Magic in Dungeons & Dragons

Origins In 1974, the 36-page "Volume 1: Men & Magic" pamphlet was published as part of the original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set and included 12 pages about magic. It primarily describes individual spells where the "spells often but not always have both duration and ranges, and the explanation of spells frequently references earlier Chainmail materials". The first edition had over 100 spells that were "largely inflexible" and when a caster ran out of spells to cast, they were "defenseless fodder for orcs, goblins, and trolls". If a caster could "survive those vulnerable early levels, spells could grant godlike powers, like the reality-warping Wish spell, which does exactly what you think it does. A maxed-level fighter might be Achilles, but a level 20 magic-user was Zeus".The intent of the Vancian magic system in Dungeons & Dragons was to create restraints on magic users to balance the overall game. The Vancian magic system included "basic assumptions about how arcane magic worked" that "only began to change with D&D 3e (2000), which introduced the non-memorizing sorcerer, and with D&D 3.5e (2003), which introduced the at-will warlock". Modernization The fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons (2008) added unique powers to every class with a focus on party roles rather than just spell-casters having powers. The mechanical change of adding at-will and encounter powers "moved spell-casters away from the idea of 'Vancian' spell casting [...]. Magic items were also built into a character's progression, with each item having suggested levels". Fourth edition also initially "abandoned the school-of-magic approach" to arcane magic, The fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons (2014) uses a hybrid system of Vancian and at-will magic. Some classes, such as clerics and wizards, go through the process of preparing spells they can cast everyday from their spell list. Other classes, such as bards and sorcerers, "have a limited list of spells they know that are always fixed in the mind". they've used up all of their daily spell slots. The One D&D public playtest reintroduced the fourth edition division of magic types: arcane, divine and primal in August 2022, The ''Revised Player's Handbook'' (2024) includes "over 400 spells, 30 of which are brand new, 27 of which are redesigned, and 162 of which are 'reworked'". The 2024 Revised 5th Edition also removed the division of spellcasters with known spells and spellcasters with prepared spells. Christian Hoffer of ComicBook.com explained that in 5th Edition "classes with prepared spells offered more day-to-day flexibility, while classes with known spells were a bit more limited in their day-to-day options but always knew what spells they could use on any given day. In the 2024 Core Rulebooks, all spellcasting classes have prepared spells, with each class stating how many spells a player can have prepared and how often they can swap out a prepared spell". == Magic system ==

Types In the Dungeons & Dragons game, magic is a force of nature and a part of the world. Since the publication of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1977), magic has typically been divided into two main types: arcane, which comes from the world and universe around the caster, and divine, which is inspired from above (or below): the realms of gods and demons.Bards, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards learn to cast arcane spells, which are typically flashy and powerful. Clerics, druids, rangers and paladins cast divine spells, which draw their power from a deity, from nature, or simply the caster's inner faith. While some spells can be cast by both arcane and divine casters, other spells are limited to one type or the other. Crawford highlighted the thematic difference between divine and arcane magic, where the spell lists for divine spellcasters have fewer destructive spells and instead "tend to be filled with healing magic, magic that protects people. [...] Arcane power at its heart is really in a way about hacking the multiverse". Sorcerers are innate casters whose magic is influenced by the origin of their arcane connection. "Some sorcerers trace their magic back to a powerful ancestor, like a dragon, a celestial, or a djinni. Others can delineate their magic to an extraplanar source, such as the shrouded lands of the Shadowfell, or the roiling chaos of Limbo". This origin adds both thematic and mechanical constraints on the types of spells a sorcerer can learn. Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons, commented that "D&D 4e's primal power source focuses on transformation: the barbarian rages, the druid wild shapes, and the warden hybridizes. The shaman the only standard build that didn't follow this trend; the designers thought that it was complex enough already". This outlined that the source of primal magic is "the forces of nature found in the inner planes". Druids and rangers are the practitioners of primal magic. Jeff Howard, in his book ''Game Magic: A Designer's Guide to Magic Systems in Theory and Practice'', highlights that the schools of magic do not "necessarily refer to an academic institution for learning and teaching" but rather "schools of magic constitute a taxonomy of reality, in the sense of methodical and ordered classification of the chaos of existence and experience into a structured and order whole. The domains are aspects of existence over which various spells operate". In 4th edition, spell schools are initially absent but were reintroduced with the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials supplement. The spell schools introduced are Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, and Nethermancy (corresponding to the Shadow subschool of the Illusion school from the previous editions). The spells of other classical schools are present in the form of utility spells (like True Seeing being available but not being specifically named a Divination spell) or spell descriptors (like Conjuration or Summoning). ==Other forms of magic==

== Magic in campaign settings ==

Dark Sun In the Dark Sun campaign setting, arcane magic draws its power from the life force of plants or living creatures, with the potential to cause tremendous harm to the environment. Arcane spellcasters may cast spells in a manner that preserves nature, known as preservers, or in a manner that destroys it, known as defilers. However, any arcane caster may choose to defile at any time. As a result, wizards and other arcane casters are despised and must practice in secret. Due to the scarcity of natural resources on the fictional planet Athas, few wizards have access to books made of paper pages and hard covers; instead, they record their spells with string patterns and complex knots. Psionics are extremely common with nearly every living thing having at least a modicum of psionic ability. Unlike arcane magic, psionic abilities are accepted and revered in every strata of Athasian society. Athas has no deities and no formal religions other than the cults created by the sorcerer-kings. Clerics and druids instead draw power from the Inner Planes/Elemental Chaos. In previous editions, templars (casters who directly serve and derive their powers from the sorcerer-kings) were treated as a specialized form of cleric. In 4th edition, the templar class shifted away from being a divine caster to an arcane caster, though not all templars are skilled in magic. In ancient Netheril, "Spellcasters are arcanists and do not memorise spells – they merely pluck them out of the weave." The Weave is present in everything and is part of the goddess Mystra's body, who actively willed its effects. The ''Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide'' (2015) states, "in two senses, both the metaphorical and the real, the goddess Mystra is the Weave. She is its keeper and tender, but all three times the goddess of magic has died or been separated from her divinity [...], magic has been twisted or has failed entirely". Spellfire is an ability to wield the Weave's raw energy. It has appeared in both sourcebooks and novels set in the Forgotten Realms. J.R. Zambrano of Bell of Lost Souls called it "an iconic part of the Forgotten Realms" and compared it to unobtanium and quantum entanglement, noting that Spellfire often acts as "plot device magic. Whenever you need magic to do something weird and outside of the rules of D&D, Spellfire is there". Paul Pettengale, in a review in Arcane magazine, commented on the new form of magic in the supplement: "What's that called? Why, Spellfire of course, which just happens to be the name of a certain collectible card game by TSR. Spellfire is a complicated business, and I wouldn't actually encourage any DM to give it to a player to use; it's way too powerful for the majority of campaigns, and the very possession of it suggests close affiliation with Mystra, which most wizards would never aspire to". In 2001, a Spellfire themed feat and prestige class were added to 3rd Edition in the supplement Magic of Faerûn. In 2025, 5th Edition added a Spellfire themed Sorcerer subclass in the sourcebook Heroes of Faerûn after it appeared in playtest material. == Spellcasting game mechanics ==

Spell levels Spell levels were introduced in the "Volume 1: Men & Magic" (1974) pamphlet where spell levels maxed "out at 6th level for magic-users and 5th level for clerics". Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975), an expansion for OD&D, increased the maximum spell level. "Cleric spells were expanded to 7th level and wizards spells to 9th, creating the limits that would be used throughout the AD&D run of the game". The 5th edition ''Player's Handbook'' (2014) states that "regardless of how many spells a caster knows or prepares, he or she 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. [...] 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. [...] Finishing a long rest restores any expended spell slots". Incantations were designed to give non-spellcasters access to magic and to give lower level games access to higher level magic. Unearthed Arcana states "at its simplest, casting an incantation is akin to preparing and cooking something according to a recipe". However, there are drawbacks to attempting to cast incantations: they are time-consuming, they require particular circumstances and sometimes multiple casters, the components can be expensive, and there's no guarantee the incantation will work successively. In 5th edition, rituals continued to be a key part of spell casting. Some spells have the ritual tag which means that the "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". Sebag commented that spellcasters utilize material components "in symbolic, analogic ways that speak to the object's representational properties over its literal chemical composition or physical instrumentality. While this may be inconsistent with the linear causality of a physics engine operating on a Newtonian conception of the universe, such manipulations (and outcomes) are highly congruent with the premodern enchanted worldview that sees symbolic relationships as having their own special lines of causality". == Sample spells ==

The following is a sampling of spells featured in multiple Dungeons & Dragons iterations. Arcane spells • Color Spray: A vivid cone of clashing colors springs forth from the caster's hand, causing creatures to become stunned, perhaps also blinded, and possibly even knocking them unconscious. • Darkvision: The subject gains the ability to see clearly (albeit in black and white) in total darkness. • '''': The affected creatures or objects fall slowly; at a feather rate. Feather fall instantly changes the rate at which the targets fall to a mere 60 feet per round (equivalent to the end of a fall from a few feet), and the subjects take no damage upon landing while the spell is in effect. However, when the spell duration expires, a normal rate of falling resumes. • Fireball: A tiny ball flies forward from the caster, exploding in a huge fireball at a point designated by the caster. While an extremely potent spell, the caster must take care to avoid catching allies in the explosion, or to accidentally strike an obstruction and detonate the spell early. • Flesh to Stone: The subject, along with all its carried gear, is turned into a mindless, inert, stone statue. If the statue resulting from this spell is broken or damaged, the subject (if ever returned to its original state) has similar damage or deformities. (See also: Petrification) • Invisibility: The target of this spell becomes invisible for a time, but immediately becomes visible if they attack a person or creature or casts another spell. The spell's ability to cause automatic damage makes it one of the most-used spells. In the initial release of 4th edition, magic missile required an attack roll. The July 2010 update changed this back to an automatic hit, albeit with a lower amount of damage. • Meteor Swarm: Four meteors fly forward and explode like Fireballs. One of the most destructive spells in the game, capable of rending castles or devastating entire armies. • Polymorph: Transforms a target into another creature of the caster's choosing, such as an ogre, a small giant or the like. In some editions, polymorph is divided into several spells, for example, in 3rd edition, it is divided into Polymorph Self, which can only target the caster, and Polymorph Other, a higher level spell which can affect other targets, while in 3.5 edition, it is divided into Polymorph, which can only affect a willing target, and the higher level Baleful Polymorph, can transform an unwilling target into a weaker form, such as a frog. • Scrying: Allows the caster to spy on someone from a distance. In 5th edition, there are 17 spells with the summoning tag and summoning is broken up creature type. ''Tasha's Cauldron of Everything added nine additional summon monster spells that were originally part of the Unearthed Arcana'' playtest. • Teleport: Allows the caster to instantly appear somewhere else in the world, though at lower levels this ability can be somewhat imprecise. • Time Stop: Allows the caster to manipulate the flow of time, giving them few extra moments to act when time is "stopped" for everyone (and everything) else. In 5th edition, using the spell for anything other than duplicating a spell of 8th level or lower causes serious arcane stress, severely weakening the caster for between 2 and 8 days and a 33 percent chance of leaving them unable to cast Wish ever again. Though the wish can technically fulfill any desire, there are set limitations as to what can be wished for without consequence. Dungeon Masters are often encouraged to interpret a player's wish as literally as possible, particularly for selfish or greedy wishes (or any other wish that exceeds the set boundaries for "safe" wishes). For example, if someone wished for a fortune in gold, the DM could grant the wish by appropriating a local king's treasury, making the wisher a target for retaliation. Or, if somebody wished to live forever, they could end up being trapped in a timeless extradimensional space. Thus, the wisher must be very careful upon using the spell. Divine spells • Cure light wounds: A basic healing spell available to clerics, druids, bards, paladins, and rangers. Cure critical wounds is a more powerful healing spell available only to clerics, druids, and bards. In 5th edition, there is only one Cure wounds spell, with Mass Cure Wounds simply extending the original spell to up to 6 creatures within a thirty-foot radius. • Detect evil: The caster is able to tell if someone or something they look at is evil. Other versions of this spell exist for the various other alignment components, such as good, lawful, and chaotic. • Raise dead: The power to revive a deceased character, as long as their remains are roughly whole and have not deteriorated beyond a certain point. It is similar to the arcane Summon Monster spells (which Clerics can also cast as Divine spells), and like Summon Monster there is a variant of Summon Nature's Ally for each spell level. Summon Nature's Ally differs from Summon Monster in the kind of creatures it is capable of summoning. Most of the available creatures are animals, although elementals, magical beasts and fey are also available. In 5th edition, druids, rangers and some bards have access to the spell now known as Conjure Woodland Beings. ==See also==