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7 Critical Facts About Standing Up From Prone In D&D 5e: The Rules DMs Always Forget

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Every Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition player has faced the dreaded moment: You’ve been knocked down by a massive ogre's club or tripped by a sneaky goblin, and now you’re staring up at your attacker from the cold, hard ground. The first thought is always, "How do I get back up?" As of December 22, 2025, the rules for standing up from the Prone condition remain a source of constant confusion and house-ruling at tables everywhere, often leading to wasted turns or missed opportunities. This guide breaks down the latest, official rules from the Player's Handbook (PHB) and Sage Advice to ensure you know exactly how to get back on your feet and back into the fight.

Understanding the precise mechanics of the Prone condition and the cost of standing up is crucial for effective combat strategy, whether you're a tank trying to hold the line or a rogue trying to escape a sticky situation. The official rules are surprisingly simple, yet frequently misapplied, especially concerning the exact movement cost and the ever-present threat of an Attack of Opportunity (AoO).

The Definitive Rules: How Much Movement Does it Cost to Stand Up?

The single most important rule to remember about standing up from the Prone condition in D&D 5e is that it is a movement expenditure, not a separate action. This is where most players and Dungeon Masters (DMs) get it wrong. The official rule is clear and concise:

  • The Cost is Based on Your Speed: Standing up costs an amount of movement equal to half of your speed.
  • It's Not Half Your Remaining Movement: If your character has a base Speed of 30 feet, standing up costs 15 feet of movement. If you only had 10 feet of movement remaining, you cannot stand up. You must have at least half your total speed available to complete the action.
  • It Does Not Use Your Action: Standing up does not consume your Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. It is simply a part of your movement for the turn. This means you can stand up, move the rest of your remaining distance, and still take your full Action (e.g., Attack, Cast a Spell) and Bonus Action.

For example, a character with a 30-foot speed must spend 15 feet to stand up. They then have 15 feet of movement remaining to use on that turn. If their speed was reduced to 10 feet (perhaps by the *Slow* spell), the cost to stand up would only be 5 feet (half of 10), leaving them with 5 feet of movement remaining.

The Prone Condition: A Quick Reference Guide

To fully grasp the implications of standing up, you must first understand the effects of being Prone. The Prone condition is a powerful tactical tool that imposes significant limitations on a creature:

  • Disadvantage on Attack Rolls: A Prone creature has disadvantage on all of its Attack Rolls.
  • Ranged Attack Defense: An Attack Roll against the creature has advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet of the creature. Otherwise, the attack roll has disadvantage.
  • Movement Limitation: The creature's only movement option is to crawl, unless it stands up and thereby ends the condition.

The key takeaway here is the movement restriction. While Prone, you can only crawl, and crawling costs 1 extra foot of movement for every 1 foot moved (effectively halving your movement speed). This makes standing up the most efficient way to regain mobility.

The Most Common Misconception: Opportunity Attacks

This is arguably the most frequently house-ruled and misunderstood aspect of the Prone condition. Many DMs and players carry over rules from previous editions (like 3.5e or Pathfinder) where standing up *did* provoke an Attack of Opportunity. In D&D 5e, the rule is definitively different.

Does Standing Up From Prone Provoke an Attack of Opportunity?

No, standing up from the Prone condition does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity (AoO). The rule for Attacks of Opportunity is very specific in D&D 5e: it is only triggered when a hostile creature moves out of a threatened creature's reach.

When you stand up, you are not moving out of the enemy's reach; you are simply changing your posture in the same space. Since the creature's location on the battle grid does not change, an AoO is not triggered. This is a critical distinction that can save your character from a punishing extra attack.

Tactical Implications of No AoO

The absence of an AoO when standing up has significant tactical consequences:

  • Freedom to Stand: You can stand up even when surrounded by enemies without immediate fear of a free attack.
  • Forced Crawling: If an enemy wants to keep you from escaping, they must either grapple you or use an effect that reduces your speed to zero (preventing you from spending the half-speed cost).
  • The Escape Strategy: You can stand up (half speed cost), and then use your remaining movement to move away. Once you move away, you *will* provoke an AoO, but the standing process itself is safe.

Advanced Prone Condition Entities and Scenarios

The basic rules are just the start. D&D 5e features numerous conditions, actions, and class features that interact with the Prone condition in interesting ways, adding complexity and depth to your combat choices.

Dash Action and Standing Up

Since standing up is a movement cost, the Dash action interacts with it favorably. If you use the Dash action, you gain extra movement for the turn. This extra movement can be used to cover the cost of standing up. For example, a 30-foot speed character can use 15 feet to stand up, and then Dash to gain another 30 feet of movement, allowing them to move a total of 45 feet after standing.

Forced Movement and Prone

If you are knocked Prone by an effect like a dragon's tail attack or a battlefield maneuver, the same rules apply. You must spend half your speed on your next turn to stand up. However, being knocked Prone by forced movement does not typically cost the creature its own movement or action. This is a crucial distinction between player-initiated movement (like dropping Prone) and effect-initiated movement.

The Grappled and Prone Combination

A particularly nasty combination is being both Grappled and Prone. A grappled creature's speed becomes 0. Since standing up requires spending an amount of movement equal to half your speed, and your speed is 0, the cost is 0. However, the rule is often interpreted that you must have *enough* movement to stand up. A more generous (and common) ruling is that if your speed is 0, you cannot move, and therefore cannot stand up. You must first break the grapple before you can stand up and move freely.

Dropping Prone: The Free Option

In contrast to standing up, dropping Prone is a very simple and powerful defensive move. You can drop Prone at any time during your turn without using any of your speed or action economy. This is an excellent way to gain disadvantage on incoming ranged attacks immediately, especially at the end of your turn.

Summary of Key Entities and Rules

To master the rules, focus on these core entities and their interactions:

  • Prone Condition: Imposes Disadvantage on your attacks and grants Disadvantage on ranged attacks against you (unless the attacker is within 5 ft).
  • Movement Cost: Half of your total Speed (e.g., 15 ft for a 30 ft speed).
  • Action Economy: Standing up does not consume your Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction.
  • Attack of Opportunity: Standing up does NOT provoke an AoO.
  • Crawling: The only movement option while Prone, costing double movement (2 ft per 1 ft).
7 Critical Facts About Standing Up From Prone in D&D 5e: The Rules DMs Always Forget
standing up from prone 5e
standing up from prone 5e

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