Glossary

Core Rules v2 p. 56

  • Advantage X. Roll X additional dice and drop the X lowest dice (removing dice from left to right in the case of a tie).
  • Ally. A friendly creature, not yourself.
  • AoE. (Area of Effect). Special attacks that target an area rather than individual creatures (see “Reach, Range, & AoEs” on pg. 10).
  • Assess. An action to strategically analyze the situation in combat (see “Assess” on pg. 13).
  • Attack. Any offensive action. Swinging with a weapon, casting a harmful spell, Grappling, etc.
  • Basic Attack. A cantrip or weapon attack.
  • Blind. Can’t see. Attacks against you have advantage, and your attacks have disadvantage.
  • Blindsight X. You can sense creatures and obstacles normally within X spaces, ignoring Blind, darkness, and invisibility.
  • Bloodied. At half HP or less.
  • Burrowing. When a creature can move normally underground.
  • Cantrip. A basic spell. Costs 0 mana to cast, and their power increases as you level up.
  • Charged. Some spells/abilities have additional effects when Charged (e.g., Overload, Electrickery). Become Charged whenever you take lightning damage. Lasts 1 min or until combat ends.
  • Charmed. Sees the charmer as an ally. Charmer has advantage on social interactions with you.
  • Climbing. A creature with a climbing Speed can move across vertical surfaces as flat ground, otherwise climbing is treated as Difficult Terrain.
  • Concentration. Can only Concentrate on 1 thing at a time. DC 10 STR save when crit or it breaks (see “Concentration” on pg. 8).
  • Cone X. Starts at the character and extends X spaces outward, becoming up to X spaces wide at the farthest edge.
  • Cover. If mostly obscured, incoming attacks have disadvantage. If completely obscured (Full Cover), cannot typically be targeted.
  • Crit. Whenever a creature rolls the max on a Primary Die, that die is rolled again and added to the total.
  • d44, d66, d88. Roll 2 of the same dice, the leftmost die is the tens place, and the second is the ones. These attacks do not miss or crit.
  • Damage Types. Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing, Fire, Cold, Lightning, Radiant, Necrotic, and Psychic. Heroes typically do not care what type of damage they take, but some monsters or environmental challenges do.
  • Darkvision X. Can see normally in the dark, up to X spaces.
  • Dazed. Heroes: lose 1 action; monsters: can perform one less action on their next turn.
  • Decrement/Increment. Use a die one size smaller or larger (d4 » d6 » d8 » d10 » d12 » d20).
  • Difficult Terrain. Speed halved while here.
  • Disadvantage X. Roll X additional dice and drop the X highest dice (removing dice from left to right in the case of a tie).
  • Distracted. A target is distracted if it is adjacent to or Taunted by an ally, or if it cannot see you.
  • Dying. When a hero is at 0 HP (see “Hit Points & Dying” on pg. 9).
  • Encounter. An encounter begins when Initiative is rolled and ends when hostilities do.
  • Falling. Suffer 1d6 damage/2 spaces fallen.
  • Field Rest/Safe Rest. Spend time to recover some of your resources (see “Resting & Downtime” on pg. 16).
  • Free. Does not cost an action or any other resource (e.g., mana) unless otherwise stated.
  • Frightened. Disadvantage on rolls when source of fear is near; Speed halved when moving closer to it.
  • Grappled. Cannot move. Attacks against you have advantage (see “Grappling” on pg. 10).
  • Hampered. Any creature with actions or movement reduced (e.g., Dazed, Grappled/Restrained, Prone, Slowed, in Difficult Terrain).
  • Incapacitated. Can’t do anything. Attacks against you have advantage, and melee attacks that hit, crit.
  • Invisible. Cannot be seen. Your attacks have advantage, and attacks against you have disadvantage.
  • KEY. The two most important stats for a class. Replace with either of your KEY attributes.
  • Knockback/Push X. Forcibly move a creature X spaces, ignoring Difficult Terrain. Other creatures or the environment may halt movement prematurely and deal damage (see “Falling & Forced Movement” on pg. 10).
  • Line X. A straight line extending up to X spaces in one direction.
  • LVL. Level. When part of an attack, replace it with the character’s level.
  • Mana. Used to fuel spellcasting (see “Magic” on pg. 44). See the individual Hero classes for more info on how they gain mana.
  • Minion. Simple creatures: any damage kills them; each attacks with a single damage die, cannot crit, and misses on a roll of 1; when multiple minions attack a single target, their damage is combined and counts as a single attack.
  • Move X. Move up to that many spaces.
  • Paralyzed, Stunned, Unconscious. Incapacitated. Can’t do anything. Attacks against you have advantage, and melee attacks that hit, crit.
  • Petrified. Incapacitated with all the benefits and drawbacks of being a rock! Immune to most damage except from large explosions, picks, or similar tools.
  • Poisoned. Disadvantage on rolls (typically, healing ends).
  • Primary Die. The leftmost die in an attack, this die determines if an attack misses or crits.
  • Prone. Movement costs twice as much, and disadvantage on attacks. Melee attacks against you have advantage; Ranged have disadvantage. Spend 3 spaces of your Speed to stand up.
  • Range X. Ranged attacks are made with disadvantage if ANY enemy is adjacent. Range can be extended (see “Reach, Range, & AoEs” on pg. 10).
  • Reach X. The area within X spaces around a character; forming your choice of a cube or sphere.
  • Resistance. Take –10 damage vs a specific damage type.
  • Restrained. (Same as Grappled; objects Restrain, creatures Grapple) Cannot move. Attacks against you have advantage.
  • Riding. You move with the creature you are riding. Any attacks that miss you, strike them (see “Grappling” on pg. 10).
  • Round. The time in combat when each Hero and enemy has a chance to act (see “Turns, Rounds, & Encounters” on pg. 15).
  • Rushed Attacks. Attacking more than once on a turn imposes a cumulative disadvantage penalty (e.g., attacking with a short sword for the third time on a turn, you would roll 3d6 and take the lowest result).
  • Silenced. Cannot cast spells or use other abilities that require speaking (e.g., Commander’s Orders).
  • Skill Points. Use them to increase your skills. Start with 4 at level 1 and gain 1 each level (see “Leveling Up” on pg. 21).
  • Slowed. Speed halved during your next turn.
  • Smoldering. This condition does nothing on its own, though some spells and abilities have additional effects against Smoldering creatures, ending the condition (e.g., Ignite, Pyroclasm).
  • Spellcasting Focus. Can be used instead of an empty hand to cast spells.
  • Stats. STR, DEX, INT, WIL: the core attributes of a character.
  • Surprise. When combat starts before all sides are aware (see “Starting Combat” on pg. 15).
  • Target. A selected creature or object. It must be within Range/Reach and able to be sensed.
  • Taunted. Disadvantage on attacks except against the most recent taunter.
  • Teleport. Move instantaneously. Does not provoke opportunity attacks.
  • Temp HP. HP that do not replenish (see “Hit Points & Dying” on pg. 9).
  • Turn. The primary time allotted for an individual hero or monster group to act.
  • Unheld. Not touched, worn, or held by anyone.
  • Upcast. Spend extra mana on a spell to gain an extra effect for each additional mana spent.
  • Vicious. Roll 1 additional die whenever you roll crit damage.
  • Vulnerable. When a creature is vulnerable to a damage type, it takes +10 damage.
  • Wound. A measure of how close a hero is to death. Typically 6 and you’re dead (see “Hit Points & Dying” on pg. 9).
  • Wounded. Has any Wounds.