Burning: stop recurring fire damage
Burning deals damage at the start of each turn until the fire is extinguished. Track the damage timing separately from the action used to put it out.
Use it at the table
- At the start of the burning creature or object’s turn, apply 1d4 Fire damage.
- To extinguish yourself with the stated action, become Prone and roll on the ground.
- The fire also ends if doused, submerged or suffocated. Resolve other fire effects under their own text.
Make the call
A burning character reaches the start of their turn and then plans to use their action to drop and roll. Does the later action prevent that turn’s start-of-turn damage?
The ruling
No; the start-of-turn damage occurs before the later action.
Burning specifies damage at the start of the turn. An action taken afterward can extinguish the fire and stop subsequent recurring damage, but does not erase damage that already occurred. The action also leaves the character Prone, which must be considered when planning the rest of the turn.
Watch for this mistake
Do not treat dropping Prone alone as the full extinguishing action. The stated method combines an action, becoming Prone and rolling; dousing or submerging is a separate route.
Ask the table
When is the next burning damage due, and how will the fire be extinguished?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 178. Read the official PDF.
A burning creature or object takes 1d4 Fire damage at the start of each of its turns. As an action, you can extinguish fire on yourself by giving yourself the Prone condition and rolling on the ground. The fire also goes out if it is doused, submerged, or suffocated.
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.