Level Up (A5E) New Conditions: Agonized, Forgetful, Manic, Placid, Vexed

[Morrus]

Brainshopping these. Very much works-in-progress. They probably won't all get used. Thoughts? (Also better names are welcomed!)

Agonized

• An agonized creature has disadvantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability checks.
• An agonized creature is unable to maintain concentration, and automatically fails ability checks made to do so.

Forgetful

• A forgetful creature cannot use skill or tool proficiencies, or languages other than its own.

Manic

• A manic creature is convulsed with laughter and can only take an action or a move on its turn.

Placid

• A placid creature cannot take hostile or aggressive actions.
• A placid creature will performan non-harmful, non-aggressive actions suggested to them by others, although if given contradictory suggestions it will follow those offered by its allies.

Vexed

• If a vexed creature can see or hear any enemies within 60 feet, it must move directly towards the closest.
• A vexed creature has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma checks.
• A vexed creature is unaffected by the frightened condition.

 

[Cadence]

Brainshopping these. Very much works-in-progress. They probably won't all get used. Thoughts? (Also better names are welcomed!)

Agonized

• An agonized creature has disadvantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability checks.
• An agonized creature is unable to maintain concentration, and automatically fails ability checks made to do so.

It feels like someone agonized would also have trouble with the mental stats too? If you just wanted physical why does it affect concentration too?

Forgetful

• A forgetful creature cannot use skill or tool proficiencies, or languages other than its own.

Should they have disadvantage on knowledge checks too? Casting spells?

Anyway, I kind of like this one - but the name doesn't quite hit it for me. (Mind blank? Off kilter? Bumbling?)

Manic

• A manic creature is convulsed with laughter and can only take an action or a move on its turn.

Manic doesn't seem like the right word. Hysterical? Convulsed? Does this mean they can't react off their turn and only get either one movement or one action on their turn?

Placid

• A placid creature cannot take hostile or aggressive actions.
• A placid creature will performan non-harmful, non-aggressive actions suggested to them by others, although if given contradictory suggestions it will follow those offered by its allies.

Will this cause problems at tables when a player gets the condition.

Vexed

• If a vexed creature can see or hear any enemies within 60 feet, it must move directly towards the closest.
• A vexed creature has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma checks.
• A vexed creature is unaffected by the frightened condition.

Vexed seems an odd name to me. Can they still attack the enemies?

Trying to picture this one. Something an evil commander would use on its troops? If so, that's cool!

 

[Morrus]

Vexed seems an odd name to me. Can they still attack the enemies?

Trying to picture this one. Something an evil commander would use on its troops? If so, that's cool!

More sort of enraged. Just didn’t want to confuse it with the rage feature, or I’d have just called it that .

 

[Cadence]

More sort of enraged. Just didn’t want to confuse it with the rage feature, or I’d have just called it that .

I was thinking provoked, but that's way to much like provoke (an attack of opportunity).

Baited? Incited? (Vexed is seeming much more reasonable the more I think about it).

 

[Tablite]

Agonized

• An agonized creature has disadvantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability checks.
• An agonized creature is unable to maintain concentration, and automatically fails ability checks made to do so.

Love the idea of being able to not maintain concentration. As someone who's dealt with chronic pain before, it makes a lot of sense.

Forgetful

• A forgetful creature cannot use skill or tool proficiencies, or languages other than its own.

Would a better language be "A forgetful creature cannot apply their proficiency bonus to any skill or tool checks"? I can see confusion if a narrator calls for a check by the skill name (ie, "stealth check") and the player thinks they can't even attempt it because they can't "use" the skill. (Or I'm overthinking it)

Placid

• A placid creature cannot take hostile or aggressive actions.
• A placid creature will performan non-harmful, non-aggressive actions suggested to them by others, although if given contradictory suggestions it will follow those offered by its allies.

Seems like a stronger version of the charmed condition. Maybe have this not affect creatures immune to charmed (like stunned/rattled)?

Vexed

• If a vexed creature can see or hear any enemies within 60 feet, it must move directly towards the closest.
• A vexed creature has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma checks.
• A vexed creature is unaffected by the frightened condition.

Maybe "Infuriated? Frenzied?" It reads to me as a condition thematically opposite to frightened. Instead of having to flee, you have to approach. Could also spin it more as a "Captivated" sort of thing and would fit well with creatures like Vampires luring their prey in.

 

[Morrus]

Maybe "Infuriated? Frenzied?" It reads to me as a condition thematically opposite to frightened. Instead of having to flee, you have to approach. Could also spin it more as a "Captivated" sort of thing and would fit well with creatures like Vampires luring their prey in.

We already have Fixated.

This is something entirely different.

 

[xiphumor]

I think a big question here is backwards compatibility. E.g. Fixated works because a creature immune to being charmed is immune to being fixated, so I already know which monsters should be immune to it. How would GMs know where to apply condition immunities using these?

 

[Morrus]

I think a big question here is backwards compatibility. E.g. Fixated works because a creature immune to being charmed is immune to being fixated, so I already know which monsters should be immune to it. How would GMs know where to apply condition immunities using these?

I don't understand the question.

 

[xiphumor]

I don't understand the question.

If I want to introduce these into my game, I (as a GM) want to know whether or not it makes sense for a given monster (written before that condition entered the game) should immune to a given condition. Can a vengeful ghost be made placid? Can an intellect devourer be forgetful? You could wing it based on vibes but many people don't feel comfortable doing that.

If you don't include some kind of guideline that tells you whether or not earlier monsters are immune to new conditions, then you've suddenly made a condition that nothing is immune to RAW, even if it would make sense for it to be so, making any spells or other features that inflict that condition disproportionately useful because you know they'll always work, regardless of the target you use them against.

 

[xiphumor]

Brainshopping these. Very much works-in-progress. They probably won't all get used. Thoughts? (Also better names are welcomed!)

Agonized

• An agonized creature has disadvantage on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability checks.
• An agonized creature is unable to maintain concentration, and automatically fails ability checks made to do so.

I agree with the earlier comment that it would seem as though an Agonized creature should have trouble with mental ability checks, even more so than physical ones, going by flavor alone. But also, if the condition was "Mental Ability Check Penalty" + "Concentration Penalty," you might as well just be inflicting two levels of strife.

Forgetful

• A forgetful creature cannot use skill or tool proficiencies, or languages other than its own.

When would this come up? Under what circumstances do you ever use a proficiency other than your own? What would that even mean?

Manic

• A manic creature is convulsed with laughter and can only take an action or a move on its turn.

Flavor-wise, it feels weird that you might be convulsed with laughter but still have enough presence of mind to make an attack or cast a spell. I don't think this captures the flavor very well, although it otherwise seems fine.

Placid

• A placid creature cannot take hostile or aggressive actions.
• A placid creature will perform an non-harmful, non-aggressive actions suggested to them by others, although if given contradictory suggestions it will follow those offered by its allies.

This is a much stronger version of charmed, which is already considered a major condition in the Monstrous Menagerie. Also, I don't think that placidity necessarily should imply compliance.

Vexed

• If a vexed creature can see or hear any enemies within 60 feet, it must move directly towards the closest.
• A vexed creature has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma checks.
• A vexed creature is unaffected by the frightened condition.

The dictionary definition of vexed is "feeling or showing irritation, annoyance, or distress." I feel like this is describing some other emotion, but I don't know what it's supposed to be.

All in all, I think many of these would maybe be better as new Mental Stress Effects. Maybe consider repurposing them in that direction.