The rules of Dungeons & Dragons are as complex as they are numerous. This can lead to there being many loopholes and exploits that players can use to upend a Dungeon Master’s plans. While these exploits are all perfectly within the realm of the Player’s Handbook guidelines, there are tricky ways to use them to subvert expectations at the table.
Exploiting the rules of Dungeons & Dragons does not necessarily mean breaking them. In fact, more often than not, it involves using the particular and technical details of the rules to one’s advantage in an unexpected way. While these tricks are intentionally meant to undermine and overturn anticipated results, it is important to remember rule zero of Dungeons & Dragons which is that the person running the game ultimately has sway over the mechanics, and can override published rules for house rules.
The D&D exploits listed are a combination of spells, actions, and items that all have listed rules in the fifth edition Player’s Handbook. It is important to discuss rules with the Dungeon Master before starting a campaign to know whether or not these exploits even align with house rules. Utilizing and exploiting homebrew rules follows a similar process of thinking through the technical and arbitrary application of seemingly underpowered items.
Portable Holes are handy items that can create a direct passageway to an extra-dimensional plane in D&D. This hole can be unfolded and laid out on any flat surface to create a gateway that can store most any living or inanimate object. Players can then fold up the hole and take it with them, keeping whatever is inside it safe. Living creatures can survive inside the hole for around ten minutes before they begin to run out of oxygen.
Portable Holes are a great way to hide fugitives, runaways, and treasure to transport them to safety. This is another small item that can easily be forgotten about in a player’s inventory and come into use just in the nick of time. A Portable Hole will also have an explosive reaction when combined with any other extra-dimensional space, such as a Bag of Holding, that opens a one-way gate to the Astral Plane, meaning players can easily exploit this D&D rule to their advantage.
One of the DM’s many jobs during a D&D campaign is to loosely keep track of all of the players’ abilities and magical items so that they can appropriately plan combat and encounters. It is easy to lose track of something as small as a spell-storing object such as a ring or rod. At the end of a long in-session day, a Dungeon Master could count on their party being out of spell slots in order for an encounter to run smoothly and be appropriately challenging. An easy way to upend plans such as this is to utilize a spell-storing item which can usually hold up to five levels worth of spells.
There are many ways that Dungeons & Dragons players can obtain or achieve invisibility. This includes the second-level illusion spell, a ring, a cloak, a rod, or a potion. The obvious use for invisibility is to speed through any and all stealth-related missions, but it also gives a party the upper hand in combat.
When an enemy is flanked or taken by surprise, the player gains advantage on their attack. By going invisible and striking a foe opposite a visible party member, players can almost automatically ensure an advantage on every attack. It's an easy rule to exploit in D&D, given it aligns with the DM’s house rules.
If players find themselves about to be wrapped up in a random encounter in D&D, the quickest way to ruin a DM's plans is Calm Emotions. This is a second-level enchantment spell available on the Bard and Cleric spell lists. Players can create a forty-foot sphere centered on a point of their choice. Every humanoid within that sphere must make a Charisma saving throw, or be subjected to one of two effects: They either suppress any effect charming or frightening them, or they become indifferent toward any number of creatures they were previously hostile toward. This spell can last for up to a minute, giving players plenty of time to run away from and stave off a high-level random encounter that the DM had planned.
Action economy in Dungeons & Dragons is a difficult concept to fully master, hence why it's natural that players would forget the variety of different things they can do on their turn. One of these is the Dodge action, which focuses entirely on avoiding attacks. When the Dodge action is taken, any attack made against said player has disadvantage (including spells) and the player will make dexterity saves with advantage. This can thwart a Dungeon Master’s plans during a big fight when an opponent uses one of their few high-level spells.
The easiest way to take out a lich or a beholder is when they are in the form of a harmless turtle. The spells Polymorph and True Polymorph are transmutation spells that allow players to transform a creature of their choice into another creature or object. Polymorph is a fourth-level D&D spell and will last for up to an hour with concentration. The affected target will be transformed on a failed Wisdom save and will assume the chosen creature’s hit points, abilities, and speed. The affected target will transform back into its original shape once its temporary hit points have been depleted. True Polymorph is a ninth-level spell with similar ramifications. These spells become useful when players are in a boss battle and wish to do some quick damage and make a getaway. Hence, transforming the enemy into a small and slow-moving creature, and giving it a good punt off the nearest cliff while replenishing supplies and spell slots.
While all of these rules can be exploited to the players’ advantage to put a wrench in a Dungeon Master’s plans, it is important to remember that these are all actions and tricks that enemies and monsters can use too. This is also excluding the D&D house rules that can take place in campaigns, and the variety of ways that rules are interpreted from table to table. Communication is important between players and the DM in Dungeons & Dragons, as many of these D&D exploits rely on the Player’s Handbook definition of the actions, items, and spells.
