Omar Bennett
In Dungeons & Dragons, a character's Constitution (CON) is a measure of their health, stamina, and vital force. Constitution determines a character's ability to endure pain, resist poison and disease, and go without sleep. All characters gain additional hit points (HP) from Constitution, which increase their survivability. Constitution saves are common and vital to a character's success, and they also contribute to some class and species abilities. For example, a Barbarian with high Constitution can resist dying when their HP drops to zero. Constitution is important for all characters, although it is most crucial for those who engage in melee combat, as they tend to suffer more damage.
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What You'll Learn
- Constitution describes a character's physical fortitude and health
- It can help characters endure pain, damage, poison, and disease
- Constitution saves are common and vital to a character's success
- It increases a character's hit points (HP) and HP recovery
- It contributes to some class and species abilities
Constitution describes a character's physical fortitude and health
Constitution (CON) is a measure of a character's health, stamina, and vital force. It describes a character's physical fortitude and their ability to endure pain, take damage, and resist the effects of poison and disease. All characters gain additional hit points (HP) from Constitution, which increase a character's survivability. Constitution also determines a character's ability to hold their breath, travel long distances without rest, and go without sleep for extended periods.
Constitution saves are common and vital to a character's success, and they increase a character's HP recovery. For example, whenever a character completes a short rest, they can spend one or more hit point dice to regain HP. This is calculated by rolling the hit point dice and regaining HP equal to the result, plus their CON modifier.
Constitution is also important for characters who engage in melee combat, as they tend to draw more attacks and suffer more damage. Additionally, a few class features directly reward characters for having high Constitution. For example, a Barbarian with Relentless Rage can resist dying when their HP drops to zero by rolling a Constitution save.
Constitution is the only ability score with no skills associated with it in Fifth Edition. However, it is still identified as important to every character. Constitution checks are uncommon, and no skills apply to them because the endurance this ability represents is passive rather than involving a specific effort. Despite this, Constitution can still be used in other infrequent situations, such as when suffocating or marching long distances.
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It can help characters endure pain, damage, poison, and disease
Constitution (CON) is a measure of a character's health, stamina, and vital force. It also measures their ability to push themselves beyond their normal limits. In DnD 5e, Constitution helps characters endure pain, damage, poison, and disease in several ways.
Firstly, Constitution determines a character's hit points (HP) and HP recovery. Hit points represent a character's health, and they increase each level based on the character's Hit Die and Constitution modifier. A higher Constitution score results in more hit points, increasing a character's ability to endure damage without falling unconscious.
Secondly, Constitution saves can help characters resist the effects of poison and disease. For example, a successful Constitution save against poison might minimise its effects, while a successful save against disease could prevent a character from contracting it. Constitution saves are also used to resist the effects of malnutrition, which can cause levels of Exhaustion.
Additionally, Constitution can help characters hold their breath and go without sleep for extended periods. This can be crucial in situations where a character is submerged underwater or needs to remain alert during a long journey or watch.
Constitution is also important for characters who engage in melee combat, as they tend to attract more attacks and suffer more damage. A higher Constitution score can help these characters endure the additional damage they may incur. Certain feats, such as Orcish Fury, Infernal Constitution, and Dwarven Fortitude, offer unique advantages based on a character's species and can further enhance their endurance.
While Constitution is not tied to any specific skills, it is still vital to a character's success and overall toughness. It is one of the most important ability scores in the game, and even characters with low Strength or Dexterity can benefit from a high Constitution score to increase their survivability.
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Constitution saves are common and vital to a character's success
Constitution (CON) is a measure of a character's health, stamina, and vital force, as well as their ability to push themselves beyond their normal limits. It is the only ability score that the 2014 Player's Handbook identifies as important to every character.
Constitution also contributes to some class and species abilities. For example, once a Barbarian gets Relentless Rage at level 11, they can resist dying when their HP drops to zero by rolling a Constitution save with a DC of ten. If they succeed, their HP becomes double their Barbarian class level, and the save DC increases by five until they have a Long Rest. Constitution can also be used to contribute to Fortitude defence, with a character's Constitution modifier or Strength modifier, whichever is higher, contributing to this.
Constitution can also be used to resist the effects of poison, disease, and other physical maladies, as well as to hold one's breath and to go without sleep for extended periods. For example, all characters are able to hold their breath for one minute, plus one minute times their Constitution modifier. Constitution can also be used to resist the effects of spells that poison, deafen, blind, or otherwise interfere with a body's function, with a Constitution save allowing the effects to be avoided or minimised.
In addition, Constitution can be used to conserve strength when marching long distances or when suffocating. It can also be used to resist the effects of malnutrition, with a character needing to roll a Constitution save (DC ten) to avoid gaining a level of Exhaustion when they eat less than half of their daily food requirement.
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It increases a character's hit points (HP) and HP recovery
Constitution (CON) is a measure of a character's health, stamina, and vital force, as well as their ability to push themselves beyond their normal limits. It is a benefit to all player characters, as it increases a character's hit points (HP) and HP recovery.
Constitution describes a character's physical fortitude, including their ability to endure pain, take damage without falling unconscious, resist the effects of poison, disease, and other maladies, hold their breath, travel long distances without rest, and go without sleep for extended periods. All characters gain additional hit points from Constitution, so most have at least moderately high scores. It is most important for characters who engage in melee combat, as they tend to draw more attacks and suffer more damage.
Constitution also determines a character's maximum number of hit points and contributes to their number of healing surges per day. For example, a character with a higher Constitution modifier will recover more HP when spending a Hit Point Die during a Short Rest. Additionally, a character's Constitution modifier contributes to their Fortitude defence, alongside their Strength modifier.
While Constitution is important for all characters, it is not typically prioritised over primary stats like STR/DEX for martial classes or INT/WIS/CHA for spellcasters. However, some features, like the Barbarian's Relentless Rage, directly reward characters for having high Constitution.
Constitution can also be improved through feats, such as Tavern Brawler, Chef, and Durable, which offer additional benefits beyond increasing Constitution.
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It contributes to some class and species abilities
Constitution (CON) is a measure of a character's health, stamina, and vital force, as well as their ability to push themselves beyond their normal limits. It describes a character's physical fortitude, including their ability to endure pain, resist the effects of poison and disease, and go without sleep for extended periods.
While Constitution does not have any skills associated with it in Fifth Edition, it is still important to every character. Constitution saves are common and vital to a character's success, and it increases a character's Hit Points (HP) and HP recovery. It also contributes to some class and species abilities.
For example, a Barbarian with a high Constitution score can gain the Relentless Rage ability at level 11, allowing them to resist dying when their HP drops to zero by rolling a Constitution save. Warlocks with the Lifedrinker Eldritch Invocation can heal themselves after hitting an opponent by expending one of their Hit Point Dice, rolling 1D6 + their CON modifier.
Dragonborn and Goliaths also have abilities that are influenced by their Constitution scores. The save DC for targets to avoid damage from a Dragonborn's breath weapon is based on their Constitution modifier, while Goliaths with Stone Giant ancestry can use Constitution to reduce the damage they take by rolling 1D12 plus their CON modifier.
In addition, Constitution is important for characters who engage in melee combat, as they tend to draw more attacks and suffer more damage. It also affects the Endurance skill checks for certain classes, such as druids.
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Frequently asked questions
Constitution is a measure of a character's health, stamina, and vital force, as well as their ability to push themselves beyond their normal limits. It also determines how many hit points a character gains each level.
Constitution is important because it is the only ability score that the Player's Handbook identifies as important to every character. It also contributes to a character's success, as it increases their hit points (HP) and HP recovery.
You can increase your Constitution score by using certain feats, such as Tavern Brawler, Chef, and Durable. You can also gain a +1 bonus to your Constitution score by choosing feats that improve your Constitution or Strength.
