System Reference Document 5.2.1
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trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the 
zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
 When the trigger occurs, you can either take your 
Reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore 
the trigger.
 When you Ready a spell, you cast it as normal (ex -
pending any resources used to cast it) but hold its 
energy, which you release with your Reaction when 
the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have 
a casting time of an action, and holding on to the 
spell’s magic requires Concentration, which you can 
maintain up to the start of your next turn. If your 
Concentration is broken, the spell dissipates with -
out taking effect.
Resistance
If you have Resistance to a damage type, damage 
of that type is halved against you (round down). 
Resistance is applied only once to an instance of 
damage. See also “Playing the Game” (“Damage and 
Healing”).
Restrained [Condition]
While you have the Restrained condition, you expe -
rience the following effects.
 Speed 0. Your Speed is 0 and can’t increase.
 Attacks Affected.  Attack rolls against you have 
Advantage, and your attack rolls have Disadvantage.
 Saving Throws Affected. You have Disadvantage 
on Dexterity saving throws.
Ritual
If you have a spell prepared that has the Ritual tag, 
you can cast that spell as a Ritual. The Ritual ver -
sion of a spell takes 10 minutes longer to cast than 
normal. It also doesn’t expend a spell slot, which 
means the ritual version of a spell can’t be cast at a 
higher level. See also “Spells.”
Round Down
Whenever you divide or multiply a number in the 
game, round down if you end up with a fraction, 
even if the fraction is one-half or greater. Some 
rules make an exception and tell you to round up.
Save
Save is another name for a saving throw. See also  
“Saving Throw.”
Saving Throw
A saving throw—also called a save—represents an 
attempt to avoid or resist a threat. You normally 
make a saving throw only when a rule requires you 
to do so, but you can decide to fail the save without 
rolling. The result of a save is detailed in the effect 
that allowed it. If a target is forced to make a save 
and lacks the ability score used by it, the target au -
tomatically fails. See also  “Playing the Game” (“D20 
Test s”).
Search [Action]
When you take the Search action, you make a Wis -
dom check to discern something that isn’t obvious. 
The Search table suggests which skills are applica-
ble when you take this action, depending on what 
you’re trying to detect.
Search
Skill Thing to Detect
Insight Creature’s state of mind
Medicine Creature’s ailment or cause of death
Perception Concealed creature or object
Survival Tracks or food
Shape-Shifting
If an effect, such as Wild Shape or the Polymorph  
spell, lets you shape-shift, its description specifies 
what happens to you. Unless that description says 
otherwise, any ongoing effects on you—conditions, 
spells, curses, and the like—carry over from one 
form to the other. You revert to your true form if 
you die.
Short Rest
A Short Rest is a 1-hour period of downtime, during 
which a creature does nothing more strenuous than 
reading, talking, eating, or standing watch. To start 
a Short Rest, you must have at least 1 Hit Point.
 Benefits of the Rest. When you finish the rest, you 
gain the following benefits:
Spend Hit Point Dice. You can spend one or more 
of your Hit Point Dice to regain Hit Points. For 
each Hit Point Die you spend in this way, roll the 
die and add your Constitution modifier to it. You 
regain Hit Points equal to the total (minimum of 1 
Hit Point). You can decide to spend an additional 
Hit Point Die after each roll.
Special Feature.  Some features are recharged by a 
Short Rest. If you have such a feature, it recharges 
in the way specified in its description.
 Interrupting the Rest. A Short Rest is stopped by 
the following interruptions:
• Rolling Initiative
• Casting a spell other than a cantrip
• Taking any damage
An interrupted Short Rest confers no benefits.
Simultaneous Effects
If two or more things happen at the same time on a 
turn, the person at the game table—player or GM—
whose turn it is decides the order in which those 
things happen. For example, if two effects occur at 
the start of a player character’s turn, the player de -
cides which of the effects happens first.