Description

Your cutting words, pitiful dirges, or discordant performance strike deeper than any blade. You expose hidden doubts and gnaw at the enemy’s sense of self-worth, leaving them too demoralized to fight with clarity.

Effect

Choose one creature within range that can hear you. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, the creature suffers the following effects:

• The creature takes 3d8 psychic damage.

• It becomes demoralized until the spell ends:

  Condition: Demoralized

  Demoralized creatures are not afraid of dying — they simply lose the will to fight effectively. This condition captures depression, hopelessness, and self-doubt in 5e mechanics.

  • The creature has disadvantage on attack rolls.

  • At the start of its turn, it must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or drop one weapon or item it is holding (its choice if holding multiple). Items dropped in this way land at the creature’s feet.

  • The creature cannot benefit from temporary hit points for the duration.

At the end of each of its turns, the target may repeat the Wisdom saving throw. On a success, the effect ends.

At Higher Levels.

When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the initial psychic damage increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 3rd.

Classes: Bard, Warlock

Demoralized

A creature suffering from this condition experiences crushing self-doubt, despair, or emotional breakdown.

While Demoralized, a creature suffers the following effects:

• Disadvantage on attack rolls.

• Disadvantage on concentration checks.

• At the start of its turn, the creature must succeed on a Charisma saving throw (DC equal to the effect that caused the condition) or drop one item or weapon it is holding (creature’s choice if holding multiple).

• The creature cannot gain temporary hit points.

• If the creature is already Frightened, it also has disadvantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened (emotional spiral).

Removing Demoralized

• The creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.

• Spells and features that remove conditions like calm emotions, lesser restoration, or greater restoration can also end the Demoralized condition.

• A creature immune to the Charmed condition is also immune to Demoralized.