Some Magic Should Stay Forbidden
Let’s get something out of the way right now—you can claim otherwise, but we all know magic’s where it’s at when you play D&D. But while you’re over there throwing fireballs or healing your friends, there are a few…special players who have practically turned to the dark side. The worst part is that these spells are perfectly legal under the game's rules, even if their effects are downright disturbing. It’s time to stop insulting wizards because these 20 spells prove just how unhinged they can be.
1. Soul Cage
Imagine dying only for some wizard to steal your soul before you can reach the afterlife. So goes Soul Cage, a horrifying spell that traps a recently deceased humanoid's soul inside a tiny silver cage. The caster can then interrogate it, exploit its knowledge, or drain its energy to restore their own health. Even worse, the victim can't even be resurrected while their soul’s behind bars.
2. Magic Jar
Possessing another is already unsettling, but Magic Jar somehow made the whole thing worse. The long and short of it? A wizard transfers their soul into a container before attempting to take over another humanoid, leaving the helpless victim's consciousness trapped inside the vessel. The caster can then walk around wearing somebody else's skin.
3. Feeblemind
Some D&D spells murk their victims, but Feeblemind leaves you alive after devastating your abilities. All it takes is one bum saving throw to reduce the target's Intelligence and Charisma scores to 1, preventing them from speaking, understanding language, or casting spells. You might want to build a barrier of some kind around your wizard…just in case.
4. Modify Memory
Is there anything worse than somebody poking around your head and rewriting your memories? Modify Memory does just that, allowing a spellcaster to alter a target's recollection of an event, potentially convincing them that a conversation or traumatic experience happened differently. Picture it as gaslighting in its highest form.
5. Dream
Wow, that sounds simple enough—surely it’s not a nightmarish spell that can haunt us, right? Wrong. A malicious caster can send a messenger into your dreams, potentially inflicting psychic damage and preventing you from gaining any benefits of a rest. It might not sound that bad, but imagine waking up terrified and without spell slots.
6. Phantasmal Killer
Forget your piddly monster—Phantasmal Killer creates an illusion drawn directly from its victim's fears. It’s a terrifying manifestation that only the victim can see, and they’ll suffer repeated psychic damage as the nightmare continues. The more we think about it, just kill us.
7. Weird
Well, that’s one way of putting this spell. If terrifying an opponent isn't enough, Weird takes that same disturbing concept and applies it to multiple creatures. This ninth-level monstrosity manifests terrifying illusions based on each affected creature's greatest fears, leaving victims frightened and suffering psychic damage.
8. Imprisonment
Bad guys just love sticking you in cages, don’t they? If anything, death actually seems preferable to some of the punishments in Imprisonment. Depending on the version you pick, a spellcaster can bury someone deep beneath the earth, bind them with chains, or trap them inside a gemstone. The magic can last until specific conditions are met or it's otherwise ended, so some poor soul could spend centuries imprisoned.
9. Finger of Death
Don’t just assume Finger of Death is a one-and-done—it has an additional effect that makes it so much more disturbing. Besides dealing massive necrotic damage, the spell turns a humanoid killed by it into a zombie permanently under the caster's command. It’s necromancy at its finest.
10. Danse Macabre
Speaking of necromancers, apparently, corpses lying on the ground are too tempting to pass up. Danse Macabre allows a spellcaster to animate up to five bodies as zombies or skeletons, directing them to attack enemies or carry out other commands. Call us crazy, but it’s pretty callous to make the guys you just murked fight for you immediately after killing them.
11. Contagion
Disease becomes a deliberate weapon with Contagion, a spell that can inflict several debilitating illnesses on its victim. These include Blinding Sickness and Flesh Rot, so it's especially unpleasant when a straightforward attack would have been considerably less cruel.
12. Flesh to Stone
Petrification is a familiar fantasy punishment, but you won’t catch us using this one. A creature that fails the spell's saving throws becomes petrified, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the transformation can also become permanent if the caster maintains concentration for the full duration.
13. Disintegrate
At least it’s quick with this one. But the idea of turning into nothing has always rubbed us the wrong way. Disintegrate can eliminate nearly every trace of its victim. Make no mistake; that affects you, too. This freakshow spell creates serious problems for companions hoping to bring their fallen friend back.
14. Power Word Kill
There's something really unsettling about a spellcaster who can end a life with a word. But so is the power of this spell, one that instantly kills a creature with 100 hit points or fewer—without allowing them a saving throw, either.
15. Psychic Scream
You knew you were in for some scary stuff with the name alone, but ordinary mental damage just isn’t good enough. This ninth-level spell targets up to ten creatures, dealing devastating psychic damage and potentially causing their heads to explode if the damage actually murks them. Oh, and if you fail your saving throws, you’re also stunned.
16. Maddening Darkness
Darkness is spooky enough without filling it with screams, gibbering, and laughter. Maddening Darkness creates an enormous sphere of magical blackness that ordinary light and darkvision can’t penetrate. Next thing you know, anyone caught inside suffers devastating psychic damage.
17. Cloudkill
There's very little subtlety when a wizard fills an enclosed space with poison. Cloudkill creates a deadly, moving cloud that obscures its surroundings and inflicts poison damage on creatures unfortunate enough to enter or stay inside. Luckily, if you have a wizard on your side, that also means it’s lights out for bum-rushing enemies.
18. Hunger of Hadar
Warlocks already have a questionable reputation, and Hunger of Hadar doesn't do anything to improve it. This spell opens a region of chilling darkness filled with strange whispers and slurping sounds, where unseen tentacles threaten anyone inside. Victims face cold and acid damage, too, all while struggling through a nightmare they can't get out of.
19. Geas
Sometimes the most frightening magic doesn't destroy your body—it threatens you into obedience. Geas commands a creature to perform or avoid a particular action, with psychic damage awaiting if they choose not to listen. Go ahead, try and keep your head on straight; there’s a painful price to pay for disobeying.
20. Dominate Person
Mind control is particularly sinister when the victim’s alive to experience the backlash of their uncontrollable actions. Dominate Person allows a spellcaster to charm a humanoid and control them, potentially directing them to attack former allies or sabotage their own party. There’s nothing like watching your ally suddenly try to take your head off.
