Exhaustion in D&D 5e (Updated for the 2024 Rules)

By Mike Bernier

Published on November 13, 2024

Exhaustion in D&D 5e is a tiered condition that represents the effects of fatigue creatures experience when exposed to physical exertion, lack of sleep, or extreme environments.

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Looking for the legacy version of this article based on the 2014 rules? Click here.

What is Exhaustion in the D&D 5e 2024 Player’s Handbook?

Exhaustion, much like Poisoned or Grappled, is a condition that can be applied to a creature when they are exposed to particularly draining circumstances in Dungeons & Dragons.

Exhaustion is a special condition in D&D, and one of my favorite tools as a DM because it creates a variety of ways to challenge players. Importantly, it’s the only condition with cumulative effects, so the penalties stack as levels increase. There are 6 different levels, and the effects stack based on how many times the creature has been exposed to Exhaustion, and how many times it has failed its save.

In the 2024 Player’s Handbook, Exhaustion no longer has a variety of effects based on each level but is no less debilitating.

Levels of Exhaustion in 5e

Exhaustion levels have long-term effects on various rolls, including attacks, saving throws, and ability checks, but technically no longer grants Disadvantage to your rolls.

In the 2024 Player’s Handbook, there are still 6 levels of Exhaustion, but now, for each level you gain, your D20 Tests are reduced by two times your current level, and your speed is reduced by 5 feet per level.

Level Ability Score Reduction Speed Reduction
1 2 5
2 4 10
3 6 15
4 8 20
5 10 25
6 Death Death

Dying from Exhaustion

If a creature’s Exhaustion level reaches 6, it dies, despite its current hit point maximum. If a creature with hit points dies from Exhaustion, any revival returns it with one level less than when it died.

What Causes Exhaustion in 5e?

Exhaustion is unique because it represents a creature pushing beyond its normal limits or suffering from external hardships. It’s featured prominently in Chapter 1: Playing the Game of the 2024 Player’s Handbook and comes from causes like starvation, environmental hazards, or pushing physical limits. Some key causes of Exhaustion include:

Starvation, Malnutrition, and Dehydration

A creature needs a specific amount of food and water per day based on size to avoid Exhaustion. Consuming less than half the needed food requires the creature to make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw; failure results in 1 Exhaustion level.

After five days without food, a creature automatically gains one level of Exhaustion. Dehydration has similar penalties, but creatures consuming less than half the daily minimum automatically gain a level of Exhaustion.

Both starvation and dehydration require the creature to consume the daily minimum amount to start to recover from the exhaustion penalties they’ve gained.

Food Needs per Day:

  • Tiny: ¼ pound
  • Small/Medium: 1 pound
  • Large: 4 pounds
  • Huge: 16 pounds
  • Gargantuan: 64 pounds

Water Needs per Day:

  • Tiny: ¼ gallon
  • Small/Medium: 1 gallon
  • Large: 4 gallons
  • Huge: 16 gallons
  • Gargantuan: 64 gallons

Exhaustion While Traveling and in Extreme Conditions

Exhaustion is triggered by traveling too far or under extreme weather, such as scorching temperatures or extreme cold. DMs can use these conditions to raise stakes and tension, especially if the party travels without breaks or in a dungeon with harsh climates. You can also gain Exhaustion from these situations:

  • Traveling for longer than 8 hours in a day
  • Going 24 hours without a long rest
  • Falling into frigid water
  • Swimming for more than 1 hour
  • Rowing a boat for longer than 8 hours
  • Dashing too often during a chase sequence

Monsters with Exhaustion Effects

Some creatures have special abilities that inflict Exhaustion:

  • Gingwatzim (CR 2) – Energy Drain action
  • Jade Tigress (CR 6) – Poison Dart action
  • Soul Monger (CR 11) – Wave of Weariness action
  • Sibriex (CR 18) – Warp Creature feature
  • Kalaraq Quori (CR 19) – Mind Seed feature

Spells That Cause Exhaustion in 5e

As of now, only Sickening Radiance can inflict a level of exhaustion on another creature. The only other spell that causes exhaustion is Tenser’s Transformation, which can cause a level of self-inflicted exhaustion if you fail a saving throw when the spell ends.

Suffocating

In the 2024 Player’s Handbook, the rules for suffocating have changed so that if you’re unable to breathe for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution modifier, you start to gain levels of Exhaustion.

For each round that you can’t breathe after you’ve reached this threshold, you will net one level of Exhaustion. But, worry not; once you can breathe again, you lose any of your Exhaustion levels gained from suffocating.

Going Without a Long Rest

Per Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, a creature that goes without a long rest for 24 hours must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution save or gain Exhaustion, and the DC increases with each additional day.

Ways to Remove Exhaustion in 5e

Sleep/Long Rest

The simplest way to reduce Exhaustion is to complete a Long Rest, assuming that food and water are also ingested as part of the Long Rest. The one caveat to this is that if you slept in Medium or Heavy armor, sleep doesn’t reduce your Exhaustion level. Sleeping in Light armor is fine for reducing Exhaustion, however.

Keep in mind that if you are still exposed to extreme heat or cold during a Long Rest, you must make saving throws against Exhaustion.

Class Features

In the 2024 Player’s Handbook, the Ranger’s level 10 Tireless feature allows them to reduce 1 level of Exhaustion on a Short Rest. The Monk’s level 10 Self-Restoration allows them to avoid Exhaustion when forgoing food and drink, but it doesn’t help them remove Exhaustion levels once they’ve been gained.

Spells

Barring magical artifacts and rest, the only other way to remove the Exhaustion condition is to use the Greater Restoration spell, which can reduce the target’s Exhaustion level by one.

Well, That Was Exhausting

Thanks for reading our breakdown of the exhaustion mechanic! Exhaustion is a very interesting tool for DMs to use to switch up the dangers their adventuring parties may run into. Understanding how exhaustion works and what impacts the condition has is very important when looking to use the mechanic effectively in your campaigns.

Have you used exhaustion in interesting ways? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. He is a Adamantine best-selling author of Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery on DMs Guild and is a contributing author at D&D Beyond. Follow Mike on Twitter.

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