D&D 5E Conquest Paladin Aura of Courage mechanical question

[ECMO3]

I am playing a conquest Paladin have a question about how Aura of courage works:

"Aura of Courage: Starting at 10th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you can't be frightened while you are conscious."

So how does this work if allies are targeted with a spell while I am close, or alternatively if they fail a save but then I move within 10 feet of them? Is the spell supressed, does it go away completely?

Example cases:

1. Ally is standing right next to me and fails his save against dragon fear, he isn't frightened now but is he frightened if one of us moves away?

2. Ally is more than 10 feet from me and fails a save against Dragon fear, so he is frightened. On my turn I move over next to him. Is he no longer "frightened" per the ability? On his turn he moves away from me - is he now frightened again or is the condition just completely canceled?

3. What if I cast the Fear spell with friendly fire but I am close enough for the ally not to be frightened? Can I just tell the DM he does not have to save because he is within 10 feet of me?

 

[Clint_L]

My rulings would be:

1. They can't fail the save because they don't have to make a save against fear within 10' of the paladin, as they are immune to fear in those circumstances. Creatures that are immune to an effect do not roll saves against it, period. If they are subsequently no longer in that radius, they would then no longer be immune and have to roll saves as required. TLDR: situation 1 shouldn't happen.

2. This is more interesting, as it depends on how we interpret the words "can't be frightened." Does this mean "cannot start being frightened but can continue to be frightened if already in that condition" or "can never be in a state of fear"? To me the plain wording of the text suggests they would stop being frightened while within 10', but the condition would return outside of that radius.

3. Yes. They are immune to fear and so do not have to roll a save against it, per 1. This would be a clever combination of the spell and the aura.

 

[DMZ2112]

Neat question. For me, it depends on the nature of the fear effect.

If the fear effect is ongoing, leaving the aura in any way triggers a saving throw by the terms of the effect (usually a "if you move into or start your turn in" clause). But if it is an instantaneous effect, it is completely negated for anyone within the aura, as Clint says.

Entering the aura within an ongoing fear effect multiple times should cancel the effect each time, and leaving the aura multiple times should trigger a new saving throw each time unless the effect is explicit that "if the effect ends for [the creature]" (note the difference between this and "if the creature's saving throw is successful"), the creature is immune to the ongoing effect for a period of time (such as is the case for a dragon's Frightful Presence).