Enchantment · Incapacitation

Hideous Laughter

Hideous Laughter drops a target into uncontrollable laughter and strips away its ability to act. Modern D&D uses the Prone and Incapacitated conditions; PF1e and D&D 3.5e use the older compulsion model, and Pathfinder adds a repeat-save option that 3.5e does not have.

Hideous Laughter by Edition

5.5e / 20245e / 2014Pathfinder 1eD&D 3.5e

Hideous Laughter — 5.5e / 2024

Level	1st-level Enchantment
Classes	Bard, Warlock, Wizard
Casting Time	Action
Range	30 feet
Components	V, S, M (a tart and a feather)
Duration	Concentration, up to 1 minute
Save	Wisdom

One creature you can see makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it has the Prone and Incapacitated conditions for the duration, laughs uncontrollably if capable of laughter, and cannot end the Prone condition on itself.

At the end of each of its turns and whenever it takes damage, it repeats the save. A damage-triggered save has Advantage. A success ends the spell.

Higher-Level Slot: target one additional creature for each slot level above 1st.

Hideous Laughter — 5e / 2014

Level	1st-level Enchantment
Base classes	Bard, Wizard
Casting Time	1 action
Range	30 feet
Components	V, S, M (tiny tarts and a feather)
Duration	Concentration, up to 1 minute
Save	Wisdom

A visible creature makes a Wisdom save. On a failure it falls Prone, becomes Incapacitated and cannot stand for the duration. A creature with Intelligence 4 or lower is unaffected.

The target repeats the save at the end of each turn and whenever it takes damage, with Advantage on a save triggered by damage. On a success, the spell ends.

Hideous Laughter — Pathfinder 1e

School	Enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting]
Level	Bard 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 2
Casting Time	1 standard action
Components	V, S, M (tiny fruit tarts and a feather)
Range	Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target	One creature
Duration	1 round/level
Saving Throw	Will negates
Spell Resistance	Yes

The subject falls Prone in uncontrollable laughter and can take no actions, though it is not helpless. A creature with Intelligence 2 or lower is immune, and a creature of a different type from the caster gains +4 on its save.

Pathfinder difference: on its next turn the victim can spend a full-round action to attempt another saving throw and end the effect early.

Hideous Laughter — D&D 3.5e

School	Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
Level	Bard 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 2
Casting Time	1 standard action
Components	V, S, M
Range	Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target	One creature
Duration	1 round/level
Saving Throw	Will negates
Spell Resistance	Yes

The subject falls Prone in helpless laughter and can take no actions, but is not considered helpless. Intelligence 2 or lower gives immunity, while a creature of a different type from the caster gains +4 on the saving throw.

Unlike Pathfinder 1e, the core 3.5e spell does not grant a later full-round-action save to end the spell early.

What Changed?

2024 removes the old Intelligence cutoff and adds higher-slot multi-targeting.
2024 adds Warlock to the core class list.
2014 still ignores creatures with Intelligence 4 or lower.
PF1e lets the victim spend a full-round action on its next turn to attempt a new save.
3.5e lacks that Pathfinder repeat-save clause.

Using Hideous Laughter

The spell is strongest against one dangerous opponent whose actions matter more than raw damage. In modern D&D, forcing Prone and Incapacitated can buy the party a round or more of control, but damaging the victim gives it another chance to escape.

In PF1e and 3.5e, creature type and Intelligence matter. The +4 save bonus for a different creature type can make unusual targets much harder to affect.