How It Works
Advantage: roll 2d20 and use the higher. Disadvantage: roll 2d20 and use the lower. You still add the same modifiers afterward. A natural 20 or 1 on the die you keep still crits or fumbles as normal.
Stacking and Canceling
- Multiple sources of advantage (or disadvantage) on the same roll don't stack — you still roll just 2d20.
- If you have both advantage and disadvantage, they cancel out entirely and you roll a single d20 — no matter how many sources of each you had.
Common Sources
- Advantage
- Attacking a target that can't see you; flanking (optional rule); the Help action; many spells and class features.
- Disadvantage
- Attacking while prone beyond 5 ft; attacking a target you can't see; being poisoned, frightened (vs. the source), or restrained; ranged attacks in close melee.
DM's Discretion
The rules explicitly let the DM grant advantage or disadvantage when circumstances help or hinder a roll. When in doubt, this — not a +2 — is the tool the system wants you to reach for.