Frightened: line of sight and approaching the source
Frightened contains two separate limits. Line of sight controls the listed roll penalty; it is not written as a prerequisite for the restriction on willingly moving closer.
Use it at the table
- Identify the source of fear and whether it is within line of sight.
- While it is in line of sight, give Disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls.
- Do not allow willing movement closer to the source. Read the source effect for duration and ways to end the condition.
Make the call
A frightened adventurer loses line of sight to the source behind a wall. They want to walk closer to its known position. Does losing sight remove the entire condition?
The ruling
No; the listed roll penalty changes, but the condition and approach restriction can remain.
The roll penalty is qualified by the source being within line of sight. The rule against willingly approaching has no matching line-of-sight qualifier. Losing sight therefore does not itself end Frightened. The ability or effect that imposed the condition determines when it ends or can be removed.
Watch for this mistake
Frightened does not, by itself, command a creature to flee every turn. A particular effect may add forced behavior; check that effect rather than inventing it.
Ask the table
Can the creature see the source, and would the proposed movement bring it closer?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 182. Read the official PDF.
While you have the Frightened condition, you experience the following effects. Ability Checks and Attacks Affected. You have Disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls while the source of fear is within line of sight. Can’t Approach. You can’t willingly move closer to the source of fear.
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.