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SRD 5.2.1 table guides / Actions

Influence: decide whether a check is needed

Start with the request and the creature’s response, not a reflexive Persuasion roll. The Influence action distinguishes willing, unwilling and hesitant responses before assigning a check.

Use it at the table

  1. Describe the request and method of communication; the GM determines willingness.
  2. A willing creature complies in its preferred way. An unwilling creature does not comply; neither response needs a check.
  3. For hesitation, the GM chooses the check. The default DC is 15 or the creature’s Intelligence score, whichever is higher; attitude affects the check.

Make the call

A hesitant creature has Intelligence 18. No special DC has been established. What is the default Influence DC?

Watch for this mistake

A successful social roll is not permission to disregard what the action says about unwilling requests. Also keep the creature’s attitude separate from its response to this particular proposal.

Ask the table

What is being asked, why is the creature hesitant, and which method could address that hesitation?

The source rule

SRD 5.2.1, page 184. Read the official PDF.

With the Influence action, you urge a monster to do something. Describe or roleplay how you’re communicating with the monster. Are you trying to deceive, intimidate, amuse, or gently persuade? The GM then determines whether the monster feels willing, unwilling, or hesitant due to your interaction; this determination establishes whether an ability check is necessary, as explained below. Willing. If your urging aligns with the monster’s desires, no ability check is necessary; the monster fulfills your request in a way it prefers. Unwilling. If your urging is repugnant to the monster or counter to its alignment, no ability check is necessary; it doesn’t comply. Hesitant. If you urge the monster to do something that it is hesitant to do, you must make an ability check, which is affected by the monster’s attitude: Indifferent, Friendly, or Hostile, each of which is defined in this glossary. The Influence Checks table suggests which ability check to make based on how you’re interacting with the monster. The GM chooses the check, which has a default DC equal to 15 or the monster’s Intelligence score, whichever is higher. On a successful check, the monster does as urged. On a failed check, you must wait 24 hours (or a duration set by the GM) before urging it in the same way again.

Ability checkInteraction
Charisma (Deception)Deceiving a monster that understands you
Charisma (Intimidation)Intimidating a monster
Charisma (Performance)Amusing a monster
Charisma (Persuasion)Persuading a monster that understands you
Wisdom (Animal Handling)Gently coaxing a Beast or Monstrosity

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 and tables reformatted. 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.