Comprehend Languages: translate words without solving a cipher

SRD 5.2.1 · Spell decisions

Before casting

At the table

1. Use the spell to understand language you hear or see signed for its duration.
2. For writing, see the words and touch the surface carrying them; allow about one minute per page.
3. Separate the language’s literal meaning from a symbol system or secret message the spell does not decode.

Example decision

A visible page contains a secret message encoded as ordinary words. The caster touches the page while the spell is active. Does the spell automatically reveal the hidden instructions?

No; the spell does not decode secret messages.

Touch and visibility satisfy the access requirements for written language, but the final sentence excludes symbols and secret messages. The caster can understand the literal wording without learning the hidden instructions. A separate examination or solution may still be needed, using the actual clues and an appropriate task such as Study.

Watch for this mistake

The spell grants understanding, not an explicit ability to speak or write a newly learned language. Do not promise a fluent conversation in both directions from this description alone.

Ask the table

Is the obstacle an unfamiliar language, access to the writing, or a message concealed within it?

Source spell

Level 1 Divination (Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard) Casting Time: Action or Ritual Range: Self Components: V, S, M (a pinch of soot and salt) Duration: 1 hour For the duration, you understand the literal meaning of any language that you hear or see signed. You also understand any written language that you see, but you must be touching the surface on which the words are written. It takes about 1 minute to read one page of text. This spell doesn’t decode symbols or secret messages.

Source: SRD 5.2.1, 117. Online guide.