10

My wizard's strength is 5 which means his mod is -3, and I don't add proficiency to my damage/type section, so am I correct in stating my damage with a dagger is 1d4-3?

I have never played a character in 5e before so I'm new to this experience.

SevenSidedDie
  • 243,609
  • 44
  • 785
  • 1,025
Goji Crafter
  • 271
  • 1
  • 3
  • 8

2 Answers2

28

This is true for most melee weapons, but not the dagger.

Your damage will be partially determined by the weapon you use. If you're using a quarterstaff your damage would be 1d6 - 3 (one-handed) or 1d8-3 (two-handed) thanks to its versatile property.

Finesse weapons, such as a dagger, may use dexterity instead.

Some melee weapons (such as the dagger) have the finesse property. For these weapons, you may use your dexterity modifier instead of your strength modifier.

Ranged weapons use your dexterity modifier.

If you're using a ranged weapon, such as a sling or crossbow, you'll use your dexterity modifier instead of your strength modifier.

Spells typically do not get a damage modifier.

If you're using a spell, the damage is based on what the spell tells you to use. If it doesn't ask for a modifier, you don't get one. Most spells that do ask for a modifier use your "spell casting modifier," which is intelligence for wizards.

AceCalhoon
  • 45,283
  • 10
  • 146
  • 203
  • 4
    It's probably worth noting that with the proper selection of cantrips, a Wizard (or other spellcaster) can often avoid having to use Strength or Dexterity at all. Ranged Spell Attacks and Melee Spell Attacks both use the casting stat. – T.J.L. Nov 13 '17 at 16:05
  • 1
    (I'm pretty sure those are headings. They introduce the text that comes after and are not full sentences with full stops.) – SevenSidedDie Nov 13 '17 at 17:18
  • @SevenSidedDie Nope. They are portions of the body of the text that I intend to emphasize. You could do them as headings, but that's not the semantics I'm going for. The bold part is basically the tldr version. – AceCalhoon Nov 13 '17 at 17:26
  • Perhaps some periods then? (Still, “the tldr version” is what headings are, classically, so we'll agree to disagree. :) – SevenSidedDie Nov 13 '17 at 17:27
  • 2
    perhaps important to add that minimum damage is 1. – Aviose Nov 13 '17 at 17:51
  • 3
    @Aviose I almost did, but it turns out that isn't correct for 5e – AceCalhoon Nov 13 '17 at 17:57
  • @AceCalhoon Wow... that's a big one that slipped by me. It also doesn't really make sense in most contexts of the game. – Aviose Nov 13 '17 at 18:04
  • I'd emphasise the part about it not being correct for the dagger, given that it's technically the only thing being asked. The other info is useful, but not directly answering the question. – Erik Nov 13 '17 at 19:21
  • @Aviose minimum damage is 0 in 5e - https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/108178/ – enkryptor Nov 13 '17 at 19:56
  • @enkryptor yeah, saw Ace's response. It surprises me. I bypassed that small caveat in the rules. – Aviose Nov 13 '17 at 20:03
  • 4
    One small nitpick: some ranged weapons (specifically, non-finesse thrown weapons) use Strength instead of Dexterity. – Marq Nov 13 '17 at 20:03
  • @Marq Thrown weapons can be either melee or ranged weapons (light hammer vs. dart, for instance), with only the non-finesse melee using Strength (absent a feature-exception), the finesse melee using either, and the ranged still using Dexterity (a Dart's finesse property is only relevant when using it as an improvised melee weapon). – doomtwig Nov 14 '17 at 02:02
  • @AceCalhoon So... I attack my friend with my dagger and heal him for two damage (assuming I roll 1)? – John Hamilton Nov 14 '17 at 05:59
  • 1
    @JohnHamilton I've never seen official word, but I've always assumed that it had a functional minimum of zero (like Magic: the Gathering). E.g., it isn't a pure arithmetic operation, and you can't "take away" fewer than zero hit points. – AceCalhoon Nov 14 '17 at 14:01
  • 2
    @AceCalhoon "With a penalty, it is possible to deal 0 damage, but never negative damage." It's in the "Damage Rolls" subsection of the "Damage and healing" section of Chapter 9 of the PHB. – Marq Nov 14 '17 at 17:27
1

Yes you are correct on Page 176 under Attack Rolls and Damage it states

You add your Strength modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a melee weapon such as a mace, a battleaxe, or a javelin.

However remember for ranged weapons on page 177 you use your dexterity bonus instead for damage

You add your Dexterity modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a ranged weapon, such as a sling or a longbow.

T.J.L.
  • 48,527
  • 8
  • 185
  • 233
RS Conley
  • 39,762
  • 11
  • 94
  • 184
  • 3
    But do not forget that the dagger is a finesse weapon so he has the choice of using either Strength or Dex for his damage and attack modifier. – Matthew Verstraete Nov 13 '17 at 17:47