D&D 5E Arcane Rules- What is your favorite "hidden" rule in 5e?

[lowkey13]

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[Giltonio_Santos]

I don't know if it's really an arcane rule, but I really enjoy the fact that characters can extract the poison of fallen opponents with an Intelligence (nature or poisoner's kit) check.

 

[lowkey13]

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[aramis erak]

Horror is resisted with Charsima saves... (DMG 266)
Fear is resisted with Wisdom saves. (DMG 266)
A tiny lock has more hit points than the average commoner. So does a plate glass 10' window. (DMG 247)

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Skyscraper]

Some animals now have an intelligence score of 3, i.e. the same than the lowest score that humanoids can have.

Some animals have an intelligence score of 2, like in the days of old.

Some animals now have an intelligence score of 1. Most insects and reptiles fall in this category.

Wolves, dogs, and all felines have INT 3. They're more intelligent than horses, who have only an INT of 2.

Ravens have INT 2, but a raven SWARM has INT 3.

A polar bear (INT 2) is less intelligent than a tiger (INT 3).

A mammoth (INT 3) is more intelligent than a hawk (INT 2).

An octopus (INT 3) is more intelligent than an owl (INT 2).

Then there are a few giant versions of animals that are far more intelligent.

A giant vulture has INT 6. Can it read and write at that point in the intelligence scale? Nah. What does it do, as such an intelligent creature? It hunts stuff for days.

A giant eagle has INT 8. It can speak its own language and understands the common tongue, so it's pretty darn brilliant... But it still lives in a nest apparently. To heck with getting a descent home that might actually withstand a small storm

A giant toad (INT 2) is as intelligent as a hyena and a crocodile.

A giant shark is like a regular shark (INT 1).

A giant weasel has INT 4, and a giant goat as INT 3 (while an ordinary goat has INT 2).

 

[darjr]

I love that it's implied that fluff and rules interact a lot more in this edition.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I have to wonder about horror... did they just decide, "Let's throw charisma a bone?"

Almost surely. The muddling up of what Wisdom means defensively, and what Charisma means defensively, is surely nothing new; but 5e's move to "every ability is a save" has made it much more obvious. Because, just as one example, it makes loads of sense that resisting magically-harmful mean words is the stat that governs your intuition and awareness of the world around you, and not the stat that "can represent a...commanding personality." My usual 5e gripes aside, I think 4e's choice to make the Will defense the higher of Cha or Wis was a much better tack, and in the incredibly unlikely event that I run 5e I would probably treat Wis and Cha saves as interchangeable (for Wis that's only a minor improvement, but it's a pretty major one for Cha). Might do the same for Str/Con, but not Dex/Int since it doesn't quite jive with me that being nimble and graceful gets you out of a feeblemind.

For the moment--since I haven't had much chance to actually test it, being too low-level and thus hypersquishy as a Bard--my favorite "hidden" rule is the Grapple+Prone combo. Had to have a conversation with my DM because he didn't believe that it interacts the way it does, essentially a Catch-22. When you add in Expertise (from Bard or Rogue), it's actually a half-decent way to be a melee "support" character, both locking down an enemy and granting Advantage to all attacks made against it.

 

[RobotElder]

A giant vulture has INT 6. Can it read and write at that point in the intelligence scale? Nah. What does it do, as such an intelligent creature? It hunts stuff for days.

Of course vultures can read and write. That's how they carrion a long-distance correspondence with their pen pals.

 

[RobotElder]

My favorite is the bush-wood elf-lightfoot halfling hiding line. The wood elf hides behind a little bush ('cuz they can hide in lightly obscured natural terrain), and then the halfling hides behind the wood elf.