quick and deadly strikes.
Falchion
This small, single-edged sword has a curved blade that
maximizes the impact of its damage.
Long-Knife
This narrow, straight blade is carefully balanced for throwing.
Rapier
A rapier’s light weight and balance make it perfect for quick and
accurate strikes.
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Shortsword
This light stabbing blade is favored as a secondary weapon
alongside a heavier sword, or by those who need a blade that is
easily concealed.
Truncheon Group
The truncheon group covers a variety of weapons designed to
lend weight and strength to a bashing melee attack.
Club
Crafted of resilient hardwood and often reinforced with metal
bands, a club is a simple yet effective weapon. If studded with
nails or spikes, it deals piercing damage in addition to
bludgeoning damage.
A chunk of wood grabbed up to use in combat lacks the balance
and strength of a properly crafted club. It is treated as an
improvised weapon that deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
Improvised Weapons (285)
Greatclub
The greatclub is shaped from a massive wedge of hardwood
and reinforced with metal rods and bands. If studded with nails
or spikes, it deals piercing damage in addition to bludgeoning
damage.
Heavy Mace
Cast of solid metal, this weapon features either a solid or a
flanged head that deals formidable damage to creatures or
objects.
Light Mace
With a solid metal head balanced on a wooden haft, this
weapon is dependable in melee but light enough to be thrown.
Morningstar
A morningstar’s wooden or metal haft set is set with a heavy
metal head studded with deadly spikes.
Unarmed Group
This group covers a variety of attacks made without formal
weapons. An unarmed attack employs only the attacker’s body
and gear, including bashing with a shield or striking with a bare
fist or gauntlet.
Gauntlet
Gauntlets include any metal device that improves the damage
dealt by an unarmed strike, from armored gloves that cover the
entire hand, to a bar or bridge that covers the leading edge of
the fist when a punch is thrown. An unarmed strike made while
wearing a regular gauntlet deals bludgeoning damage, but a
gauntlet set with spikes deals bludgeoning and piercing
damage.
The cost and weight given in the table are for a pair of
gauntlets. Medium and heavy armors (except breastplate)
usually come with metal gauntlets.
Heavy Shield
In addition to wearing a heavy shield for defense, you can bash
foes with it during combat. A regular shield deals bludgeoning
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Chapter 9: Combat
damage. A shield set with spikes deals bludgeoning and
piercing damage.
Light Shield
A light shield (but not a buckler) can be used to make a broad
bash or a quick side strike in combat. A regular shield deals
bludgeoning damage. A shield set with spikes deals
bludgeoning and piercing damage.
Unarmed Strike
Whether a quick backhand strike or a focused punch, an
unarmed strike is a universal attack available to all characters.
Your unarmed strike is considered a melee weapon for the
purpose of taking weapon feats. However, the GM might decide
that you must be wearing bracers, heavy gloves, or some other
protection to use an unarmed strike for certain weapon-based
activities, including blocking or parrying a weapon attack or
sundering an object.
You can make an unarmed strike attack only with your hands,
unless you have an appropriate lineage trait or the Full-Body
Fighter feat.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Full-Body Fighter (303)
Whip Group
Though widely varied in form, the weapons of this group
employ a similar attack style as they are unfurled against your
foes.
Lash
This short whip ends in one or more strands tipped with iron,
steel, bronze, or hardwood to deliver a vicious slashing attack.
Spiked Chain
A length of steel or bronze chain whose links are set with razor-
sharp spikes, a spiked chain can be swung in combat to
devastating effect. A spiked chain has reach 5–10, so you can
use it to target creatures who are either 5 feet or 10 feet away
from you.
Sword-Whip
A length of flexible sharpened steel attached to a wooden haft,
the sword-whip can be used to unleash deadly slashing strikes at
a distance. It has reach 5–10, so you can use it to target
creatures who are either 5 feet or 10 feet away from you.
Whip
Though a whip deals only modest damage, you can use it to
lash out against opponents within a wide area. A whip has reach
10–15. You can use it to target creatures who are 10 feet to 15
feet away from you, but you can’t use it against closer foes.
Drawing and Sheathing a Weapon
Drawing a weapon so that you can use it, or putting it away so
that you have a free hand, requires a minor action. Dropping a
weapon to the ground to be picked up later is a free action. If
your weapon is stored in a pack or otherwise out of easy reach,
drawing it is a standard action.
Drawing ammunition such as arrows, bolts, or bullets is part of
the action used to reload the weapon. Drawing thrown weapons
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treated as ammunition (including darts and throwing stars) is a To calculate a weapon’s damage, find its damage die as sized
free action. for a Medium creature. Then move one number to the right for
each increase in size category, from Large to Huge and so forth.
Improvised Weapons When a weapon becomes large enough that it exceeds a d12
damage die, the progression continues using multiple dice.
Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons end up used in
combat. Because such objects are not weapons or part of any Creature Size (264)
weapon group, if you use an improvised weapon in combat, you A longsword sized for a Medium creature deals 1d8
gain no bonuses to attack rolls or damage from any weapon damage, so a longsword crafted for a Large creature would
feats. When you attack, you use only your Strength modifier (for deal 1d10 damage. This is consistent with a longsword
melee attack rolls, melee damage rolls, and thrown damage sized for a Large creature being roughly the same scale as a
rolls) and your Dexterity modifier (for ranged attack rolls and bastard sword sized for a Medium creature. A longsword
thrown attack rolls). Improvised weapons likewise can’t be used crafted on the scale of a Huge creature would scale up by
with any feat that has Weapon Focus or Weapon Specialization two size categories (Medium to Large to Huge) to deal
as a prerequisite. 1d12 damage, equivalent to a Medium creature’s
A warrior who runs out of long-knives to throw is forced to greatsword.
grab a fireplace poker and hurl it at an oncoming troll,
using her Dexterity modifier for the attack roll and adding Cost and Weight
her Strength modifier to damage if she hits. Even if she has The cost of creating a weapon covers both materials and the
Point Blank Shot, the improvised poker doesn’t gain that labor and knowledge of the crafter. As weapons increase in size,
feat’s benefit. their weight and cost increases.
When a knight finds himself weaponless in the middle of a
pack of vormloeks, he grabs up a length of firewood and WEAPON COST BY SIZE
uses it to strike back. But if he drops a vormloek with the
chair, he can’t use the Cleave feat to make an additional Sized for Creatures
attack with it, since the weapon training underlying his Who Are… Cost Weight
ability to cleave is of no use. Medium ×1 ×1
Large ×2 ×2
As a general rule, an improvised two-handed weapon deals 1d8 Huge ×3 ×4
damage, an improvised one-handed weapon deals 1d6 Gargantuan ×6 ×8
damage, and an improvised light weapon deals 1d4 damage. Colossal ×10 ×16
Choose a damage type that makes sense for the weapon (most
commonly bludgeoning damage). An improvised weapon has a
critical range and modifier of 20/+1d. If thrown, it has a close Larger Reach Weapons
range of 30 feet and a long range of 120 feet. The reach indicated for weapons in this section is for weapons
sized for Small and Medium creatures, extending those
Depending on the nature of the improvised weapon, the GM
creatures’ natural reach of 5 feet. (Many reach weapons are
might determine that repeated attacks with it begin to damage
heavy weapons, however, making them unusable by Small
it. This might impose disadvantage on attack rolls with the
creatures.)
weapon or eventually destroy it.
To calculate the reach of a larger reach weapon, increase it
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230)
reach for a Medium or Small creature by 5 feet for each increase
Melee weapons that are thrown but don’t have the thrown in size category.
quality are treated as improvised thrown weapons. A character A guisarme sized for a Medium creature has reach 10. The
who hurls a longsword at a foe in desperation can’t use any feats same weapon sized for a Large creature would have reach
that would grant benefits to attacks and damage with that 15, while a guisarme sized for a Huge creature would have
weapon in melee combat. Likewise, if the thrown longsword reach 20. A Huge creature with a guisarme can attack foes
attack hits, it deals damage of only 1d6 plus Strength modifier, 20 feet away but can’t attack foes within closer reach (15
rather than the longsword’s 1d8. feet to 5 feet).

Weapon Size A glaive with reach 5–10 for a Medium creature would have
reach 10–15 when sized for a Large creature, or reach 15–20
The weapons in this section are sized for use by Medium and when sized for a Huge creature. A Huge Creature using a
Small creatures, though a Small creature can’t use heavy glaive can attack foes at 15 or 20 feet away, but can’t attack
weapons. Tiny creatures can use light weapons in this section, foes who are closer.
which are typically too small for Large and larger creatures to
Tiny or smaller creatures can’t use reach weapons.
use. Those creatures typically use weapons properly sized for
them, preferring the higher damage those weapons deal.

Damage by Weapon Size

When a weapon increases in size, its damage increases
according to the following progression.
1d4 > 1d6 > 1d8 > 1d10 > 1d12 >
2d8 > 2d10 > 2d12 > 3d10

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Special Materials
Certain materials have innate special properties that make them
favored for weapons and armor. Silver, cold iron, and
adamantine are useful for weapons work, as weapons crafted of
those metals can overcome the damage resistance of certain
creatures. Mithral and darkwood are useful for reducing the
weight of weapons while not sacrificing strength or utility, while
adamantine, mithral, dragon scales, darkwood, and ironwood all
grant armor and shields unique benefits in combat.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Each special material increases the cost of weapons or armor
crafted of that material.
Adamantine
Sometimes called “star-iron” for its unique origins, this rare and
ultrahard metal is found only in the remains of meteorites.
Weapons and tools fashioned from adamantine are harder to
damage than those made of common metals, and grant
advantage on Athletics/slam checks to damage other objects.
Sunder (261)
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230)
Additionally, melee weapons made from adamantine have a +1
bonus to damage rolls. Armor made from adamantine grants its
wearer a +1 bonus to their defense modifier.
Damage (271); Defense (237)
Aside from its strength, adamantine has the same weight and
material properties as steel. Weapons, armor, and shields made
of adamantine are four times their regular cost.
Armor and Armor Groups table (241); Weapons and Weapon
Groups table (276)
Cold Iron
Mined deep underground, cold iron is a magically resonant iron
ore that is anathema to certain magical creatures. It radiates
magic to a detect magic spell until smelted, and must be forged
using special techniques and lower temperatures to preserve its
unusual properties. Cold iron can overcome the damage
resistance of many fey and fiends, but otherwise has the same
weight and material properties as steel.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Weapons made of cold iron are twice their regular cost.
Darkwood
This rare wood is known for its exceptional balance between
strength and weight. Any wooden or mostly wooden item (such
as a bow, an arrow, or a spear) made from darkwood weighs
only half as much as a regular wooden item of that type. A
wooden shield made of darkwood has no armor hindrance.
Darkwood otherwise has the same material properties as typical
wood.
Armor Hindrance (240)
Items made of darkwood are twice their regular cost.
Dragon Scales
The shed scales of dragons are as strong as metal and as supple
as leather, allowing them to be used in place of either material
in the creation of leather, studded leather, and scale mail armor.
A character wearing dragon scale armor has advantage on
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Chapter 9: Combat
saving throws against effects dealing a particular type of
damage, based on the type of dragon.
Damage Dragon
Acid Black, copper
Cold Silver, white
Fire Brass, gold, red
Lightning Blue, bronze
Necrotic Green
Dragon scales otherwise have the same material properties as
the leather or metal they replace.
Items made of dragon scales are twice their regular cost.
Ironwood
The steel-hard material known as ironwood is created from
mundane wood transmuted by the ironwood spell. Ironwood is
as strong, heavy, and resistant to fire as steel, but ironwood
objects can’t be targeted by magic that affects metal.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Weapons, armor, and shields made of ironwood are twice their
regular cost.
Mithral
Mithral is a rare silvery, glistening metal that can be worked to
produce alloys both lighter and harder than steel.
Weapons and tools fashioned from mithral weigh half as much
as items made of steel, and are harder to damage than common
metals because of their inherent hardness.
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230)
Armor (including shields) made of mithral weighs half as much
as armor of steel or bronze, has no armor hindrance, has its
maximum Dexterity bonus increased by 2, and has its arcane
casting check DC lessened by 5. Mithral otherwise has the same
material properties as steel.
Armor and Armor Groups table (241)
Weapons, armor, and shields made of mithral are four times
their regular cost.
Silver
Though silver is too soft to be used in the forging of weapons, it
can be alchemically alloyed with steel to grant a weapon the
ability to overcome the damage resistance of lycanthropes,
certain undead, and other creatures. Steel forged to incorporate
alchemical silver maintains its usual properties.
Creature Compendium
Weapons, armor, and shields made with alchemical silver are
twice their regular cost.
Material Considerations
When using a special material to craft armor, shields, and
weapons, the entire item must typically be crafted from the
special material for it to benefit from the material’s properties. A
suit of chain mail that is half mithral and half steel doesn’t gain
the properties of mithral. Likewise, a battleaxe gains no benefit
from having its haft made of darkwood while most of its weight
comes from its steel axe head.
Where items only partly made of metal use adamantine, mithral,
or cold iron, their metal parts must serve a purpose that can
employ the special material’s properties. Building a crossbow
286

with a limb of adamantine or mithral serves no real purpose, as
any benefit in resisting sundering or decreased weight is offset
by the weapon’s much larger wooden stock. But an arrow whose
head is made of adamantine or silver, or a quarterstaff whose
ends are shod with cold iron can both overcome the damage
resistance of certain creatures, even though most of those
weapons are made of wood.
Armor, shields, and weapons are only ever crafted from one
type of special material. The only exceptions are double
weapons, which can be crafted using different special materials
at each end. For example, a double axe might have one cold
iron head and one silver head, making it equally useful for
fighting fey creatures and lycanthropes. (A double weapon that
has only one part made of a special material increases its cost by
half as compared to a weapon made entirely of the special
material.)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Weapon Feats
These feats help a character define their overall approach to
combat and weapon handling, or allow them to augment their
weapon attacks with unique benefits.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to weapons but has its full write-up
in that other section.
Far Shot
Well-practiced aim lets you send your ranged attacks farther
with perfect accuracy.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Weapon Focus (group with a
ranged or thrown weapon) ×1.
Attack Feats (268)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: When you make a ranged weapon attack, making the
attack at long range doesn’t impose disadvantage on the attack
roll.
Close and Long Range sidebar (274)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fast Reload
With practiced ease, your weapon is reloaded and ready to use
in an instant.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (group with a ranged weapon)
×1.
Benefit: Whenever you use a weapon with the reload (minor)
quality, you treat it as reload (free). Whenever you use a weapon
with the reload (standard) quality, you treat it as reload (minor).
Reload (275)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Incomparable Throw
You can hurl melee weapons with deadly accuracy.
Prerequisites: Strength 13+, Weapon Focus (group with a
thrown weapon) ×4.
Benefit: You treat any melee weapon without a range entry as a
thrown weapon with a close range of 30 feet and a long range of
120 feet. You gain all applicable benefits from weapon feats
you’ve taken for the weapon when you throw it, and well as
ranged attack feats (as with any thrown weapon).
Weapons and Weapon Groups table (276); Weapon
Qualities (274)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Lethal Shot
By timing your shots with the attacks of your allies, your ranged
attacks gain a deadly potency.
Attack Feats (268)
Lunging Strike
With a flourish of movement, you strike farther than your foe
expects.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1, Strength 13+.
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 Chapter 9: Combat

Benefit: As a minor action, you increase the reach of any melee

weapon you wield by 5 feet until the start of your next turn. You
can continue to make attacks within the weapon’s regular reach.
Reach (275)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Quick Draw
Your weapon is out and readied for battle in an instant.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: When you draw a weapon, you do so as a free action
instead of a minor action. If the weapon is hidden, you can draw
it as a minor action instead of a standard action. It still takes a
minor action to sheathe a weapon, and a standard action to
stow or retrieve a weapon in a backpack or pocket.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
Using the Rapid Shot feat with thrown weapons usually requires
the Quick Draw feat.
Multiple Attack Feats (297)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Ruthless Attack
A target who grants you advantage in combat feels the full brunt
of your attack.
Damage Feats (272)

Sneak Attack
When you have the advantage over a foe, you can catch them
off guard with a devastating strike.
Damage Feats (272)

Sneak Shot
With perfect precision, you unleash a devastating shot against
an unsuspecting foe.
Damage Feats (272)

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Advantage
A universal combat option that all characters can use is
advantage. You have advantage whenever your target is
distracted or pressed in a way that prevents them from focusing
all their attention on defending against you. Creatures can grant
advantage when under the effect of certain conditions that
hinder their response to your attacks. But you can also gain
advantage over a foe by using a minor action to charge, feint,
flank, or hide during the fight.
Chapter 5/Actions (83); Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Charge
As a minor action, you can make an Endurance check to run
while moving before you attack, in an attempt to overwhelm
your foe’s defenses. The DC of the Endurance/run check is set
by the GM according to the terrain and other circumstances, as
usual. With a successful check, your speed increases as the GM
determines, and you have advantage on a melee attack or
combat maneuver skill check you make at the end of your move.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
You must move a minimum of 10 feet when you charge. You
don’t have to move in a straight line, but trying to run along a
staggered course increases the DC of the Endurance check.
Because you can’t shift while you run, you can make only one
attack that gains the benefit of a charge.
If you are armed with a weapon with the charge quality, a hit
after charging gains favored damage.
Weapon Qualities (274)
You can charge using your speed, or your flying or swimming
speed if you have one. In consultation with the GM, you can also
make a charge attack involving nonstandard movement — for
example, leaping from a height to land on top of a moving foe.
In such a case, the GM might determine that an Athletics or
Acrobatics check is more appropriate than Endurance.
Feint
As a minor action, you can feint in melee combat to distract a
foe or put them on edge. You make an Acrobatics/agility
check or Persuasion/deception check to feint (your choice),
opposed by your target’s Investigation/insight check or
Perception/spot check (their choice). With a successful check,
the target grants advantage to you on melee attacks and
combat maneuver skill checks until you hit with an attack, until
you succeed on a combat maneuver skill check, or until the end
of your turn.
A goblin scoundrel expertly feints to gain advantage
against the fellhound guarding the door of an assassins’
guild. The goblin has two attacks with their scimitar thanks
to the Rapid Attack feat. If they hit with their first attack,
they deal their Sneak Attack damage and their advantage
against the fellhound ends, letting them make their follow-
up attacks without advantage.
The next round, the goblin feints again but misses with
their first attack, retaining advantage for their second
attack. But when that attack misses, the goblin loses their
advantage at the end of their turn, gaining no benefit when
the fellhound subsequently flees and provokes an
opportunity attack.
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Chapter 9: Combat
You can feint against more than one target if you have more
than one minor action available to you, but you can’t feint
against the same target twice on the same turn. You can’t feint
with a ranged weapon unless you have the Ranged Opportunist
feat. You can’t feint against a creature you can’t observe.
Ranged Opportunist (301)
Flank
When you engage a foe who is within the melee reach of one or
more other enemies, you can time your attacks to take
advantage of the target being distracted by those other threats.
You flank a target as a minor action, causing the target to grant
advantage to you on melee attacks and combat maneuver skill
checks until you hit with an attack, until you succeed on a
combat maneuver skill check, or until the end of your turn.
When you flank, other creatures who have the target within
melee reach gain no immediate benefit. Each of those creatures
must also flank the target as a minor action to benefit from the
target being within your melee reach.
You can flank more than one target if you have more than one
minor action available to you, but you can’t flank the same
target twice on the same turn. You can’t flank with a ranged
weapon unless you have the Ranged Opportunist feat.
Only a creature actively engaging the target in melee can help
you flank that target. This excludes creatures who can’t take
actions, creatures who are unable to attack because they don’t
have a suitable weapon, and creatures with a reach of 0 feet
(including most Tiny and smaller creatures).
Because flanking a target depends on the target splitting their
attention between you and other threats, you can’t flank if the
only other threat against the target is so close to you that the
target can focus on both of you at the same time. Unless the
GM determines otherwise, the space between you and another
creature must be equal to or greater than the target’s space for
you and that creature to flank the target.
Two marauders face off against a hobgoblin warrior (a
Medium creature with a space of 5 feet). As long as the
marauders have at least 5 feet of space between them, they
can each flank the hobgoblin. But if they are standing next
to each other, the warrior can focus on both of them at
once, and flanking is impossible.
The next round, the hobgoblin falls back and her dire wolf
companion surges forward. Because the dire wolf is a Large
creature with a space of 10 feet, the marauders must
spread out farther to force the wolf to divide their attention
between them. With only 5 feet of space between the
warriors, the dire wolf isn’t distracted, and the warriors can’t
flank.
If a foe isn’t threatened by another creature but is distracted by
a different type of meaningful threat (a trap making attacks
against them, flames erupting from the floor, and so on), you
might be able to flank that foe, as the GM determines.
Hide
If you have concealment or cover against another creature, you
can use a minor action to make a Stealth/hide check to conceal
your presence from that creature. If your check is successful, a
sighted creature can’t observe you, and you temporarily gain
total concealment against the creature.
Cover and Concealment (306)
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
289

Combat Assistance
When you lend combat assistance, you use a standard action to
harry a foe within your melee reach who is aware of you, and
who is engaged in combat with a chosen ally of yours. Your
assistance grants that ally advantage on their next attack roll or
combat maneuver against the target, or advantage on their next
defense roll against an attack from the target (the ally’s choice).
The ally must use the advantage or disadvantage before the
end of their next turn, or it is lost.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Advantage Feats
The following feats allow a character to increase their chance of
gaining advantage in combat, or grant additional ways to
exploit that advantage.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to advantage but has its full write-up
in that other section.
Battle Command
Your knowledge of combat tactics allows you to direct your
allies to greater offensive or defensive capability.
Prerequisites: Charisma 15+, Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×1,
Weapon Focus ×4.
Attack Feats (268)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: Whenever you lend combat assistance, you can harry a
foe within 30 feet of you, and you can lend assistance to a
number of allies equal to your Charisma modifier who are
engaged in combat with that foe.
Combat Assistance (290)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Defensive Surge
Your superior reflexes let you stay safe while moving through
combat.
Defense Feats (238)
Demoralizing Charge
Your charge attack strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×4.
Benefit: Whenever you succeed on an Endurance check to run
when you charge, you can make a demoralize combat maneuver
as a free action against each enemy within 5 feet of the path of
your charge. You make one Persuasion check, which acts as the
challenge throw for each creature’s Will save.
Demoralize (260)
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Additionally, any creature you hit with your charge attack is
frightened for 1d4 rounds.
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Expedient Ally
While in close combat with your compatriots, you can quickly
lend power to their attacks.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: You can lend combat assistance to an ally as a minor
action. If you have multiple minor actions to use, you can lend
combat assistance to multiple allies, but you can’t lend
assistance to the same ally twice.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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First Blood
When you have the drop on your enemies, your attacks are
particularly potent.
Combat Round Feats (236)

Focused Defense
An innate sense of your enemies’ movement lets you focus to all
sides of you at once.
Defense Feats (238)

Focused Parry
Your focus on defensive strategy lets you defy your enemies’
attacks.
Defense Feats (238)

Lethal Shot
By timing your ranged attacks with the attacks of your allies,
those ranged attacks gain a deadly potency.
Prerequisites: Point Blank Shot ×1, Sneak Shot ×1.
Attack Feats (268) ; Damage Feats (272)
Benefit: While you are within 30 feet of a target and that target
is engaged in melee with any of your allies, you can use a minor
action to gain advantage on ranged attack rolls against the
target until you hit with an attack, until you succeed on a combat
maneuver skill check, or until the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Ruthless Attack
A target who grants you advantage in combat feels the full brunt
of your attack.
Damage Feats (272)

Sneak Attack
When you have the advantage over a foe, you can catch them
off guard with a devastating attack.
Damage Feats (272)

Sneak Shot
With perfect precision, you unleash a devastating shot against
an unsuspecting foe.
Damage Feats (272)

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Critical Hits
A creature must usually lose all their defense points before they
begin to lose critical points. However, a particularly fortuitous or
skilled attack can deliver mortal damage despite a creature’s
ability to usually shrug damage off. This critical hit deals critical
point damage and defense point damage at the same time.
Regardless of how fine your character’s combat form is (that is,
how many defense points you have remaining), a direct blow to
the head or a dagger in the heart represented by a critical hit
might drop you.
Critical Hit Attack Roll
All weapons have a critical range and a critical damage modifier.
The critical range determines when the weapon scores a
potential critical hit. The critical damage modifier determines
how many extra weapon damage dice are rolled when the
weapon scores a critical hit. For example, a longsword’s critical
range and modifier are 19–20/+1d. This means a longsword can
score a critical hit on a roll of natural 19 or 20 (showing a 19 or 20
on the die), and that a critical hit rolls one extra die of weapon
damage. A battleaxe has a critical range and modifier of 20/+2d.
It can score a critical hit only on a roll of natural 20, but deals
two extra dice of damage when it does.
Weapons (274)
When you make an attack whose natural roll is in your weapon’s
critical range, that attack is a critical hit as long as the result of
the adjusted attack roll is enough to hit against the target’s
defense roll. If the attack is a miss, it remains a miss even if the
roll was in the weapon’s critical range.
A warrior with a +5 bonus to attack rolls with their scimitar
attacks a young black dragon. A scimitar can score a critical
hit on a natural roll of 18–20 for an attack. However, a roll of
18 + 5 gives a 23 against the dragon’s defense roll of 24 —
not enough to hit. As a result, the warrior misses with a roll
of 18 even though that would have been a critical hit
against a lower defense roll. If the attack roll had been a
natural 19 or 20 (for a total of 24 or 25), the warrior would
have hit and scored a critical hit against the dragon.
A natural 20 on the attack roll is always a hit. However, if the
adjusted attack roll doesn’t beat the target’s defense roll, the
automatic hit isn’t a critical hit, dealing only regular damage.
Automatic Hits (264)
The warrior’s wildling ally also has a +5 bonus to attack rolls
with his bastard sword while attacking the black dragon,
rolling a natural 20. In this case, the result of 25 isn’t
enough to hit against the dragon’s defense roll of 28, so
the roll isn’t a critical hit. However, it is an automatic hit like
all natural 20 attack rolls, dealing its regular damage to the
dragon’s defense points.
Critical Hit Damage
When a critical hit is scored, you make your damage roll as
usual, but that damage is applied directly to the target’s critical
points, ignoring any defense points they might have remaining.
Damage (271)
After that critical damage is applied, you roll additional weapon
damage dice using the number noted for your weapon’s critical
modifier. You don’t add any bonuses or extra damage to this
second roll, which is applied to the target’s defense points. If
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Chapter 9: Combat
the target has no defense points remaining, the additional
damage is applied to critical points.
A warrior wields a bastard sword (1d10 slashing damage
and a critical modifier of +1d) and has a +3 bonus to
damage rolls with the weapon. When the character scores a
critical hit against an ogre mercenary, she rolls the attack’s
regular damage first, dealing 1d10 + 3 to the ogre’s critical
points. She then deals an additional 1d10 damage (adding
no bonuses) to the ogre’s defense points. The ogre has full
hit points of 23/20 critical/defense points. If the warrior’s
critical hit attack deals damage of 10 critical points and 6
defense points, it reduces the ogre to 13/14.
The ogre mercenary wields a greataxe (1d12 slashing
damage and a critical modifier of +2d). If he scores a critical
hit with the battleaxe, the ogre rolls his damage as usual
and deals it to the warrior’s critical points, then rolls an
additional 2d12 damage and deals that to the warrior’s
defense points. The warrior has full hit points of 22/10
critical/defense points. If the ogre’s critical hit attack deals
damage of 14 critical points and 12 defense points, the
warrior drops to 6/0 — losing 14 critical points, losing their
full 10 defense points, and then having the extra 2 defense
points applied to critical points.
Because the initial damage on a critical hit is rolled the same as
for a regular hit, the critical hit takes any extra damage added to
the attack, including your usual bonuses plus damage from an
scourge weapon, spells such as elemental weapon, feats such as
Sneak Attack or Ruthless Attack, making a successful charge,
and so forth.
Damage Feats (272)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Weapons (ch. 2)
A longspear (1d10 piercing damage and a critical modifier
of +2d) deals 1 extra die of damage when used during a
charge, so that character who scores a hit using a longspear
while charging deals 2d10 damage plus any applicable
damage bonuses. A critical hit with a longspear deals 1d10
plus bonuses against the target’s critical points, plus 2d10
against the target’s defense points. As such, if a charge
attack using a longspear is a critical hit, the attack deals
2d10 damage plus bonuses to the target’s critical points,
then deals the critical hit’s additional 2d10 damage to the
target’s defense points.
Immunity to Critical Hits
Some creatures are immune to the effect and additional
damage of critical hits. An attack roll that would otherwise score
a critical hit deals damage to such a creature as if it were a
regular attack, with no extra damage dice rolled.
Automatic Critical Hits
A creature who has no ability to respond to your weapon attack
is especially vulnerable. When you hit an immobilized or
unconscious creature with a weapon attack, the attack is an
automatic critical hit that deals maximum damage.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
If the target is immobilized or unconscious because they are
dying, this automatic critical hit imposes two failed death saving
throws, as usual. If the attack’s maximum damage is 25 or
higher, it imposes a third failed death save for exceptional
damage.
Taking Damage While Dying (254)
292

Magic and Critical Hits
Any magical effect (including spells and effects created by
magic items) that requires an attack roll and deals hit point
damage can score a critical hit just as a weapon attack can. Such
an effect has a critical range of 20 and a critical modifier of +0d.
On a critical hit, the effect deals no additional damage, but all
its damage is applied to a target’s critical points. You can’t
increase the critical range of a magical attack.
A magical effect that deals hit point damage but doesn’t require
an attack roll (such as the magic missile spell) can’t score a
critical hit. Any magical effect that requires an attack roll but
doesn’t deal hit point damage (including effects that impose a
penalty to a target’s critical point maximum) can’t score a critical
hit.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Critical Hit Feats
These feats let a character increase the frequency of their critical
hits, or hone the effectiveness and potency of those hits.
Critical Defense
You can roll with the deadly force of an opponent’s attacks.
Prerequisites: Armor Training ×1 or Dodge ×1; Combat Savvy
×4.
Armor Feats (243); Defense Feats (238); Hit Point Feats (255)
Benefit: When you are subject to a critical hit, you can reduce
the critical point damage you take by half, with the remaining
damage taken as defense point damage.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Despicable Finish
Your ruthless precision lets you make your attacks count against
hindered foes.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×7.
Damage Feats (272)
Benefit: When you hit a restrained or stunned creature with a
weapon attack, the attack is an automatic critical hit.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Grievous Critical
You broaden the potency of your most devastating attacks.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×7.
Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: When you score a critical hit, you can forgo all the usual
effects of a critical hit and treat the attack as a grievous hit
instead, maximizing the damage and triggering any effect that
triggers on a grievous hit.
Grievous Hits (294)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Deadly Critical
Your strongest attacks hit with increasingly deadly effect.
Prerequisites: Weapon Specialization (chosen weapon) ×2.
Benefit: When you wield the chosen weapon, its critical range
increases by 1.
Weapons (274)
A warrior who takes Deadly Critical (longsword) ×1
increases that weapon’s critical range to 18–20, from 19–20.
On any roll of 18–20 with the longsword, the warrior scores
a critical hit if the attack hits.
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
Each time you do so, you take it for a different chosen weapon.
You can take this feat three times for a single chosen weapon,
increasing the critical range by a maximum of 3.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
293

Grievous Hits
If your weapon attack roll exceeds a target’s defense roll by 20
or more, you have scored a grievous hit. By virtue of the
overwhelming superiority of your attack, you use the maximum
value for each weapon damage die instead of rolling. A grievous
hit maximizes only the attack’s weapon damage dice. Extra
damage dice from feats such as Sneak Attack, magic, and other
effects are rolled as usual.
Any magical effect (including spells and effects created by
magic items) that requires an attack roll and deals hit point
damage can score a grievous hit just as a weapon attack can.
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Chapter 9: Combat
Grievous Hit Feats
These feats allow a character to channel the fury of a grievous
hit in different ways.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to grievous hits but has its full write-
up in that other section.
Bleeding Strike
The wounds you deal with your weapon attacks can quickly wear
your foes down.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×7.
Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: Whenever you score a grievous hit, in addition to the
usual effects of the attack, the target takes necrotic damage at
the end of each turn equal to the ability modifier you use for the
weapon. If you use this feat against a creature more than once,
the extra damage taken each round increases.
This damage persists until the creature regains any hit points or
is the subject of a successful DC 15 Healing/physical recovery
check made as a standard action.
Healing Damage (257)
Chapter 6/Healing (123)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Debilitating Strike
You know how to sap a foe’s combat prowess when you hit.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×4.
Benefit: Whenever you score a grievous hit, in addition to the
usual effects of the attack, the target takes a −1 penalty to their
Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution modifier (your choice).
Appendix B/Ability Modifier Penalties (A8)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Disorienting Strike
Your target is left senseless by the strength of your assault.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×4.
Benefit: Whenever you score a grievous hit, in addition to the
usual effects of the attack, the target is disoriented for one
sense of your choice. This effect persists until the creature
regains any hit points or is the subject of a successful DC 15
Healing/physical recovery check.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Grievous Critical
You broaden the potency of your most devastating attacks.
Critical Hit Feats (293)
Stunning Strike
Your furious attack leaves your foe reeling.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: Whenever you score a grievous hit, in addition to the
usual effects of the attack, the target is stunned until the end of
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 Chapter 9: Combat

their next turn. The stunned target doesn’t drop held items or
go prone.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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 Chapter 9: Combat

An archer with Rapid Shot ×3 and a speed of 30 feet needs

Multiple Attacks to move 15 feet to get into position for their shot. If they
use a shift to cover that distance, they can make their
By default, a creature can make one attack or one combat
maximum four ranged attacks but have used all the
maneuver as a standard action on their turn. Certain feats allow
available movement of their shift. If they instead use a
you to make multiple attacks or combat maneuvers as a
move to cover that distance, they can make one attack but
standard action, interchanging attacks and maneuvers as you
have an additional 15 feet of movement still available.
wish.
Attacks or combat maneuvers you make that aren’t part of a
Combat Maneuvers (259); Rapid Attack (297); Rapid Shot (297); standard action have no effect on your movement.
Volley Attack (298); Whirlwind Attack (298)
Whenever you make multiple attacks or combat maneuvers, you
use your usual bonuses to attack rolls and combat maneuver
skill checks. However, you take a bane on those attack rolls and
skill checks to represent the difficulty of properly focusing
multiple attacks in a single round, with the bane die depending
on the type of attack and your choice of weapons. Multiple
melee attacks take a d4 bane for light weapons and combat
maneuver skill checks, a d6 bane for one-handed weapons, and
a d8 bane for two-handed weapons. Multiple ranged attacks
take a d4 bane for all weapons and for combat maneuver skill
checks.
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
A bane for multiple attacks and combat maneuvers applies only
to attacks or maneuvers made as part of a standard action.
Attacks you make that aren’t part of a standard action (including
opportunity attacks and attacks made with spells such as haste
and immortal power) take no bane.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
When making multiple attacks or maneuvers, you must declare
that you are doing so before you make your first attack roll. All
your attack rolls and skill checks then take the bane associated
with multiple attacks, even if unexpected circumstances prevent
you from making more than one attack or maneuver. Likewise,
even if you have no bane on your multiple attacks (for example,
because you have the Two-Weapon Attack feat and are making
only combat maneuvers or attacking only with light weapons),
you can’t make a first attack or maneuver, then decide to make
additional attacks and maneuvers.
Multiple Attack Feats (297)

Multiple Attacks and Movement

Making multiple attacks or combat maneuvers in a single round
takes more time and focus than making a single attack or
maneuver. As such, whenever you make multiple attacks or
combat maneuvers as a standard action, your movement is
limited to a shift for your turn. When you shift on your turn to
allow you to make multiple attacks or maneuvers, all the rules
for shifting apply, including not provoking opportunity attacks
for your movement.
Chapter 7/Tactical Movement (166)
A warrior has Rapid Attack ×2, allowing her to make up to
three attacks as a standard action. Like any combatant, she
can make one attack as a standard action and use her move
action to move her full speed (30 feet). However, if she
makes two or more melee attacks on her turn, the only
movement she can make with her move action is a shift to
move half her speed (15 feet).
If you move on your turn before attacking, your ability to make
multiple attacks or combat maneuvers is limited by what type of
move you make.

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Multiple Attack Feats
These feats allow your character to overwhelm their foes with
repeated attacks.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to multiple attacks but has its full
write-up in that other section.
Brawler’s Flurry
You make unarmed attacks at a speed that catches your
opponents off guard.
Prerequisites: Full-Body Fighter ×1, Rapid Attack ×1.
Combat Style Feats (303)
Benefit: Whenever you use a standard action to make multiple
attacks and at least one of those attacks is an unarmed strike,
you can make one extra unarmed strike attack. This extra
unarmed strike takes the usual bane for your multiple unarmed
strike attacks.
Unarmed Group (284)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Cleave
When you drop a foe, your fury lets you carry on to the next
enemy with an unexpected attack.
Combat Style Feats (303)
Rapid Attack
Your weapon skill lets you unleash a flurry of attacks.
Prerequisites: Strength 15+ or Dexterity 15+.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: When you make a melee attack or combat maneuver as
a standard action, you can make one extra attack or maneuver,
interchanging attacks and maneuvers as you wish. As you focus
on speed over accuracy, you take a bane on each attack roll or
combat maneuver skill check you make until the end of your
turn.
Combat maneuvers have a d4 bane. The bane for weapon
attack rolls depends on what type of weapon you use for each
attack.
Weapon Bane
Light d4
One-handed or double d6
Two-handed d8
While wielding a single weapon, you make all your attacks with
that weapon. While wielding multiple weapons, you can make
attacks with any of those weapons as you determine. If you have
the Two-Weapon Attack feat, you can decrease the bane to
attack rolls when making multiple attacks with different
weapons.
Two-Weapon Attack
You can’t combine this feat with any other feat that lets you
make multiple attacks or combat maneuvers as a standard
action. Making multiple attacks or combat maneuvers using this
feat imposes limitations on your movement during the round.
Multiple Attacks and Movement (296)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
number of additional attacks or combat maneuvers you can
make per round to a maximum of three (a total of four attacks or
maneuvers per round).
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
Rapid Shot
With lightning speed, you pepper your foes with thrown
weapons or missile attacks.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+.
Benefit: When you make a ranged attack or combat maneuver
as a standard action, you can make one extra attack or
maneuver, interchanging attacks and maneuvers as you wish. As
you focus on speed over accuracy, you take a d4 bane on each
attack roll or combat maneuver skill check you make until the
end of your turn.
If you use this feat with a weapon that uses ammunition, you
must be able to draw ammunition and reload the weapon as a
free action, or have sufficient minor actions to reload while you
attack. You can’t use rapid shot with any weapon that has the
reload (standard) quality.
Weapon Qualities (274)
If you use this feat with a thrown weapon, you can attack only
with weapons you already wield unless you can draw additional
weapons as a free action. Making more than two thrown
weapon attacks or maneuvers per round usually requires the
Quick Draw feat.
Weapon Feats (287)
You can’t combine this feat with any other feat that lets you
make multiple attacks or combat maneuvers as a standard
action. Making multiple attacks or combat maneuvers using this
feat imposes limitations on your movement during the round.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
number of additional attacks or combat maneuvers you can
make per round to a maximum of three (a total of four attacks or
maneuvers per round).
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
Tactical Acumen
With perfect timing, you lend your quickness in combat to an
ally.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus ×4 or Weapon Focus ×4.
Attack Feats (268)
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: Whenever you make two or more attacks or combat
maneuvers as a standard action, you can instead help an ally
strike. In place of you making one attack or maneuver, you allow
an ally within 30 feet of you who is aware of you to use a
reaction to make a weapon attack or a combat maneuver.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Two-Weapon Attack Weapon

Light
Bane
d4
You can lay into your foes from any angle with equal ease.
One-handed or double d6
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Rapid Attack ×1. Two-handed d8
Benefit: When you use Rapid Attack while wielding two While wielding a single weapon, you make all your attacks with
weapons and make attacks with each of those weapons, you that weapon. While wielding multiple weapons, you can make
decrease or eliminate the bane that applies to your attacks attacks with any of those weapons as you determine. If you have
based on the type of weapon. the Two-Weapon Attack feat, you can decrease the bane to
Weapon Bane attack rolls when making multiple attacks with different
Light — weapons.
One-handed or double d4 You can’t combine this feat with any other feat that lets you
Two-handed d6 make multiple attacks as a standard action. Making multiple
attacks using this feat imposes limitations on your movement
Likewise, when you use Rapid Attack to make a combat
during the round.
maneuver and are wielding no weapon or item other than a
weapon in the unarmed group, you eliminate the bane that Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
applies to your combat maneuver skill checks.
Unarmed Group (284)
To gain the benefit of Two-Weapon Attack with a weapon
attack, you must commit to attacking with each of your weapons
at least once. It isn’t enough to simply have a second weapon
wielded while you attack with one weapon.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Two-Weapon Defense
Your prowess with two-weapon combat lets you fend off an
enemy’s attacks.
Defense Feats (238)

Volley Attack
When your foes cluster together, you unleash a flurry of ranged
attacks against them.
Prerequisites: Rapid Shot ×3.
Benefit: As a standard action, you make a ranged attack against
up to eight creatures you can observe within 10 feet of a point
within your weapon’s close range. As you focus on speed over
accuracy, you take a d4 bane on each attack roll you make until
the end of your turn.
Close and Long Range sidebar (274)
You can’t combine this feat with any other feat that lets you
make multiple attacks as a standard action. Making multiple
attacks using this feat imposes limitations on your movement
during the round.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Whirlwind Attack
When foes press you en masse, you respond with a devastating
flurry of strikes.
Prerequisites: Rapid Attack ×3.
Benefit: As a standard action, you make a melee attack against
up to eight creatures you can observe within your weapon’s
reach. As you focus on speed over accuracy, you take a bane on
each attack roll you make until the end of your turn, with the
bane depending on what type of weapon you use for each
attack.

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Combat Reactions
As battle rages around your character, you must remain
constantly aware of the actions and movement of foes on all
sides of you. By being ready to react to what your enemies do,
you can potentially tip the balance of the fight in unexpected
ways.
Chapter 5/Reactions (86)
Being able to take a reaction even when it isn’t your turn
increases your options during a fight. All creatures can use a
reaction to make an opportunity attack during combat, and
many other combat reactions can be made use of through
instinct or training.
Opportunity Attacks
Sometimes creatures let their guard down in combat or engage
in activities that leave them momentarily vulnerable. When this
happens to an enemy combatant near you, you can capitalize on
their lapse in defense to make an opportunity attack.
An opportunity attack is a single melee attack or combat
maneuver made as a reaction. It uses your usual modifiers for
the attack or maneuver. An opportunity attack made with a
weapon can be a critical hit or grievous hit, like any other attack.
You can’t use any other action except a free action before you
use your reaction to make an opportunity attack. To make an
opportunity attack with a weapon, you must be wielding that
weapon or be able to draw it as a free action. You can use
advantage you already have against a foe when you make an
opportunity attack, but you can’t use a minor action before your
reaction to gain advantage by charging, feinting, or flanking.
Advantage (289)
Threatened Area
Whenever a creature can make a melee attack or a combat
maneuver, they threaten any creature they can potentially target
with the attack or maneuver, which is typically any creature
within their reach. A Small or Medium creature with a reach of 5
feet has a threatened area that extends for 5 feet all around
them.
Small and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons have an
increased reach that lets them threaten creatures farther away
from them. Depending on the weapon, a creature might
threaten the area all the way out to their increased reach, or only
at the end of their reach.
Reach (275)
Members of a gnoll honor guard armed with longspears (a
weapon with reach 10) have their natural reach extended to
10 feet, but can’t attack creatures 5 feet away. Characters
10 feet away from the gnolls risk provoking opportunity
attacks from them, but can act freely while within 5 feet of
the gnolls. However, the gnoll captain is armed with a
glaive with reach 5–10 feet. Characters anywhere within 10
feet of the captain can provoke opportunity attacks.
While in a threatened area, a creature can provoke opportunity
attacks when they move, when they make a ranged attack, or
when they cast a spell or use a counterspell. No other activities
provoke opportunity attacks, even when they resemble the
activities above. For example, a creature using a magical feature
or a nonspell effect from a magic item doesn’t provoke an
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Chapter 9: Combat
opportunity attack, even if that feature or effect creates the
same effect as a spell.
Appendix A/Special Features (A1)
Magic Grimoire/Magic Items (ch. 2)
Moving
When a creature moves within a threatened area or leaves that
area, they provoke opportunity attacks unless their move is a
shift. A creature doesn’t provoke an opportunity attack when
they initially move into a threatened area.
Shifting (167)
You can lessen the threat of opportunity attacks by boosting
your defense rolls before you move, including by using total
defense. As well, the Defensive Surge feat grants advantage on
your defense roll against opportunity attacks provoked by
movement.
Defensive Surge (238); Total Defense (237)
To avoid provoking opportunity attacks while you move, you can
also adopt special movement tactics to get past a foe. You can
make an Acrobatics/agility check to duck or tumble past an
enemy, opposed by the enemy’s Acrobatics/agility check or
Athletics/grab check as they attempt to hold you back. You can
also make an Athletics/slam check to force your way past an
enemy, opposed by the enemy’s Athletics/grab check or
Endurance/stand fast check as they attempt to hold you in
place. On a failed check, you move as intended but the creature
gets an opportunity attack against you.
Smaller and Larger Creatures
Most Tiny and smaller creatures have a natural reach of 0 feet,
meaning they must enter a creature’s space to attack them. This
provokes opportunity attacks as they move through the creature’s
threatened area in doing so. Likewise, such creatures don’t threaten
the space around them, letting other creatures move past them
without triggering opportunity attacks.
Most Large and larger creatures have a natural reach of 10 feet or
more. A creature with a natural reach of more than 5 feet threatens
all the area within its reach. An enemy with greater natural reach
usually gets an opportunity attack against a smaller creature who
approaches them, because that creature must move within the area
of the enemy’s reach before they can attack.
Ranged Attacks
When a creature makes an attack with a ranged weapon or
thrown weapon, their focus on their target and their inability to
parry puts them at the mercy of other foes. Making a ranged
weapon attack provokes opportunity attacks from all creatures
who threaten the attacker, except for the target of the attack.
Attacks (264)
299

Spells and Counterspells
When a creature casts a spell, that magic requires all their focus
and attention, potentially letting nearby enemies catch them off
guard. Casting a spell triggers opportunity attacks, including
casting a spell from a magic item (including a schema, scroll, or
talisman). A creature who uses a counterspell as a standard
action — a surge of raw magical power intended to disrupt
another spell before it can be cast — also triggers opportunity
attacks.
Chapter 10/Counterspell (339); Chapter 10/Spellcasting (320)
Magic Grimoire/Schemas, Scrolls, and Talismans (ch. 2)
When you cast a spell or use a counterspell, you can attempt to
do so defensively to avoid opportunity attacks.
Chapter 10/Casting Defensively (337)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
Combat Reaction Feats
The feats in this section grant a character new options for their
reaction in combat, and allow them to take more than one
reaction in a round.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to combat reactions but has its full
write-up in that other section.
Daunting Spellsong
The power of your song lingers in the hearts of those who hear
it.
Chapter 10/Spellsong Feats (378)
Defensive Opportunist
You turn an opponent’s missed opportunity into an unexpected
counterattack.
Prerequisites: Dodge ×1, Weapon Focus ×4.
Attack Feats (268); Defense Feats (238)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: If a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can
use a reaction to make an opportunity attack against that
creature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Devious Strike
You strike while an enemy is still reeling from another assault.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×4.
Benefit: When a creature takes critical point damage from any
attack or effect, you can use a reaction to make an opportunity
attack against that creature.
You can’t use this feat in response to another attack you make
against the same creature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Divert Missile
With a fluid motion, you safely divert a ranged attack set to
strike you.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: Whenever you are targeted by a ranged weapon or a
thrown weapon, you can use a reaction to give yourself
advantage on your defense roll. If the attack misses, you grab or
deflect the ammunition or thrown weapon (your choice), which
ends up held by you or in a random location within 30 feet of
you determined by the GM.
You must be aware of an attack to divert it, so you can’t use this
feat if you are surprised, attacked by an invisible or hidden
creature, and so forth. You can divert only ammunition and
thrown weapons sized for creatures of your size or smaller.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
This feat has no effect on ranged attacks generated by spells
and other magic, even if those magical attacks take the form of
missiles or thrown weapons.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
300

Focused Defense
An innate sense of your enemies’ movement lets you focus to all
sides of you at once.
Defense Feats (238)
Focused Parry
Your focus on defensive strategy lets you defy your enemies’
attacks.
Defense Feats (238)
Headlong Defense
When you get hit, you know how to get out of the way before
the next attack comes.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+, Skill Focus (Acrobatics ×1).
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: When you take damage from a melee attack, you can
use your reaction to tumble directly away from the attacker,
moving up to half your speed in a straight line through open
spaces, then standing up.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Parting Strike
Creatures attempting to escape your wrath find themselves
unable to avoid your punishment.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1, Skill Focus (Perception) ×4.
Chapter 6/Perception (134)
Benefit: When a creature within 5 feet of you shifts more than 5
feet past or away from you, you can use a reaction to make an
opportunity attack against them.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Quick Reaction
Your swiftness in combat lets you punish multiple foes whose
attention wavers.
Prerequisites: Wisdom 13+ or Dexterity 13+.
Benefit: You can take one additional reaction per round. You
can use a reaction against a specific foe only once per round,
regardless of how many reactions they trigger from you and how
many reactions you have.
A warrior-arcanist has Quick Reaction ×1, giving them two
reactions each round. If one enemy cultist tries to move
away from the character and another makes a full move to
stand up from prone next to them, the character can use
their two reactions to make an opportunity attack against
each cultist. But when the prone cultist first stands, then
tries to run away, the character can make only one
opportunity attack against them even though the enemy’s
actions trigger opportunity attacks twice.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
The warrior-arcanist also has the Reactive Counterspell feat,
and can later attempt to use a counterspell against two
different cultists in the same round. But if they make an
opportunity attack against a cultist who moves away from
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
them, they can’t use a second reaction to use a
counterspell against the same cultist when they start to
cast.
Spellcasting Style Feats (341)
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
number of additional reactions you can take per round to a
maximum of three (a total of four reactions per round).
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
Ranged Opportunist
Your speed with a ranged weapon lets you get the drop on foes
who try to slip past you.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Point Blank Shot ×1, Weapon
Focus (group with a ranged weapon) ×4.
Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: You can use a ranged weapon to make opportunity
attacks within 5 feet of you. To be used for an opportunity
attack, a ranged weapon must be wielded and ready to use. If it
doesn’t have ammunition already loaded, you must be able to
load it as a free action. You can’t use this feat with a spell, even
if the spell produces an effect in the form of a weapon.
Like all reactions, the ranged opportunity attack you make with
this feat doesn’t trigger other opportunity attacks.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Reflexive Defense
You can roll with a potentially lethal blow.
Hit Point Feats (255)
Relentless Pursuit
Your focus in battle keeps your chosen foe close at hand.
Prerequisites: Constitution 13+.
Benefit: When an enemy within 5 feet of you shifts, you can use
a reaction to follow that enemy at half your speed, moving into
spaces they vacate. If you are prevented from doing so or if the
enemy has more movement than you, you remain in the last
space from which you could follow.
If you have more than one reaction, you can use this feat
multiple times to pursue a creature who shifts away from you
multiple times. However, you can’t use it twice to pursue an
enemy who shifts once at higher speed.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Shield Protector
Your skill with a shield protects your allies as well as you.
Prerequisites: Armor Training (shield group) ×1.
Benefit: While you are wielding a shield, when a creature you
can observe attacks a target other than you who is within 5 feet
of you, you can use a reaction to impose disadvantage on the
attack roll.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Sidestep
Your quick movement lets your enemy’s attack pass by you to
strike another.
Prerequisites: Dodge ×1.
Defense Feats (238)
Benefit: When a creature you can observe misses you with a
melee attack, you can use a reaction to redirect the attack
toward another creature of your choice within the attack’s reach.
The new target makes their defense roll against the same attack
roll that missed you. You can’t redirect the attack toward the
attacker.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Slowing Strike
Creatures charging past you find their movement hindered by
your precise strike.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: Whenever you make an opportunity attack triggered by
movement, if your attack hits, the target is slowed until the end
of their turn.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Smaller Target
By carefully gauging the movements of a larger foe, you can
make a fast counterstrike.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus (any group) ×4.
Benefit: When a creature larger than you who you can observe
makes a melee attack against you, you can use a reaction to
make an opportunity attack against that creature after the initial
attack is resolved.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Spell Slayer
Your focused enmity rattles any spellcaster within reach of your
attack.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×4.
Benefit: Whenever a creature within your melee reach makes a
Magic check to cast a spell defensively, that creature has
disadvantage on the check. If the check fails, you can use a
reaction to make an opportunity attack against the creature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Combat Styles
For characters who make combat their focus, choosing the right
weapons and then boosting your attack and damage rolls with
those weapons makes a simple recipe for success. But combat is
about more than just sheer hitting power, and your character
has numerous options for becoming more battle-effective in
specialized ways.
Some combat styles let you focus on expanding the scope of
your attacks or dealing extra damage under certain
circumstances. Others allow you to customize your attacks or
trade off defense for power. You can combine multiple combat
styles that offer singular approaches to different aspects of
combat, choosing different combat style feats to create a
unique fighting style all your own. Or you can focus on a combat
style built around a chain of related feats, such as how the
Raging Attack feat lets you customize and improve a focused
and furious combat style that makes you a potent threat on the
battlefield.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 9: Combat
Combat Style Feats
These feats grant a character situational combat benefits that
help define their own unique fighting style.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to combat style but has its full write-
up in that other section.
Brawler’s Flurry
Your unarmed attacks hit with a speed and precision that
catches your opponents off guard.
Multiple Attack Feats (297)
Cleave
When you drop a foe, your fury lets you carry on to the next
enemy with an unexpected attack.
Prerequisites: Strength 13+, Weapon Focus ×1.
Attack Feats (268)
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: When you reduce a creature to 0 critical points with a
melee attack on your turn, you can make an extra melee attack
with the same weapon against another creature within reach.
You can’t move or take any other action before making your
Cleave attack. If any Cleave attack drops a creature to 0 critical
points, you can make another Cleave attack if another creature
is within reach.
Hit Points (252)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Defiant Combatant
Your focus in combat pushes your body past its breaking point.
Hit Point Feats (255)
Full-Body Fighter
Your unarmed attacks are formidable, even when your
movement is restricted.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×1.
Benefit: Backed by the power of your entire body, your
unarmed strike attacks deal 1d6 damage instead of 1d4.
Additionally, you can make unarmed strike attacks or grapple
combat maneuvers with any part of your body, including if both
your hands are occupied or if your arms and legs are bound. If
your entire body is bound to a fixed object (for example, if you
are tied to a chair), your ability to use an unarmed strike or to
grapple is left to the GM’s discretion.
Grapple (260); Two-Handed (275); Unarmed Group (284)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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• A d4 boon on combat maneuver skill checks

Ground Game
Being sent off balance does nothing to hinder your combat
prowess.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: While you are prone, you ignore the disadvantage on
combat maneuver skill checks and attack rolls imposed by being
prone, and you have advantage on skill checks made to feint.
Feint (289)
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Lunging Reach
Your flexible fighting style lets you close the distance to your
foes.
Prerequisites: Constitution 13+, Weapon Specialization (any
melee weapon) ×1.
Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: As a minor action, you increase your reach with melee
weapons by 5 feet until the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Potent Shot
You put extra power into your ranged attack, even at the risk of
lessening your accuracy.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus (group with a
ranged or thrown weapon) ×1.
Benefit: As a free action at the start of your turn, you impose a
d4 bane on your attack rolls with ranged or thrown weapons,
and gain favored damage on those attacks. This effect lasts until
the start of your next turn.
Favored Damage (271)
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Power Attack
You sacrifice accuracy in the name of throwing everything you
have into your melee attack.
Prerequisites: Strength 13+, Weapon Focus (group with a
melee weapon) ×1.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: As a free action at the start of your turn, you impose a
d4 bane on your attack rolls with melee weapons, and gain
favored damage on those attacks. This effect lasts until the start
of your next turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Raging Attack
You enter a frenzied state that heightens your melee prowess.
Combat Maneuvers (259)
• A d4 bane on defense rolls
Your rage lasts a number of minutes equal to your Constitution
modifier (minimum 1 minute), or until you fall unconscious.
When your rage ends, you are slowed and weakened for 1d6
rounds. You can’t use your rage again until these conditions
end.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Constitution modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Ranged Opportunist
Your speed with a ranged weapon lets you get the drop on foes
who try to slip past you.
Combat Reaction Feats (300)
Repositioning Strike
Your well-timed movement gives an ally the opportunity to
improve their position.
Prerequisites: Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus (any group) ×1.
Benefit: When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can
use a minor action to choose an ally within 5 feet of the target
creature who is aware of you. That ally can use a reaction to
shift.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Ruthless Attack
A target who grants you advantage in combat feels the full brunt
of your attack.
Damage Feats (272)
Shield Protector
Your skill with a shield protects your allies as well as you.
Combat Reaction Feats (300)
Shield Striker
You have learned to let your shield do double duty in combat.
Attack Feats (268)
Sneak Attack
When you have the advantage over a foe, you can catch them
off guard with a devastating attack.

Prerequisites: Weapon Focus ×1. Damage Feats (272)

Benefit: As a minor action, you can fly into a state of rage to

boost your effectiveness in combat. While raging, you gain the Sneak Shot
following benefits and drawbacks: With perfect precision, you unleash a devastating shot against
an unsuspecting foe.
• A d4 boon on weapon attack rolls
• Favored damage on weapon attacks Damage Feats (272)

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 Chapter 9: Combat

Spell Slayer
Your focused enmity rattles any spellcaster within reach of your
attack.
Combat Reaction Feats (300)

Sweeping Attack
The force of your attack carries through to more than one
enemy.
Prerequisites: Weapon Focus (group with a melee weapon) ×1.
Benefit: When you hit a creature with a melee attack, you can
repeat the attack against another creature within 5 feet of the
first creature who is also within your reach. That second creature
makes a defense roll against your original attack roll, taking
damage equal to the ability modifier you use for your attack on
a hit. A hit with this second attack doesn’t trigger its own repeat
attack with this feat.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Cover and Concealment
The regular rules for combat assume that you and your foes are
fighting in the open, and that sighted creatures on either side of
the fight have good visibility. When your ability to observe or
strike at a target is hindered, combat becomes more
challenging.
Cover
A creature has cover when they are protected from attack by a
physical obstacle or barrier — standing behind a wall, hiding
behind a tree or pillar, being around a corner from a foe, and so
forth. Cover boosts a creature’s defense, making them harder to
hit because attacks might strike the cover instead. When a
creature has cover, they have advantage on defense rolls.
Defense (237)
Because cover is determined by how much of a target is
protected, it is relative to the size of the target.
A human animyst jumps behind a 4-foot-high wall, gaining
cover from the wall against the greatclub attacks of a
hallaek on the opposite side. However, the GM determines
that the giant gains no cover from the animyst’s inflict
moderate wounds spell, since the wall is short enough that
it leaves most of their body still vulnerable to attack.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Compendium
Total Cover
A creature has total cover when they are entirely protected by a
physical barrier — standing behind a high wall, crouched behind
a low wall, on the other side of a closed door, and so on. A
target with total cover can’t be targeted by attacks.
Negating Cover
In melee, the most effective way to negate cover is to simply
move around it. An attacker who steps around a corner or
climbs to the top of a low wall ends the cover a target enjoys on
the other side of those barriers.
For ranged attacks, cover is typically more effective the closer a
target is to it. A creature directly next to a low wall is harder to
hit with a longbow attack at a distance, but if that creature
moves far enough back from the wall that the wall no longer
blocks an archer’s view of them, the cover is lost.
Creatures and Cover
Any creature who can’t move — including creatures who are
immobilized, restrained, stunned, or unconscious — can provide
cover just like an object.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
A combatant making a ranged attack at a target engaged in
melee combat must aim through a barrier of moving bodies that
makes the target more difficult to hit. A creature engaged in
melee has cover against ranged attacks, but the Precise Shot
feat allows a ranged attacker to negate this cover.
Cover and Concealment Feats (307)
Concealment
A creature has concealment if sighted creatures can’t see them
clearly, whether they are obscured by shadow or dim light,
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Chapter 9: Combat
smoke or fog, a screen of branches, and so forth. A target with
concealment is harder to hit because an attacker can’t judge
their position and movement clearly. When a creature has
concealment, combat maneuver skill checks and attack rolls
made against them have disadvantage.
Total Concealment
A creature has total concealment if sighted creatures can’t see
them at all, most commonly because they are in darkness, are
hidden, or are invisible. When a creature has total concealment,
combat maneuver skill checks and attack rolls made against
them have disadvantage, as for concealment, and the creature
can’t be targeted by attacks unless the attacker can locate them.
Additionally, they have advantage on combat maneuver skill
checks and attack rolls against creatures who can’t observe
them.
Locating Unobserved Creatures sidebar
Locating Unobserved Creatures
To attack a creature who can’t be observed, including invisible
creatures and other creatures with total concealment, an attacker
must have some way to judge the creature’s location. This includes
seeing their tracks in dirt or on a dusty floor, observing mist or
foliage shifting with their passage, hearing telltale sounds, catching
their scent (if the attacker has the scent special feature), and so on.
Appendix A/Scent (A6)
If the signs marking a creature with total concealment are clear, an
attacker can usually locate them automatically. Otherwise, it takes a
successful Perception check (a minor action) to locate the creature,
with a DC set by the GM according to how badly they reveal their
presence. If a creature is successfully located, an attacker treats
them as if they only had concealment until the end of the attacker’s
turn, attacking with disadvantage on the attack roll.
Player’s Guide/Skills (ch. 6)
A creature with total concealment who doesn’t move or make any
sound usually can’t be detected, but an attacker can try to guess
which space they’re in before attacking.
Ignoring Concealment
Concealment isn’t always effective. Areas of natural darkness
don’t provide concealment against foes with darkvision, and
creatures with low-light vision or darkvision can see clearly in
areas of natural shadow. Creatures with clearsense or truesense
ignore all concealment.
Appendix A/Special Features (A1)
Concealment is of no benefit against effects that fill an area.
Gaze Attacks
Because a gaze attack requires a creature to make momentary
eye contact with another creature, anything that obscures vision
hinders that contact. If either the gazing creature or the target
can’t see the other clearly because of concealment, the target
has advantage on their saving throw.
Appendix A/Gaze Attacks (A4)
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COVER AND CONCEALMENT

Target has… Effect Example

Cover and Concealment Feats
Cover Target has advantage on Target is partly behind a wall, These feats allow a character to manipulate or adapt cover and
defense rolls tree trunk, or pillar, or partly concealment to become even more effective in battle.
around a corner
Total cover Target can’t be attacked Target is entirely behind a Combat Awareness
high wall or closed door, or An instinctive sense of the world around you lets you fight
prone behind a low wall effectively even if your target is obscured.
Concealment Combat maneuvers and Target is in shadow, dim
attacks against target light, smoke, or fog, or
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Perception) ×1, Weapon Focus ×1.
have disadvantage; behind tree branches Attack Feats (268)
target has advantage on Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
saving throws against
Benefit: When you make an attack against a target with
gaze attacks
concealment, you negate the disadvantage on your attack roll.
Total Combat maneuvers and Target is in total darkness or
You also have advantage on Perception checks made to guess
concealment attacks against target is invisible, or the attacker is
at the location of creatures you can’t observe.
have disadvantage; sight disoriented
target can’t be attacked Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
unless located, and is
immune to gaze attacks;
target has advantage on
Elusive Target
By weaving through your foes in melee, you thwart other
attacks against creatures
enemies trying to get the drop on you.
who can’t observe them
Prerequisites: Dexterity 15+, Dodge ×1.
Tactical Map — Cover and Concealment Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
If you are playing on a tactical map, you can track cover and Benefit: When you are engaged in melee with two or more
concealment with more precision. To determine whether a target foes, you have cover against melee attacks in addition to cover
has cover or concealment against an attack, imagine straight lines against ranged attacks.
running from the corners of the attacker’s space to the corners of
the target’s space. If any of those lines pass through or touch the Cover and Concealment (306)
corner of any square that provides cover or concealment, that cover Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
or concealment applies to the target.

Cover, Concealment, and Hide Checks
If you have cover or concealment, you can make a Stealth check
to hide. If you have total cover or total concealment, you
automatically can’t be seen, but you might need to make Stealth
checks to avoid being heard, or to hide from creatures with
clearsense, tremorsense, or truesense.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
Appendix A/Special Features (A1)
Precise Shot
Even around and through obstacles, your ranged attacks strike
with deadly accuracy.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Perception) ×1, Weapon Focus
(group with a ranged or thrown weapon) ×1.
Benefit: When you make a ranged attack against a target who
has cover from being in melee with other creatures, that target
does not gain advantage on their defense roll from that cover.
Cover and Concealment (306)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Stealth Shot
You keep an especially low profile while attacking at range.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Weapon Focus ×1.
Benefit: When you make a ranged attack while hidden and you
miss, you can immediately make a DC 15 Stealth check as a free
action to remain hidden. If you are being directly observed, you
can’t make this check to hide without additional distraction
(including your target being attacked by other creatures) or a
change in the circumstances granting you concealment or cover,
as usual.
Chapter 6/Stealth (140)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Underwater Combat
Most land-based creatures find moving and fighting in water
difficult. The rules in this section apply whenever creatures are in
water that is chest-deep or deeper, whether they swim, wade, or
move along the bottom of a body of water.
Weapon Attacks
Water hinders the free movement of most weapons, making
them less effective in combat. Melee weapon attacks made
underwater have disadvantage, except for attacks with light
weapons. Ranged weapon attacks (including with thrown
weapons) have disadvantage, except for attacks with crossbows
and thrown pole weapons — the shortspear, the spear, and the
trident. Ranged weapon attacks underwater can’t be made
beyond close range.
Weapons (274)
The alchemical power sources of firearms function underwater,
but firearms used underwater double their misfire range, so that
a pistol has misfire 2, a long gun has misfire 4, and so forth.
Visibility and Concealment
The GM determines visibility underwater, based on the
murkiness of the water and available light. As a rule, visibility in
clear water extends to 120 feet, or to the range of a creature’s
darkvision if no light is present. Visibility in murky water is 30 feet
or less. Beyond the range of visibility underwater, all creatures
have total concealment. Creatures might have concealment in
murky water, as the GM determines.
Cover and Concealment (306)
Appendix A/Darkvision (A3)
If creatures on land attack creatures underwater, or vice versa,
the targets of those attacks have concealment.
An invisible creature underwater remains invisible, but produces
a faint outline where the water is displaced around them.
Creatures attempting to locate an invisible underwater creature
have advantage on their Perception checks.
Appendix A/Invisible (A5)
Movement Underwater
Creatures without a swimming speed move at half speed while
underwater, and typically make Endurance checks to swim.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Underwater Magic
Most spells and other magical effects work independently of the
environment around them, and function fully underwater. Spells
that deal energy damage might produce additional short-term
effects of the GM’s determination.
Chapter 10/Casting Underwater (338)
Mounted Combat
Not all combat in an adventure takes place face to face between
enemies on foot. When you ride into combat on a trusty mount,
you lend strength to your attacks and can gain powerful benefits
against foes on the ground.
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Chapter 9: Combat
Mounts in Combat
At the start of each turn that you ride a mount in combat, you
make a Nature/animal handling check to control that mount.
Warhorses, warponies, and riding dogs are trained for battle
and easier to control. Regular horses and ponies react in fear to
combat and can be difficult to control. Unusual mounts such as
pegasi, hippogriffs, monstrous arachnids, and so forth are
combat-ready if they have been trained, but not if they are wild.
While you ride a mount, you share their space, which is typically
larger than yours. An enemy doesn’t need additional reach to
target you with a melee attack while you ride a mount, except at
the GM’s determination. For example, if you ride a warhorse, a
Small creature lying on the ground next to you might not be
able to reach you, though they could target the warhorse.
Optional Rule: Simplified Mounted Combat
If your campaign features only minimal mounted combat, or you
want only to play out a mounted chase scene or two, you can forgo
the full mounted combat rules in favor of the following simplified
guidelines:
• Any mount can be ridden in combat, and doesn’t panic or bolt
even if attacked.
• Unless you ride a mount trained for combat, you must make a DC
15 Nature/animal handling check as a free action at the start of
each turn. On a failed check, you must use your standard action to
control your mount, leaving you unable to attack or cast spells that
turn.
• If you attack while mounted, you can’t make multiple attacks, even
if your mount doesn’t move or makes only a shift for their
movement.
• A mount trained for combat can make one attack per round on
your initiative. They can’t make multiple attacks even if they don’t
move or make only a shift for their movement. A mount not
trained for combat makes no attacks.
• You must use your standard action to direct your mount to take
any special action, including leaping and running.
Mount Actions
A mount you ride acts on your initiative count but takes their
own actions. You dictate what your mount does with their
actions on your turn by first controlling the mount as a move
action. Controlling a trained mount in combat requires a DC 5
Nature/animal handling check. Controlling an untrained mount
in combat requires a DC 15 Nature/animal handling check. If
you succeed on the check, you direct the mount’s movement
and actions, effectively gaining the mount’s move action in
exchange for the move action you use to control them. If you fail
the check, you can try again as long as you have additional
actions with which to do so. Otherwise, the GM controls the
mount for that round.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
The DCs above assume that you are using one hand to control
your mount with reins or an equivalent control device. To leave
both hands free for combat, you must control your mount with
your knees, which raises the DC of the check to control the
mount by +5.
308

A trained mount not under your control won’t typically flee
combat, but they avoid danger if they can (including not
attacking unless they are under imminent threat). An untrained
mount not under your control flees combat as fast as they can,
using two move actions per turn and making an Endurance
check to run if possible.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
Riding Actions
While you ride a mount, you can use a number of special
actions. With the exception of making a fast mount or dismount,
you can’t use any riding actions if you haven’t first succeeded on
your check to control your mount.
Leap Your Mount
As a minor action, you can make your mount leap obstacles as
part of their movement. The mount makes their Athletics check
to jump, then you make a DC 10 Acrobatics or Athletics check to
hang on. If you fail your check, you must attempt to stay on your
mount.
Chapter 6/Acrobatics (110); Athletics (112)
Staying on Your Mount
Spur Your Mount to a Run
As a minor action, you can spur your mount to increase their
speed to a run. The mount uses their minor action to make an
Endurance check to run, as usual.
Take Mounted Cover
As a minor action, you can make a DC 15 Nature/animal
handling check to drop down and hang alongside your mount.
On a successful check, you gain cover against enemies on the
opposite side of your mount until the start of your next turn,
though your mount remains open to attack. On a failed check,
you must attempt to stay on your mount.
While using your mount as cover, you can’t attack, cast spells, or
take other actions deemed to be too complicated by the GM.
Saddle Vault
Clambering onto a mount or swinging down off them is a move
action. As a minor action, you can attempt to vault onto or off of
your mount with a successful DC 15 Acrobatics/agility check. On
a failed check, you can mount or dismount as a move action as
usual, or can try to vault on or off again if you have sufficient
minor actions.
You must attempt a saddle vault to get onto or off of your
mount if the mount is moving. If your mount has no saddle, your
Acrobatics check is made with disadvantage. You can’t make a
saddle vault if your mount is more than one size category larger
than you.
Staying on Your Mount
In response to any event that makes it difficult to stay on your
mount, you must succeed on a DC 15 Reflex saving throw to do
so. This includes any of the following scenarios:
• Your mount fails a check made to jump.
• Your mount is tripped, immobilized, stunned, or becomes
unconscious
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
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Chapter 9: Combat
• You fail a check to hang onto a leaping mount or to take
mounted cover.
On a failed save, you fall from your mount and go prone, and
take 1d6 bludgeoning damage if your mount is on the ground. If
your mount is flying, you take damage from falling as usual.
Chapter 7/Falling (177)
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
If you fall off a conscious mount, the mount continues to move if
they were doing so on your previous turn, and avoids combat
until you or another creature establishes control over them.
Fighting While Mounted
As long as your mount is under your control, you can make
attacks while you ride. You can make an attack from the back of
a mount against any creature you could attack from the same
space, except as determined by the GM. For example, a Small
foe might stay low and close to your mount to keep out of the
reach of your melee weapons.
A mount under your control can make attacks of their own as a
standard action, independent of your own attacks. They can
attack targets you designate or choose those targets themself,
as you determine.
On any round in which you or your mount make multiple attacks,
your mount’s movement is limited to a shift.
Multiple Attacks and Movement (296)
At the GM’s determination, the position and movement of other
creatures on the battlefield might limit the number of attacks
you can make while you are mounted. For example, if your
mount moves twice while shifting past a line of foes, you would
have no difficulty targeting two or more foes with individual
attacks. You would have more trouble targeting multiple attacks
against the same foe, since you will have moved past the foe as
your first attack finishes.
Mounted Opportunity Attacks
If you successfully control your mount at the start of your turn,
you can direct their reactions until the start of your next turn.
This means that your mount can make opportunity attacks under
your direction, even as you make opportunity attacks of your
own.
Opportunity Attacks (299)
When your mount moves while you ride them, both of you
trigger opportunity attacks for that movement, and you can
both be targeted by creatures who can reach you. Other
opportunity attacks triggered by you or your mount can be
targeted only at whichever of you triggered the opportunity
attack.
Mounted Charge
If you successfully control your mount using your move action,
you can use your minor action to direct them to charge. Your
mount uses their own minor action to make an Endurance check
to run for the charge, while your minor action lets you use the
mount’s momentum to gain the benefit of the charge on your
own melee attack. With a successful charge, both you and your
mount have advantage on a melee attack or combat maneuver
skill check you make at the end of your move.
Charge (289)
309

Mounted Combat Maneuvers
You are limited in your use of combat maneuvers while riding a
mount, as the GM determines. You can usually attempt any
maneuver that can be accomplished without direct contact, such
as the confound or demoralize maneuvers. But if you can’t make
the necessary contact, you might be unable to shove or trip a
rider (or their mount, if size appropriate).
If you are successful in making a shove or trip combat maneuver
against a rider, that rider’s saddle, stirrups, and grip on their
mount keeps them from being automatically moved or going
prone. The rider can make a second saving throw to stay on
their mount, as above.
Combat Maneuvers (259)
Mounted Ranged Combat
You can use ranged weapons while mounted without difficulty,
as long as the weapon isn’t too large to be used while mounted
and your mount makes no more than a single move. If your
mount moves twice in one turn (including shifting) or runs, you
have disadvantage on ranged attack rolls until the start of your
next turn.
Weapons (274)
Mounted Spellcasting
A mount making a single move doesn’t impede your
spellcasting. If your mount moves twice in one turn (including
shifting) or runs, you are distracted and must succeed on a
Magic check to cast spells (including spelltouched
manifestations and primordial invocations).
Chapter 10/Casting While Distracted (337)
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Chapter 9: Combat
Mounted Combat Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to fight more
effectively from the back of a creature trained as a mount.
Close-Quarters Riding
Your tight control of your mount allows you to direct them into
even the tightest spaces.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Nature) ×4.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: While you ride your mount, they can squeeze through a
space that is half as wide as their usual space without reducing
their speed or being weakened.
Chapter 7/Squeezing (168)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fast Saddle Vault
You waste no time getting onto or off of your mount in combat
Prerequisites: Strength 13+.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
Benefit: You can make a saddle vault onto or off of your mount
as a minor action without needing to make an Acrobatics/agility
check. Alternatively, with a successful DC 15 Acrobatics/agility
check, you can vault onto or off of your mount as a free action.
In either case, you can also pull one other creature of your size
or smaller with you to or from the saddle.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Mounted Attack
You know how to use the size and momentum of your mount to
your advantage in battle.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Nature) ×1.
Benefit: While you ride your mount, any weapon attacks you
make have favored damage.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Mounted Casting
Your experience in the saddle means your magic isn’t hindered
while riding.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Nature) ×1; one of Spellcaster ×1,
Spelltouched Caster ×1, or Primordial Caster ×1.
Chapter 10/Primordial Magic Feats (383); Spellcasting Feats (322);
Spelltouched Magic Feats (381)
Benefit: While riding a mount, you can cast spells (including
spelltouched manifestations and primordial invocations) without
being distracted. You can be still be distracted by other factors
while riding.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Mounted Defense
Your riding skill lets you pull your mount away from an attack in
the nick of time.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Nature) ×4.
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Benefit: When your mount is hit by an attack, you can make a

Nature/animal handling check as a reaction, with a DC equal to
the attack roll. On a successful check, the hit is negated.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Mounted Shot
Even in motion and in the thick of combat, your arrows find their
mark.
Prerequisites: Mounted Defense ×1, Weapon Focus (group
with a ranged weapon) ×4.
Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: You negate the disadvantage on attack rolls with
ranged weapons when your mount moves twice in one turn or
runs.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Ride-By Attack
Your spur your mount on with a burst of extra speed after a
charge.
Prerequisites: Mounted Defense ×1.
Benefit: When you are mounted and make a charge attack, your
mount can continue moving after you attack if they have
movement remaining. You and your mount don’t trigger
opportunity attacks from the target of the attack for this
additional movement, though the movement triggers
opportunity attacks from other creatures. If your mount didn’t
attack the target with you, they can make their own attack at the
end of the charge.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Thundering Charge
You use the momentum of your mounted charge to deal
devastating damage.
Prerequisites: Ride-By Attack ×1, Weapon Focus ×4.
Benefit: When you hit with a charge attack while mounted, you
roll an extra weapon damage die. If your attack uses a charge
weapon, you roll its extra damage die as well.
A knight with this feat who uses a lance in a successful
mounted charge attack deals 1d8 piercing damage plus
modifiers, plus an extra 1d8 damage for making a charge
attack with the lance, plus an extra 1d8 damage for the
mounted charge — a total of 3d8 piercing damage plus
modifiers.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Combat Round Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Favored Terrain Skill Focus (one of Dungeoneering, In specific terrain, gain +2 to skills, +2 to 1 2 3 — — —
Nature, Perception, or Stealth) ×1 initiative. 1 2 3 — — —
First Blood First Strike ×1, Weapon Focus ×4 In round 1, gain advantage on attack rolls 1 — — — — —
against creatures with lower initiative. 1 — — — — —
First Strike — Gain a +2 bonus to initiative rolls. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Ready Combatant First Strike ×1 Remain surprised only until the start of 1 — — — — —
your turn. 1 — — — — —

Defense Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Accustomed Defense Dodge ×1, Skill Focus (Investigation) ×1 When a creature hits you, gain a d8 to 1 — — — — —
defense rolls against that creature. 1 — — — — —
Defensive Mastery Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus ×1 Gain a boon on defense rolls and take a 1 — — — — —
bane on attack rolls. 1 — — — — —
Defensive Surge Dodge ×1 Advantage on defense rolls against 1 — — — — —
opportunity attacks triggered by 1 — — — — —
movement.
Divert Missile Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus ×1 Gain advantage on defense roll and divert 1 — — — — —
ranged or thrown attack. 1 — — — — —
Dodge Dexterity 13+, Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×1 Gain a +1 bonus to defense modifier. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Evasive Shot Dexterity 13+, Point Blank Shot ×1, Do not trigger opportunity attacks for 1 — — — — —
Weapon Focus (group with ranged or making a ranged attack. 1 — — — — —
thrown weapon) ×4
Focused Defense Dodge ×2, Mobile Defense ×1 As a reaction, negate a foe’s advantage 1 — — — — —
from feinting or flanking you. 1 — — — — —
Focused Parry Weapon Focus (group with melee With wielding a melee weapon, use a 1 — — — — —
weapon) ×1 reaction to gain advantage on a defense 1 — — — — —
roll.
Hardened Defense Strength 15+, Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4, Add Strength modifier instead of Dexterity 1 — — — — —
Toughness ×1 to defense modifier. 1 — — — — —
Instinctive Defense Wisdom 15+, Skill Focus (Perception) ×1 Add Wisdom modifier instead of Dexterity 1 — — — — —
to defense modifier. 1 — — — — —
Mobile Defense Dodge ×1 While your speed isn’t 0, you never have 1 — — — — —
disadvantage on defense rolls. 1 — — — — —
Spell Shield One of Great Fortitude ×4, Iron Will ×4, Gain +2 on saves against spells. 1 2 3 — — —
or Lightning Reflexes ×4 1 2 3 — — —
Two-Weapon Defense Dodge ×1, Two-Weapon Attack ×1 Gain a boon on defense roll when wielding 1 — — — — —
two weapons. 1 — — — — —
Unarmored Defense — Gain +2 to defense rolls while using no 1 2 3 — — —
armor or shield. 1 2 3 — — —

Armor Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Armor Optimization Armor Training ×1 No disadvantage on Acrobatics and 1 — — — — —
Stealth checks with armor or shield. 1 — — — — —
Armor Training — Use armor with a minimal check penalty. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Armored Arcane Casting Spellcaster (arcane) ×1, Armor Training Reduce your arcane casting check while 1 — — — — —
×1 you wear armor. 1 — — — — —

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Buckler Fighter Armor Training (shield group) ×1 Negate disadvantage when wearing a 1 — — — — —
buckler and using a weapon with your 1 — — — — —
shield arm.
Shield Cover Armor Training (shield group) ×1 Add your shield’s defense bonus to Reflex 1 — — — — —
saves. 1 — — — — —
Shield Protector Armor Training (shield group) ×1 Use a reaction to impose disadvantage on 1 — — — — —
an attack against a nearby creature. 1 — — — — —
Shield Striker Armor Training (chosen shield group) ×1; Ignore bane to defense rolls when you 1 — — — — —
Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×1 make a melee attack with your shield. 1 — — — — —

Saving Throw Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Attentive — Advantage on saves that would make you 1 — — — — —
disoriented. 1 — — — — —
Cogent Focus — Advantage on saves that would make you 1 — — — — —
dazed. 1 — — — — —
Death’s Door — Advantage on death saving throws.
Elemental Aversion Great Fortitude ×1 or Lightning Reflexes Advantage on saves against mundane 1 — — — — —
×1 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. 1 — — — — —
Evasion Lightning Reflexes ×4 Reduce damage on a successful Reflex 1 — — — — —
save. 1 — — — — —
Fearless Iron Will ×1 Advantage on saves that would make you 1 — — — — —
frightened. 1 — — — — —
Full Speed — Advantage on saves that would make you 1 — — — — —
slowed. 1 — — — — —
Great Fortitude — Gain a +1 bonus to Fortitude saves. 1 2 3 — — —
1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —
Grounded — Advantage on saves that would force you 1 — — — — —
to move. 1 — — — — —
Hale Body Great Fortitude ×1 Advantage on saves against pestilence. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Iron Will — Gain a +1 bonus to Will saves. 1 2 3 — — —
1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —
Keep Away — Advantage on saves against damaging or 1 — — — — —
breaking objects you hold 1 — — — — —
Lightning Reflexes — Gain a +1 bonus to Reflex saves. 1 2 3 — — —
1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —
Out of Harm’s Way Lightning Reflexes ×7 Reduce damage even on a failed Reflex 1 — — — — —
save. 1 — — — — —
Rallying Presence Driven Ethos (good or law) ×1, Fearless Grant allies close to you advantage on 1 2 3 — — —
×1 saves against becoming frightened. 1 2 3 — — —

Resilient Blood Great Fortitude ×1 Advantage on saves against poison. 1 — — — — —

1 — — — — —
Resist Magical Essence One of Great Fortitude ×4, Iron Will ×4, Advantage on saves against magical 1 — — — — —
or Lightning Reflexes ×4 features. 1 — — — — —
Safe Hold — Advantage on saves against losing your 1 — — — — —
hold on objects. 1 — — — — —
Smooth Escape — Advantage on saves that would make you 1 — — — — —
restrained. 1 — — — — —
Spell Shield One of Great Fortitude ×4, Iron Will ×4, Advantage on saves against spells. 1 2 3 — — —
or Lightning Reflexes ×4 1 2 3 — — —
Spell Stalwart One of Great Fortitude ×1, Iron Will ×1, Advantage on saves against spells from 1 — — — — —
or Lightning Reflexes ×1 creatures within 5 feet of you. 1 — — — — —
Stay Standing — Advantage on saves against going prone. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Still Mind Iron Will ×1 Advantage on saves that would make you 1 — — — — —
charmed. 1 — — — — —
Trap Sense Skill Focus (Thievery) ×1 Advantage on saves against traps. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —

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Hit Point Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Assuring Strike Skill Focus (Healing) ×1, Weapon Focus Reduce a creature to 0 critical points, use a 1 — — — — —
×1 minor action to gain temporary hit points 1 — — — — —
equal to Charisma modifier.
Battlefield Recovery Charisma 13+, Skill Focus (Healing) ×1 As a minor action, let an ally gain 1 — — — — —
temporary hit points equal to your 1 — — — — —
Charisma modifier.
Combat Savvy — Gain 5 defense points. 1 2 3 — — —
1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —
Defiant Combatant Great Fortitude ×7 When reduced to 0 critical points, make a 1 — — — — —
Fortitude save to remain at 1 critical point. 1 — — — — —
Diehard Combatant Constitution 15+, Great Fortitude ×4 When reduced to 0 critical points, you are 1 — — — — —
dying but are dazed rather than 1 — — — — —
immobilized or unconscious.
Reflexive Defense Dexterity 15+, Lightning Reflexes ×4 As a reaction, reduce the effect of a 1 — — — — —
potentially lethal blow. 1 — — — — —
Resilient Response Combat Savvy ×4 If you are bloodied, use a minor action to 1 — — — — —
grant yourself 5 temporary hit points 1 — — — — —
Toughness — Gain critical points equal to your 1 2 3 — — —
Constitution modifier. 1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —

Healing Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Natural Healer Great Fortitude ×4 Restore double the number of defense 1 — — — — —
points or critical points after a rest. 1 — — — — —
Second Wind Combat Savvy ×1 As a minor action, regain defense points 1 — — — — —
equal to your Constitution modifier. 1 — — — — —

Combat Maneuver Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Confounding Consequence Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4 Use the confound combat maneuver and 1 — — — — —
impose a bane on a target’s Investigation 1 — — — — —
and Perception checks.
Focused Distraction Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×4 Use the distract combat maneuver and 1 — — — — —
control which actions the target can use. 1 — — — — —
Grasping Disarm Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4 Use the disarm combat maneuver and 1 — — — — —
wield a disarmed weapon. 1 — — — — —
Impeded Crowd Skill Focus (Acrobatics) ×4 Use the impede combat maneuver and 1 — — — — —
limit the speed of multiple foes. 1 — — — — —
Martial Maneuver Weapon Focus ×1 When you hit a creature with a weapon 1 — — — — —
attack, make a combat maneuver as a 1 — — — — —
minor action.
Master Grappler Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4 Use the grapple combat maneuver and 1 — — — — —
deal damage to a restrained foe. 1 — — — — —
Painful Trip Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4 Use the trip combat maneuver and deal 1 — — — — —
damage when a foe falls. 1 — — — — —
Powerful Sunder Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4 Use the sunder combat maneuver and deal 1 — — — — —
damage through a sundered object. 1 — — — — —
Pugnacious Shove Skill Focus (Athletics) ×4 Use the shove combat maneuver and move 1 — — — — —
after your foe. 1 — — — — —

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Attack Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Brawler’s Flurry Full-Body Fighter ×1, Rapid Attack ×1 Make an extra unarmed strike as part of a 1 — — — — —
multiple attack. 1 — — — — —
Cleave Strength 13+, Weapon Focus ×1 When you drop one foe, make an extra 1 — — — — —
attack against another foe within reach. 1 — — — — —
Finesse Attack Dexterity 15+, Weapon Focus (group with Use Dexterity instead of Strength for 1 — — — — —
finesse weapon) ×1 melee attack and damage rolls. 1 — — — — —
Deadly Critical Weapon Specialization (chosen weapon) Weapon’s critical range increases by 1. 1 2 3 — — —
×2 1 2 3 — — —
Insightful Attack Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus (group Use Intelligence instead of Strength for 1 — — — — —
with light weapon) ×1 melee attack rolls. 1 — — — — —
Lethal Shot Point Blank Shot ×1, Sneak Shot ×1 Use a minor action to gain advantage on 1 — — — — —
ranged attacks within 30 feet. 1 — — — — —
Point Blank Shot Weapon Focus (group with ranged or Ranged and thrown weapon attacks have 1 — — — — —
thrown weapon) ×1 favored damage within 30 feet. 1 — — — — —
Rapid Attack Strength 15+ or Dexterity 15+ Make extra attacks with a melee weapon. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Rapid Shot Dexterity 13+ Make extra attacks with a ranged weapon. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Shield Striker Armor Training (chosen shield group) ×1, When you make a melee attack with your 1 — — — — —
Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×1 shield, ignore bane to defense rolls. 1 — — — — —
Stunning Strike Weapon Focus ×1 Target is stunned on a grievous hit. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Two-Weapon Attack Dexterity 15+, Rapid Attack ×1 Reduce banes when making multiple 1 — — — — —
attacks with two weapons. 1 — — — — —
Weapon Focus — Gain a +1 to attack rolls with weapons from 1 2 3 — — —
a specific weapon group. 1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —
Weapon Mastery Weapon Focus ×1 (three different Gain a bonus to attacks with all weapons. 1 2 3 — — —
groups) 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Specialization Weapon Focus (chosen group) ×4 Gain a +2 to attack rolls with one specific 1 2 3 — — —
weapon. 1 2 3 — — —

Damage Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Bleeding Strike Weapon Focus ×7 On a grievous hit, a target takes necrotic 1 — — — — —
damage at the end of each turn. 1 — — — — —
Endgame Attack Skill Focus (Healing) ×1, Weapon Focus Weapon attacks against bloodied 1 — — — — —
(any group) ×4 creatures deal +1d6 damage. 1 — — — — —
Favored Adversary Weapon Focus ×1 Against specific enemies, have advantage 1 — — — — —
on skills, attacks have favored damage. 1 — — — — —
Finesse Attack Dexterity 15+, Weapon Focus (group Use Dexterity instead of Strength for 1 — — — — —
with finesse weapon) ×1 melee attack and damage rolls. 1 — — — — —
Full-Body Fighter Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×1 Increase unarmed strike damage and 1 — — — — —
make attacks even when your arms are 1 — — — — —
bound.
Ruthless Attack Strength 15+, Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1, Melee attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (chosen melee weapon you advantage deals +1d8 damage. 1 2 3 — — —
group) ×4
Sneak Attack Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Melee attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (melee) ×1 you advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —
Sneak Shot Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Perception) Ranged attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
×1, Weapon Focus (ranged or thrown) you advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —
×1
Weapon Prowess Weapon Focus (chosen group) ×4 Gain a +2 to damage rolls with weapons 1 2 3 — — —
from a specific weapon group. 1 2 3 — — —

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Weapon Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Far Shot Dexterity 15+, Weapon Focus (group with Negate disadvantage for attacks at long 1 — — — — —
ranged or thrown weapon) ×1 range. 1 — — — — —
Fast Reload Weapon Focus (group with ranged Draw and load ammunition as a minor 1 — — — — —
weapon) ×1 action or a free action. 1 — — — — —
Incomparable Throw Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus (group with Treat melee weapons as thrown weapons. 1 — — — — —
thrown weapon) ×4 1 — — — — —
Lethal Shot Point Blank Shot ×1, Sneak Shot ×1 Use a minor action to gain advantage on 1 — — — — —
ranged attacks within 30 feet. 1 — — — — —
Lunging Strike Weapon Focus ×1, Dexterity 13+ As a minor action, increase the reach of 1 — — — — —
your melee weapons. 1 — — — — —
Quick Draw Weapon Focus ×1 Draw a weapon as a free action, or as a 1 — — — — —
minor action if it is hidden. 1 — — — — —
Ruthless Attack Strength 15+, Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1, Melee attack against target who grants you 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (chosen melee group) ×4 advantage deals +1d8 damage. 1 2 3 — — —
Sneak Attack Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Melee attack against a target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (melee) ×1 you advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —
Sneak Shot Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Perception) ×1, Ranged attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (ranged or thrown) ×1 you advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —

Advantage Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Battle Command Charisma 15+, Skill Focus (Persuasion) Grant combat assistance to multiple 1 — — — — —
×1, Weapon Focus ×4 allies. 1 — — — — —
Defensive Surge Dodge ×1 Advantage on defense rolls against 1 — — — — —
opportunity attacks triggered by 1 — — — — —
movement.
Demoralizing Charge Skill Focus (Persuasion) ×4 Make demoralize combat maneuver 1 — — — — —
against creatures you charge past, and 1 — — — — —
creature you hit with your charge attack is
frightened.
Expedient Ally Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus ×1 Lend combat assistance as a minor action. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
First Blood First Strike ×1, Weapon Focus ×4 In round 1, gain advantage on attack rolls 1 — — — — —
against creatures with lower initiative. 1 — — — — —
Focused Defense Dodge ×2, Mobile Defense ×1 As a reaction, negate a foe’s advantage 1 — — — — —
from feinting or flanking you. 1 — — — — —
Focused Parry Weapon Focus (group with melee While wielding a melee weapon, use a 1 — — — — —
weapon) ×1 reaction to gain advantage on a defense 1 — — — — —
roll.
Lethal Shot Point Blank Shot ×1, Sneak Shot ×1 Use a minor action to gain advantage on 1 — — — — —
ranged attacks within 30 feet. 1 — — — — —
Ruthless Attack Strength 15+, Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1, Melee attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (chosen melee weapon you advantage deals +1d8 damage. 1 2 3 — — —
group) ×4
Sneak Attack Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Melee attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus ×1 you advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —
Sneak Shot Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Perception) Ranged attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
×1, Weapon Focus ×1 you advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —

Critical Hit Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Critical Defense Armor Training ×1 or Dodge ×1; Convert critical point damage to defense 1 2 3 — — —
Combat Savvy ×4 point damage on a critical hit. 1 2 3 — — —
Despicable Finish Weapon Focus ×7 Weapon attacks against restrained or 1 — — — — —
stunned targets are critical hits. 1 — — — — —

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Grievous Critical Weapon Focus ×7 Treat a critical hit as a grievous hit. 1 — — — — —

1 — — — — —
Deadly Critical Weapon Specialization (chosen weapon) Weapon’s critical range increases by 1. 1 2 3 — — —
×1 1 2 3 — — —

Grievous Hit Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Bleeding Strike Weapon Focus ×7 On a grievous hit, a target takes necrotic 1 — — — — —
damage at the end of each turn. 1 — — — — —
Debilitating Strike Weapon Focus ×4 Impose penalty to ability modifier on a 1 — — — — —
grievous hit. 1 — — — — —
Disorienting Strike Weapon Focus ×4 Target is disoriented on a grievous hit. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Grievous Critical Weapon Focus ×7 Treat a critical hit as a grievous hit. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Stunning Strike Weapon Focus ×1 Target is stunned on a grievous hit. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —

Multiple Attack Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Brawler’s Flurry Full-Body Fighter ×1, Rapid Attack ×1 Make an extra unarmed strike as part of a 1 — — — — —
multiple attack. 1 — — — — —
Cleave Strength 13+, Weapon Focus ×1 When you drop one foe, make an extra 1 — — — — —
attack against another foe within reach. 1 — — — — —
Rapid Attack Strength 15+ or Dexterity 15+ Make extra attacks with melee weapons. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Rapid Shot Dexterity 13+, Weapon Specialization Make extra attacks with ranged or thrown 1 2 3 — — —
(ranged or thrown weapon) ×1 weapons. 1 2 3 — — —
Tactical Acumen Weapon Focus ×4 Make multiple attacks as a standard action, 1 — — — — —
give up one attack to let an ally attack as a 1 — — — — —
reaction.
Two-Weapon Attack Dexterity 15+, Rapid Attack ×1 Reduce banes when making multiple 1 — — — — —
attacks with two weapons. 1 — — — — —
Two-Weapon Defense Dodge ×1, Two-Weapon Attack ×1 Gain a boon on defense roll when wielding 1 — — — — —
two weapons. 1 — — — — —
Volley Attack Rapid Shot ×3 Make ranged attacks at up to eight 1 — — — — —
creatures within close range. 1 — — — — —
Whirlwind Attack Rapid Attack ×3 Make melee attacks at up to eight 1 — — — — —
creatures within reach. 1 — — — — —

Combat Reaction Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Daunting Spellsong Spellsong ×1 When a target fails a save against your 1 — — — — —
spellsong spell, use a reaction to make 1 — — — — —
them frightened.
Defensive Opportunist Dexterity 13+, Dodge ×1, Weapon Focus Make an opportunity attack when a foe 1 — — — — —
×4 misses you with a melee attack. 1 — — — — —
Devious Strike Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus ×4 Make an opportunity attack against a 1 — — — — —
critically damaged foe. 1 — — — — —
Divert Missile Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus ×1 Gain advantage on defense roll and divert 1 — — — — —
ranged or thrown attack. 1 — — — — —
Focused Defense Dodge ×2, Mobile Defense ×1 As a reaction, negate a foe’s advantage 1 — — — — —
from feinting or flanking you. 1 — — — — —
Focused Parry Weapon Focus (group with melee While wielding a melee weapon, use a 1 — — — — —
weapon) ×1 reaction to gain advantage on a defense 1 — — — — —
roll.

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Headlong Defense Dexterity 13+, Skill Focus (Acrobatics ×1) Take damage from a melee attack, use a 1 — — — — —
reaction to tumble away up to half your 1 — — — — —
speed.
Parting Strike Weapon Focus ×1, Skill Focus Make an opportunity attack against a foe 1 — — — — —
(Perception) ×4 who shifts. 1 — — — — —
Quick Reaction Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus ×4 Take one additional reaction per round. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Ranged Opportunist Dexterity 15+, Point Blank Shot ×1, Make opportunity attacks with a ranged 1 — — — — —
Weapon Focus (group with ranged weapon. 1 — — — — —
weapon) ×4
Reflexive Defense Dexterity 15+, Lightning Reflexes ×4 As a reaction, reduce the effect of a 1 — — — — —
potentially lethal blow. 1 — — — — —
Relentless Pursuit Dexterity 13+ When an enemy shifts, use a reaction to 1 — — — — —
pursue. 1 — — — — —
Shield Protector Armor Training (shield group) ×1 Use a reaction to impose disadvantage on 1 — — — — —
an attack against a nearby creature. 1 — — — — —
Sidestep Dodge ×1 Missed by a melee attack, redirect the 1 — — — — —
attack toward another creature. 1 — — — — —
Slowing Strike Weapon Focus ×1 Hit with an opportunity attack provoked by 1 — — — — —
movement, target is slowed. 1 — — — — —
Smaller Target Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus (any Attacked by a larger creature, make an 1 — — — — —
group) ×4 opportunity attack against them. 1 — — — — —
Spell Slayer Weapon Focus ×4 Creatures within your melee reach have 1 — — — — —
disadvantage on Magic checks to cast 1 — — — — —
spells defensively.

Combat Style Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Brawler’s Flurry Full-Body Fighter ×1, Rapid Attack ×1 Make an extra unarmed strike as part of a 1 — — — — —
multiple attack. 1 — — — — —
Cleave Strength 13+, Weapon Focus ×1 When you drop one foe, make an extra 1 — — — — —
attack against another foe within reach. 1 — — — — —
Defiant Combatant Great Fortitude ×7 When reduced to 0 critical points, make a 1 — — — — —
Fortitude save to remain at 1 critical point. 1 — — — — —
Full-Body Fighter Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×1 Increase unarmed strike damage and make 1 — — — — —
attacks even when your arms are bound. 1 — — — — —
Lunging Reach Dexterity 13+, Weapon Specialization As a minor action, increase your with 1 — — — — —
(any melee) ×1 melee weapons by 5 feet. 1 — — — — —
Ground Game Weapon Focus ×1 When prone, ignore offensive
disadvantage and gain advantage on skill
checks to feint.
Potent Shot Dexterity 13+, Weapon Focus (group with Impose a bane on ranged or thrown 1 — — — — —
ranged or thrown weapon) ×1 attacks to gain favored damage. 1 — — — — —
Power Attack Strength 13+, Weapon Focus (melee Impose a bane on melee attacks to gain 1 — — — — —
group) ×1 favored damage. 1 — — — — —
Raging Attack Weapon Focus ×1 Enter a frenzied state that boosts your 1 2 3 — — —
effectiveness in combat. 1 2 3 — — —
Ranged Opportunist Dexterity 15+, Point Blank Shot ×1, Make opportunity attacks with a ranged 1 — — — — —
Weapon Focus (group with ranged weapon. 1 — — — — —
weapon) ×4
Repositioning Strike Intelligence 13+, Weapon Focus (any Hit a creature with a weapon attack, use a 1 — — — — —
group) ×1 minor action to let an ally shift. 1 — — — — —
Ruthless Attack Strength 15+, Skill Focus (Athletics) ×1, Melee attack against target who grants you 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (chosen melee weapon advantage deals +1d8 damage. 1 2 3 — — —
group) ×4
Shield Protector Armor Training (shield group) ×1 While wielding a shield, use a reaction to 1 — — — — —
impose disadvantage on an attack roll 1 — — — — —
against an ally.
Shield Striker Armor Training (chosen shield group) ×1, When you make a melee attack with your 1 — — — — —
Weapon Focus (unarmed group) ×1 shield, ignore bane to defense rolls. 1 — — — — —
Sneak Attack Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Melee attack against target who grants you 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (melee) ×1 advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —

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Sneak Shot Dexterity 15+, Skill Focus (Perception) ×1, Ranged attack against target who grants 1 2 3 — — —
Weapon Focus (ranged or thrown) ×1 you advantage deals +1d6 damage. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —
Spell Slayer Weapon Focus ×4 Creatures within your melee reach have 1 — — — — —
disadvantage on Magic checks to cast 1 — — — — —
spells defensively.
Sweeping Attack Weapon Focus (group with melee When you hit with a melee attack, attack 1 — — — — —
weapon) ×1 another creature within 5 feet for damage 1 — — — — —
equal to your attack ability modifier.

Cover and Concealment Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Combat Awareness Skill Focus (Perception) ×1, Weapon Negate disadvantage on melee attacks 1 — — — — —
Focus ×1 against target with concealment, poor 1 — — — — —
visibility doesn’t slow you.
Elusive Target Dexterity 13+, Dodge ×1 While engaged in melee, you have cover 1 — — — — —
against melee attacks. 1 — — — — —
Precise Shot Skill Focus (Perception) ×1, Weapon Negate disadvantage on ranged attacks 1 — — — — —
Focus ×1 against target with cover from melee. 1 — — — — —
Stealth Shot Skill Focus (Stealth) ×1, Weapon Focus ×1 After missing with a ranged attack while 1 — — — — —
hiding, make a Stealth check to stay 1 — — — — —
hidden.

Mounted Combat Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Close-Quarters Riding Skill Focus (Nature) ×4 Your mount doesn’t treat squeezing as 1 — — — — —
difficult terrain. 1 — — — — —
Fast Saddle Vault Strength 13+ Saddle vault onto or off your mount as a 1 — — — — —
minor or free action, and pull another rider 1 — — — — —
with you.
Mounted Attack Skill Focus (Nature) ×1 While riding your mount, your weapon 1 — — — — —
attacks have favored damage. 1 — — — — —
Mounted Casting Skill Focus (Nature) ×1, Spellcaster ×1 Riding a mount doesn’t distract you for 1 — — — — —
spellcasting. 1 — — — — —
Mounted Defense Skill Focus (Nature) ×4 When your mount is hit in combat, make a 1 — — — — —
Nature check to negate it. 1 — — — — —
Mounted Shot Mounted Defense ×1, Weapon Focus Negate disadvantage on ranged attacks 1 — — — — —
(ranged group) ×4 while riding at speed. 1 — — — — —
Ride-By Attack Mounted Defense ×1 Your mount can take an extra move after a 1 — — — — —
mounted charge. 1 — — — — —
Thundering Charge Ride-By Attack ×1, Weapon Focus When you make a mounted charge, deal 1 1 — — — — —
(chosen melee weapon group) ×4 die of extra weapon damage. 1 — — — — —
Trample Mounted Defense ×1 Your mount can shift through enemy 1 — — — — —
creatures’ spaces and make attacks against 1 — — — — —
them.

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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Magic fills the world with wonder, and the manipulation of process by which spell power is spent and regained. At the
magic allows characters to tap into a wealth of preternatural same time, the stark differences between the forms are
benefits and capabilities. Magic weapons and relics are among noteworthy, particularly arcane magic’s inability to heal.
the most valuable treasure sought by adventurers, who covet
the remarkable mystical power they hold. But even more
powerful is the ability to channel magic inherently, shaping its Spellcasting Characters
effects through the force of will, spirit, and mind. Spellcasting allows any character to wield magic inherently,
whether a dabbler in arcana or life magic focused on a small
The spellcasting arts are a creation of the worldborn lineages,
number of useful spells, or a dedicated magical aesthete hoping
and cover a range of options that allow characters to inherently
to attain the highest levels of spellcasting power. Characters
manipulate magic. Spells and spellcasting fall into one of three
sometimes seek out spellcasting knowledge with intent,
spheres of magic: animys, arcane, and druidas. (A fourth sphere
undertaking training in animyst orders, druidan circles, or
of psionics channels magic differently than spell-related magic,
arcanist colleges. Alternatively, spellcasting talent sometimes
and is covered in its own separate rules.) Animys magic and
manifests in a character unbidden, and might run in family lines
druidas magic share a common root and draw their power from
whose members gain spellcasting power as a birthright.
the energy of life. By contrast, arcane magic channels and
shapes the unseen magical energy permeating the inanimate
physical world. Paths to Spellcasting Power
Psionics Companion Eldritch Spirit is the baseline feat that allows characters to
intrinsically channel spell magic, representing the ability to touch
Though animys, arcane, and druidas spellcasting are marked by and shape the magical potential that flows through the world. But
many differences in their philosophy and effects, the overall with that insight, characters can follow three different approaches to
process of how spells are learned, focused, and cast is the same channeling spell power.
for all spheres of magic. Those three spheres are likewise Chapter 10/Eldritch Spirit (322)
connected by eight schools of magic — abjuration, conjuration,
Conventional spellcasting is the most popular magical form among
divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, and
the worldborn, providing the most structured method of channeling
transmutation. These schools of magic represent the different eldritch power. It allows characters to learn the widest possible
ways that spell magic takes effect and interacts with the world. range of spells from among one or more of the animys, arcane, or
druidas spheres, and to customize how much magic they wish to
Spheres of Magic dedicate to the casting of those spells.
Spellcasting Characters
Arcane magic is that drawn from the inanimate material world,
powered by unseen mana. Druidas magic draws its power from Rather than devoting themselves to the rigorous and organized
approach of spellcasting, some characters learn to manifest
the natural world of all living things — the life force of the plants
spelltouched magic as a much more personal form. A spelltouched
and creatures who cover the land and fill the sea. Animys magic
caster develops the instinctive ability to channel a small number of
is a more refined and focused form of natural magic, drawing its
spells from any the three spheres of magic — individual magical
power not from all nature but from the specific essence of
effects called spelltouched manifestations.
sapient, conscious life. Taken together, druidas and animys
Spelltouched Magic (380)
magic are often referred to as life magic.
Other casters learn to shape primordial magic, an older form of
Arcane magic was originally the province of the kobolds and arcane magic whose power is directed in a more personal and
elves, who long held its secrets from the other worldborn. unpredictable way. Primordial magic allows a character to cast a
Druidas magic was the magic of ancient human clans, predating primordial invocations whose scope is more limited than the spells
even their oldest histories and written languages. Over time, a of traditional casters, but which can be directed in ways
breakaway tradition of druidas spellcasters focused and codified conventional spells can’t.
a new mystic form evolved from their former traditions — the Primordial Magic (383)
magic of the animysts.
The secret of ilvani arcane spellcraft crossed into the knowledge
of other folk some twenty-three centuries ago, spreading quickly
through the travels of sorcerous orders and in the ranks of the
war mages of countless military campaigns. Though it has
followed a more peaceful path of growth, the healing magic of
the animysts and the nature magic of the druidan has long since
crossed over into all other lineages and cultures as well.
Open conflict between animys, druidas, and arcane factions was
a central aspect of many of the wars of the pre-Imperial age.
While the subsequent spread of magic through all cultures
makes those conflicts unlikely to return, philosophical tensions
are a constant undercurrent at the highest levels of arcane and
animys studies. Tantalizing similarities exist between the arcane
and life magic forms, including consistency of the schools of
magic, a number of spells common to both forms, and the

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Fast-Start: Spellcasting
Those who channel the power of magic gain capabilities that no
mundane training can match, but that power comes at a cost. To
quickly build a spellcasting character, choose your approach to
casting by selecting one of the following feat packages, at the
indicated cost in feat slots. (The information presented here is also
presented as part of “Feat Packages” in Chapter 1.)
Dedicated Caster
7 Feat Slots (9 for arcane magic)
You are a capable spellcaster who has been experimenting with
your magic for some time. Take this feat package if you wish to
make magic your character’s primary focus, with the intent of one
day attaining spellcasting mastery. You’ll benefit the most from this
feat package if one of your best ability scores is Intelligence (for an
arcane caster) or Wisdom (for an animys or druidas caster).
Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere of magic) ×1: You channel the
power of magic from your chosen sphere — animys, arcane, or
druidas.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Spellcaster (chosen sphere) ×1: You can cast spells from your
chosen sphere.
Spell Mastery (chosen sphere) ×2: You are caster level 2, and can
cast spells from your chosen sphere of 2nd level or lower.
Spell Power (arcane) ×3: You have a number of spell points equal
to 3 × your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (as appropriate to your
chosen sphere of magic).
Arcane Blood ×1: If you are an arcane caster, you negate the
penalty to your critical points imposed by Spell Power (arcane). If
you are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take this feat.
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Inscribed Arcana ×1: You learn your arcane spells from written
sources, and can record spells in a spellbook if you so wish. If you
are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take this feat.
Neophyte Caster
4 Feat Slots (6 for arcane magic)
You’ve discovered a talent for magic within yourself, and are just
beginning to study and gain control over it. Take this feat package if
you wish to dabble in spellcasting but still leave room for your
character to make combat or skills an equal or more important
focus. You’ll benefit the most from this feat package if one of your
best ability scores is Intelligence (for an arcane caster) or Wisdom
(for an animys or druidas caster).
Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere of magic) ×1: You channel the
power of magic from your chosen sphere — animys, arcane, or
druidas.
Spellcaster (chosen sphere) ×1: You can cast spells from your
chosen sphere.
Spell Mastery (chosen sphere) ×1: You are caster level 1, and can
cast spells from your chosen sphere of 1st level or lower.
Spell Power (arcane) ×1: You have a number of spell points equal
to your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (as appropriate to your
chosen sphere of magic).
Arcane Blood ×1: If you are an arcane caster, you negate the
penalty to your critical points imposed by Spell Power (arcane). If
you are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take this feat.
Inscribed Arcana ×1: You learn your arcane spells from written
sources, and can record spells in a spellbook if you so wish. If you
are an animys or druidas caster, you don’t need to take this feat.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Fast-Start: Spells
To quickly build a spellcasting character, you can select a package
featuring common and useful starting spells for the animyst, arcane,
and druidas spheres of magic. The CORE20 Magic Grimoire has full
information on these spells.
Each of these packages has the cost broken out for each level of
spell, which comes out of your 150 gp starting wealth. If your
character doesn’t cast 2nd- or 3rd-level spells, you can leave those
spells off and pay only for the spells you need.
(It’s possible to create a 3rd-level caster as a starting character,
though none of the iconic builds or feat packages in Chapter 1 are
set up to do so. Having enough starting wealth to purchase a full
slate of spells up to 3rd level might require taking the Well Heeled
feat.)
Chapter 8/Well Heeled (206)
Animys Spell Package
Animysts specialize in spells of healing and defense that can lend
themselves and their allies an edge while adventuring. This package
contains the following spells:
0 level (10 gp each): Detect ethos, detect magic, guidance, light
1st level (15 gp each): Bless, cure light wounds, shield of life
2nd level (25 gp each): Command, detect undead
3rd level (50 gp each): Eldritch weapon, lesser restoration
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Arcane Spell Package
The spellpower channeled by arcanists shapes magic that is equally
powerful in its destructive potential and utility. This package
contains the following spells:
0 level (10 gp each): Detect magic, light, mage touch, ray of frost
1st level (15 gp each): Lesser controlled image, flame flow, sleep
2nd level (25 gp each): Color spray, magic missile
3rd level (50 gp each): Invisibility, web
An arcane caster should also purchase a spell component pouch (5
gp) to hold the material components that all arcane casters use.
Druidas Spell Package
Druidan cast spells that channel the power of nature, and all of
nature’s protective and destructive potential. This package contains
the following spells:
0 level (10 gp each): Converse with animals, detect magic, purify
food and drink, sense poison
1st level (15 gp each): Cure light wounds, frostbite, obscuring mist
2nd level (25 gp each): Entangle, pass without trace
3rd level (50 gp each): Flame blade, gust of wind
Mastering Spell Magic
A character who takes up the path of conventional spellcasting
does so with the Spellcaster feat, which defines the sphere of
magic — animys, arcane, or druidas — they channel. A
neophyte spellcaster also gains access to a sphere’s baseline
spells — 0-level orisons (for animys magic), cantrips (for arcane
magic), and incantations (for druidas magic).
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Each spellcaster character then increases their caster level and
their access to higher-level spells with the Spell Mastery feat.
Each time a character takes Spell Mastery, their knowledge of
magic expands, granting the ability to learn spells of a higher
level among the overall ranking of spells from 1st to 18th level.
321

Spell Points
There are no limits to the number of spells your character can
learn and know. However, the number of spells you can cast at
any given time is limited by the spell power you channel. A
spellcasting character has a pool of spell points representing
their spellcasting potential, gaining spell points by taking the
Spell Power feat for a particular sphere of magic. A character
who channels more than one sphere of magic has a separate
pool of spell points for each sphere, and tracks those spell
points separately. Spell points can be used only to cast spells of
a specific sphere.
The more spell points your character has, the more spells you
can potentially cast. Each time you cast a spell, the cost of the
spell is subtracted from your spell points. If you don’t have
enough spell points remaining to meet the cost of a spell, you
can’t cast that spell.
Balance of Power
With separate access to higher-level spells and to the spell points
that fuel those spells, all spellcasters can choose how to balance
both sides of their spellcasting prowess. An academic caster or
magical researcher might focus on attaining as high a caster level as
possible, wanting access to powerful spells, but knowing that they
never need to cast more than one spell per day. A dedicated caster-
for-hire might focus on creating as large a spell point pool as
possible, specializing in relatively low-level spells but able to cast
those spells dozens of times per day. Most adventuring casters like
to see their caster level and their spell point pool grow at about the
same rate, maximizing the flexibility of their magic.
Spell Point Cost
Each spell has a spell level that describes how generally
powerful it is, as well as how difficult it is to learn and how much
magical power it takes to cast. A spell’s base cost in spell points
depends on its level. The most easily cast 1st-level spells have a
base cost of 1 spell point, and are commonly known to almost
all spellcasters. The most powerful 18th-level spells, with a base
cost of 18 spell points, might be known only to a handful of
spellcasters throughout the world.
0-level spells — cantrips for arcane casters, orisons for animyst
casters, and incantations for druidas casters — are the most
basic spells that every spellcaster can first learn. 0-level
spells have no spell point cost, but you must have at least 1 spell
point remaining for the appropriate sphere of magic to cast
them. A character with the natural magic lineage trait can cast 0-
level spells even with no spell points.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Regaining Spell Points
Regaining spell points requires an extended period of physical
rest and mental focus. When you finish a long rest, you regain all
expended spell points.
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193)
Any spell points you expend during your long rest or during an
interruption to your long rest are not regained at the end of the
long rest. This includes such scenarios as needing to use spells
to drive off creatures who attack and interrupt your long rest, or
using spells to assist in research while you rest.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Spellcasting Feats
The feats in this section establish the specialized training or
unique aptitude that allow a character to channel spell power.
Eldritch Spirit
You have a connection to the hidden magical power that
permeates all the world.
Prerequisites: —
Benefit: Choose a sphere of magic — animys, arcane, or
druidas. The mystical power of that magic flows in you, enabling
you to channel and control it. This feat represents your initial
connection to inherent magical power, and is the prerequisite
for the Spellcaster, Spelltouched Caster, and Primordial Caster
feats.
Spellcaster (322); Spelltouched Caster (381); Primordial
Caster (385)
Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
slot. Each time you do so, it applies to a different sphere of
magic.
Spellcaster
You have trained to the arts of spellcraft, mastering the
mysteries of ancient and powerful magic.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere of magic) ×1.
Benefit: This feat allows you to study spellcraft and gives you a
caster level of 0, granting you the ability to learn 0-level spells
from the chosen sphere of magic.
Magic Grimoire/Spell Lists (ch. 1)
The Spellcaster feat represents only your initial study of
spellcasting. You must also take the Spell Power feat and learn
your first spells from the chosen sphere in order to cast those
spells. All the spells you know must be sought out and learned
by you, or purchased as part of your starting equipment at
character creation.
Learning New Spells (324); Starting Spells (324)
Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
slot. Each time you do so, it applies to a different sphere of
magic.
Minimal Spellcasting
It’s possible to gain a minimal level of spellcasting power by taking
only the Eldritch Spirit, Spellcaster, and Spell Power feats (and you
can get away with not taking Spell Power if you have the natural
magic trait). Doing so lets you learn and cast 0-level spells, all of
which have fixed durations and effects that don’t depend on caster
level.
Chapter 3/Lineages (34)
Magic Grimoire/Spell Lists (ch. 1)
The Druidic Language
Druidas spellcasters can learn a secret language known only to
those who channel the magic of nature. A character who takes
Eldritch Spirit (druidas) can subsequently take the Learn Language
feat for Druidic. Druidic is a magical language that can’t be learned
by any character who has not taken Eldritch Spirit (druidas).
Chapter 7/Learn Language (165)
322
 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

Spell Mastery Eldritch Mastery

Your continued study unveils the further mysteries of spellcraft. Your mastery of different spheres of magic makes your
Prerequisites: Spellcaster (chosen sphere of magic) ×1. channeling of the power of each sphere more potent.

Benefit: You increase your caster level by 1 in the chosen Prerequisites: Spellcaster (two or more spheres of magic) ×1.
sphere of magic. This increases many of the variable effects of Benefit: Your caster level increases by 1 for each sphere of
your spells that depend on caster level, and grants you the magic for which you have taken the Spellcaster feat. If you take
potential to learn spells of that level from the chosen sphere. Spellcaster for a new sphere of magic after taking this feat, your
Gaining access to a new level of spells doesn’t automatically caster level in that sphere increases automatically.
grant you new spells of that level. As you learn spells of higher Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing your
level, you must have sufficient spell points to cast those spells. caster level by a maximum of 3.
Learning New Spells (324); Spell Points (322) Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Mastery: You can take this feat eighteen times, increasing your Times Taken 1 2 3
caster level in the chosen sphere of magic to a maximum of
18th. Spell Recovery
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3 4 5 6 The strength of your connection to magic allows you to shore up
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9 10–12 13–15 16–18 your reserves of spell power.
Prerequisites: Spell Power (any sphere of magic) ×4.
Spell Power Benefit: At the end of a short rest, you can recover 1 expended
You draw magical power from the world around you, fueling spell point from a sphere of magic for which you have taken
your mastery of the spellcasting arts. Eldritch Spirit. You can use this feat a number of times per day
equal to your spellcasting ability modifier (minimum three
Prerequisites: Spellcaster (chosen sphere of magic) ×1.
times). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Benefit: You gain additional spell points with which to cast the
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
spells you know. Each time you take this feat, you gain a number
of spell points for the chosen sphere of magic equal to your
caster level or your spellcasting ability modifier (Intelligence for
arcane casters or Wisdom for animyst and druidas casters),
whichever is higher.
If you have taken the Spellcaster feat for different spheres of
magic, you track spell points for each of those spheres
separately. Spell points gained with this feat for the chosen
sphere of magic can’t be used to cast spells of any other sphere.
Critical Points: Arcane magic is antithetical to life, and takes a
toll on those who learn to channel it. Each time you take Spell
Power (arcane), you lose 1 critical point. This critical point loss is
permanent, but can be compensated for by taking the Arcane
Blood feat or the Toughness feat. You don’t lose critical points
when taking the Spell Power feat for animys or druidas magic.
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
[CORE20 takes an approach to magic more consistent with
older editions, in which arcane spells are more numerous than
animys and druidas spells, and have a slight edge in power.
Animys and druidas casters have lots of cool tricks of their own,
but in terms of comparing spellcasting between the three
spheres of magic, each new level of arcane spells a character
gains is objectively worth more than gaining access to new
levels of animys and druidas spells. As such, having arcane
casters take a critical point penalty (a nod to the many works of
fiction in which arcane power physically weakens those who
channel it) sees most such characters take the Arcane Blood
feat. This balances out the extra power of their spells with the
need to take an extra feat every three spell levels or so to use
that spell power without penalty.]
Mastery: You can take this feat eighteen times.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3 4 5 6
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9 10–12 13–15 16–18

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 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

that affects a character’s mind and memory can interfere with

Gaining Spells spells known or cause a known spell to be lost.
Whether your character channels animys, arcane, or druidas
magic, the process of gaining your initial spells at character Spell Cost
creation and learning new spells over the course of your The process of learning a new spell requires mental and
adventuring career is largely the same. emotional focus, but learning a spell is very different than
memorizing even the most complex text. As such, binding
Starting Spells magic permanently to your mind and spirit involves the use of
special components that are consumed during the process, and
The knowledge of spellcasting subsumed in the Spell Mastery
which have a cost that varies with the level of the spell.
and Spell Power feats grants a character the ability to cast spells,
but doesn’t automatically bestow knowledge of any specific The types of components differ for each sphere of magic and
spells. Each spell a character knows — from the most basic 0- can be personalized by each caster, but often include powdered
level cantrips, orisons, and incantations, to 18th-level spells that precious metals, gems and crystals, rare alchemical reagents,
channel some of the most powerful magic in the world — must and more.
be sought out and carefully learned in order to be added to the Learning by Instruction; Learning Recorded Spells
list of known spells a character can cast.
On the “Spell Costs” table, the “Learning” column sets out the
Spellcasting Feats (322) cost for a character to learn each of their starting spells, and the
Over the course of a campaign, your character will have the cost for components when you learn a new spell during the
opportunity to discover and learn many new spells. However, at campaign. You must spend this amount for each spell you learn,
character creation, you treat the spells you know as part of your even if you learn it by observation, from a schema, scroll, or
starting equipment, purchasing spells just as you purchase talisman you found as treasure, or by having another character
armor, weapons, and other gear. As with using starting wealth to teach you the spell for free.
buy armor and weapons, purchasing starting spells doesn’t Magic Grimoire/Schemas, Scrolls, and Talismans (ch. 2)
mean that your character runs to the magic shop and selects
spells off the shelf. Rather, just as your combat gear is assumed Learning a spell might also come with an additional cost if you
to have been won or inherited at some point in your character’s require another spellcaster’s instruction, or if you need to
past, these are spells your character has studied, been granted purchase a schema, scroll, or talisman from which to learn the
by a former master, or found and learned in the course of spell. The “Teaching” column on the table notes the cost that
previous adventuring. most NPCs will charge to teach your character a new spell,
which is the same as the cost of a schema, scroll, or talisman.
Chapter 8/Starting Wealth (204) (This is also the cost for an arcane caster to record a spell in a
spellbook.)
Learning New Spells
Spells are shared knowledge, passed from one spellcaster to SPELL COSTS
another as part of magical traditions going back centuries. Spell Spell
Learning a new spell is always a matter of seeking out the Level Learning Teaching Level Learning Teaching
knowledge of that spell from an outside source. This can be 0 10 gp 2 gp 10th 500 gp 100 gp
another spellcaster who agrees to teach you the spell, a caster 1st 15 gp 3 gp 11th 600 gp 120 gp
you carefully observe casting the spell in the hope of recreating 2nd 25 gp 5 gp 12th 725 gp 145 gp
its magic, or a caster who left a record of the spell in a form you
3rd 50 gp 10 gp 13th 850 gp 170 gp
can study and learn.
4th 75 gp 15 gp 14th 975 gp 195 gp
Learning a new spell requires 1 day per spell level of study 5th 125 gp 25 gp 15th 1,125 gp 225 gp
(minimum 1 day) during a downtime rest, and requires a 6th 175 gp 35 gp 16th 1,275 gp 255 gp
successful Magic/spellcraft check. The days required to learn a 7th 250 gp 50 gp 17th 1,450 gp 290 gp
spell don’t have to be uninterrupted, and can be spread out 8th 325 gp 65 gp 18th 1,625 gp 325 gp
across different downtime rests as you desire. There are no 9th 400 gp 80 gp
limits to the number of spells a spellcaster can attempt to learn.
[Having a gp cost for spellcasters to learn spells is a new thing
Magic Checks to Learn Spells for CORE20, though it hearkens back somewhat to games in
To attempt to learn a spell, you must channel magic from the which wizards need to spend money to transcribe spells in their
appropriate sphere (animys, arcane, or druidas), and the spell spellbooks as an adjunct to learning them. The reason for this
must be of a level you can cast. You can’t learn spells from a rule is that when spellcasting is part of a class-based structure,
sphere of magic for which you haven’t taken the Eldritch Spirit the value of learning a number of new spells at each level for the
and Spellcaster feats, nor can you attempt to learn any spell of a casting classes can be judged against the value of the benefits
level higher than your caster level, as determined by the number other classes are receiving. But when breaking out the
of times you’ve taken the Spell Mastery feat. mechanisms by which characters chart their own course through
spellcasting power (and in which they have the freedom to
Chapter 10/Spell Mastery (323)
choose many different approaches to casting), automatic spells
Whenever you learn a new spell, you add it to your spell list. become too valuable — or need to be paid for with additional
Once a spell is on your spell list, you know that spell feats, which doesn’t feel right.
permanently, and can cast it at any time as long as you have
The high-magic baseline of CORE20 creates a world in which
sufficient spell points remaining. Only rare and powerful magic
magic is readily accessible to all characters, but that magic
doesn’t last forever. The Magic Grimoire has more information

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on that topic, and you’ll see references in the Player’s Guide to
“ephemeral magic” — the temporary magic that fades through
use, and which makes up most of the magic your characters will
interact with. So spells in CORE20 are effectively treated as a
type of magic that spellcasters alone can purchase, and which is
more valuable than any magic item by virtue of each spell
becoming a permanent part of your character’s power.]
Optional Rule: Automatic Spells
Rather than having spellcasters in a campaign treat spells as
knowledge that must be actively sought out, a campaign can treat
spells as a straightforward resource like weapons, armor, and magic
items. In such a campaign, a character learns spells automatically,
with the specifics of how and where those spells are learned
assumed to take place at unspecified points in the campaign
downtime.
Using this system, when you take the Spellcaster feat, you can learn
a number of 0-level spells equal to your spellcasting modifier.
Thereafter, each time you take the Spell Mastery feat, you can learn
a number of spells equal to your spellcasting modifier. Each spell
you learn incurs the usual learning cost for components that are
consumed during the learning process.
Spell Costs table
New spells you learn can be of any level you can cast. If you don’t
have enough cash available to pay for all the spells you are able to
learn, you can defer learning those spells until you can pay for them.
In campaigns using this rule, spellcasters gain all their spells known
in this fashion. Spellcasters in such a campaign can’t also learn
additional spells from other casters, from observation, or from
spellbooks and other recorded sources. Arcane casters in such a
campaign must still take either the Intuitive Arcana feat or the
Inscribed Arcana feat. However, this choice simply defines the flavor
of an arcanist’s spellcasting, and determines whether an arcanist can
create a spellbook as a permanent record of spells known.
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Spheres of Magic
The method by which spells are learned depends on the
spellcaster’s sphere of magic. However, whether a character
channels animys, arcane, or druidas magic, learning new spells is
a similar process. All spellcasters can learn spells under the
instruction of another spellcaster, by observation of a spell
being cast to completion, or from recorded sources.
For spells that appear in more than one sphere of magic, a
caster can learn only the version of the spell from the correct
sphere. Likewise, different versions of spells must be learned
separately by spellcasters who channel magic from more than
one sphere.
The bestow curse spell appears on both the animys and the
arcane spell lists, but if an animyst knows the spell, they
can’t teach it to their arcanist companion (and vice versa). A
spellcaster who channels both arcane and druidas magic
can learn either the arcane or druidas version of animal
might. However, if they learn the druidas version, they can’t
cast that spell using their arcane spell points.
Magic Grimoire/Spell Lists (ch. 1)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Traditions of Arcane Magic
Though all arcane spells are cast in the same way, arcane
spellcasters have long been divided by two traditions —
learning spells in written form and learning spells by observation
and instinctive understanding. The division of arcanists into
instinctive casters and recorded-spell casters originates in the
origins of intuitive arcane spellcasting among the ilvani, and the
process by which arcane spellcasting first entered, then flourished in
the human realm in written form.
The process by which an arcane spellcaster learns new spells
depends on whether they learn spells by instinct with the Intuitive
Arcana feat, or from written sources with the Inscribed Arcana feat.
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Magic Checks to Learn Spells
All methods of learning new spells involve making a Magic
check for spellcraft, with DCs and other information noted
below. You can’t take 10 on a Magic check to learn a spell, and
no other character can lend you skill assistance.
Chapter 6/Skill Checks without Rolls (107)
A clear failure on a check made to learn a spell means that spell
is beyond your present level of magical understanding. You
can’t try to learn that spell again until you increase your caster
level by taking the Spell Mastery feat for that sphere of magic. If
you fail to learn a spell, the components used in the learning
process are not consumed and you don’t need to pay for them.
You do pay the cost for another spellcaster’s instruction or a
schema, scroll, or talisman from which you tried to learn the
spell.
On a partial success on the check to learn a spell, the player and
GM determine the outcome, as usual.
When an arcanist gets a partial success on a Magic check to
learn the acid arrow spell, they learn the spell but have it
improperly imprinted in their mind, so that it grants
advantage on a target’s defense rolls until the arcanist’s
next downtime rest.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
When the arcanist later tries to learn silence, a bare
minimum partial success on the check inspires the GM to
say that the spell isn’t learned, but that the knowledge of
the spell the character has picked up in their failed attempt
lets them automatically learn the spell the next time they
attempt to do so.
Chapter 6/Measuring Skill Success (104)
Learning by Instruction
Arcanists with the Intuitive Arcana feat, and all animysts and
druidan, can learn spells under the tutelage of another
spellcaster of the same sphere who knows the spell to be
learned. Learning a spell in this way requires a successful
Magic/spellcraft check of DC 10 + the spell’s level. Learning a
spell from an NPC might also come at a cost.
Payment for Services Rendered sidebar
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
325

Payment for Services Rendered
Player character spellcasters are free to exchange spell knowledge
by instructing each other in order to learn new spells. Whether any
payment or favor is required for such knowledge (over and above
the trading of spells learned) is left to the players’ discretion.
Most NPC spellcasters share their spell knowledge with a player
character only as payment for services performed by the player
character, as part of an exchange for favors, or for money. The final
terms of compensation for an NPC spellcaster sharing spells is left
to the GM, with NPCs expecting to be paid whether the attempt to
learn the spell is successful or not.
An NPC spellcaster who offers to teach another spellcaster a new
spell or to allow a spellcaster access to their spellbooks or written
spell materials typically charges a baseline fee noted in the
“Teaching/Recording” column of the “Spell Costs” table.
Spell Costs table (324)
Animyst and Druidan Spell Study
The relationship between the animys and druidas spheres of magic
means that the process of learning animys and druidas spells is the
same, though animysts and druidan can’t learn each other’s spells.
Animys and druidas casters have no feats that govern their ability to
learn new spells. The ability to learn is an inherent part of the form
of both spheres of magic.
Learning by Observation
Arcanists with the Intuitive Arcana feat, and all animysts and
druidan, can learn spells by observing another spellcaster
casting a spell, then attempting to deduce the inner workings of
the spell. A spell must be cast successfully and its effects
observed to be learned through observation, so that spells that
fail or are subject to a counterspell can’t be learned in this way.
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Observing a spell as it is cast requires no action, but you must
be able to clearly perceive the spell’s lexis and somatic
components, if any. Any material components are deduced
during the course of learning the spell. Once a spell has been
observed, learning it requires a successful Magic/spellcraft
check of DC 15 + the spell’s level.
Components (329)
Only spells known and cast by a spellcaster can be observed
and learned in this way. A spell can’t be learned by studying its
casting from a magic item, or by observing a creature using
innate magic (including spelltouched abilities and primordial
magic). As with all spell learning, the spell being observed must
also be in the appropriate sphere of magic, as each sphere has
its own distinct processes of casting.
Learning Recorded Spells
Animysts and druidan, as well as arcanists with the Inscribed
Arcana feat, can learn spells that are recorded in written or
symbolic forms. Arcane spellcasters with Inscribed Arcana can
learn spells from arcane scrolls or from specially prepared
spellbooks that many arcanists maintain as a record of their
knowledge. Any arcanist can read the writing on a scroll to
determine the spell stored there and to cast the scroll’s spell.
However, only an arcanist with the Inscribed Arcana feat can
fully decipher the arcane text of a scroll to learn the spell it
holds.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Animysts and druidan don’t keep spellbooks, but they can use
written or witness sources that describe the methodology of
casting specific spells, including scholarly texts, prayer books or
chants maintained by orders of faith, and the records of druidas
circles. Animysts can also attempt to learn spells recorded as
schemas, just as druidan can with talismans, by carefully
breaking down the magical processes that allowed the spell to
be recorded.
Magic Grimoire/Schemas, Scrolls, and Talismans (ch. 2)
Learning a spell from a recorded source requires a successful
Magic/spellcraft check of DC 10 + spell level. Attempting to
learn a spell from a schema, scroll, or talisman (ephemeral or
permanent) destroys the item whether the attempt is successful
or not.
If the Magic/spellcraft check to learn an arcane spell from a
spellbook is a clear failure, the character learning the spell must
succeed on follow-up Magic/spellcraft check of the same DC. If
that check is a clear failure, the magic of the recorded spell is
disrupted and the spell disappears from the spellbook. Arcanists
who keep spellbooks typically allow other spellcasters to access
only copies of those books for the purpose of learning new
spells, so that their original spellbooks are never put at risk.
Spellbooks
Recording an arcane spell in a spellbook involves a complex
notation that charts and describes the patterns of magic that make
up a spell. All arcanists who use spellbooks employ the same system
of spellbook notation, no matter what their native language or
culture.
An arcanist with the Inscribed Arcana feat can scribe any spell they
know into a spellbook. Most arcanists who keep spellbooks do so to
have a permanent record of the spells they know, or to create a
master list of spells from which apprentices or other casters can
learn.
The number of pages it takes to scribe a spell in a spellbook is equal
to the spell’s level. (Treat two 0-level spells as one 1st-level spell.) It
takes 1 hour to scribe a single page with a spell’s complex magical
formula, using rare inks, reagents, and powdered precious metals
whose cost is noted in the “Teaching/Recording” column of the
“Spell Costs” table.
Spell Costs table (324)
Magic Grimoire/Schemas, Scrolls, and Talismans (ch. 2)
Spellbooks traded on the open market or found as treasure can be
sold for five times the total cost required to scribe each spell in the
book. A spellbook purchased on the open market costs ten times
the amount required to scribe its spells.
Though spellbooks contain magic and radiate a dweomer, they
aren’t magic items in the true sense. A spell recorded in a spellbook
can’t be cast from the book as a spell is cast from a scroll, and a
spellbook has no magical protection against water, fire, mold,
insects, and other threats.
Focusing Spells
To channel your magic most effectively, you spend time
focusing the specific spells that you intend or expect to cast. By
focusing this subset of all the spells you know during meditation
(for animys and druidas casters) or a trance-like state of spell
recall (for arcane casters), you more effectively channel your
magic when casting those spells. A spell that has been focused
can be cast at a cost of 1 spell point per spell level. (You never
need to focus 0-level spells.)
326

As a spellcaster, you have instinctive access to all the spells you
know at all times, and such spells can always be cast even if they
aren’t focused. However, the extra effort involved in pulling a
spell from deep memory taxes your spellcasting power, so that a
spell that isn’t focused costs 2 spell points per level to cast.
Some spellcasters have certain spells that are always considered
focused, including arcanists with the Arcane Specialization feat,
animysts with the Domain Spells feat, and druidan with the
Creed Spells feat.
Arcane Magic Feats (355); Creed Feats (363); Domain Feats (347)
Focused Spells
Your spellcasting character can focus a maximum number of
spells equal to your caster level + your spellcasting ability
modifier. You can focus spells at the end of either a short rest or
a long rest, choosing from among any spells you know. Most
spellcasters focus spells according to which spells they expect to
use most often, not based on their level.
At the end of a long rest, you can focus new spells up to your
maximum. If you choose not to focus new spells at the end of a
long rest, the spells you previously focused remain focused.
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193)
At the end of a short rest, you can refocus one spell, removing it
from your list of focused spells and replacing it with a new spell.
An arcanist of caster level 4 with Intelligence 16 (+3
modifier) can focus seven spells. Before exploring a ruin
with his party, he chooses to focus magic missile, obscuring
mist, controlled image, daze creature, invisibility, knock,
and scorching ray, focusing two 1st-level spells, four 3rd-
level spells, and a 4th-level spell.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
During the incursion of the ruin, the adventurers discover
the presence of undead. When the party takes a short rest
following combat, the arcanist elects to lose his focus on his
daze creature spell (2nd level, and not effective on undead)
and to instead focus control undead (4th level).
After the ruins have been explored, the party takes a long
rest before heading back to town. At the end of the long
rest, in addition to regaining his spell points, the arcanist
might decide to focus an entirely new slate of spells,
choosing magic more geared toward travel than
adventuring.
Focusing and Spheres of Magic
A character who channels magic from more than one sphere
focuses spells separately for each sphere, using the maximum
number of spells based on the spellcasting ability for that
sphere. Spells that are found in different spheres of magic must
be focused separately by characters who channel those spheres
of magic.
A dedicated spellcaster character has an arcane caster level
of 4 and an animys caster level of 3, with Intelligence 16 (a
+3 modifier) and Wisdom 14 (a +2 modifier). She can focus
a maximum of seven arcane spells and five animys spells. If
the caster knows and focuses the animys version of the
magic weapon spell, she can cast it at the focused cost
using animys spell points. Casting the arcane version of the
spell requires the full expenditure of spell points for casting
an unfocused spell.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Caster Level
Your caster level is based on the number times you’ve taken the
Spell Mastery feat. The higher your caster level, the higher the
level of the spells you can learn and use. Moreover, because a
spell’s damage and duration often depend on caster level, the
more potent and long lasting your spells are. Some spells have
an effective maximum to effects that depend on caster level.
A neophyte arcanist is caster level 1, casting magic missile
to produce only one missile. The corrupt wizard he faces
casts the same spell at caster level 6, producing three
missiles. The arcanist’s healer ally is animys caster level 4.
Wary of the wizard’s power, she casts the aid spell on
herself to protect against magic missile, with the spell
lasting 1 minute per caster level for 4 minutes of protection.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
When the wizard casts shocking grasp, that spell deals 1d6
lightning damage per caster level. But even though the
wizard is caster level 6, the spell deals a maximum of 5d6
damage. When the wizard unleashes a lightning bolt, that
spell also deals 1d6 lightning damage per caster level —
but to a maximum of 10d6, allowing the wizard to deal a full
6d6 damage with the spell.
If you have a reason to, you can cast a spell at a lower caster
level, as long as the caster level is at least equal to the spell’s
level. All level-dependent features are based on the caster level
you choose.
When a 10th-level arcanist casts a fireball spell, they deal
the maximum 10d6 damage for the spell. But if the arcanist
wants to send a group of foes running while minimizing the
number who are killed or badly injured, they can cast
fireball as low as 6th level (the spell’s level), so that it deals
only 6d6 damage.
If a feat or magic item provides an adjustment to your caster
level, that adjustment applies to any effects based on caster
level, including duration, damage dealt, and any bonuses based
on your caster level.
Casting a Spell
When you are ready to cast a spell, you choose the spell to cast
from among any of the spells you know, then consult the spell
description. Spell descriptions are presented in alphabetical
order in the CORE20 Magic Grimoire, and provide all the
information you need to determine how each spell is cast.
Spell Description (328)
When you cast a spell, you subtract its spell point cost from your
current spell points. A spell can’t be cast if you don’t have
enough spell points to do so. Any 0-level spells you know can be
cast as long as you have 1 or more spell points remaining.
Spellcasting Actions
All spells are cast as a standard action, allowing you to cast a
spell in combat the same way you would make a weapon attack.
Any activity required to use the spell (including making an
attack) is part of the standard action to cast it. Some spells that
last for multiple rounds require you to spend actions in
subsequent rounds to keep the spell going.
When you cast an attack spell, you make a melee or ranged
magic attack roll, as noted in the spell’s description. If an
327

ongoing spell requires you to make additional attack rolls in
subsequent rounds, you do so as a standard action.
Some ongoing spells require concentration, meaning you must
keep your focused attention on the spell to keep its magic alive.
Maintaining concentration on a spell is a minor action.
Other ongoing spells can be redirected as a minor action, to
have their effects altered, to move the spell’s area to another
location, or to send the spell toward different targets.
Incapacitated Caster
When a spell lasts for a certain length of time, it takes no action
to keep it going except for spells that require concentration or
that can be redirected. This means that if a creature casts a spell
that creates an ongoing magical effect, the effect continues
even if that caster is unconscious, immobilized, petrified, or
stunned — or even if they die.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
For spells whose effects are controlled by a caster, those effects
continue according to the last direction the caster imposed. For
example, a target under the effect of dominate person
continues to carry out the last command given to them if the
caster of that spell is petrified or killed.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Casting Multiple Spells
You can normally only cast one spell as a standard action. If you
can make multiple attacks because you have taken the Rapid
Attack or Rapid Shot feats, also taking the Instinctive Spell
Attack feat lets you cast a 0-level spell instead of making one of
your attacks.
Instinctive Spell Attack (341)
Chapter 9/Multiple Attack Feats (297)
Under certain circumstances (such as being under the effect of a
haste spell or using the Quickened Spell metamagic feat), you
can cast a spell as a minor action. If you do so, you can use your
standard action to cast another spell in the same round.
Metamagic Feats (372)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Spell Level and Caster Level
In a spell description, references to “level” are always to caster level
unless a specific reference to spell level is made. A spell’s level
determines how many spell points it costs to cast, but caster level
determines all other variable effects for the spell, often including its
damage, its duration, and the number of creatures it affects.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Spell Description
Each spell is set up to provide all the information you need to
have a character use the spell, whether casting it or using a
potion or spellmark that stores the spell. The information in a
spell’s description is presented in two sections. The spell header
includes the name of the spell and its mechanical information —
school of magic, level and sphere, components, range, area,
targets, duration, attack and saving throw information, and
more. The spell text describes the spell’s effect, repeating and
expanding on the header information as it details how the spell
is cast, its effects, and any special rules that come into play when
the spell is used.
Schools of Magic (328)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
When you first read a spell, the presentation of the mechanics in
the spell description make those mechanics easier to
understand. When you’re using a spell during the game, having
the mechanical information in the spell header makes it easy to
look up quickly.
Spell Name
Spells are organized alphabetically by name. For spells that have
“greater,” “lesser,” “or “mass” as part of their name, that
information appears after the main part of the spell’s name. For
example, the lesser restoration spell appears under the name
“Restoration, Lesser.”
Schools of Magic
No matter what its sphere of magic, each spell belongs to one
of eight schools of magic — abjuration, conjuration, divination,
evocation, enchantment, illusion, necromancy, or transmutation.
Each school defines the type of magic a spell channels and the
effects it creates.
Abjuration
Abjuration spells channel protective magic. They often create
physical or magical barriers, negate magical or physical effects,
or incapacitate or harm trespassers.
If an abjuration creates a barrier that keeps certain types of
creatures at bay, that barrier can’t be used to push those
creatures. If you attempt to force the barrier against a creature,
the abjuration spell ends.
Abjurations include such spells as alarm, arcane lock, energy
resistance, and protection from ethos.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Conjuration
Conjuration spells allow you to bring creatures, objects, or
energy into existence, whether you create something that’s
never existed or call creatures or objects from across
dimensional boundaries. Some conjurations vanish after a set
time, reverting to magical energy. Other conjured objects last as
long as any mundane object.
When a summoned object or creature appears, they are
conjured within a specific range determined by the spell. After
that, a conjured creature is usually free to move wherever they
like, and a conjured object can be handled like any other object.
Creatures you conjure usually obey your commands. Unless
otherwise noted, conjured creatures appear as typical creatures
of their type, and you have no control over their features.
328

A creature or object created or transported by a conjuration
spell must arrive in an open location on a surface able to
support them, and can’t appear inside another creature or
object.
Conjurations include such spells as acid arrow, dimension door,
leeching void, and summon creature.
Divination
Divination spells enable you to learn information by magical
means. You might use divination magic to discover secrets long
forgotten, to learn about the future, to find hidden things or
observe unseen areas, or to detect a creature or object’s true
nature. Some divination spells grant you knowledge
immediately. Some grant you more information the longer you
focus the magic on a creature or object.
Some divination spells are blocked by mundane or magical
effects. Many spells of detection can be blocked by certain
thicknesses of stone, earth, or wood, or by thin sheets of lead or
gold. Divination spells that produce a magical scrying sensor
that sends you information can sometimes be masked or
interfered with by other magic.
Divinations include such spells as arcane sense, detect magic,
scrying, and truesense.
Enchantment
Enchantment spells affect the minds of other creatures, allowing
you to influence or control their behavior. Some enchantments
compel a creature to adopt a positive attitude toward you,
making them less likely to attack or letting you fool them into
helping you. Other enchantments allow you to give magical
commands or change the way a creature acts.
The most powerful enchantments can compel a creature to
attack their allies. Any creature affected by such an enchantment
treats their allies as enemies, using their deadliest attacks, most
powerful spells, and most useful combat tactics against them.
Because an enchantment spell relies on subverting the mind of
a creature, mindless creatures (including constructs and many
undead) and creatures of minimal intelligence (including
monstrous arthropods) are not affected by certain types of
enchantments.
Enchantments include such spells as bless, charm person,
enthrall, and zone of truth.
Evocation
Evocation spells tap sources of magical power and directly
manipulate their destructive energy. Many evocation spells
produce spectacular effects and can deal large amounts of
damage.
Evocation spells that deal fire and lightning damage can ignite
combustible materials (parchment, straw, dry sticks, cloth, and
so forth) if noted in the spell description. Evocation spells that
deal energy damage typically create no pressure when they are
cast or triggered. A fireball spell unleashes a burst of flame that
can set fire to a dry wooden door, but it doesn’t create an
explosion that knocks that door off its hinges.
Evocations include such spells as darkness, fireball, hand of
blocking, and scorching ray.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Illusion
Illusion spells deceive the minds of other creatures, causing
those creatures to sense things that aren’t there, ignore things
that are there, or have experience false sensations. Some
illusions affect all creatures who observe them, while others
affect only the minds of specific creatures.
Because illusions that shape a false reality aren’t real, they
typically can’t do permanent harm to other creatures. A creature
might panic and cry out if struck by an illusory knight’s
greatsword, but that creature takes no damage from the attack
and eventually recognizes the illusion because of that. However,
illusions can easily draw creatures into danger (for example, an
illusion making a pit trap look like a solid floor), and higher-level
illusion spells can create partially real effects that can harm your
foes.
Because illusions rely on subverting the minds of creatures,
mindless creatures (including constructs and many undead) are
not affected by illusions.
Unless otherwise noted in a spell’s description, illusion spells
used as attacks (such as color spray and hypnotic pattern) affect
even creatures who can’t see their visual display, as their magic
directly affects a target’s mind.
Illusions include such spells as color spray, controlled image,
invisibility, and perfect disguise.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Necromancy
Necromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and
the life force. Some necromantic spells channel the negative
energy of unlife to harm your enemies, while others channel the
positive energy of weal and healing.
Necromancies include such spells as create undead, cure light
wounds, fear, and restoration.
Transmutation
Transmutation spells change the properties of a creature or
object. A transmutation spell might make a creature stronger,
tougher, larger or smaller, or give them the ability to fly or
breathe underwater. The most powerful transmutation spells can
change one creature into an entirely new creature, or reshape
the material world according to your own designs.
Transmutations include such spells as alter self, enlarge person,
petrify, polymorph, and stone to mud.
Sphere and Level
A spell’s level (from 0 to 18) and sphere of magic (animys,
arcane, or druidas) is noted at the top of the spell header. A
spell’s level defines its relative power and how many spell points
it costs to cast.
Focusing Spells (326)
Components
Each spell has an entry defining its spell components. Spells can
have one of five types of components, each of which
encompasses a specific requirement necessary for a spell to be
cast.
329

Lexis Component
A lexis component is a special phrase of mystical words that
must be spoken or signed to let your mind properly channel a
spell’s magic.
To provide a spoken lexis component, you must be able to
speak in your usual voice. Anything that hinders your speech,
including being hearing disoriented, leaves you distracted when
you cast a spell with a lexis component. A silence spell, a gag, or
anything else that makes speech impossible prevents you from
casting any spell with a spoken lexis component.
Casting While Distracted (337)
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
To provide a signed lexis component, you must be able to sign
in your usual style. If you are restrained, you are either distracted
when casting a spell with a signed lexis component or can’t cast
such spells. If you are immobilized, you can’t cast any spell with
a signed lexis component.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
The Tacit Spell feat allows you to ignore lexis components when
casting spells.
Tacit Spell (374)
Somatic Component
A somatic component is a measured and precise gesture that
helps to shape a spell’s magic, whether performed with the
hand, the arm, or another part of the body. You must be able to
gesture in your usual fashion to provide a somatic component. If
you are restrained, you are either distracted when casting a spell
with a somatic component or can’t cast such spells. If you are
immobilized, you can’t cast any spell with a somatic component.
Casting While Distracted (337)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Somatic components for arcane spells are more complex and
precise than for animys or druidas spells. An arcane caster who
wears armor is usually distracted when casting a spell with a
somatic component. Animys spells and druidas spells can be
cast with no difficulty while wearing armor.
Arcane Casting in Armor (338)
The Stilled Spell feat allows you to ignore somatic components
when casting spells.
Stilled Spell (374)
Material Component
Many arcane spells and a small number of animys and druidas
spells feature material components. These are physical
substances or objects that help provide the spell’s magical
energy, and which are consumed by the spellcasting process. A
character who doesn’t have a material component available for
a spell can’t cast that spell.
Material components must be on your person when a spell is
cast, with the spell’s magic seeking and finding the component
it is attuned to. Because arcane casters often maintain a wide
range of components, arcane material components are usually
stored in a dedicated spell component pouch or pocket.
Unless a cost is given for a material component, the cost is
negligible. It is assumed that your upkeep expenses cover
collecting or purchasing enough material components for
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
multiple castings of a spell during campaign downtime. The only
spells that have a cost for material components are those that
channel the most potent magic restoring a creature’s life
essence (including raise dead, regenerate, restoration, and
revivify), or which channel the power of undeath (including
create undead). Such spells are the only animys and druidas
spells that require material components.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Feat Slot Component
The most powerful spells, including permanency and wish, draw
on not only the magic channeled by a spellcaster but on the life
essence of a creature. Such spells have a feat slot cost that must
be paid by a willing sapient creature present at the time the
spell is cast. The willing recipient of a spell’s benefit (whether
the spellcaster or another creature) most commonly pays the
spell’s feat slot cost, but any creature paying a feat slot cost for
a spell must do so freely. If they are forced or coerced into
paying the feat slot cost by any mundane or magical means, no
feat slots are lost and the spell fails.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
If a player character pays the feat slot cost, the player decides
which feats the character loses as a result. For other creatures,
the GM selects which feats are to be lost. As a general rule, the
GM will prohibit nonplayer characters from giving up feat slots
for spells cast for the benefit of player characters, even in
circumstances where an NPC owes a character a legitimate
debt.
Feat slots expended in this way can’t be retrained like feat slots
used on feats. Once a feat slot has been used as a spell
component, it can’t be regained by any means, including a wish
spell. A character can replace these lost feat slots only by the
passage of campaign time or further adventuring.
Range
All spells have a range, which indicates how far away from you
their magic can be manifested. Depending on the type of spell
you cast, its range is the maximum distance at which it can
target a creature or an object, the maximum distance at which
its effect can be activated, or the maximum distance that you
can place the center of its area of effect.
You can increase the range of certain spells with the Distant
Spell metamagic feat. Otherwise, if you try to cast a spell so that
its magic manifests beyond its range, the spell fails.
Distant Spell (373)
All spells have one of the following ranges.
Personal
A spell with a range of personal creates an effect that starts from
you or is centered on you. Some ongoing personal spells have
areas that move with you in subsequent rounds, while some
remain fixed in their original location even if you move out of
the effect.
Any spell whose magic can affect only you is always a personal-
range spell.
Touch
When you cast a spell with a range of touch, you must touch a
creature or object targeted by the spell. For spells that harm a
330

target creature, you make a magic attack against the target as
they try to avoid your touch.
For beneficial spells such as healing spells, you can usually touch
any target within 5 feet of you. Under extreme circumstances
(for example, if you are both running away from enemies or
trying to get out of the way of a landslide), the GM might call for
an Acrobatics check for you to successfully touch the target.
Some beneficial touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets.
You can touch as many targets as you can reach on the turn in
which you cast the spell, and can move from target to target
while you do so.
Ranges Measured in Feet
Spells that can be targeted, centered, or activated at a distance
have a range of either 60 feet, 120 feet, or 600 feet.
Impair senses targets a single creature within 120 feet of
the caster. A war priest who wants to cast the spell on an
enemy sorcerer must move to within 120 feet of the target
before casting the spell. If the sorcerer decides to respond
with fireball, that spell has a range of 600 feet. The sorcerer
can place the center of its fiery explosion at that maximum
distance or anywhere closer, targeting the war priest or the
forces who follow them with equal ease.
Unlimited
A small number of spells have a range that is unlimited. These
spells can reach anywhere in the physical world, though they
might not be able cross into other dimensional realms.
Locus
Some spells have a locus entry, indicating that they are cast into
an object but that the object isn’t the target of the spell. Rather,
the object acts as a locus, or physical center, for the spell’s
magic, which is subsequently triggered to target creatures or
other objects. Spells cast into a locus object include those that
create some sort of magical trap (such as explosive runes or
glyph of warding), or that create objects that can then be
utilized for releasing triggered magic (such as fire seeds or
refuge).
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
When you cast a spell with a locus that requires a saving throw,
you imbue your magic challenge throw modifier into the spell.
That modifier is used to determine saving throws for the spell
even if you are no long present.
Saving Throws (245)
While a spell is active, its locus radiates magic that allows the
spell to be identified. A locus doesn’t appear as a magic item,
though, and gains none of a magic item’s resilience to damage.
Chapter 8/Damaging Objects (230)
A spell cast into a locus can’t be used offensively. A locus
triggered by a specific type of creature moving within 10 feet of
it remains untriggered if the locus is moved closer to a
stationary creature. Likewise, a locus spell triggered by touch
can’t be cast into a weapon, then triggered when the weapon
strikes a creature.
Spell Area
Some spells create a magical effect within an area. When you
cast an area spell that affects creatures or objects within the
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
area, a creature who is only partially within the area has
advantage on any saving throws against the spell, and an object
might be only partly affected, as the GM determines.
All spells that affect an area have a particular shape — either a
cone, one or more cubes, a line, or a sphere.
Cone Spells
A spell area that is a cone starts at your position and sends its
magic out in a direction you choose, expanding horizontally and
vertically as it does. The size of a cone is usually fixed, often as a
15-foot cone or a 60-foot cone. The size tells you how far away
from you the cone ends, and also how wide the circular end of
the cone is.
Color spray, detect magic, and shout all create areas that are
cones.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Cube Spells
A spell’s area might be a number of cubes whose size is either
fixed or dependent on caster level. If a spell whose area is a
number of cubes is shapeable, you can make the area follow any
path you like, even creating a circular or square barrier with the
spell’s area.
The area of a cube spell consisting of a number of cubes must
be laid out in such a way that every cube touches at least one
other cube along one full side. Cubes can’t be laid out so that
only their corners are touching.
Control water, controlled image, and illusory barrier all create
areas that are made up of cubes.
Line Spells
Some spells take the form of a line of magic that extends from a
starting point to an end point, and which has a specified height
and width. Some lines have fixed dimensions, while others have
dimensions that depend on your caster level or can be adjusted.
A spell whose area is a line affects all targets in its area.
A line might be horizontal, vertical, or any orientation in
between. It might be straight, or it might be shapeable to follow
an irregular or curving path.
Blade barrier, lightning bolt, and wall of fire all create areas that
are lines.
Sphere Spells
Some spells fill a sphere with magic out to a specific radius. If a
spell creates a sphere centered on a point, the sphere’s radius
extends from that point to the indicated distance. A spell that
creates a sphere centered on a creature extends out from the
edge of the creature’s space. This means that if a Medium or
Small creature and a Large creature are each the center of the
same spell effect, the sphere created by the Large creature will
cover more area than the smaller creature’s sphere.
A sphere spell cast above the ground or floor might be partly
cut off to become a hemisphere, but some spells create spheres
that penetrate into the ground.
Bless, eldritch sense, and fireball all create areas that are
spheres.
Instantaneous and Ongoing Effects
Some area spells fill an area with magical energy that comes and
goes in an instant. When the spell is cast, its energy is
331

unleashed, then dissipates immediately, even as its effects
continue to be felt by the spell’s targets.
When a mage casts flame flow at a group of zombies, the
magic fills a cone to deal damage to each zombie in its
area, then dissipates. A second wave of zombies who
shamble into the area after the spell has been cast suffer no
ill effects because the spell’s magic has already faded.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Other spells fill an area with magic that lasts for a length of time.
The magic of such spells might deal damage to or impose
effects on targets within the area, with the magic affecting
creatures round after round. When a creature or object is no
longer in the area, whether because the creature or object
leaves the area or the area moves away, the effects of the magic
might end immediately, or might continue on until the spell
ends.
Wanting to put the necromancer who created the zombies
out of commission, and to limit the effectiveness of the
necromancer’s living guards, the mage casts black
tentacles, which fills a sphere with magic. For as long as
that magic lasts, the necromancer and her servants are
hindered by grabbing tentacles, potentially making saving
throws round after round.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Like other ongoing effects that deal repeated damage, an area
spell that deals damage can do so only once per round to any
individual creature.
Chapter 9/Round-by-Round Effects sidebar (253)
Area Characteristics
No matter what type of areas a spell creates, those areas
function in the same way.
Always Filled
Unless a spell’s description says otherwise, the magic that fills a
spell’s area fills the entire area, flowing around corners and
barriers to reach every possible part of the area. This means that
area spells can affect targets that you can’t observe when you
cast the spell.
Movable Areas
If a spell has an area that lasts for a length of time, that area
might be fixed in position or moveable. A spell that states its
area can be moved allows you to reorient the area to a different
location while the spell is active, possibly affecting different
targets at that location.
If a spell’s area is at a distance from you, moving the area is a
minor action, or might be part of the concentration required to
keep the spell active, as noted in the spell description.
Concentration Spells (334)
A personal spell that creates a movable area around you
requires no action to move, but remains centered on you as you
move. A personal spell whose magic is a movable cone likewise
moves with you, and the cone turns as you turn.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
As a party searches an ancient shrine for a relic guarded by
invisible stalkers, an animyst casts invisibility purge, filling a
sphere with magic that moves as she does. As the animyst
moves, the spell’s area moves with her, and any invisible
stalker caught in the area is revealed.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Compendium
At the same time, the party’s arcanist casts detect magic to
try to locate the hidden relic. That spell creates a movable
cone that can’t cover as much area as a movable sphere, so
the arcanist must direct the spell toward different areas of
the shrine each round to search for magic.
Shapeable Areas
If a spell’s area is shapeable, you have control over that area.
Many spells whose area is a line or a number of cubes are
shapeable, but spells whose areas are cones or spheres are not.
An arcanist attempting to fool a guard patrol wants to
create the illusion of a predatory creature ready to meet
them. Casting controlled image creates a shapeable area
of illusion defined as a number of 10-foot cubes. The
arcanist can shape that area to create an illusion that is
roughly square (a pack of owlbears standing ready), tall and
narrow (a wyvern rearing up on its haunches), or thin and
long (a behir stretched out along the length of an empty
corridor).
Creature Compendium
Area and Target
Some spells have both an “Area” and a “Target” entry in their
header, while other spells have only one or the other. The setup of
area and target depends on whether a spell:
• Fills an area with energy that targets creatures or objects in the
area
• Targets a creature or object that then becomes the center of an
area of magic
• Has no area and targets only a single creature or object; or
• Fills an area but doesn’t have specific targets for its magic
For spells that have both an “Area” and a “Target” entry, the entries
appear in that order if the spell creates an area effect that targets
creatures or objects. A spell lists a target, then an area if a creature
or object it targets then becomes the center of an area of magic.
Spells Without Areas or Targets
Some spells simply note a range in the spell header. These are
spells that produce an effect that doesn’t create an area filled with
magic or target specific creatures or objects, even if creatures and
objects can interact with the spell’s effect. With such a spell, you
simply choose the location at which the spell’s effect appears.
For example, when you cast summon creature, the creature you
summon is the spell’s effect. That creature appears where you want
them and has no specific target, even if they subsequently interact
with other creatures by attacking your enemies.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Target
A spell has a “Target” or “Targets” entry if its magic is directed
at creatures or objects. A target can be a single creature or
object affected by a spell, a number of creatures or objects,
often determined by your caster level, or each creature and
object in a spell’s area.
332

Whenever a target must be chosen for a spell, you make that
choice based only on the potential target’s obvious features.
A druidan casts dominate animal to try to control the leader
of a pack of feral wolves. When she chooses her target, she
can try to guess which wolf is the leader by their size, their
position in the pack, or the scars they bear. But the spell
can’t automatically select the leader, the wolf with the most
hit points, or any other intangible features.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
The target line of a spell indicates whether it can be cast against
any creatures or only creatures of a certain type.
An animyst has focused the hold person spell when his
party infiltrates an evil wizard’s tower, but he knows that the
spell targets only fey, wondrous worldborn, and worldborn
creatures. It will work against the wizard’s human assistants
and the pixie mercenaries who guard the tower, but not
against animals the wizard summons or the constructs she
has created to defend her inner sanctum.
When the party finally meets the wizard, she casts cloudkill
to try to stop the adventurers in their tracks. The wizard
knows that the spell affects all living creatures in its area,
which excludes her construct servants and allows those
servants to attack the characters within the deadly cloud.
Living Creatures
Many magical effects can target and affect only living creatures, a
group comprising all creatures whose biology is based on organic
processes, even if those processes have an unusual or unnatural
origin. Effects that target living creatures can affect all creatures
except constructs and undead.
Extradimensional Creatures
Certain creatures channel the energy of other dimensional realms,
even if they have lived in the material realm all their lives. In the
material realm, aberrations, celestials, elementals, and fiends are all
considered extradimensional creatures for the purpose of spells and
other magic effects that target such creatures. Additionally, other
creatures who have been corrupted by the energy of an
extradimensional realm might be treated as extradimensional
creatures at the GM’s determination.
Campaign Handbook/Dimensional Realms
Creatures such as wondrous worldborn and worldborn who are
native to the material realm are considered extradimensional
creatures while in other dimensional realms. In a fire temple in the
material realm, fire spawn can be temporarily banished by an
animyst adventurer’s dismissal spell. But if the magic of that temple
draws the party into the elemental realm of fire for a climactic
encounter, that spell won’t work on any elemental creatures there —
even as it can target a worldborn high priest originally from the
material realm who now controls the elementals.
Number of Targets
Sometimes you select one specific target for a spell, as with cure
light wounds. Sometimes you select multiple targets or direct
your magic toward the same target multiple times, as with
scorching ray. Sometimes a spell affects all creatures you
choose, as with beacon of hope or succor, allowing you to
target only allies or enemies. Sometimes a spell affects all
creatures or objects in its area, as with acid fog and fireball.
Spells that affect all creatures in their area must be cast with
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
care, as they will hinder your allies or help your enemies even if
you don’t want them to.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Some spells target a number of creatures or objects depending
on caster level, so that the higher your caster level, the more
targets your spell can effect. Such spells always allow you to
choose targets, up to the maximum number. If you can affect six
creatures with a hinder spell and there are eight enemies in the
spell’s area, you decide which enemies become the targets of
the spell.
Whenever a spell’s “Targets” entry specifies a chosen number
of creatures, you can choose fewer creatures than that
maximum. An animyst might typically cast mass cure serious
wounds in case the members of their party ever need healing all
at once. But during a tough fight, they might decide to cast the
spell to target only one ally if that ally is in dire need of healing
at range.
Attack Rolls and Challenge Throws
When you cast a spell that can affect multiple targets and
requires an attack roll, you make a separate attack roll for each
target, even if you target the same creature twice. Each target
makes a defense roll against the attack that targets them, and
you roll damage separately for each attack that hits.
When you cast a spell that has multiple targets and allows a
saving throw, you make a separate magic challenge throw for
each target, and each target makes their own saving throw.
However, you roll damage only once for a damage-dealing
spell, applying the same damage to each target. If a spell
targeting multiple creatures requires a large number of
challenge throws, you can decide to make group challenge
throws for creatures with the same saving throw modifier.
Chapter 9/Challenge Throw (245)
Targeting Yourself
Some spells can be cast only on the spellcaster, as indicated by
the spell header indicating “Target: You.” Any spell that can be
cast on another creature can also be cast on the spellcaster. The
target of mage armor is “One willing creature,” and that
creature can be you if you wish.
Willing Target
Some beneficial spells, including cure light wounds, fly,
restoration, and teleport, target willing creatures only. Declaring
yourself as a willing target of a such spell is a free action, so you
can do so even when it’s not your turn. Unconscious and
petrified creatures are automatically considered willing for the
purpose of being targeted by beneficial spells, but any creature
who is conscious (including creatures who are immobilized,
restrained, or stunned) gets to decide whether they are a willing
target or not.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Object-Affecting Spells
Only spells that specifically mention objects in their target line
can affect objects in addition to or instead of creatures. The
target line also indicates whether the spell affects only loose
objects — those not being wielded or worn by a creature — or
all objects. If you want to target an object held by a creature
with a spell that targets only loose objects, the creature must
333

first let go of the object. (The disarm combat maneuver is one
way to accomplish this.)
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)
When a spell such as fireball targets “each creature and loose
object” in its area, its magic focuses on creatures in such a way
that those creatures’ possessions or gear are usually unaffected,
even as loose objects in the spell’s area are damaged or ignited.
However, a flame strike spell targets only creatures, so it does
no damage even to loose objects. Repel wood targets “each
wooden object” in its area, meaning that it affects loose objects
and objects that are held or worn by creatures.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Target Objects
When a spell affects an object, a caster usually targets a single item,
even if that item is made of or contains separate items. A bow
consists of a shaft and a string that can be easily detached, but it’s
still a single object if targeted with invisibility. Likewise, a quiver
filled with arrows can be treated as a single object, as can a sealed
backpack filled with gear. But if that gear is spread out around the
backpack, each item of it becomes an individual object, as the
backpack does.
Sometimes a caster might want to treat part of a larger object as a
single object when targeting it with magic. A warp wood spell can’t
affect an object as large as a fishing boat, preventing a caster from
warping the hull and sinking the boat on the spot. But they could
warp the ship’s tiller to make it unusable, or could warp a single
plank of the hull to create an unfixable leak. Likewise, the light
cantrip can be cast on an object that’s a maximum 1 foot wide on
each side, making it impossible to cast on a shortsword. But the
spell could be cast on the crossguard or pommel of the sword if
those are separate pieces attached to the blade.
Spells With Signals
Some spells allow you to set a triggering signal when they are cast,
which is then performed to trigger the spell later. For example, the
instant summons spell uses a triggering signal to pull an item to you
from wherever it happens to be. Other spells allow you to set a
bypass signal that can be performed by creatures to let them safely
bypass or ignore the spell’s effect. When casting glyph of warding to
protect a door, you can set a bypass signal that allows your allies to
move through the door with no fear of triggering the glyph.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Spell signals can be any short combination of words, sounds,
actions, or gestures. A bypass signal must be performed within 1
round of a creature interacting with the spell, or the spell affects the
creature as usual. When you cast a spell with a signal, you can make
the signal straightforward to be easy for allies to remember, or
intentionally complex so that other creatures have trouble guessing
it or learning it if they observe it being performed.
Duration
All spells have a “Duration” entry that tells you how long the
magical energy of the spell lasts.
Rounds, Minutes, Hours, or Days
Many spells have durations that are measured in rounds,
minutes, hours, or days, with the specific duration often based
on your caster level. The magic of a spell with a timed duration
is active throughout that duration unless the spell ends early.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
During this time, a spell can be detected with detect magic, and
is subject to dispel magic and similar effects.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
For a spell whose duration is measured in rounds, that duration
expires at the start of the turn of the spellcaster. When a 6th-
level spellcaster casts haste, its duration is 6 rounds. If the spell
is cast on the spellcaster’s turn in round 1, its effect on the
caster’s allies continues through round 6, then ends at the start
of the spellcaster’s turn in round 7.
Instantaneous Spells
An instantaneous spell creates effects that are felt immediately,
after which the magic ends. A fireball spell deals its damage
instantaneously, leaving no magic behind. Because its magic
comes and goes the instant the spell is cast, an instantaneous
spell and its effects aren’t subject to dispel magic.
Concentration Spells
A spell with a duration of “Concentration” lasts only as long as
you concentrate on it. Concentrating on a spell is a minor
action, and you can concentrate on multiple spells as long as
you have minor actions available. If you take any action on your
turn before using a minor action to concentrate on an active
concentration spell, any concentration spells you’ve cast end
before you take that other action.
Sometimes a concentration spell lasts for a short time after you
cease concentrating, as noted in the spell description. In the first
round in which you cease concentrating on such a spell, the final
part of its duration begins, and you can’t start concentrating on
the spell again to extend its duration.
An illusionist casts rainbow pattern and manages to affect
all the members of a palace guard patrol. The spell has a
duration of concentration plus 1 round per caster level,
letting the illusionist spend a few rounds concentrating
while moving the guards into a side chamber where they
won’t be seen. The illusionist can then flee while any guards
dazed by the spell remain affected by its magic.
Until Ended
Spells that have a duration of “Until ended” last indefinitely until
something specific happens to end the spell. Ancient ruins are
often home to such spells cast centuries ago, and which remain
active until adventurers trip across them.
Some spells of this sort, including explosive runes and glyph of
warding, remain dormant until a trigger condition is met, at
which point the spell activates and ends. Other spells endure
until they are ended by a creature’s actions, such as the arcane
lock spell lasting until it is dispelled or someone forces open the
object the spell was locking.
Dismissible
Some spells that last for a length of time have “dismissible” in
their duration line, indicating that the spell’s caster (not the
spell’s target, unless caster and target are the same) can dismiss
the spell mentally as a minor action. To dismiss a spell you have
cast, the distance between you and the target of the spell, or
the location where the spell was targeted, centered, or
activated, must be within the spell’s range.
When a spell that has multiple targets is dismissible, you can
dismiss the spell for one target or for multiple targets of your
choice.
334

Concentration spells are also dismissible, though they don’t
have “dismissible” in their duration line. This is because you can
dismiss a concentration spell simply by not concentrating on it
anymore (a free action). Spells whose duration is concentration
plus a number of rounds aren’t dismissible after you stop
concentrating unless the duration line says so.
Observation and Effect
You use a spell’s range to determine where its magic is to be
targeted or activated. Spells with a range of personal or touch
can typically be cast automatically because their effect is
immediate to you. For spells with a range measured in feet, the
location where the spell is to be targeted or activated must be
one that you can directly observe and can reach with unblocked
effect, unless a spell description says otherwise.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
Casting at a location you can observe means that you perceive
the location directly, most commonly because it is within the
range of your primary senses. Casting at a location you can
reach with unblocked effect means that a straight line between
you and the location isn’t blocked by any barrier. Your ability to
observe a location can be hindered by fog, shadow, darkness,
magic, and other factors. Your ability to reach a location with
unblocked effect can be negated by any solid barrier, including
barriers that don’t block observation such as a glass window or a
wall of magical force.
An otherwise solid barrier with a hole through it at least 1 foot
across doesn’t block your effect when casting a spell. If you can
also observe the point where the spell is to be targeted or
activated through the opening, you can cast a spell through that
opening.
Once-Per-Round Effects
Like damage dealt round by round by fire and other ongoing
mundane effects, ongoing magical effects and magical damage
can affect a creature only once each round. When a spell
indicates that a target can be affected “maximum once per
round,” a target who leaves and reenters a spell’s area during
the same round suffers the effect of that spell only once, and
makes only one saving throw against that effect if applicable.
Chapter 9/Round-by-Round Effects sidebar (253)
An enemy arcanist casts blade storm around an advancing
warrior, hoping to make her rethink her attack. When the
spell’s effect appears around the warrior, the warrior has
entered the spell’s area, forcing her to make a saving throw
and dealing damage to her. But when she subsequently
starts her turn in the area of the spell, it’s still the same
round in which the spell was cast (measuring from the start
of the arcanist’s turn to the start of their next turn). The
warrior can quickly step out of the area to advance or
retreat, with the initial damage she took covering the initial
time she spent in the spell’s area before exiting.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Magic Attack Roll
Some spells require an attack roll against a target creature to
determine whether the spell affects them. If a spell description
has an “Attack” entry, it tells you whether the spell’s magic
attack is made in melee or at range.
When you make a magic attack, you attempt to make magical
contact with a target’s body or physical essence, channeling the
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
spell’s magic to force it through the target’s defenses. A magic
attack requires an attack roll, similar to the attack roll you make
for a weapon attack.
With a magic attack, your attack roll is equal to:
d20 + spellcasting ability modifier
+ caster level + other modifiers
Your spellcasting ability is determined by the sphere of magic of
the spell you cast — Intelligence for arcane magic, and Wisdom
for animys and druidas magic. A character who needs to make a
magic attack roll and isn’t a spellcaster (for example, when
casting a spell from a magic item), can use their Intelligence,
Wisdom, or Charisma modifier, whichever is highest.
For a spellcaster, caster level is determined by the number of
times they’ve taken the Spell Mastery feat. A character who
needs to make a magic attack roll and isn’t a spellcaster uses
the spell’s level as their caster level.
Spell Mastery (323)
Lineage traits, magic items, and other effects can grant bonuses
to your magic attack rolls.
An attack spell that deals hit point damage can score a critical
hit just as a weapon attack can.
Chapter 9/Magic and Critical Hits (293)
Saving Throw
A spell that imposes a harmful effect often allows a target to
make a saving throw to avoid some or all of the effect. If a spell
description has a “Saving Throw” entry, that entry describes
which type of saving throw the spell allows and how saving
throws against the spell work.
Magic Challenge Throw
When you cast a spell that requires a saving throw, each target
making the save must equal or beat a magic challenge throw
representing the amount of power you channel into the spell.
The magic challenge throw for a spell you cast is equal to:
d20 + caster level or
spellcasting ability modifier
+ other modifiers
Your spellcasting ability is determined by the sphere of magic of
the spell you cast — Intelligence for arcane magic, or Wisdom
for animys and druidas magic. Using your caster level or your
spellcasting ability modifier for your magic challenge throw
gives you an effective caster level equal to your ability modifier if
your caster level is lower than your modifier.
Lineage traits, magic items, and other effects can grant bonuses
to your magic challenge throws.
Whenever you cast a spell that requires a saving throw, you
imbue it with your magic challenge throw modifier, even in the
case where you cast a spell that lasts until ended, then leave the
spell’s area.
Duration (334)
Saving Throw Effects
For spells that allow saving throws, a successful save can have
different effects depending on the spell’s magic.
335

Negating
If a spell’s saving throw entry indicates that a saving throw
“negates,” the spell’s magic has no effect on a target who
makes a successful saving throw. Impair senses allows its target
a Fortitude saving throw. On a clear success, the spell has no
effect on the target.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Partial Effects
A partial saving throw reduces some aspect of the spell’s effect
but doesn’t completely undo it. A fear spell usually imposes the
frightened condition on a target, but a successful Will saving
throw means that a target is subjected to the less debilitating
weakened condition instead.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Half Damage
Many damage-dealing spells have the notation “for half
damage” in their saving throw entries, with successful saving
throw reducing the spell’s damage by half (rounded down).
Lightning bolt is a spell that allows a target to make a Reflex
saving throw to take half damage.
Save to Disbelieve
Many illusion spells have a saving throw entry of “Will to
disbelieve if interacted with.” This means that a successful Will
save against the spell allows a creature to recognize the illusion
for what it is, but that the creature must interact with the illusion
before the save can be made. Such interactions can include
trying to touch an illusory object or creature, hearing illusory
sound out of sync with its source, succeeding on an
Investigation or Perception check that reveals something clearly
wrong with the illusion, and so on.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Without such interaction, all creatures automatically perceive an
illusion as real to their senses. However, any creature is free to
decide that something appearing to be real is actually false and
act accordingly — as when an illusion of a monster appears in a
location that a real monster couldn’t possibly have gotten into.
With a successful saving throw, a creature perceives an illusion
as a translucent or faint manifestation, but is no longer fooled or
affected by it. If an illusory barrier spell creates a false wall to
mask an opening in a corridor, a character who prods the
illusion and succeeds on their saving throw observes the illusion
partially fade away to reveal the corridor beyond.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A failed saving throw indicates that a character doesn’t notice
anything unusual about an illusion. A creature who fails their
save against the same illusory barrier spell experiences the wall
exactly as if it were real, from its visual presentation to the
sensation of hitting solid stone when prodding it.
When a creature fails their saving throw against an illusion spell,
they typically can’t make another saving throw unless they
interact with the illusion again in some new way.
A creature who throws a rock at an illusory otyugh and fails
their save believes that the rock bounces off the creature,
and might observe the otyugh shuffle angrily forward a few
steps in response. If the creature simply backs up to avoid
the otyugh, they don’t get a new saving throw. If they throw
another rock or move up to attack the otyugh, they are
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
allowed another save to determine if that new interaction
reveals the illusion.
If any creature successfully saves against or detects an illusion
and communicates their disbelief to others, each of those
creatures has advantage on their own saving throws when they
interact with the illusion. Until a creature successfully saves
against the illusion, they continue to perceive the illusion as real
even if they know it is not.
Player’s Guide/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (ch. 5)
When a mage successfully saves against illusory barrier, her
warrior companion can follow her as she runs through the
stone wall created by that spell to escape a pack of
skeletons. But if the warrior doesn’t make his own saving
throw, the illusory barrier appears and feels solid, creating
the harmless sensation of smashing into a wall even as he
passes through it.
If an illusion is particularly unbelievable, creatures might have
advantage on their saving throws against it.
An arcanist uses greater controlled image to create an
illusion of an ankheg bursting up from the ground, hoping
to frighten away a mob of approaching bandits. Because
the arcanist has never observed an ankheg up close before,
her illusion suffers from mistakes in its form and movement.
But it appears real enough to frighten the bandits, none of
whom have encountered an ankheg either. However, if the
bandit chieftain grew up on a farm once attacked by an
ankheg, he might see through the illusion more easily,
giving him advantage on his saving throw.
Creature Compendium
When a creature interacts with an illusion, the GM determines
when they save as a result of that interaction. If a first attack roll
against an illusory dragon is a clear hit, the attacker’s sense of
that solid blow not feeling quite right is what allows the saving
throw to be made. But if attacker and dragon trade partial hits
for two rounds, the GM might decide that the attacker doesn’t
make a save until the end of the third round, as inconsistencies
in the illusion’s appearance start to add up.
Certain Targets Only
Sometimes a spell allows only certain types of targets to make a
saving throw. The animal trance spell allows trained animals and
wondrous beasts to make saving throws against its effect, but
untrained animals are automatically affected.
Refocusing Saving Throws
Some spells allow a target to refocus a saving throw. This means
that if the target fails the saving throw made when the spell is
cast, they can repeat the saving throw again.
Refocusing a Saving Throw
Secondary Saving Throws
A creature who makes a saving throw against a spell must
sometimes then make additional saving throws against certain
parts of the spell’s effect. In other cases, a spell allows no saving
throw for the target (including because it has no target), but
creates a magical effect that forces other creatures to make
saving throws. Such spells break out the saving throw entry to
account for both the initial saving throw and the secondary
saving throw.
336

A secondary saving throw might be made against your magic
challenge throw for the spell, or against a fixed DC.
A druidan hit by a contagion spell makes a Fortitude saving
throw to negate the spell’s effect. When she fails that initial
save and contracts a pestilence, she then has to make
secondary Fortitude saving throws against that pestilence.
Succeeding on a Saving Throw
A creature who successfully saves against any spell that has no
obvious physical effects feels a hostile force or a tingling.
However, they can’t deduce the exact nature of the spell and
gain no insight that someone cast the spell against them unless
that fact is otherwise obvious. If a creature’s saving throw
succeeds against a targeted spell you cast, you sense that the
spell has failed.
A cautious arcanist hopes to avoid needing to fight a
sleeping black dragon by targeting them with charm
creature. If the dragon succeeds on their saving throw, they
instinctively know that some kind of magic was used
unsuccessfully against them (most likely waking them), and
the arcanist knows that the spell has failed. However, the
dragon can’t tell what spell was cast, and they gain no
insight into who cast the spell if multiple characters are
present, or if the arcanist is hidden.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
You don’t sense when creatures succeed on saving throws
against area spells or spells that create an effect that those
creatures interact with.
An arcanist directs a sleep spell against four wererat
assassins. All four of the creatures drop, seemingly affected
by the spell. However, the arcanist has no way of telling
whether one or more of them successfully saved, witnessed
their companions fall, and decided to simply feign
unconsciousness to get the drop on the unsuspecting
caster.
Refocusing a Saving Throw
Against an ongoing magical effect, you typically make an initial
saving throw to determine whether the magic affects you. But if
that save fails, some spells that create ongoing effects allow you
to refocus your saving throw in an attempt to shake off the
spell’s magic again.
A spell whose saving throw entry contains “(refocus…” allows a
target to make a new saving throw against the effect. Spells that
specify “(refocus at end of turn)” allow a new saving throw at the
end of each of the target’s turns while they are affected by the
spell. Some spells allow a target to refocus their saving throw at
other times, or in response to triggers such as being attacked.
An arcanist casts the sleep spell to thin the numbers of a
group of cult zealots attacking a marketplace. Half the
zealots fall unconscious, but the arcanist knows that she
and her allies must work quickly to get the others under
control, as each unconscious zealot can refocus the save at
the end of each of their turns, making it likely that they will
quickly rejoin the fray.
The DC for a refocused saving throw is rerolled each time, using
the same modifiers as the original save.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Voluntarily Failing a Saving Throw
A creature can always voluntarily fail a saving throw to willingly
accept a spell’s result. Even a character with a special resistance
to magic can suppress this quality to fail a save.
An elf character with the awakened mind lineage trait
automatically succeeds on saving throws against magical
effects that would leave her unconscious. But if being
unconscious was the only way to avoid succumbing to a
terrible curse, the elf could choose to be affected by an
ally’s sleep spell for her own protection.
Appendix B/Unconscious (A11)
Special Spell Rules
Spellcasting and magic are among the most powerful elements
of the game, but that power comes with a certain amount of
complexity. This section describes a number of special rules that
can come into play for spellcasting characters, as well as for
characters who employ magic items that use the rules for spells.
Magic Grimoire/Schemas, Scrolls, and Talismans (ch. 2)
Casting While Distracted
Spellcasting is one of the most challenging activities your
character can undertake — a more demanding process than
even the trickiest bow shot or the most daunting con game.
Because you must approach spellcasting with a single-minded
determination, any outside action that potentially distracts you
affects your ability to successfully channel your magic.
Any of the following things can cause a character to become
distracted while casting a spell:
• Unusual movement, including running, riding a horse at a trot
or gallop, riding in a fast-moving wagon, or being on a boat
or ship in rough weather.
• Violent motion, such as being caught in an earth tremor or
swept up by a landslide.
• Violent weather, including high winds driving snow, dust, or
debris.
• Being hearing disoriented while casting a spell with a spoken
lexis component.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
• Being restrained while casting a spell with a signed lexis
component or a somatic component.
Whenever you are distracted while casting, you must succeed
on a DC 15 Magic/spellcraft check to cast your spell. If the check
fails, you don’t cast the spell and you lose the action used to
cast it, but you don’t expend any spell points.
If a spellcaster is distracted by multiple effects, each additional
effect adds +5 to the DC of the check. For example, attempting
to cast a spell while hearing disoriented, riding a horse at speed,
and caught in a violent storm would require a DC 25 Magic
check.
Casting Defensively
Casting a spell can trigger opportunity attacks from creatures
who threaten you. You can avoid triggering opportunity attacks
by casting the spell defensively, focusing on your enemies and
their movements while you channel your magic with a successful
DC 15 Magic/spellcraft check. If the check fails, you trigger the
337

opportunity attack, you don’t cast the spell and you lose the
action used to cast it, but you don’t expend any spell points.
Chapter 9/Opportunity Attacks (299)
If you are casting defensively and are also distracted by external
effects, you make two magic checks, with a failure on either
preventing you from casting the spell.
Arcane Casting in Armor
The gestures that make up the somatic components of arcane
spells are more exact and demanding than the somatic
components of animys and druidas spells. To cast an arcane
spell while wearing armor or using a shield, you must first
succeed on a Magic/spellcraft check with a DC determined by
the armor or shield. If the check fails, you don’t cast the spell
and you lose the action used to cast it, but you don’t expend
any spell points.
Chapter 9/Arcane Casting Check (240)
If you are casting an arcane spell while wearing armor or
carrying a shield and are also distracted by external effects, you
make two magic checks, with a failure on either preventing you
from casting the spell.
If your Magic/spellcraft modifier is high enough that you can’t
fail a check of the indicated DC for your armor and shield, you
can freely cast arcane spells. The Armored Arcane Casting feat
reduces the DC of the check to cast arcane spells while wearing
armor.
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Casting Underwater
Most spells and other magical effects work independently of the
environment around them, and function fully underwater.
Targeted spells might have their range limited if murky water
limits your ability to observe the target, as usual.
Although being underwater can limit movement, spells with
somatic components can be cast in their usual fashion
underwater as long as some other part of the environment
doesn’t cause a caster to become restrained.
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
Spells and other magical effects that deal energy damage can
produce additional effects if used underwater, at the GM’s
determination. For example, a spell that deals fire or lightning
damage might shroud its area with quick-cooling water vapor,
creating short-term concealment. Thunder damage near the
bottom of the water might stir up sediment to create longer-
lasting concealment. Magical cold damage can leave a slurry of
icy slush in its wake, which floats upward before eventually
melting away.
Bringing Back the Dead
Though many faiths have doctrines concerning the existence of
the spirit or soul, none offer irrefutable proof of that existence,
or of the fate of that life force after the death of the body. All
that is known is that powerful magic can restore life to a dead
body, including most memories up to the moment of death.
Effects of Death
A dead creature’s body decays unless magically preserved, but
magic that restores a dead creature to life first restores the body
to its condition at the time of death or to full health, depending
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
on the magic. Even so, a creature who comes back from the
dead suffers physical and mental trauma that makes them
weakened. This effect can’t be negated by mundane or magical
means, and lasts until the next time the creature earns either a
campaign feat slot or an adventuring feat slot.
Chapter 1/Earned Feats (10)
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
Preventing Revivification
Enemies can take steps to make it more difficult for a creature to
be returned from the dead. Removing a creature’s head or heart
prevents them from being returned to life by revivify or raise
dead, and keeping or destroying the body prevents resurrection
from restoring a slain character to life. Spells such as life binding
and life trap, and other magic that can hold a dead creature’s
life force prevents any sort of revivification unless that life force
is first released.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A dead creature has no consciousness. As such, a creature’s life
force can’t resist being returned to life even if that was the
creature’s wish while alive. That said, the question of whether a
character wants to be returned to life if they die is one that
should be answered by that character’s player, whether as part
of their backstory, during session zero, or during the game
session when the character dies.
Chapter 5/Session Zero (95)
Combining Magical Effects
Spells or magical effects usually work as described, no matter
how many other spells or magical effects happen to be
operating in the same area or on the same target. Except in
special cases, a spell doesn’t affect the way another spell
operates.
Casting the Same Spell Twice
Casting the same spell twice repeats the spell’s effect only if it is
an instantaneous spell. A character can be targeted by cure
serious wounds spells round after round, restoring hit points
each time. A group of trolls targeted by two fireball spells in
successive rounds — or even in the same round — take the
damage from each spell in turn.
Duration (334)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
However, a spell that provides a benefit or imposes a drawback
for a duration functions only once if cast on the same target
multiple times. This includes spells that provide benefits or
impose detriments (including boons and banes on d20 rolls),
spells that provide temporary hit points or resistance to
damage, and so on. Creatures who are targeted by two succor
spells gain the boon from that spell only once. Likewise, an
arcanist can’t cast expeditious retreat on themself twice to
increase their speed by 60 feet.
Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
If a spell with a duration is cast twice on the same target, it
might make the overall effect last longer. When the first casting
expires, if any of the second casting’s duration remains, the
second spell comes into effect for that remaining time.
338

Same Spell in Different Strengths
When a spell with a duration is cast twice on the same target but
the strength of the effect is different, the most potent effect
overrides any lesser effects.
An arcanist who takes a potion of aid gains a random
number of temporary hit points. If they take the same
potion again or are targeted by a casting of aid while the
first spell is in effect, they roll temporary hit points again,
replacing their existing temporary hit points if the new
number is higher.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Potions and Spellmarks (ch. 2)
A scout receives a d4 boon from a bless spell cast by an ally
before exploring a lost shrine. If he subsequently triggers a
more potent bless spell cast automatically from a magical
altar to gain a d8 boon, that higher boon replaces the d4. If
the original bless spell is still in effect when the d8 boon
fades, the d4 boon then continues.
Different Spell, Same Effect
When different spells create the same type of benefit or
detriment to a creature, those effects add together. But effects
don’t add together from multiple castings of the same spell.
Aid and bless both provide a d4 boon on attack rolls, so a
warrior who makes use of spellmarks holding both those
spells rolls two d4 boons and uses the highest while both
spells are in effect. Likewise, expeditious retreat and
longstrider both increase the warrior’s speed, so using
spellmarks of both those spells provides a bigger boost to
speed during the fight — or to get out of the fight in a
hurry.
Same Effect With Differing Results
Whenever spells produce the same effects on a target in varying
ways (whether the same spell or different spells with the same
outcome), the last spell in the series usually overrides the others.
A human scout uses alter self to infiltrate a wizard’s tower,
posing as one of the wizard’s troglodyte servants. But when
the wizard sees through the transmutation, she casts
polymorphic penance to turn the scout into a rabbit.
Polymorphic penance doesn’t end alter self, but the
alternative form ability granted by the first spell ceases to
function while the alternative form imposed by the second
spell is in effect.
Appendix A/Alternative Form (A1)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Multiple Mental Control Spells
Sometimes a spell that establishes mental control can make
another such spell irrelevant. This is most common for spells that
take complete control of a creature’s actions.
A warrior is hit with a dominate person spell by an enemy
caster, and forced to cut the ropes on a bridge the party is
crossing. The party’s animyst quickly casts command on the
warrior, hoping that forcing the warrior to perform a
specific action will temporarily cancel out the actions
dictated through the dominate person spell.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Mental control spells that don’t control all of a creature’s actions
usually don’t interfere with one other.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
In a three-way fight, a knight comes under the effect of
charm person and lesser confusion cast by two enemy
wizards. Each spell flavors the way the other works, but
neither stops the other from working. On rounds in which
the knight is driven from or attacks the enemy wizard who
cast lesser confusion, they recognize the wizard who cast
charm person as a trusted friend and ally. But they attack
that wizard fiercely if the confusion compels them to.
If a creature is under the effect of the same mental control spell
cast by two or more creatures, the creature obeys each caster to
the best of their ability. If the controlled creature receives
conflicting orders simultaneously, the competing controllers
must make opposed Persuasion checks to determine which one
the creature obeys.
Spells With Opposite Effects
Most spells with opposite effects apply those effects together,
with all benefits, detriments, or changes combining.
A warrior under the effect of haste has a d4 boon on attack
rolls, defense rolls, and Reflex saving throws. During the
fight, an enemy spellcaster targets the warrior with flare,
imposing a d4 bane on attack rolls and on visual-based
Perception checks. The boon and bane on attack rolls are
both rolled together, or can cancel each other out if the
warrior’s player so chooses. The boon on Reflex saves and
the bane on Perception checks remain as they were.
Chapter 5/Cancelling Boons and Banes (82)
The exception to this rule is certain spells that don’t just have
opposite effects — they specifically negate each other. This is a
special effect noted in a spell’s description.
A human warrior is targeted with enlarge person by her
arcanist ally, giving her boons on weapon attack rolls,
Athletics and Endurance checks, and increasing her size
and reach to make her more dangerous. But when the
warrior is too large to pursue a fleeing cult priest through a
narrow tunnel, she can quickly quaff a potion of reduce
person. That spell usually grants additional boons and
reduces the target’s size and reach — but the text of both
spells states that each negates the other, so both spells
stop functioning as long as they are both in effect. When
the warrior catches up the priest, she can dismiss reduce
person to go back to her enlarged combat form.
Counterspell
When spellcasters battle, they do more than simply attack each
other with magic. A spellcaster who wants to not just defeat an
enemy caster but nullify that caster’s magic does so by using a
counterspell.
The process of using a counterspell is one of tapping into raw
magic, then channeling that magic to disrupt the casting of a
spell. You can counterspell any spell you observe being cast
within 120 feet, and there must be no physical barrier between
you and the caster. You can use a counterspell to disrupt a spell
from any sphere of magic.
Observation and Effect (335)
Any spell can be disrupted with a counterspell, as can
spelltouched manifestations and primordial invocations. You can
counterspell a spell activated from a potion or spellmark, or cast
using a schema, scroll, talisman, or other magic item. However,
magic effects that are only similar to spells aren’t affected by a
counterspell, including the innate magic channeled by many
339
 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

creatures, and magic item effects that only reproduce the effect
of a spell.
Primordial Magic (383); Spelltouched Magic (380)
Magic Grimoire/Spells and Magic Items (ch. 2)
Using a Counterspell
To use a counterspell, you hold your turn (a minor action) so that
you can wait for another creature to cast a spell. When that spell
is cast, you use a standard action to use a counterspell against
it. If you have the Reactive Counterspell feat, you can also
counterspell as a reaction.
Spellcasting Style Feats (341)
Chapter 9/Holding Your Turn (235)
When you counterspell, you expend a number of spell points
equal to the level of the spell you want to disrupt. If you don’t
have sufficient spell points, you can’t use a counterspell. You
then make a Magic/spellcraft check with a DC based on the
spell’s level.
Spell Level Counterspell DC
0 to 6th 15
7th to 12th 20
13th to 18th 25
Spell Points (322)
If your check is a clear success, your counterspell negates the
target spell, with the caster wasting the spell points and the
action used to cast the spell. If the check is a clear failure, the
spell is cast successfully. On a partial success, the spell is cast
but you and the GM determine what complications might affect
it.
Chapter 6/Measuring Skill Success (104)
Using a counterspell as a standard action triggers opportunity
attacks from creatures who threaten you. With a successful DC
15 Magic check, you can use a counterspell defensively and
avoid the opportunity attack. Using a counterspell as a reaction
doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks.
When using a counterspell, you aren’t distracted by external
effects like you might be while spellcasting.
Spells Affected by Attacks
Some spell descriptions refer to how their magic is disrupted by
“any form of attack,” which covers any action intended to harm
or hinder another creature. This includes making a weapon
attack (including an unarmed strike or an attack with a natural
weapon), making a combat maneuver, or undertaking any other
activity that might directly harm or physically interfere with a
target. Even if an attack misses or deals no damage, or if a
combat maneuver skill check fails, the attempt is considered an
attack for the purpose of disrupting the spell.
Chapter 9/Combat Maneuvers (259)
A party wants to slip through a duergar outpost without
fighting against the duergar’s superior numbers. A scout
imbibes a potion of invisibility to take point, and knows that
the invisibility spell ends if its target makes any form of
attack. Meanwhile, the scout’s arcanist ally has a charm
person spell prepared to try to engage the guard captain,
and knows that the captain will automatically succeed on
their save if the characters make any form of attack against
them.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Potions and Spellmarks (ch. 2)
Any spell or other magical effect intended to directly harm or
hamper a target is likewise considered an attack. This includes
effects that opponents resist with saving throws (such as a
contagion spell), effects that deal damage with no saving throw
or attack rolls (such as magic missile), and effects that can
impose a condition on a target (a sleep spell, attempts to turn
undead, and so on).
Causing harm indirectly doesn’t constitute an attack. This allows
an invisible creature to direct allies in combat, to magically
summon other creatures who attack on the invisible creature’s
orders, to set a trap that deals damage to creatures who
subsequently trigger it, to cut a rope bridge while enemies are
crossing it, and so forth.

Metamagic and Counterspells

The cost of metamagic feats is taken into account when
determining the cost to use a counterspell.
An arcanist is ready to use a counterspell against an evil
priest. If the priest casts flame strike (an 8th-level spell), the
arcanist can counterspell by expending 8 spell points. But if
the priest casts an empowered flame strike, that adds an
additional 4 spell points to the counterspell’s cost.
Metamagic (372)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Metamagic feats do not apply to counterspells.
An arcanist is ready to use a counterspell against an enemy
caster, but that caster moves more than 120 feet away as a
precaution. Even if the arcanist has the Distant Spell feat, it
makes no difference to the effective range of a counterspell
attempt.
Metamagic Feats (372)

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Spellcasting Style Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to improve and
enhance their spellcasting prowess across all spheres of magic.
Disruptive Strike
Channeling your magical potential through your weapon attack
lets you weaken your foe’s resistance.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (any sphere) ×1, Weapon Focus
(any group) ×4.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, that
creature has disadvantage on defense rolls and saving throws
against the next spell you cast against them before the end of
your next turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Instinctive Spell Attack
In the thick of combat, you can quickly unleash your most
instinctive spells.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster ×1; Rapid Attack ×1 or Rapid Shot
×1.
Chapter 9/Multiple Attack Feats (297)
Benefit: When you make multiple attacks as a standard action,
you can forgo one of those attacks to cast a 0-level cantrip,
orison, or incantation you know.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Instinctive Spell Potency
Your most instinctive spells gain an offensive edge.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster ×1.
Benefit: Whenever you cast a damage-dealing 0-level cantrip,
orison, or incantation (including spells cast from magic items),
that spell deals minimum damage equal to your spellcasting
modifier.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Intuitive Spell
Your mastery of magic lets you channel certain spells with only a
moment’s preparation.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: At the end of each long rest, you can choose a number
of beneficial spells from the spells you have focused equal to
your spellcasting ability modifier. These beneficial spells can be
any spell that targets willing creatures or has a target of “you.”
When you cast any of these spells to target only yourself, you
can do so as a minor action.
Focusing Spells (326)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Nonlethal Casting
You can modify the power of your spells to hinder rather than
slay.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: Whenever you cast a spell that deals hit point damage,
you can hold back some of the spell’s power, treating the spell
as a nonlethal damage attack and dealing half damage with all
its effects. Saving throws, resistance, and other effects can
further reduce that damage, as usual, but any of the spell’s
nondamaging effects function as they usually do.
Chapter 9/Nonlethal Attacks (267)
Spells that don’t deal hit point damage can’t be used with
Nonlethal Casting.
A druidan lays down a spike growth spell to hinder a
pursuing worg pack. The druidan hopes to eventually
parley with the worgs, but that spell deals its damage
automatically when creatures enter its area, and so can’t be
used for a nonlethal attack.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
When you use this feat on a spell that affects multiple targets,
the spell is a nonlethal attack for all targets. Spells cast with
Nonlethal Casting can be used only to deal nonlethal damage,
and can’t be used to make a nonlethal maneuver.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Reactive Counterspell
You can shatter the spells of your foes as fast as they cast them.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: You can use a counterspell as a reaction, in addition to
doing so as a standard action by holding your turn.
Counterspell (339)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Scouring Magic
Your magic tears at its targets to leave them off balance in
combat.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When a spell you cast deals damage to one or more
creatures, you can use a minor action to choose a number of
those creatures equal to your spellcasting ability modifier
(minimum three creatures). Each chosen creature grants
advantage on the next attack made against them before the
end of their next turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Spell Ambush
Your foe’s lack of awareness lets your magic catch them off
guard.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Stealth) ×4, Spell Mastery ×7.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: When you are hidden from a target of a spell you cast,
that target has disadvantage on their defense roll or initial
saving throw against the spell. The target makes refocused
saving throws as usual.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
341

Spell Fortification
The destructive power of your spells feeds on itself to become
even more devastating.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×7.
Benefit: Whenever you cast a spell that deals hit point damage,
you roll one additional damage die.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Spell Strike
The power of your magic fuels a potent melee attack.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1, Weapon Focus ×4.
Benefit: When you cast a melee attack spell as a standard
action, you can make one melee weapon attack that same turn
as a minor action. The weapon attack you make with this feat
(including an unarmed strike) is considered magic for the
purpose of overcoming damage resistance.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
You can make only one weapon attack when you use this feat,
even if you have more than one minor action available.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Spell Superiority
Your detailed study of a specific school of magic gives your
spells from that school an offensive edge.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: Choose a school of magic: abjuration, conjuration,
divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, or
transmutation. You add +1 to the magic attack roll or magic
challenge throw for spells you cast from the chosen school.
Schools of Magic (328)
Mastery: You can take a first instance of this feat multiple times.
Each time you do so, you take it for a different school of magic.
You can take this feat three times for a single chosen school of
magic, increasing the bonus to a maximum +3.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3 a spell you know and have focused.
Times Taken 1 2 3 Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Strength of Mind
Through a singular effort of will, you shrug off the worst physical
effects of magic.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: Whenever you are affected by a spell or other magical
effect that calls for one or more Fortitude or Reflex saving
throws, you can instead make Will saving throws against the
same DC. Nonmagical effects (including pestilence and poison)
aren’t affected by this feat, even if magical effects produce
those nonmagical effects.
An arcanist targeted by contagion is allowed a Fortitude
saving throw against its magic, for which they use Strength
of Mind to make a Will save instead. But when they fail that
save and are infected with pestilence, their secondary
Fortitude saving throws gain no benefit from this feat.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Charisma modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical effect.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Thieving Counterspell
You pluck the knowledge of a spell from your foe’s mind and
make it your own.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×7.
Benefit: Whenever you successfully use a counterspell against a
spell from a sphere of magic for which you have taken Eldritch
Spirit, you can attempt a follow-up Magic/spellcraft check
against the same DC to temporarily steal the knowledge of that
spell from the caster’s mind. The spell must be of a level you can
cast. Until the end of your next long rest, you know the spell,
treat it as focused, and can cast it with your own spell points.
The caster you steal the spell from can’t cast the spell until the
end of their next long rest.
You can hold a number of spells stolen with this feat equal to
your spellcasting ability modifier. If you want to steal the
knowledge of a new spell beyond that maximum, you decide
which stolen spell it replaces. If you cast spells from more than
one sphere of magic, you use your highest spellcasting modifier
to determine the number of spells you can steal, and that
maximum covers spells of all spheres.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Wand Mastery
You fuel a wand’s power with your own spellcasting potential.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you activate a wand that holds a spell of a level
you can cast and from a sphere of magic for which you have
taken Eldritch Spirit, you can forgo using one of the wand’s
charges by expending spell points equal to the spell’s level.
Effectively, you treat the spell imbued into the wand as if it were
Wand Surge
By drawing on additional power, you cast spells from a wand at
increased potency.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you activate a wand, you can expend additional
charges, increasing your effective caster level for the wand by 1
for each additional charge you expend.
Magic Grimoire/Wands (ch. 2)
An animyst of caster level 6 using a wand of flame strike
casts that spell from the wand at their caster level, dealing
6d6 damage. By expending 4 additional charges from the
wand, they can cast from the wand as if they were caster
level 10, dealing 10d6 damage.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
If the animyst first succeeds on a Magic check to activate
the wand at the spell’s level, the casting of flame strike
deals 8d6 damage. If they then expend 4 additional
342

charges from the wand, they are effectively caster level 14,
and the spell deals 14d6 damage.
The number of charges you expend for a single activation of a
wand can’t exceed your spellcasting ability modifier.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Animys Magic
Those who channel animys magic are often known as animysts,
manipulating a power generated and imbued into the world by
the life force of all sapient creatures. In some cultures, animysts
believe that their magic stems from divine sources, and many
animysts take the role of priests channeling the power of the old
gods. However, most animysts hold with no faith, channeling
their magic in the name of life itself.
Chapter 7/The Ways of Faith (153)
Animys spells draw on a wide range of magical power and can
produce potent effects. However, animysts are best known for
their ability to heal and protect. Animys spells are often less
flashy, destructive, and disruptive than arcane spells, and less
focused on nature than druidas spells.
Animys spellcasting was originally an offshoot of the older form
of druidas spellcasting. The two spheres of magic share many
spells and features, including the healing magic that can’t be
channeled by arcane casters. The methods of learning and
casting animys and druidas spells are likewise similar.
Learning New Spells (324)
Animys Magic Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to expand the power
of their animys magic.
Domain of Faith
By dedicating yourself to a specific path of faith, you hone the
potency of your eldritch power.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (animys magic) ×1 or Driven Ethos
×1.
Benefit: You choose an animys domain, making the theme of
that domain intrinsic to your magic. Whenever you make a
Magic check related to your domain, as the GM determines, you
have advantage on the check. This includes the Magic check to
use a counterspell against any spell thematically tied to your
domain.
Animys Domains (345); Counterspell (339); Domain Spells (344)
Chapter 6/Magic (128)
Additionally, you learn one 0-level orison of your choice that has
a thematic relationship to your domain, as determined in
consultation with the GM. If you’re not a spellcaster, you cast
this orison at will as if it were a spelltouched ability.
Spelltouched Magic (380)
If you wish, you can choose an arcane cantrip or a druidas
incantation to learn as a unique animys orison. When you cast an
arcane cantrip learned in this way, you ignore any material
components for the cantrip unless those components have a gp
cost.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, gaining a maximum
of three domains.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
343
 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

spell’s level. You do not take a penalty to your critical points for
Domain Spells this magical healing.
The power of your animys domain extends your spellcasting
prowess. Chapter 9/Magical Healing (257)

Prerequisites: Domain of Faith ×1, Spellcaster (animys) ×1.
Animys Magic Feats (343); Spellcasting Feats (322)
Benefit: You learn a number of spells of your choice equal to
your Wisdom modifier (minimum three spells) that have a
thematic relationship to your domain, as determined in
consultation with the GM. You must spend 1 day per spell level
in meditation during a downtime rest to learn these spells, as
usual, but you spend only half the usual cost of reagents and
other materials consumed by the learning process.
Learning New Spells (324)
The spells can be of any level you can cast, and you treat those
spells as always focused. If you wish, one of the chosen spells
can be an arcane or druidas spell, which you learn as a unique
animys spell. When you cast an arcane spell learned in this way,
you ignore any material components for the spell unless those
components have a gp cost.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times. Each time you do,
you learn a new selection of domain spells.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3 This is a magical feature.
Times Taken 1 2 3 Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Exchange of Life
Another’s healing magic lets you augment your own spellcasting
power.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster (animys magic) ×4.
Benefit: Whenever you are the only target of a spell that heals
hit point damage, you can use a reaction to forgo that healing.
Instead, you restore a number of animys spell points equal to
the spell’s level, effectively allowing another animys spellcaster
to transfer spell points to you.
This feat can’t be used to transfer animys spell points from
magic items. You can’t restore spell points beyond your
maximum with this feat.

Empowered Domain
By channeling even more magic into your animys domain, you
enhance that domain’s features.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith ×1.
Benefit: Each time you use a domain feat, you can increase the
effectiveness of its magic as you determine, in consultation with
the GM. The most common ways to increase the effectiveness of
a domain feat include:
• Doubling its duration
• Doubling its range
• Affecting a second target within range
• Increasing a boon or bane to the next die (d6 to d8, d8 to
d10, and so forth)
Domain Feats (347)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Healing Surge
You channel your healing energy quickly when you need to.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (animys) ×1.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Benefit: Whenever you have a spell focused that heals hit point
damage, you can cast that spell as a minor action.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Resolute Healer
Your dedication to healing allows weal for others to benefit you
as well.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery (animys magic) ×4.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that heals hit point damage to a
creature other than you, you can regain hit points equal to the

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Animys Domains
An animys domain is a magical and philosophical doctrine that
provides a focus for an animyst’s magic and spellcasting. A
domain might represent the training of an animyst order or
temple, a certain aspect of one of the old gods or the tenets of
a new cult, or an entirely personal devotion to specific principles
of magic and life.
Chapter 7/The Ways of Faith (153)
A character takes the Domain of Faith feat to select a domain,
then can take additional feats to gain unique magical features or
specialized spells related to their domain.
Domain Feats (347); Domain of Faith (343)
The Old Magic
In the oldest records of druidas and animys traditions, formally
recorded millennia ago but older by far, druidas creeds and animys
domains were the earliest means of manipulating life magic. The
magical abilities bestowed by creed feats and domain feats
predated the development of spell magic, and the relatively limited
power of creed and domain magic is thought to have inspired the
initial development of life magic spellcasting.
Creed Feats (363); Domain Feats (347)
In their earliest forms, creeds and domains were often part of
complex cultural and faith traditions that limited their use, restricting
domains to the followers of deities thought to control the power of
those domains. However, such strictures are all but unknown today.
Characters who are part of an organized faith or magical association
might be directed by custom to take up only certain domains — for
example, a member of an order of animyst healers who exclusively
take the good, healing, or protection domains. There are otherwise
no restrictions on what creeds or domains a character can select.
Chapter 7/The Ways of Faith (153)
Air Domain
The air domain represents the power and freedom of the sky.
Those who follow this domain embody the unpredictable nature
of the winds, often finding themselves drawn to adventure and
exploration, and possessing a deep connection to the high
places of the world and to the magic of flight.
The philosophy and magic of the clerical air domain are
identical to that of the druidas air creed.
Creed Feats (363); Druidas Creeds (361)
Animal Domain
The animal domain embodies the power and spirit of all beasts
of forest and tundra, plain and sea. Animysts who choose this
domain are drawn to the tenaciousness and dignity of animals,
whether they demonstrate that as noble strength or feral fury.
Chaos Domain
The chaos domain embodies the chaotic and unpredictable
nature of existence and the inexorable march of time and decay.
Those who follow this domain are agents of change and
upheaval, creation or destruction, whether they tear order down
to see what new order forms in its place, or revel in the sheer joy
of disorder.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Death Domain
Those animysts who follow the death domain are fascinated by
the mysteries of mortality, seeking always to understand the
balance between death and life. Some see themselves as agents
of death, protecting the sanctity of life until such time as
creatures who meet their end can do so on their own terms.
Others are agents of death, bringing an end to those they judge
as deserving it.
Destruction Domain
The destruction domain represents the force of inevitable
devastation, whether those who follow the domain embrace this
force or dedicate themselves to standing against it. Animysts of
this domain might view themselves as agents of necessary
change, sweeping aside systems grown weak over time, or they
might believe that all things must be broken to test their
strength.
The philosophy and magic of the clerical destruction domain are
identical to that of the druidas destruction creed.
Creed Feats (363); Druidas Creeds (361)
Earth Domain
The earth domain represents stability, endurance, and
resilience. Those who follow this domain are often stoic and
grounded, embodying the steadfastness of the earth. They are
drawn to scrubland, hills, and mountains, using their magic to
shield and shelter folk who dwell in such climes.
The philosophy and magic of the clerical earth domain are
identical to that of the druidas earth creed.
Evil Domain
The most fell aspects of power and corruption are the focus of
the evil domain. Many followers of this domain embrace their
innermost desires for control and domination, debasing and
destroying sapient life wherever they can. But others who do so
seek to understand evil in its full malevolence, in order to better
fight against it.
Fire Domain
The fire domain embodies the fierce power of flame, and those
who follow it are often driven by emotions whose energy fuels
their actions and beliefs. They seek to control and direct fire in
all its mundane and magical forms, and understand that the
cleansing power of flame must sometimes be allowed to scour
the world clean.
The philosophy and magic of the clerical fire domain are
identical to that of the druidas fire creed.
Creed Feats (363); Druidas Creeds (361)
Good Domain
The good domain represents the embodiment of virtue and
altruism. Those who follow this domain are devoted to the cause
of morality, and strive to spread compassion and benevolence
wherever they go. They often find themselves embroiled in
conflicts against evil forces, driven by an unshakable faith in the
power of goodness to prevail.
Healing Domain
The power of restoration and the nurturing of life are the
cornerstones of the healing domain. Those who follow this
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domain are driven by a deep desire to spread the lore and The philosophy and magic of the animys protection domain are
magic of healing and restoration, possessing a gentle yet identical to that of the druidas protection creed.
unyielding compassion, and an unwavering commitment to the
Creed Feats (363); Druidas Creeds (361)
preservation of life.
The philosophy and magic of the clerical healing domain are
identical to that of the druidas healing creed.
Strength Domain
The strength domain represents the physical might and
resilience of life. Those who follow this domain often see their
Hunter Domain own physical might as a manifestation of their faith and magic,
The hunter domain represents the mastery of the hunt, in both whether they use that strength to protect others under their
the physical and spiritual sense. Those who follow this domain charge or to seize the glory or rewards that they believe are
are often skilled trackers and hunters, using their knowledge of their due.
wilderness or city to seek those who hide, protect allies,
vanquish foes, or defend those who find themselves prey for
hunters of other kinds.
Sun Domain
The sun domain embodies the power of light and radiance
bestowed upon the world by the life-giving sun. Those who
Knowledge Domain follow this domain are often devoted to the ideals of nurturing
The pursuit of wisdom and experience defines the knowledge and purity, and are compelled to drive away metaphorical
domain, whose followers are driven by a thirst for understanding shadow in the form of secrecy and corruption.
and a desire to uncover lost lore and secrets. Animysts of this
domain live to share their knowledge with others, and to use
that knowledge to overcome challenges or aid those in need of
Travel Domain
Followers of the travel domain embrace the journey more than
enlightenment.
the destination, in both the literal and metaphorical sense.
These animysts are wanderers, driven by a desire to explore and
Law Domain experience, to guide others along unknown life paths, and to
The law domain embodies the principles of ethics, order, and shepherd those who are emotionally and spiritually lost.
justice. Those who follow this domain are dedicated to
spreading the rule of just law, and opposing unjust edicts and
regulations. They value logic and reason above all else, often
Trickery Domain
The trickery domain embraces deception and cunning. Those
act as mediators and judges, and seek to bring order to a
who follow this domain use their magic to outwit enemies and
chaotic world.
weave protective artifice around those they defend, and often
support that magic with natural gifts of diplomacy and duplicity.
Luck Domain
The fickle nature of fate is embodied in the luck domain, whose
followers possess an unwavering belief in the power of fortune
War Domain
Combat and martial prowess are the province of animysts who
and their ability to twist chance to their advantage. Whether
follow the war domain. Their study of magic focuses on force of
they follow fate capriciously or attempt to carefully prod it in
will and skill at arms, whether they strive to protect allies in
particular directions, animysts of the luck domain trust in their
battle, to vanquish foes, or to stand up for those whose lives war
own intuition as they help others navigate the paths of fate.
would destroy.

Magic Domain
The magic domain is shaped by a faith in eldritch power. Those
who follow this path seek to uncover the mysteries of magic,
and to train others in the animyst arts. They believe that the
power of magic must be balanced with responsibility, and are
quick to pass judgement on those who allow magic to fuel
worldly corruption or threaten the sanctity of life.
Nature Domain
The nature domain encompasses the magic of flora and
botanical life, and those who follow this domain are deeply
attuned to the world of field and flower, forest and wilderness.
They find solace in the peaceful stillness of meadow and woods,
possessing a deep reverence for nature and a hunger to protect
it.
The philosophy and magic of the animys war domain are
identical to that of the druidas war creed.
Creed Feats (363); Druidas Creeds (361)
Water Domain
The water domain is built upon the unreadable and relentless
nature of ocean, seas, lakes, and rivers. Those who follow this
domain possess a deep reverence for the strength and power of
water, and can threaten the fury of the storm when aquatic
environments and the folk who dwell there are threatened.
The philosophy and magic of the clerical water domain are
identical to that of the druidas water creed.

Protection Domain
Selflessness and devotion are the hallmarks of the protection
domain, whose followers stand sentinel before those threatened
by corruption and violent power. Animysts of protection are
willing to put themselves in harm’s way to shield others, and
draw strength from their unbreakable resolve.

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Domain Feats
The following feats allow a character to expand their dedication
to a specific path of animys magic.
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to domains but has its full write-up
in that other section.
Custom Domain and Creed Feats
The domain feats and creed feats available to characters channeling
animyst and druidas magic are just a small sampling of the potential
magic tied to domains and creeds. GMs and players can create new
domain feats or creed feats of roughly the same power as the feats
in this chapter, which might represent the unique teachings of an
animyst order or druidan circle, or a person magical epiphany.
Because domain and creed feats that work against enemies have no
saving throw, their effects must be appropriately time limited, with
such effects often lasting for 1 minute, until the start of the next turn
of the creature using the feat, or until the end of the next turn of the
creature targeted by the feat.
Creed Feats (363)
Additionally, any existing domain feat or creed feat can easily be
renamed and reworked to a different theme. For example, the Fiery
Rebuke feat of the fire creed and the fire domain can easily become
an Icy Rebuke feat for the cold domain, the cold creed, or the
frostlands creed. Likewise, the Travel Free feat of the travel domain
is appropriate for the frostlands creed, the mire creed, or any creed
themed around an environment with specific types of difficult
terrain.
Even within an existing creed or domain, a feat can be reflavored to
better fit a character’s relationship to their magic. For example, a
druidan of the arthropod creed who lives along the seashore and
invokes the spirit of crabs or lobsters rather than arachnids or insects
could alter and rename the Arthropod’s Web feat to restrain
enemies with gouts of sea slime rather than silken webbing.
Air Jaunt
With little more than a thought, you take to the air.
Creed Feats (363)
Air Wall
A wall of swirling air directs ranged attacks around you.
Creed Feats (363)
Animal Insight
An animal quickly comes under your magical influence.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (animal) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you grant yourself one of the
following options:
• A d8 boon on Nature/animal handling checks for 1 minute
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Chapter 6/Nature (131)
• Advantage on one Nature/animal handling check made to
domesticate or train a creature
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Animal Aggression
Your magic controls the temperament of animals around you in
combat.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (animal) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you incite a shift in the belligerence
of each animal within 30 feet of you. You choose whether to
grant a target animal a d6 boon on attack rolls and combat
maneuver skill checks, or to impose a d6 bane on attack rolls
and combat maneuver skill checks, with either effect lasting for 1
minute.
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Combat Maneuvers (259)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Chaos Burst
A chaotic surge of energy courses through nearby foes.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (chaos) ×1.
Benefit: One creature you can observe within 15 feet takes 1d4
damage of a random type, rolled for on the following table:
d10 Damage Type d10 Damage Type
1 Acid 6 Necrotic
2 Cold 7 Psychic
3 Fire 8 Radiant
4 Force 9 Thunder
5 Lightning 10 Choose
If the target takes less than 4 damage, another creature you can
observe within 15 feet of the previous target takes 1d4 damage
of the same type. You repeat this process until a target takes 4
damage or you run out of targets. A creature can take damage
only once from each use of Chaos Burst.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Chaotic Mind
A surge of anarchic energy lets a creature shake off mental
control.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (chaos) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you select one creature you can
observe, which can immediately make a saving throw against
any effect asserting ongoing control over their mind, body, or
life force. This includes spells and other magic that cause a
target to be charmed, driven, or frightened, spells such as life
trap and life transfer, a ghost’s Possession attack, and similar
effects. If the effect allowed a saving throw originally, this is a
refocused save. If the effect had no saving throw, the creature
makes a DC 15 save.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
347

This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Death Touch
You drain the last dregs of life from a dying creature.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (death) ×1.
Benefit: As a standard action, you touch a dying creature to
automatically impose three failed death saves on them. If the
dying creature is not immobilized or unconscious, you must hit
them with an unarmed strike to touch them.
Chapter 9/Death Saving Throws (254)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Deathly Resurgence
A creature’s death grants you a surge of resilience
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (death) ×1.
Benefit: When a creature dies within 30 feet of you, you gain
temporary hit points equal to 2d8 + your Wisdom modifier
(minimum +3).
Chapter 9/Temporary Hit Points (253)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Destructive Essence
Your ability to break the world around you is second to none.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (destruction) ×1 or Domain of
Faith (destruction) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain a d8 boon on
Athletics/slam checks for 1 minute.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Destructive Strike
A surge of destructive energy fuels your attacks.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (destruction) ×1 or Domain of
Faith (destruction) ×1.
Benefit:
As a minor action, you gain a d4 boon on attack rolls and
combat maneuver skill checks for 1 minute.
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Combat Maneuvers (259)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Earth Glide
You effortlessly push through the earth as you move.
Creed Feats (363)
Earth Tremor
A pulse of magical energy sends creatures around you off their
feet.
Creed Feats (363)
Evil Reply
Your response to an enemy’s attack leaves them quaking.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (evil) ×1.
Benefit: When an enemy hits you with a melee attack, you can
use a reaction to cause them to be frightened until the end of
their next turn.
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Evil Reward
When your enemies are struggling, they feel your power.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (evil) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you channel malevolent power for 1
minute. During that time, when you hit with an attack against a
creature who is dazed, immobilized, restrained, slowed,
stunned, or weakened, the attack deals an extra 2d6 necrotic
damage.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fiery Rebuke
Enemies who challenge you feel the heat of your wrath.
Creed Feats (363)
Fire Resistance
You are inured to the damage dealt by mundane and magical
flame.
Creed Feats (363)
348

Goodly Endeavor
Your magic makes an ally’s best efforts even better.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (good) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you grant one ally within 30 feet of
you a d4 boon on skill checks, attack rolls, or challenge throws
(the ally’s choice) for 1 minute.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Challenge Throw (245)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Good Minded
A preternatural understanding lets you grasp the words of any
creature.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (good) ×1.
Benefit: Choose a creature within 30 feet. As a minor action,
you can understand, speak, sign, read, or write any language of
the chosen creature for 1 minute.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Healing Grace
Your presence helps others restore health and vigor while they
rest.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (healing) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(healing) ×1.
Benefit: You and each creature who spends a short or long rest
within 30 feet of you has advantage on Healing checks made to
restore defense points at the end of that rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Healing Touch
A surge of magic restores the health of an injured creature.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (healing) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(healing) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you touch one willing creature, who
magically hit points equal to 3d4 + your Wisdom modifier
(minimum +1).
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Hunter’s Heart
Your chosen quarry feels the full brunt of your focus.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (hunter) ×1.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Benefit: As a minor action, you choose a creature you are aware
of. You have a d8 boon on attack rolls, combat maneuver skill
checks, and defense rolls against that creature for 1 minute.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Hunter’s Mind
When you channel your magic, your prey has no hope of
eluding you.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (hunter) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain an intuitive sense of the
present location of any creature you know or have observed
within 1 day. You know the direction and distance to the
creature, though you don’t necessarily know the most direct or
safest route to get to them.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Knowledge Mystic
A preternatural connection to the world grants you exceptional
insight.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (knowledge) ×1.
Benefit: When you make a skill check to learn information or
lore, you can forego rolling and treat the check as if you rolled a
20. You can use this feat after you roll a check, but before the
effect of the check is resolved.
Chapter 6/Knowledge and Lore sidebar (109)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Knowledge Thief
You momentarily touch the mind of another creature to glean
their thoughts.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (knowledge) ×1.
Benefit: As a standard action, choose one creature you can
observe within 10 feet. You gain access to that creature’s surface
thoughts and impressions for 1 minute, but not to memories or
subconscious thoughts unless the creature can be made to think
of those things. Animals and other creatures that don’t use
language have simple, instinctual thoughts that you can pick up.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
349

Law’s Discipline
The order you impose on a creature limits their ability to make
trouble.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (law) ×1.
Benefit: Choose one creature within 10 feet. As a minor action,
you cause that creature to be weakened for 1 minute.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Law’s Truth
Your insight lets you instinctively cleave truth from falsehood.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (law) ×1.
Benefit: When you make an Investigation check to assess
whether a creature is lying to you, you can treat the check as if
you rolled a 20. You can use this feat after you roll a check, but
before the effect of the check is resolved.
Chapter 6/Investigation (126)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Luck’s Embrace
The fortune that favors you favors your allies as well.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (luck) ×1.
Benefit: When an ally you can observe within 30 feet rolls a 1 on
any d20 roll, you can use a reaction to let them reroll. They must
make this reroll before the effect of the original roll has been
resolved.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Luck’s Favor
In any clutch moment, you show off the favor of fortune.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (luck) ×1.
Benefit: When making any die or dice roll, including d20 rolls or
damage rolls, you can roll one die twice and take the better
result. You must make this reroll before the effect of the original
roll has been resolved.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Magical Insight
Innate power fuels your connection to the eldritch arts.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (magic) ×1.
Benefit: When you make a Magic check to assess a magical
object or effect, you can treat the check as if you rolled a 20.
You can use this feat after you roll a check, but before the effect
of the check is resolved.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Magical Mending
You add to the last touch of dweomer in a magic item to keep it
alive.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (magic) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you touch a failing magic item to
allow it to be used in its usual fashion, as if you obtained a clear
success on a Magic check to activate the item. If you transfer the
item to another creature, it functions until the end of that
creature’s next long rest.
Magic Grimoire/Ephemeral and Permanent Magic (ch. 2)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Nature’s Command
The life energy of plants responds to your thought and will.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (nature) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you channel magic that lets you
make Nature/wild lore checks to influence the behavior of
mundane plants for 1 minute, as if they were animals being
directed with a Nature/animal handling check. You can direct
plants to move within the limits of their physical forms, causing
trees to part branches to clear a temporary path, directing vines
and undergrowth to separate and clear difficult terrain, and so
forth.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Nature’s Stalwart
Your instincts in the wilderness are honed by preternatural
awareness.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (nature) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you grant yourself and each ally
within 30 feet one of the following options:
350

• A d6 boon on Nature/survival checks for 1 minute
• Advantage on one Nature/survival check to locate water,
forage for food, follow tracks, and similar activities
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Protection Ward
Your touch lends defensive resilience to an ally.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (protection) ×1 or Domain of
Faith (protection) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you touch a willing creature to grant
them a d8 boon on saving throws for 1 minute.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Protective Panoply
The magic you channel lingers in vestment or armor to protect
its wearer.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (protection) ×1 or Domain of
Faith (protection) ×1.
Benefit: As a standard action, you touch a willing creature’s
clothing or armor to imbue it with magical power. While wearing
the clothing or armor, a creature has temporary hit points equal
to 2d6 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum +1). As long as the
clothing or armor has temporary hit points remaining, it can be
transferred to another creature to be worn. When the temporary
hit points are expended, the magic ends.
Chapter 9/Temporary Hit Points (253)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Strength for Burden
You move freely beneath loads that would slow others.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (strength) ×1.
Benefit: Your carrying capacity increases by 50 pounds for 1
minute, so that you determine your maximum weight and speed
reduction as if your Strength modifier was 10 higher than it is.
Chapter 5/Carrying Capacity (228)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Strength Surge
Magic infuses you with physical might.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (strength) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain a d6 boon on skill checks
made using Strength for 1 minute.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Sun’s Radiance
You empower magical light to shine through any darkness.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (sun) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you cause any magical light source
you wield or wear to function in magical darkness for 1 minute.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Sun’s Ward
A pulse of supernatural sunlight distracts your foes in combat.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (sun) ×1.
Benefit: When a creature within 30 feet who you can observe
hits with an attack, you can use a reaction to place a pulse of
brilliant light before them. The creature is dazed and weakened
until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Travel Free
You and your allies are temporarily unhampered in your
movement.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (travel) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you and each ally who stays within 30
feet of you ignore mundane difficult terrain for 1 minute,
including treating other creatures’ spaces as difficult terrain.
Moving through enemies’ spaces requires a skill check, as usual.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168); Moving Through Creatures (169)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Traveler’s Jaunt Warrior’s Will

Your magic draws you back to where you once were.
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (travel) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you teleport to any open space you
previously occupied on your current turn.
Appendix A/Teleportation (A7)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Trickster’s Spirit
Your natural proclivity for trickery is temporarily honed by your
magic.
You and a chosen target must join in battle.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (war) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(war) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, choose one creature within 10 feet.
For 1 minute, that creature takes a d6 bane on attack rolls and
combat maneuver skill checks against any creature other than
you, and you have a d6 boon on attack rolls and combat
maneuver skill checks against that creature.
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Combat Maneuvers (259)
A creature immune to being charmed is unaffected by this feat.
Appendix B/Charmed (A9)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (trickery) ×1. This is a magical feature.

Benefit: As a minor action, you gain a d6 boon on skill checks Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
made using Charisma for 1 minute.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Water’s Grace
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all Your magic lets you move with ease beneath the waves.
expended uses when you finish a long rest. Creed Feats (363)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot. Water’s Hold
Fast-flowing water hinders the movement of creatures around
Tricky Feint you.
A foe tries in vain to lock you down in combat. Creed Feats (363)
Prerequisites: Domain of Faith (trickery) ×1.
Benefit: When you would be hit by an attack, you can use a
reaction to turn a clear hit to a partial hit (which also has the
effect of turning a critical hit into a regular hit), or a partial hit to
a miss.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Warrior’s Aid
Your magic lets an ally evade the most potent attacks.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (war) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(war) ×1.
Benefit: When an ally you can observe within 30 feet is subject
to critical hit, you can use a reaction to turn the attack into a
regular hit.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Turning Undead
Some animysts learn to channel their magic in a pulse of power
that can disrupt the unnatural force that animates the undead.
Animysts can turn undead to drive such creatures away, or can
focus and hone their power to control the actions of undead
creatures or destroy them outright.
Turning Feats
These feats allow a character to target undead with the power of
their animys magic.
Combative Turning
Undead who you turn are forced to fight against other undead
in the area.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Magic) ×4, Turn Undead ×1.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: As a minor action, you select a number of undead
creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier who have been
affected by the Turn Undead feat within the last minute.
Nonsapient undead are automatically no longer driven, and are
compelled to seek out and attack the nearest undead creatures
for as long as they are affected by your turning. Sapient undead
must succeed on a Will save against a new challenge throw for
Turn Undead or suffer the same effect.
Intelligent and Sapient Creatures sidebar (30)
Appendix B/Driven (A10)
Combative undead attack to the best of their ability, using their
most effective melee or ranged attacks. Sapient undead not
affected by this feat can choose to avoid melee with combative
undead, as determined by the GM. Nonsapient undead
creatures will typically engage combative undead who attack
them. A combative undead must attack only undead creatures
on their turn, but they can make opportunity attacks against
non-undead creatures.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Destructive Turning
Undead who you turn are irrevocably destroyed.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Magic) ×7, Turn Undead ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you select a number of undead
creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier who have been
affected by your Turn Undead feat within the last minute.
Nonsapient undead are automatically reduced to 0 defense
points and destroyed. Sapient undead must succeed on a Will
save against a new challenge throw for Turn Undead or suffer
the same effect.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Enlarged Turning
When you unleash your animys power against undead, that
power spreads farther.
Prerequisites: Turn Undead ×1.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Benefit: The range at which you can affect undead with your
Turn Undead feat increases to 60 feet.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Heightened Turning
Your ability to channel animys turning magic can affect even the
most resilient undead.
Prerequisites: Turn Undead ×1.
Benefit: The challenge throw modifier for your Turn Undead
feat gains a +2 bonus.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the
bonus to a maximum of +6.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
Immobilized Turning
Undead who you turn are frozen in place and left at your mercy.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Magic) ×4, Turn Undead ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you select a number of undead
creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier who have been
affected by your Turn Undead feat within the last minute.
Nonsapient undead are automatically immobilized for as long as
they remain affected by your turning. Sapient undead must
succeed on a Will save against a new challenge throw for Turn
Undead or suffer the same effect, and can refocus the saving
throw at the end of each turn.
Refocusing a Saving Throw (337)
Appendix B/Immobilized (A10)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Turn Undead
You unleash the power of your life magic to turn undead
creatures in their tracks.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (animys) ×1, Skill Focus (Magic) ×1.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: As a standard action, you channel life energy that
drives undead creatures away. Each undead within 30 feet of
you that is aware of you must make a Will saving throw against a
challenge throw equal to:
d20 + your animys magic caster level or
your Wisdom modifier
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
On a failed save, the undead is frightened and driven from you
while they can observe you, for a number of minutes equal to
your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1 minute). On successful save,
the undead is frightened for the same duration.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
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Mastery: You can take this feat three times. Each time you do
so, you can use it an additional number of times per day equal
to your Wisdom modifier (minimum three additional times per
day).
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

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Arcane Magic
Channeling the power of arcane magic, arcanists tap into the
raw energy of creation that permeates the inanimate stone,
earth, water, and air of the world. Compared to animys and
druidas spells, arcane spells are more likely to produce dramatic
results, including the channeling of the most potent magical
energies.
Two Modes of Magic
Unlike with animys and druidas magic, the ability to learn arcane
spells is governed by feats — Intuitive Arcana and Inscribed
Arcana. Intuitive Arcana allows a character to learn spells
through direct study with another arcanist, or by observing a
spell as it is cast. Inscribed Arcana allows an arcanist to learn
spells from written sources, including scrolls and spellbooks.
Arcane spellcasting arose first in its instinctive form among the
elves, who never conceived of attempting to physically record
their magic despite their reverence for art and literature. From
its earliest inception, arcane casting was an art learned and
mastered through intuition and observation, with spells passed
from masters to apprentices. Only when arcane magic crossed
into the human sphere was the art of spellcasting codified in
written form, accelerating its spread among the other lineages
and cultures of the world.
Most arcanists start by taking either Intuitive Arcana or Inscribed
Arcana, reflecting a specific approach to learning magic that
extends from their training or personal history with spellcasting.
Over time, many arcanists take the other feat to expand their
ability to learn new spells.
Arcane Magic Feats
The feats in this section grant additional benefits and options to
a character who channels arcane magic.
Arcane Blood
Through diligence and training, you can overcome the
debilitating effects of the arcane power that is a part of you.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (arcane) ×1.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Benefit: When you take the Spell Power (arcane) feat, the
Spelltouched Caster feat for an arcane spell, or the Invocation
Mastery feat, you reduce the penalty to your critical point
maximum imposed by those feats by 3.
Spell Power (323); Spelltouched Caster (381); Invocation
Mastery (385)
A character takes Spell Power (arcane) ×3 in the course of
learning to cast arcane spells. Those three feats incur a −3
penalty to her critical points, representing the toxic effects
of arcane magic on the life force of living creatures. If the
character takes Arcane Blood ×1, she reduces the penalty
to 0 until the next time she takes Spell Power (arcane).
If the penalty to your critical point maximum imposed by taking
Spell Power, Spelltouched Caster, or Invocation Mastery is less
than the 3 points Arcane Blood offsets, this feat offsets future
critical point loss when you subsequently take any of those feats.
Arcane Blood doesn’t negate or offset critical point damage or
a critical point penalty from any other source, and it can’t
increase your critical points.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Mastery: You can take this feat six times, decreasing the penalty
by a maximum of 18.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–2 3–4 5–6
Arcane Specialization
Your mastery of a single school of arcane magic leaves that
magic always ready to cast.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster (arcane magic) ×1.
Benefit: Choose a school of magic — abjuration, conjuration,
divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, or
transmutation. You can focus an additional number of arcane
spells from that school of magic equal to your Intelligence
modifier (minimum one spell).
Schools of Magic (328); Focused Spells (327)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Armored Arcane Casting
Your focused training reduces your chance of arcane spell failure
while wearing armor.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster (arcane magic) ×1, Armor Training ×1.
Chapter 9/Armor Feats (243)
Benefit: As long as you have taken the Armor Training feat for
any armor you wear or any shield you carry, the DC of the arcane
casting check for your armor and shield is reduced by 5.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Inscribed Arcana
You have studied and mastered the written forms of arcane
spellcraft.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster (arcane magic) ×1.
Benefit: You can learn new spells that have been recorded in
written form, including spells scribed in spellbooks and stored
as scrolls. You can also create spellbooks of your own so that
other spellcasters with the Inscribed Arcana feat can learn from
you.
Learning New Spells (324)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Intuitive Arcana
Observation and intuition is the key to your mastery of arcane
magic.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster (arcane magic) ×1.
Benefit: You can learn new arcane spells by having another
spellcaster teach them to you, or by intuitively deducing the
inner workings of a spell that you have observed being cast.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Arcane Specialist Feats
The following feats allow an arcanist character to further focus
their magical insight into a single school of magic.
Schools of Magic (328)
Abjurer’s Ward
Your focus on protective magic weaves a potent shield of spell
power around you.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (abjuration) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×4.
Arcane Magic Feats (355); Spellcasting Feats (322)
Benefit: Whenever you gain temporary hit points, you gain
additional temporary hit points equal to your caster level.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Abjurer’s Shield
Your connection to abjuration magic can protect you and your
allies.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (abjuration) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×7.
Benefit: When you or a creature you can observe within 60 feet
of you is targeted by an attack, you can use a reaction to impose
disadvantage on the attack roll. You can impose this
disadvantage after the attack roll is made but before the effects
of the attack are resolved.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Intelligence modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Conjurer’s Mastery
The creatures you call forth with your conjuration magic fight at
your side with increased ferocity.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (conjuration) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×4.
Benefit: Any creature you conjure with a summoning spell has a
+3 bonus on attack rolls, combat maneuver skill checks, and
defense rolls, and gains 10 temporary hit points.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Conjurer’s Relocation
Your mastery of conjuration allows you to draw another creature
to the space you depart when you teleport.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (abjuration) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×7.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that causes only you to teleport,
you can attempt to teleport to the space of a creature you can
observe within the spell’s range, and have that creature teleport
to the space you left.
Appendix A/Teleportation (A7)
If you make the creature aware of your intention and they are
willing, you and they both teleport automatically. If the creature
is unaware of your intention or unwilling, they make a saving
throw against your magic challenge throw. On a failed save, the
creature is teleported against their will. On a success, you
teleport to the nearest open space next to the creature.
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You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Intelligence modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Diviner’s Fortune
An innate sense of the future unfolding feeds into all your
magic.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (divination) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×7.
Benefit: When you cast a spell and make a magic attack roll or a
magic challenge throw for a single creature and the roll is less
than 10, you can treat the roll as a 10. You can use this feat a
number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier
(minimum three times). You regain all expended uses when you
finish a long rest.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Diviner’s Senses
Your innate connection to things unknown grants you an edge
in assessing the world around you.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (divination) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×4.
Benefit: As a minor action, you grant yourself a d6 boon on
Investigation and Perception checks, as well as any skill check
made in conjunction with casting a divination spell, for 1 hour.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Intelligence modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Enchanter’s Distraction
A moment’s enchantment allows you to divert the attention of
your foes.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (enchantment) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×7.
Benefit: When a creature you can observe within 30 feet of you
makes an attack, you can use a reaction to cloud the creature’s
fighting instincts. Until the start of the creature’s next turn, they
have disadvantage on defense rolls, and you can redirect any
attack they make toward another target within reach or range,
starting with the triggering attack. The creature doesn’t know
that they are attacking the wrong targets, and treats any
evidence that they are doing so with suspicion.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Intelligence modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Enchanter’s Encroachment
The closer you are to a potential target of your enchantment
magic, the more potent that magic becomes.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (enchantment) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×4.
Benefit: When you cast an enchantment spell that requires a
saving throw, any target of the spell who is within 30 feet of you
has disadvantage on their save. For any target within 10 feet of
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you, you also have advantage on the magic challenge throw for
the spell.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Evoker’s Armor
Your connection to evocation magic strengthens your defenses
against it.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (evocation) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×4.
Benefit: When you are targeted by an evocation spell, you can
use a reaction to gain resistance to the damage type dealt by
the effect for 1 minute, including against the triggering attack.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Intelligence modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Evoker’s Enmity
You channel even more destructive power into your evocation
spells.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (evocation) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×7.
Benefit: When you cast an evocation spell that deals damage,
you add your caster level to the first damage roll made for the
spell. You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to
your Intelligence modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Illusionist’s Focus
Your ongoing connection to the illusions you cast sharpens their
realism.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (illusion) ×1, Spell Mastery
(arcane) ×7.
Benefit: As long as you can observe the effect of an illusion
spell that you have cast, magic challenge throws for the spell are
made with advantage.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Illusionist’s Sense
Your familiarity with illusion magic makes the illusions of others
easy to spot.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (illusion) ×1, Spell Mastery
(arcane) ×4.
Benefit: When you perceive any illusion spell of your caster level
or lower, you automatically recognize it as an illusion, even
without interacting with it. Against other spells and nonspell
illusion effects, you have advantage on saving throws or skill
checks made to interact with or detect them, including
Perception checks made to locate invisible creatures.
Appendix A/Invisible (A5)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Necromancer’s Warding
Your familiarity with the energy of life and undeath lets you
resist and channel that energy.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (necromancy) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×7.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain resistance to necrotic
damage and radiant damage for 1 minute. You can use this feat
a number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier
(minimum three times). You regain all expended uses when you
finish a long rest.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Necromancer’s Weal
The resonant energy of renewal is made even more potent
when applied to you.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (necromancy) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×4.
Benefit: Whenever you are the target of magic that restores hit
points, you gain an additional number of hit points equal to your
Intelligence modifier.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Transmuter’s Edge
Your familiarity with transmutation magic lets you extend the
effect of your transmutation spells.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (transmutation) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×4.
Benefit: When you cast a transmutation spell that targets only
one creature or object, you can target a second creature, a
second object, or a single object up to twice the spell’s usual
volume. An additional target must be within the spell’s range.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Transmuter’s Form
You are able to shrug off even the most potent transmutation
effects.
Prerequisites: Arcane Specialization (transmutation) ×1, Spell
Mastery (arcane) ×7.
Benefit: You automatically succeed on a saving throw against an
effect that would magically alter your form, including effects that
make you take the form of another creature or object, or that
make you petrified. You can use this feat a number of times per
day equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum three times).
You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Appendix B/Petrified (A10)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Familiar
A familiar is a special magically augmented companion creature
available only to those who channel arcane magic. A familiar
must be a creature for whom you have taken the Companion
Creature feat, whether they are already your companion or you
take Companion Creature and this feat at the same time.
Chapter 7/Companion Creature (198)
The bond you and your familiar share imbues the familiar with
magic, intellect, and vigor. A familiar appears completely typical
for a creature of their type, but has a number of special features:
• They become a wondrous beast if they are not already.
• They have an Intelligence of 6 unless their Intelligence is
already higher.
• They have the critical points of a typical creature of their kind
or your critical points at the time you take this feat, whichever
is highest.
Your familiar remains your companion creature and gains
adventuring feat slots when you do. You can have only one
familiar, though you can have additional companion creatures.
Once a creature becomes your familiar, they don’t lose that
status unless they die or are released from service, after which
you can retrain this feat or use it to gain another familiar. A
familiar released from your service loses any familiar feats
they’ve taken, but can retrain those feat slots as usual.
Familiar Feats
The bond with a familiar is so strong that breaking it is usually
seen as an act of betrayal. As such, a released familiar will
typically refuse to subsequently act as your companion creature.
Familiar Feats
The feats in this section grant a character a magically powerful
familiar, and allow that familiar to shape the arcane bond both
share.
Feats that grant special features to a familiar or that grant a
character special features in conjunction with their familiar are
taken by the familiar, not by the character.
Familiar
Your arcane essence infuses a magical creature as your faithful
companion.
Prerequisites: Companion Creature ×1, Eldritch Spirit (arcane
magic) ×1.
Benefit: A creature for whom you have taken the Companion
Creature feat is infused with arcane power, gaining a number of
special benefits and becoming your familiar.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Familiar’s Touch
Imbuing a familiar with arcane power lets them deliver a potent
magical attack.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a familiar.
Benefit: If you and your familiar are in contact when you cast a
touch spell, you can transfer the spell from you into your familiar
as a free action. The familiar can then deliver the touch spell just
as you would, using your magic attack modifier.
This is a magical feature.
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Mastery: A familiar can take this feat once at a cost of 1 feat
slot.
Mind Link
Your connection to your familiar lets them share their mental
and emotional state.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a familiar.
Benefit: Your familiar has a mind link with you at a range of up
to 1 mile. This link allows you to feel your familiar’s general
emotional state — fear, anger, hunger, happiness, and so on —
and grants you the same connection to an object or location
that your familiar has. For example, if your familiar has observed
a particular relic, you can cast the locate object spell to find the
relic as if you had observed it.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: A familiar can take this feat once at a cost of 1 feat
slot.
Scry on Familiar
Your bond with your familiar allows you to magically observe
their location.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a familiar.
Benefit: You can scry on your familiar as if casting the scrying
spell. You do not need to make a Magic check to scry your
familiar unless they don’t want to be scried on.
You can use this feat once per day, regaining its use when you
finish a long rest. This is a magical feature.
Mastery: A familiar can take this feat once at a cost of 1 feat
slot.
Share Spells
You imbue your familiar with a portion of your magical power.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a familiar.
Benefit: At your option, you can have any spell you cast on
yourself also target your familiar while they are within 5 feet of
you. If the spell has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops
affecting the familiar if they move more than 5 feet from you,
even if they subsequently move back.
You and your familiar can share a spell even if that spell can’t
target wondrous beasts.
Mastery: A familiar can take this feat once at a cost of 1 feat
slot.
Telepathic Connection
You and your familiar can instantly share your thoughts with
each other.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a familiar.
Benefit: You and your familiar can communicate telepathically
at any range, as long as you are both within the same
dimensional realm.
Appendix A/Telepathy (A6)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: A familiar can take this feat once at a cost of 1 feat
slot.
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Timeless Familiar
The magic that binds you to your familiar brings them back to
you after death.
Prerequisites: This feat can be taken only by a familiar.
Benefit: If your familiar dies, you can spend 1 week of downtime
in meditation to summon their spirit back into another creature
of the same kind, in a similar fashion to the reincarnate spell.
The renewed familiar finds their way to you within the following
week.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: A familiar can take this feat once at a cost of 1 feat
slot.

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 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

The spells can be of any level you can cast, and you treat those
Druidas Magic spells as always focused. If you wish, one of the chosen spells
can be an arcane or animys spell, which you learn as a unique
Those who channel druidas power have long named themselves
druidas spell. When you cast an arcane spell learned in this way,
the druidan. They shape magic fueled by the latent energy that
you ignore any material components for the spell unless those
threads through all living things, from the greatest beasts to the
components have a gp cost.
smallest insects, from mighty trees to mere molds, and across all
the endless fields, forests, seas, and skies of the world. Mastery: You can take this feat three times. Each time you do,
you learn a new selection of creed spells.
Druidas magic predates the use of written language among the
humans clans where it first arose. Though the animys tradition Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
splintered off from the druidas tradition millennia ago, those Times Taken 1 2 3
two spheres of magic share many similarities. Like animys magic,
druidas magic channels the power of protection and healing.
However, it also channels the destructive power of nature’s Empowered Creed
endless storms and most powerful predators. By channeling even more magic into your druidas creed, you
enhance that creed’s features.

Druidas Magic Feats Prerequisites: Creed of Nature ×1.

Benefit: When you use a creed feat, you can increase its
The feats in this section allow a character to shape the power of
their druidas magic in new ways. effectiveness as you determine, in consultation with the GM.
The most common ways to increase the effectiveness of a creed
feat include:
Creed of Nature
By dedicating yourself to a specific aspect of the natural world, • Doubling its duration
you channel even greater levels of druidas power. • Doubling its range
• Affecting a second target within range
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (druidas magic) ×1.
• Increasing a boon or bane to the next die (d6 to d8, d8 to
Benefit: You choose a druidas creed, making the theme of that d10, and so forth)
creed intrinsic to your magic. Whenever you make a Magic
check related to your creed, as the GM determines, you have Creed Feats (363)
advantage on the check. This includes the Magic check to use a Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
counterspell against any spell thematically tied to your creed.
Creed Spells (360); Counterspell (339); Druidas Creeds (361) Nature’s Armor
Chapter 6/Magic (128) Your connection to the magic of the natural world makes the
Additionally, you learn one 0-level incantation of your choice creatures of that world reluctant to attack you.
that has a thematic relationship to your creed, as determined in Prerequisites: Spell Mastery (druidas) ×4.
consultation with the GM. If you’re not a spellcaster, you cast
Benefit: When an animal or a botanical attacks you, you can use
this incantation at will as if it were a spelltouched ability.
a reaction to redirect the attack away from you, choosing
Spelltouched Magic (380) whether the attacker chooses a new target or forgoes the attack.
If you wish, you can choose an arcane cantrip or an animys This is a magical feature.
orison to learn as a unique druidas incantation. When you cast Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
an arcane cantrip learned in this way, you ignore any material
components for the cantrip unless those components have a gp
cost.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, gaining a maximum
of three creeds.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Creed Spells
The strength of your druidas creed extends your spellcasting
prowess.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature ×1.
Benefit: You learn a number of spells of your choice equal to
your Wisdom modifier (minimum three spells) that have a
thematic relationship to your creed, as determined in
consultation with the GM. You must spend 1 day per spell level
in meditation during a downtime rest to learn these spells, as
usual, but you spend only half the usual cost of reagents and
other materials consumed by the learning process.
Learning New Spells (324)

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Druidas Creeds
A druidas creed is a mental and spiritual connection to an
aspect of the natural world that shapes a druidan’s magic and
spellcasting. A creed might be defined by the teachings of a
druidan circle, a connection to ancient lore, or personal
experience engaging with the might and mystery of the natural
world.
A character takes the Creed of Nature feat to select a creed,
then can take additional feats to gain unique magical features or
specialized spells related to their creed.
Creed of Nature (131); Creed Feats (363)
Air Creed
The air creed represents the power and freedom of the sky.
Those who adhere to this creed embody the unpredictable
nature of the winds, often finding themselves drawn to
adventure and exploration, and possessing a deep connection
to the high places of the world and to creatures of the air.
The philosophy and magic of the druidas air creed are identical
to that of the animys air domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Arthropod Creed
The arthropod creed represents the power and resilience of the
primordial world of insects, arachnids, and crustaceans. Those
who follow this creed have a deep connection to the
timelessness of nature, and to the role the world’s most ancient
creatures play in driving the cycles of life, consumption, death,
and rebirth.
Destruction Creed
The destruction creed represents the force of inevitable
devastation, whether those who follow the domain embrace this
force or dedicate themselves to standing against it. Druidan of
this creed might view themselves as agents of necessary
change, sweeping aside systems grown weak over time, or they
might believe that all things must be broken to test their
strength.
The philosophy and magic of the druidas destruction creed are
identical to that of the animys destruction domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Dragon Creed
The power and majesty of dragons is subsumed in the dragon
creed, whose followers have a deep connection to and respect
for those ancient creatures. Some druidan of this creed seek to
emulate the dragons’ deep wisdom and powerful mastery of
magic. Others revere the sheer dominating strength of
dragonkind, channeling that strength to fuel their own ambition.
Earth Creed
The earth creed represents stability, endurance, and resilience.
Those who follow this creed are often stoic and grounded,
embodying the steadfastness of the earth. They are protectors
of the scrubland, hills, and mountains, using their magic to
shield and shelter creatures who dwell in such climes.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
The philosophy and magic of the druidas earth creed are
identical to that of the animys earth domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Fellowship Creed
The fellowship creed embodies the virtues of unity, compassion,
and dedication to others. Those who pursue this creed
champion the power of community, whether focused on
healing, diplomacy, or inspiring folk whose social bonds have
been fragmented by test or tragedy.
Fire Creed
The fire creed embodies the fierce power of flame, and those
who follow it are often driven by emotions whose energy fuels
their actions and beliefs. They seek to control and direct fire in
all its mundane and magical forms, and understand that the
cleansing power of flame must sometimes be allowed to scour
the world clean.
The philosophy and magic of the druidas fire creed are identical
to that of the animys fire domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Frostlands Creed
The creed of the frostlands represents the harsh and unforgiving
nature of winter, and those who follow this creed live their lives
in tune with the freezing winds, icy terrain, and hardy creatures
of wintry realms. Druidan of the frostlands possess a deep
resilience and an unyielding determination for survival.
Healing Creed
The power of restoration and the nurturing of life are the
cornerstones of the healing creed. Those who follow this creed
are driven by a deep desire to spread the lore and magic of
healing and restoration, possessing a gentle yet unyielding
compassion, and an unwavering commitment to the
preservation of life.
The philosophy and magic of the druidas healing creed are
identical to that of the animys healing domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Mire Creed
The mire creed represents the primal power and mystery of
swamps and marshes, and druidan who take up this path share a
connection with the mysterious creatures and spirits of such
places. They are protectors of the wetland wilderness, and hold
a unique view of the eternal cycles of death, decomposition,
and rebirth.
Moons Creed
The power and mystery of the night sky manifests in the moons
creed. Those who follow this creed are attuned to the phases of
the Clearmoon and Darkmoon, and the ebb and flow of tides
and emotions. They possess a deep connection to the obscured
aspects of the world, and to creatures whose true forms are
hidden to those around them.
Pestilence Creed
The pestilence creed embodies the power and fear of miasma
and infection. Most of those who follow this creed do so to help
check the spread of pestilence, treating the sick and fighting the
361
 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

course of plague. But others master the power of pestilence for

its destructive potential, acting as living agents of infection
wherever they go.
Plains Creed
The plains creed channels the grandeur of the most vast and
open expanses of steppe and prairie. Those who follow this
creed embody the endurance and free spirit intrinsic to those
timeless lands, dedicated to protecting the balance of nature on
the plains, and the creatures who dwell there.
Protection Creed
Selflessness and devotion are the hallmarks of the protection
creed, whose followers stand sentinel before those threatened
by corruption and violent power. Druidan of protection are
willing to put themselves in harm’s way to shield others, and
draw strength from their unbreakable resolve.
The philosophy and magic of the druidas protection creed are
identical to that of the animys protection domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Renewal Creed
The renewal creed emphasizes healing, restoration, and
rejuvenation, both through magic and natural understanding.
Druidan who embrace this creed understand that the natural
processes of decay and destruction must be countered with the
will to repair and redeem, and work to ensure that life endures
against all the forces that would tear it down.
Sand Creed
The harsh and unforgiving nature of desert and scrubland are
characterized by the sand creed, whose followers epitomize the
strength and resilience needed to survive in such climes.
Druidan of this creed are custodians bringing the touch of life to
desolate landscapes, and guardians protecting the secrets held
there.
Tidelands Creed
The tidelands creed reflects the ever-changing and
unpredictable nature of the sea and its boundary lands, both
above and below the water. Those who follow this creed draw
resilience from the endless ebb and flow of the tides, and
channel their magic in the name of the sea and its creatures.
War Creed
Combat and martial prowess are the province of druidan who
follow the war domain. Their study of magic focuses on force of
will and skill at arms, whether they strive to protect allies in
battle, to vanquish foes, or to stand up for those whose lives war
would destroy.
The philosophy and magic of the druidas war creed are identical
to that of the animys war domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Water Creed
The water creed is built upon the unreadable and relentless
nature of ocean, seas, lakes, and rivers. Those who follow this
creed possess a deep reverence for the strength and power of
water, and can threaten the fury of the storm when aquatic
environments and the life they support are threatened.
The philosophy and magic of the druidas water creed are
identical to that of the animys water domain.
Animys Domains (345); Domain Feats (347)
Woodlands Creed
The woodlands creed embraces the arboreal world, and druidan
who take up this path feel a deep connection to the forests in
which they dwell and travel. They look for guidance in the cycles
of the seasons as they protect primeval nature, its creatures, and
its secrets.

Shadow Creed
The shadow creed embodies a fascination with the unknown
and unknowable, and with the unseen powers that lurk beyond
the scope of the natural and preternatural world. Druidan of
shadow possess an unshakeable resolve, and are unafraid to
confront the mysteries that hide within the world or in the hearts
of creatures.

Stonelands Creed
The unyielding power and resilience of hill and mountain are the
province of the stonelands creed. Druidan of this creed are
often stoic and unshakable, forging deep connections to the
world’s most rugged terrain. They draw strength from the
endurance of stone, whether they use that strength to act as
steadfast allies or formidable foes.

Storm Creed
The storm creed channels the raw power of lightning and
thunder, and those who follow it embody the overwhelming and
unpredictable force of the storm. Many storm druidan are
inclined to impulsive action and confrontation, driving into
challenges and foes like a scouring gale.

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Creed Feats
The following feats allow a character to hone their druidas
magic through dedication to a specific aspect of nature.
Custom Domain and Creed Feats sidebar (347)
Where a feat appears with only a cross-reference to another
section, that feat is relevant to creeds but has its full write-up in
that other section.
Air Jaunt
With little more than a thought, you take to the air.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (air) ×1 or Domain of Faith (air)
×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain a flying speed equal to
your speed that lasts for 1 minute, and you have advantage on
Acrobatics checks to fly during that time. If you are in the air
when this effect ends and can’t continue to fly, whether using
this feat or by some other means, you fall.
Chapter 7/Other Speeds (167)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Air Wall
A wall of swirling air directs ranged attacks around you.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (air) ×1 or Domain of Faith (air)
×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you cause a flurry of wind to swirl
around you in a 30-foot radius sphere for 1 minute. The air wall
affects ranged attacks, granting a d6 boon on ranged attack
rolls made by allies in the area, and imposing a d6 bane on
allies’ defense rolls against ranged attacks while in the area.
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Arthropod’s Sting
You lace your weapon attack with a poison sting.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (arthropod) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you magically infuse your weapon
attacks with a debilitating venom for 1 minute. Any creature not
immune to poison who is hit by your weapon attack is weakened
until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Weakened (A12)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Arthropod’s Web
You cast an unfurling web to hold a foe fast.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (arthropod) ×1.
Benefit: One creature within 30 feet of you is surrounded by
sticky webbing that makes them restrained for 1 minute. A
restrained creature can be freed as a standard action with a DC
15 Acrobatics/escape or Athletics/grab check, by themself or
any creature who can reach them.
Chapter 6/Athletics (112)
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Destructive Essence
Your ability to break the world around you is second to none.
Domain Feats (347)
Destructive Strike
A surge of destructive energy fuels your attacks.
Domain Feats (347)
Dragon’s Roar
Your fearsome roar leaves creatures shaken.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (dragon) ×1.
Benefit: As a standard action, you unleash a draconic roar that
leaves one creature within 30 feet hearing disoriented and
frightened until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Dragon’s Defense
A sheen of scales across your skin protects you from harm.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (dragon) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain a d8 boon on defense rolls
for 1 minute.
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Earth Glide
You effortlessly pass through solid ground as you move.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (earth) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(earth) ×1.
363

Benefit: As a minor action, you gain a burrowing speed equal to
your speed that lasts for 1 minute, letting you move through
nonmagical earth and stone, but not metal. Your burrowing
leaves behind no tunnel or hole, preventing other creatures
from following you, but leaves signs of your passage where you
enter and exit the ground. If you are within earth or stone when
this effect ends and can’t continue to burrow, whether using this
feat or by some other means, you are shunted to the nearest
open space and take 1d6 bludgeoning damage for each 5 feet
moved.
Chapter 7/Other Speeds (167)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Earth Tremor
A pulse of magical energy sends a creature off their feet.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (earth) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(earth) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you cause the ground or a dirt or
stone floor around you to momentarily ripple. One creature of
your choice on the ground or floor within 30 feet goes prone.
Appendix B/Prone (A10)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fellowship of Combat
You and an ally share your awareness to benefit you both in
battle.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (fellowship) ×1.
Benefit: Whenever you use combat assistance to aid an ally
making an attack and the ally gets a partial hit or a miss, you can
use a reaction to let the ally turn the attack into a clear hit.
Chapter 9/Measuring Attack Success (265)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fellowship’s Respite
When you watch over an ally’s work, you let them make their
best effort.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (fellowship) ×1.
Benefit: When an ally you can observe within 30 feet of you gets
a partial success or a failure on a skill check, you can use a
reaction to let them turn the check into a success.
Chapter 6/Measuring Skill Success (104)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fiery Rebuke
Enemies who challenge you feel the heat of your wrath.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (fire) ×1 or Domain of Faith (fire)
×1.
Benefit: When you are hit by an attack, you can use a reaction
to deal 1d6 fire damage to one enemy you can observe within
30 feet of you.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Fire Defense
You are inured to the damage dealt by mundane and magical
flame.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (fire) ×1 or Domain of Faith (fire)
×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain resistance to fire damage
for 1 minute. You can use this feat a number of times per day
equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You
regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Frostlands Strike
The power of frost infuses your weapon strikes.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (frostlands) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you channel the power of frost
through your attacks. For 1 minute, each time you hit with a
weapon attack, the attack deals an extra 1d6 cold damage.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Frostlands Resolve
You are inured to the unforgiving conditions of cold.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (frostlands) ×1.
Benefit: You and your equipment suffer no harm from being in
a cold environment, down to −20 degrees F or −30 degrees C,
without having to make Endurance checks.
Chapter 7/Weather and Temperature (176)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Healing Grace
Your presence helps others restore bodily health and vigor.
Domain Feats (347)
364

Healing Touch
A surge of magic restores the health of an injured creature.
Domain Feats (347)
Mire’s Malaise
A creature who attacks you is hampered by your magic.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (mire) ×1.
Benefit: When you take damage from a melee attack, you can
use a reaction to cause the attacker to be slowed and weakened
until the end of their next turn.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Mirebound
The area around you seizes at creatures moving through it.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (mire) ×1.
Benefit: As a standard action, you infuse the ground or floor
around you with hindering energy, turning the area within 30
feet into difficult terrain until the start of your next turn.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Moons’ Shadow
A creature who attacks you is rendered insensible in response.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (moons) ×1.
Benefit: When you are hit by an attack, you can use a reaction
to cause the attacker to be disoriented for one sense of your
choice for 1 minute.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Moons’ Sense
Your senses sharpen to reveal the true nature of what lies
around you.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (moons) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain truesense to a range of 30
feet until the start of your next turn, letting you observe and
perceive things as they actually are. This allows you to ignore
concealment (including invisibility), to perceive through all
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
shadow and darkness, and to automatically perceive illusions
and the true forms of creatures and objects that have taken
another form.
Chapter 9/Concealment (306)
Appendix A/Truesense (A7)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Pestilence Bane
Your magic dismisses the threat of pestilence for you and those
you watch over.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (pestilence) ×1.
Benefit: You and each creature who spends a long rest within
30 feet of you has advantage on saving throws against
pestilence made before the end of their next long rest.
Chapter 7/Long Rest (193)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Pestilence Host
You carry pestilence with you, ready to spread it as you will.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (pestilence) ×1.
Benefit: When you succeed on a saving throw to end a
pestilence affecting you, you continue to carry that pestilence in
a way that does you no harm. At any point before the start of
your next long rest, you can spread that pestilence once
according to its usual mode of transmission — ingested
pestilence left in food or water, inhaled pestilence dispersed to
the air around you, and injury and contact pestilences
transmitted to a weapon or object you touch.
Chapter 7/Pestilence (180)
The GM determines how many other creatures a spread
pestilence might affect. Once the pestilence is spread, you no
longer carry it.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Plains Fade
Your magic lets you slip from sight even in open spaces.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (plains) ×1.
Benefit: For 1 minute, you become invisible at the start of your
turn if you aren’t moving. You become visible if you move, or if
you make any form of attack.
Appendix A/Invisible (A5)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
365

This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Plains Pace
Your magic lends you and your allies a surge of speed.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (plains) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you grant yourself and each ally
within 30 feet of you one of the following options:
• A d6 boon on Endurance/run checks for 1 minute
• Advantage on one Endurance/run check to run over a long
distance.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Protective Panoply
The magic you channel lingers in vestment or armor to protect
its wearer.
Domain Feats (347)
Protective Ward
Your touch lends defensive resilience to an ally.
Domain Feats (347)
Renewed Life
A thread of restorative magic connects you to a dying ally.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (renewal) ×1.
Benefit: When an ally you can observe within 30 feet makes a
death saving throw while at 0 critical points, you can use a
reaction to cause that ally to recover with 1 critical point.
Chapter 9/Death Saving Throws (254)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Renewed Spirit
Your presence gives allies an edge at shaking off debilitating
effects.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (renewal) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you grant yourself and each ally
within 30 feet of you advantage on saving throws made before
the start of your next turn.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Sand’s Mirage
A swirling haze occludes the senses of your foes.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (sand) ×1.
Benefit: As a standard action, choose one creature within 30
feet of you. That creature is disoriented for one sense of your
choice for 1 minute.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Sand’s Veil
A blurring surrounds you to conceal you and your allies from
foes.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (sand) ×1.
Benefit: When you are hit by an attack, you can use a reaction
to create a veil of illusion around you and each ally within 30
feet. Each target has concealment for 1 minute.
Chapter 9/Concealment (306)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Shadow Step
Drawn by magic, you slip from shadow to shadow.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (shadow) ×1.
Benefit: While standing in an area of dim light or darkness, you
can use a standard action to teleport up to 30 feet to an open
space in dim light or darkness you can observe.
Appendix A/Teleportation (A7)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Shadow Assault
You cloak yourself in shadow to catch your foes off guard.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (shadow) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you create an area of dim light in a
30-foot-radius sphere around you, which lasts for 1 minute.
Creatures in the dim light have concealment, as usual, but you
ignore that concealment. You also have advantage on attack
rolls and combat maneuver skill checks against creatures in the
area.
Chapter 9/Concealment (306)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
366

This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Stonelands Strength
You channel defensive power when you lock yourself in place on
the battlefield.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (stonelands) ×1.
Benefit: As a free action, you gain a d10 boon on defense rolls
but are slowed for 1 minute. You can end this effect as a free
action.
Appendix B/Slowed (A11)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Stonelands Strike
Sharpened stone lends you an edge in combat.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (stonelands) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you cause spikes of stone to erupt
from your weapons and ammunition when you attack. For 1
minute, each time you hit with a weapon attack, the attack deals
an extra 1d6 slashing damage.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Storm Rush
A blast of storm wind obscures and protects you.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (storm) ×1.
Benefit: When you are hit by a melee attack, you can use a
reaction to surround yourself with swirling winds that grant you
concealment and impose disadvantage on ranged attacks made
against you, all until the end of your next turn.
Chapter 9/Concealment (306)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Storm’s Course
A pulse of lightning carries with you as you move.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (storm) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you channel the power of lightning
until the start of your next turn. When you move or shift (but not
when you run), you can move freely through other creatures’
spaces, and can choose to deal 1d4 lightning damage to each
creature whose space you move through for the first time.
Chapter 9/Shifting (167)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Tidelands Wave
A pulse of fast-moving water drives a creature away from you.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (tidelands) ×1.
Benefit: When you are hit by a melee attack, you can use a
reaction to drive a wave of water against the attacker, pushing
them 5 feet in any direction. The space the creature moves
through (including their starting and ending spaces) is covered
in water and becomes difficult terrain for 1 minute. The water
vanishes when this effect ends.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Tidelands Talent
You share your innate skill on the water with your allies.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (tidelands) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you grant yourself and each ally
within 30 feet of you one of the following options:
• A d6 boon on Endurance/swim checks for 1 minute
• Advantage on one Endurance/swim check to determine the
success of a long-distance swim.
Chapter 6/Endurance (118)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Warrior’s Aid
Your magic lets an ally evade the most potent attacks.
Domain Feats (347)
Warrior’s Will
You and a chosen target must join in battle.
Domain Feats (347)
Water’s Grace
Your magic lets you move with ease beneath the waves.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (water) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(water) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you gain a swimming speed equal to
your speed that lasts for 1 minute.
Chapter 7/Other Speeds (167)
Additionally, you can hold your breath for a number of minutes
equal to your Constitution modifier or your Wisdom modifier
367
 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

(minimum 3 minutes). When you make Endurance/subsist checks

to avoid suffocating while underwater, you can use your Wisdom
modifier instead of your Constitution modifier.
Chapter 7/Suffocation (177)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Water’s Hold
Fast-flowing water hinders the movement of creatures around
you.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (water) ×1 or Domain of Faith
(water) ×1.
Benefit: As a minor action, you surround yourself with lashing
waves of water. Each creature within 10 feet of you who doesn’t
have a swimming speed is restrained until the start of your next
turn, and the area then becomes difficult terrain for 1 minute.
The water vanishes when this effect ends.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168)
Appendix B/Restrained (A11)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.

Woodlands Sense
Not even the canniest creature can elude your tracking abilities.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (woodlands) ×1.
Benefit: When you fail a Perception or Nature check to find or
follow tracks in a forest environment, you can automatically
succeed on the check. This doesn’t allow you to spot or follow a
trail that doesn’t exist, as of a creature under the effect of pass
without trace or who teleports away from a visible trail, but you
can confirm that such effects have caused a trail to vanish.
Chapter 6/Nature (131); Perception (134)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Woodlands Step
You channel nature’s power to tie two locations together.
Prerequisites: Creed of Nature (woodlands) ×1.
Benefit: While in a forest or other area of dense vegetation,
choose two areas on the ground that you can observe that are
each 5 feet in radius. As a standard action, you link the two areas
magically until the start of your next turn. Each creature who
steps into one area automatically teleports to the other area.
Appendix A/Teleportation (A7)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Wild Shape
Some who channel the power of nature wholly embrace its
transformative potential, using the alternative form special
feature to magically become a creature of the wild. Adopting
this wild shape form can allow a character to become a quick-
moving wilderness scout, to undertake reconnaissance from the
air, to infiltrate a marketplace or mercenary camp as a harmless
animal, or to create a threatening presence as a beast of prey.
Appendix A/Alternative Form (A1)
Taking on a wild shape form sees a character become another
creature in every way, even as they retain their identity and the
broad scope of their intellect. But the frailty of smaller animals
and other wild shape forms means that a character making use
of wild shape must often be diligent about avoiding danger.
The “Baseline Wild Shape Animals” table shows a selection of
animals whose forms can be adopted with the Wild Shape feat.
The tables are sorted by tier and by creature size, with tier 0
Small and smaller creatures available to characters taking only
Wild Shape. Higher-tier and larger creatures are available to
characters also the taking the Formidable Shape and Powerful
Shape feats.
In addition to the animals noted on the table, many animals also
have larger and higher-tier dire forms, or smaller and lower-tier
variant forms, any of which can be used for Wild Shape.
Creature Compendium
From the initial mastery of taking on smaller animal forms, a
character with the ability to wild shape can expand their
transformational repertoire to include larger and more powerful
creatures, wondrous beasts, botanicals, and even draconic
creatures.
As per the rules for the alternative form special feature, you gain
all the innate features of the wondrous beast whose form you
take, including magical features. However, the GM might decide
that you can’t use certain of those features if you haven’t directly
observed them being used.
After a chance encounter with an aranea who quickly flees,
a scout with the Wild Shape and Wondrous Shape feats can
take on the form of one of those creatures and use their
melee attacks. However, because the character didn’t
observe the aranea use its web action or its innate magic,
the GM might rule that the scout can’t use those features
until further aranea encounters allow them to be observed.
Wild Shape Feats
These feats allow a character to focus their druidas magic into
transformative power.
Determining Wild Shape Forms
The range of creature forms available to a character with Wild Shape
is determined by consultation between player and GM. The terms of
the feat require first-hand familiarity with a creature, meaning your
character must have encountered or studied a live specimen of the
animal for a suitable length of time. Simply getting a fast glimpse of
a creature, even close up, isn’t enough.
Over the course of a campaign, any creature you fully engage in a
combat or social encounter can be added to the list of creatures
available for your Wild Shape feat (assuming those creatures meet
the criteria for your use of the feat). You don’t need to defeat a
creature in combat, but you must have had a chance to fully assess
their form and abilities.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
For a starting character with no adventuring experience, available
wild shape forms include most domesticated animals (such as dogs
and cats), animals routinely observed up close (including birds and
small mammals), or any creatures routinely hunted. For starting
characters with the ability to take on larger and more powerful wild
shape forms, taking the form of predatory creatures such as bears,
large cats, and wolves requires an element of backstory.
A character who survived a bear attack as a child should be able to
take a bear’s form while in wild shape. A druidas order might feature
rites of passage involving having to patiently stalk wolves or lions
over many months for the purpose of taking their forms. But a
starting character who has previously survived multiple encounters
with bears, mountain lions, gorillas, warannas, and more is iffy.
A character can take on a wild shape form only of the specific type
of creature they interact with, so that a character able to become a
black bear can’t automatically take the form of a brown bear or polar
bear. Likewise, being able to take on the form of a wolf doesn’t
allow a character to take the form of a dire wolf.
Bestial Nature
The bestial magic you channel reshapes your true form.
Prerequisites: Wild Shape ×1, Skill Focus (Nature) ×4.
Chapter 6/Skill Feats (148)
Benefit: When you use your Wild Shape feat, you can forgo
taking on an animal form in order to channel some of the
physical benefit of that form for 1 hour in your true form.
Choose one of the following options:
• Aquatic Form: You breathe underwater and in air, and you
have a d10 boon on Endurance/swim checks.
• Predator Form: Your speed increases by 5 feet, and you have
a d10 boon on Athletics/jump and Endurance/run checks.
• Sturdy Form: You have a d10 boon on defense rolls.
Using this feat returns you to your true form if you are in a wild
shape form, and ends any Bestial Nature effect already on you.
You can end any of these effects as a minor action.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Botanical Shape
The magic of your wild shape extends through an even broader
range of life.
Prerequisites: Wild Shape ×1.
Benefit: In addition to taking on animal forms, you can use your
Wild Shape feat to adopt the form of any botanical who meets
the criteria for your use of that feat.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Draconic Shape
Your understanding and study of dragons allows you to take the
form of those greatest of creatures.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Magic) ×4, Skill Focus
(Dungeoneering or Nature) ×4, Wild Shape ×1.
Chapter 6/Dungeoneering (115); Magic (128); Nature (131)
Benefit: In addition to taking on animal forms, you can use your
Wild Shape feat to adopt the form of any dragon who meets the
criteria for your use of that feat.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
369

Formidable Shape
The magic of your wild shaping flows and expands, allowing you
take on the forms of creatures of more varied sizes.
Prerequisites: Wild Shape ×1.
Benefit: In addition to taking on the form of Small or smaller
animals, you can take on the form of Medium animals with your
Wild Shape feat.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, enabling you to
take on the form of Medium, Large, and finally Huge animals
with your Wild Shape feat.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
Hunter’s Strike
By channeling your druidas magic into your natural attacks, you
tear through your enemies with deadly fury.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Dungeoneering or Nature) ×4, Wild
Shape ×1.
Benefit: While in your wild shape form, your natural attacks
count as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming
damage resistance.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Intuitive Wild Shape
Taking on a favored animal form is second nature to you.
Prerequisites: Wild Shape ×1.
Benefit: At the end of a long rest, choose one creature whose
form you can adopt with Wild Shape. Until the end of your next
long rest, transforming into that creature or back into your true
form is a minor action for you.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Powerful Shape
You channel the greater power of nature, letting you take on a
wider range of wild shape forms.
Prerequisites: Wild Shape ×1.
Benefit: You increase the range of creature forms you can adopt
using your Wild Shape feat. In addition to transforming into a
creature of tier 0, you can transform into a creature of tier 1.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times. Each time you do
so, you increase the tier of the creature forms you can adopt
with your Wild Shape feat, to a maximum tier 3.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3 Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Dungeoneering or Nature) ×4, Wild
Times Taken 1 2 3 Shape ×1.
Wild Shape
The magic of nature flows in you, allowing you to assume the
form of a resilient beast.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (druidas) ×1, Skill Focus (Nature)
×1.
Benefit: You can turn yourself into a Small or smaller animal and
back again.
This ability functions as the alternative form special feature,
within the guidelines noted below.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Appendix A/Alternative Form (A1)
As a standard action, you can wild shape into the form of any
animal of tier 0 for 1 hour, or can change back into your true
form. The form you choose for your wild shape must be an
animal you are familiar with, typically because you encountered
or studied a live specimen of the animal for an extended period.
Determining Wild Shape Forms sidebar
Creature Compendium/Tier
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Wisdom modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Communication: While in your wild shape form, you can
communicate with other creatures of the same general type as
that form, as if under the effect of the converse with animals
spell. You can communicate using only the sounds and gestures
that an untrained animal can make, and can’t speak or sign a
language even in the form of an animal that can be trained to
mimic speech or has exceptional physical deftness.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Preparation: This feat has requirements for the player in addition
to the character. For a character to use Wild Shape, a player
must have the wild shape form’s statistics block prepared ahead
of time and ready to play.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times. Each time you do
so, you can use it an additional number of times per day equal
to your Wisdom modifier (minimum three additional times per
day).
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3
Wild Spell
You can draw on your spellcasting power even when in animal
form.
Prerequisites: Skill Focus (Magic) ×1, Wild Shape ×1.
Benefit: You can cast druidas spells while in wild shape form.
When you cast, you replace any lexis and somatic components
with sounds and gestures appropriate for the creature whose
form you have taken, and ignoring any material components
except those with a gp cost.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Wondrous Shape
Your understanding of wondrous beasts lets you take on those
creatures’ unusual forms.
Benefit: In addition to taking on animal forms, you can use your
Wild Shape feat to adopt the form of any wondrous beast who
meets the criteria for your use of that feat. If you take the form
of a wondrous beast who can use a language, you can use any
language you know as the wondrous beast would.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
370
 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

BASELINE WILD SHAPE ANIMALS

Tier 0 Size Tier 1 Size Tier 2 Size Tier 3 Size

Bat D Octopus S Bear, brown L Elephant H
Toad D Stingray S Bear, polar L
Cat T Bear, black M Bison L
Hawk T Boar M Gorilla L
Lizard T Cheetah M Hippopotamus L
Monkey T Crocodile M Lion L
Owl T Dog M Rhinoceros L
Quipper T Dolphin M Tiger L
Rat T Hyena M Moose H
Raven T Leopard M Orca H
Seahorse T Seal M
Weasel T Snake, constrictor M
Badger S Squid M
Eagle S Waranna M
Goat S Wolf M
Jackal S Camel L
Snake, viper S Horse L
Vulture S Manta ray L
Baboon M Mule L
Deer M Shark L
Donkey M
Ostrich M
Pony M

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Metamagic
As a spellcaster’s knowledge of magic grows, they can learn to
reshape and focus that magic in different ways. Metamagic feats
allow you to push the limitations of spellcasting by increasing a
spell’s power to gain enhanced effects — increasing or
augmenting a spell’s range, damage, area, casting time, and
more.
You can apply a metamagic feat only to a spell you have
focused, and each metamagic feat increases the spell point cost
of a spell. The total cost of casting a metamagic spell (the spell’s
focused cost plus the metamagic cost) can’t exceed your caster
level.
Casting Metamagic Spells
For all metamagic feats except Quickened Spell, you use a
minor action to focus a metamagic feat. The effects of that feat
are then applied to the next spell you cast before the end of
your turn. If you don’t cast a spell before the end of your turn,
you lose the focused metamagic feat but can focus it again.
The effect of a metamagic feat can be applied only to a spell
you cast yourself, excluding spells cast from magic items
(including schemas, scrolls, and talismans). Depending on which
of a spell’s effects a metamagic feat modifies, the feat might not
work with certain spells. For example, Empowered Spell
increases any variable effects of a spell, and so has no effect on
a spell like succor that has no random variables. Each
metamagic feat specifies the types of spells it modifies.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Casting a metamagic spell provokes opportunity attacks as
usual, except for the Quickened Spell feat, which lets you cast as
a minor action.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
Multiple Metamagic Effects
You can apply multiple metamagic effects to a single spell, but
you must use a minor action to focus each effect, by converting
a standard or move action to a minor action, using an action
point, and so on. The cost of each metamagic effect is added to
the spell’s cost.
An arcanist of caster level 8 has the Distant Spell and
Empowered Spell feats. By spending two minor actions,
she can cast a distant empowered magic missile at a cost of
8 spell points — 2 spell points for magic missile, 2 spell
points for Distant Spell, and 4 spell points for Empowered
Spell.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
You can’t apply the same metamagic feat more than once to a
spell.
Effective Level
The additional spell point cost of a metamagic spell can be
thought of as raising the spell’s effective level, as represented
by its spell point cost. However, if a metamagic spell interacts
with any effect that depends on spell level (for example, a dispel
magic or globe of invulnerability spell), you use the spell’s
original level for determining the outcome.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Metamagic Feats
These feats allow a character to augment their spellcasting
power with metamagic effects.
Collective Spell
When working with another spellcaster, you cast spells to
greater effect.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Benefit: When you and another spellcaster cast the same spell
at the same time, you can channel both spells through you by
casting your spell as a collective spell. This produces the effect
of you casting the spell with a caster level equal to the sum of
both your caster levels, and with an effective spellcasting ability
modifier equal to the sum of both your modifiers.
An arcanist of caster level 6 casts lightning bolt to deal 6d6
damage, with a magic challenge throw modifier of +6. If
the same caster uses Collective Spell to cast the spell with
an arcanist of caster level 5, the collective spell has a caster
level of 11th (dealing the maximum 10d6 damage) and has
a magic challenge throw modifier of +11 (the sum of both
caster levels).
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
An animyst and a druidan are each 3rd level and have a
Wisdom of 16 (a +3 modifier). If each casts disrupt undead
against a bodak, the +6 modifier on their ranged magic
attack rolls might not get past the defense roll of that
powerful creature. But if the animyst uses Collective Spell
to channel the power of the druidan’s casting, that single
casting has a +12 attack modifier and a much better chance
to hit.
Creature Compendium
You and the other caster must be within 30 feet of each other at
the time your spells are cast. The other caster must be a willing
participant in the collective casting process, and one of you
must hold your turn so that both spells can be cast at the same
time. You can’t cast a collective spell with more than one other
caster.
You are the caster of the collective spell for the purpose of the
spell’s point of origin, range, and so on. If both casters have the
Collective Spell feat, you decide which of you is the caster of the
collective spell, and that caster has advantage on any magic
challenge throw or magic attack roll for the spell.
Chapter 9/Holding Your Turn (235)
You can use this feat when you and the other caster channel
different spheres of magic, but the spells you cast must be the
same. An arcanist casting bestow curse can cast it as a collective
spell with an animyst casting bestow curse, but an arcanist
casting lightning bolt can’t collectively cast it with a druidan
casting call lightning.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Each collective spell is cast at its default spell point cost. The
second caster uses a minor action to hold their turn, then cast at
the same time you cast your spell. You use a minor action to
focus this feat, which then applies to the next spell you cast
before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
372

Delayed Spell
By slowing a spell’s magical energy, you delay its activation until
just the right moment.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you cast any spell, you can delay its activation for
a number of rounds up to your caster level. All other choices for
the spell are made when it is cast, including its final range and
target or area. A targeted delayed spell stays with its target if
they move, as long the target remains in the spell’s original
range. A delayed spell that affects an area is fixed to that area,
regardless of whether potential targets leave the area before
the spell activates.
A delayed spell adds an additional 4 spell points to its cost. You
use a minor action to focus this feat, which then applies to the
next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Distant Spell
Manipulating the flow of magic through a spell lets that magic
reach across a greater distance.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: When you cast a spell with a range measured in feet,
you can double that range by casting it as a distant spell.
A distant spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost. You
use a minor action to focus this feat, which then applies to the
next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Empowered Spell
You channel increased magical energy into the spells you cast.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you cast a spell with any effects based on a
variable die roll, you increase those variable effects by one-half
by casting the spell as an empowered spell. This can include
things such as damage dealt, hit points restored, a number of
objects or creatures conjured, or any other part of the spell that
calls for a random die roll.
Magic missile deals 1d4 + 1 force damage per missile. A
mage who casts an empowered magic missile rolls the
spell’s regular damage, then adds another one-half of the
damage (rounded down), so that a missile that deals the
maximum 5 damage would deal an additional 2 damage.
The empowered magical missile doesn’t create extra
missiles, however, since this is a fixed number based on
caster level, not a number based on a die roll.
This feat has no effect on magic challenge throws or magic
attack rolls made as part of casting the spell.
An empowered spell adds an additional 4 spell points to its
cost. You use a minor action to focus this feat, which then
applies to the next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Enlarged Spell
Through an additional channeling of eldritch power, your spell
spreads its power out.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Benefit: When you cast a spell whose effect is an area, you can
double that area of effect by casting the spell as an enlarged
spell. Spells whose area is a cone, a line, or a sphere have the
dimensions of that area doubled, so that an enlarged fireball fills
a 40-foot-radius sphere, an enlarged lightning bolt fills a line 10
feet wide by 240 feet long, and an enlarged detect magic
increases its area to a 120-foot cone. Spells whose area is a
number of cubes have that number doubled, so that an
enlarged controlled image fills an area of two 10-foot cubes per
caster level.
Spell Area (331)
An enlarged spell adds an additional 6 spell points to its cost.
You use a minor action to focus this feat, which then applies to
the next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Extended Spell
Your careful focus allows you to cast spells whose effects
endure.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: When you cast a spell whose duration is a number of
rounds, minutes, hours, and so on, you can double that duration
by casting the spell as an extended spell. For example,
dominate animal has a duration of 1 hour per caster level, so an
extended dominate animal lasts for 2 hours per caster level. An
extended greater controlled image endures while the caster
concentrates, then continues for 2 rounds per caster level.
Duration (334)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A spell whose duration is instantaneous, which lasts only while
the caster concentrates, or which lasts until ended can’t be
affected by this feat.
An extended spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost.
You use a minor action to focus this feat, which then applies to
the next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Heightened Spell
For select targets, your spells hit especially hard.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that requires multiple creatures
to make saving throws, you can increase the spell’s power for
some of those creatures by casting the spell as a heightened
spell. Choose a number of targets of the spell up to your
spellcasting modifier (minimum one). You have advantage on
the magic challenge throw for each of those targets. You can
use this advantage on individual challenge throws, or on a
group challenge throw for all the targets.
Chapter 9/Challenge Throw (245)
A heightened spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost.
You use a minor action to focus this feat, which then applies to
the next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Mitigated Spell
By controlling the flow of your magic, you protect certain
creatures from the full force of your spells.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
373

Benefit: When you cast a spell that requires multiple creatures
to make saving throws, you can limit the spell’s power for some
of those creatures by casting the spell as a mitigated spell.
Choose a number of targets of the spell up to your spellcasting
modifier (minimum one). Each chosen target automatically
succeeds on their saving throws against the spell.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
A mitigated spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost.
You use a minor action to focus this feat, which then applies to
the next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Piercing Spell
Your mastery of magical energy lets you overcome your foes’
immunities and resistances.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you cast a damage-dealing spell, you can
overcome the resistance of the spell’s targets by casting the
spell as a piercing spell. Choose one type of damage the spell
deals — bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing; acid, cold, fire,
lightning, or thunder; force, psychic, necrotic, or radiant. Any
targets of the spell who have resistance to the damage type are
treated as if they had no resistance, and any targets who have
immunity to that damage type are treated as though they had
resistance.
Appendix A/Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability (A3)
A piercing spell adds an additional 4 spell points to its cost. You
use a minor action to focus this feat, which then applies to the
next spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat multiple times at a cost of 1 feat
slot. Each time you do so, choose a different damage type.
Quickened Spell
By drawing on additional magical power, you can cast a spell
with just a moment’s thought.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×7.
Benefit: When you cast any spell, you can do so as a minor
action rather than a standard action by casting it as a quickened
spell. You use the same minor action to both focus this feat and
cast your quickened spell.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
Casting a quickened spell doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks. A
quickened spell adds an additional 8 spell points to its cost.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Shared Spell
Magic that usually protects only you can be shared with another.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: When you cast a personal-range spell with a target of
“you,” you can treat it as a touch spell with a target of “one
willing creature” by casting that spell as a shared spell.
Willing Target (333)
A shared spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost. You
use a minor action to focus this feat in the round in which you
apply it to a spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Stilled Spell
You call down the power of your spell with no hint of movement
or gesture.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that has a somatic component,
you can ignore that somatic component by casting the spell as a
stilled spell. You can cast a stilled spell even if you are restrained
or immobilized, and you can cast a stilled arcane spell without
needing to make the arcane casting check imposed by your
armor or shield.
Arcane Casting in Armor (338)
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
A stilled spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost. You
use a minor action to focus this feat in the round in which you
apply it to a spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Subtle Spell
You cast your spell without giving a creature any sense that they
have been targeted by magic.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that has no obvious physical
effect, you can prevent a creature from recognizing that they
have come into contact with magic by casting the spell as a
subtle spell.
An arcanist hopes to use detect thoughts to search for an
assassin at a banquet. Any creature who makes their saving
throw against the spell usually becomes aware that they are
interacting with some sort of magical effect, which could
cause a public disturbance. By casting a subtle detect
thoughts, the arcanist ensures that creatures who succeed
on their saving throws against the spell remain unaware
that magic has been used against them.
You can’t use this feat with any spell that deals damage or
imposes conditions or other negative effects on a creature.
A subtle spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost. You
use a minor action to focus this feat in the round in which you
apply it to a spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Tacit Spell
You channel your magic with deadly stealth, letting you unleash
spell power without a sound.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×1.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that has a lexis component, you
can ignore that lexis component by casting the spell as a tacit
spell. If you speak your lexis components, you can cast a tacit
spell even if you are gagged or in the area of a silence spell. If
you sign your lexis components, you can cast a tacit spell even if
you are restrained or immobilized.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
A tacit spell adds an additional 2 spell points to its cost. You use
a minor action to focus this feat in the round in which you apply
it to a spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Thrown Spell
You can cast touch spells at range.
Prerequisites: Spell Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you cast a spell that has a range of touch, you
can turn it into a ranged spell with a range of 30 feet by casting
it as a thrown spell. If the spell requires an attack roll, you make
a ranged magic attack.
A thrown spell adds an additional 4 spell points to its cost. You
use a minor action to focus this feat in the round in which you
apply it to a spell you cast before the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Ethos Magic
Animys spellcasting shapes the magic of life, codifying and
focusing it to channel powerful effects of restoration or
retribution. But life magic can be also channeled in a more
personal form, as the expression of a character’s chosen
ethos — the dedication to the precepts of morality or ethics,
order or anarchy, virtue or dispassion.
Ethos is an extension of the alignment that provides a general
reckoning of a character’s moral and ethical take on the world.
But unlike how alignment is always optional and often mutable,
a character who chooses an ethos makes a commitment to a
moral or ethical code, whether entirely personal or a credo set
down by others. Through this ethos, a character can gain a
transcendent strength that can empower their attacks, protect
them and their allies from harm, or channel the magic of life in
novel ways through the Domain of Faith feat.
Domain of Faith (343)
Chapter 4/Alignment (76)
Ethos Magic Feats
These feats allow a character to channel their chosen ethos to
shape a magic of moral and ethical potential.
Air of Grace
The focus of your ethos strengthens your body and mind.
Prerequisites: Driven Ethos ×1; one of Great Fortitude, Iron
Will, or Lightning Reflexes ×1.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Benefit: You can use Charisma as an ability modifier for your
Fortitude saving throw and Reflex saving throw.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Aura of Grace
The strength of your ethos wraps you and your allies in an aura
of protection.
Prerequisites: Driven Ethos ×1; one of Great Fortitude, Iron
Will, or Lightning Reflexes ×4.
Whenever one of your allies within 30 feet of you makes a saving
throw, you can use a reaction to grant that ally advantage on the
save.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Domain of Faith
By dedicating yourself to a specific path of faith, you hone the
potency of your eldritch power.
Animys Magic Feats (343)
Driven Ethos
Your dedication to a specific set of moral and ethical beliefs
grants you unique power.
Prerequisites: —
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Benefit: Choose one component of your alignment — good,
lawful, neutral, evil, or chaotic. That alignment component
becomes an ethos to which you dedicate your life, allowing you
to channel unique magical power.
Your dedication to ethos focuses that component of your
alignment. You radiate your ethos for the purpose of the detect
ethos spell or similar magic, and you automatically detect when
a creature whose ethos opposes yours is within 5 feet of you.
Persuasion checks you make against creatures whose alignment
reflects your ethos are made with advantage.
Ethos and Opposition sidebar
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Your ethos also grants you the knowledge of an Ethos Cant — a
mystical language tied to your specific ethos. You gain one
instance of Learn Language for that Ethos Cant as a bonus feat.
Chapter 7/Learn Language (165)
For any magic you gain using Driven Ethos as a prerequisite
(including the 0-level spell you gain from the Domain of Faith
feat, and the features of any domain feats you subsequently
take), you can use your Charisma modifier instead of your
Wisdom modifier to determine that magic’s effects.
If your alignment ever changes so that you no longer adhere to
your ethos, or if you commit acts antithetical to your ethos, you
lose this feat and lose access to all other feats for which it is a
prerequisite. Lost feats can be retrained as usual. If your
alignment changes back, you must take this feat again to gain
access to any other ethos magic feats you still have, unless you
make use of an atonement spell or similar magic. The GM is the
final arbiter of whether specific actions are antithetical to a
character’s ethos.
If you ever retrain Driven Ethos for a different alignment
component, you lose access to all previously taken feats that
have Driven Ethos as a prerequisite, even if those feats are
usable with your new ethos. Those lost feats can be retrained, as
usual.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Ethos Attack
By channeling the essence of your ethos, you grant the strength
of magic to your weapon attacks.
Prerequisites: Driven Ethos ×1; Weapon Focus ×4.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: As a minor action, you channel the power of your ethos
into a weapon you wield for 1 minute. While attacking any
creature whose alignment is opposed to your ethos, you gain a
d4 boon on attack rolls and deal an extra 1d6 damage on a hit.
Ethos and Opposition sidebar
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Charisma modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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This is a magical feature.

Ethos Smite
You channel your sworn nature to lash out at foes whose ethos Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
opposes yours.
Prerequisites: Driven Ethos ×1.
Benefit: Your attacks can deal extra damage to creatures whose
alignment is opposed to your chosen ethos. If you can observe a
creature of the appropriate alignment, you can use a minor
action to make that creature the target of your ethos smite.
While your ethos smite is in effect, when you hit with a melee
weapon attack against the creature on your turn, that attack
deals an extra 1d10 damage. If you make multiple attacks on
your turn, you apply this feat only to the first hit you get against
the target.
Your ethos smite against the target creature ends if you dismiss
it as a free action, when the target creature or you drop to 0
critical points, or if you use this feat again to select another
target for your ethos smite. If you accidentally target a creature
not of the appropriate alignment, you waste your minor action
but do not expend a usage of the feat.
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Charisma modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
This is a magical feature.
Mastery: You can take this feat three times, increasing the extra
damage to a maximum 3d10.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1 2 3

Ethos and Opposition

A number of ethos feat and spells allow you to channel magic
against creatures whose alignment is opposed to a chosen ethos.
This refers to any creature with a single component of alignment in
opposition to the chosen ethos. For example, good is opposed to
evil, so any evil alignment is opposed to the good ethos — lawful
evil, neutral evil, and chaotic evil.
Opposed alignments are set out in the table below.
Ethos Opposed Alignments
Good Lawful evil, neutral evil, chaotic evil
Evil Lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good
Lawful Chaotic good, chaotic neutral, chaotic evil
Chaotic Lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil
Neutral Lawful good, chaotic good, lawful evil, chaotic evil
As noted on the table, neutral doesn’t have an opposed alignment,
being the balance between good and evil, lawful and chaotic.
Rather, neutrality is opposed by the most extreme alignments —
those four alignments that have no neutral component.

Rallying Presence
Your fearless nature bolsters your allies when they stay close to
your side.
Prerequisites: Driven Ethos ×1, Fearless ×1.
Chapter 9/Saving Throw Feats (248)
Benefit: As long as you are conscious, each ally within 30 feet of
you has advantage on saving throws against effects that would
make them frightened.
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)

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Spellsong Magic
Across the long history of the eldritch arts, countless traditions
of shaping and honing animys, arcane, and druidas power arose,
evolved, and were perfected — only to be lost in the chaos of
war and conquest, or to fade away and be replaced by
seemingly more potent forms of the art. Spellsong magic is one
of the oldest of those spellcasting traditions, though it is far
from forgotten.
First practiced by human clans of the west, spellsong magic
allows a spellcaster to channel animys, arcane, or druidas power
through the lyric and melody of musical performance. The
nature of spellsong magic gives it a natural affinity to
performative spellcasting, illusion, and enchantment —
especially when a caster attempts to conceal the use of
spellcraft. But spellsong magic can channel spell power of any
kind, including the destructive magic of war casters whose songs
strike fear into the hearts of enemies who hear them.
Spellsong Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to channel and shape
the power of spellsong magic.
Cacophonous Spellsong
Spells that channel destructive sound are made more potent by
your spellsong.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster ×4, Spellsong ×1.
Benefit: When you use the Spellsong feat to cast a spell that
deals thunder damage, you add your caster level to the first
damage roll for the spell.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Daunting Spellsong
The power of your song lingers in the hearts of those who hear
it.
Prerequisites: Spellsong ×1.
Benefit: When you use the Spellsong feat to cast a spell that
requires a saving throw and a target gets a clear failure on the
save, you can use a reaction to make that target frightened until
the start of your next turn.
Appendix B/Frightened (A10)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Distracting Spellsong
Your spellsong catches your foes’ attention, hindering their
ability to gain an edge in combat.
Prerequisites: Spellsong ×1.
Benefit: When you use the Spellsong feat to cast a spell, you
have advantage on defense rolls until the end of your turn,
including against opportunity attacks provoked by casting the
spell.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Enchanting Spellsong
Your spellsong slips through creatures’ minds to leave them
vulnerable to your allure.
Prerequisites: Spellsong ×1.
Benefit: When you use the Spellsong feat to cast an
enchantment spell, targets of the spell have disadvantage on
their saving throws.
Schools of Magic (328)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Focusing Spellsong
The power of your spellsong lets a spell endure with minimal
concentration.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster ×4, Spellsong ×1.
Benefit: When you use the Spellsong feat to cast a
concentration spell, you can concentrate on that spell as a free
action. If you use this feat while already concentrating on a
spellsong spell as a free action, the first spell ends.
Concentration Spells (334)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Harmonious Spellsong
When you channel your spellsong in concert with another, you
are inspired to greater power.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster ×7, Spellsong ×1.
Benefit: If another creature within 30 feet of you has cast a spell
using the Spellsong feat since the start of your last turn, you can
use a minor action to gain advantage on challenge throws and
attack rolls for any spell you cast using the Spellsong feat before
the end of your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Spellsong
You know how to channel your spellcasting through song,
letting you shape a more subtle magic.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster ×1.
Benefit: When you cast a spell, you can ignore its somatic
component by expanding its lexis component into a magical
melody or rhythm that is sung or played aloud. A spell you cast
that doesn’t have a lexis component gains that component
when you cast it with this feat.
You can create a brief spellsong to cast a spell as a standard
action as usual, or you can work the spell into a musical
performance, as you wish. If you work a spell into a
performance, it takes a successful DC 20 Investigation/insight or
Perception/listen check for a creature witnessing your
performance to realize that you are casting a spell.
A spell cast using this feat can’t make use of the Tacit Spell feat.
Tacit Spell (374)
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Spellsong Performance
Your mastery of spellsong allows you to weave distracting magic
into your performance.
Prerequisites: Spellsong ×1.
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 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

Benefit: When you work a spell into a performance of at least 1

minute long, you have advantage on magic challenge rolls or
magic attack rolls for the spell.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

Uplifting Spellsong
The song of your healing magic grants even greater restorative
power.
Prerequisites: Spellcaster ×4, Spellsong ×1.
Benefit: When you use the Spellsong feat to cast a spell that
restores critical or defense point damage, each creature
targeted by the spell also gains temporary hit points equal to
your caster level.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Spelltouched Magic
In contrast to the complex process of learning spellcasting,
some characters innately channel the art of spelltouched magic.
Sometimes this magic comes as a sudden and unexpected
boon to a character exposed to eldritch power, who delves into
forbidden lore, or who has long-dormant magic in their
bloodline. Other times, a character works with another
practitioner of spelltouched magic to develop the spark of
spelltouched casting in themself.
Manifestations
As a spelltouched caster, you shape your magic as
manifestations, each of which reflects a specific spell, but which
can be personalized and modified as an expression of your own
unique magic. Any spell of 6th level or lower can be learned as a
spelltouched manifestation. Manifestations use all the rules for
spellcasting except as noted in this section.
Spellcasting Ability
To channel spelltouched magic, you take the Eldritch Spirit feat
and decide whether you channel the power of animys, arcane,
or druidas magic. This determines what spells you can take as
manifestations, and whether you use Intelligence or Wisdom to
channel them.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Manifestation Level and Manifester Level
A manifestation has a level that is the same as the level of the
spell it reflects. As a spelltouched caster, you don’t have a caster
level, so whenever a spell talks about caster level, you use the
manifestation’s level instead.
Components
Regardless of what components a spell has, manifestations have
only lexis components, though the words of those components
are different than for the spells they reflect. The only exception
is spells with expensive material components. To cast a
manifestation that reflects such a spell, you must have that
component available or the manifestation fails.
Components (329)
Attack Rolls and Challenge Throws
Manifestations use the same rules as spells for calculating the
modifiers for magic attack rolls and magic challenge throws.
Your ability modifier for your manifestations’ magic attack rolls
and magic challenge throws is the ability you chose when you
took the Eldritch Spirit feat.
Magic Attack Roll (335); Magic Challenge Throw (335)
If a spelltouched manifestation requires an attack roll, your
magic attack roll is equal to:
d20 + spelltouched ability modifier
+ manifestation level + other modifiers
If a spelltouched manifestation requires a saving throw, your
magic challenge throw is equal to:
d20 + manifestation level or
spelltouched ability modifier
+ other modifiers
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Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Using manifestation level or your spelltouched ability modifier
for your magic challenge throw gives your manifestation an
effective level equal to your ability modifier if its level is lower
than your modifier.
Any lineage traits, magic items, or spells that increase or affect
your magic attack rolls or magic challenge throws apply to your
invocations.
Spell-Related Feats
Feats that affect spellcasting, including metamagic feats, do not
function for manifestations.
Spells From Magic Items
Though manifestations resemble spells, knowing a specific
manifestation grants you no knowledge of the spell it reflects,
and no access to the spell list of a spellcaster. Likewise, the
manifestations you know don’t comprise any sort of personal
spell list. As such, you can’t use spell-storing items such as
scrolls, wands, and staffs innately. You must use the Magic skill
to attempt to activate those items in the same manner as any
other nonspellcasting character.
Chapter 6/Magic (128)
Altering Manifestations
Spelltouched manifestations represent a freer form of magic
than the fixed, formal codification of spellcasting. When you
take a spell as a manifestation, the spell’s description defines
the scope of the spell’s mechanics and magic. But your more
instinctive handling of that magic lets you shape your
manifestation in ways that a spellcaster can’t.
You can apply any number of the following freeform changes to
the effects of a spelltouched manifestation when you cast it, and
might change a manifestation’s effects in additional ways in
consultation with the GM. Any new changes should be in line
with the changes here, and should involve similar trade-offs as
one effect is limited in order that another be improved.
Presentation
If a spell presents itself in a way that can be seen, heard, or
otherwise sensed, you can change the sensory presentation of
your manifestation. A manifestation that reflects the greater
light spell might take the form of glowing spirits that circle
around to initially define the spell’s area. Where the grave touch
spell usually manifests as a pulse of shadowy energy, your
manifestation might take the form of motes of light that scour
targets.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A spelltouched manifestation that has no sensory presentation
can take one if you wish. A remove curse manifestation might
create the sensation of a warm, calm breeze as it ends a curse
effect, or a manifestation that leaves creatures immobilized or
slowed might shape shadowy chains around them.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
The presentation of a manifestation is real but intangible, and
makes no change to the manifestation’s mechanical effects.
Range
For a spell that has a range measured in feet and that requires a
magic attack roll or magic challenge throw, you can double the
380

range of the manifestation reflecting that spell in exchange for
imposing disadvantage on each attack roll or challenge throw.
When you cast a manifestation that has a range of touch, you
can turn it into a ranged manifestation with a range of 30 feet. If
the spell requires an attack roll, you make a ranged magic attack
with disadvantage. If the spell is a beneficial spell, you must
succeed on a DC 15 Acrobatics/agility check to reach the target.
Duration
If a manifestation that doesn’t deal damage has a duration, you
can increase or decrease its duration while decreasing or
increasing one of the manifestation’s other effects. For example,
a manifestation that reflects detect thoughts might allow you to
sense other creatures’ thoughts out to 120 feet but last for only
1 minute per two caster levels, or could let you sense thoughts
only within a 30-foot cone for 2 minutes per caster level. Or you
could cast a bless manifestation that granted a d8 boon for 1
round per caster level.
If a manifestation that requires a magic attack roll or magic
challenge throw has a duration dependent on manifestation
level, you can double the duration by taking disadvantage on
each attack roll or challenge throw. For example, a command
manifestation that imposes disadvantage on your magic
challenge throw would last for 2 rounds per caster level.
Targets
If a manifestation has multiple targets and requires a magic
challenge throw, you can focus on one target. You gain
advantage on your challenge throw for that target, but have
disadvantage on each challenge throw for other targets.
If a manifestation requires a magic challenge throw and has a
number of targets based on caster level, you can add additional
targets up to your spellcasting modifier by imposing
disadvantage on each challenge throw.
Area
A manifestation whose area is a sphere can instead be cast as a
cone of twice the size as the sphere’s radius. A manifestation
whose area is a cone can be cast as a sphere whose radius is half
the cone’s size.
A manifestation whose area is a sphere or a cone can be cast as
a line that is 5 feet wide, and which is four times as long as the
radius of the sphere or twice the length of the cone.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Spelltouched Magic Feats
These feats allow a character to innately channel spell magic as
spelltouched manifestations.
Eldritch Spirit
You have a connection to the hidden magical power that
permeates all the world.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Focused Spelltouch
Your mastery of innate magic makes that magic more potent.
Prerequisites: Spelltouched Caster ×1.
Benefit: Whenever you cast a spelltouched manifestation that
requires a magic attack roll or a magic challenge throw, you
have a +1 bonus on those rolls.
Mastery: You can take this feat nine times, increasing the bonus
to a maximum +9.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9
Spelltouched Caster
An intuitive connection to magic lets you shape that magic as a
reflection of a chosen spell.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere of magic) ×1.
Benefit: Choose one spell of 6th level or lower from the chosen
sphere of magic. By using a number of feat slots equal to the
spell’s level (1 feat slot for a 0-level spell), you can cast that spell
as a spelltouched manifestation at a caster level equal to the
spell’s level. You cast a manifestation of 1st level or higher a
number of times per day equal to the ability modifier for your
sphere of magic (minimum three times), regaining all expended
uses when you finish a long rest. You cast a 0-level manifestation
at will.
A character who channels animys magic takes Spelltouched
Caster (darkness), and can use the animys version of that
spell three times per day. Darkness is a 3rd-level spell,
meaning that the character casts the spell at 3rd level to
give it a duration of 30 minutes.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
The spell you select when you take this feat becomes known to
you automatically. Except as noted in the Spelltouched Magic
section, casting a manifestation obeys all the same rules as
casting a spell.
Critical Points: Arcane magic is antithetical to life, and takes a
toll on those who learn to channel it. Each time you take
Spelltouched Caster for an arcane spell, you lose 1 critical point.
This critical point loss is permanent, but can be compensated
for by taking the Arcane Blood feat or the Toughness feat. You
don’t lose critical points when taking the Spelltouched Caster
feat for animys or druidas spells.
Arcane Magic Feats (355)
Chapter 9/Hit Point Feats (255)
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Mastery: You can take this feat once for each chosen spell.
Spelltouched Caster has a special feat slot cost of 1 feat slot per
level of the chosen spell. Taking this feat for a 0-level spell costs
1 feat slot.
Feat Slot Cost 1 per spell level
Times Taken 1

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Primordial Magic
Spell magic is the dominant form of magic in all areas of the
world, with the spellcasting arts having been shaped and
codified by thousands of years of study and practice. But in the
arcane sphere, spellcraft evolved from much older forms of
arcanism — primordial magic that shapes and channels raw
power, using the caster’s will and intent to define the manner in
which magic manifests.
Primordial magic is the progenitor of arcane spellcasting, which
tamed the wildness of arcane power by shaping magic into
standard, repeatable patterns and forms. But even though
primordial magic has long been eclipsed by the spread of
spellcraft across the world, it has never been abandoned or
forgotten. For arcanists with a cultural or familial connection to
the older ways, or for those who seek a more personalized
expression of power, the arcane magic that fuels formal
spellcraft can be channeled just as effectively by raw will alone.
Invocations
As a primordial arcane caster, you shape magic not as spells but
as invocations. Invocations are the older forms of magic from
which the first arcane spells were shaped and defined —
personal expressions of a caster’s will and intent, bearing a
resemblance to the spells they would evolve into even as their
form and function shifts with each casting.
As a caster of invocations, the baseline of your arcane power is
one or more cantrips, whose parameters you shape and hone to
customize their eldritch effects. To those cantrip invocations,
you add additional invocations reflecting other arcane spells as
your power grows. Invocations use all the rules for spellcasting
except as noted in this section.
Invocation Level and Invoker Level
An invocation has a level that is the same as the level of the
spell it reflects. Where a spell talks about caster level, you use
your invoker level instead. You increase your invoker level each
time you take the Invocation Mastery feat.
Primordial Magic Feats (383)
Components
Regardless of what components a spell has, invocations have
only somatic components, though the gestures of those
components are different than for the spells they reflect. The
only exception is spells with expensive material components. To
cast an invocation that reflects such a spell, you must have that
component available or the invocation fails.
Components (329)
Attack Rolls and Challenge Throws
Invocations use the same rules as spells for calculating the
modifiers for magic attack rolls and magic challenge throws.
Your ability modifier for your invocations’ magic attack rolls and
magic challenge throws is Intelligence. Any lineage traits, magic
items, or spells that increase or affect your magic attack rolls or
magic challenge throws apply to your invocations.
Magic Attack Roll (335); Magic Challenge Throw (335)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
Spell-Related Feats
Feats that affect spellcasting, including metamagic feats, do not
function for invocations.
Spells From Magic Items
Though invocations resemble spells, knowing a specific
invocation grants you no knowledge of the spell it reflects, and
no access to the arcane spell list as a spellcaster. Likewise, the
invocations you know don’t comprise any sort of personal
arcane spell list. As such, you can’t use arcane spell-storing
items such as scrolls, wands, and staffs innately. Taking the
Stolen Invocation feat lets you use such items, or you can use
the Magic skill to attempt to activate those items in the same
manner as any other nonspellcasting character.
Chapter 6/Magic (128)
Learning Cantrips and Invocations
Invocations are a product of your conscious intent to shape your
primordial magic, and are learned automatically and innately. As
they are a fixed product of your study of the eldritch arts, your
permanent invocations are a part of you — so that unlike with
spellcasting, you are limited in the number of invocations you
can permanently know. However, this is balanced by your ability
to customize those invocations, and to cast them more often
than most spellcasters can cast their spells.
When you take the Primordial Caster feat, you gain a number of
0-level cantrip invocations. Each time you take the Invocation
Mastery feat, you gain one higher-level invocation, and you can
replace existing invocations you know with new invocations. The
number of higher-level invocations you permanently know is the
same as the number of times you’ve taken Invocation Mastery.
Each time you learn a new invocation (whether for the first time
or because you are replacing an invocation you know), you must
spend 1 day per invocation level (minimum 1 day) in practice
and meditation during a downtime rest to master its magic. If
you know an invocation, replace it, then decide you’d like to
know it again, you must spend the same amount of time to learn
it once more.
The process of learning your invocations involves the use of
special components that are consumed during the process, and
which have a cost that varies with the level of the invocation.
This cost is half the cost of the components required for
spellcasters to learn new spells. The types of components can
be personalized, but often include gems and crystals, rare herbs
and tinctures to be imbibed, pigments used to mark your body,
and more.
Learning New Spells (324)
Invocations Per Day
Any of your cantrip invocations (the damage-dealing cantrips
gained from the Primordial Caster feat and other cantrips
gained from the Invocation Mastery feat) can be cast at will.
Casting any other invocation requires the same amount of focus
and a consistent flow of arcane power. You can cast a number of
invocations per day equal to your invoker level or your
Intelligence modifier, whichever is higher, regardless of the level
of those invocations. You regain all expended uses of your
invocations at the end of a long rest.
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Altering Invocations Targets

Invocations respond to your will as a caster, and are channeled If an invocation has multiple targets and requires a magic
as unique representations of your magic. Historically, spells are challenge throw, you can focus on one target. You gain
the fixed representation of primordial magic that was once more advantage on your challenge throw for that target, but have
freeform and personalized. As such, you alter your invocations disadvantage on each challenge throw for other targets.
by changing the mechanics of the spells you use as a baseline If an invocation requires a magic challenge throw and has a
for those invocations, in ways that a spellcaster can’t. number of targets based on caster level, you can add additional
You can apply any number of the following freeform changes to targets up to your Intelligence modifier by imposing
the effects of a cantrip invocation or an invocation when you disadvantage on each challenge throw.
cast it, and might change an invocation’s effects in additional
ways in consultation with the GM. Any new changes should be in Area
line with the changes here, and should involve similar trade-offs An invocation whose area is a sphere can instead be cast as a
as one effect is limited in order that another be improved. cone of twice the size as the sphere’s radius. An invocation
whose area is a cone can be cast as a sphere whose radius is half
Presentation the cone’s size.
If a spell presents itself in a way that can be seen, heard, or An invocation whose area is a sphere or a cone can be cast as a
otherwise sensed, you can change the sensory presentation of line that is 5 feet wide, and which is four times as long as the
your invocation. An invocation that reflects the obscuring mist radius of the sphere or twice the length of the cone.
spell might take the form of a swirling shadows or a roiling cloud
of insects. Where the halt undead spell usually manifests as a
pulse of bright magical power, your invocation might wrap
target creatures in fiery chains. These changes don’t alter the
invocation’s mechanical effects.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
An invocation that has no sensory presentation can take one if
you wish. A sleep invocation might take the form of a shadowy
missiles or a rain of sand, or an invocation that leaves creatures
frightened might manifest spectral figures or a chilling shriek.
The presentation of an invocation is real but intangible, and
makes no change to the invocation’s mechanical effects.

Range
For a spell that has a range measured in feet and that requires a
magic attack roll or a magic challenge throw, you can double
the range of an invocation reflecting that spell in exchange for
imposing disadvantage on each attack roll or challenge throw.
When you cast an invocation that has a range of touch, you can
turn it into a ranged invocation with a range of 30 feet. If the
spell requires an attack roll, you make a ranged magic attack
with disadvantage. If the spell is a beneficial spell, you must
succeed on a DC 15 Acrobatics/agility check to reach the target.

Duration
If an invocation that doesn’t deal damage has a duration, you
can increase or decrease its duration while decreasing or
increasing one of the invocation’s other effects. For example, an
invocation that reflects darkvision could grant darkvision out to
30 feet but last for 2 hours per caster level, or could grant
darkvision out to 120 feet for 1 hour per two caster levels. Or
you might cast a cat’s grace invocation that granted a d8 boon
for 1 round per caster level.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
If an invocation that requires a magic attack roll or magic
challenge throw has a duration dependent on your invoker level,
you can double the duration by taking disadvantage on each
attack roll or challenge throw. For example, a flaming sphere
invocation that imposes disadvantage on each magic challenge
throw would last for 2 rounds per invoker level.

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Primordial Magic Feats
The feats in this section allow a character to channel and shape
the primordial magic of raw arcane power.
Assailing Cantrip
Channeling your magic in melee lets you fuel the fury of your
attacks with primordial power.
Prerequisites: Primordial Caster ×1, Weapon Focus ×4.
Chapter 9/Attack Feats (268)
Benefit: When you hit with a weapon attack, you can use a
minor action to channel your eldritch power into the attack.
Choose any damage-dealing cantrip invocation you can cast
and add its damage and effects to the attack’s regular damage
and effects.
If you make multiple attacks on your turn, you apply this feat
only to one hit of your choice on your turn.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Instinctive Invocation
Your mastery of invocation magic lets you shape your primordial
power with a mere thought.
Prerequisites: Invocation Mastery ×7.
Benefit: As a minor action, you can attempt a Magic/magical
lore check to cast an invocation that isn’t one you currently
know. You base the invocation on any arcane cantrip or on any
arcane spell whose level is no higher than your invoker level,
and which doesn’t deal damage. The DC to successfully invoke
your magic depends on the spell’s level.
Magic DC1
0 to 6th level 15
7th to 12th level 20
13th to 18th level 25
On a successful check, you can cast the invocation before the
end of your turn, expending one use of your invocations as
usual. On a clear failure, you can’t cast the invocation, but can
try again if you have another minor action. On a partial success,
you can choose to cast the invocation before the end of your
turn with some sort of complication, or can try again for a clear
success if you have another minor action.
Chapter 6/Measuring Skill Success (104)
You can use this feat a number of times per day equal to your
Intelligence modifier (minimum three times). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Invocation Mastery
You invoke more potent effects shaped by your intent and
channeled by your primordial power.
Prerequisites: Primordial Caster ×1.
Benefit: You increase your invoker level by 1 and can learn a
new invocation. You can also learn additional new invocations
by dropping invocations previously gained from this feat. Any
new invocations you learn can be based on any arcane cantrip
or any arcane spell whose level is equal to or less than your
invoker level.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Chapter 10: Spellcasting
You can also swap out any of the cantrips you gained from the
Primordial Caster feat when you take this feat, replacing them
with other arcane cantrips.
Critical Points: Arcane magic is antithetical to life, and takes a
toll on those who learn to channel it. Each time you take
Invocation Mastery, you lose 1 critical point. This critical point
loss is permanent, but can be compensated for by taking the
Arcane Blood feat or the Toughness feat.
Mastery: You can take this feat eighteen times, increasing your
invoker level for primordial arcane magic to a maximum of 18th,
and increasing your number of invocations known to eighteen.
Feat Slot Cost 1 2 3 4 5 6
Times Taken 1–3 4–6 7–9 10–12 13–15 16–18
Potent Cantrip
You hone your focus to strengthen your eldritch attacks.
Prerequisites: Invocation Mastery ×4.
Benefit: You add your Intelligence modifier to the damage you
deal with any damage-dealing cantrip invocation.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Primordial Caster
Your ability to channel eldritch power lets you tap into the raw
flow of arcane magic.
Prerequisites: Eldritch Spirit (arcane) ×1.
Spellcasting Feats (322)
Benefit: This feat grants you the ability to channel arcane magic
in its original primordial form. You have an invoker level of 0,
and you gain a number of cantrip invocations equal to your
Intelligence modifier (minimum three). These invocations reflect
any arcane cantrips of your choice.
Primordial Caster represents only your initial point of access to
your eldritch power. You take other feats to gain access to
more-powerful master invocations and unique primordial magic
powers.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Seeking Cantrip
Your cantrip invocations can seek out foes from farther away on
the battlefield.
Prerequisites: Primordial Caster ×1.
Benefit: Any cantrip invocation you cast with a range of 60 feet
instead has a range of 120 feet.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
Stolen Invocation
Your mastery of primordial magic lets you tap into the power of
arcane items.
Prerequisites: Invocation Mastery ×4.
Benefit: You can cast arcane spells from magic items such as
scrolls, wands, and staffs as if you were an arcane spellcaster.
You use your invoker level as your caster level when using such
items, treating spells cast in this way as invocations whose
effects can be modified in the same manner that you modify
your known invocations.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.
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Sweeping Cantrip
Your primordial power uncoils around your foe as it seeks new
targets.
Prerequisites: Primordial Caster ×1, Invocation Mastery ×4.
Benefit: When you deal damage to a creature with a cantrip
invocation, you can choose a number of other creatures equal to
your Intelligence modifier (minimum of three) within 10 feet of
the first creature. You treat each new target as if you had cast
the cantrip invocation against them, using your original magic
attack roll or magic challenge throw.
Mastery: You can take this feat once, at a cost of 1 feat slot.

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Feat Index
In this index, a gray background indicates a feat that has a secondary appearance under a particular category, but whose main write-
up is in another category.

Spellcasting Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Eldritch Spirit — You channel the power of animys, arcane, 1 — — — — —
or druidas magic. 1 — — — — —
Eldritch Mastery Spellcaster (two or more spheres) ×1 Increase caster level by 1 for each sphere 1 2 3 — — —
of magic you channel. 1 2 3 — — —
Spellcaster Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere) ×1 Gain caster level 0 and the ability to learn 1 — — — — —
spells. 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery Spellcaster (chosen sphere) ×1 Increase your caster level and access 1 2 3 4 5 6
higher-level spells. 1–3 4–6 7–9 10–12 13–15 16–18
Spell Power Spellcaster (chosen sphere) ×1 Gain spell points with which to cast your 1 2 3 4 5 6
spells. 1–3 4–6 7–9 10–12 13–15 16–18
Spell Recovery Spell Power (any sphere) ×4 Recover 1 spell point at the end of a short 1 — — — — —
rest. 1 — — — — —

Spellcasting Style Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Disruptive Strike Eldritch Spirit (any sphere) ×1, Weapon A creature you hit with a weapon attack 1 — — — — —
Focus (any group) ×4 has disadvantage on their save against the 1 — — — — —
next spell you cast against them.
Instinctive Spell Attack Spellcaster ×1, Rapid Attack ×1 or Rapid Forgo one multiple attack to cast a 0-level 1 — — — — —
Shot ×1 spell. 1 — — — — —
Instinctive Spell Potency Spellcaster ×1 0-level spells deal minimum damage equal 1 — — — — —
to spellcasting modifier. 1 — — — — —
Intuitive Spell Spell Mastery (chosen sphere) ×4 Cast a number of focused beneficial spells 1 — — — — —
as a minor action. 1 — — — — —
Nonlethal Casting Spell Mastery ×1 Use damage-dealing spell to make a 1 — — — — —
nonlethal attack. 1 — — — — —
Reactive Counterspell Spell Mastery ×4 Counterspell as a reaction. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Scouring Magic Spell Mastery ×4 When your spell deals damage to 1 — — — — —
creatures, use a minor action to have them 1 — — — — —
grant advantage.
Spell Ambush Skill Focus (Stealth) ×4, Spell Mastery ×7 Targets of your spells who can’t observe 1 — — — — —
you have disadvantage on the initial saving 1 — — — — —
throw or defense roll of your spells.
Spell Strike Spell Mastery ×1, Weapon Focus ×4 Combine a touch spell with a melee 1 — — — — —
weapon attack. 1 — — — — —
Spell Superiority Spell Mastery ×1 Increase the magic challenge throw 1 2 3 — — —
modifier of your spells from one school of 1 2 3 — — —
magic.
Strength of Mind Spell Mastery ×4 Make a Will save instead of a Fortitude or 1 — — — — —
Reflex save against a spell. 1 — — — — —
Thieving Counterspell Spell Mastery ×7 After successfully using a counterspell, 1 — — — — —
steal knowledge of the spell from the 1 — — — — —
caster’s mind.
Wand Mastery Spell Mastery ×4 Activate a wand using your own spell 1 — — — — —
points. 1 — — — — —
Wand Surge Spell Mastery ×4 Expend multiple charges to increase your 1 — — — — —
caster level with a wand. 1 — — — — —

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Animys Magic Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Domain of Faith Eldritch Spirit (animys) ×1 You choose a magical domain, gaining 1 2 3 — — —
advantage on Magic checks related to that 1 2 3 — — —
domain, and learning a related orison.
Exchange of Life Spell Mastery (animys) ×4 Regain spell points when a healing spell is 1 — — — — —
cast on you. 1 — — — — —
Healing Surge Eldritch Spirit (animys) ×1 Cast focused healing spells as a minor 1 — — — — —
action. 1 — — — — —
Resolute Healer Spell Mastery (animys magic) ×4 Cast a healing spell on another creature, 1 — — — — —
regain hit points equal to the spell’s level. 1 — — — — —

Domain Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Domain Spells Domain of Faith ×1 Choose three spells as domain spells, 1 2 3 — — —
which you learn automatically and treat as 1 2 3 — — —
always focused.
Empowered Domain Domain of Faith ×1 Increase the effectiveness of the magic of 1 — — — — —
your domain feats. 1 — — — — —
Air Jaunt Creed of Nature (air) ×1 or Domain of Gain a flying speed equal to your speed. 1 — — — — —
Faith (air) ×1 1 — — — — —
Air Wall Creed of Nature (air) ×1 or Domain of Winds in a 30-foot radius sphere affect 1 — — — — —
Faith (air) ×1 ranged attacks, granting a d6 boon on 1 — — — — —
allies’ attacks and imposing a d6 bane on
enemies’ defense rolls.
Animal Insight Domain of Faith (animal) ×1 Gain a d8 boon or advantage on 1 — — — — —
Nature/animal handling checks. 1 — — — — —
Animal Aggression Domain of Faith (animal) ×1 Grant animals within 30 feet a d4 boon or 1 — — — — —
bane on attack rolls. 1 — — — — —
Chaos Burst Domain of Faith (chaos) ×1 One creature within 10 feet takes 1d4 1 — — — — —
damage of a random type, which can 1 — — — — —
repeat on other targets.
Chaotic Mind Domain of Faith (chaos) ×1 End any effect asserting control over one 1 — — — — —
creature’s mind, body, or life force. 1 — — — — —
Death Touch Domain of Faith (death) ×1 Touch a dying creature to impose three 1 — — — — —
failed death saves on them. 1 — — — — —
Deathly Resurgence Domain of Faith (death) ×1 Gain temporary hit points when a creature 1 — — — — —
dies within 30 feet of you. 1 — — — — —
Destructive Essence Creed of Nature (destruction) ×1 or Gain a d8 boon on Athletics/slam checks. 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (destruction) ×1 1 — — — — —
Destructive Strike Creed of Nature (destruction) ×1 or Gain a d4 boon on attack rolls and combat 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (destruction) ×1 maneuver skill checks. 1 — — — — —
Earth Glide Creed of Nature (earth) ×1 or Domain of Gain a burrowing speed equal to your 1 — — — — —
Faith (earth) ×1 speed. 1 — — — — —
Earth Tremor Creed of Nature (earth) ×1 or Domain of One creature on the ground or floor within 1 — — — — —
Faith (earth) ×1 30 feet goes prone. 1 — — — — —
Evil Reply Domain of Faith (evil) ×1 When an enemy hits you with a melee 1 — — — — —
attack, use a reaction to make them 1 — — — — —
frightened.
Evil Reward Domain of Faith (evil) ×1 Deal an extra 2d4 necrotic damage when 1 — — — — —
you hit a creature who is dazed, 1 — — — — —
immobilized, restrained, slowed, stunned,
or weakened.
Fiery Rebuke Creed of Nature (fire) ×1 or Domain of When you are hit by an attack, use a 1 — — — — —
Faith (fire) ×1 reaction to deal 1d6 fire damage to one 1 — — — — —
enemy within 30 feet.
Fire Defense Creed of Nature (fire) ×1 or Domain of Gain resistance to fire damage. 1 — — — — —
Faith (fire) ×1 1 — — — — —
Goodly Endeavor Domain of Faith (good) ×1 Grant one ally within 30 feet a d4 boon on 1 — — — — —
skill checks, attack rolls, or challenge 1 — — — — —
throws.

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Good Minded Domain of Faith (good) ×1 Understand, speak, sign, read, or write any 1 — — — — —
language of one creature within 30 feet. 1 — — — — —
Healing Grace Creed of Nature (healing) ×1 or Domain You and creatures who spend a short or 1 — — — — —
of Faith (healing) ×1 long rest within 30 feet of you have 1 — — — — —
advantage on Healing checks to restore
defense points.
Healing Touch Creed of Nature (healing) ×1 or Domain One willing creature you touch restores hit 1 — — — — —
of Faith (healing) ×1 points. 1 — — — — —
Hunter’s Heart Domain of Faith (hunter) ×1 Gain a d8 boon on attack rolls, combat 1 — — — — —
maneuver skill checks, and defense rolls 1 — — — — —
against a chosen creature.
Hunter’s Mind Domain of Faith (hunter) ×1 Gain an intuitive sense of the direction and 1 — — — — —
distance to a creature you know or have 1 — — — — —
observed within 1 day.
Knowledge Mystic Domain of Faith (knowledge) ×1 Treat a skill check to learn information or 1 — — — — —
lore as if you rolled a 20. 1 — — — — —
Knowledge Thief Domain of Faith (knowledge) ×1 Gain access to the surface thoughts and 1 — — — — —
impressions of one creature within 10 feet. 1 — — — — —
Law’s Discipline Domain of Faith (law) ×1 Cause one creature within 10 feet to be 1 — — — — —
weakened. 1 — — — — —
Law’s Truth Domain of Faith (law) ×1 Treat an Investigation check to determine 1 — — — — —
whether a creature is lying to you as if you 1 — — — — —
rolled a 20.
Luck’s Embrace Domain of Faith (luck) ×1 When an ally within 30 feet rolls a 1 on a 1 — — — — —
d20 roll, use a reaction to let them reroll. 1 — — — — —
Luck’s Favor Domain of Faith (luck) ×1 When making any die or dice roll, roll one 1 — — — — —
die twice and take the better result. 1 — — — — —
Magical Insight Domain of Faith (magic) ×1 Treat a Magic check to assess a magical 1 — — — — —
object or effect as if you rolled a 20. 1 — — — — —
Magical Mending Domain of Faith (magic) ×1 Touch a failing magic item to let it be 1 — — — — —
used, even if transferred to another 1 — — — — —
creature.
Nature’s Command Domain of Faith (nature) ×1 Make Nature/wild lore checks to influence 1 — — — — —
the behavior of mundane plants as if they 1 — — — — —
were creatures.
Nature’s Stalwart Domain of Faith (nature) ×1 You and each ally within 30 feet gain a d6 1 — — — — —
boon or advantage on Nature/survival 1 — — — — —
checks.
Protection Ward Creed of Nature (protection) ×1 or One willing creature you touch has a d8 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (protection) ×1 boon on saving throws. 1 — — — — —
Protective Panoply Creed of Nature (protection) ×1 or Touch a willing creature’s clothing or armor 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (protection) ×1 to grant the creature temporary hit points. 1 — — — — —
Strength for Burden Domain of Faith (strength) ×1 Your carrying capacity increases by 50 1 — — — — —
pounds. 1 — — — — —
Strength Surge Domain of Faith (strength) ×1 Gain a d6 boon on skill checks made using 1 — — — — —
Strength. 1 — — — — —
Sun’s Radiance Domain of Faith (sun) ×1 A magical light source you wield or wear 1 — — — — —
functions in magical darkness. 1 — — — — —
Sun’s Ward Domain of Faith (sun) ×1 When a creature within 30 feet hits with an 1 — — — — —
attack, use a reaction to make them dazed 1 — — — — —
and weakened.
Travel Free Domain of Faith (travel) ×1 You and allies within 30 feet ignore 1 — — — — —
mundane difficult terrain. 1 — — — — —
Traveler’s Jaunt Domain of Faith (travel) ×1 As a minor action, teleport to any open 1 — — — — —
space you previously occupied on your 1 — — — — —
current turn.
Trickster’s Spirit Domain of Faith (trickery) ×1 Gain a d6 boon on skill checks made using 1 — — — — —
Charisma. 1 — — — — —
Tricky Feint Domain of Faith (trickery) ×1 When you would be hit by an attack, use a 1 — — — — —
reaction to turn a clear hit to a partial hit, 1 — — — — —
or a partial hit to a miss.
Warrior’s Aid Creed of Nature (war) ×1 or Domain of When an ally within 30 feet is subject to a 1 — — — — —
Faith (war) ×1 critical hit, use a reaction to turn it into a 1 — — — — —
regular hit.

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Warrior’s Will Creed of Nature (war) ×1 or Domain of A creature takes a d6 bane on attack rolls 1 — — — — —
Faith (war) ×1 and combat maneuver skill checks when 1 — — — — —
not attacking you, and you have a d6 boon
on attacks and combat maneuvers against
them.
Water’s Grace Creed of Nature (water) ×1 or Domain of You have a swimming speed equal to your 1 — — — — —
Faith (water) ×1 speed, can hold your breath for a number 1 — — — — —
of minutes equal to your Constitution or
Wisdom modifier, and can use Wisdom for
Endurance/subsist checks underwater.
Water’s Hold Creed of Nature (water) ×1 or Domain of Lashing waves cause each creature within 1 — — — — —
Faith (water) ×1 10 feet who doesn’t have a swimming 1 — — — — —
speed to be slowed.

Turning Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Combative Turning Turn Undead ×1 Undead you turn are forced to fight each 1 — — — — —
other. 1 — — — — —
Destructive Turning Skill Focus (Magic) ×7, Turn Undead ×1 Destroy undead who you turn. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Enlarged Turning Turn Undead ×1 Increase the range at which you can turn 1 2 3 — — —
undead. 1 2 3 — — —
Immobilized Turning Turn Undead ×1 Cause undead you turn to be frozen in 1 — — — — —
place. 1 — — — — —
Heightened Turning Turn Undead ×1 Increase the challenge throw modifier 1 2 3 — — —
when you turn undead. 1 2 3 — — —
Turn Undead Eldritch Spirit (animys) ×1, Skill Focus Cause undead creatures to flee from you. 1 2 3 — — —
(Magic) ×1 1 2 3 — — —

Arcane Magic Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Arcane Blood Eldritch Spirit (arcane) ×1 Offset the penalty to critical point 1 2 3 4 5 6
maximum incurred by arcane magic. 1–2 3–4 5–6 — — —
Arcane Specialization Spellcaster (arcane) ×1 Cast additional arcane spells of a chosen 1 — — — — —
school as if focused. 1 — — — — —
Armored Arcane Casting Spellcaster (arcane) ×1, Armor Training Reduce your arcane casting check while 1 — — — — —
×1 you wear armor. 1 — — — — —
Inscribed Arcana Spellcaster (arcane) ×1 You can learn arcane spells from written 1 — — — — —
sources. 1 — — — — —
Intuitive Arcana Spellcaster (arcane) ×1 You can learn arcane spells by observation 1 — — — — —
and intuition. 1 — — — — —
Share Spells Familiar ×1 Have spells you cast on yourself also affect 1 — — — — —
your familiar. 1 — — — — —

Arcane Specialist Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Abjurer’s Ward Arcane Specialization (abjuration) ×1, When you gain temporary hit points, gain 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×4 additional equal to your caster level. 1 — — — — —
Abjurer’s Shield Arcane Specialization (abjuration) ×1, Use a reaction to impose disadvantage on 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×7 an attack against you or a creature within 1 — — — — —
60 feet.
Conjurer’s Mastery Arcane Specialization (conjuration) ×1, Creatures you summon gain temporary hit 1 2 3 — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×4 points and a bonus on attacks, damage, 1 2 3 — — —
and defense.
Conjurer’s Relocation Arcane Specialization (abjuration) ×1, When you teleport, go to the space of a 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×7 creature you can observe and swap places. 1 — — — — —

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Diviner’s Fortune Arcane Specialization (divination) ×1, Roll less than 10 on a magic challenge 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×7 throw or magic attack roll for a spell, treat 1 — — — — —
it as a 10.
Diviner’s Senses Arcane Specialization (divination) ×1, Grant yourself a d6 boon on Investigation, 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×4 Perception, and divination-related checks 1 — — — — —
for 1 hour.
Enchanter’s Distraction Arcane Specialization (enchantment) ×1, Use a reaction to cloud a creature’s mind 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×7 and redirect their attacks. 1 — — — — —
Enchanter’s Encroachment Arcane Specialization (enchantment) ×1, Your enchantment spells are more 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×4 overwhelming to creatures close to you. 1 — — — — —
Evoker’s Armor Arcane Specialization (evocation) ×1, Targeted by an evocation spell, use a 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×4 reaction to gain resistance to its damage 1 — — — — —
type until the end of your next turn.
Evoker’s Enmity Arcane Specialization (evocation) ×1, Cast a damaging evocation spell, add your 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×7 caster level to the first damage roll. 1 — — — — —
Illusionist’s Focus Arcane Specialization (illusion) ×1, Spell If you can observe an illusion you cast, its 1 — — — — —
Mastery (arcane) ×7 magic challenge throws are made with 1 — — — — —
advantage.
Illusionist’s Sense Arcane Specialization (illusion) ×1, Spell Automatically recognize illusions or have 1 — — — — —
Mastery (arcane) ×4 advantage on saves and checks to interact 1 — — — — —
with them.
Necromancer’s Warding Arcane Specialization (necromancy) ×1, You have resistance to necrotic and radiant 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×7 damage. 1 — — — — —
Necromancer’s Weal Arcane Specialization (necromancy) ×1, When targeted by magic that restores hit 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×4 points, gain additional hit points equal to 1 — — — — —
your Intelligence modifier.
Transmuter’s Edge Arcane Specialization (transmutation) ×1, Cast a transmutation spell to affect a 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×4 second creature or an object twice the 1 — — — — —
volume.
Transmuter’s Form Arcane Specialization (transmutation) ×1, Automatically succeed on saving throws 1 — — — — —
Spell Mastery (arcane) ×7 against effects that alter your form. 1 — — — — —

Familiar Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Familiar Spellcaster (arcane) ×1 You imbue a loyal companion creature with 1 — — — — —
arcane power. 1 — — — — —
Familiar’s Touch Taken by familiar Transfer a touch spell to a familiar to be 1 — — — — —
delivered. 1 — — — — —
Mind Link Taken by familiar Feel your familiar’s emotional state and 1 — — — — —
connection to objects and locations. 1 — — — — —
Scry on Familiar Taken by familiar Scry on your familiar to see them and the 1 — — — — —
area around them. 1 — — — — —
Share Spells Taken by familiar Any spell you cast on yourself can affect 1 — — — — —
your familiar. 1 — — — — —
Telepathic Connection Taken by familiar You and your familiar communicated 1 — — — — —
telepathically at any range. 1 — — — — —
Timeless Familiar Taken by familiar If your familiar dies, you can summon their 1 — — — — —
spirit back into another creature of the 1 — — — — —
same kind.

Druidas Magic Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Creed of Nature Spell Mastery (druidas) ×1 You choose a magical creed, gaining 1 2 3 — — —
advantage on Magic checks related to that 1 2 3 — — —
creed, and learning a related incantation.
Creed Spells Creed of Nature ×1 Choose three spells as creed spells, which 1 2 3 — — —
you learn automatically and treat as always 1 2 3 — — —
focused.
Empowered Creed Creed of Nature ×1 Increase the effectiveness of the magic of 1 — — — — —
your creed feats. 1 — — — — —

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Nature’s Armor Spell Mastery (druidas) ×4 Redirect attacks against you by animals 1 — — — — —
and botanicals. 1 — — — — —

Creed Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Air Jaunt Creed of Nature (air) ×1 or Domain of Gain a flying speed equal to your speed. 1 — — — — —
Faith (air) ×1 1 — — — — —
Air Wall Creed of Nature (air) ×1 or Domain of Winds in a 30-foot radius sphere affect 1 — — — — —
Faith (air) ×1 ranged attacks, granting a d6 boon on 1 — — — — —
allies’ attacks and imposing a d6 bane on
enemies’ defense rolls.
Arthropod’s Sting Creed of Nature (arthropod) ×1 You infuse your weapon with venom that 1 — — — — —
leaves targets weakened. 1 — — — — —
Arthropod’s Web Creed of Nature (arthropod) ×1 One creature within 30 feet is restrained by 1 — — — — —
sticking webbing. 1 — — — — —
Destructive Essence Creed of Nature (destruction) ×1 or Gain a d8 boon on Athletics/slam checks. 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (destruction) ×1 1 — — — — —
Destructive Strike Creed of Nature (destruction) ×1 or Gain a d4 boon on attack rolls and combat 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (destruction) ×1 maneuver skill checks. 1 — — — — —
Dragon’s Roar Creed of Nature (dragon) ×1 Unleash a roar that leaves one creature 1 — — — — —
within 30 feet hearing disoriented and 1 — — — — —
frightened.
Dragon’s Defense Creed of Nature (dragon) ×1 Gain a d8 boon on defense rolls. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Earth Glide Creed of Nature (earth) ×1 or Domain of Gain a burrowing speed equal to your 1 — — — — —
Faith (earth) ×1 speed. 1 — — — — —
Earth Tremor Creed of Nature (earth) ×1 or Domain of One creature on the ground or floor within 1 — — — — —
Faith (earth) ×1 30 feet goes prone. 1 — — — — —
Fellowship of Combat Creed of Nature (fellowship) ×1 When using combat assistance to aid an 1 — — — — —
ally’s attack, use a reaction to turn a partial 1 — — — — —
hit or miss into a clear hit.
Fellowship’s Respite Creed of Nature (fellowship) ×1 When an ally within 30 feet gets a partial 1 — — — — —
success or failure on a skill check, use a 1 — — — — —
reaction to turn it into a success.
Fiery Rebuke Creed of Nature (fire) ×1 or Domain of When you are hit by an attack, use a 1 — — — — —
Faith (fire) ×1 reaction to deal 1d6 fire damage to one 1 — — — — —
enemy within 30 feet.
Fire Defense Creed of Nature (fire) ×1 or Domain of Gain resistance to fire damage. 1 — — — — —
Faith (fire) ×1 1 — — — — —
Frostlands Strike Creed of Nature (frostlands) ×1 Your weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 1 — — — — —
cold damage. 1 — — — — —
Frostlands Resolve Creed of Nature (frostlands) ×1 You and your equipment suffer no harm 1 — — — — —
from being in a cold environment. 1 — — — — —
Healing Grace Creed of Nature (healing) ×1 or Domain You and creatures who spend a short or 1 — — — — —
of Faith (healing) ×1 long rest within 30 feet of you have 1 — — — — —
advantage on Healing checks to restore
defense points.
Healing Touch Creed of Nature (healing) ×1 or Domain One willing creature you touch restores hit 1 — — — — —
of Faith (healing) ×1 points. 1 — — — — —
Mire’s Malaise Creed of Nature (mire) ×1 When you take damage from a melee 1 — — — — —
attack, use a reaction to make the attacker 1 — — — — —
slowed and weakened.
Mirebound Creed of Nature (mire) ×1 Turn the area within 30 feet into difficult 1 — — — — —
terrain. 1 — — — — —
Moons’ Shadow Creed of Nature (moons) ×1 When you are hit by an attack, use a 1 — — — — —
reaction to make the attacker disoriented 1 — — — — —
for one sense of your choice .
Moons’ Sense Creed of Nature (moons) ×1 Gain truesense special to a range of 30 1 — — — — —
feet. 1 — — — — —
Pestilence Bane Creed of Nature (pestilence) ×1 You and creatures who spend a long rest 1 — — — — —
within 30 feet of you have advantage on 1 — — — — —
saving throws against pestilence.
Pestilence Host Creed of Nature (pestilence) ×1 When you succeed on a saving throw 1 — — — — —

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against pestilence, you carry it harmlessly 1 — — — — —

and can spread it.
Plains Fade Creed of Nature (plains) ×1 Become invisible while you aren’t moving. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Plains Pace Creed of Nature (plains) ×1 You have and each ally within 30 feet have 1 — — — — —
a d6 boon or advantage on Endurance/run 1 — — — — —
checks.
Protection Ward Creed of Nature (protection) ×1 or One willing creature you touch has a d8 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (protection) ×1 boon on saving throws. 1 — — — — —
Protective Panoply Creed of Nature (protection) ×1 or Touch a willing creature’s clothing or armor 1 — — — — —
Domain of Faith (protection) ×1 to grant the creature temporary hit points. 1 — — — — —
Renewed Life Creed of Nature (renewal) ×1 When an ally within 30 feet makes a death 1 — — — — —
save, use a reaction to cause them to 1 — — — — —
recover with 1 critical point.
Renewed Spirit Creed of Nature (renewal) ×1 Grant yourself and each ally within 30 feet 1 — — — — —
advantage on saving throws. 1 — — — — —
Sand’s Mirage Creed of Nature (sand) ×1 One creature within 30 feet is disoriented 1 — — — — —
for one sense of your choice. 1 — — — — —
Sand’s Veil Creed of Nature (sand) ×1 When you are hit by an attack, use a 1 — — — — —
reaction to give you and each ally within 30 1 — — — — —
feet concealment.
Shadow Step Creed of Nature (shadow) ×1 While in dim light or darkness, teleport up 1 — — — — —
to 30 feet to an unoccupied area of dim 1 — — — — —
light or darkness.
Shadow Assault Creed of Nature (shadow) ×1 Create dim light in a 30-foot-radius sphere 1 — — — — —
around you, and gain advantage on attack 1 — — — — —
rolls against creatures in the shadow.
Stonelands Strength Creed of Nature (stonelands) ×1 You have a d10 boon on defense rolls but 1 — — — — —
are slowed. 1 — — — — —
Stonelands Strike Creed of Nature (stonelands) ×1 Your weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 1 — — — — —
slashing damage. 1 — — — — —
Storm Rush Creed of Nature (storm) ×1 When hit by a melee attack, use a reaction 1 — — — — —
to grant yourself concealment and impose 1 — — — — —
disadvantage on ranged attacks against
you.
Storm’s Course Creed of Nature (storm) ×1 When you move or shift, you can move 1 — — — — —
through other creature’s spaces and deal 1 — — — — —
them 1d4 lightning damage.
Tidelands Wave Creed of Nature (tidelands) ×1 When hit by a melee attack, use a reaction 1 — — — — —
to push the attacker 5 feet, then make the 1 — — — — —
space they move through into difficult
terrain.
Tidelands Talent Creed of Nature (tidelands) ×1 You and each chosen creature within 30 1 — — — — —
feet have a d6 boon or advantage on 1 — — — — —
Endurance/swim checks.
Warrior’s Aid Creed of Nature (war) ×1 or Domain of When an ally within 30 feet is subject to a 1 — — — — —
Faith (war) ×1 critical hit, use a reaction to turn it into a 1 — — — — —
regular hit.
Warrior’s Will Creed of Nature (war) ×1 or Domain of One creature within 10 feet takes a d6 1 — — — — —
Faith (war) ×1 bane on attack rolls and combat maneuver 1 — — — — —
skill checks against any creature but you,
and you have a d6 boon on attack rolls and
combat maneuver skill checks against
them.
Water’s Grace Creed of Nature (water) ×1 or Domain of You have a swimming speed equal to your 1 — — — — —
Faith (water) ×1 speed, can hold your breath for a number 1 — — — — —
of minutes equal to your Constitution or
Wisdom modifier, and can use Wisdom for
Endurance/subsist checks underwater.
Water’s Hold Creed of Nature (water) ×1 or Domain of Lashing waves cause each creature within 1 — — — — —
Faith (water) ×1 10 feet who doesn’t have a swimming 1 — — — — —
speed to be slowed.
Woodlands Sense Creed of Nature (woodlands) ×1 When you fail a Perception or Nature 1 — — — — —
check to find or follow tracks in a forest, 1 — — — — —
you can automatically succeed.

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Woodlands Step Creed of Nature (woodlands) ×1 While in a forest, choose two areas on the 1 — — — — —
ground to link magically, letting creatures 1 — — — — —
teleport from one to the other.

Wild Shape Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Bestial Nature Wild Shape ×3 Channel the physical benefit of animal 1 — — — — —
form into your true form. 1 — — — — —
Draconic Shape Skill Focus (Magic) ×4, Wild Shape ×5 Use Wild Shape to take the form of a 1 — — — — —
dragon. 1 — — — — —
Formidable Shape Wild Shape ×1 Take the form of Medium, Large, and 1 2 3 — — —
Huge animals. 1 2 3 — — —
Hunter’s Strike Wild Shape ×3 Your natural attacks in wild shape form are 1 — — — — —
treated as magic. 1 — — — — —
Intuitive Wild Shape Wild Shape ×1 Take on one wild shape form as a minor 1 — — — — —
action. 1 — — — — —
Plant Shape Skill Focus (Nature) ×4, Wild Shape ×3 Use Wild Shape to take the form of a 1 — — — — —
botanical. 1 — — — — —
Powerful Shape Wild Shape ×3 Take the form of animals of tier 1 to tier 3. 1 2 3 — — —
1 2 3 — — —
Wild Shape Eldritch Spirit (druidas) ×1, Skill Focus Transform yourself into an animal. 1 2 3 — — —
(Nature) ×1 1 2 3 — — —
Wild Spell Wild Shape ×3 Cast druidas spells in wild shape form. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Wondrous Shape Skill Focus (Magic) ×1, Wild Shape ×1 Use Wild Shape to take the form of a 1 — — — — —
wondrous beast. 1 — — — — —

Metamagic Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Collective Spell Spell Mastery ×4 Cast a more powerful spell in concert with 1 — — — — —
another caster. 1 — — — — —
Distant Spell Spell Mastery ×1 Double a spell’s range. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Empowered Spell Spell Mastery ×4 Increase the variable effects of a spell by 1 — — — — —
one-half. 1 — — — — —
Enlarged Spell Spell Mastery ×4 Double the area of a spell. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Extended Spell Spell Mastery ×1 Double the duration of a spell. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Heightened Spell Spell Mastery ×4 Gain advantage on a spell’s magic 1 — — — — —
challenge throw for certain targets. 1 — — — — —
Mitigated Spell Spell Mastery ×4 Select targets automatically succeed on 1 — — — — —
saving throws against a spell. 1 — — — — —
Piercing Spell Spell Mastery ×4 Targets of spell have resistance or 1 — — — — —
immunity to damage type reduced. 1 — — — — —
Quickened Spell Spell Mastery ×7 Cast a spell as a minor action. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —
Shared Spell Spell Mastery ×1 A spell that targets only you is cast as a 1 — — — — —
touch spell. 1 — — — — —
Stilled Spell Spell Mastery ×1 You cast a spell and ignore any somatic 1 — — — — —
component. 1 — — — — —
Subtle Spell Spell Mastery ×1 The target of your spell doesn’t sense your 1 — — — — —
magic. 1 — — — — —
Tacit Spell Spell Mastery ×1 You cast a spell and ignore any lexis 1 — — — — —
component. 1 — — — — —
Thrown Spell Spell Mastery ×4 Cast a touch spell at range. 1 — — — — —
1 — — — — —

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 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

Ethos Magic Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Air of Grace Driven Ethos ×1; one of Great Fortitude, Use your Charisma modifier instead of your 1 — — — — —
Iron Will, or Lightning Reflexes ×1 usual ability modifier for saving throws. 1 — — — — —
Aura of Grace Air of Grace ×1; one of Great Fortitude, Whenever an ally within 30 feet makes a 1 — — — — —
Iron Will, or Lightning Reflexes ×4 saving throw, use a reaction to grant 1 — — — — —
advantage.
Driven Ethos — Dedicate yourself to a specific component 1 — — — — —
of your alignment. 1 — — — — —
Ethos Attack Driven Ethos ×1, Weapon Focus ×4 Weapon has a d4 boon on attacks, +1d6 1 — — — — —
damage against creatures of opposed 1 — — — — —
ethos.
Ethos Smite Driven Ethos ×1 Deal extra damage to creatures opposed 1 2 3 — — —
to your alignment. 1 2 3 — — —
Rallying Presence Driven Ethos (good or law) ×1, Fearless Grant allies within 30 feet advantage on 1 — — — — —
×1 saves against becoming frightened. 1 — — — — —

Spellsong Feats
Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Cacophonous Spellsong Spellcaster ×4, Spellsong ×1 A Spellsong spell that deals thunder 1 — — — — —
damage adds your caster level to the 1 — — — — —
damage.
Daunting Spellsong Spellsong ×1 When a target fails a save against your 1 — — — — —
Spellsong spell, use a reaction to make 1 — — — — —
them frightened.
Distracting Spellsong Spellsong ×1 Cast a Spellsong spell and have advantage 1 — — — — —
on defense rolls until the end of your turn. 1 — — — — —
Enchanting Spellsong Spellsong ×1 Targets have disadvantage on saving 1 — — — — —
throws against your Spellsong 1 — — — — —
enchantment spells.
Focusing Spellsong Spellcaster ×4, Spellsong ×1 Concentrate on a Spellsong concentration 1 — — — — —
spell as a free action. 1 — — — — —
Harmonious Spellsong Spellcaster ×7, Spellsong ×1 With another creature using Spellsong 1 — — — — —
within 30 feet, gain advantage on 1 — — — — —
challenge throws and attack rolls for a
Spellsong spell.
Spellsong Spellcaster ×1 Ignore a spell’s somatic components by 1 — — — — —
expanding its lexis component to song. 1 — — — — —
Spellsong Performance Spellsong ×1 When performing a Spellsong spell, gain 1 — — — — —
advantage on magic challenge throws or 1 — — — — —
magic attack rolls.
Uplifting Spellsong Spellcaster ×4, Spellsong ×1 Restore critical or defense point damage 1 — — — — —
with a Spellsong spell, each target gains 1 — — — — —
temporary hit points equal to your caster
level.

Spelltouched Magic Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Eldritch Spirit — You channel the power of animys, arcane, 1 — — — — —
or druidas magic. 1 — — — — —
Focused Spelltouch Spelltouched Caster ×1 Increase caster level for manifestations by 1 2 3 — — —
1. 1–3 4–6 7–9 — — —
Spelltouched Caster Eldritch Spirit (chosen sphere) ×1 Cast a spell as a spelltouched 1 — — — — —
manifestation. 1 — — — — —

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 Chapter 10: Spellcasting

Primordial Magic Feats

Feat Slot Cost
Feat Prerequisites Benefit Times Taken
Assailing Cantrip Primordial Caster ×1, Weapon Focus ×4 Hit with a weapon attack, channel a 1 — — — — —
damage-dealing cantrip into the attack. 1 — — — — —
Instinctive Invocation Invocation Mastery ×7 Make a Magic check to cast an invocation 1 — — — — —
you don’t know. 1 — — — — —
Invocation Mastery Primordial Caster ×1 Increase invoker level by 1 and learn a new 1 2 3 4 5 6
invocation. 1–3 4–6 7–9 10–12 13–15 16–18
Potent Cantrip Invocation Mastery ×4 Add your Intelligence modifier to the 1 — — — — —
damage of your cantrip invocations. 1 — — — — —
Primordial Caster Eldritch Spirit (arcane) ×1 Cast arcane spells as primordial 1 — — — — —
invocations and gain cantrip invocations. 1 — — — — —
Seeking Cantrip Primordial Caster ×1 Any cantrip invocation you cast with a 1 — — — — —
range of close has a range of medium. 1 — — — — —
Stolen Invocation Invocation Mastery ×4 Cast spells from magic items as 1 — — — — —
invocations. 1 — — — — —
Sweeping Cantrip Primordial Caster ×1, Invocation Mastery Deal damage to a creature with a cantrip 1 — — — — —
×4 invocation, also target additional creatures 1 — — — — —
within 10 feet.

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Appendix A: Special Features
Many creatures have special features that give them an edge,
whether in or out of combat. The special features in this section
are common across a wide variety of creatures, including certain
worldborn characters, and can be used by other characters with
access to the appropriate magic.
Natural and Magical Features
Most of the special features that creatures possess derive
entirely from their biology and form. Even when a creature has
an attack, defense, or capability that appears to bend the laws
of nature, it remains a natural feature unless it is specifically
identified as a magical feature. This includes many of the
unusual natural features of creatures with a magical nature — for
example, the breath weapons of dragons. Natural features can’t
be disrupted by effects that disrupt magic (including the dispel
magic spell, an antimagic field, and so on), but magical features
can.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Compendium/Natural and Magical Features
Acquired and Innate Magic
The magical features available to characters are all acquired
features, including spells, spelltouched manifestations,
primordial invocations, and the benefits bestowed by animys
domains and druidas creeds. The special features and magical
attacks of many of the world’s unusual creatures are innate
magical features — part of those creatures’ magical-biological
nature.
Chapter 10/Spellcasting (320)
Innate magical features are more instinctive even than
spellcasting in its spelltouched or primordial forms. As such,
using an innate magical feature doesn’t trigger opportunity
attacks, and a creature doesn’t need to make a Magic check to
use an innate magical feature while distracted.
Chapter 10/Casting While Distracted (337); Counterspell (339)
Innate magical features don’t function in areas where magic is
suppressed, and they can be dispelled by dispel magic.
However, they can’t be disrupted with a counterspell.
Common Special Features
The following special features are common to many creatures in
the campaign world. A feature noted with “(M)” is always a
magical feature. Features not so noted might be natural or
magical for different creatures.
Alternative Form (M)
A creature with the alternative form magical feature can
suppress their original true form to assume the form of one or
more different living creatures (any creatures except constructs
and undead). The new form granted by this feature is a full
physical change, not an illusion, but a creature with truesense
can observe the true form of a creature transformed using
alternative form.
Truesense (A7)
Chapter 10/Living Creatures sidebar (333)
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
While a creature is in an alternative form, they lose all aspects of
their true form and become a typical creature of the new form,
as that creature appears in the Creature Compendium or as
determined by the GM. The creature has the alternative form’s
size, ability scores, hit points, skill modifiers, attacks, combat
modifiers, saving throws, modes of movement, and all of their
natural features and innate magical features. However, they
don’t gain any spellcasting ability (which is acquired magic), and
can’t use any alternative form feature of the new creature.
The creature gains the type of their alternative form but retains
their original type, and is susceptible to effects that target any of
those types.
An aranea is a wondrous beast with the shapechanger
feature, allowing them to take the alternative form of a
monstrous spider or a Small or Medium worldborn. In their
true form, the aranea isn’t susceptible to spells such as hold
person, which don’t affect wondrous beasts. But while in
their worldborn form, the aranea is affected by spells and
other effects that target worldborn creatures.
Chapter 7/Creatures of the World (157)
Creature Compendium
A creature in an alternative form can freely designate the new
form’s coloring, height, length, weight, body type, and minor
features such as marks, scars, and tattoos. If the creature takes
on the guise of a specific creature or character, they have a d10
boon on their Stealth/disguise check.
A creature who increases their size when using alternative form
or reverting to their true form must have sufficient space to do
so. If they don’t have sufficient space, they can’t transform.
Alignment, Intellect, and Languages
A creature retains their own memories, personality, alignment,
intellect, and languages while in alternative form. They continue
to think as themself, even though their true intellect and
language capability might be constrained by the Intelligence,
knowledge, and physical features of the alternative form.
An elf arcanist uses the alter self spell to transform into an
ankheg and burrow down into a buried desert ruin. In her
alternative form, she uses the ankheg stat block and loses
access to any of her own features. However, the ankheg
form retains the original character’s knowledge,
experience, languages, and intellect, so that the elf/ankheg
recognizes the other characters in her party, and can
understand and strategize with them. However, she can’t
speak or sign, since the ankheg lacks those capabilities,
and she might be limited by the ankheg’s Intelligence 1 in
her ability to process complex information given to her by
her companions, as the player of the character and the GM
determine.
Creature Compendium
Alternative Form Adjustments
Default stat blocks work well as alternative forms, since taking
on an alternative form is often focused on broad stat block
features — the effect of creature size on stealth or intimidation,
a flying or swimming speed, a standout skill modifier, a deadly
natural attack, specific innate magic, and so forth. However,
A1

players and GMs can work together to adjust alternative form
stat blocks in any of the following ways:
• Adjusting size up or down by one category.
• Swapping skill check modifiers to different skill groups.
• Adjusting attack rolls and defenses up or down by 2, so that
any increase in one area is balanced by a decrease in another
area.
Adjusting Stat Blocks/Creature Compendium
Template Forms
For creatures represented by templates in the Creature
Compendium, including all worldborn and many wondrous
worldborn, taking on the alternative form of that creature means
applying that template to any non-magic-using NPC stat block
(so excluding the animyst, the arcanist, the druidan, and the
protector). This creates a generic stat block for that creature
type, which can then be adjusted like any other stat block. In
particular, a character taking on an alternative worldborn form
typically uses that form with their own armor and weapons.
To infiltrate the isolated steading of a hallaek chief, a
warrior subject to an arcanist ally’s polymorph spell takes
the form of a bugbear wildling to pose as one of the chief’s
bugbear house guards. The wildling stat block has a
greataxe attack, but the warrior can use the same statistics
with the battleaxe that is their own preferred weapon,
adjusting only the damage die.
Equipment
When a creature takes on an alternative form, only their body is
transformed. An alternative form likewise isn’t created with
equipment. If a creature’s equipment can’t be worn or held by
an alternative form, it either falls off or is destroyed during the
transformation, or ruins the transformation if it can’t be
destroyed. A transformation into a larger creature typically
destroys clothing, footwear, leather armor, mundane jewelry,
and the like, while metal armor, magical garb, and being bound
by ropes or chains prevent a creature from taking on a larger
form.
Damage, Death, and Dismemberment
Each time a creature takes a new alternative form, that form has
full critical points and defense points. When a creature returns
to their true form, they have the critical points and defense
points their true form had before taking on an alternative form.
However, if the alternative form took any critical point damage,
the creature takes a −1 penalty to their critical point modifier.
Chapter 9/Hit Points (252)
If a creature is ever reduced to 0 critical points while in an
alternative form, they take 3d6 psychic damage and revert to
their true form immediately. A creature left instantly dead while
in an alternative form reverts to their true form and remains
dead. If their alternative form body was destroyed (as by the
disintegrate spell), their true form is destroyed in the same way.
(As usual, a creature who doesn’t have space to return to their
true form remains in their alternative form.)
If some part of a creature’s body is removed while in an
alternative form, the part remains in alternative form and the
creature is missing that body part when they return to their true
form. Such a body part can’t be reattached with regenerate, but
that spell can regrow the missing part.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix A: Special Features
Conditions and Ongoing Effects
A creature in an alternative form continues to suffer any
conditions (including ability modifier penalties) and to benefit
from any ongoing effects on their true form. Likewise, any
condition or effect applied to a creature while in an alternative
form continues to affect them when they return to their true
form. (If an alternative form is immune to specific conditions, a
creature can ignore those conditions while in that form.)
A halfling arcanist under the effect of the mage armor and
fly spells transforms into a cat using the polymorph spell,
retaining the ability to fly and the boon on defense rolls. If
the cat is hit with bestow curse while scouting an evil
necromancer’s lab, the effect of the curse continues on the
arcanist even after they return to their true form.
alternative form
• A creature gains the form of a new creature, using the new
creature’s stat block except for spellcasting and other alternative
form features.
• The creature maintains their original alignment, intellect,
understanding, and languages.
• The creature has the type of the alternative form and their original
type.
• Equipment and gear isn’t affected or created.
• An alternative form has full critical and defense points.
• If an alternative form takes critical point damage, the creature
takes a −1 critical point penalty when reverting to their true form.
• Conditions and ongoing effects remain in effect.
• If reduced to 0 critical points in alternative form, a creature takes
3d6 psychic damage and reverts to their true form.
• If dead or destroyed in alternative form, a creature reverts to their
true form in that state.
Clearsense
Clearsense is a natural or magical feature that allows a creature
to use sensitivity to vibrations, advanced scent or hearing,
echolocation, or other heightened senses to perceive and
observe the world around them. Clearsense operates out to a
range specified in a creature’s description, letting them observe
and be aware of everything within that range.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
A creature with clearsense ignores concealment and total
concealment within their clearsense range, whether mundane
(foliage, shadow, darkness, and so forth) or magical (invisibility,
magical darkness, the blur and displacement spells, and so
forth). They automatically know the location of invisible
creatures and objects within range, and an invisible creature
doesn’t gain advantage on combat maneuver skill checks and
attack rolls against a creature with clearsense.
A creature with clearsense isn’t immune to gaze attacks, but can
usually avert their gaze from a creature with a gaze attack
without suffering any consequences.
Gaze Attacks (A4); Invisible (A5)
Depending on the source of a creature’s clearsense, it might be
disrupted by other sensory input at the GM’s determination —
for example, a creature sensitive to vibration caught in the area
of an earthquake.
A2

Clearsense
• A creature can observe and is aware of everything within range.
• Ignore concealment and know the location of invisible creatures,
denying advantage on attacks.
• Avoid gaze attacks without consequences.
• Clearsense might be disrupted by other sensory input.
Immunity, Resistance, and Vulnerability
Damage comes in specific types, whether from weapon attacks
or physical effects (bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing),
mundane and magical energy (acid, cold, fire, lightning, and
thunder), to energy damage dealt only by magic (force, necrotic,
psychic, and radiant). When an attack deals damage of a specific
type, certain creatures are more or less susceptible to that
damage — or might be able to ignore it altogether.
Damage Immunity
A creature who has immunity to damage of a specific type can’t
be harmed by that damage. Whenever a creature takes damage
of that type, they simply ignore it, though creatures are still
affected by effects accompanying that damage. For example, a
wiirdhar is immune to the cold damage from an ice storm spell,
but that immunity offers no protection from the spell’s
bludgeoning damage or thunderous roar.
Damage Resistance
A creature who has resistance to damage of a specific type is
only partially harmed by that damage. Whenever a creature
takes damage of that type, the damage is reduced by half
(rounding down as usual). Creatures are still affected by other
effects accompanying that damage. For example, when an
imparih is attacked with an energy battleaxe channeling fire,
their fire resistance lets them take only half the fire damage,
even as they take full slashing damage from the attack.
A creature who has resistance to the same type of damage from
more than one source gains no additional benefit. A character
with fire resistance from energy resistance full plate armor who
takes a potion of energy resistance (fire) doesn’t gain extra
resistance to fire damage.
Overcoming Weapon Damage Resistance
A creature’s resistance to damage from weapon attacks can
sometimes be negated by the use of specific weapons or
weapons crafted with specific materials. In such cases, a
creature’s damage resistance is followed by a weapon or
material type in parentheses.
For example, many creatures have damage resistance to
“weapon attacks (magic),” indicating that they take only half
damage from mundane weapons but take full damage from
magic weapons. Likewise, lycanthropes have damage resistance
to “weapon attacks (silver/+2).” This means that if a lycanthrope
is hit with a silver weapon or a +2 magic weapon, they take full
damage from the attack.
Creature Compendium/Lycanthropes
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix A: Special Features
Damage Resistance and Magic
A weapon with a magical bonus can overcome certain types of
damage resistance based on the potency of the bonus, as shown on
the following table.
Values on the table are cumulative. A +2 weapon overcomes
damage resistance to silver and to specific weapon damage types. A
+5 weapon overcomes any type of damage resistance listed on the
table, though it won’t help creatures who have damage resistance to
all weapon attacks.
Resistance Type Bonus
Equivalency
Bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing +1
Silver +2
Cold iron +3
Adamantine +4
Alignment-based +5
Damage Vulnerability
A creature with damage vulnerability has a special susceptibility
toward damage of a specific type. Whenever a creature takes
damage of that type, they take half again as much damage. The
attacker rolls damage as usual, then calculates half damage
(rounding down) and adds that to the original damage.
Affects that increase or decrease damage are applied before
the damage is increased for a creature with vulnerability. For
example, a frost worm with fire vulnerability gets a failure on
their saving throw against a fireball spell, taking full damage,
then adding half of that damage again. But if the creature
succeeds on their save, the damage is reduced to half damage,
with half of that half (or one quarter of the total damage) added
again.
Damage Immunity
• A creature takes no damage of the specified type.
Damage Resistance
• A creature takes only half damage of the specified type.
• Damage resistance to weapon attacks can be negated by specific
damage types, weapon materials, or magic.
Damage Vulnerability
• A creature takes half again as much damage of the specified type.
Darkvision
A creature with darkvision has the natural or magical capability
to see in dim light or in the absence of light, out to a specific
range. Darkvision is black and white only, so it can’t discern
colors. It doesn’t penetrate magical darkness except for certain
types of magical darkvision (including the greater darkvision
spell and the darkvision of qhoragkri and ubaizeth fiends).
Invisible objects are still invisible to darkvision, and illusions
appear as what they seem to be. Likewise, a creature with
darkvision can be subjected to gaze attacks.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creature Compendium
The presence of light doesn’t spoil darkvision. If a creature with
darkvision looks into an area that is partly lit and partly dark,
they see the dark area with darkvision, while the lit area appears
as it would to a sighted creature without darkvision.
A3

Darkvision
• A creature with darkvision can see in dim light and darkness out to
a specified range.
• Black and white vision only.
• No benefit against invisibility or illusions.
• No benefit against magical darkness unless noted.
Ethereal
A creature who is ethereal exists in the ethereal realm — a
dimensional realm that exists unseen alongside the material
world. The creature can observe and is aware of the material
realm in a 60-foot radius, perceiving that realm as indistinct and
misty. At the same time, they become invisible, inaudible,
insubstantial, and scentless to creatures in the material realm,
making them impossible to detect except with truesense or
magic such as the see invisibility spell.
Truesense (A7)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Campaign Handbook/Ethereal Realm
An ethereal creature interacts with other ethereal creatures and
objects the way a material creature interacts with material
creatures and objects, but an ethereal creature can’t touch or
interact with anything in the material realm, not even magically.
A material creature can touch or affect an ethereal creature only
with magical force effects, which extend from the material realm
into the ethereal realm. For example, a wall of force spell can
block an ethereal creature’s movement, and a material creature
can attack an ethereal creature with the magic missile spell or
other magic that deals force damage. A material creature’s gaze
attack can affect an ethereal creature if the ethereal creature can
be seen.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
An ethereal creature can move through air, water, or solid
matter in any direction, including up or down, and doesn’t fall or
take damage from falling. They maintain their senses when they
interact with the material realm, so that walls, doors, and other
objects can block sight and mute sound for them. They can pass
through material objects and creatures in the material realm, but
they can’t see while within them. If an ethereal creature is inside
a material object or creature when they return to the material
realm, they are moved to the nearest open space and take 1d6
force damage per 5 feet moved (minimum 1d6).
Magical effects such as the blink spell allow a creature to be
both material and ethereal at the same time. Such creatures can
interact with creatures in both the material realm and the
ethereal realm, and can be targeted by attacks from creatures of
both realms.
Ethereal
• An ethereal creature is in the ethereal realm but can observe 60
feet into the material realm.
• An ethereal creature is invisible, inaudible, insubstantial, and
scentless to creatures in the material realm, and is impossible to
detect without truesense or magic.
• The creature can’t interact with creatures or objects in the material
realm, but can be affected by force effects and gaze attacks from
the material realm.
• The creature can move in any direction and pass through material
objects or creatures, but can’t see while within them.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix A: Special Features
Fast Healing
A creature with fast healing has a physiology that allows them to
heal hit point damage at an advanced rate. As long as the
creature is alive, at the start of each turn, they regain a certain
number of hit points as noted in their stat block. Many creatures
with fast healing have that fast healing temporarily cease to
function if they take damage of a certain type.
Chapter 9/Damage Types sidebar (271)
Creature Compendium
Fast healing restores critical points first, then defense points. A
creature with fast healing who is dying at 0 critical points
typically recovers at the start of their first turn. Unlike with
magical healing, fast healing doesn’t impose a penalty to a
creature’s critical point maximum.
Fast Healing
• A creature with fast healing restores a specified number of hit
points at the start of each turn.
• Critical points are restored first, followed by defense points.
Gaze Attacks (M)
Certain creatures have powerful magic that manifests in their
gaze, allowing them to charm, curse, petrify, or kill a target by
establishing a momentary visual connection. At the start of their
turn, each potential target of a gaze attack must attempt a
saving throw to resist it — either Fortitude or Will, depending
on the effect.
A gaze attack requires two-way visual contact, so has no effect
on a creature who can’t see, including one who is sight
disoriented. If either the gazing creature or the target can’t see
the other clearly because of concealment (from dim lighting,
fog, foliage, or the like), the target has advantage on their
saving throw. A creature who can’t be seen can’t be targeted by
a gaze attack, and an invisible creature can’t use a gaze attack.
Looking at a gazing creature’s reflection doesn’t subject the
viewer to a gaze attack.
Appendix B/Disoriented (A9)
A target of a gaze attack who isn’t surprised can avert their eyes
to gain advantage on the saving throw, but has disadvantage on
combat maneuver skill checks and attack rolls against the gazing
creature until the start of the target’s next turn. A target can turn
their back on the gazing creature to ignore the gaze attack, but
has the same disadvantage, and the gazing creature gains
advantage on combat maneuver skill checks and attack rolls
against the target.
Unless otherwise noted, a creature is immune to their own gaze
attack and the gaze attacks of creatures of the same kind.
Gaze Attacks
• Momentary eye contact channels a magical attack.
• Concealment that obscures the target or gazing creature gives
advantage on the target’s saving throw.
• A gaze attack can’t effect a target who can’t see, including one
who is sight disoriented.
• A target can avert their eyes to gain advantage on their save, but
has disadvantage on combat maneuver skill checks and attack
rolls against the gazing creature until the start of the target’s next
turn.
A4

• The target can turn their back to ignore a gaze attack, but has
disadvantage as above and grants the gazing creature advantage
on the same rolls against them.
Incorporeal (M)
Creatures such as ghosts, specters, and wraiths are
incorporeal — existing in the material realm, but having no
physical body. They can’t manipulate objects or exert any
physical force, though many have magical attacks that can be
directed against material creatures.
Creature Compendium
Because their attacks phase directly into a target’s body,
incorporeal creatures have advantage on attack rolls against
material targets. Effects that protect a target with magical force
negate this advantage, including ghost guard armor and spells
such as force shield. Their lack of physical presence grants an
incorporeal creature resistance to damage from nonmagical
weapon attacks, mundane fire, and so forth, and grants them
advantage on defense rolls and Reflex saving throws against
attacks by material creatures. Effects that use magical force
negate this advantage, including ghost touch weapons and
spells such as magic missile.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1) • Magic Items (ch. 2)
An incorporeal creature can move through air, water, or solid
matter in any direction, including up or down, and doesn’t fall or
take damage from falling. They don’t leave footprints, have no
scent, and make no noise unless they wish to. An incorporeal
creature can move through other creatures and objects as if
they were difficult terrain but can’t see while inside solid matter,
and they take 5 (1d10) force damage if they end their turn inside
an object.
Chapter 7/Difficult Terrain (168)
Incorporeal
• An incorporeal creature exists in the material realm but has no
physical body and can’t manipulate objects.
• They have advantage on attack rolls, defense rolls, and Reflex
saves against material creatures.
• They have resistance to damage from nonmagical attacks and
effects.
• They can move in any direction and pass through objects or
creatures as difficult terrain, but take 1d10 force damage if they
end their turn inside an object.
Invisible (M)
An invisible creature or object can’t be observed with sight
(including darkvision). They have total concealment, imposing
disadvantage on combat maneuver skill checks and attack rolls
against them. They can’t be targeted by attacks unless the
attacker can locate them, and they have advantage on combat
maneuver skill checks and attack rolls against creatures who
can’t observe them.
Locating Unobserved Creatures sidebar
Any effect that turns a creature invisible usually turns their
clothing and any gear they carry invisible as well. A sighted
invisible creature can see themself as a solid but translucent
presence.
If an invisible creature becomes visible on their turn, their
advantage on combat maneuver skill checks and attack rolls
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix A: Special Features
lasts until they hit with an attack, until they succeed on a combat
maneuver skill check, or until the end of their turn. All other
benefits of the invisibility end immediately.
Objects dropped or put down by an invisible creature become
visible. Objects picked up by an invisible creature become
invisible when firmly held, and stay invisible if they are tucked
into clothing or a pack. An invisible object that extends more
than 10 feet away from the creature (such as a trailing rope)
becomes wholly visible.
A light source can become invisible, but its light continues to
glow. Another creature held or concealed by an invisible
creature remains visible, but a dead creature (treated as an
object) becomes invisible.
Magic such as the see invisibility spell allows invisible creatures
or objects to be observed. Creatures with clearsense or
truesense ignore invisibility. A creature can’t use a gaze attack
while invisible.
Clearsense (A2); Gaze Attacks (A4); Truesense (A7)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Invisible
• An invisible creature can’t be observed with sight, including
darkvision.
• They have total concealment, imposing disadvantage on combat
maneuver skill checks and attack rolls against them, and can’t be
targeted unless located.
• They have advantage on combat maneuver skill checks and attack
rolls against creatures who can’t observe them.
• Clearsense, truesense, and see invisibility ignore invisibility.
Locating Unobserved Creatures
To attack a creature who can’t be observed, including invisible
creatures and other creatures with total concealment, an attacker
must have some way to judge the creature’s location. This includes
seeing their tracks in dirt or on a dusty floor, observing mist or
foliage shifting with their passage, hearing telltale sounds, catching
their scent (if the attacker has the scent special feature), and so on.
Appendix A/Scent (A6)
If the signs marking a creature with total concealment are clear, an
attacker can usually locate them automatically. Otherwise, it takes a
successful Perception check (a minor action) to locate the creature,
with a DC determined by the clues that reveal their presence. If a
creature is successfully located, an attacker treats them as if they
had concealment until the end of the attacker’s turn, attacking with
disadvantage on the attack roll.
Player’s Guide/Skills (ch. 6)
A creature with total concealment who doesn’t move or make any
sound usually can’t be detected, but an attacker can try to guess
which space they’re in before attacking.
Life Drain (M)
Certain corrupting spells and fell creatures (especially undead)
can drain the life force of creatures by imposing life drain on
them. Each time a creature takes life drain, they suffer the
following effects:
• The creature is weakened until they finish a downtime rest.
Weakened (A12)
A5

• They take a penalty to their critical point maximum equal to
their Constitution modifier (minimum 1).
Chapter 9/Critical Point Penalties (253)
• If the creature casts spells, they take a penalty to spell points
equal to their spellcasting ability modifier. A creature who
casts spells from different spheres of magic can choose which
spell points the penalty applies to.
Chapter 10/Spell Points (322)
Certain creatures impose additional effects with their life drain,
and might gain temporary hit points from absorbing the life
energy they drain.
Chapter 9/Temporary Hit Points (253)
Creatures who have no critical points (including constructs and
undead) aren’t subject to life drain. A creature whose critical
point maximum is reduced to 0 by life drain is dead, as usual.
Chapter 9/Critical Points and Defense Points (252)
Life drain can be ended with a restoration or greater restoration
spell. The weakness imposed by life drain can’t be ended unless
the life drain is ended.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Long-Term Life Drain
When a creature suffering life drain finishes a long rest, they
must make a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw for each time they
took life drain since their last long rest. If they succeed on all the
saves, all the effects of their life drain end. If any of the saving
throws are failed, the creature suffers the effects of taking life
drain once, with those effects lasting until the end of their next
downtime rest. If a creature takes life drain during a downtime
rest, any long-term life drain applies until the creature’s next
downtime rest.
Long-term life drain can be ended with a greater restoration
spell.
Life Drain
• A creature subject to life drain is weakened and takes a penalty to
their critical point maximum equal to their Constitution modifier.
• A spellcaster takes a penalty to spell points equal to their
spellcasting ability modifier.
• A creature inflicting life drain might impose additional effects or
gain temporary hit points.
• At the end of their next long rest, an affected creature must make
a DC 15 Fortitude save for each time they took life drain.
• With one or more failed saves, the creature suffers the effects of
one life drain until the end of their next downtime rest.
• Restoration and greater restoration can end life drain.
Low-Light Vision
A creature with low-light vision can see in dim light and shadow,
but not in darkness. Such a creature treats any area of dim light
as an area of bright light, and can see fully outdoors under
moonlight and starlight, read by candlelight, and so on.
Creatures with low-light vision ignore concealment caused by
dim light and shadow, but are affected by concealment caused
by foliage, mist, and other physical effects.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix A: Special Features
Low-Light Vision
• A creature with low-light vision treats dim light as bright light.
• They ignore concealment caused by dim light and shadow.
Regeneration
A creature with the regeneration feature can regrow or reattach
most parts of its body. A body part must be reattached within 1
hour of being severed, requiring 1d4 minutes of being held
continuously to the place from which it was lost. Severed body
parts can’t be reattached to other severed body parts, to a
different location on the body, or to a dead creature, and rot
away as usual if not reattached. The severed body part of one
creature can’t be reattached to another creature, even if both
have regeneration.
A living creature with full regeneration can regrow a missing
body part in 1d4 days. A severed body part never regrows a new
creature on its own.
Regeneration
• A creature with regeneration can reattach or regrow lost body
parts.
• A body part can be reattached over 1d4 minutes of being held to
the place it was lost.
• Body parts can be regrown over 1d4 days.
Scent
Creatures with the scent feature have a highly developed sense
of smell, and can use it to have awareness of the environment
around them and to sniff out hidden creatures and objects. A
creature with scent can identify distinct odors just as sighted
creatures recognize familiar images, and can use their sense of
smell when making Dungeoneering, Perception, Nature, and
personal-group skill checks related to seeking or sensing.
A creature with the scent feature has advantage on Perception
checks to locate invisible creatures who have a scent, and can
usually tell if such creatures have been in an area even with no
other signs of their presence. However, a scent trail fades more
quickly than a physical trail, and can be masked by other
powerful odors or washed away by water.
Water-breathing creatures who have the scent feature can use it
in the water, with currents often making tracking by scent more
or less difficult.
Some creatures (including ethereal creatures and incorporeal
creatures) have no scent.
Scent
• A creature with scent can use their sense of smell when making
Dungeoneering, Perception, Nature, and personal-group skill
checks for seeking or sensing.
• They have advantage on Perception checks to locate invisible
creatures who have a scent, and can tell if such creatures have
been in an area.
Telepathy (M)
Telepathy is a magical feature that allows a creature to
communicate through silent mental contact with one or more
other creatures within a specified range. If the telepathic
creature and a contacted creature both understand any
language, telepathy functions like speech, even if the creatures
A6

don’t share the same language. If a creature doesn’t have a
language, telepathy allows them to share their emotional state
and to understand telepathic commands as the GM determines.
Creatures in telepathic contact must sense each other’s mental
communications, but can choose to ignore such
communications without responding. Telepathic creatures have
no access to each other’s thoughts unless they share those
thoughts intentionally.
Unconscious creatures, creatures who move out of range, and
creatures in a location where magic is suppressed can’t send or
receive telepathic messages.
Telepathy
• A creature with telepathy can communicate through silent mental
contact within one or more creatures within range.
• Telepathy is like speech if the telepathic creature and a contacted
creature both understand language. Otherwise, a creature’s
emotional state and telepathic commands can be shared.
Teleportation (M)
Teleportation allows a creature to magically move from one
location to another location, without passing through the space
between those locations. Spells and other magic can allow any
creature to teleport, and some creatures can teleport using their
own innate magic.
Teleportation usually can’t cross dimensional boundaries. Unless
a teleportation effect says otherwise, you can’t teleport to
another dimensional realm or into extradimensional spaces like
that created by a rope trick spell. Some teleportation effects
require you to observe your destination. Others allow
teleportation to any location you know because you’ve been
there before, or any obvious location (for example, the other
side of a door directly in front of you). The most powerful
teleportation magic lets you reach locations you’ve never been
to but know only by description.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Teleportation fails in areas where magic is suppressed, but
teleportation can’t otherwise be blocked by any mundane or
magical barrier.
Teleportation
• A creature who teleports moves from one location to another
instantly, without passing through the space between locations.
• Teleportation usually can’t cross dimensional boundaries.
• A destination might need to be observed or known personally.
• Teleportation fails in areas where magic is suppressed, but can’t
be blocked.
Tremorsense
A creature with tremorsense can sense any movement within a
specific range, making them automatically aware of moving
creatures and objects in contact with the same surface as them
(open ground, a floor, a cliff face, a volume of water, and so
forth). Even subtle movements such as drawing a weapon,
looking around, whispering, and casting spells with only somatic
components can be detected with tremorsense.
By holding perfectly still, a creature can attempt to evade
another creature’s tremorsense, making an Acrobatics/agility
check opposed by a Perception/spot check. If the surface
touched by a creature with tremorsense is interrupted by a gap
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix A: Special Features
larger than the range of their tremorsense (for example, a
creature with 60-foot tremorsense standing close to a 70-foot
deep chasm), that creature’s tremorsense can’t cross over the
gap.
Tremorsense can’t be used to detect flying or incorporeal
creatures.
Tremorsense
• A creature with tremorsense can sense any movement within
range, becoming automatically aware of creatures and objects on
the same surface as them.
• A creature can hold still and make an Acrobatics/agility check
opposed by Perception/spot to evade tremorsense.
• Tremorsense can’t cross over a gap in a surface larger than its
range.
Truesense (M)
Truesense is a magical feature that allows a creature to observe
and be aware of all things within a certain range, perceiving
those things as they actually are. A creature with truesense
ignores concealment and total concealment within their
truesense range, whether mundane (foliage, shadow, darkness,
and so forth) or magical (invisibility, magical darkness, the blur
and displacement spells, and so forth). They automatically know
the location of invisible creatures and objects within range, and
an invisible creature doesn’t gain advantage on combat
maneuver skill checks and attack rolls against a creature with
truesense.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
A creature with truesense recognizes all illusions, as if
automatically interacting with the illusion and succeeding on
their Will save. They can observe creatures and objects in the
ethereal realm. They also perceive the true form of creatures
and objects whose forms have been changed by magic,
including creatures in alternative form from the polymorph spell,
the Wild Shape feat, a creature’s shapechanger trait, and so on.
The creature with truesense perceives another creature’s true
form as a translucent image over their apparent form.
Truesense doesn’t penetrate solid objects or extradimensional
spaces, and it doesn’t penetrate mundane disguises, spot
creatures who are hiding, or notice secret doors hidden by
mundane means.
A creature with truesense isn’t immune to gaze attacks, but can
usually avert their gaze from a creature with a gaze attack
without suffering any consequences.
Ethereal (A4); Gaze Attacks (A4)
Truesense
• A creature with truesense can observe and is aware of everything
within range.
• They ignore concealment and know the location of invisible
creatures, denying those creatures advantage on combat
maneuvers and attacks.
• They recognize illusions and can observe creatures and objects in
the ethereal realm.
• They perceive the true form of creatures and objects whose forms
have been changed with magic, including creatures in alternative
form.
• They can avoid gaze attacks without consequences.
A7
Appendix B: Conditions
Magic and injury can leave characters and other creatures
working at less than their full potential, forcing them to find
different ways to face challenges. A number of conditions define
the range of detriments and consequences that can befall
creatures during an adventure.
In this section, references in bold indicate where a condition
refers to another condition.
Using Conditions
The effects imposed by some conditions last for a specific
length of time. Other conditions last until they are ended by
specific actions. When a creature struck by an undead ghoul’s
attack becomes immobilized, that condition lasts for a certain
number of rounds. But when a creature is tripped by a dire wolf
and goes prone, the creature decides when to end the prone
condition by standing up.
Appendix B/Conditions (A8)
Creature Compendium
Multiple Conditions
If a condition imposes a fixed effect on a creature, that creature
can suffer from that condition only once. A warrior who is dazed,
then dazed again doesn’t become extra dazed. Otherwise, a
creature can be affected more than once by the same condition
from a different source (for example, being frightened of two
different creatures), by the same condition applying different
effects (such as being hearing disoriented and sight
disoriented), or by the condition imposing an escalating effect
(such as slowed and weakened).
Dazed (A9); Disoriented (A9); Frightened (A10); Slowed (A11);
Weakened (A12)
Sometimes one condition temporarily overrides another
condition. A creature who is driven must move away from
another creature or object. But if the creature is then stunned,
their inability to take actions prevents them from moving until
the stunned condition ends.
Driven (A10); Stunned (A11)
Condition Duration
When a creature affected by a condition is affected again by the
same condition imposing the same effect, the two durations
don’t add together, but run concurrently.
An arcanist casts color spray to leave an enemy assassin
sight disoriented for 3 rounds. The next round, the
disoriented assassin blunders into a spell trap holding the
impair senses spell, which causes them to become sight
disoriented for 4 rounds. This new duration runs alongside
the 2 rounds remaining of the color spray duration, and will
continue after the duration of that spell runs out.
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Ability Modifier Penalties
Various attacks and effects can impose long-term penalties to a
creature’s ability modifiers. When an ability modifier has a
penalty, that penalty applies to all d20 rolls connected to that
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
ability, whether skill checks, attack rolls, defense rolls, saving
throws, challenge throws, or initiative rolls.
Chapter 2/Ability Scores (29)
For attack rolls, defense rolls, and challenge throws that use a
single ability modifier, you apply the appropriate penalty. If you
use your Strength modifier for melee weapon attacks, a
Strength modifier penalty hinders those attacks, just as a penalty
to your Dexterity modifier hinders your ranged weapon attacks.
For skill checks, saving throws, and initiative rolls, all of which
have two core abilities, a modifier penalty to either of those core
abilities is applied to the roll, no matter which ability you use, or
even if you use a noncore ability for a skill check.
Chapter 6/Skills (99)
Chapter 9/Attacks (264); Defense (237); Challenge Throw (245);
Saving Throws (245); Initiative (234)
A scout uses Dexterity for their initiative modifier,
representing a natural quickness that can get them into a
fight. Their druidan companion uses Wisdom, representing
an instinct for assessing the movement of enemies when
combat begins. But when both fall victim to a cloud of
mind-reaver mist poison that imposes a penalty to Wisdom
modifier, both take that penalty on their initiative rolls, with
the scout’s hindered ability to reckon the position of their
enemies undercutting their physical instincts.
A warrior with Strength 16 and Constitution 18 fails a saving
throw against a monstrous spider’s poisonous bite, taking a
−2 penalty to their Strength modifier. This penalty applies
to the warrior’s Strength-based longsword attack rolls, but
it also applies to their Endurance checks and Fortitude
saving throws, even though the warrior adds their higher
Constitution modifier to those checks and saves.
Ability modifier penalties affect only d20 rolls made using that
ability. Damage rolls, carrying capacity, and other things based
on ability modifiers are not affected.
Ability modifier penalties can be ended by downtime healing, or
by the freedom, heal, restoration, greater restoration, or lesser
restoration spells.
Chapter 9/Downtime Healing (257)
Magic Grimoire/Spells (ch. 1)
Creatures who have no score in a particular ability (such as
undead, who have no Constitution score) ignore penalties to
that ability modifier.
Moderate and Serious Penalties
If an ability modifier penalty ranges from −1 to −4, a creature
feels the effects when making d20 rolls, but otherwise functions
as they usually do. When a penalty reaches −5 to −9, the GM
can call for skill checks for actions that typically require no check,
including everyday activities.
After a formidable undead battle, an animyst with a −9
penalty to their Charisma modifier imposed by a pack of
allips must make a Persuasion check to book rooms at an
inn for their party to recuperate. Inside the inn, the
animyst’s warrior companion with a −6 penalty to their
Strength modifier imposed by a ghost discovers that she
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needs to make an easy Acrobatics check to climb a flight of
stairs, with the DC increasing if she needs to do so quickly.
Creature Compendium
An Unfamiliar Hindrance
An ability modifier penalty is not the same as having a low ability
score. A low Charisma score doesn’t necessarily limit a character’s
Charisma-based activities. Rather, it sets them up to adopt different
tactics for standing out in a crowd or making others see their point
of view than a high-Charisma character would use. But a character
with a penalty to their Charisma modifier has their force of
personality temporarily impaired in ways they have no practice in
dealing with, and which can’t be instinctively overcome.
Dire Penalties
When any ability modifier penalty reaches −10, the effect can
become temporarily overwhelming, imposing a variety of other
conditions:
• A −10 penalty to Strength modifier imposes extreme
limitations on a creature’s physical actions, leaving them
immobilized and prone.
• A −10 penalty to Dexterity modifier leaves a creature unable
to physically react to the world around them. They are
stunned and prone.
• A −10 penalty to Constitution modifier occludes a creature’s
senses and stamina, leaving them disoriented for all senses
and dazed.
• A −10 penalty to Intelligence modifier overloads a creature’s
ability to think and react, leaving them unconscious.
• A −10 penalty to Wisdom modifier shuts down a creature’s
instincts and purpose, making them dazed and able to take
actions only if another creature uses a standard action to give
them directions.
• A −10 penalty to Charisma modifier consumes a creature’s
sense of self and motivation. They act as though they are
constantly charmed by one or more random creatures nearby
(even if usually immune to the charmed condition), and they
willingly follow any suggestions that aren’t obviously harmful.
Whenever an ability modifier penalty reaches −10, the effect it
imposes remains until the penalty is reduced again to −9 or
better. An ability modifier penalty can’t exceed −10.
Playing Penalties
Ability modifier penalties reflect a temporary change in a creature’s
baseline physical and mental state. A penalty to an ability score
produces a relative and short-term reduction in capacity and facility,
and doesn’t need to be played as a traumatic injury or an effect that
turns a character into a different person. In particular, ability score
penalties should never be used to roleplay a character under the
effect of any disability.
Charmed
A charmed creature has their mind affected by magic or other
effects, causing them to lose some of their independence and
ability to make decisions. They are treated as follows:
• The creature can’t attack or attempt to harm a creature who
charmed them, and can’t attempt to damage or end an
object or effect that charmed them.
• The charmed creature has disadvantage on any skill check
they make to interact with a creature who charmed them.
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Appendix B: Conditions
The charmed condition can be ended by the dispel corruption,
freedom, greater restoration, and remove charm spells, and can
be suppressed by the calm emotions spell.
Dazed
A dazed creature is limited in how they can act. They are treated
as follows:
• The creature has disadvantage on defense rolls and saving
throws.
• They can take only one action (standard, minor, or move) on
their turn. They can’t take reactions but can take free actions.
The dazed condition can be ended by the freedom, heal,
heroes’ feast, restoration, greater restoration, or lesser
restoration spells.
Disoriented
A disoriented creature loses their awareness of one or more
specific senses. This produces different effects, depending on
the sense lost. In some cases, a creature is only partially affected
by losing a sense, as with a creature who loses their clearsense
but can still use sight to observe around them. Unless otherwise
noted, an effect that causes a creature to be disoriented affects
natural senses and magically bestowed senses alike.
The disoriented condition can be ended by the freedom, heal,
heroes’ feast, restoration, greater restoration, or remove
disorientation spells.
Clearsense
A creature who loses their clearsense is treated as follows:
• They lose their instinctive awareness of their surroundings.
• Unless another sense allows them to observe their
surroundings, they are treated as sight disoriented.
Hearing
A creature who loses their sense of hearing is treated as follows:
• They automatically fail at activities and skill checks that
depend on hearing, such as receiving spoken information or
making Perception checks to listen.
• They are distracted when casting any spell with a spoken lexis
component. This includes spells cast from schemas, scrolls,
and talismans.
Chapter 10/Casting While Distracted (337)
• They are unaffected by effects that depend on a target
hearing the source of the effect.
Scent
A creature who loses their sense of scent is treated as follows:
• They lose their sense of smell and are unable to detect any
odors.
• They can’t use scent when making Dungeoneering,
Perception, Nature, and personal-group skill checks for
seeking or sensing.
Sight
A creature who loses their sense of sight is treated as follows:
A9

• They automatically fail at activities usually based on vision,
such as reading or making Perception checks to search or
spot.
• They can’t observe anything around them unless another
sense allows them to do so.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
• They have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures they
can’t observe, and can’t target creatures with attacks unless
they locate them.
Appendix A/Locating Unobserved Creatures sidebar (A5)
• Attack rolls against them are made with advantage.
• They are unaffected by effects that depend on a target seeing
the source of the effect.
Choosing to Be Disoriented
A creature can choose to be disoriented by blocking their
sensory organs (wearing a covering over the eyes, stopping up
the ears with wax, and so forth). Doing so can help protect the
creature from effects that must be sensed (including gaze
attacks, a ghost’s frightful moan, and so forth), but the creature
suffers all the effects of being disoriented until the end of their
next turn, even if their sensory organs are subsequently cleared.
A creature can’t become disoriented to gain a defensive benefit
on an enemy’s turn, then lose the penalties for being
disoriented before attacking on their own turn.
Creature Compendium
Driven
A driven creature is forced to flee from an effect (most
commonly a spell, an object, or a creature) by the most direct
route. They are treated as follows:
• On their turn, they must use at least one move action to move
away from the effect they are driven from at full speed, and
can move twice if they wish. A driven target triggers
opportunity attacks for this movement.
• The driven creature can take other actions, but can’t move
toward the effect they are driven from.
• A creature who can’t move away from the effect that caused
them to become driven is dazed until they can move.
The driven condition can be ended by the freedom or greater
restoration spells, or can be suppressed by the calm emotions
spell.
Frightened
A frightened creature is limited in their ability to respond to an
effect (most commonly a spell, an object, or a creature). They
are treated as follows:
• The creature has disadvantage on skill checks, attack rolls and
challenge throws.
• The creature can’t move any closer to the effect that has
frightened them.
The frightened condition can be ended by the freedom, heroes’
feast, greater restoration, or remove fear spells, or can be
suppressed by the calm emotions spell.
Immobilized
An immobilized creature is conscious and continues to breathe,
but can’t move in any way. They are treated as follows:
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix B: Conditions
• The creature usually drops any objects they hold and goes
prone.
• They can take only wholly mental actions, including casting
spells with no somatic or lexis component, or using magical
features.
• They have a speed of 0 feet and can’t benefit from any bonus
to speed.
• They automatically fail Reflex saving throws.
• They grant advantage on attacks made against them and use
their defense modifier in place of their defense rolls, ignoring
any boons or banes.
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
• Any hit against the creature is an automatic critical hit that
deals maximum damage.
Chapter 9/Critical Hits (292)
• A flying creature begins to fall unless they can float
automatically. A creature who is swimming sinks unless they
can float automatically.
Chapter 7/Falling (177)
The immobilized condition can be ended by the freedom, heal,
restoration, greater restoration, or remove immobilization spells.
Petrified
A petrified creature has their body, clothing, and gear turned to
stone, taking on the qualities of a statue. They are treated as
follows:
• The creature has no awareness, loses their usual statistics, and
becomes an object.
• Their weight is multiplied by a factor of 2 to 5, at the GM’s
determination.
• They no longer have hit points and can’t be attacked as a
creature, but are subject to being damaged or destroyed like
other objects.
• They are no longer subject to effects that target creatures,
but are subject to effects that target objects.
• Because they are neither alive nor dead, the creature can’t be
restored by raise dead or similar effects.
• Unless the effect that petrified them has a duration, a
petrified creature can usually be returned to their original
state only by magic.
• If a petrified creature cracks or breaks, the broken pieces of
their body can be joined together as they return to flesh,
leaving the creature unharmed. If a creature’s petrified body
is incomplete when it returns to flesh, the body is likewise
incomplete. Any resulting wounds are healed cleanly and
don’t affect the creature’s health, except where those wounds
would cause death (for example, a creature whose petrified
form is broken mid-torso and not rejoined).
The petrified condition can be ended by the freedom, greater
restoration, or remove petrification spells.
Prone
A prone creature is upended and knocked out of their regular
orientation. A creature who goes prone on the ground collapses
or is knocked flat, while a creature made prone while climbing is
knocked off balance and left dangling. A flying or levitating
creature is forced upside down or into some other position
requiring that they reorient themself in midair.
A10

A prone creature is treated as follows:
• They have disadvantage on combat maneuver skill checks and
attack rolls.
• A creature who is prone on the ground has advantage on
defense rolls if an attack comes from a greater distance than
the attacking creature’s space. If an attack comes from within
the same distance as the attacking creature’s space, the
prone creature has disadvantage on defense rolls.
A lizardfolk scout goes prone when attacked by a Large
hallaek warlord, and set upon by that giant’s Medium dwarf
followers. Against dwarves attacking with crossbows from
10 feet away (greater than their 5-foot space), being prone
makes the lizardfolk harder to see and grants advantage on
defense rolls. But against dwarves who move within 5 feet
for axe attacks, and against the hallaek’s mace attack from
10 feet away (the same distance as the giant’s space), being
prone only makes it harder for the lizardfolk to dodge,
granting disadvantage on defense rolls.
• The creature can move only by crawling, or after spending
movement to right themself based on their size: Small 5 feet,
Medium 10 feet, Large 15 feet, Huge 20 feet, Gargantuan 25
feet, or Colossal 30 feet. (Tiny or smaller creatures can right
themselves without spending movement.)
Chapter 7/Crawling (167); Righting from Prone (168)
The prone condition can be ended by the freedom or freedom
of movement spells.
Restrained
A restrained creature is held in place and can’t move from their
location using their own physical resources. They are treated as
follows:
• They have a speed of 0 feet and can’t benefit from any bonus
to speed, but can be moved by the effect that restrains them,
by teleportation, or by another creature.
• They have disadvantage on defense rolls and Reflex saving
throws, and can make weapon attacks only with light
weapons.
• A restrained spellcaster is typically distracted when casting
spells with a somatic component.
Chapter 10/Casting While Distracted (337)
• If the effect that restrains a creature binds them so completely
as to prevent any of their usual movement, that creature can’t
cast spells with somatic components, and might be prevented
from making physical attacks at the GM’s determination.
• A flying creature begins to fall unless they can float
automatically, or the effect that restrained them holds them in
place.
A restrained creature can still move to some degree within their
own space. A creature bound or held so completely that they
can’t move at all is usually treated as immobilized rather than
restrained.
The restrained condition can be ended by the freedom or
freedom of movement spells.
Slowed
A slowed creature is impeded in their movement. They are
treated as follows:
• The creature’s speed is reduced by half, affecting their natural
movement modes as well as movement granted by magic.
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix B: Conditions
• If a creature is slowed by multiple effects, their speed is
reduced for each effect.
• A slowed creature can’t shift or run. A creature whose speed
is reduced below 1 foot by being slowed can’t move.
• If a creature is slowed while moving on their turn, their
movement ends immediately if they’ve already moved more
than their slowed speed.
The slowed condition can be ended by the freedom, freedom of
movement, heal, heroes’ feast, restoration, greater restoration,
or lesser restoration spells.
Stunned
A stunned creature is conscious but can’t focus their actions.
They are treated as follows:
• The creature usually drops any objects they hold and goes
prone.
• They can take only free actions, and can’t take reactions.
Chapter 5/Actions (83)
• They have a speed of 0 feet and can’t benefit from any bonus
to speed.
• They have disadvantage on defense rolls and saving throws.
• A flying creature begins to fall unless they can float
automatically. A creature who is swimming sinks unless they
can float automatically.
The stunned condition can be ended by the freedom, heal,
restoration, or greater restoration spells.
Unconscious
An unconscious creature temporarily loses control of their body
and senses. They are treated as follows:
• The creature is generally unaware of what goes on around
them, and has disadvantage on Perception checks.
Chapter 7/Observation and Awareness (174)
• They usually drop any objects they hold and go prone.
• They can’t take any actions or reactions.
• They automatically fail Reflex saving throws.
Chapter 9/Saving Throws (245)
• They have a speed of 0 feet and can’t benefit from any bonus
to speed.
• They grant advantage on attacks made against them and use
their defense modifier in place of their defense rolls, ignoring
any boons or banes.
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
Chapter 9/Defense (237)
• Any hit against the creature is an automatic critical hit that
deals maximum damage.
Chapter 9/Critical Hits (292)
• A flying creature begins to fall unless they can float
automatically. A creature who is swimming automatically
holds their breath, but sinks unless they can float
automatically.
Chapter 7/Falling (177)
• An unconscious creature is always considered willing for the
purpose of being affected by beneficial spells and other
effects that target only willing creatures.
Chapter 10/Willing Target (333)
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 Appendix B: Conditions

A creature who is sleeping (whether by magical or mundane

means) is considered unconscious.
The unconscious condition can be ended by the freedom, heal,
or greater restoration spells.

Weakened
A weakened creature experiences effects that impact their
baseline ability to focus and act. They are treated as follows:
• The creature has a d4 bane on all d20 rolls (attack rolls,
defense rolls, saving throws, skill checks, challenge throws,
and initiative rolls).
Chapter 5/Bonuses, Boons, and Advantage (39)
• Each time a creature who is already weakened is weakened
again, the bane increases to d6, d8, d10, and finally d12.
A warrior with Raging Attack is slowed and weakened after
finishing a fight, taking a d4 bane to their d20 rolls for the
weakened condition. Before they can take a short rest to
recover, the warrior’s party is attacked by ghouls whose
stench causes the warrior to be weakened once more,
increasing the bane for being weakened to a d6.
• When a creature is weakened by multiple effects, the bane
decreases as those effects are eliminated.
A creature targeted by waves of fatigue is weakened for 1
minute per caster level, imposing a d4 bane. If that creature
is then hit by acid splash, they are weakened again until the
end of their next turn increasing the bane to a d6 for being
weakened twice. When acid splash ends, the bane
becomes a d4 again.
The weakened condition can be ended by the freedom, heal,
restoration, greater restoration, or lesser restoration spells.

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 Appendix B: Conditions

CONDITIONS AND EFFECTS

Condition Effect
Ability Modifier • Penalty to any d20 roll tied to a specific ability score,
Petrified • Body, clothing, and gear turned to stone
Penalties whether a creature uses the score for that roll or not
• No awareness, no statistics
• GM-imposed effects if penalty reaches −5
• Treated as an object
• Dire effects if penalty reaches −10
• Ended by freedom, greater restoration, or remove
• Lasts until negated with downtime healing or magic
petrification
• Ended by freedom, heal, restoration, greater
Prone • Disadvantage on combat maneuver skill checks and
restoration, or lesser restoration
attack rolls
Charmed • Mind affected to lose some independence
• Creature on the ground has advantage on defense
• Can’t attack or harm a creature who charmed, or
rolls against attacks from farther away than an
damage or end an object or effect that charmed
attacker’s space, disadvantage on attacks from closer
• Disadvantage on skill checks with creature who
• Move only by crawling or first righting themself
charmed
• To right: Small 5 ft., Medium 10 ft., Large 15 ft., Huge
• Ended by dispel corruption, freedom, greater
20 ft., Gargantuan 25 ft., Colossal 30 ft.
restoration, or remove charm; suppressed by calm
• Ended by freedom or freedom of movement
emotions
Restrained • Speed 0 feet, and can’t benefit from any bonus to
Dazed • Disadvantage on defense rolls and saving throws
speed
• Take one action per turn
• Disadvantage on defense rolls and Reflex saves
• Can’t take reactions
• Make weapon attacks only with light weapons
• Ended by freedom, heal, heroes’ feast, restoration,
• Distracted if casting spells with somatic components
greater restoration, or lesser restoration
• Might be unable to cast spells with somatic
Disoriented • Activities or checks that depend on specific sense
components or make physical attacks
(clearsense, hearing, scent, sight) fail
• Flying creatures with wings fall, but creatures who fly
• Clearsense — Lose instinctive awareness of
with magic are held in place
surroundings, treated as sight disoriented unless
• Ended by freedom or freedom of movement
another sense allows observation
Slowed • Speed reduced by half for all movement modes,
• Hearing — Fail at activities that depend on hearing,
including magic
distracted when casting spells with spoken lexis
• Can’t shift or run
components, unaffected by effects that rely on
• Ended by freedom, freedom of movement, heal,
hearing the source
heroes’ feast, restoration, greater restoration, or
• Scent — Can’t detect any odors, cant use scent when
lesser restoration
make skill checks for seeking or sensing
Stunned • Usually drop objects and go prone
• Sight — Fail at activities that depend on vision, can’t
• Take only free actions, can’t take reactions
observe except with other senses, disadvantage on
• Speed 0 feet, and can’t benefit from any bonus to
attack rolls and can’t target creatures unless located
speed
first, attack rolls against are made with advantage,
• Disadvantage on defense rolls and saving throws
unaffected by effects that rely on seeing the source
• Flying creature falls, swimming creature holds breath
• Ended by freedom, heal, heroes’ feast, restoration,
• Ended by freedom, heal, restoration, or greater
greater restoration, or remove disorientation
restoration
Driven • Use at least one move action to move away from
Unconscious • Unaware of what goes on around them
effect
• Disadvantage on Perception checks
• Can’t move closer to effect
• Usually drop objects and go prone
• Dazed if movement is impossible
• Take no actions or reactions
• Ended by freedom or greater restoration;
• Fail Reflex saving throws
suppressed by calm emotions
• Speed 0 feet, and can’t benefit from any bonus to
Frightened • Disadvantage on skill checks, attack rolls, and
speed
challenge throws
• Grant advantage, use defense modifier instead of
• Can’t move any closer to effect
defense roll
• Ended by freedom, heroes’ feast, greater restoration,
• A hit against is an automatic critical hit dealing
or remove fear; suppressed by calm emotions
maximum damage
Immobilized • Usually drop objects and go prone
• Flying creature falls, swimming creature holds breath
• Take only mental actions
but sinks
• Speed 0
• Always considered willing for spells and other effects
• Fail Reflex saves
• Ended by freedom, heal, or greater restoration
• Grant advantage, use defense modifier in place of
Weakened • d4 bane on all d20 rolls
defense roll
• Bane die increases each time weakened
• A hit against is an automatic critical hit dealing
• Ended by freedom, heal, restoration, greater
maximum damage
restoration, or lesser restoration
• Flying creature falls, swimming creature sinks
• Ended by freedom, heal, restoration, greater
restoration, or remove immobilization

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Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms
This appendix provides a quick players’ overview of the Elder
Kingdoms campaign setting and its cultures. For characters who
are part of an Elder Kingdoms campaign, your choice of culture
can help define your outlook and worldview, your relationship to
characters of other cultures, and how your choice of feats
defines your past and your ambitions.
The Elder Kingdoms are a collection of independent nations
and holds whose cultures and shared histories have been forged
by millennia of struggle, conflict, and uneasy Imperial peace.
Ajaeltha, Gracia, Kelistae, Norgyr, Vanyr, and Yewnwood are the
largest and most populous of these realms, with written histories
covering more than three millennia and witness-history
narratives stretching back to the oldest memories of the
worldborn who first settled these lands. Jharlaash and Dorlan
were longstanding independent clanholds raised to nation
status under Imperial rule, short on history but grown strong and
prosperous over the long peace of the Lothelecan. Myrnan is an
independent and wealthy island state, built atop the ruins of two
of the oldest and most magically powerful realms in the eastern
world. And the Free City of Yewnyr is the largest metropolis in
Isheridar, bound within the territory of Gracia but serving as an
independent and powerful hub for culture and trade.
These lands extend some six hundred leagues north to south,
between the Sea of Frost and the leading edge of the great
desert of Khaliratha, and five hundred leagues east to west,
between the coast of the Leagin Sea and the mountains marking
the extents of the Rift Plains. Forged from the conflicts of
ancient clans and disparate lineages, the Elder Kingdoms arose
over centuries of clash and conquest, war and peace. In that
time, these lands have been home to some of the greatest
warriors and most powerful magic users in the history of the
world. In that time, these lands have given rise to legendary
greatness and unspeakable evil — corruption that was exposed
and put down during the age of Empire, but which is rising
again in the years since the Empire’s fall.
The Imperial Peace
The Elder Kingdoms were never called that directly before the
days of Empire, but were so named intentionally during the
treaty that brought the last of these lands into the Imperial
commonwealth. The name was publicly lauded as an
acknowledgement of the longstanding strength of these realms,
their cultures, and their nations. But the Empire’s appointed
regents also understood that establishing a neutral name in the
Imperial language would prevent the inevitable backlash against
any territorial name rooted in a regional language and
connected to the history of a single nation.
The long history of regional conflict and struggle on which the
lands of the Elder Kingdoms were built made those lands the
last territories to be brought under Imperial control, some five
hundred years after the rise of the Lothelecan in the west. When
the Empire advanced upon the six independent realms of
Ajaeltha, Gracia, Kelistae, Norgyr, Vanyr, and Yewnwood, those
lands were among the strongest nations in all Isheridar, even
weakened as they were by long centuries of cycling between
conflict and uneasy peace. Though many folk talk today of a
broad peace imposed on all six nations by Imperial decree, in
truth, the Lothelecan made no attempt to take control of those
six realms by pronouncement or force. Rather, it was a slow
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
process of cultural assimilation and the promise of peace that
brought the region under the aegis of Imperial power and made
the Lothelecan’s conquest of Isheridar complete.
Chapter 7/Legacy of Empire (151)
The people of what is now the Elder Kingdoms held out against
Imperial rule for as long as they did through a combination of
harsh diplomacy and isolated bouts of bloody resistance,
striking into adjacent Imperial Territories in the Rift Plains. But
over two centuries of standoff, Imperial culture and the notion of
the benefits of an Imperial Peace inevitably drifted across
guarded borders, causing many folk to covet those benefits.
And so the leaders of the Elder Kingdoms were forced to accept
Imperial dominion in the end — and then to reinvent themselves
over a millennia-long peace the like of which those lands had
never before known. Now, just a few generations after the
collapse of the Empire, most folk of the Elder Kingdoms loudly
proclaim their commitment to continuing peace and prosperity,
even as nationalist tensions rise and ancient evils held in check
by the Empire begin to stir.
Lineages and Peoples
The territories of the Elder Kingdoms have been settled, fought
over, and settled again by countless clans, tribes, and peoples
since even before the first recorded histories of the lizardfolk
and elves. But across the ages of these lands whose pasts can
be properly reckoned and studied, a number of distinct waves
of settlement are known.
The lizardfolk and kobolds made the first worldborn forays to
the Leagin Coast, moving out of what is now the forbidden
dragon heartlands of Taliyad some three hundred thousand
years ago. As those folk pushed ever northward with the
receding of the great glaciers that once stretched as far south as
the Kelistae mainland, essaruks crossing west from what is now
Khalayah moved north behind them, followed by humans out of
Vandaya and Haszuur. The dwarves and elves of the Rift Plains
were well established across the territory by thirty thousand
years ago, with all the other worldborn peoples established,
thriving, and competing across these lands by the time the last
glaciers receded across the Sea of Frost some ten thousand
years past.
The first signs of the cultures that would come to dominate and
define the Elder Kingdoms appeared some three thousand
years ago, when the elf, dwarf, human, and lizardfolk clans of the
Leagin Coast began to establish the city-states of Aigoris that
gave rise to Gracia. Over the next thousand years, the territories
that were then known as Norgaran began to coalesce around a
fractious mix of dwarf, essaruk, human, and orc clans scattered
across what are now the Norgyr northlands, even as human
migrants coming across the Leangnar and Leagin Seas from the
southeast swept into the elf and kobold clans of the Kelist
islands.
Over generations, those Kelist migrants carried on west, harried
by the elf and gnome clans of the Yewnwood to push into the
dwarf, elf, and orc holds beyond, and forging the first of the
Vanyr clans. Through this same period, the territories that are
now Ajaeltha were largely a mix of clanholds and free cities
dominated in different areas by dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling,
human, and kobold folk, often warring with or falling under the
A14
 Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms

control of Kelist clans. But between seven hundred and five Ajaelthans share a sense of loyalty to their homeland and a
hundred years before the rise of the Lothelecan — the time of reverence for its myth and history.
the Steronus Empire and the Erian Empire, both centered in the
south of what is now Gracia — the cultures of the great six Names in Ajaelthan
nations had been firmly established and would continue to
The Ajaelthan language is an offshoot of the languages of
expand.
Nesana across the Leangnar Sea, but has absorbed a significant
amount of feel and grammar from the languages of the
Population and Demographics successive foreign empires that have ruled over these lands.
The peoples of the world are an extraordinary mosaic of lineages, Aahota Anqite Bektaten Eopei
and the population data recorded by centuries of Imperial surveys Ermeni Habibah Hafsah Sjatho
and by government census in the post-Imperial age are only rough Nebter Hendaqu Hentateh Horirem
reckonings of the folk who dwell in different lands. Sapient folk who
Houteoiri Katesch Kesi Khonsiri
amount to 1 percent or more of the general population are noted as
Lateef Maani Mafuane Maut
such, along with those peoples most commonly found in lesser
Messit Mitaten Nekhbet Nesmaut
numbers. But members of the other sapient lines can be found in
most regions, especially in major cities and trading hubs. Nitkiri Nitocris Nunnu Nunsas
Nubukha Omenthah Oseye Pasupti
Piaa Ramaa Sapta Sekhet
Nations and Cultures Sentantef Tanbast Thii Uatit

This section presents a brief overview of each of the nations and

cultures of the Elder Kingdoms — the six dominant realms plus
the four smaller realms alongside and within those lands.
Empire of Ajaeltha
Population: 18,210,000 — dwarf 12% • human 12% • elf 9% •
gnome 8% • halfling 8% • orc 7% • essaruk 5% • goblin 5% •
hobgoblin 5% • kobold 5% • bugbear 3% • ilcalda 2% •
lizardfolk 2% • ayrluhkal 1% • fiirmar 1% • fomori 1% • gnoll
1% • kreath’an 1% • other 12% (hallaek, korrik, minotaur, ogre,
quickling, rohkhad, troll)
Regional Language: Ajaelthan
Ajaeltha is a territory of largely dry scrubland, settled as
successive waves of clanholds, and ultimately defined by the
culture of three worldborn empires — Nesana, Steronus, and
Eria — that controlled its territory for centuries before it took its
present form. Before it capitulated to the control of the
Lothelecan, Ajaeltha was an empire of its own, predominantly
populated by dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, humans, and
kobolds, and governed from its capital territory of Isaan. From
the moment the first word of the destruction of Ulannor Mor was
heard in the Elder Kingdoms, these lands declared themselves
an empire once more, though Ajaeltha now controls only a little
more territory than it did under the Lothelecan. And with
powerful nations to all sides of it, any hopes of ruling over a
broader territory seem unlikely to come to pass.
Long years of war, strife, and assassination in Ajaeltha followed
the breakup of the Lothelecan and the dispersal of the
Lotherasien, but the rule of the imperial khanan has long
established an uneasy peace here. The khanan rules the empire
directly from Deema in Isaan, appointing the leaders of each of
Ajaeltha’s other provinces — and demanding absolute loyalty of
them, as they demand the loyalty of local leaders in turn. The
rule of law in Ajaeltha is thus focused equally on duty to the
state and the khanan, and concern about the effects of
corruption among the land’s rulers is commonplace. So too is
open outlawry dedicated to fighting that corruption — or to
keeping the profits of trade and mercantilism away from the
imperial tax collectors.
Though the scrublands of Ajaeltha are arable enough, the much
more fertile lands of the central and northern river valleys
feature a high concentration of population in their cities and
settlements. No matter where they dwell, though, most
Kingdom of Gracia
Population: 42,720,000 — elf 9% • human 9% • gnome 8% •
halfling 8% • kobold 6% • lizardfolk 6% • essaruk 5% • bugbear
4% • centaur 4% • dwarf 4% • goblin 4% • hobgoblin 4% • orc
4% • cyclops 2% • doppelganger 1% • dryad 1% • fomori 1% •
hallaek 1% • minotaur 1% • troglodyte 1% • troll 1% • other 14%
(ayrluhkal, clohmad, ettin, green hewna, medusa, nymph, ogre,
quohdun, satyr, ysereina)
Regional Language: Gracian.
Gracia is the most populous nation of the Elder Kingdoms, built
on the foundations of the ancient city-states of Aigoris that rose
three thousand years ago along the coast of Galvas Bay.
Standing as centers of trade, culture, and lore in the north for a
thousand years, the Aigorani cities of the elves, dwarves,
humans, and lizardfolk spread their culture across the eastern
world, and were the starting points of the two great empires of
Steronus and Eria that defined the extents of present-day Gracia
centuries before the Lothelecan.
With the fall of that latter Empire, Gracia quickly reestablished
itself as the most powerful nation in the Elder Kingdoms, and
perhaps in all the northeast of Isheridar. Seemingly inevitably,
though, the question of who would hold that power led to civil
war within five years of the destruction of Ulannor Mor,
fracturing Gracia into splinter kingdoms and principalities that
fought for more than fifty years in what are now called the Wars
of Succession. Two different high kings emerged during that
time, but neither could manage to unite Gracia for more than a
decade before conflict erupted once more. Only when
threatened by the aggression of a Norgyr warlord who nearly
succeeded in annexing most of Gracia’s northern territory —
before being assassinated at the summit meant to declare him
the next high king — were the various princes and dukes of
Gracia able to channel their own ambitions into political unity.
Today, the duchies of Gracia are united and effectively
independent, bound by treaty and the figurehead rule of a high
king nominated by the dukes.
Its high population makes Gracia a land dominated by great
cities, and notable for the lush farmland that feeds its people
and the folk of neighboring lands. The nation’s varied cultures
share a common pride in the history of the Steronus and Erian
Empires that are synonymous with the power of the Gracia of
old. Likewise, most Gracians share a sense that the nation’s
future will be defined by maintaining the economic superiority

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 Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms

born of the Imperial peace of the Lothelecan, even as the these lands’ contemporary culture. All Kelists are nominally
memory of the nation’s post-Imperial political instability makes members of the nation’s civilian militia, and the rule of law on
many wary of militaristic ambition among their leaders. the islands is sacrosanct. At the same time, though, many Kelists
revere the past as a time of greater glory for their nation, and it
Names in Gracian is all too easy for some to lionize the war kings and their passion
for conquest. A sudden militaristic resurgence in the faith of the
The Gracian language is the distant heir of the Aigorani
old Kelist gods nearly brought the country to the brink of civil
languages first used by human tribes along the Leagin coast.
war some sixty years after the fall of the Lothelecan, and serves
Old Aigorani was the language of both the Steronus and Erian
as a warning to many of the need for Kelistae to break from its
Empires, and the complexity of modern Gracian owes much to
past in order to secure the future.
the territories and the clan languages those empires absorbed.
Adriani
Argiro
Agapi
Balalli
Alexouli
Danai
Angaliki
Dimitra
Names In Kelist
Eirini Eleonora Ganatou Glarakou
The Kelist language was shaped and defined on the isolated
Helaktra Isidora Kiriaki Kondatou
islands of Kelistae, and was largely untouched by the languages
of any empire. Though not an offshoot of Ilvani, it absorbed
Lagouli Lambralli Lambrea Levendi
elements of that language’s grammar and construction over
Magdalini Makrea Mallidi Maniatalli
long centuries, creating overt similarities in the tone and lyrical
Manto Moraitade Morea Nokoleh
qualities of both.
Palitea Panayiota Pavlina Periadi
Persefoni Poulou Savvina Speralla Aindriú Amhladh Beistean Bhodhsa
Taniala Tolide Varvara Vasiliide Carola Cathbharra Cináed Conaráin
Conn Dheóradha Dhrostain Domhnull

Kingdom of Kelistae Dugan

Faragher
Dyfan
Fraechta
Eacháin
Gerwyn
Eoghann
Gilander
Population: 17,340,000 — elf 10% • human 9% • dwarf 7% • Gilno Greumach Griff Keird
gnome 7% • halfling 7% • kobold 7% • goblin 6% • hobgoblin Ladha Leiti Maelgwyn Maodhóg
6% • bugbear 5% • essaruk 5% • hallaek 3% • lizardfolk 5% • orc Matasan Mochua Móirne Morthwyl
5% • pixie 4% • doppelganger 2% • centaur 1% • minotaur 1% • Murdagh Neahdain Pendry Rathais
ogre 1% • satyr 1% • troll 1% • other 8% (cyclops, grig, iron Rhion Roibeart Séahdha Tiobaid
hewna, istruhmad, troglodyte, willowisp, ysereina)
Regional Language: Kelist. Norgyr Freeholds
A series of isthmus-connected islands and a section of the Population: 16,758,000 — dwarf 11% • essaruk 11% • human
mainland bordered on the north by the Shieldcrest Mountains, 10% • bugbear 6% • elf 6% • orc 6% • goblin 5% • hobgoblin
Kelistae is a land of forests and fields whose traditions and 5% • gnome 4% • halfling 4% • kobold 4% • troll 4% • lizardfolk
cultures extend back to the first elf, kobold, and human settlers 3% • wiirdhar 3% • fiirmar 2% • frost hewna 2% • rohkhad 2% •
to claim these lands. The history of the Kelists is a history of hallaek 1% • quohdun 2% • other 6% (athach, centaur, derro,
conquest and resistance. The folk of the islands that were the ettin, minotaur, ogre)
original Kelist territory were first known as reavers and
mercenaries, and controlled the southern Leagin Sea for Regional Language: Norgyr.
centuries. Against successive waves of imperial expansion — Norgyr is a stark land of sweeping plains and high mountains,
first Steronus, then Eria, and finally, the Empire of the whose oldest histories have been largely written in conflict. The
Lothelecan — the Kelists made their names as fierce insurgents, clan-strong dwarf, essaruk, human, and orc folk of these lands
whose loyalty to their war kings drove their bloody defiance of have long found strife not only with their neighboring nations
the attempted control of any other nation. In the end, though, but among themselves, living for millennia as a collection of
the Lothelecan tide proved too strong to resist, and Kelistae holds, city-states, and territories claimed by conquest. Though
became the last independent nation of Isheridar to accept wars of outright destruction were thankfully rare throughout
Imperial rule — and then the first of the Elder Kingdoms to Norgyr’s long history, periods of extended peace in the
declare its independence after the Empire’s fall. northlands typically revolved only around larger conflicts with
The hunger for independence and self-determination that lives Gracia and Vanyr, and during the enforced concord of the
at the heart of Kelist culture helped define the new political Empire of the Lothelecan.
order of Kelistae in the post-Imperial age. But that Before the Elder Kingdoms became part of that Empire, Norgyr
independence was tempered by the thousand years of peace was a kingdom in its own right, held together by blood and
imposed by the Lothelecan, and an understanding of the cost of steel. The high kings of that land ruled by force to keep the
constant warfare that the Kelists of old had never reckoned. aspirations of lesser warlords in check, but were forced to
Political power in Kelistae is centered in the people, who elect accept Imperial rule when it became clear that the Lothelecan
the town and city mayors who manage local affairs. Those were a foe who could not be beaten. When the Empire fell, a
mayors in turn elect local lords, who elect from among their own doomed attempt was made to reform the kingdom of old, but
ranks the four princes who nominally rule the four principalities infighting over which of Norgyr’s provincial lords should take the
of Kelistae. But in practical terms, the princes serve to enforce throne collapsed the north into warring freeholds whose leaders
the will of and settle disputes between the lords, who each sought to claim land and power for themselves. Eventually,
themselves directly serve the interests of the mayors and the the dominant freelords signed a treaty of peace and
people. independence that created the Norgyr Freeholds — a nation of
Though its warrior past is only history now, the importance of independent territories ruled by no central authority.
struggle and conquest in the legends of Kelistae still define

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 Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms

In the southlands, the freeholds’ reputation as harsh and lawless the country in tandem — and whose first act of political will
lands is vastly overstated, though Norgyr’s hardy folk do little to involved the annexation of the Norgyr territory now called
deny that reputation. The cities and towns of the holds cluster Reimari, during the collapse of unified rule in Norgyr. The
around the territory’s rich grasslands, fast-growing forests, and leading council members are the princes who rule each
countless mines, with the borderlands between freeholds province, but the king above them is largely ceremonial in their
marked and maintained by militias more than ready to fight to power, acting mostly as an arbiter for decisions on which the
defend them. Open conflict between freeholds has been council is deadlocked. Kings are appointed from among the
thankfully rare, however, and typically ends with would-be members of the council, and selected based on their impartiality
conqueror freelords broken by local alliances between and a proven ability in legal and political affairs.
neighboring freeholds or inevitably overthrown by the kin of Though they are no more inclined to entertain the worship of
conquered foes. the old gods than any other folk, the Vanyr hold a specific
cultural reverence for their ancestors, and attempt to honor the
Names in Norgyr figures of the past in all they do.
The Norgyr language grew out of the now-extinct Norgaran clan
languages that dominated the lands that are now the Norgyr Names in Vanyr
Freeholds for millennia. Though largely untouched by any The Vanyr language shares a root with the oldest progenitor
languages of empire, it has come to borrow subtle elements of languages of Kelist, but absorbed much from Orc and Ilvani over
its grammar from Dwarven over centuries of contact between its history. Its complex grammar marks it as distinct from any of
the original human and dwarf settlers of what are now the the other regional languages of the Elder Kingdoms, and many
Norgyr lands. folk find it difficult to learn.
Aaroy Ardran Auclan Berge
Aarni Alanteri Alvi Atte
Britt Bronsta Bryna Carlon
Fanni Heikkanen Huttunen Hyvonen
Elin Eskil Grona Gronda
Jasmiina Jenni Juhani Juvonen
Halena Hamre Hareide Hoflan
Kauppila Keskitalo Kimi Laine
Holen Ingvild Isberg Jesper
Leevi Leppala Leskinen Lonkala
John Jorid Kimwold Kopperul
Maaria Maija Maki Miika
Lotte Mathias Morstad Myrian
Mikkola Myllyla Naemi Nina
Pia Roan Ryen Rygga
Oiva Olavi Paasio Parviainen
Sivert Soren Tonje Torfinn
Peltonen Pukki Seema Simola
Tove Vegard Viste Wollen
Soini Suoma Verneri Vilja

Kingdom of the Vanyr Yewnwood

Population: 20,407,170 — dwarf 11% • human 11% • orc 10% •
elf 9% • gnome 6% • goblin 6% • halfling 5% • hobgoblin 5% •
bugbear 4% • centaur 4% • essaruk 4% • lizardfolk 4% • gnoll
3% • kobold 3% • ogre 1% • rohkhad 1% • troglodyte 1% •
vormloek 1% • ysereina 1% • other 8% (clohmad, fiirmar, fomori,
grig, korrik, minotaur, troll)
Regional Language: Vanyr.
A land of wide grassy plains and fertile steppes, Vanyr is the
second-most populous nation of the Elder Kingdoms, and
second only to Gracia in its economy and power. Its territories
were settled slowly and from all directions by waves of dwarf, elf,
orc, and human folk, slowly taking shape as a system of holds
and independent settlements. Marking the fringes of the
territories controlled by the Steronus and Erian empires, the
lands long known as Vanyr were left free for long centuries to
develop on their own, taking in new culture and new folk as a
result of migration, and avoiding having a national identity
defined by others.
Vanyr became a united kingdom only four centuries before the
rise of the Lothelecan, when its disparate holds and clans were
forced to align in the face of threats from Norgyr to the north,
Ajaeltha from the south, and Gracia from the east. Though the
relatively new nation resisted Imperial assimilation along with its
neighbor kingdoms, its folk offered up little resistance when
Imperial rule came. Likewise, when the Empire of the Lothelecan
fell, Vanyr became a kingdom once more with a minimal amount
of conflict — largely as a result of folk witnessing the bloodshed
wrought by civil war in Gracia and Norgyr.
From the political structures of the Imperial regency, the folk of
Vanyr established a king’s council of lords and guilds who rule
Population: 9,870,000 — elf 9% • gnome 8% • orc 7% • halfling
5% • human 5% • lizardfolk 5% • kobold 5% • bugbear 4% •
centaur 4% • dryad 4% • dwarf 4% • essaruk 4% • goblin 4% •
hobgoblin 4% • pixie 4% • satyr 4% • nixie 3% • nymph 3% •
cyclops 2% • fomori 2% • grig 2% • clohmad 1% • other 4%
(ettin, green hewna, minotaur, quohdun, troll, willowisp)
Regional Languages: Ilvani, Sylvan.
Long before the arrival of the first humans to the lands that are
now the Elder Kingdoms, Yewnwood was the ten-thousand-
year-old forest dominion of the elves, who had displaced the
lizardfolk who settled the woods before them, and whose
descendants have long since spread throughout the realms of
the east. By the time of the Lothelecan, Yewnwood had long
been home to folk of other lineages. But it was the dominance
of the elves that drove the dominion to become the first of the
Elder Kingdoms nations to accept the offer of Imperial rule.
(When the accord that saw all these lands finally brought under
Imperial control was drafted, it was called the Treaty of Five
Kings because Yewnwood had never had a king, and had
already acquiesced to Imperial control.)
The folk of Yewnwood have no central authority. Rather, the
great forest dominion is split into small domains ruled from the
forest-homes — sprawling tree-cities whose elected councils of
lords govern a wide territory. The culture of Yewnwood is built
around respect for the forest and fealty to its elected rulers. The
largest of the forest-homes can house upwards of five thousand
people on hundreds of tiered levels, but even the smallest
ground-based settlements of Yewnwood incorporate the
strength and beauty of nature into their designs.

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Folk of all lineages are welcome in Yewnyr, but the endless
expanse of twilight forest is an acquired taste for many. The
people who make their homes here are thus resolutely bonded
by their love of the sylvan forest, whose oldest yewn trees have
stood for more than a thousand years. Those who are born here
are at home in twilight and silence, and many have trouble
adapting to life outside the forest.
Names in Yewnwood
Ilvani is the dominant language of Yewnwood, but the names of
folk in that realm are inflected through contact with Gracia and
Vanyr to east and west.
Alina Aneirin Anhaern Arasys
Chaedithas Chasiana Chryssa Eilthyra
Elxidor Estathia Gilharis Hagluin
Halamar Hatharal Horith Inkeri
Jussila Kyriaka Lassila Laurila
Leothana Luoma Manidi Meliadi
Mythanar
Ralorel
Naerie
Rantala
Nithroel
Rantana
Quicaryn
Reyphyra
Ristiana Savela Vaalyun Valiadi
Valxina Vilayja Virthyra Wysana
Principality of Dorlan
Population: 1,789,400 — essaruk 10% • dwarf 9% • bugbear
8% • lizardfolk 8% • goblin 7% • gnome 6% • human 6% •
troglodyte 6% • halfling 5% • hobgoblin 5% • kobold 5% •
merfolk 5% • orc 5% • elf 4% • sahuagin 4% • triton 4% •
rohkhad 2% • nixie 1% • other 4% (derro, hallaek, iron hewna,
minotaur, ogre)
Regional Languages: Dwargiir, Essar, Norgyr.
Set at the most remote confluence of the wealth of Gracia,
Stelmoranar in the Sea of Frost, and Ghiyurstu in Jhardyrth, the
Dorlan Isles and their adjacent mainland territory thrived as a
haven for pirates from the days when the first city-states were
established on the islands, some twelve hundred years before
the Lothelecan. The corsairs drawn from the ranks of the
essaruks and dwarves who originally settled the lands they
called Dorlanas plied their trade across the Leagin Sea for
centuries, both as freebooters and under hire by gentry
merchants and trading companies seeking a clandestine edge
against rivals while guaranteeing protection for their own fleets.
Conflict and infighting ensured that Dorlan resisted any
movement toward centralized leadership, and allowed the
corsairs to thrive as a collection of independent fiefs for
centuries. As the Empire established its final hold over the Elder
Kingdoms, the privateers of Dorlan were given the opportunity
to amalgamate with Gracia as part of the Treaty of Five Kings.
However, the leaders of the five most powerful Dorlan fleets
foresaw an ignoble end to their history in that path. It is said that
the islanders’ petition for an independent Imperial charter was
won on the promise of turning the corsair fleets into a de facto
Imperial navy — a move that threatened Gracia’s domination of
the central Leagin and might have helped hasten the
acceptance of Imperial rule in that most populous nation of the
Elder Kingdoms.
During the Imperial age, the folk of Dorlan maintained their
reputation as the best sailors in the north of the Leagin Sea.
With the fall of the Empire, little has changed in that regard. But
in concert with the political upheaval that followed the Empire’s
fall in Norgyr and Gracia, more than a few Dorlan ships have
begun to fly the corsair flag once more. Although unrestricted
CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide
Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms
piracy is still rare in the north, freebooters and adventurer fleets
are becoming more commonplace — with many gaining a
reputation for taking on any assignment for the right price.
Names in Dorlan
Dwargiir, Essar, and Norgyr are spoken across Dorlan, and
shape the names of the people of the islands.
Barbro
Brinath
Berthelsen
Calta
Bodil
Drenda
Borresen
Ebelyn
Garda Gralmani Groukha Hakton
Hamar Heggem Ialtred Jorun
Khundol Koman Laugen Lokulim
Marken Meaginn Mitalyn Moen
Narain Ostrath Ottum Rana
Rokhaug Sivokara Stenseth Sunniva
Thakhas Thirgaest Throdda Throsdren
Turostro Uduth Vorgrarlan Yondrealin
Jharlaash
Population: 4,924,000 — essaruk 10% • orc 9% • goblin 7% •
hobgoblin 7% • bugbear 6% • doppelganger 5% • gnoll 5% •
ayrluhkal 4% • dwarf 4% • lizardfolk 4% • elf 3% • gnome 3% •
hallaek 3% • human 3% • kobold 3% • ogre 3% • halfling 2% •
rohkhad 2% • troll 2% • green hewna 1% • other 16% (bogle,
fuirashlan, istruhmad, minotaur, quickling, satyr, willowisp,
ysereina)
Regional Languages: Golbrhen, Essar, Orc.
Since long before the Empire, the lands that are now Jharlaash
existed as a dominion of unified essaruk, orc, hobgoblin, goblin,
and bugbear holds. The earliest histories of the region talk of
migration from the historical lands of Norgaran, Murrama, and
northern Aigoris, as well as down along the Jhardyrth coasts.
Those migrations brought orc and essaruk settlers into proximity
with goblin, hobgoblin, and bugbear clans — but the long-
standing presence of those clans in the area remains a mystery
that has yet to be solved. Analysis of the Golbrhen language
and golbrhenee culture across the Elder Kingdoms suggests
that nearly all the goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears in those
lands originated out of a broadly divergent population in
Jharlaash. However, no written or witness histories in the Elder
Kingdoms or the lands to the south record a golbrhenee
migration on a scale of the population that must have settled
Jharlaash. As such, much speculation has been made as to
whether the golbrhenee’s first appearance in the north was by
way of some powerful magic still undiscovered.
In the pre-Imperial age, the lands of Jharlaash were also claimed
by the giants of Mokroch, though the giants’ presence along
that remote edge of their northern dominion rarely amounted to
more than occasional raids down to the shores of the Sea of
Phyra. Still, that threat from the north was enough to keep the
folk of Norgyr focused on expanding their territory south
instead of east, and to thus keep the northern Gracian territories
focused on Norgyr rather than expansion over the Drachen’s
Teeth. Thus, while skirmish and struggle for territory played out
at the heart of the Elder Kingdoms, the clans dwelling along
both sides of the Sea of Phyra lived in relative peace.
Once the Empire reached the Elder Kingdoms as the last stage
of its expansion, the folk of Jharlaash faced the challenge of
establishing a unified leadership over top of a system of clans
and pledge-law that had evolved and endured over centuries.
Throughout the Imperial age, the rulership of Jharlaash’s two
provinces and dozen subprovinces under the Imperial regent
A18
 Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms

were largely ceremonial roles, taken in turns by clan leaders on

an annual basis. With the fall of the Empire, however, the need
Names on Myrnan
to define steady leadership in Jharlaash became acute in light of Gracian has long been the official language of Myrnan, but the
political chaos and warfare in Norgyr and Gracia. At present, folk of the island commonly draw names from the long history of
Jharlaash is governed by a council of clans, which coordinates its conflict, occupation, destruction, and rebirth that defines the
rule by messenger and magic. With no fixed number of clans Sorcerers’ Isle.
and no barrier to joining the council, Jharlaash’s politics are a Araret Baralli Bheruk Chomro
fractious affair, reflecting the free-spirited nature of this land’s Colnir Eovnolth Eulcen Eunaiel
people. Gharatha Givnes Glarakos Golgri
Grandolin Guvrin Kontilis Kriti
Names in Jharlaash Kriundrak Kuyei Lena Lycora
Golbrhen, Essar, and Orc are the most commonly used Maragaki Melaidnis Metrobi Nemnaer
languages in Jharlaash, but Norgyr influence can be heard in Oudhlatia Panayotis Paulides Phrairzi
many of the given names of that land. Qemudro Roskri Sejened Tanrada
Theofano Thrafrock Tiqanuth Traendrus
Bhagha Butoth Chybuk Digrinu
Ygne Yrlari Zissis Ziviss
Domlu Dothurum Drudi Haalk
Haarxe Hadwuil Hargux Higroash
Hilb Hurolna Khozvech Kilgrol Yewnyr
Krykt Mobealsa Optafa Peavo Population: 1,220,000 — dwarf 9% • elf 9% • gnome 9% •
Rivrus Saalkul Struvri Thalmac human 9% • essaruk 7% • halfling 7% • lizardfolk 7% • bugbear
Thaznor Theasea Thuskixea Thustair 6% • doppelganger 6% • goblin 6% • hobgoblin 6% • kobold
Tolb Umidrobela Umikkas Uogho 6% • orc 6% • ayrluhkal 1% • troll 1% • other 4% (istruhmad,
Vagaald Visrosh Voumu Watair medusa, minotaur, ogre, ysereina)
Wongai Zoizgyl Zreagax Zrushuc Regional Language: Gracian.
The largest city in Isheridar, the great Free City of Yewnyr lies
Myrnan within Gracian territory, but established its independence from
Population: 550,520 — gnome 8% • goblin 7% • kobold 7% • the will of Gracian dukes and kings thirteen centuries ago.
lizardfolk 7% • dwarf 6% • elf 6% • human 6% • minotaur 5% • Though its independence predates the coming of the
orc 5% • merfolk 4% • centaur 3% • halfling 3% • troll 3% • Lothelecan to the Elder Kingdoms by more than two hundred
bugbear 2% • essaruk 2% • hobgoblin 2% • kreath’an 2% • grig years, the city took great advantage of the thousand-year
2% • pixie 2% • satyr 2% • nixie 1% • triton 1% • other 14% Imperial peace, amassing ever more power, importance, and
(doppelganger, dryad, fuirashlan, gnoll, nymph, quickling) wealth.
Regional Languages: Draconic, Gracian. Starting out as the outpost village of Anstern at the heart of the
Myrnan is a fiercely independent island nation, built on the frontier between the territories of Aigoris, Norgaran, Vanyr, and
bones of two of the most powerful ancient realms in all the Elder Yewnwood, the settlement changed hands three times between
Kingdoms. Called Éimedna and Eyvnar in its oldest histories, Gracia and Vanyr (whose people named it Yewnyr) before being
and known since even those days as the Sorcerers’ Isle, this land finally claimed by Gracia and the Erian Empire that
has a reputation for wealth and danger that is well deserved, encompassed it. Yewnyr became the most powerful city in the
and a history unlike any other place in the world. Settled four north of the empire for a time, then held that status when Eria
times by disparate peoples who tapped into the island’s still- collapsed and Gracia established its own power in the north. But
unexplained potential for magic, Myrnan has been abandoned when the Gracian king abandoned the city to an assault of
once and destroyed twice as a result of arcane cataclysm. Norgyr cultists, the people of Yewnyr were forced to defend
Against the rise of the powerful Aclician Empire from across the themselves with powerful magic and impressive valor. In the
Leagin some nine hundred years before the Lothelecan, the aftermath, the victory that saved the city inspired its people to
island was threatened with the more mundane destruction of declare themselves free of Gracia, turning their backs on that
conquest. But a mage named Myrna discovered long-hidden nation as Gracia’s rulers had turned their backs on them.
magic in the subterranean depths of the island that allowed its Today, Yewnyr is the center of commerce in the north of the
folk to defy the might of the Aclician navies. Renaming their Elder Kingdoms, positioned along the corridor through which
island Myrnan for the mage who became their first king, the folk most trade between Gracia, Vanyr, Norgyr, and Yewnwood
of the island have never since been threatened by outside flows. More than a million people make their homes within the
nations. city’s walls, along with half that many again living within a day’s
Magic is everywhere on Myrnan — not just in terms of the ride of those walls. The folk of the free city hail from virtually
eldritch arts practiced by its people or at the magical academies every sapient lineage, every nation of the Elder Kingdoms, and
that draw pupils from across the eastern world, but in its flora, dozens of foreign lands, shaping a cultural mosaic that makes
fauna, ground, and air. But in the same way that many folk of the Yewnyr the most important center of commerce, industry, and
island are seemingly born with a built-in affinity for spellcraft and magic in the world.
an acceptance of magic being a part of their everyday lives, they
are likewise somewhat inured to the threat of magic. That
includes the lost relics, forgotten sites, and dangerous creatures
who lurk within and beneath the island’s mountains, meadows,
fields, and forests, all a testament to the power and destruction
that once reigned here.

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 Appendix C: The Elder Kingdoms

Names in Yewnyr
Gracian is the language of Yewnyr where the free city stands
within the northwest corner of that nation. But a long history of
independence and a constant influx of population from across
the Elder Kingdoms and beyond gives the predominantly
Gracian names of the city a unique flavor.
Anaxis Aramaer Bhalanu Buvroc
Canul Corcila Efrosyni Faidon
Fenrel Geratou Haskay Inaren
Irsomnos Jesriah Jorona Kenvrol
Kloris Korina Marniel Mirche
Necaih Norxina Orthia Ourania
Parieth Phasidrus Raisa Riarvel
Rizussa Solana Stanon Theano
Tryphena Umabni Unarin Vasana
Vaso Virvozah Wardryn Zarides

Calendar
The calendar of the Elder Kingdoms is the calendar of the
Empire of the Lothelecan, still in use across the world even after
the Empire’s fall. Its twelve months are named for twelve great
heroes from across the world — Natriss, Bera, Rainis, Ilia, Yanda,
Una, Leathri, Garelan, Patalis, Tarcia, Verrist, and Ceron —
chosen by the calendar’s Imperial architects as a means of
making it amenable to the broadest range of cultures. (None of
those heroes hail from the Elder Kingdoms, as the calendar was
codified long before the late entrance of those lands into the
Imperial fold.)
Each twenty-eight-day month is divided into four weeks of seven
days. Days of the week are not named on the Imperial calendar,
but are given names according to the customs of individual
nations and cultures. The year is divided into four seasons of
three months each, with each season preceded by a week of
celebration known as the high season — High Winter (which has
eight days instead of seven), High Spring, High Summer, and
High Autumn. To account for the orbital eccentricity of the
world as it turns each year around the sun, every fourth year in
Isheridar is an intercalary year, adding another day to the week
of High Winter. Exceptions are the ‘round years’ evenly divisible
by 100, except when that year is also divisible by 400.
(The following Imperial calendar presents the days as the
characters reckon them alongside the days of the players’
Gregorian calendar for easy reference.)

CORE20 Playtest v1.0 — Player’s Guide A20

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Dec
13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 High Winter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Na tri s s Dec
21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Jan
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
B e ra Jan
18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Feb
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
R a i ni s Feb
15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Mar
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mar
15
16 17 18 19 20 21 High Spring
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Ilia Mar
22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Apr
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Yan d a Apr
19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
May
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Una May
17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Jun
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Jun
14
15 16 17 18 19 20 High Summer
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Le a th ri Jun
21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Jul
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Gar e l an Jul
19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Aug
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Pata l i s Aug
16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Sep
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Sep
13
14 15 16 17 18 19 High Autumn
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Ta rc i a Sep
20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Oct
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Verri s t Oct
18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Nov
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Ce ro n Nov
15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Dec
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12