The world of Dungeons & Dragons is typically full of battle screams, clashing swords, and Fireball blasts. But, not every adventurer wants to use brute force or destructive magic to triumph over challenges, even when it comes to combat. That’s where non-violent or non-destructive spells come in. In DnD 5e, these spells can be incredibly useful – you can use them to communicate with animals, manipulate your enemies’ minds, decipher long-forgotten languages, or support and buff your allies in the thick of battle.
In this blog post, we will explore the realm of these spells and I’ll tell you my picks for the Top 10 Non-violent Spells in DnD 5e that will serve you well in and out of combat while letting you keep the ultimate pacifist status.
10. Light (cantrip evocation)
Some races are blessed with the gift of Darkvision, but others are unfortunately not that lucky. This spell is a great addition to the spell list of the latter group of characters. If you find yourself in a dark dungeon and you’ve got no torches on hand – cast Light while touching an object and soon you’ll have a magical torch that will shine a bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for another 20 feet. The good thing about this kind of torch is that no sort of wind or rain can extinguish it. Also, the visibility that Light allows you will also help during combat if the battle is happening in a dark or dimly lit environment.
9. Comprehend Languages/Speak with Animals
(both 1st level divination rituals)
I’m grouping these two spells together because they serve the same purpose – they will both let you speak to creatures you otherwise couldn’t communicate with.
If you ever find yourself in a strange town, a different realm, in the company of creatures you don’t understand, or in possession of a book written in a language you don’t know – that’s the perfect situation to cast Comprehend Languages. Casting this spell can get you out of pretty nasty situations where a simple misunderstanding can lead to serious harm.
Similarly, Speak with Animals would come in clutch if you came face to face (or face to snout, I guess) with a pack of wolves or other wild animals, find a druid in their Wild Shape, or even people turned into animals. If you all understand each other, maybe you can help them if they need the help, or just avoid combat. It’s great for quick problem-solving and roleplay purposes too.
8. Detect Magic (1st level divination ritual)
If you’re part of a dungeoneering group, then you need to have Detect Magic in your spell repertoire. When you cast this non-violent spell in DnD 5e, you will get to sense the presence of magic within 30 feet of you for 10 minutes. While exploring or crawling through dungeons, you can use it to find loot or magical traps before a party member accidentally triggers them, and even see if there’s a magic spell cast on a nearby PC or NPC. In combat, it can be used to detect a spellcaster, but not if they’re invisible.
7. Detect Thoughts (2nd level divination)
Who wouldn’t like to be a mind reader? I certainly would. And with Detect Thought you can be one too! This spell will allow you to hear the thoughts of one creature you focus on if they’re within 30 feet of you. At this point, you will hear only what’s currently on their mind and then you can turn to another person, or delve deeper into the mind of the original target. If the creature fails a Wisdom saving throw, you’ll get information on their reasoning or emotional state too.
This is useful if you need some information that a person doesn’t want to share, or if you want to test if your new NPC is friendly and trustworthy. In combat, you can potentially get more information about a creature’s next move.
6. Message (cantrip transmutation)
There will be times in your campaign when you’ll need to pass some covert information to one of your allies without anybody else overhearing. Thankfully, there’s a cantrip for those purposes called Message. This spell is probably one of the most used cantrips in my DnD group since there are so many uses for it. Whether there’s a sleeping creature nearby, you’ve noticed something moving in the treeline, are sneaking by the city guard, or don’t know if you should trust the NPC you just met – you can use Message to share info with a member of your group and get their input too.
It’s also very handy in combat since you could use it to speak with your allies in secret. Just be aware that casting Message will take 1 whole action, so be sure to find some cover before you use it.
5. Suggestion (2nd level enchantment)
This spell gives players an opportunity to mind-control their enemies, well, sort of. Your character will suggest (pun intended) some action to the target in the form of one or two sentences, and if they don’t pass a Wisdom saving throw, they will have to comply.
You might be thinking: “Oh great, I’ll just tell all of my opponents to jump off the nearest cliff, fall on their swords or stab each other to death”. Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there is a stipulation – you can’t tell the target to harm itself or others – the action must be reasonable enough. Also, if a target takes damage, the spell will stop. Nevertheless, you can probably get an enemy to walk away or be still while you tie them up – which is still a win in combat.
Suggestion is great outside of combat too, you can use it to acquire gold, get free accommodation, or even extract information that you need from an NPC. This spell is great for people who like to think outside of the box to solve their problems, so just use your imagination and you will conquer the world one suggestion at a time.
Also, I would just like to mention that there is also a 6th-level version of this spell, called Mass Suggestion which can affect up to twelve creatures of your choice. So if you are able to choose the version on steroids, I would suggest you do.
4. Sleep (1st level enchantment)
If you want to take somebody out of the equation during combat but feel conflicted about actually hurting them, why don’t you just knock them out for a little nap? Sleep is the perfect spell for players whose characters are too lawful or good for murder, but still want to contribute to the fight for good and protect their party too.
You can also cast this on a creature who’s protecting a magical artifact you came to collect or the prison guards who are holding your friends captive.
This is an incredibly versatile spell that’s completely non-destructive and a great thing to have in your arsenal for any situation that might arise.
3. Cure Wounds (1st level evocation)
If there was a competition for a “most non-violent spell”, Cure Wounds would have to take first place. I mean, this spell is so not violent, that it actually restores hit points. Cure Wounds is one of the best buff/support spells out there since it can make the difference between life and death for members of your party, and it just goes to show that you don’t have to be destructive or deal damage to the enemies directly to be useful in combat.
Things can also go wrong during traveling or exploring too. A nasty landslide or a big fall can incapacitate a character for a while. So, if you have an accident-prone character in your vicinity, it’s good to know a healing spell.
If you need to heal up to six creatures, you can use the 5th level spell Mass Cure Wounds to restore an amount of 3d8 + your spellcasting ability modifier hit points to each target.
2. Invisibility (2nd level illusion)
Ever since childhood, whenever I was asked which superpower I’d like to have, I would always say Invisibility. And, the same is true for my characters in DnD 5e – whenever I have a chance to have Invisibility on my spell list, you best believe I’ll make the most of it.
Whether you need to scout an enemy camp, eavesdrop to find out somebody’s plans, sneak past people, take keys out of a guard’s pocket, or conceal yourself during combat to make a surprise attack – you can accomplish it with a simple use of this spell.
Teleport (7th level conjuration)
This spell is maybe the best transport spell in the whole of DnD 5e since it will take you anywhere you want, just as long as it’s on the same plane, and you can even bring up to eight willing passengers (if they’re in the radius of 10 feet around you).
But, flyer beware, you need to know where you’re going in order not to fall off a cliff or something similar since your familiarity with the place you want to teleport to will influence the success of your venture. When you decide to teleport, the DM will roll a d100 and consult the table to see what’s your outcome. So, even though you can get a great outcome and teleport yourself out of a bad situation or into a secret hideaway, there’s a certain risk associated with this spell that you have to be aware of.
