Exhaustion: calculate the current penalties
SRD 5.2.1 uses one cumulative level counter. Track that level before calculating a D20 Test or Speed change, and use this edition’s arithmetic instead of a condition table from another edition.
Use it at the table
- Record the current level; each new instance adds one. Level six means death.
- Subtract twice the level from D20 Tests and subtract five feet per level from Speed.
- A finished Long Rest removes one level. At level zero, remove the condition.
Make the call
A character has Exhaustion level 2 and an otherwise unmodified Speed of 30 feet. What are the condition’s current D20 Test adjustment and Speed?
The ruling
−4 to D20 Tests and Speed 20 feet.
Two times level 2 is 4, so subtract 4 from a D20 Test. Five feet times level 2 is 10 feet, leaving Speed 20. After a qualifying Long Rest removes one level, the character would still have level 1 rather than being fully recovered. Other Speed modifiers or effects must be considered separately.
Watch for this mistake
The reduction is attached to D20 Tests, not every die rolled at the table. Do not subtract it from a damage roll merely because that roll uses dice.
Ask the table
What is the current level, and have the D20 and Speed adjustments both been updated?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 181. Read the official PDF.
While you have the Exhaustion condition, you experience the following effects. Exhaustion Levels. This condition is cumulative. Each time you receive it, you gain 1 Exhaustion level. You die if your Exhaustion level is 6. D20 Tests Affected. When you make a D20 Test, the roll is reduced by 2 times your Exhaustion level. Speed Reduced. Your Speed is reduced by a number of feet equal to 5 times your Exhaustion level. Removing Exhaustion Levels. Finishing a Long Rest removes 1 of your Exhaustion levels. When your Exhaustion level reaches 0, the condition ends.
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed and tables reformatted. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.