In the decade since the release of 5e Dungeons & Dragons players and Dungeon Masters have grown acquainted with the myriad spells and special abilities included in the Player’s Handbook and later supplements, but many of those spells and features are overly ambiguous, an issue the upcoming revision badly needs to address. Where the third edition era of DnD took a simulation approach to modeling its fantasy world, and 4e took a strong “gameplay first” stance, fifth edition harkens back to even older editions, with more of its content left open-ended, requiring groups to rely on DM judgment too often.

For the groups that play Dungeons & Dragons weekly, they have likely developed what are essentially house rules, or at least house judgments, for the parts of the game that provide inadequate clarity. These could include things like how a particular DM addresses which magic item types can function with particular Wild Shape forms, or whether a Beast Master Ranger’s animal companion can Attune to items. Given the number of gray areas in the rules, it can feel like 5e DnD is still unfinished, and fans can hope its successor provides a more comprehensive rule set that gives more answers.

10

Reverse Gravity

Offers A Saving Throw Regardless If It Makes Sense

A high fantasy game typically plays fast and loose with physics, as evidenced by DnD’s handling of atmosphere in Spelljamer, among other things. Reverse gravity is a seventh-level spell that specifically allows a caster to play with physics, creating a 100-foot cylinder in which the normal pull of gravity is reversed. The spell obviously has many dramatic applications to change the tide of battle, which is appropriate for high-level magic, but like many elements of 5e DnD, the spell feels incomplete, requiring more DM judgment calls than it should. Any creature within the spell receives a Dexterity saving throw.

A success on the saving throw lets the creature “grab onto a fixed, solid object that it can reach, thus avoiding the fall.” An individual DM could decide that there are no objects that could offer such stability, but a strict “rules as written” reading suggests such objects are always present. There is no requirement listed for the saving throw to require a free hand, though this is a logical consideration. A character might hold tightly with one hand, and make attacks with their free hand, but none of this is defined in the text of the reverse gravity spell.

9

Suggestion

Cannot Cause Self-Harm, Except When It Does

Though DnD has many Charisma-based spellcasters who may be innately persuasive, on occasion Enchantment spells like suggestion do what social skills cannot. Suggestion is a second-level spell that lets the caster describe a course of action that the target of the spell will attempt to follow, assuming they fail a Wisdom saving throw. The spell notes that suggestions for the target to harm itself simply end the spell, but the examples provided only deal with direct forms of self-harm, like the target setting itself on fire. It is less clear what this low-level spell can, and cannot, truly suggest.

A suggestion for a loyal guard to slay the king is not a direct act of self-harm, but it is certainly self-destructive, and goes against such a target’s principles most likely. Unlike other charm spells, suggestion does not offer additional saving throws or Advantage on those saves for forcing a target to act against its principles. Unless enemies have access to dispel magic, a suggestion to travel east for eight hours makes this level two spell more effective than a high-level banishment. There are simply too many unanswered questions with suggestion that force the DM to halt a game’s progress.

8

Conjure Animals

Needs To Clarify What The DM Determines

Conjure animals is a popular spell for low-level DnD druids and mid-level rangers, but some of the spell’s appeal comes from its poorly explained mechanics. The most common tactic is for the caster to choose to summon eight beasts of Challenge Rating one-fourth and then command a pack of eight wolves. Wolves are effective, relative to their Challenge Rating, due to their ability to grant one another Advantage on attack rolls, and their bite attack may knock enemies prone. The biggest problem with this strategy is that the caster does not select the beasts summoned at all, the DM does.

As clarified in official Dungeons & Dragons Sage Advice, the caster selects the number and Challenge Rating of the beasts they summon, but the Dungeon Master selects the specific type of Challenge Rating-appropriate beast. This means the spell could summon eight boars or giant bats instead of wolves, at the DM’s discretion. While the official ruling is available online, the fact that so many DnD groups grapple with this issue is telling, and similar confusion applies to other summoning spells. The Player’s Handbook should clearly define, within the text of summoning spells, what the player and DM each determine.

7

Silent Image

Its Limits Need To Be Spelled Out

It is clear from the name alone that nearly all of DnD’s varied Illusion spells carry more complexity than simpler spells like fireball. While most illusions do offer options for creative players, the nebulous language can make all Illusion magic a source of dread for DMs, as each spell may require in-depth discussion and a judgment call. These problems begin with the level one spell silent image, which is often misunderstood and abused. Silent image creates an area which can have an illusory “visible phenomenon.” A creature can use an Action to Investigate the illusion, but this raises questions.

Any physical interaction with the illusion reveals it as such, so it is unclear what circumstances would alert a character to a possible Investigation without revealing it outright. Some players mistakenly believe the level on silent image serves as a better version of the level two darkness spell by creating an illusion of darkness that they can see through, but enemies cannot. The wording of the spell is strict, stating any physical interaction reveals the illusion for what it is, so even firing out of what appears to be magical darkness breaks the illusion. Silent image’s description certainly needs elaboration.

6

Disguise Self & Alter Self

Do Not Specify If You Can Mimic Someone

There are a lot of tools to enhance stealth in DnD, but hiding in plain sight through a well-crafted disguise is often a better option. Spells like disguise self and alter self offer magically aided disguises, but the limits of these spells are poorly defined. Disguise self defines how the caster can make themselves look like a different person, but it does not state if the spell allows the caster to mimic the appearance of a specific person, which is one of the most intuitive uses for such magic. The Player’s Handbook also fails to address this with Disguise Kits.

The supplement Xanathar’s Guide to Everything would later spell out a Difficulty Class to copy a specific humanoid’s appearance with a Disguise Kit, but disguise self and alter self remain opaque on the issue. If the spellcaster is a wanted fugitive, it is clear these spells could allow them to change their appearance to avoid detection, but if they want to copy the visage of a familiar guard captain to pass a checkpoint, the DM must decide if these spells can copy a specific person’s appearance. Alter self provides true physical changes, not illusory ones, but the mimicry question remains.

5

Find Familiar

Animal Companions May Or May Not Be Able To Attune

Familiars are a popular tool and an iconic element of the game, as the adorable life-sized DnD pseudodragon statue and other merchandise proves. It is clearly defined that the allies granted through the find familiar spell can never attack, but that they make excellent scouts. The Player’s Handbook does not address whether familiars can equip magic items, or if they are capable of Attunement for items that require it. This same question remains ambiguous with a Beast Master ranger’s companion, or a Battlesmith artificer’s Steel Defender construct. This is a fairly major issue to leave ambiguous in the core rules.

Though there are references to magic items on non-humanoid forms in the text of the druid’s Wild Shape ability, these essentially tell the DM to decide what a bird or quadruped can wear. Attunement is a more complex question. The description of Attunement involves spending an hour in some sort of intense meditation or training to gain a spiritual connection with powerful magic items. This suggests a ranger’s Ape Animal Companion can equip an Insignia of Fangs to improve its natural attacks, but it is unclear whether the animal can focus properly to Attune to a Belt of Giant Strength.

4

Simulacrum

Inadequate Guardrails Against Infinite Wizard Armies

As a seventh-level spell of the Illusion school of magic, DMs had reason to suspect simulacrum would raise some questions. While the spell does offer a few guardrails in its text, it fails to address basic combinations of spells that could yield an infinite army of simulacra. DnD’s most overpowered damage-based spells simply hurt enemies, but simulacrum can create additional spellcasters, with some limitations. The details provided describe how simulacrum requires a physical sample from a specific Beast or Humanoid, and after its 12-hour casting is complete, a Construct duplicate is created, complete with all the original’s abilities.

It is unclear based on the text if the spell truly prevents a simulacrum from creating more simulacra. Wizards do not gain a second level seven spell slot until level 20, but at level 17 they do have a level nine spell slot. If a level 17 or higher wizard uses simulacrum to copy themselves, the copy may be able to use its casting of Wish to create another simulacrum of the original caster. The copy is a Contruct, which prevents copying a copy, but nothing seems to prohibit a copy duplicating the original again, making the spell far too vague.

3

Shapechange & Wild Shape

Force Too Many DM Judgments On Each New Form

The Transmutation school of magic contains nearly as many spells that call for DM judgment as Illusion, and the level nine spell shapechange is no exception. Some players struggle with how to use DnD’s Wild Shape correctly for druid characters, and shapechange contains similar language. Where polymorph and true polymorph can simply change a target into a Beast or other creature from the Monster Manual, shapechange and Wild Shape both allow for magic items to carry over, if the DM approves, and it’s not restricted by class and racial features, if they are things the new form is “physically capable” of doing.

This means shapechange, like Wild Shape, requires the DM to adjudicate both which magic items can reasonably fit on non-humanoid body types, and also which class abilities make sense for those forms. The rules do not spell out if the Unarmored Defense abilities of the monk and barbarian classes would reasonably apply to a Tyrannosaurus Rex, or if a Dragon is able to use a monk’s unarmed strikes. The Fast Movement abilities granted by various classes might not work with a Giant Constrictor’s body type. Feats are part of class progression, raising even more questions not addressed in the text.

2

Animate Objects

Description Does Not Contain All Needed Rules To Run It

Among the mid-level attack spells available to casters, animate objects is fairly popular due to its ability to animate 10 Tiny objects that strike with a reasonable attack bonus of 1d4+4 damage each. This spell surprises some DnD DMs with its power, but the bigger concern is the incompleteness of its text for the player. Given that animating numerous Tiny objects is the spell’s most popular use, players will need to consult rules elsewhere to confirm that four tiny creatures can share the same square on a battle map and divide their animated objects across three squares.

The spell states that if multiple objects are animated, the same command must be issued to each one. This makes it clear that they can all be sent to swarm a single target but leaves it ambiguous whether they could be ordered to attack a group of enemies, and how they would interpret such an order. Animated objects are creatures, but the spell does not specify if they are capable of taking Reactions like Opportunity Attacks. While not as flawed as some DnD spells, animate objects still routinely needs DM judgment, and requires players to research rules from other sections.

1

Death Ward

May Or May Not Be Stackable

There are some defined rules in DnD 5e that form the basis for other rules, but in some instances these precedents just create more questions. For cleric players, picking from the best DnD cleric divine Domains can ensure the character is useful, but proper spell selection remains key. Clerics are more than healers, as they also have access to some of the most potent spells to prevent or mitigate damage in the first place. Death ward is an excellent example, as it lasts eight hours, does not require Concentration, and can prevent a character reduced to zero HP from dropping.

Unfortunately, there is no official answer as to whether multiple castings of death ward can stack to repeatedly bring a character back to 1 HP when they are reduced to zero. The Dungeon Master’s Guide contains rules that prevent stacking the same spell or magic item, but also has rules on one casting of a spell “suppressing” others in some cases. This leaves it unclear whether four castings of Death Ward would all trigger at once, to the same effect, or provide four separate life-saving interventions. Like many of the rules in Dungeons & Dragons 5e, it remains ambiguous.