Helpless

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Condition Severity: Strong

Effects

  • A character can become helpless as a result of being paralyzed, held, bound, sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise completely at an opponent's mercy. A helpless target is treated as having a Dexterity of 0 (-5 modifier) and always falls prone if he is not already prone. Melee attacks against a helpless target get a +4 bonus (due to attacking a prone target). Ranged attacks get no special bonus against helpless targets. Rogues can sneak attack helpless targets.
As a full-round action, an enemy can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace to a helpless foe. An enemy can also use a bow or crossbow, provided he is adjacent to the target. The attacker automatically hits and scores a critical hit. (A rogue also gets his sneak attack damage bonus against a helpless foe when delivering a coup de grace.) If the defender survives, he must make a Fortitude save (DC = damage dealt) or die. Delivering a coup de grace provokes attacks of opportunity.
Creatures that are immune to critical hits do not take critical damage, nor do they need to make Fortitude saves to avoid being killed by a coup de grace.
An exhausted character becomes helpless by doing something else that would normally cause fatigue. After 15 minutes of complete rest, a character who became helpless as a result of exhaustion becomes exhausted.
Helpless characters cannot take any actions except some free actions (such as saving throws), though some free actions are simply not possible. The GM is the final arbiter of which free actions are permitted.

Ended By

If the ability, trap, or effect description includes specific directions for how the condition is ended, then that is the primary means of ending this condition. In many cases, it is the only way to end the condition. If nothing is specifically listed for ending the condition, then the following methods can be used to end it, instead:

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Array

Flat-FootedProneHelpless