Dragon+: Basic Rules Updates, 11/27/18
Why Role-playing Games Stack Exchange recommends it
RPG Stack Exchange answerers cite it as the designer's own explanation of the 2018 Player's Handbook errata, such as the removal of confusing wording from Action Surge and Improved Divine Smite.
Recommended by 1 people across 1 different months, 2018 to 2022.
What it is
A Dragon+ stream from Wizards of the Coast where host Bart Carroll and lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford go through the November 2018 updates to the free D&D 5th Edition Basic Rules PDF and the matching Player's Handbook printing. Crawford explains the reasoning behind wording changes to specific class features and rules text.
What people said
Recommends V2Blast · 2019-07 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “How does Improved Divine Smite change the Divine Smite damage cap?”
The sentence causing the confusion has been removed as of the 2018 PHB errata [LINK] ; you may want to update your answer accordingly. ( Jeremy Crawford explains the reason for the change in this episode of Dragon+. [this video] )
Recommends V2Blast · 2019-07 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “Does the paladin's Improved Divine Smite do additional damage to fiends and undead?”
Both feature descriptions were updated in the 2018 PHB errata [LINK] ; you may want to update your answer accordingly. ( Jeremy Crawford explains the reason for the changes in this episode of Dragon+. [this video] )
Cites V2Blast · 2018-04 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “Improved Divine Smite Differentiation”
The confusing sentence is gone as of the 2018 PHB errata. As of the 2018 PHB errata [LINK] , the last sentence of Improved Divine Smite ("If you also use your Divine Smite with an attack, you add this damage to the extra damage of your Divine Smite.") has been deleted. The Improved Divine Smite [LINK] feature now simply reads: By 11th level, you are so suffused with righteous might that all your melee weapon strikes carry divine power with them. Whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon, the creature takes an extra 1d8 radiant damage. Jeremy Crawford explains the reason for the change in the November 27, 2018 episode of Dragon+ [this video] (relevant segment starts around 24:53 into the epi
Cites V2Blast · 2018-04 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “How does Improved Divine Smite change the Divine Smite damage cap?”
IDS doesn't interact with the damage cap of DS at all. As of the 2018 PHB errata [LINK] , the last sentence of Improved Divine Smite ("If you also use your Divine Smite with an attack, you add this damage to the extra damage of your Divine Smite.") has been deleted. The Improved Divine Smite [LINK] feature now simply reads: By 11th level, you are so suffused with righteous might that all your melee weapon strikes carry divine power with them. Whenever you hit a creature with a melee weapon, the creature takes an extra 1d8 radiant damage. Jeremy Crawford explains the reason for the change in the November 27, 2018 episode of Dragon+ [this video] (relevant segment starts around 24:53 into the episod
Cites V2Blast · 2018-09 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “What is the maximum damage done by Divine Smite?”
The regular maximum for Divine Smite is 5d8, but increases to 6d8 against undead and fiends As of the 2018 PHB errata [LINK] , the description of the Divine Smite [LINK] feature says: Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8 . The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend, to a maximum of 6d8 . As other answers have pointed out, 5d8 is the regular maximum for the total amount of "extra radiant damage" done by Divine Smi
Cites CTWind · 2018-12 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “Does an Action Surge grant a second bonus action?”
As part of the 2018 errata updates to the Player's Handbook , the following sentence quoted in the question: On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action. Has been updated to this, to remove the confusing language: On your turn, you can take one additional action. Now it's much clearer that Action Surge does not enable a second bonus action. (Note: Though it isn't reflected in the PHB errata document itself, this is an intentional [this video] change to clear up exactly this confusion, and is also reflected in the 2018 version of the Basic Rules pdf [LINK] , as well as the 2019 Sage Advice Compendium [LINK] .)
Cites V2Blast · 2019-06 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “As of the November 2018 core book updates, what changes were made in the latest printings of the PHB that aren't noted in the errata document?”
There are a few changes - some minor, some more significant - in the latest printing of the PHB that are not noted in the 2018 errata PDF [LINK] : Action Surge Awakened Mind Climbing, Swimming and Crawling rules Clone Action Surge The fighter's Action Surge feature previously read (PHB, p. 72; emphasis mine): On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action . The bolded phrase was removed in the latest printing as of November 2018, and the Action Surge [LINK] feature description now reads: Starting at 2nd level, you can push yourself beyond your normal limits for a moment. On your turn, you can take one additional action. This change
Cites V2Blast · 2019-07 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “Improved Divine Smite Differentiation”
The confusing sentence has been removed as of the 2018 PHB errata [LINK] ; you may want to update your answer accordingly. ( Jeremy Crawford explains the reason for the change in this episode of Dragon+. [this video] )
Cites Exempt-Medic · 2021-04 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “When was the Action Surge feature description changed to remove mention of "a possible bonus action"?”
November 2018 See here: As of the November 2018 core book updates, what changes were made in the latest printings of the PHB that aren't noted in the errata document? [LINK] The answer there only lists changes that first appeared in that same errata (in other words, changes that did not exist prior). Among those listed changes is the wording change to Action Surge. Thus, we can conclude that the Action Surge wording changed along with the November 2018 printing. Furthermore, the answer provides some concrete proof that this is the case: Rules designer Jeremy Crawford also confirmed the change in the November 27, 2018 edition of Dragon+ [this video] (in which he discussed the errata), describing i
Cites Darth Pseudonym · 2022-02 · Role-playing Games Stack Exchange · on “Is the damage of a higher-level Monk's unarmed strike reduced by the Heavy Armor Master feat?”
@Non-humanPerson It's not that cut and dried. The PHB, as the first 5e book, has a lot of weird bits where they tried to be helpful and often tripped over their own feet doing it. Jeremy Crawford has talked about "unhelpful helper text" where they sometimes put in reminders or clarifications that accidentally make rules sound like they do something other than what they were meant to do. (Notably, the Dragon+ for 11/27/18 [this video] )