Afflictions and Conditions
Conditions alter a creature’s capabilities in a variety of ways and can arise as a result of a spell, a class feature, a monster’s Attack, or other Effect. Most conditions, such as blinded, are impairments, but a few, such as invisible, can be advantageous. A condition lasts either until it is countered (the prone condition is countered by standing up, for example) or for a Duration specified by the Effect that imposed the condition. If multiple Effects impose the same condition on a creature, each instance of the condition has its own Duration, but the condition’s Effects don’t get worse. A creature either has a condition or doesn’t.
Afflictions on the other hand are strictly negative, have levels or stages and can gradually be removed over time or as a result of a spell, a class feature, a monster’s Attack, or other Effect. While conditions either impose the effect or don't, Afflictions can stack and change depending on the cause of the affliction.
Conditions
Berserk
A berserk creature is driven mad with blind rage, most commonly due to the effects of a drug, a curse, or a creature associated with madness.- A berserk creature must use any available actions, bonus actions, or reactions each round to attack the creature nearest to it. If it can make extra attacks as part of the Attack action, it uses those extra attacks. If the creature has multiple possible targets, it attacks one at random determined by the DM. If no target is within range, it must use its movement to move towards the closest target.
- A berserk creature has disadvantage on Wisdom ability checks and saving throws, and automatically fails any Intelligence ability checks and saving throws.
- A berserk creature is immune to the bloodlust, charmed, frightened, and terrified conditions.
- A Berserk Creature has their Critical Success and Critical Failure Chance increased by 2.
Blinded
A creature afflicted with blindness is unable to see be it from magic or mundane sources. It can be as simple as sand in the eyes or as complex as a curse.- 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.
- A Blinded Creature's Critical Success Chance decreases by 1, and Critical Failure Chance Increases by 1.
Bloodlust
A creature affected with bloodlust has worked themselves into a frenzied state, most likely due to partaking too deep panic, the effects of a drug or curse, or high levels of stress.- A creature affected with bloodlust must use all available actions, bonus actions, or movement each round to either attack a creature near it, or to move closer to a creature it intends to attack. If the creature can make extra attacks as part of the Attack action, it must do so.
- When any creature moves out of a creature affected with bloodlust's reach, it provokes an opportunity attack.
- A creature affected with bloodlust has disadvantage on Intelligence ability checks and saving throws.
- A creature affected with bloodlust has advantage on saving throws to resist being charmed, frightened, terrified, or going Berserk.
- A Creature Affected by Bloodlust has their Critical Success and Critical Failure Chance increased by 1.
Burned
A creature becomes burned as an effect from high temperatures, spending too long in the sun, or some form of magic.- Your skin becomes red as blisters begin to form on the affected area making it difficult to move. Your Dexterity Modifier is treated as halved. If your dexterity modifier is 1 or 0, it is treated as a -1, and if your dexterity Modifier is -1 or less, you double your negative modifier.
- You take an additional amount of fire or frost damage from attacks equal to 1.5x the original damage.
Charmed
- A Charmed creature can’t Attack the charmer or target the charmer with harmful Abilities or magical Effects.
- The Charmed creature can not regard the charmer as hostile, granting the charmer has advantage on any ability check to interact socially with the creature.
Deafened
- A deafened creature can’t hear and automatically fails any ability check that requires hearing.
Drowsy
A Drowsy creature feels tired, but not quite exhausted. Simply ready to go to sleep.- While a creature is affected by this condition, they are treated as if they have have 1 level of exhaustion. If the creature already has 1 or more levels of exhaustion, then nothing happens.
- A Drowsy creature has disadvantage on checks or saves against falling / being put to sleep. If a Drowsy creature is targeted by an effect such as a Sleep spell, the hit points act as if they were doubled.
- A Drowsy Creature's Critical Success Chance is decreased by 1
Frightened
- A frightened creature has -5 on Ability Checks and Attack rolls while the source of its fear is detectable by the creature.
- The creature can’t willingly move closer to the source of its fear, and if the source of fear is within melee range you must use any movement or ability's to get outside of melee range before you can do anything else.
- A Frightened Creature's Critical Success Chance is decreased by 1.
Grappled
- A grappled creature’s speed becomes 0, and it can’t benefit from any bonus to its speed.
- You have Disadvantage on attack rolls against any target other than the grappler.
- While Grappled, you can make a Dexterity or Strength saving throw against the grapple’s escape DC at the end of each of your turns, ending the Condition on yourself on a success. The Condition also ends if the grappler is Incapacitated or if something moves you outside the grapple’s range without using your Speed.
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.
- An invisible creature has its AC (Touch) increased by 10.
- Attack rolls against An invisible creature have disadvantage.
- An invisible creature's Critical Success Chance increases by 1.
Muted
- You become unable to speak.
- You are unable to cast spells or use objects that require verbal components.
Paralyzed
- A Paralyzed creature can’t take Actions or Reactions, move, or speak.
- The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws.
- The creatures AC (Touch) is reduced to 8.
- Any Attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature, or 10ft if the weapon has reach.
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 loses all bonuses, features, and/or abilities while petrified.
- The creature can’t take Actions or Reactions, move, or speak and is unaware of its surroundings.
- The creatures AC is reduced to 10.
- The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws.
- The creature becomes immune to frost, poison, and thunder damage. The creature is also vulnerable to acid, force, and bludgeoning damage. The creature is resistant to all other damage types. The creature is immune to poison and disease, although a poison or disease already in its system is suspended, not neutralized.
Poisoned
- A Poisoned Creature has disadvantage on Attack rolls and Ability Checks.
- A Poisoned Creatures Critical failure chance is increased by 1, and critical success chance is decreased by 1.
Prone
- A prone creature’s only Movement option is to crawl, unless it stands up and thereby ends the condition.
- The creature has -5 on Attack rolls.
- An Attack roll against the creature has advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature, or 10 feet if the attacker has a weapon with the reach property. Otherwise, the Attack roll has -5 to hit.
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 +5 to hit, and the creature’s Attack rolls have -5 to hit.
- The creature has disadvantage on Dexterity Saving Throws.
Slowed
- You must spend 1 extra foot of movement for every foot you move using your Movement Speed.
- Attack Rolls against you gain a +3 to hit
- Dexterity Checks or saves you make have -3.
Staggered
- A Staggered Creature can only use either its Action or Movement Action.
- The Creature may not use its Bonus Action or Reaction in addition to any additional Actions, Movement, Bonus Actions, or Reactions granted by a feature, ability, or spell. This includes Extra attack.
- The Creature has -3 on Strength and Dexterity saving throws and checks and attack rolls that use either ability.
Stealthed
- A stealthed creature is undetectable by average sight, sound, smell, or any combination until a creature makes a successful perception check or if a creature has a a high enough passive perception to notice the creature. Taking an action, Dashing, or preforming any feature or ability that may cause you to be detected requires you to make another stealth check at disadvantage or the condition ends.
- You gain Advantage on attack rolls.
- Your Critical Success Chance increases by 1.
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, and gain +1 Critical Success Chance.
Taunted
A creature has caught your focus, be it by anger or by distraction, forcing you to mostly focus on the cause of the effect. While taunted you have the following effects:- A Taunted Creature can only move towards or Attack the taunting Creature, and target the Taunting Creature with harmful Abilities or magical Effects.
- The Taunted creature can not regard the charmer as Friendly, granting the charmer advantage on any ability check to unsocially interact, such as intimidation, with the creature.
Terrified
- A Terrified creature loses all bonuses other than ability score bonuses to all rolls while the source of its terror is detectable by the creature (Skill checks, Saves, Attack Rolls, Spell Save DC).
- The creature must use all of its movement to attempt to get as far away the source of its terror as it can. The Creature will also use any Actions or Bonus Actions to further the distance each round it is able, so long as it is able to do so, disregarding dangers other than the most extreme (A Terrified creature may not jump into Lava if a path is next to it, although they would jump off a buildings roof.)
- A Terrified Creature's Critical strike chance becomes 0, and can not be more than 0.
Unconscious
- An unconscious creature is incapacitated, can’t move or speak, and is unaware of its surroundings (Passive perception drops to a 1)
- The creature drops whatever it’s holding and falls prone.
- The creature automatically fails Strength and Dexterity Saving Throws.
- Any Attack that hits the creature is a critical hit if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature. If the attacker has a reach weapon the range is 10ft.
Afflictions
Bleeding
Bleeding occurs when you are hit by a critically damaging attack, or simply slashed or pierced deep enough by an attack. This damage is unclassed, meaning it can not be negated unless an ability specifies it affects Bleed damage, it counts as necrotic in relation to class or racial abilities and features. Creatures can be immune to the bleeding condition, forgoing the damage entirely. A Bleeding creature takes 1 damage for every level of Bleeding at the start of the creatures turn.Bleeding occurs upon landing a critical strike with bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. Additionally any time you roll damage for a slashing or piercing attack, if the die roll deals more than half damage, you inflict a level of bleeding for each die that pertains to those damage types (On a 3d4 Roll, if I roll a 2, a 3, and a 4 since 3 and 4 are above half damage, then it inflicts 2 level of bleeding). If a creature that is Resistant or Immune to Slashing or Piercing Damage, they only gain a level of bleeding from the damage if the attack deals maximum damage.
Bleeding may be stopped by receiving magical healing, with every 4 health healed removing 1 level of bleeding. Alternatively, if a creature uses its action to suppress the bleeding, a creatures bleeding level is temporarily reduced by 5 with 1 bleeding level going away after 1 hour, or 1 bleeding level going away after 30 minutes if a an item or creature is suppressing at least 1 level of bleeding for the duration. If the action is not preformed again the following turn, then the bleeding resumes. Items, medical checks with a medical kit, or other magics may also reduce levels of bleeding.
Cursed
Curses, while not as common as the other afflictions, is a dangerous affliction all the same. Much like being diseased, being cursed has various effects depending on the details of the curse and the intentions behind the creation of the curse. Not all curses are deadly, or even harmful. Some are just annoying or bothersome, and some even have perks making them possibly a perk. With most curses being persistent until death or the loss / destruction of something, they can be a challenge to remove. Most curses can be removed by clerics, paladins, or other high level casters; However some can only be removed by the completion of a specific set of tasks.Diseased
Disease or Sickness is an affliction that can effect a creature in a number of ways and occur in many more. While the ways a disease can appear or occur varies depending on the disease, the end result of any disease that is not treated or cured is always negative, if not detrimental. While resting, staying fed and hydrated, as well as keeping your health high all help to reduce the progression of a disease and minimize symptoms, sometimes even this is not enough. A list of Diseases can be found here. (Insert hyperlink here)Encumbrance
Encumbrance is determined bye how much you carry, or rather how much weight you are carrying. You can carry an amount determined by your strength modifier. When gaining a level of Encumbrance you suffer the related effect and your dexterity bonus is reduced to the Dex Bonus Max if your dexterity Score exceeds the number.| Encumbrance level | Carry Limit | Effects | Dex Bonus Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unencumbered | N/A | You suffer no penalties. | N/A |
| Encumbered | x5 | You lose 10ft of Movement Speed and lose all flying speed. If the source of your flying speed grants gliding, you may still glide dropping 5ft per 5ft traveled. | +5 |
| Heavily Encumbered | x10 | You lose 20ft Movement Speed and your climbing or swimming speed drop to 0. Checks, Saves, or Attack rolls do not gain STR, DEX, or CON modifiers. | +3 |
| Over Encumbered | x15 | Your Movement Speed becomes 5ft. Additionally, you halve the total number rolled for all STR, DEX, and CON Checks or Saves. | +1 |
| Over Exerted | x20 | Your Movement Speed becomes 0, you can not pick up or hold any additional items, and you are unable to preform actions other than dropping held items. | +0 |
For example, a Medium Creature with a Strength of 10 is unencumbered when carrying between 0-49lbs. However when they carry more than 5x their Strength Score 50lbs or more, they become Encumbered. When this creature is carrying more than 10x their Strength Score, they are no longer Encumbered but now Heavily Encumbered. This occurs for Heavily Encumbered, Over Encumbered, and Exerted. If you are looking for rules on Carrying Weight, check under Rules: ??? (Insert hyperlink here)
Exhaustion
Some Features or environmental Hazards, such as starvation and the long-term Effects of freezing or scorching temperatures, can lead to a special Affliction called exhaustion. Exhaustion is measured in Eight levels. An Effect can give a creature one or more levels of exhaustion, as specified in the Effect’s description.| Exhaustion Level | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | You have Disadvantage on Ability Checks |
| 2 | You lose 5ft of movement |
| 3 | Your speed and carrying capacity is Halved |
| 4 | You lose your Reaction and Bonus Action |
| 5 | Hit point maximum halved, and you become Staggered |
| 6 | Disadvantage on Attack rolls and Saving Throws |
| 7 | Speed reduced to 0, you fall prone, and are considered incapacitated |
| 8 | 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 a Long Rest reduces a creature’s exhaustion level by your constitution bonus (or 1 if your Constitution Modifier is Negative), provided the cause of exhaustion is not still persistent. (Starvation, Dehydration, Sleep Deprivation, Bleeding, Disease.)