Conditions

Conditions are useful terms throughout Dungeons & Dragons that are simply keywords or
traits that provide shortened ways of communicating various mechanical effects, like how
Frightened means more than just you are scared, but also you have disadvantage on ability
checks and attack rolls while the source of your fear is within line of sight and that you can’t
willingly move closer to that source. Imagine if every monster that imposed the Frightened
condition on a player character, if it had to include those two sentences every time. That
would make statblocks an unwieldy mess and really make it difficult to parse through all the
abilities… except we kind of already have a bit of that.

I think there should be more conditions in Dungeons & Dragons than just the 15 conditions
we have, though I’m not saying we need to go back to 3rd edition and have 39 conditions.
We probably don’t need to bring back in Blown Away as a condition that explains how far
back you are pushed away by heavy winds, but I’m not opposed to that condition appearing
again. Conditions are incredibly useful because they are just keywords to clean up wording
in statblocks and have a simple word you can tell a player instead of rattling off sentences of
effects.

It can be quite useful to tell a player, “Hey, you are blinded.” If they don’t immediately know
what that means, they can just look it up quickly and find out that they can’t see and
automatically fail any ability check that relies on sight and that attacks against them have
advantage, while their attacks have disadvantage.

We are going to go over two conditions that already exist in the game, but need to be
codified, and some new conditions to provide greater granularity in your games. I will also be
posting the existing conditions for reference.

Backbroken*
● Target is knocked prone and must succeed on Strength saving throw at the start of its
turn to be able get up that turn.
● If the creature is the target of the help action by another creature, the condition ends.

Bleeding*
● At the start of each of the creature’s turns, it loses hit points based on the effect. This
does not deal a specific type of damage, and thus can not be reduced in any way.
Simply called bleed damage.
● If a wounded creature is the target of this effect multiple times, the damage dealt
increases based on the damage of the effect.
● A target of this effect must be a creature that isn't an undead or a construct.
● Any adjacent creature can take an action to stanch this effect with a successful
Wisdom (Medicine) check. The DC for this action is the same as the DC to resist the
 condition. If the creature is the target of magical healing, all bleeding immediately
ends.

Blinded
● A blinded creature can't see and automatically fails any ability check that requires
sight.
● Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have
disadvantage.

Charmed
● A charmed creature can't attack the charmer or target the charmer with harmful
abilities or magical effects.
● The charmer has advantage on any ability check to interact socially with the creature.

Chest Trauma*
● Target has disadvantage on Constitution saving throws and has either an action or
bonus action.
● Undead and Constructs can't suffer chest trauma.
● If the creature is the target of magical healing, the condition ends.

Dazed*
● Target has disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws, can't take reactions
● Target loses the Dexterity and Shield bonuses to their Armor Class.
● If the creature is the target of the help action by another creature, the condition ends.

Deafened*
● A deafened creature can't hear and automatically fails any ability check that requires
hearing.
● Creature gains a -2 to its initiative.
● If the creature attempts to cast a spell with verbal components while deafened, roll a
d20. On a 15 or higher, the spell fails as the caster fumbles the verbal component.

Discombobulated*
● A discombobulated creature has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and
Charisma ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

Drained*
● A drained creature has disadvantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability
checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.
Exhaustion*
Some special abilities and environmental hazards, such as starvation and the
long-term effects of freezing or scorching temperatures, can lead to a special
condition called exhaustion. Exhaustion is measured in six levels. An effect can give
a creature one or more levels of exhaustion, as specified in the effect's description.

Level

1 Disadvantage on ability checks

2 Speed halved

3 Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws

4 Hit point maximum halved

5 Speed reduced to 0

6 Death

If an already exhausted creature suffers another effect that causes exhaustion, its
current level of exhaustion increases by the amount specified in the effect's
description.

A creature suffers the effect of its current level of exhaustion as well as all lower
levels. For example, a creature suffering level 2 exhaustion has its speed halved and
has disadvantage on ability checks.

An effect that removes exhaustion reduces its level as specified in the effect's
description, with all exhaustion effects ending if a creature's exhaustion level is
reduced below 1.

Finishing an overnight short rest reduces a creature’s exhaustion level by 1, provided

it has exactly 1 level of Exhaustion. Finishing a long rest reduces a creature's
exhaustion level by 1, provided that the creature has also ingested some food and
drink. Also, being raised from the dead reduces a creature's exhaustion level by 1.

Frail Grip*
● Target has disadvantage on attack rolls and strength saving throws and checks to
resist being disarmed.
● Creatures without weapons can't have a frail grip.
● If the creature is the target of the help action by another creature, the condition ends.
Frightened*
● A frightened creature has disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls while the
source of its fear is within line of sight.
● The creature can't willingly move closer to the source of its fear.
● If a frightened creature is subjected to an effect that causes it to become frightened
again, the creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against the source of its fear.
If it fails, it becomes terrified.

Gaping Wounds*
● Creature takes additional 1d3 damage from weapon attacks.
● If the creature is the target of magical healing, the condition ends.
● Undead, Constructs and creatures without blood can't suffer gaping wounds

Grappled*
● A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its
speed.
● The condition ends if the grappler is incapacitated.
● The condition also ends if an effect removes the grappled creature from the reach of
the grappler or grappling effect, such as when a creature is hurled away by the
thunderwave spell.
● A grappled creature has disadvantage to attack creatures that are not grappling it.
● If you have a Strength of 13 or more, you can spend one of your attacks to make a
Grapple check to restrain them. If You succeed, the creature is Restrained by you. If
you fail, the Grapple is broken and the creature can use its reaction to make an
opportunity attack against you.

Hamstrung*
● Target has its movement speed reduced by half.
● If the creature is the target of magical healing, the condition ends.

Incapaciated
● An incapacitated creature can't take actions or reactions.

Invisible
● An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense.
For the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. The creature's location
can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves.
● Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature's attack rolls
have advantage.
Maimed*
● Target has their movement speed reduced to 0, and has disadvantage on Dexterity
saving throws
● If the creature is the target of magical healing, the condition ends.

Nauseated*
Nauseated is a lesser variant of the Poisoned condition. It can be caused by consumption of
spoiled food or exposure to toxic conditions without direct contact with poisons. Unless
Stated otherwise, the effect persists while exposed to its source.
● A nauseated creature has disadvantage on its first attack toll or ability check on its
turn.
● If a nauseated creature is subjected to an effect that causes it to become nauseated
again, it becomes poisoned.
● A nauseated creature can spend its action to wrench to remove the Nauseated
condition.

Off Balance*
● Target has disadvantage on Strength and Dexterity ability checks.
● Attack rolls against the target have advantage
● First time the target takes damage the condition ends.
● If the creature is the target of the help action by another creature, the condition ends.

Paralyzed*
● A paralyzed creature is incapacitated and can't move or speak.
● The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
● Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
● Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of the
creature.
● Target loses the Dexterity and Shield bonuses to their Armor Class.

Petrified*
● A petrified creature is transformed, along with any nonmagical object it is wearing or
carrying, into a solid inanimate substance (usually stone). Its weight increases by a
factor of ten, and it ceases aging.
● The creature is incapacitated, can't move or speak, and is unaware of its
surroundings.
● Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
● The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
● The creature has resistance to all damage.
● The creature is immune to poison and disease, although a poison or disease already
in its system is suspended, not neutralized.
● Target loses the Dexterity and Shield bonuses to their Armor Class.
.
Pinned*
Pinned creatures are usually pressed against a hard surface, their limbs held in a lock and
struggling under body weight.
● You can pin down creatures of the same size or smaller than you. Creatures larger
than you cannot be pinned.
● A pinned creature is unable to perform any actions other than a Grapple check to
break the grapple, or cast spells with verbal components only.
● A pinned creature does not benefit from Dexterity and Shield bonuses to AC, fails all
Dexterity based checks and saving throw
● At the start of your turn, you must spend one of your attacks to maintain the pin
down. If you fail to maintain the grapple, the creature is no longer pinned by you.
● During your turn and as long as you have used one of your attacks to maintain the
pin down, you can attempt a disarm action as a bonus action.
● A creature remains pinned and restrained by you as long as it is also grappled and
restrained by you. If the grapple breaks, it is no longer pinned and restrained by you.

Poisoned
● A poisoned creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.

Prone*
● A prone creature's only movement option is to crawl, unless it stands up and thereby
ends the condition.
● The creature has disadvantage on attack rolls.
● An attack roll against the creature has advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet of the
creature. Otherwise, the attack roll has disadvantage.
● If the creature is the target of the help action by another creature, the condition ends.

Restrained*
● A restrained creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its
speed.
● Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have
disadvantage.
● The creature has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.
● A caster that is restrained cannot perform somatic components of spells. The caster
can make a Strength check or Strength saving throw (whichever is appropriate)
against the restraining effect using the same action to cast the spell to perform the
somatic components.
● If you have Strength of 13 or more, you can spend one of your attacks to make a
Grapple check to pin them down. If You succeed the creature is Pinned by you. If you
fail, the Grapple is broken and the creature can use its reaction to make an
opportunity attack against you.
Shaken*
● A shakened creature suffers a -1 penalty on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma
ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

Stunned*
● A stunned creature is incapacitated, can't move, and can speak only falteringly.
● The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
● Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
● Target loses the Dexterity and Shield bonuses to their Armor Class.

Swallowed*
● A target of this effect is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks and
other effects outside the creature that swallowed them.
● At the start of the creature's term that swallowed them, the swallowed target takes
acid damage based on the swallower, if the target is capable of so.
● A creature can only swallow a number of others, based on its size. If the swallower
takes an amount of damage or more from a single turn from a target inside of it, they
must succeed on a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + their
Constitution saving throw or regurgitate all swallowed targets.
● If the swallowing creature dies, a swallowed target is no longer restrained and can
escape the corpse using 10 feet of movement, exiting prone.

Terrified*
An unspeakable dread can break the will of weaker creatures and send them running for
their lives.
● A terrified creature remains terrified as long as it is frightened. If it is no longer
frightened, it stops being terrified .
● A terrified creature must Disengage or Dash with all its movement speed away from
the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random
path. The creature uses the Dodge action anytime it can, and will attack or interact
with obstacles, use special abilities including spells as a means of escape. If
cornered, a terrified creature cowers and does not attack.
● At the start of its turn, a terrified creature can attempt a Wisdom saving throw against
the source of its fear. If it succeeds, it is no longer terrified. It may continue to feign
panicking to surprise any pursuers.

Unconscious*
● An unconscious creature is incapacitated, can't move or speak, and is unaware of its
surroundings.
● The creature drops whatever it's holding and falls prone.
● The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
● Attack rolls against the creature have advantage.
 ● Any attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of the
creature.
● Target loses the Dexterity and Shield bonuses to their Armor Class.

Unnerved*
An unnerved creature is dealing with the initial shock from a horrifying sight or a powerful
enemy attack. Unless stated otherwise, the effect ends on the end of your next turn.
● An unnerved creature has disadvantage on its first attack roll or ability Check on its
turn.
● If a shaken creature is subjected to an effect that causes it to become unnerved
again, it becomes frightened.

Weakened*
● A weakened creature suffers a -1 penalty on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution
ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

new or changed*

-Notes on these Conditions-

There are some conditions in the game that have yet to be codified, but I’m just going to hit
two of them here. Those conditions are Bleeding and Swallowed. Bleeding is, basically, any
persistent effect where you take damage every round until you do something to fix it while
being swallowed involves you briefly experiencing what it’s like to be a delicious snack.

Bleeding
Persistent damage pretty much just exists as being set on fire or if a bearded devil decides
to see how sharp they made their glaive that morning. Beyond that, persistent damage just
doesn’t really rear its ugly head in this game, which is a shame. I’m all for dealing damage
outside of a monster’s turn, especially if it is basically free damage for me and makes my
player’s freak out cause they won’t stop dying.

What This Means

By placing all of the details into a condition, it not only cleans up the statblock (making it
easier to parse for important information) but also makes it easier to give to a custom
created monster. Now, you just have to come up with the DC to resist bleeding, as well as
how much damage you have to deal - making it easier for newer DMs to quickly add to their
own monsters.

When to use this Condition

You can use this condition whenever you have a monster that deals slashing or piercing
damage and is renowned for being gruesome. If the creature feeds on blood, than it could
make sense to have it inflict the Bleeding condition, making it easier to consume its victims
blood.

Swallowed
Unlike bleeding, there are a lot of monsters that just want to turn an adventurer into a tasty
snack. Each one features one to two paragraphs of text on the statblock, bloating the size of
their statblock and making it rather difficult to hit the most pressing information. How many
creatures can you devour, what is their size, how much damage does the stomach acid do,
how much damage does a creature need to do to force a saving throw, and what is the save
DC.

What This Means

Not only do we get rid of a bunch of bloat, making it easier to parse the statblock for key
information, we now can just tell a player they are swallowed and they can easily find that
information to reference instead of the GM constantly having to tell them what it means.
When you can give more information to players, it makes the job of being a GM that much
easier.

When to use this Condition

This condition is great for large creatures that like to swallow their prey, like snakes,
froghemoths, danger lizards, and even toads. For custom monsters, think about how they
eat and if it makes sense for them to be able to swallow a creature whole. Large and bigger
dragons never get a chance to swallow a creature whole, and while you may disagree with
that, it does provide some guidance. These creatures should be huge and with a vicious
appetite, they should have a large stomach where they can store creatures, and typically
have lower intelligence - I guess, because creatures who don’t first chew their food are
dumber than those who thoroughly chew their food… less acid reflux.

New Conditions
The following four conditions all work in a similar way. Two of them are specifically for your
physical abilities; Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. The other two are for your mental
abilities; Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. In each group, there is one that only imposes
a -1 penalty to your ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws that use your physical or
mental abilities, and then the other one imposes disadvantage on all of those abilities.

The reason why each category has two, one that imposes -1 penalty and the other that
imposes disadvantage is simply because of granularity. While many people love the
advatnage/disadvantage of 5e, and it is a good system, it does mean that things go from 0 to
100 immediately. If you are poisoned, you are 100% poisoned. If you are frightened, you are
100% frightened. There is nothing that really conveys slightly scared or terrified, its either
you are 100% fine or 100% frightened.

By imposing a smaller penalty, that being a -1 penalty, you can show to the PLAYER that
their character is dealing with some stuff that can turn bad for them. By introducing some
granularity, it provides forewarning to the players and gives you more to work with than just
disadvantage… because where do you go after you impose disadvantage? It doesn’t stack,
and so there isn’t a way to convey that their terror has increased mechanically within the
system.

Weakened
A weakened creature suffers a -1 penalty on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability
checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

Creatures that weaken adventurers do so by physically making them tired, this often comes
from decreasing a creature’s hit point maximum (not that scary at levels greater than 5th
level). When you impose the -1 penalty to them, you are effectively decreasing their ability
scores by 2 points, showing that they are physically getting weaker, slower, and unwell.

Example
Creatures that could impose this -1 penalty on their attacks could be something like the
wight. When it successfully drains a creature of their hit points, it also imposes the weakened
condition until the target finishes a long rest. Because this condition specifically states it is a
-1 penalty, the condition can’t be stacked over and over. The character just takes the -1 to
show them (mechanically) that the wight is draining them of their physical prowess.

Drained
A drained creature has disadvantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability checks,
attack rolls, and saving throws.

The stronger version of weakened, Drained imposes disadvantage on physical abilities. This
allows you to show that while a character might be physically weaker, they are still mentally
as sharp as ever.

Example
Certain creatures that impose this condition could include those that inflict powerful debuffs
or give afflictions. The mummy imposes a magical curse upon those who it hits, making
them a prime candidate to show that this magical curse is mechanically sapping their
strength by imposing that disadvantage on all physical checks, attacks, and saves.

Shaken
A shakened creature suffers a -1 penalty on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma ability
checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

Much like how weakened only imposes a -1 penalty, this condition does the same but on all
mental abilities. The same reason applies to this one as before, to provide you mechanical
evidence to the players that there character is going through a tough time. It’s not slightly
harder for them to focus, to think straight, and to charm other people because something has
caused their minds to be shook.

Example
There are a lot of creatures that charm and affect minds, making them great candidates to
cause minds to be shook. Not only does this make it easier for them to keep control on their
victims minds, it also shows that the character is mentally exhausted from having their mind
challenged by another. A creature like an incubus can use their Charm, and during that time,
a mind would be in a dazed and confused cloud, making it hard for them to fight their way
through the ability and clear their mind of alien influences.

Discombobulated
A discombobulated creature has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma
ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws.

Maybe it’s because its fun to say (go on, say it out loud), but I sure do like this word. It is a
great representation of something being disjointed and hard to muster through. When a
creature becomes discombobulated, things have gone wrong for their mind as they find it
even harder to think straight or to put on their charm. This is a more powerful version of
Shaken and tells the player that their character is finding it hard to mentally prepare
themselves for adventure.

Example
Anyone who is powerful enough to fully take control of an adventurers mind is likely to
impose this condition, leaving them staggered and unable to fully know if their thoughts are
their own. An example would be a powerful entity like the Elder Brain who sends their mind
blasting and tearing into another creatures, leaving them shocked and discombobulated for a
minute before they can get their bearing (of course, you might allow them to repeat the
saving throw at the end of their turn, allowing them to mentally snap back sooner than those
with lower mental scores).

Ending the Conditions

These are all for now, but there are more that could be created. Being set on fire could be its
own condition, just like confusion could be a condition. There are many monsters I would
have loved to have them impose something like the confusion spell but I don’t feel like
writing out a d10 chart in a statblock. Conditions are incredibly useful keywords to provide a
lot of information in a very concise way, and I love to see us have just a few more to offer a
wider range of options to employ against our players… and I guess the players could use
them on the monsters too… I guess.