Incapacitated 5e condition
How the incapacitated condition works in the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1) and the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2), what changed, and which spells and monsters cause it.
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Incapacitated in the 2014 rules (SRD 5.1)
- An incapacitated creature can't take actions or reactions.
Incapacitated in the 2024 rules (SRD 5.2)
While you have the Incapacitated condition, you experience the following effects.
Inactive. You can't take any action, Bonus Action, or Reaction.
No Concentration. Your Concentration is broken.
Speechless. You can't speak.
Surprised. If you're Incapacitated when you roll Initiative, you have Disadvantage on the roll.
What changed in 2024
- 2014: no actions or reactions. 2024 adds no Bonus Actions either, breaks your Concentration, stops you speaking, and gives Disadvantage on Initiative if you’re Incapacitated when you roll it.
How Incapacitated works
An incapacitated creature can’t take actions or reactions. In the 2014 rules that’s the whole condition: it can still move, it can still speak, and attacks against it get no bonus. Bonus actions aren’t mentioned, but the official reading is that they’re blocked too, since a bonus action is still an action.
It matters most as a building block. Stunned, paralyzed, petrified and unconscious all include it, and spells like Hypnotic Pattern and Hideous Laughter impose it directly.
Side effects worth knowing
- Concentration ends. You lose concentration when you’re incapacitated, so a Hypnotic Pattern on an enemy caster also ends whatever spell it was holding.
- Grapples end. A grappled creature goes free when its grappler becomes incapacitated.
- No Dodge. You lose the benefit of the Dodge action while incapacitated.
- Shoot freely. A hostile creature next to you only gives disadvantage on your ranged attacks if it isn’t incapacitated, so you can fire point-blank beside one.
- Movement isn’t stopped by the condition alone. Hypnotic Pattern adds a speed of 0, and Hideous Laughter leaves its target prone and unable to stand.
What changed in 2024
The 2024 condition spells the rule out and adds to it. You can’t take any action, bonus action or reaction; your concentration is broken; you can’t speak; and if you’re incapacitated when you roll initiative, you have disadvantage on the roll. Losing speech and the initiative penalty are new. The condition still doesn’t stop you moving.
Common questions
Can an incapacitated creature move?
Yes, unless something else stops it. Incapacitated only removes actions and reactions (and, in 2024, speech). Paralyzed adds a speed of 0, and stunned stops movement in the 2014 rules but not in 2024.
Can you take bonus actions while incapacitated?
No. The 2024 condition says so outright, and the official reading of the 2014 rules is the same, because a bonus action is still an action.
Does being incapacitated break concentration?
Yes, in both versions. The 2014 rules list being incapacitated as one of the ways you lose concentration; the 2024 condition includes it.
Can an incapacitated creature speak?
In the 2014 rules, yes: nothing in the condition stops it, though stunned creatures speak only falteringly and paralyzed ones can’t. In 2024, no: the condition includes “can’t speak.”
Do attacks against an incapacitated creature have advantage?
No. Incapacitated doesn’t change attack rolls. Stunned, paralyzed and unconscious creatures give attackers advantage because those conditions add it.
Can an incapacitated creature make saving throws?
Yes, normally. Only stunned, paralyzed, petrified and unconscious creatures automatically fail Strength and Dexterity saves.
Incapacitated compared with similar conditions
| Condition | How it compares |
|---|---|
| Stunned | Incapacitated plus advantage for attackers and automatic failure on Strength and Dexterity saves. |
| Paralyzed | The harshest version: no moving or speaking either, and hits from within 5 feet are critical hits. |
| Hypnotic Pattern | 3rd level: charmed, incapacitated and speed 0 for every creature that fails, until it takes damage or is shaken awake. |
| Hideous Laughter | 1st level: one target prone and incapacitated for up to a minute, with a new save each turn and whenever it takes damage. |
Spells and the incapacitated condition
From the SRD 5.1 spells: 6 spells can leave a creature incapacitated.
Spells that cause it
- Hideous Laughter 1st level
- Hypnotic Pattern 3rd level
- Banishment 4th level
- Modify Memory 5th level
- Wind Walk 6th level
- Symbol 7th level
Monsters and the incapacitated condition
Monsters whose attacks or traits cause it (3)
No SRD monster is immune to it.