Ritual: add time without spending a spell slot
A prepared spell with the Ritual tag can be cast using the ritual option. This trades extra casting time for no spell-slot expenditure; it does not create an upcast version.
Use it at the table
- Confirm the spell is prepared and has the Ritual tag.
- Add 10 minutes to its normal casting time.
- Spend no spell slot for the ritual version and do not cast that version at a higher level.
Make the call
A prepared ritual-tagged spell normally takes one minute to cast. How long does its ritual version take?
The ruling
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?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 187. Read the official PDF.
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 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.