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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8476031" data-attributes="member: 6779196">No, it exists because of the order of operations.As a thought experiment, let’s assume that it was possible to impose the Frightened condition on a creature with a successful Charisma (Intimidation) check.A character (doesn’t really matter if it’s a PC or NPC) wants to frighten a monster, and doesn’t have any spells that can do so or doesn’t want to spend the spell slots. So they declare “I try to frighten the monster by acting all scary.” Since there is not a specific rule for how to resolve this action, the DM falls back on the general action resolution mechanics. Can this action succeed? Assuming the monster isn’t immune to fear or anything and the approach of “acting all scary” is something that could indeed frighten it, yes. Can it fail? Sure, maybe the character acting all scary isn’t enough to scare the monster. Are there meaningful stakes? We’d need more context to determine that, but for the sake of argument let’s assume there are. So, the DM ought to call for an ability check to resolve this action, probably Charisma (Intimidation), and in this thought experiment, that would mean imposing the frightened condition on the monster if it were successful.Now repeat the same thought experiment, but imagine the character is trying to frighten a PC. Can this action succeed now? Well, the goal is to frighten the PC, which is something the character feels, and is therefore decided by the player. So, if the player decides they are not frightened, then it can’t succeed. Likewise, if they decide they are frightened, then it can’t fail. So, we never reach the point in the general action resolution process where an ability check is called for, which means the effects of a successful ability check are never able to be applied.Now let’s suppose that the character, perhaps aiming to eliminate the possibility of failure in their actions, decides to spend the spell slot and cast cause fear instead of declaring a goal and approach. Now we have a specific rule telling us how to resolve this action, so we don’t have to rely on the general action resolution rules. The spell simply says “ The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the spell ends.” No need to check for uncertainty, the rule explicitly tells us that the target must make a Wisdom saving throw (unless it’s a construct or an undead).</blockquote>

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