Pyro’s Den discussion

Here are the rules.

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How to Play
The play of the Dungeons & Dragons game unfolds according to this basic pattern.
1. The DM describes the environment. The DM
tells the players where their adventurers are and what’s
around them, presenting the basic scope of options that
present themselves (how many doors lead out of a room,
what’s on a table, who’s in the tavern, and so on).
2. The players describe what they want to do. Sometimes one player speaks for the whole party, saying,
“We’ll take the east door,” for example. Other times,
different adventurers do different things: one adventurer
might search a treasure chest while a second examines
an esoteric symbol engraved on a wall and a third keeps
watch for monsters. The players don’t need to take turns,
but the DM listens to every player and decides how to resolve those actions.
Sometimes, resolving a task is easy. If an adventurer
wants to walk across a room and open a door, the DM
might just say that the door opens and describe what lies
beyond. But the door might be locked, the floor might
hide a deadly trap, or some other circumstance might
make it challenging for an adventurer to complete a task.
In those cases, the DM decides what happens, often
relying on the roll of a die to determine the results of
an action.
3. The DM narrates the results of the adventurers’
actions. Describing the results often leads to another decision point, which brings the flow of the game right back
to step 1.
This pattern holds whether the adventurers are cautiously exploring a ruin, talking to a devious prince, or
locked in mortal combat against a mighty dragon. In
certain situations, particularly combat, the action is more
structured and the players (and DM) do take turns choosing and resolving actions. But most of the time, play is
fluid and flexible, adapting to the circumstances of the
adventure.
Often the action of an adventure takes place in the
imagination of the players and DM, relying on the DM’s
verbal descriptions to set the scene. Some DMs like to
use music, art, or recorded sound effects to help set the
mood, and many players and DMs alike adopt different
voices for the various adventurers, monsters, and other
characters they play in the game. Sometimes, a DM
might lay out a map and use tokens or miniature figures
to represent each creature involved in a scene to help the
players keep track of where everyone is.
Game Dice
The game uses polyhedral dice with different numbers of
sides. You can find dice like these in game stores and in
many bookstores.
In these rules, the different dice are referred to by the
letter d followed by the number of sides: d4, d6, d8, d10,
d12, and d20. For instance, a d6 is a six-sided die (the
typical cube that many games use).
Percentile dice, or d100, work a little differently. You
generate a number between 1 and 100 by rolling two
different ten-sided dice numbered from 0 to 9. One die
(designated before you roll) gives the tens digit, and
the other gives the ones digit. If you roll a 7 and a 1, for

example, the number rolled is 71. Two 0s represent 100.
Some ten-sided dice are numbered in tens (00, 10, 20,
and so on), making it easier to distinguish the tens digit
from the ones digit. In this case, a roll of 70 and 1 is 71,
and 00 and 0 is 100.
When you need to roll dice, the rules tell you how many
dice to roll of a certain type, as well as what modifiers to
add. For example, “3d8 + 5” means you roll three eightsided dice, add them together, and add 5 to the total.
The same d notation appears in the expressions “1d3”
and “1d2.” To simulate the roll of 1d3, roll a d6 and divide
the number rolled by 2 (round up). To simulate the roll of
1d2, roll any die and assign a 1 or 2 to the roll depending
on whether it was odd or even. (Alternatively, if the number rolled is more than half the number of sides on the
die, it’s a 2.)
The D20
Does an adventurer’s sword swing hurt a dragon or just
bounce off its iron-hard scales? Will the ogre believe an
outrageous bluff? Can a character swim across a raging
river? Can a character avoid the main blast of a fireball,
or does he or she take full damage from the blaze? In
cases where the outcome of an action is uncertain, the
Dungeons & Dragons game relies on rolls of a 20-sided
die, a d20, to determine success or failure.
Every character and monster in the game has capabilities defined by six ability scores. The abilities are
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom,
and Charisma, and they typically range from 3 to 18 for
most adventurers. (Monsters might have scores as low as
1 or as high as 30.) These ability scores, and the ability
modifiers derived from them, are the basis for almost
every d20 roll that a player makes on a character’s or
monster’s behalf.
Ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws are the
three main kinds of d20 rolls, forming the core of the
rules of the game. All three follow these simple steps.
1. Roll the die and add a modifier. Roll a d20 and add
the relevant modifier. This is typically the modifier derived from one of the six ability scores, and it sometimes
includes a proficiency bonus to reflect a character’s particular skill. (See chapter 1 for details on each ability and
how to determine an ability’s modifier.)
2. Apply circumstantial bonuses and penalties. A
class feature, a spell, a particular circumstance, or some
other effect might give a bonus or penalty to the check.
3. Compare the total to a target number. If the total
equals or exceeds the target number, the ability check,
attack roll, or saving throw is a success. Otherwise, it’s a
failure. The DM is usually the one who determines target
numbers and tells players whether their ability checks,
attack rolls, and saving throws succeed or fail.
The target number for an ability check or a saving
throw is called a Difficulty Class (DC). The target number for an attack roll is called an Armor Class (AC).
This simple rule governs the resolution of most tasks
in D&D play. Chapter 7 provides more detailed rules for
using the d20 in the game.

Advantage and Disadvantage
Sometimes an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw
is modified by special situations called advantage and disadvantage. Advantage reflects the positive circumstances
surrounding a d20 roll, while disadvantage reflects the
opposite. When you have either advantage or disadvantage, you roll a second d20 when you make the roll. Use
the higher of the two rolls if you have advantage, and use
the lower roll if you have disadvantage. For example, if
you have disadvantage and roll a 17 and a 5, you use the
5. If you instead have advantage and roll those numbers,
you use the 17.
More detailed rules for advantage and disadvantage are
presented in chapter 7.
Specific Beats General
This book contains rules, especially in parts 2 and 3, that
govern how the game plays. That said, many racial traits,
class features, spells, magic items, monster abilities, and
other game elements break the general rules in some
way, creating an exception to how the rest of the game
works. Remember this: If a specific rule contradicts a
general rule, the specific rule wins.
Exceptions to the rules are often minor. For instance,
many adventurers don’t have proficiency with longbows,
but every wood elf does because of a racial trait. That
trait creates a minor exception in the game. Other examples of rule-breaking are more conspicuous. For instance,
an adventurer can’t normally pass through walls, but
some spells make that possible. Magic accounts for most
of the major exceptions to the rules.
Round Down
There’s one more general rule you need to know at the
outset. Whenever you divide a number in the game, round
down if you end up with a fraction, even if the fraction is
one-half or greater.
Adventures
The Dungeons & Dragons game consists of a group of
characters embarking on an adventure that the Dungeon
Master presents to them. Each character brings particular capabilities to the adventure in the form of ability
scores and skills, class features, racial traits, equipment,
and magic items. Every character is different, with various strengths and weaknesses, so the best party of
adventurers is one in which the characters complement
each other and cover the weaknesses of their companions. The adventurers must cooperate to successfully
complete the adventure.
The adventure is the heart of the game, a story with
a beginning, a middle, and an end. An adventure might
be created by the Dungeon Master or purchased off the
shelf, tweaked and modified to suit the DM’s needs and
desires. In either case, an adventure features a fantastic
setting, whether it’s an underground dungeon, a crumbling castle, a stretch of wilderness, or a bustling city. It
features a rich cast of characters: the adventurers created
and played by the other players at the table, as well as
nonplayer characters (NPCs). Those characters might
be patrons, allies, enemies, hirelings, or just background

extras in an adventure. Often, one of the NPCs is a villain
whose agenda drives much of an adventure’s action.
Over the course of their adventures, the characters are
confronted by a variety of creatures, objects, and situations that they must deal with in some way. Sometimes
the adventurers and other creatures do their best to
kill or capture each other in combat. At other times, the
adventurers talk to another creature (or even a magical
object) with a goal in mind. And often, the adventurers
spend time trying to solve a puzzle, bypass an obstacle,
find something hidden, or unravel the current situation.
Meanwhile, the adventurers explore the world, making
decisions about which way to travel and what they’ll try
to do next.
Adventures vary in length and complexity. A short adventure might present only a few challenges, and it might
take no more than a single game session to complete. A
long adventure can involve hundreds of combats, interactions, and other challenges, and take dozens of sessions
to play through, stretching over weeks or months of real
time. Usually, the end of an adventure is marked by the
adventurers heading back to civilization to rest and enjoy
the spoils of their labors.
But that’s not the end of the story. You can think of
an adventure as a single episode of a TV series, made
up of multiple exciting scenes. A campaign is the whole
series—a string of adventures joined together, with a consistent group of adventurers following the narrative from
start to finish.
The Three Pillars of Adventure
Adventurers can try to do anything their players can
imagine, but it can be helpful to talk about their activities
in three broad categories: exploration, social interaction,
and combat.
Exploration includes both the adventurers’ movement
through the world and their interaction with objects and
situations that require their attention. Exploration is the
give-and-take of the players describing what they want
their characters to do, and the Dungeon Master telling
the players what happens as a result. On a large scale,
that might involve the characters spending a day crossing
a rolling plain or an hour making their way through caverns underground. On the smallest scale, it could mean
one character pulling a lever in a dungeon room to see
what happens.
Social interaction features the adventurers talking to
someone (or something) else. It might mean demanding
that a captured scout reveal the secret entrance to the
goblin lair, getting information from a rescued prisoner,
pleading for mercy from an orc chieftain, or persuading
a talkative magic mirror to show a distant location to the
adventurers.
The rules in chapters 7 and 8 support exploration and
social interaction, as do many class features in chapter 3
and personality traits in chapter 4.
Combat, the focus of chapter 9, involves characters
and other creatures swinging weapons, casting spells,
maneuvering for position, and so on—all in an effort

to defeat their opponents, whether that means killing
every enemy, taking captives, or forcing a rout. Combat
is the most structured element of a D&D session, with
creatures taking turns to make sure that everyone gets
a chance to act. Even in the context of a pitched battle,
there’s still plenty of opportunity for adventurers to attempt wacky stunts like surfing down a flight of stairs on
a shield, to examine the environment (perhaps by pulling
a mysterious lever), and to interact with other creatures,
including allies, enemies, and neutral parties.
The Wonders of Magic
Few D&D adventures end without something magical
happening. Whether helpful or harmful, magic appears
frequently in the life of an adventurer, and it is the focus
of chapters 10 and 11.
In the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, practitioners
of magic are rare, set apart from the masses of people
by their extraordinary talent. Common folk might see
evidence of magic on a regular basis, but it’s usually
minor—a fantastic monster, a visibly answered prayer,
a wizard walking through the streets with an animated
shield guardian as a bodyguard.
For adventurers, though, magic is key to their survival.
Without the healing magic of clerics and paladins, adventurers would quickly succumb to their wounds. Without
the uplifting magical support of bards and clerics, warriors might be overwhelmed by powerful foes. Without
the sheer magical power and versatility of wizards and
druids, every threat would be magnified tenfold.
Magic is also a favored tool of villains. Many adventures are driven by the machinations of spellcasters who
are hellbent on using magic for some ill end. A cult leader
seeks to awaken a god who slumbers beneath the sea, a
hag kidnaps youths to magically drain them of their vigor,
a mad wizard labors to invest an army of automatons
with a facsimile of life, a dragon begins a mystical ritual
to rise up as a god of destruction—these are just a few
of the magical threats that adventurers might face. With
magic of their own, in the form of spells and magic items,
the adventurers might prevail!