5e → 5.5e Player Reference

Character Creation

Ability Score Increases

5e (2014)	5.5e (2024)
ASIs granted by Race (e.g., +2 STR for Orcs)	ASIs granted by Background (+2/+1 or three +1s). Species no longer grants ASIs.
Standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8	Improved standard array: 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. No score can start below 8.

Species (formerly Races)

• Races are now called Species and focus only on innate physical or magical traits.
• Half-Elf and Half-Orc are removed. Orc, Goliath, and Aasimar added to the PHB.
• No species grants inherent ASIs. Languages are chosen separately (2 languages as a distinct character creation step).

Backgrounds

• Major overhaul: Backgrounds now grant ASIs, a 1st-level Origin Feat, skill proficiencies, and a tool proficiency.
• Background features (the old narrative perks) are gone.
• Custom backgrounds exist but are framed as a DM tool for campaign-specific options, not a standard player choice.

Subclass Timing

• All 12 classes now gain their subclass at Level 3 (standardized from the old per-class variation of levels 1, 2, or 3).

Feats

• Feats are now required, not optional. They are categorized: Origin (level 1, from background), General, Fighting Style, and Epic Boon (level 19+).
• All General Feats include a +1 to one Ability Score, making them less costly to take.

Multiclassing

• Multiclassing is no longer listed as an optional rule.
• A multiclass character can have more than one Unarmed Defense feature (but only applies one at a time).
• Multiclassing no longer caps Channel Divinity uses at whichever class gives more; you get both classes’ uses.

Combat

Initiative and Surprise

Rule	5e (2014)	5.5e (2024)
Surprise	Surprised creatures skip their entire first turn	Surprised creatures roll initiative at Disadvantage only
Initiative	Always rolled	DM may use a creature’s passive Initiative score instead of rolling
Invisible creatures	No initiative bonus	Invisibility grants Advantage on Initiative

Movement

• Difficult terrain is binary; nothing costs more than 1 extra foot per foot traveled.
• A slope of 20 degrees or more counts as Difficult Terrain.
• You cannot choose to go Prone if your Speed is 0.
• You can move through Incapacitated creatures and Tiny creatures freely. Allies’ spaces are not Difficult Terrain.
• Squeezing rules into smaller spaces have been removed.
• If you have multiple movement speeds, you must pick one when you Dash.

Grappling and Shoving

• Being Grappled now imposes Disadvantage on all attacks except against your grappler.
• Grappling a Tiny creature does not impede your movement regardless of your size.

Weapons and Equipment

• Weapon Mastery: Martial classes gain access to weapon-specific Mastery properties (Cleave, Slow, Topple, Vex, Nick, etc.).
• Small creatures no longer have Disadvantage with Heavy weapons. Instead, Heavy Melee requires STR 13+ and Heavy Ranged requires STR 13+ or DEX 13+.
• Light weapons: the Bonus Action attack does not require both weapons to be held simultaneously, and works with ranged weapons.
• Thrown weapons can be drawn as part of the attack.
• During the Attack action, you can equip or unequip one weapon before or after each attack.
• There is no distinction between magical and non-magical damage.

Other Combat Rules

• Opportunity attacks can be made against non-Hostile creatures (subject to DM discretion).
• All ranged weapon attacks have Disadvantage underwater. Melee weapons also have Disadvantage unless the weapon deals Piercing damage.
• If your mount falls Prone, you make a saving throw to avoid falling Prone yourself (no longer a free reaction to land on your feet).

Damage and Hit Points

• Bloodied: A creature at or below half its maximum HP is officially Bloodied. This is now an in-game term.
• Knocking Out: If you knock a creature out with a melee attack, it has 1 HP (not 0) and immediately begins a Short Rest.
• A creature whose HP maximum reaches 0 automatically dies.
• Damage cannot be negative; the minimum is 0.
• Fixed-damage weapons (like a blowgun) do not add your ability modifier.

Resting

Rest Rule	5e (2014)	5.5e (2024)
Short Rest minimum	No HP requirement	You must have at least 1 HP to take a Short Rest
Long Rest cooldown	One per 24 hours	Must wait at least 16 hours between Long Rests
Long Rest interruption	Starting over required	Can resume immediately; takes 1 extra hour to finish
What interrupts a rest	DM discretion	Rolling Initiative, casting a non-cantrip spell, or taking damage
Long Rest recovery	All HP, half Hit Dice	All HP, all Hit Dice, plus cures max HP and ability score reductions

Conditions

Exhaustion

• Completely overhauled. Each level now applies a cumulative −2 to all d20 rolls and −5 to Speed. 10 levels = death.
• The old 6-tier system with varied, escalating penalties is gone.

Other Condition Changes

Condition	Change in 5.5e
Grappled	Now imposes Disadvantage on all attacks except against the grappler
Incapacitated	You can no longer speak; also imposes Disadvantage on Initiative
Stunned	Stunned creatures can still move (previously could not)
Petrified	Petrified creatures are now aware of their surroundings
Invisible	Grants Advantage on Initiative rolls
Diseases	Replaced with “magical contagions” that apply the Poisoned condition

Actions

Hide

• Hide check is DC 15. You can attempt to Hide with 3/4 cover.
• Hiding makes you Invisible. You lose Invisibility when an enemy finds you (e.g., a successful Perception check).
• Casting a spell only breaks Invisibility if the spell has a Verbal component.

Other Action Changes

• The Search action now allows Insight, Medicine, Perception, or Survival checks (no longer Investigation).
• Recalling information is a formal action called Study.
• Influencing a creature’s attitude is explicitly an action.
• You must have Proficiency in a skill to use the Help action to assist with an ability check in that skill.
• You have Advantage on checks to influence Friendly creatures and Disadvantage on checks to influence Hostile ones.

Spellcasting

• One spell slot per turn: you can only spend one spell slot on a turn. Reaction spells like Shield and Counterspell are unaffected.
• Ritual casting: any caster who has a ritual spell prepared can cast it as a ritual, regardless of class.
• Concentration saves have a maximum DC of 30.
• You can end a spell you cast that has a duration without using an action.
• Cylindrical areas of effect no longer have to originate from the ground.
• Single-target healing spells have significantly improved healing (dice doubled in many cases, e.g., Cure Wounds).
• Summoning spells use standardized stat blocks for summoned creatures, simplifying play.

General Rules

• D20 Tests: Ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls are now collectively called D20 Tests. Rules affecting D20 Tests apply to all three.
• Heroic Inspiration: Renamed and reworked. It is now a reroll of any die (not just Advantage on one check). Rolling a natural 20 on a D20 Test grants you Heroic Inspiration.
• Tool + Skill: Having both tool proficiency and a related skill proficiency lets you roll with Advantage on relevant checks.
• Truesight: No longer reveals the true form of creatures or objects transformed by nonmagical means (e.g., doppelgangers in natural form).
• Carrying capacity: Only applies if you carry something “unusually heavy” or a “massive number” of things. Encumbrance rules are fully removed. (Further relaxed by house rule - see House Rules → Rule 2.)
• You can choose to fail any saving throw.
• There are no vehicle proficiencies in the 2024 rules.

Environment

Environmental Hazards

• Burning is a new official hazard: take 1d4 fire damage per turn. Extinguish by going Prone and rolling around, being doused with water, or similar means.
• Falling into liquids: you still take full falling damage, or half on a successful check.
• Dehydration and Malnutrition: you can eat/drink half the required daily amount without penalty.
• Suffocation: a suffocating creature gains temporary Exhaustion every round instead of surviving for a set number of rounds.

Travel

Travel Pace	5.5e Effect
Fast	Disadvantage on Survival and Stealth checks
Normal	Disadvantage on Stealth checks
Slow	Advantage on Perception and Survival checks

Magic Items

• Potions are now a Bonus Action to drink or administer (was a full Action). This applies to all potions, not just healing potions.
• Rules for mixing potions are no longer optional.
• Some command words can be signed, allowing activation inside a Silence spell.
• Magic items that recharge at dawn can still recharge on planes without dawns (timing is DM’s call).

Cold Iron

Cold Iron is a rare metal found only in the Obelisk, the great iron landmass at the center of the Mare Revelatum. It is darker and denser than ordinary iron, and almost alive in its resistance to working - but once forged, it holds its edge unlike any other metal. A one-pound ingot of Cold Iron can be purchased for 100 gp (or its equivalent in Bags).

Each weapon, piece of armor, or magic item made with Cold Iron requires one ingot incorporated into its construction. Cold iron weapons and armor have the following properties:

• Cold Iron Weapon: A weapon forged with Cold Iron counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming damage resistances and immunities for aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead.
• Cold Iron Armor: Armor forged with Cold Iron prevents critical hits caused by aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead. Hits from those creature types deal normal damage instead.
• Cold Iron Magic Items: Magic items created with Cold Iron require half the crafting time, though resources and components remain the same.
• Enchanting Cold Iron Weapons and Armor: If a weapon or armor is both made of Cold Iron and magically enchanted, it requires two ingots - one for the item itself, one for the enchantment.

Note: Cold Iron is rare and expensive. It is not freely available - it must be sourced from the Obelisk or purchased at a premium from traders who deal in Obelisk goods. The DM tracks its availability.