D&D 5E An Idea to Revise the Frightened Condition

[Composer99]

I am not convinced that a (more) naturalistic fear response needs to be more accurately modeled in D&D 5e. However, as far as it goes, I do think this proposed change to the frightened condition, with perhaps a bit of finessing [*], does a reasonable job of elegantly modeling such a response. To my mind, I don't think it's suitable for D&D 5e default gameplay, but I imagine it would work for horror-themed games or for low-magic or modern settings.

As far as finessing goes:

• Regardless of the fear response a creature expresses, it should have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks while the source of its fear is in its line of sight.
• Also, the flight response isn't exactly modeled in the original post - some result that has the frightened creature behave in a manner similar to a turned creature would be appropriate.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

From a DM perspective, I would rather have a separate condition and divvie up which spell gets which. I was thinking Staggered to cover "freezing": can't take reactions, cut speed in half, and disadvantage on dex and wisdom saving throws.

Of course, if we are adding conditions, Enraged (can't concentrate, advantage on everything strength related), would be first. It seems like that would be a great condition for bards, in particular, to inflict on enemy casters and demons (except maybe the Glabrezu) should all have an aura that inflicts that condition (other demons in the aura get to chose if they are affected) as it would mechanically make demons very distinct from other fiends.

 

[MechMan57]

Why not make it based on the total save rolled by the creature?
Say the DC for the save is 17. If the creature rolls a 15 or 16, the response might be to fight with disadvantage. If they roll like 3-6 below the save, why not make it like the PHB rules? Any numbers below that like a roll of 6 against a DC 17 might cause the creature to be incapacitated. Depending on how severe the fail against the DC is scales roughly with how powerful and intimidating a creature is because the DC will increase, therefore increasing the amount of odds they can suffer worse effects if the roll is in the single digits.

Ignores having to roll any extra dice and takes into account a character's wisdom (will) to persevere through the fear.