Spider Climb: choose targets and preserve concentration
Spider Climb gives willing touched creatures a practical climbing mode while leaving their hands free. Higher-level slots increase the number of targets, not the listed climbing speed or duration.
Before casting
| Casting detail | SRD 5.2.1 requirement |
|---|---|
| Casting time | Action |
| Range | Touch |
| Components | V, S, M (a drop of bitumen and a spider) |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 hour |
Use it at the table
- Touch one willing creature for the ordinary level-2 casting.
- The target can traverse vertical surfaces and ceilings with hands free, and gains a Climb Speed equal to its Speed.
- Maintain Concentration; a slot above level 2 permits one additional creature per extra slot level.
Make the call
A caster uses a level-4 slot and can touch enough willing creatures. How many targets does this casting allow?
The ruling
Three targets: one base target and two additional targets.
Level 4 is two levels above the spell’s base level of 2. The higher-slot clause adds one target for each of those two levels, giving three total. It does not say to replace the target count with the slot level, double the climb speed or extend the concentration duration.
Watch for this mistake
Hands-free climbing is not a general immunity to falling or the loss of the spell. Track Concentration and any other effect affecting movement before planning a ceiling route.
Ask the table
How many willing touched targets fit this slot, and what could interrupt the caster’s Concentration?
The source spell
SRD 5.2.1, page 164. Read the official PDF.
Level 2 Transmutation (Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard) Casting Time: Action Range: Touch Components: V, S, M (a drop of bitumen and a spider) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch gains the ability to move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and along ceilings, while leaving its hands free. The target also gains a Climb Speed equal to its Speed. Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. You can target one additional creature for each spell slot level above 2.
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.