D&D 5e Custom Spell Creator

Twenty SRD spells worth reading before you write your own

Homebrew that ignores the baseline reads as homebrew. Each of these is a template for a different kind of spell — what it teaches you about structure, not what it does. Every one links to its full text, free to read and free to build on.

• Fire Bolt Evocation cantrip 1 action · 120 feet

  The simplest shape there is: one attack roll, one damage die, scaling by character level rather than slot. Copy this when you want a spell that never needs a resource decision.

• Light Evocation cantrip 1 action · Touch

  Pure utility with a duration and no roll at all. Proof that a spell does not need numbers to be worth preparing.

• Mage Hand Conjuration cantrip 1 action · 30 feet

  An effect with a strict list of things it cannot do. The limits are the design — write yours before you write the ability.

• Magic Missile 1st-level evocation 1 action · 120 feet

  Damage with no attack roll and no save, balanced by being small and typed. The template for reliability instead of power.

• Cure Wounds 1st-level evocation 1 action · Touch

  Touch range, a die plus modifier, upcast by one die per slot. The standard healing curve you should match or deliberately break.

• Shield 1st-level abjuration 1 reaction · Self

  A reaction with a named trigger. If your spell interrupts something, say exactly what, or the table will argue about it.

• Detect Magic 1st-level divination 1 action · Self

  Concentration on a sense rather than an effect. Useful when the point is information, not force.

• Misty Step 2nd-level conjuration 1 bonus action · Self

  A bonus action with a hard cap on distance. Movement spells live or die on whether that cap is stated in feet.

• Hold Person 2nd-level enchantment 1 action · 60 feet

  A save repeated at the end of each turn. This is how you write hard control without it being an auto-win.

• Invisibility 2nd-level illusion 1 action · Touch

  A buff with a self-cancelling condition attached. The cancel clause is what keeps it from being strictly better than everything.

• Fireball 3rd-level evocation 1 action · 150 feet

  The area-damage benchmark every homebrew fire spell is measured against: 8d6, 20-foot radius, Dexterity save for half. Start here before you claim yours is balanced.

• Counterspell 3rd-level abjuration 1 reaction, which you take when you see a creature within 60 feet of you casting a spell · 60 feet

  A reaction that targets another spell, with an ability check when the level is high. The pattern for anything that answers magic with magic.

• Fly 3rd-level transmutation 1 action · Touch

  A movement speed granted for a duration, concentration-gated. Note what it does NOT say about falling.

• Polymorph 4th-level transmutation 1 action · 60 feet

  An effect that replaces the target with a whole other stat block. Powerful, and almost entirely rules text rather than numbers.

• Wall of Force 5th-level evocation 1 action · 120 feet

  Terrain as a spell. Geometry, dimensions and what passes through it matter more than any die roll.

• Scrying 5th-level divination 10 minutes · Self

  A save modified by how well the caster knows the target, plus a material cost. Shows how to price information.

• Chain Lightning 6th-level evocation 1 action · 150 feet

  One roll, several targets, with strict targeting rules. Multi-target damage needs a rule for who gets picked.

• Dominate Monster 8th-level enchantment 1 action · 60 feet

  Long duration, repeated saves, and a table-facing control problem. Write the exit condition first.

• True Polymorph 9th-level transmutation 1 action · 30 feet

  Concentration that becomes permanent if you hold it. A duration mechanic worth stealing.

• Wish 9th-level conjuration 1 action · Self

  The ceiling of the system, and mostly a page of guardrails. When your spell can do anything, the text is all limits.

Browse all 319 SRD spells · Cantrips · 3rd level · Evocation · Enchantment · SRD bestiary