![\"Know](\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Know-the-rules-300x196.webp\")
Part of an ongoing series of 5e (2014)<\/strong> Rules notes.<\/a>\u00a0 See the end of the post for notes on 5.5e (2024)<\/strong> rules.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nThe first time I DMed this, I did it wrong. Which, given it was an NPC I had thought I had well in hand, is not a cool move on my part.<\/p>\n
So here it is, done right.<\/p>\n
![\"Tear](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/post.healthline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tear-gas-against-demonstrators-during-a-protest-against-the-rising-of-the-fuel-and-oil-prices-by-people-wearing-yellow-vests-1296x728-header.jpg?w=1155&h=1528\")
<\/p>\n
Here’s\u00a0the core of the spell’s effect<\/a>:<\/p>\n Each creature that is completely within the cloud at the start of its turn must make a Constitution Saving Throw against Poison. On a failed save, the creature spends its Action that turn retching and reeling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When I first played with this, I ruled that this still allowed Movement (since that isn’t mentioned), but, just as anything that takes away your Action also takes way your Bonus Action, the only thing you could do<\/em> was retching and reeling.<\/p>\n But that’s not<\/span> what it says. The Stinking Cloud doesn’t take away your Action, it\u00a0dictates<\/i> your Action (retching and reeling). I.e., your Action is set, but you still have your Bonus Action (and Reaction, for that matter).<\/p>\n Or, as\u00a0the Sage Advice Compendium<\/a>\u00a0puts it:<\/p>\n The stinking cloud spell says that a creature wastes its Action on a failed Save. So can it still use a Move or a Bonus Action or a Reaction? Movement is a bit problematic, of course. The area covered by\u00a0Stinking Cloud\u00a0<\/em> is Heavily Obscured<\/a>.<\/p>\n A\u00a0heavily obscured<\/strong>\u00a0area–such as darkness, opaque fog, or dense foliage–blocks vision entirely. A creature effectively suffers from the blinded condition when trying to see something in that area.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Or, presumably,\u00a0out<\/em> of that area. Blinded<\/a>, in turn:<\/p>\n A blinded creature can’t see and automatically fails any Ability check that requires sight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Attack rolls against the creature have Advantage, and the creature’s attack rolls have Disadvantage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Note the offsetting penalties — trying to Attack someone inside the cloud has to deal with Heavily Obscured conditions, and so is at Disadvantage (as though Blinded). But the target is, themselves, Blind to the attack, putting them at a Disadvantage. That makes, even without all the loud retching sounds, attacks on a figure within a Stinking Cloud even money. (A figure inside the cloud can’t Attack if they fail their Save, except through a Bonus Action, but with that Bonus Action, or if they make the Save, theoretically, they are also a wash to attack a target outside the cloud, unless that target is using Stealth or a Dodge or something of that sort.)<\/p>\n I might House Rule that, combined with the Retching and Reeling, being Blinded in such a circumstance would lead to disorientation — perhaps another Save (Intelligence?) to move in a desired direction?<\/p>\n As a final note, the rules say “completely within the cloud” for the nausea effect. So if you are playing on a grid, and are using a true circle for your template (physically or on a VTT), any one in a partially covered circle isn’t affected. Which is why I prefer to have a template that fills in complete boxes on the grid, to avoid the ambiguity.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>
\nCorrect. The gas doesn\u2019t immobilize a creature or prevent it from acting altogether, but the effect of the spell does limit what it can accomplish while the cloud lingers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"dnd](\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/dnd-55-2024-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>Any changes here in 5.5e?<\/span><\/h1>\n