Conditions Explained: Prone, Restrained, Stunned, and the Whole 5e List
Half the arguments at a D&D and tabletop RPG table are really arguments about conditions. Can a prone creature still cast? Does a restrained target get to move at all? Wait, is the enemy stunned or paralyzed, because those are very different? A condition is a temporary state that changes what a creature can do, and knowing them cold is one of the fastest ways to stop looking things up mid combat and start playing smoothly.
This is a plain language guide to every condition in D&D 5e, written so you can actually remember them. We cover what each one does, the ones people mix up, and a quick reference table you can scan at the table. All of it maps to the current 2024 mechanics in the System Reference Document 5.2, and it is the same set of conditions the Dungeons Deep Ruleset, an original game system compatible with fifth edition, runs on.
Last updated July 20, 2026.
What Is a Condition?
A condition is a temporary status that alters a creature's capabilities. Something causes it (a spell, a monster attack, an environmental hazard, a failed saving throw), it applies a specific set of effects while it lasts, and then it ends when its duration runs out or when the source is removed. Conditions do not stack on themselves in most cases. If something is already poisoned, being poisoned again does not double the penalty. The exception is exhaustion, which is built to pile up in levels.
The reason conditions matter so much is that they are the main way D&D and other tabletop RPGs turn a fight from a slugfest into a puzzle. Knocking an enemy prone, restraining a fleeing target, or frightening a boss changes the math far more than one extra sword swing. Learn the conditions and you learn how combat is actually won.
What Are All 15 Conditions in 5e?
Here are the 15 standard conditions in D&D 5e, the same ones used across most 5e compatible tabletop RPGs:
- Blinded
- Charmed
- Deafened
- Exhaustion
- Frightened
- Grappled
- Incapacitated
- Invisible
- Paralyzed
- Petrified
- Poisoned
- Prone
- Restrained
- Stunned
- Unconscious
We will walk the ones people ask about most first, then round up the rest.
What Does Prone Do in 5e?
A prone creature is lying on the ground. It can only crawl unless it spends half its speed to stand up, and if its speed is zero it cannot stand at all. Attackers within five feet of a prone target roll with advantage, which makes prone a great setup before your allies pile in. But attackers farther than five feet away roll with disadvantage, so a prone target is harder to hit from across the room. A prone creature also attacks with disadvantage itself.
The short read: knock the melee bruiser prone right before your rogue and fighter go, and they both get advantage. Do not bother knocking prone the enemy your archer is about to shoot from thirty feet away.
What Does Restrained Do in 5e?
Restrained is one of the strongest common conditions. A restrained creature has a speed of zero and cannot benefit from any bonus to speed. Attacks against it have advantage, its own attacks have disadvantage, and it has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws. That last part is brutal, because so many dangerous spells key off a Dexterity save. Restrain the enemy, then drop the fireball.
Restrained is what a net, entangling vines, or a grappling spell typically inflicts. Do not confuse it with grappled, which is milder.
What Does Grappled Do in 5e?
Grappled is the lighter cousin of restrained. A grappled creature has a speed of zero that cannot increase, and it has disadvantage on attack rolls against anyone except the creature grappling it. No advantage for attackers, no disadvantage on saves. The grappler can also drag the grappled creature along, though every foot of that movement usually costs an extra foot. Grappling pins something in place and makes it focus on the grappler; it does not make it easier to hit. The condition ends if the grappler is incapacitated or if the target is moved out of the grapple's reach. If rules corner cases like this are where your table stalls out, we break them down one at a time in explainers like our death saving throws guide.
What Is the Difference Between Stunned, Paralyzed, and Incapacitated?
These three get mixed up constantly, so here is the ladder from mild to severe.
Incapacitated is the base layer. An incapacitated creature cannot take an action, bonus action, or reaction, cannot speak, and loses concentration on anything it was concentrating on. If it becomes incapacitated while rolling initiative, it rolls with disadvantage. It can still move (unless another condition stops it) and it is not any easier to hit. Incapacitated is quietly included inside several other conditions.
Stunned is worse. A stunned creature is incapacitated, automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saving throws, and attacks against it have advantage. Under the current 2024 rules a stunned creature can still stagger around, since stunned no longer sets speed to zero, but with no actions, failed physical saves, and every attacker rolling with advantage, it is still a devastating condition to land on a boss for a round.
Paralyzed is worse still. A paralyzed creature is incapacitated, its speed is zero and cannot increase, it automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saves, and attacks against it have advantage. The kicker: any attack that hits a paralyzed creature from within five feet is an automatic critical hit. Paralyze the enemy and stand next to it, and every hit crits.
What Do Blinded, Deafened, Frightened, and Charmed Do?
Blinded. The creature cannot see and automatically fails any check that requires sight. Its attacks have disadvantage, and attacks against it have advantage. Blindness cuts both ways but usually hurts the blinded creature more.
Deafened. The creature cannot hear and automatically fails any check that requires hearing. On its own it is mild, but it matters for spells and abilities that rely on being heard.
Frightened. A frightened creature has disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls while the source of its fear is within line of sight, and it cannot willingly move closer to that source. Great for shutting down a charging melee enemy without dealing a point of damage.
Charmed. A charmed creature cannot attack the charmer or target them with harmful abilities, and the charmer has advantage on social checks made to interact with it. Charmed is a social and control tool more than a combat one, though stopping an enemy from attacking a specific ally is plenty useful in a fight.
What Do Poisoned, Petrified, Unconscious, and Invisible Do?
Poisoned. A poisoned creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks. Simple, common, and it stacks up in impact fast because it touches so much of what a creature does.
Petrified. A petrified creature is turned to solid material like stone, along with anything nonmagical it is wearing or carrying. It is incapacitated, its speed is zero, its weight multiplies by ten, and it stops aging. Attacks against it have advantage, it automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saves, and it gains resistance to all damage plus immunity to the poisoned condition. Time effectively stops for it. This is a save or lose condition, which is why the spells and monsters that cause it are so feared.
Unconscious. An unconscious creature is incapacitated and prone, cannot move or speak, is unaware of its surroundings, and drops whatever it is holding. It automatically fails Strength and Dexterity saves, attacks against it have advantage, and any hit from within five feet is an automatic critical hit. Unconscious is where a character goes when they hit zero hit points and start rolling death saving throws.
Invisible. An invisible creature cannot be seen without special senses or magic, and its gear is concealed with it. It cannot be targeted by effects that require the target to be seen, it rolls initiative with advantage, its attack rolls have advantage, and attacks against it have disadvantage, unless the attacker can somehow see it. Invisibility is one of the strongest advantages in the game precisely because it warps both sides of the attack math.
How Does Exhaustion Work in 5e?
Exhaustion is the odd one out, because it comes in levels that stack. Under the current 2024 rules the math is simple and brutal: every d20 test you make (attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws) takes a penalty of minus 2 per exhaustion level, and your speed drops by 5 feet per level. At level six, you die. Long marches, starvation, extreme cold, certain monsters, and some powerful spells inflict it. Finishing a long rest removes one level at a time, so climbing back out is slow. It is the game's model for grinding attrition rather than a single sharp effect.
Quick Reference Table
Scan this at the table when you need the gist fast.
| Condition | The one line version |
|---|---|
| Blinded | Cannot see. Disadvantage to attack, attackers get advantage. |
| Charmed | Cannot harm the charmer, who gets advantage on social checks. |
| Deafened | Cannot hear. Fails hearing based checks. |
| Exhaustion | Minus 2 per level on d20 tests, minus 5 feet speed per level. Death at level 6. |
| Frightened | Disadvantage while the source is in view, cannot approach it. |
| Grappled | Speed zero, disadvantage on attacks against anyone but the grappler. |
| Incapacitated | No actions, bonus actions, or reactions. No speech, concentration breaks. |
| Invisible | Cannot be seen. Attacks with advantage, attacked with disadvantage, advantage on initiative. |
| Paralyzed | Cannot act or move, fails STR and DEX saves, melee hits auto crit. |
| Petrified | Turned to stone. Save or lose, with damage resistance. |
| Poisoned | Disadvantage on attacks and ability checks. |
| Prone | On the ground. Attackers within 5 feet get advantage, everyone else disadvantage. |
| Restrained | Speed zero, attacked with advantage, disadvantage on DEX saves. |
| Stunned | Incapacitated, fails STR and DEX saves, attacked with advantage. Can still move. |
| Unconscious | Out cold and prone, fails STR and DEX saves, melee hits auto crit. |
Who Should Track All This
Here is the honest truth about conditions. They are not hard to understand. They are hard to track. In a real fight you might have a prone goblin, a restrained ogre, a frightened cultist, and a poisoned player character all at once, each expiring at a different time, each changing the roll math for everyone who interacts with them. That bookkeeping is where tables slow to a crawl and where mistakes creep in. Miss a restrained condition on the wrong turn in a deadly fight and you are a few bad rolls from a total party kill.
It is also exactly what a language model on its own tends to fumble. Ask a general AI chatbot to run a fight and it will happily forget that the enemy is still restrained two rounds later, or grant advantage it should not, because it is improvising the rules rather than enforcing them. We wrote about what works and what breaks when you play with a raw chatbot, and conditions are near the top of the breaks list.
This is one of the reasons we built DungeonsDeep.ai with a dedicated rules engine underneath the AI Game Master rather than letting the model wing it. Adventures written by humans. Run by Artificial Intelligence. When a creature is restrained, the engine knows it, applies the advantage and the disadvantage on Dexterity saves automatically, and clears the condition when it should end. You get to make the tactical decision to net the enemy. You do not have to be the one remembering it three rounds later.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the conditions in D&D 5e?
The standard 5e conditions are blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, incapacitated, invisible, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, stunned, and unconscious. Each is a temporary state that changes what a creature can do, and all of them are defined in the System Reference Document.
What does restrained do in 5e?
A restrained creature has a speed of zero and cannot benefit from bonuses to speed. Attacks against it have advantage, its own attacks have disadvantage, and it has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws. That combination makes restrained one of the strongest common control conditions, especially as a setup for spells that require a Dexterity save.
What is the difference between grappled and restrained?
Grappled only sets a creature's speed to zero. Restrained does that too, but also gives attackers advantage, gives the restrained creature disadvantage on its attacks, and imposes disadvantage on its Dexterity saves. Grappled holds something in place; restrained holds it in place and makes it far more vulnerable.
What is the difference between stunned and paralyzed?
Both make a creature incapacitated and cause it to fail Strength and Dexterity saves while attackers gain advantage. Paralyzed goes further: the creature's speed drops to zero, so it cannot move at all, and any attack that hits it from within five feet is an automatic critical hit. Under the current 2024 rules a stunned creature can still move. Paralyzed is the more dangerous of the two.
Does prone give advantage?
It depends on range. Melee attacks against a prone creature have advantage, but ranged attacks against it have disadvantage. The prone creature also makes its own attacks with disadvantage. Knock a target prone before your melee allies act, not before your archers fire.
How does exhaustion work in 5e?
Exhaustion comes in cumulative levels. Under the 2024 rules, each level subtracts 2 from every d20 test the creature makes and reduces its speed by 5 feet, and a creature dies at exhaustion level six. It is caused by things like forced marches, starvation, extreme environments, and certain spells and monsters. Finishing a long rest removes one level at a time.
Do conditions stack in 5e?
Most conditions do not stack with themselves. Being poisoned twice is the same as being poisoned once. A creature can, however, suffer several different conditions at the same time, and their effects combine. Exhaustion is the exception that stacks in levels.
How does DungeonsDeep.ai handle conditions?
DungeonsDeep.ai runs a dedicated rules engine beneath the AI Game Master, so conditions are applied, tracked, and cleared automatically during play. When you restrain, frighten, or knock a target prone, the platform enforces the correct advantage and disadvantage without anyone at the table having to remember it round to round.
Let the Rules Engine Handle It
Conditions are the hidden language of D&D and tabletop RPG combat. Learn them and you stop swinging blindly and start setting up the kills. Prone before the melee turn. Restrain before the big save or suck spell. Paralyze and stand close. Frighten the thing you cannot out damage.
And when you would rather make those decisions than track their bookkeeping, let the rules engine do the remembering. Try DungeonsDeep.ai and play through human authored adventures with an AI Game Master that actually enforces the rules. Come talk shop with us on Discord or the DungeonsDeepAI subreddit.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2 (“SRD 5.2”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.