Ritual: add time without spending a spell slot

SRD 5.2.1 · Magic

At the table

  1. Confirm the spell is prepared and has the Ritual tag.
  2. Add 10 minutes to its normal casting time.
  3. Spend no spell slot for the ritual version and do not cast that version at a higher level.

Example decision

A prepared ritual-tagged spell normally takes one minute to cast. How long does its ritual version take?

Eleven minutes.

The ritual version takes ten minutes longer than normal. Adding that to a normal minute gives eleven minutes, not ten. It avoids a spell slot, so the ritual version cannot use a higher-level slot to become a higher-level casting. Other requirements in the spell still need to be read.

Watch for this mistake

The tag is not permission to cast any unprepared spell found in a book. This general entry requires the spell to be prepared; use a specific feature if it supplies a different permission.

Ask the table

Is the spell prepared and tagged, and what is its normal time before adding ten minutes?

Source rule

If you have a spell prepared that has the Ritual tag, you can cast that spell 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. See also “Spells.”

Source: SRD 5.2.1, 187. Online guide.

Source and reuse

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.