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The Six Abilities

Constitution

Constitution measures health, stamina, and vital force. It represents your overall physical resilience and endurance.

What Constitution Does​

Constitution affects your character's survivability and endurance:

  • Hit Points: Your Constitution modifier affects how many hit points you have. Each level, you add your Constitution modifier to your hit point maximum.
  • Death Saves: When making death saving throws, characters with higher Constitution are more likely to survive.
  • Concentration: When you take damage while concentrating on a spell, you make a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration.

Constitution Saving Throws​

Constitution saving throws are common when resisting effects that test your endurance:

  • Holding your breath underwater
  • Resisting poison or disease
  • Surviving in extreme environments
  • Maintaining concentration on spells when damaged
  • Enduring forced marches without rest

Constitution Checks​

A Constitution check is uncommon because the endurance this ability represents is largely passive rather than involving a specific effort on the part of a character or monster.

Common Uses​

  • Drinking large amounts of alcohol
  • Going without sleep for extended periods
  • Surviving in harsh weather conditions
  • Enduring torture or extreme pain
  • Holding your breath for extended periods

Example Difficulties​

DCDifficultyExample
10EasyResist mild poison or stay awake after missing one night's sleep
15MediumResist moderate poison or endure extreme heat or cold
20HardResist deadly poison or survive without food for days
25Very HardResist magical diseases or endure extreme magical effects

Special Notes​

Unlike other abilities, Constitution has no associated skills. However, it's one of the most important abilities for all characters, as it directly affects how much damage you can take before falling unconscious or dying.