Charmed Condition 5e | D&D Mechanics Overview

Charmed Condition in D&D 5e

Though seemingly harmless, the charmed condition is a subtle and often misunderstood state in D&D 5e. The charmed condition comes with its own set of effects, but it’s also a de facto state that applies whenever a player or monster’s mind is being affected by an outside force.

Now the attractive state doesn’t seem so appealing, does it?

This guide aims to clarify what the Charmed state is, its mechanics, how to deal with it, and its impact on gameplay.

What is a Charmed Condition?

According to the basic rules, being charmed means that in D&D 5e:

Charmed

A charmed creature cannot attack the charmer or target the charmer with harmful abilities or magical effects, and the charmer has advantage on any ability checks to interact socially with the creature.

Appendix A: Conditions – Ground Rules

While the effects listed above can certainly impact combat and social situations, the most deadly consequences of the charmed condition usually occur as a secondary consequence of the spell or ability that applied the condition.

For example, a Vampire’s “Charm” ability applies the Charmed condition, but also applies the following:

The charmed target sees the vampire as a trusted friend who deserves attention and protection. Although the target is not under the vampire’s control, it responds favorably to the vampire’s requests and actions as much as possible and is a target for the vampire’s bite attacks.

Vampire – Basic Rules, page 352

In this case, you don’t have much to worry about, since you can’t attack the vampire and the vampire has advantage on ability checks against you.

Is the Charmed Condition Mind Control?

Unless otherwise noted, the charmed condition is a mind effect, not mind control: it does not give you advantage on social checks to convince an NPC to part with their life savings, nor is it the “friendly attitude” that applies to many of these spells.

If you want full on mesmerizing mind control, we have good news for you: Dominate person and Dominate monster apply the mesmerizing condition and allow you to control your target precisely. While mesmerizing may not be mind control, this is definitely mind control.

How does Charm Person work in 5e?

Problems with the charmed condition almost always come up because of charm person. This pesky and charming little spell applies the charmed condition and makes the target think of you as a friendly acquaintance. It does have some drawbacks, though. It’s a 1st level spell, with the caveat that once the spell ends, the target knows they’ve been charmed.

Let’s take a closer look at the mechanisms of attraction (implicit and explicit).

What does friendly acquaintance mean?

Unfortunately, the Dungeon Master’s Guide doesn’t have a clear mechanism for what “friendly acquaintance” means, but the Dungeon Master’s Guide does have some rules regarding “initial attitude.”

Friendly creatures want to help adventurers and want them to succeed. For tasks or actions that don’t require special risk, effort, or cost, friendly creatures will usually cooperate without question. If there is an element of personal risk involved, you may need to succeed on a Charisma check to get a friendly creature to assume that risk.

Chapter 8: Running the Game – Dungeon Master’s Guide

As such, charm person is especially useful if you want to change a creature’s starting attitude from indifferent or hostile to friendly for the purposes of conversation, and it also applies the charmed condition, giving you advantage on all social checks.

That being said, they will likely become hostile once the spell is broken and they realize they were charmed.

The creature knows you are fascinated

The final clause, “charming people,” is also less clear, and the behavior of a creature upon learning that it has been charmed by another is largely up to the Dungeon Master. This could mean it suddenly becomes hostile, but there could be other effects depending on the scenario. Unfortunately, even abilities like the sorcerer’s “subtle spell” cannot circumvent this caveat. Fortunately for the more cunning adventurer, the easiest way to get around this clause is with a disguise, magical or otherwise.

Destroy the charm

There are so many ways to apply the charmed condition, and so many secondary effects that apply, that it would be difficult to cover them all. Fortunately, there are several ways to nullify the charmed condition, many of which are inherently applied through class and racial abilities.

Saving Throws

The best way to avoid the charmed condition is to not be charmed in the first place. Most charm effects require a wisdom saving throw to resist or end early, so if you know you’ll be facing a lot of charmed enemies, make sure you stack wisdom or take Resilience (Wisdom).

incantation

Spells such as aura of purity, calm emotions, dispel magic, dispel evil and good, and greater restoration can end the charmed state. You can also bring a charmed ally to a place under the effect of a Hallow spell, or if you know a particularly powerful wizard, you can have them cast a mind blank or power word heal spell on you.

Race and class characteristics

Luckily for those of sylvan descent, such as elves and half-elves, their fey ancestry is one of the best ways to mitigate charm effects, as it grants advantage on all saving throws against being charmed. So your time around those pesky fairies really paid off, didn’t it?

Rather than simply being born that way, by following the Barbarian’s Berserker path, you gain Charm Resistance with the class, making you immune to Charm and Fear, which is great for a Barbarian maxed out on Strength and Constitution and less on Wisdom.

The bard also gains the ability to resist the charmed condition, but the ability can be shared with the entire party. A bard of 6th level or higher can use Countercharm to begin performing a song that gives himself and his allies an advantage against the charmed condition, but he must continue to spend an action each turn to gain the effect.

Taking damage

This is best left as a last resort as it’s not foolproof, but some charm effects end when a charmed creature takes damage. This is most common for charm effects that incapacitate a creature, such as sleep or hypnotic pattern. Taking damage is also a common way to end charm effects that force a creature to be friendly to the caster, such as charming a monster/person, but usually you need to take damage from the charmer to nullify the effect.

Breaking the curse

So, that’s all for now. I’m happy to spread the information so that people can understand that this mysterious condition is not as harmless as it seems. So, next time you see a cute boy in your science class who is allergic to the sun, you might want to keep your distance.