Tasha’s Hideous Laughter

Level 1 Enchantment spell available to Bards and Wizards. It leaves a creature Prone and helpless with laughter, unable to stand. A single-target hard lock for one slot.

Spell description: Inflict a creature with fits of laughter, leaving it Prone without the ability to get up. At the end of its turn or when it takes damage, the creature can try to shake off the effect.

Spell properties

• Range: 18m (60ft)
• Duration: 10 turns
• Concentration spell
• Save: WIS save
• Conditions applied: Prone and incapacitated, unable to get up.
• Cost: Action + Spell Slot
• Recharge: Per action

Spell upcasting

Casting Tasha’s Hideous Laughter at higher levels provides no additional benefits.

How to obtain Tasha’s Hideous Laughter

• Bard, Wizard at Class level 1
• The Great Old One (Warlock) at Class level 1
• Draconic Bloodline (Copper, Acid ancestry) Sorcerer at Class level 1
• Arcane Trickster (Rogue) and Eldritch Knight (Fighter) at Class level 3
• Granted by features: Magic Initiate: Bard, Magic Initiate: Wizard

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter

Level 1 Enchantment Spell

Inflict a creature with fits of laughter, leaving it Prone without the ability to get up. At the end of its turn or when it takes damage, the creature can try to shake off the effect.

Range: 18m (60ft) Save: WIS save

Action Level 1 Spell Slot

When to cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter

It is a single-target hard lock for one Level 1 slot. The victim is Prone and cannot stand, which means it is stuck on the floor taking Advantage attacks from your whole party while its own attacks suffer Disadvantage.

The weakness is that it can shrug off the effect whenever it takes damage, so it works best when you lock down one dangerous enemy and focus the rest of the party elsewhere. It is Concentration and a Wisdom save, so it is a control tool, not a guarantee.