Spellcasting

Magic permeates the Astral Reach, often appearing as spells. Different character classes have distinctive ways of learning and preparing their spells, and monsters use spells in unique ways. Regardless of its source, a spell follows the rules here.

# What Is a Spell?

A spell is a discrete magical effect, a single shaping of the magical energies that suffuse the multiverse into a specific, limited expression. All spells and spellcasters are bound by the following characteristics.

## Spell Level

Every spell has a level from 0 to 9. A spell’s level is a general indicator of how powerful it is, with the lowly (but still impressive) Magic Missile*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 120 ft
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
3+1/SL darts hit creature(s) you can see for 1d4+1 Force dmg per dart at 1st level and the earth-shaking Wish*9th-level Conjuration*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** Self
**Components:** V
**Duration:** Instantaneous
Duplicate any 8th lvl or lower spell, create objects, heal, resurrect, alter time, etc.; see book at 9th. Cantrips — simple but powerful spells that characters can cast almost by rote — are level 0. The higher a spell’s level, the higher level a spellcaster must be to use that spell.

Spell level and character level don’t correspond directly. Typically, a character has to be at least 17th level, not 9th level, to cast a 9th-level spell.

## Known and Prepared Spells

Before a spellcaster can use a spell, they must have the spell firmly fixed in mind, or must have access to the spell in a magic item. Members of a few classes, including bards and sorcerers, have a limited list of spells they know that are always fixed in mind. The same thing is true of many magic-using monsters. Other spellcasters, such as clerics and wizards, undergo a process of preparing spells. This process varies for different classes, as detailed in their descriptions.

In every case, the number of spells a caster can have fixed in mind at any given time depends on the character’s level.

## Spell Slots

Regardless of how many spells a caster knows or prepares, they can cast only a limited number of spells before resting. Manipulating the fabric of magic and channeling its energy into even a simple spell is physically and mentally taxing, and higher-level spells are even more so. Thus, each spellcasting class’s description (except that of the warlock) includes a table showing how many spell slots of each spell level a character can use at each character level. For example, the 3rd-level wizard Umara has four 1st-level spell slots and two 2nd-level slots.

When a character casts a spell, he or she expends a slot of that spell’s level or higher, effectively “filling” a slot with the spell. You can think of a spell slot as a groove of a certain size — small for a 1st-level slot, larger for a spell of higher level. A 1st-level spell fits into a slot of any size, but a 9th-level spell fits only in a 9th-level slot. So when Umara casts Magic Missile*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 120 ft
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
3+1/SL darts hit creature(s) you can see for 1d4+1 Force dmg per dart, a 1st-level spell, she spends one of her four 1st-level slots and has three remaining.

Finishing a long rest restores any expended spell slots (see the rules on resting). Some characters and monsters have special abilities that let them cast spells without using spell slots. For example, a monk who follows the Way of the Four Elements, a warlock who chooses certain eldritch invocations, and a pit fiend from the Nine Hells can all cast spells in such a way.

### Casting a Spell at a Higher Level

When a spellcaster casts a spell using a slot that is of a higher level than the spell, the spell assumes the higher level for that casting. For instance, if Umara casts Magic Missile*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 120 ft
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
3+1/SL darts hit creature(s) you can see for 1d4+1 Force dmg per dart using one of her 2nd-level slots, that magic missile is 2nd level. Effectively, the spell expands to fill the slot it is put into.

Some spells, such as Magic Missile*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 120 ft
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
3+1/SL darts hit creature(s) you can see for 1d4+1 Force dmg per dart and Cure Wounds*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** Touch
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
1 creature is healed for 1d8+1d8/SL+spellcasting ability modifier hp, have more powerful effects when cast at a higher level, as detailed in a spell’s description.

## Cantrips

A cantrip is a spell that can be cast at will, without using a spell slot and without being prepared in advance. Repeated practice has fixed the spell in the caster’s mind and infused the caster with the magic needed to produce the effect over and over. A cantrip’s spell level is 0.

## Rituals

Certain spells have a special tag: ritual. Such a spell can be cast following the normal rules for spellcasting, or the spell can be cast as a ritual. The ritual version of a spell takes **10 minutes longer** to cast than normal. It also doesn’t expend a spell slot, which means the ritual version of a spell can’t be cast at a higher level.

To cast a spell as a ritual, a spellcaster must have a feature that grants the ability to do so. The cleric and the druid, for example, have such a feature. The caster must also have the spell prepared or on their list of spells known, unless the character's ritual feature specifies otherwise, as the wizard's does.

# Casting a Spell

When a character casts any spell, the same basic rules are followed, regardless of the character’s class or the spell’s effects. Each spell description begins with a block of information, including the spell’s name, level, school of magic, casting time, range, components, and duration. The rest of a spell entry describes the spell’s effect.

## Casting Time

Most spells require a single action to cast, but some spells require a bonus action, a reaction, or much more time to cast.

***Bonus Action.*** A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn. You can’t cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.

***Reactions.*** Some spells can be cast as reactions. These spells take a fraction of a second to bring about and are cast in response to some event. If a spell can be cast as a reaction, the spell description tells you exactly when you can do so.

***Longer Casting Times.*** Certain spells (including spells cast as rituals) require more time to cast: minutes or even hours. When you
cast a spell with a casting time longer than a single action or reaction, you must spend your action each turn casting the spell, and you must maintain your concentration while you do so (see Concentration below). If your concentration is broken, the spell fails, but you don’t expend a spell slot. If you want to try casting the spell again, you must start over.

## Range

The target of a spell must be within the spell’s range. For a spell like Magic Missile*1st-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 120 ft
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
3+1/SL darts hit creature(s) you can see for 1d4+1 Force dmg per dart, the target is a creature. For a spell like Fireball*3rd-level Evocation*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 150 ft
**Components:** V,S,M
**Duration:** Instantaneous
20-ft rad all crea 8d6+1d6/SL Fire dmg; save halves; unattended flammable objects ignite, the target is the point in space where the ball of fire erupts.

Most spells have ranges expressed in feet. Some spells can target only a creature (including you) that you touch. Other spells, such as the Shield*1st-level Abjuration*
**Casting Time:** 1 rea
**Range:** Self
**Components:** V,S
**Duration:** 1 rnd
If hit by attack +5 AC until start of next turn; or stop Magic Missile spell from doing any dmg to you spell, affect only you. These spells have a range of self.

Spells that create cones or lines of effect that originate from you also have a range of self, indicating that the origin point of the spell’s effect must be you (see the rules for *Areas of Effect*).

## Components

A spell’s components are the physical requirements you must meet in order to cast it. Each spell’s description indicates whether it requires verbal (V), somatic (S), or material (M) components. If you can’t provide one or m ore of a spell’s components, you are unable to cast the spell.

***Verbal (V).*** Most spells require the chanting of mystic words. The words themselves aren’t the source of the spell’s power; rather, the particular combination of sounds, with specific pitch and resonance, sets the threads of magic in motion. Thus, a character who is gagged or in an area of silence, such as one created by the silence spell, can’t cast a spell with a verbal component.

***Somatic (S).*** Spellcasting gestures might include a forceful gesticulation or an intricate set of gestures. If a spell requires a somatic component, the caster must have free use of at least one hand to perform these gestures.

***Material (M).*** Casting some spells requires particular objects, specified in parentheses in the component entry. A character can use a component pouch or a spellcasting focus (found in chapter 5) in place of the components specified for a spell. But if a cost is indicated for a component, a character must have that specific component before he or she can cast the spell.

If a spell states that a material component is **consumed** by the spell, the caster must provide this component for each casting of the spell. A spellcaster must have a hand free to access these components, but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components.

### Using a Focus or Component Pouch

As mentioned above, casting some spells requires particular objects, as specified each spell's "Components" entry. A character can use a **component pouch** or a **spellcasting focus**  in place of the components specified for a spell. Spellcasters should choose one or the other to carry on their person and use in their spellcasting; aside from meeting the material requirements for spellcasting, this choice is strictly cosmetic, and has no effect on the caster's spells. Note that no matter your choice, if a cost is indicated for a component, or if a spell states that one of the material components is consumed by the spell, the character must provide that specific component before they can cast the spell.

A **component pouch** is a small, watertight leather belt pouch that has compartments to hold all the material components and other special items you need to cast your spells, except for those components that have a specific cost (as indicated in a spell's description). It is assumed that the component pouch is stocked with bat wings, wax, molasses, string, and every other miscellaneous material you need to cast your spells.

A **spellcasting focus** can take many forms depending on what type of spellcaster the owner is, but in general it is a mystical or sacred object that the caster uses to channel their spells. A focus takes the place of any miscellaneous materials you might need to cast a spell. Some examples of different types of focuses are listed below:

* ***Arcane Focus.*** This is a special object — an orb, a crystal, a rod, a specially constructed staff, a wand-like length of wood, or some similar item — designed to channel the power of arcane spells. Sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards tend to use these.
* ***Druidic Focus.*** Used by druids, this might be a sprig of mistletoe or holly, a wand or scepter made of yew or another special wood, a staff drawn whole out of a living tree, or a totem object incorporating feathers, fur, bones, and teeth from sacred animals.
* ***Holy Symbol.*** Clerics and paladins use holy symbols as focuses; to use the symbol in this way, the caster must hold it in hand, wear it visibly, or bear it on a shield. This might be an amulet depicting a symbol representing a deity, the same symbol carefully engraved or inlaid as an emblem on a shield, or a tiny box holding a fragment of a sacred relic.
* ***Special Items.*** Other classes can use unconventional items as spellcasting focuses, as described in their class descriptions; bards can use musical instruments to channel their spells, and artificers are required to use their tools as focuses for many abilities. Some classes even use weapons as focuses.

## Duration

A spell's duration is the length of time the spell persists. A duration can be expressed in rounds, minutes, hours, or even years. Some spells specify that their effects last until the spells are dispelled or destroyed.

### Instantaneous

Many spells are instantaneous. The spell harms,
heals, creates, or alters a creature or an object in a way
that can’t be dispelled, because its magic exists only
for an instant.

### Concentration

Some spells require you to maintain concentration in order to keep their magic active. If you lose concentration, such a spell ends. If a spell must be maintained with concentration, that fact appears in its Duration entry, and the spell specifies how long you can concentrate on it. You can end concentration at any time (no action required). Normal activity, such as moving and attacking, doesn’t interfere with concentration. The following factors can break concentration:

* ***Casting another spell that requires concentration.*** You lose concentration on a spell if you cast another spell that requires concentration. You can’t concentrate on two spells at once.
* ***Taking damage.*** Whenever you take damage while you are concentrating on a spell, you must make a Constitution saving throw to maintain your concentration. The DC equals 10 or half the damage you take, whichever number is higher. If you take damage from multiple sources, such as an arrow and a dragon’s breath, you make a separate saving throw for each source of damage.
* ***Being incapacitated or killed.*** You lose concentration on a spell if you are incapacitated or if you die. The DM might also decide that certain environmental phenomena, such as a wave crashing over you while you’re on a storm-tossed ship, require you to succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell.

## Targets

A typical spell requires you to pick one or more targets to be affected by the spell’s magic. A spell's description tells you whether the spell targets creatures, objects, or a point of origin for an area of effect (described below). Unless a spell has a perceptible effect, a creature might not know it was targeted by a spell at all. An effect like crackling lightning is obvious, but a more subtle effect, such as an attempt to read a creature’s thoughts, typically goes unnoticed, unless a spell says otherwise.

### A Clear Path to the Target

To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can’t be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point that you can’t see and an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point, the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.

### Targeting Yourself

If a spell targets a creature of your choice, you can choose yourself, unless the creature must be hostile or specifically a creature other than you. If you are in the area of effect of a spell you cast, you can target yourself.

## Combining Magical Effects

The effects of different spells add together while the durations of those spells overlap. The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don't combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect — such as the highest bonus — from those castings applies while their durations overlap.

For example, if two clerics cast Bless*1st-level Enchantment*
**Casting Time:** 1 a
**Range:** 30 ft
**Components:** V,S,M
**Duration:** Conc, 1 min
3+1/SL creatures can add 1d4 on every attack roll or saving throw during the duration on the same target, that character gains the spell’s benefit only once; he or she doesn’t get to roll two bonus dice.

 Rules
 Equipment
 Downtime | Researching  •  Sparring  •  Carousing  •  Enchanting  •  Alchemy  •  Foraging  •  Managing a Business  •  Performing  •  Recovering  •  Training  •  Aiko's Mushroom Lore  •