D&D 5E What Rules do you see people mistake or misapply?

[thethain]

Stealth.
Hiding.
If I duck behind some blocks-line-of-sight object then pop back out, do I need to take the Hide Action - and pretty much end my turn? Or do I still have an action available?
Can I get the benefits of 'a sneak attack' or 'a surprise attack' (with no capital letters) when I come back out from behind it?

5e Surprised condition vs. 4e Surprise Round. (Full disclosure: I use the latter in my 5e game. If I ever have an Assassin in my group, I'll have to learn the former.)

Acting on player knowledge not character knowledge. Example (from HotDQ):
My character sees the Rogue open a treasure chest, get a face-full of dust, run away screaming wildly, and jump in a lake.
My player knows the Rogue is hallucinating, is trying to swim down to the bottom of the lake, and is going to drown.
Can / should I jump in after and save the Rogue?

Casting a spell when you can't aim it properly (around corner / no line-of-sight, overhead at flying foe, through keyhole, terrain provides cover/concealment/both from each other)

I have seen two mentions of player knowledge vs character knowledge. While I agree this is both assumed and enforced as needed, I don't know where this is specifically stated in the rules. This post is about RAW. The fact is lots and lots of player knowledge is assumed to also be character knowledge. Players know a lot about the pantheons, physics, magic spell effects, movement speed, or even distances which might not be immediately apparent to a character. For example, in real life, if there was a person standing 25 feet away from you, you wouldn't necessarily know if they were 20, 25, or 30 feet away. However using minis you can count pretty quick, and you know most humanoids only move 30ft, so you might attack, then move 10 or 15 feet back so that they have to double move to get in your melee range. Without rolling for knowledge and keeping a detailed list on every possible subject, you don't know what your characters are fully aware of.

Basically I just think the topic of meta-gaming, or using personal knowledge for the benefit of characters is beyond the scope of a RAW discussion. But I could be wrong and it might be very plainly and flatly written that players aren't allowed to use their knowledge of the game.

 

[iserith]

But I could be wrong and it might be very plainly and flatly written that players aren't allowed to use their knowledge of the game.

It's not, so you're good.

 

[thethain]

I don't see the problem. If players are having fun, there's nothing to correct.

And please do not tell DMs they're doing it wrong by using rules that aren't in the book, and then tell them about the "adjustments" that DMs use that aren't in the book.

To me its more of a matter of information.

It's wrong if a DM says "This is the way the rule is written."

It's right if a DM says "This is how we are playing this at my table."

Many DMs and players do want to stick to the rules whenever possible and are simply making mistakes. Interpreting the rules incorrectly is a mistake if you believe you are following the book and are not. As a player I am much more confident in a DM who explicitly states "We are going against the written rules because I think it works better for my table like this." than one who states "No, this is what the rules are." when there is a conflict between expected interactions in game.

DM's always have the final say at the table, but should be open and honest with their players with the DMs various intentions of the game. Such as: adult themes or language, serious vs light-hearted, rules strict or loose, social engagement, combat engagement, inter-party conflicts,mortality of players. All of these aspects should be made clear to the players early on so they know what they are getting into before they have many hours invested.

 

[Corwin]

"Rulings not rules."

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'll admit, first time I played a cleric I got dinged on this.

Concentration and Attunement are two big ones, definitely. Dual-wielding can also be tricky, particularly with how it interacts with the bonus action.

I’ve seen people get into trouble with the Lucky feat, too.

If you cast a Bonus Action spell, the only other spell you can cast is a Cantrip.

 

[thethain]

Jumping. As written there is no check involved for jumping a distance equal to your strength score, or height equal to 1/3 your strength score (provided you have a 10ft run). There is a check for clearing an obstacle during a long jump. But if there is a 10 feet wide chasm, your str 14 cleric doesn't have to make an athletics check to jump across it.
If there is another platform 5ft up, you don't have to climb up it if you have 15 str and a 10ft head start. Heroes are heroic and making pretty impressive jumps is standard fare that they will not fail as long as nothing interferes with it.

Hold action / ready action: Old versions you could delay your initiative for later, in 5e you have to clearly state a condition to trigger your action. If that trigger occurs, your ready action can be used or not. Furthermore if you readied a spell, that spell slot is used even if you do not cast it. Even furthermore, you have to maintain concentration while a spell is readied, so if you take damage waiting on your trigger, you need to make a concentration check.

Basically you can say "I will cast eldritch blast when I can target a hostile target"
You can't say "I will hold my action until after Tharox goes"

 

[Oofta]

When you ready an action to cast a spell, you cast it on your turn and must concentrate on it until your trigger is met. In addition, if the condition you were readying for does not happen, you still lose the spell slot.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

No. Dim light only reduces pp based on sight. You can still locate the creature by sound without penalty. But it may still be invisible to you.

You're not going to spot the DC 15 detection pit trap with a PP of 17 using dark vision in total darkness, though.

 

[Yunru]

8. Darkvision only changes darkness to dim light.

Racial Darkvision allows you to see in Dim Light as if it were Brightly Lit.

 

[Cognomen's Cassowary]

If there's an enemy within five feet, you have disadvantage on ALL ranged attacks, not just against that enemy.