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Geas

Enchantment
Level: 5th-level
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 60 feet
Duration: 30 days
Components: V

You place a magical command on a creature that you can see within range, forcing it to carry out some service or refrain from some action or course of activity as you decide. If the creature can understand you, it must succeed on a wisdom saving throw or become charmed by you for the duration. While the creature is charmed by you, it takes 5d10 psychic damage each time it acts in a manner directly counter to your instructions, but no more than once each day. A creature that can't understand you is unaffected by the spell. You can issue any command you choose, short of an activity that would result in certain death. Should you issue a suicidal command, the spell ends. You can end the spell early by using an action to dismiss it. A remove curse, greater restoration, or wish spell also ends it.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th or 8th level, the duration is 1 year. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 9th level, the spell lasts until it is ended by one of the spells mentioned above.

Spell Details

School: Enchantment
Level: 5
Ritual: No
Concentration: No
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Wizard
A-Tier Geas is a powerful control spell outside combat that can decisively shape campaign narratives, though its long casting time and wisdom save limit its tactical combat applications.

Player Guide

Cast Geas out of combat when you have time for the 1-minute casting, targeting creatures without magical protection or high wisdom saves to lock them into disadvantageous tasks or restrictions. The spell's true power lies in forcing enemies to abandon allies, prevent spell-casting, or compel them toward your objectives—use it strategically after winning a fight rather than as an action economy play during one. Combine it with divination magic to identify targets with low wisdom, and remember that the task must be reasonably completable or the target suffers psychic damage, so craft demands carefully to ensure compliance pressure without becoming obviously impossible.

DM Tips

Carefully adjudicate what constitutes a "reasonable" task to prevent the spell from becoming a campaign-breaking tool—the 5d10 psychic damage penalty for impossible tasks is substantial but shouldn't be the only limitation. Clarify with the caster upfront whether Geas commands persist across planar travel or can be dismissed by powerful entities, as this 5th-level spell can become problematic if its duration (30 days) allows enduring control of key NPCs.