D&D 5.5 PHB Review (Misleading Terms)

It is best practice to use D&D terms in their conventional sense whenever possible.

The 2024 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook introduces several new terms and concepts. However, many of these terms can be misleading if taken at face value. This post is not intended to explain their actual in-game meanings, I’m simply pointing out where the conventional meaning of the term differs from the terms meaning in the game.

Below is a list of terms from the 2024 Player’s Handbook that may not accurately represent their conventional meanings. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for both new and experienced players to navigate the updated ruleset effectively.

When compiling this list, I quickly realized that many of the terms were also incorrectly used in the 2014 PHB. I listed them as well.

This is not an exhaustive list.

RULES GLOSSARY
Bloodied: The term does not mean that a creature is actually bleeding
Object: does not refer to any nonliving thing but only to a discrete, inanimate item. Buildings and vehicles are not Objects because they comprise many objects.

CONDITIONS

Blinded: does not necessarily mean a creature cannot see. The Blinded condition can result from a variety of effects, such as being in an area of magical darkness.
Incapacitated: The creature cannot take any action, bonus action or reaction but can still walk.
Restrained: The creature has a speed of 0 but can still attack.

Invisible: Hiding gives you the invisible condition but ceratures can see you if they succeed in a Wisdom (Perception) check.

WEAPON MASTERY PROPERTIES
Nick: This doesn’t “nick” your target. The Nick mastery property allows you to make an additional attack with a light weapon as part of your Attack action, rather than using your bonus action.

FEATS
Actor: doesn’t make you a better actor in a general sense; it specifically provides benefits for impersonation and mimicry.
Alert: doesn’t make you more alert; it grants proficiency in initiative and the ability to swap initiative with an ally.
Athlete: grants a climb speed, makes it easier to stand up from prone, and allows running jumps after moving only 5 feet.
Defensive Duelist: grants the ability to use your reaction to increase your AC against a melee attack.

CLASS FETURES
Divine Intervention: you select a Cleric spell of level 5 or lower to cast.
Magic Initiate: allows you to learn a few spells from another class.
Monk Weapon: This doesn’t mean a weapon that is specifically designed for monks; it refers to a category of weapons that monks are proficient with.
Sneak Attack: This doesn’t involve sneaking up on someone and attacking; it allows rogues to deal extra damage when they have advantage on an attack roll or an ally is within 5 feet of the target.
Wild Shape: This doesn’t let druids take on any shape; it allows them to transform into specific beasts.

SPELLS

Beacon of Hope: There is no beacon; it gives allies advantage on Wisdom saving throws and death saving throws, and maximizes healing rolls.
Conjure Animals: conjures fey spirits that resemble beasts, rather than actual animals.
Conjure Fey: conjures a spirit that takes the form of a beast rather than an actual fey.
Contagion: doesn’t cause a contagion, it gives the target the Poisoned condition.
Detect Evil and Good: doesn’t detect good or evil, it detects the presence of celestials, fiends, or undead.
Find Steed: summons a fey, celestial, or fiendish spirit that assumes the form of a steed.
Fireball: doesn’t actually conjure a ball of fire, it creates an explosion of fire.
Illusory Script: doesn’t create an illusory script, it makes writing appear as gibberish to anyone you don’t designate.
Inflict Wounds: does not create actual wounds but rather channels necrotic energy to damage a target.
Locate Animals or Plants/ Creature/ Object: These spells sense the direction to the object, rather than revealing its exact location.
Protection from Evil and Good: doesn’t protect from evil or good, it protects from certain types of creatures.
Protection from Energy: doesn’t provide protection from all types of energy, it protects from one type of energy damage chosen by the caster.
Purify Food and Drink: doesn’t purify food and drink, it removes diseases and poisons from them.
Resilient Sphere: traps a creature or object inside an immobile sphere of force.
Revivify: doesn’t just revive a creature; it brings a creature back to life if it died within the last minute.
Sanctuary: doesn’t create a sanctuary, it makes it difficult for creatures to attack the target.
Sleep: doesn’t put creatures into a natural sleep, it magically renders them unconscious.
Shapechange: transforms the caster into any creature.
Telekinesis: doesn’t allow the caster to move objects with their mind alone; it requires verbal and somatic components.
True Seeing: doesn’t grant perfect vision; it enables the creature to see through illusions and perceive invisible creatures and objects.
Water Breathing: doesn’t let a creature breathe water, it allows a creature to breathe air underwater.

Please let me know in the comments below if I got any of these wrong, or if there are any other examples that you think should be pointed out.