In the 2014 rules, exhaustion was a ladder of six different punishments. Level 1 gave you Disadvantage on ability checks. Level 4 halved your Hit Point maximum. Level 5 set your Speed to 0. Nobody remembered which rung did what, so most tables looked it up every time, or quietly never used it.
The 2024 rules replace the ladder with one line of arithmetic. Every level of Exhaustion takes 2 off your d20 rolls and 5 feet off your Speed. Six levels and you die. It is all in the free System Reference Document 5.2.1 [1].
Arthur wants the rule exact. Tia wants to know why a tired character should feel tired to the player. This post gives both: the rule word for word, what changed from 2014, the odds at every level, how to run it, and what sleep research says about a penalty that grows in a straight line.
The 2024 rule, word for word
From SRD 5.2.1, "Rules Glossary", Exhaustion [Condition] [1]:
- Exhaustion Levels. "This condition is cumulative. Each time you receive it, you gain 1 Exhaustion level. You die if your Exhaustion level is 6."
- D20 Tests Affected. "When you make a D20 Test, the roll is reduced by 2 times your Exhaustion level."
- Speed Reduced. "Your Speed is reduced by a number of feet equal to 5 times your Exhaustion level."
- Removing Exhaustion Levels. "Finishing a Long Rest removes 1 of your Exhaustion levels. When your Exhaustion level reaches 0, the condition ends."
A D20 Test is any ability check, saving throw or attack roll [1]. So at level 3 you roll everything at −6 and walk 15 feet slower. That's the whole rule.
What changed from 2014
The 2014 table, from SRD 5.1, Appendix PH-A: Conditions [2]:
| Level | 2014 effect (cumulative) | 2024 effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disadvantage on ability checks | −2 on all D20 Tests, −5 ft Speed |
| 2 | Speed halved | −4, −10 ft |
| 3 | Disadvantage on attack rolls and saving throws | −6, −15 ft |
| 4 | Hit point maximum halved | −8, −20 ft |
| 5 | Speed reduced to 0 | −10, −25 ft |
| 6 | Death | Death |
Four more changes you can check line by line against the two SRDs:
- Resting no longer needs a meal. In 2014 a long rest reduced exhaustion by 1 "provided that the creature has also ingested some food and drink" [2]. In 2024 a Long Rest removes a level, full stop; only exhaustion from Dehydration or Malnutrition waits until you drink or eat a full day's worth [1].
- The Berserker stopped paying for it. The 2014 Frenzy let you make a bonus-action attack every turn of your rage, and "when your rage ends, you suffer one level of exhaustion" [2]. The 2024 Frenzy adds extra d6s of damage when you attack recklessly while raging. No exhaustion anywhere in it [1].
- Suffocation uses it. In 2014 a creature out of breath had a few rounds and then dropped to 0 Hit Points [2]. In 2024 it gains 1 Exhaustion level at the end of each of its turns, and loses all those levels once it can breathe again [1]. Six turns underwater is now a death clock the whole table can count.
- Two classes shrug it off. A level 10 Ranger's Tireless feature removes a level on every Short Rest, and a level 10 Monk's Self-Restoration means "forgoing food and drink doesn't give you levels of Exhaustion" [1].
The odds at every level
Arthur's test character: +5 to hit and +5 on the check, against AC 15 and DC 15. On an attack roll a natural 20 always hits and a natural 1 always misses; checks and saves have no such rule. Every number is exact, counted over all twenty faces [3].
| Level | 2024 attack hits | 2014 attack hits | 2024 check passes | 2014 check passes | 2024 Speed | 2014 Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 55% | 55% | 55% | 55% | 30 ft | 30 ft |
| 1 | 45% | 55% | 45% | 30.3% | 25 ft | 30 ft |
| 2 | 35% | 55% | 35% | 30.3% | 20 ft | 15 ft |
| 3 | 25% | 30.3% | 25% | 30.3% | 15 ft | 15 ft |
| 4 | 15% | 30.3% | 15% | 30.3% | 10 ft | 15 ft |
| 5 | 5% | 30.3% | 5% | 30.3% | 5 ft | 0 ft |
Three things jump out:
- Level 1 is gentler on skills. Disadvantage on a 55% check drops it to 30.3%. A flat −2 drops it to 45%. The rogue picking a lock after a bad night has a fighting chance again.
- Level 1 bites everything else. In 2014, level 1 never touched your attacks or saves. In 2024 it does, from the first level.
- Levels 4 and 5 are brutal. At level 5 you hit only on a natural 20. In 2014 you still hit 30% of the time, you just couldn't move. The 2024 version never pins you in place: you can always crawl 5 feet toward the exit.
For how Disadvantage turns 55% into 30.3%, see our advantage and disadvantage guide.
The forced march spiral
Exhaustion in 2024 feeds itself. A Constitution save is a D20 Test, so every level you pick up makes the next save 2 worse.
The SRD's Extended Travel rule: travel past 8 hours in a day and, at the end of each extra hour, each character makes a Constitution save, DC 10 plus 1 for each hour past 8, or gains 1 Exhaustion level [1]. The 2014 forced march uses the same DC [2].
Push a party four extra hours (DCs 11, 12, 13, 14) with a +2 Constitution save [3]:
| Levels gained | 2024 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 7.4% | 7.4% |
| 1 | 21.1% | 27.5% |
| 2 | 30.8% | 37.6% |
| 3 | 27.5% | 20.2% |
| 4 | 13.1% | 7.2% |
| Average | 2.18 levels | 1.92 levels |
If the saves didn't compound, the 2024 average would be 1.90. The spiral adds about a quarter of a level, and nearly doubles the chance of arriving at level 4. Fewer than one character in thirteen arrives fresh, in either edition.
How to run it well
Put it on the table, not in your notes. One d6 per player, turned to their level. Everyone sees the number; nobody forgets the −2.
Use the hazards the SRD already gives you [1]:
- Extreme heat (100°F or hotter, no water): Constitution save at the end of each hour, DC 5 then +1 per hour, with Disadvantage in Medium or Heavy armour.
- Extreme cold (0°F or colder): DC 10 Constitution save each hour.
- Deep water (over 100 feet down): DC 10 save after each hour of swimming for anyone without a Swim Speed.
- Frigid water: safe for minutes equal to your Constitution score, then DC 10 every minute.
Know the cures. A Long Rest removes 1 level, and you can only start one 16 hours after the last ends [1]. Five levels means five days. Greater Restoration removes 1 level for a 5th-level slot and 100 GP of diamond dust. A Potion of Vitality removes every level [1].
Make it a choice, not a tax. Exhaustion works best when the players pick it: march through the night and arrive at the cult's ritual before midnight at −2, or rest and arrive after. The number is the price. The story is the decision.
Why a straight line feels right
Real tiredness is close to linear. Van Dongen and colleagues kept 48 healthy adults in a lab and restricted their sleep to 4, 6 or 8 hours a night for 14 days, or none for 3 nights. Lapses in attention rose "near-linearly" with every hour awake beyond about 15.8 hours [4]. The 2024 rule does the same: every level costs the same 2 points. The 2014 ladder, where level 2 took your legs and level 4 took half your life, doesn't match anyone's bad week.
Tired people misjudge how tired they are. In the same study, people on 6 hours a night for two weeks performed as badly as people kept awake for up to two nights straight, yet rated themselves only slightly sleepier [4]. The researchers wrote that subjects were "largely unaware" of their growing deficits. A −2 is easy to forget for the same reason: it never announces itself. The d6 on the table is the character's body keeping score when the character won't.
It hits the whole person, mood first. Pilcher and Huffcutt pooled 19 sleep deprivation studies, 1,932 people in all, and found mood suffered more than either thinking or movement [5]. That's the case for −2 on everything, not just checks: a tired character argues with the innkeeper and loses the Persuasion roll too.
And it's you at the table. Williamson and Feyer tested 39 transport workers and soldiers. After 17 to 19 hours awake, performance on some tests matched or trailed a blood alcohol level of 0.05% [6]. A player who woke at 7am is at hour 18 at 1am, and the Persuasion roll they fumble at the end of a long session may not be the dice's fault.
Table Talk
Arthur: Best change in the 2024 book. One rule, no lookup, and the fighter at level 2 can still chase the thief.
Tia: It's quieter, though. Halving your Speed felt like something. −4 feels like nothing until you miss.
Arthur: That's the point. That's what tired is.
Tia: Then the table has to see it. Otherwise it's a number the DM remembers and the player doesn't.
Arthur: Which is why the d6 goes next to the character sheet. My tip: every time a player rolls, they read their die out loud. "Fourteen, minus four." Ten seconds, and nobody argues later.
Tia: Mine is for the humans. If it's past midnight and three of you have missed easy rolls in a row, call the session. The party can take a Long Rest. So can you.
References
- Wizards of the Coast. System Reference Document 5.2.1. 2025. CC-BY-4.0. Sections: "Rules Glossary" (Exhaustion, D20 Test, Long Rest, Dehydration, Malnutrition, Suffocation); "Classes" (Barbarian: Path of the Berserker, Frenzy; Ranger: Tireless; Monk: Self-Restoration); "Gameplay Toolbox" (Extended Travel, Environmental Effects); "Spells" (Greater Restoration); "Magic Items" (Potion of Vitality). https://media.dndbeyond.com/compendium-images/srd/5.2/SRD_CC_v5.2.1.pdf
- Wizards of the Coast. System Reference Document 5.1. 2016. CC-BY-4.0. Sections: "Appendix PH-A: Conditions" (Exhaustion); "Barbarian" (Path of the Berserker, Frenzy); "Adventuring" (Forced March, Suffocating). https://media.wizards.com/2023/downloads/dnd/SRD_CC_v5.1.pdf
- DnD Dice Roller. Exhaustion odds script: exact count over all twenty d20 faces; +5 vs AC/DC 15; natural 20 hits and natural 1 misses on attacks only; forced march with a +2 Constitution save, DCs 11-14. 2026.
- Van Dongen, H. P. A., Maislin, G., Mullington, J. M., & Dinges, D. F. (2003). The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: Dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation. Sleep, 26(2), 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/26.2.117
- Pilcher, J. J., & Huffcutt, A. I. (1996). Effects of sleep deprivation on performance: A meta-analysis. Sleep, 19(4), 318–326. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/19.4.318
- Williamson, A. M., & Feyer, A.-M. (2000). Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 57(10), 649–655. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.57.10.649
