The medic’s dark brown eyes are narrowed as he surveys the battlefield.
His brand new cloak flourishes in the wind as freshly laundered as the day he procured it. Seriously, they weren’t even two hours down the road from that tavern in the town where he and these two other supposed strangers met and decided to go on an adventure before the goblins attacked.
- See also:
Rickshaw the Fighter and Gormok the Barbarian were cleaving through the small band at melee range, steel glinting in the sun. Guy stays back in support and casts Bless on himself and his comrades. The two continue their reckless, bloody hacks and slashes. Guy fires a Sacred Flame at one.
Thwip.
A rock sails through the air, the goblin that released it from its sling scrambles back behind the bush.
The rock collides with Guy’s cheek. It doesn’t hurt all that much, to be honest, but it rattled his focus.
Though it should have been up for another 8 rounds of combat, he loses concentration on Bless and the spell ends. Spell slot used. A sprinkling of holy water gone, if you’re a stickler for mats.
So what exactly does this mean?
The official write up on Concentration can be found on pages 78-80 of the Basic Rules Online, or pages 203-204 of the PHB– but the formatting here is a bit off, if you ask me.
5e is not perfectly balanced, but Concentration is a mechanic designed to help with that. Otherwise, high level casters would be able to stack on a high amount of buffs and debuffs and, well, that just wouldn’t work, okay? Even though I’ve been DMing for nearly a decade, a quick reddit scan found something new on the topic that made my jaw drop. I had been playing the game wrong the whole time (and that’s okay, too).
I’ll break it down for new players and vet’s alike, since apparently people may need a refresher.
Concentration:
To maintain the magic of some spells with extended durations– noted in the spell’s info, its caster must keep concentration on it. If you lose that focus, the spell ends. You can also choose to end that spell without using any sort of action.
General Actions do not cause you to lose Concentration, but some things may interfere with it.
Such as:
Being incapacitated or killed (duh).
Casting another spell that requires your concentration. You cannot concentrate on two spells at once. Casting something that does not require that commitment is fine. Sidenote: DM’s, I ill-advise giving your players any items that allow having two of such spells up at once unless you’re playing an extremely high-powered campaign. If so… my own Tempest Cleric/Rune Knight Fighter has always wanted Spirit Guardians and Shield of Faith up while facing hordes of baddies [hmu if you are ;)].
Taking damage. Whenever you take damage while concentrating on a spell, you must make a CONSTITUTION saving throw. Multiple sources in the same round require multiple rolls (huzzah multiattack). The DC of the save = 10 or ½ the damage taken. Need a hint to know what I just learned? So, rock from a sling that deals 4 damage requires a DC 10. Arcs of lightning or searing dragon-fire are probably going to be a lot higher. This is especially noteworthy when getting walloped by a massive source of damage is very possible. Mathematically, 30 damage would require a DC 15 (Difficult). 40+ would be near impossible with so little classes having proficiency in Constitution, which again lends to the game’s balance. Wizards aren’t tough. Barbs and Fighters are tuff. But hey, you’ve got slots to burn, right? Right..?
The DM can also decide that environmental phenomena, such as a crashing wave falling over the ship you travel on, or even just something that scares or surprises a character may require a DC 10 Concentration saving throw.
So, how can we improve your chances of succeeding in that save? If you’re playing with feats I would recommend these two:
- War Caster. This is almost a must have for front-line casters (cough cough, my Cleric/Fighter). This gives you advantage on rolls to keep concentration.
- Resilient. +1 to your Constitution stat and proficiency in saves with that ability. Not too shabby, either.
^ I’m a strong advocate for taking this in Dex for many melee characters, too.
Who’s to say your generous DM doesn’t give you an item that assists in this, either. Or you just lose your concentration without any sort of chance for a save.
I’m not God. They are.
