Incapacitated rules (2024)
The SRD 5.2 version spells everything out:
- •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 you can still do while incapacitated
- •Move. Neither version stops movement. A creature under Hypnotic Pattern can't move only because the spell also sets its speed to 0.
- •Make saving throws. You still roll saves normally (unless another condition, like paralyzed or stunned, makes you auto-fail Strength and Dexterity saves).
- •Keep your AC. Attacks against an incapacitated creature don't get advantage from this condition alone.
Bonus actions in the 2014 rules
The 2014 text only names actions and reactions. A bonus action is still an action you take on your turn, so the common reading is that it's lost too. The 2024 rules settle it: no bonus actions.
What causes incapacitated
On its own, incapacitated is usually a side effect written into a spell or ability:
- •Hideous Laughter (1st level): prone and incapacitated.
- •Hypnotic Pattern (3rd level): charmed, incapacitated and speed 0.
- •Banishment (4th level): the target is incapacitated while it's in the demiplane.
- •Sleep (2024 version): incapacitated for a turn, then unconscious on a second failed save.
- •Harpy's Luring Song (2014): charmed targets are incapacitated.
- •Ghost's Possession: the possessed humanoid is incapacitated while the ghost controls its body.
Paralyzed, petrified, stunned and unconscious all give you the incapacitated condition too.
How to end it
Incapacitated ends when the effect that caused it ends: a successful save against Hideous Laughter, damage that breaks Hypnotic Pattern, Banishment ending, and so on. There's no general cure, because the condition belongs to whatever imposed it.
Common rulings and edge cases
- •Dodge stops working. The Dodge action's benefit ends if you're incapacitated (both editions say so).
- •Rage and concentration aren't the same. A barbarian's rage doesn't end from being incapacitated in 2014; it ends if you're knocked unconscious.
- •Grapples break. A grapple ends if the grappler is incapacitated, so stunning or paralyzing a grappling monster frees its victim.
- •Flying creatures fall (2024): a flying creature that is incapacitated falls unless it can hover.
- •Pack Tactics checks it. A wolf's Pack Tactics only works if the ally next to the target isn't incapacitated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you move while incapacitated in 5e?
Yes. Incapacitated only removes actions and reactions (and, in 2024, bonus actions and speech). Your speed is untouched unless another effect sets it to 0.
Does incapacitated break concentration?
Yes, in both editions. The 2014 concentration rules list being incapacitated as a way to lose concentration, and the 2024 condition says your concentration is broken.
Can you take bonus actions while incapacitated?
Not in 2024, which says so directly. The 2014 text mentions only actions and reactions, but a bonus action is a type of action, so most readings rule it out as well.
Can an incapacitated creature talk?
In 2024, no (Speechless). The 2014 condition doesn't stop speech, but paralyzed and unconscious do, and stunned limits you to speaking falteringly.
Do attacks against an incapacitated creature have advantage?
Not from incapacitated alone. Paralyzed, petrified, stunned and unconscious do grant advantage, because they add that effect on top.
Rules checked against the D&D 5e SRD 5.1 (2014) and SRD 5.2.1 (2024).