Stunned

Conditions

A stunned creature is momentarily overwhelmed and unable to act. It is completely vulnerable — it cannot move, it cannot attack, and it loses all defenses that rely on awareness. Stunning is brief but devastating in combat.

Effects

  • The creature cannot take actions — no standard, move, swift, immediate, or free actions.
  • Drops everything it is holding.
  • Loses its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).
  • Attackers gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls against a stunned creature.
Stunned is not helpless. A stunned creature loses its DEX bonus and is easy to hit, but attackers do not get the full +4 melee bonus granted against a helpless creature, and coup de grâce is not possible on a merely stunned creature.

Ending the Condition

  • Stunned with a limited duration ends when that duration expires (typically 1 round).
  • Break enchantment and dispel magic can end magically-induced stun.
  • Immunity to stunning (available to constructs, undead, and via certain class features) prevents the condition entirely.

Related Conditions

  • Staggered — lesser impairment; the creature can still take one action per round.
  • Helpless — more severe full incapacitation; allows coup de grâce.
  • Paralyzed — similar complete immobility but with the full helpless condition; also prevents spellcasting.
  • Dazed — also prevents all actions but does not cause dropped items or the AC penalty.

Common Sources

Symbol of stunning; Stunning Fist feat (Fort save or stunned 1 round); power word stun; certain monster special attacks (medusa's gaze, some slams); waves of exhaustion (which stuns on a failed save as a secondary effect); massive damage effects in some variants. Constructs and undead are typically immune to being stunned.