5e Rule Interpretations & House Rulings

Listed on this forum are the 5e Rules Interpretations and House Rulings I will use during the campaign. These items stem from my own experience playing 5e, conversations with other gamers, and reading various conversations on other online sources. Some of these we have already discussed and are currently using. Others are completely new. I reserve the right to add and/or subtract from this list as the campaign moves forward. While I'm pretty much set on these interpretations, I'm always open to discussion and possible modifications. Please use the 5e Rules Discussion forum as the platform for discussion on this topic.

Resting Characters are limited to a maximum of two short rests between each long rest. All other rules pertaining to rests are as written in the PHB.

Death Saving Throws A death saving throw occurs at the end of a character’s turn, so it is essentially all the character may do that turn even if a natural 20 is rolled and a hit point gained.

Crossbow Expert Feat The feat as written : Thanks to extensive practice with the crossbow, you gain the following benefits: You ignore the loading quality of crossbows with which you are proficient. Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn't impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls. When you use the Attack action and attack with a one-handed weapon, you can use a bonus action to attack with a loaded hand crossbow you are holding. Interpretation This feat may ONLY be used with Crossbows, hence the name Crossbow Expert. In regards to the third bullet point, I see all bonus action attacks as being off-hand attacks so… You must be dual wielding weapons to get the bonus action attack with the hand crossbow. You do not add your Dexterity modifier to your bonus action attack unless it is negative. You may dual wield two hand crossbows if you wish.

Readying a Spell When you ready a spell, the spell slot is expended even if the trigger does not occur. Your safest bet is to only ready cantrips.

Half and Three-Quarter Cover and Ranged Attacks The rules for half and three-quarter cover are as written but modified as follows: Any attack that passes through another creature’s space grants half cover (+2 to armor class) to the target as written. Any attack that passes through three or more creatures’ space grants three quarter cover (+5 to armor class) to the target.

Heat Metal Spell In addition to using the spell as written, the caster must be able to see the target in order to use a bonus action to repeat the damage caused by the Heat Metal spell.

Readying\Stowing Weapons and Shields The following rules are in effect when readying or stowing weapons and shields: It takes an action to ready or stow a shield (page 146 PHB). A character may ready or stow any single weapon as part of a move or an action as long as they have one hand free or two hands free for a two-handed weapon. A second weapon may be readied or stowed provided it is a light weapon and the character’s off hand is free. If a character has the Dual Wielder Feat then the second weapon may be any light or one-handed weapon.

Mounted Combat Much training is required for a mount to become effective in combat. They must be trained to overcome their natural instinct to flee from noise, the smell of blood, and the confusion of combat. They must be trained to balance beneath a rider laden with weapons and armor. They must to be trained to accept sudden or unusual movements of their rider while they flail with a weapon or avoid being hit by one. They must be trained to be controlled with limited use of reins by responding primarily to a rider's legs and weight. They must be trained to accept any necessary tack and protective armor placed upon it. Using the rules for the ranger’s companion animal, paladin’s Find Steed spell, and the mounted combat rules, I’ve established the following rules for mounted combat: A character riding a mount into combat must be proficient with that type of “vehicle” or suffer disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and dexterity saves while mounted in combat. A mount with an intelligence score of 6 or more is considered to be an intelligent mount. Mounts are considered either trained or untrained for combat. The warhorse and intelligent mounts are considered to be trained for combat. All other mounts must undergo the training process before being considered trained for combat (see below). Untrained mounts will not enter into combat and will run away if they should find themselves in combat. Trained, non-intelligent mounts: 1. When acting independently, non-intelligent mounts will not enter into combat and will run away if they should find themselves in combat. 2. When controlled, non-intelligent mounts will act per the mounted combat rules in the Player’s Handbook on page 198. Intelligent mounts will always act in their own best interest. Since a rider essentially has no movement of their own while mounted, the mount's movement is considered as movement by both the rider and mount. Therefore, both rider and mount may suffer Opportunity Attacks. The only way for a rider and mount to both avoid Opportunity Attacks is if they both take the disengage action before the movement occurs. Training a mount for combat: If your character takes an active part and is present during the entire training process, they will receive proficiency in the type of vehicle (land, water, air) associated with the mount being trained. It takes a minimum of eight weeks of daily training to train a mount for combat. At the end of each week, beginning with the eighth, the trainer makes a DC 12 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check modified by the mount’s wisdom modifier, failure means an additional week of training is required. A modified result of 5 or less on any of the Wisdom (Animal Handling) checks means the creature has proven to be unsuitable for training. It costs 35 gp per week to train a mount classified as a beast. The cost for any other classification of mount costs 70 gp per week.

Unseen Servant Spell The Spell as Written: Unseen Servant 1st-level conjuration (ritual) Casting Time : 1 action Range : 60 feet Components : V, S, M (a piece of string and a bit of wood) Duration : 1 hour This spell creates an invisible, mindless, shapeless force that performs simple tasks at your command until the spell ends. The servant springs into existence in an unoccupied space on the ground within range. It has AC 10, 1 hit point, and a Strength of 2, and it can’t attack. If it drops to 0 hit points, the spell ends. Once on each of your turns as a bonus action, you can mentally command the servant to move up to 15 feet and interact with an object. The servant can perform simple tasks that a human servant could do, such as fetching things, cleaning, mending, folding clothes, lighting fires, serving food, and pouring wine. Once you give the command, the servant performs the task to the best of its ability until it completes the task, then waits for your next command. If you command the servant to perform a task that would move it more than 60 feet away from you, the spell ends. Interpretation I've always seen this spell as being intended for purely role play reasons and have decided to pretty much keep its function to that purpose. So listed here are the ways I’ve ruled an Unseen Servant interacts with the world around it. It springs into existence in an unoccupied space within range; therefore, I’m interpreting this to mean it may not share a space with another creature. It moves by hovering up to three feet above the ground or other solid surface. It may not hover over empty space. Since it hovers, it exerts no pressure upon the ground. It does not nor can it fly. Since it is shapeless it takes the path of least resistance while moving to its commanded destination. Think of the servant as a patch of invisible smoke for movement purposes. As it’s mindless, it does not have senses and it may not communicate in any way. Per the spell, the Unseen Servant may interact with an object as commanded by the caster. However, this object must be within sight of the caster when the command is given as the Unseen Servant is mindless and has no senses of its own. Per the spell, fetching things, cleaning, mending, folding clothes, lighting fires, serving food, and pouring wine are allowed so long as the objects the Unseen Servant interacts with can be seen by the caster and are of appropriate size (30 lbs. maximum). Per the spell, the Unseen Servant may not attack. This includes throwing items. It may pick items up that are in its space or put items down (or drop items) in its space.

Is a Caster Affected by his\her Own Spell? This question came up in a game I was playing in last night and I was on the phone at the time so I don't know how that conversation went or ended. Here is how things will work in 5E games I run. Yes, a caster will suffer the effects of their own spell if the following conditions are true: The caster is in the area of effect as defined by the spell's description. There is nothing in the spell's description that specifically excludes the caster from being affected. The caster does not use some special ability, such as Sculpt Spell, to protect himself or herself from being affected. OR The spell specifies the caster may choose the target(s) of the spell and the caster chooses himself or herself as a target.