Dream

A
Utility

Dream is a Utility spell. Utility spells solve problems outside of combat or provide unique situational advantages.

See all Utility spells →
spell for
dream-based persuasion

Dream is a Social Influence spell. Social Influence spells create ways to communicate, persuade, and alter behavior.

See all Social Influence spells →
and
secret messages

Dream is a Information spell. Information spells provide ways to transmit, perceive, detect, or reveal hidden or unknown information.

See all Information spells →
,
letting you speak to sleepers and shape their dreams.

2024 Rules

Level & School
5th-level illusion
Casting Time
1 minute
Range
Special
Components
V, S, M (a handful of sand)
Duration
8 hours
Classes
Bard, Warlock, Wizard

You target a creature you know on the same plane of existence. You or a willing creature you touch enters a trance state to act as a dream messenger. While in the trance, the messenger is Incapacitated and has a Speed of 0.

If the target is asleep, the messenger appears in the target's dreams and can converse with the target as long as it remains asleep, through the spell's duration. The messenger can also shape the dream's environment, creating landscapes, objects, and other images. The messenger can emerge from the trance at any time, ending the spell. The target recalls the dream perfectly upon waking.

If the target is awake when you cast the spell, the messenger knows it and can either end the trance (and the spell) or wait for the target to sleep, at which point the messenger enters its dreams. You can make the messenger terrifying to the target. If you do so, the messenger can deliver a message of no more than ten words, and then the target makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target gains no benefit from its rest, and it takes 3d6 Psychic damage when it wakes up.

2014 Rules

Level & School
5th-level illusion
Casting Time
1 minute
Range
Special
Components
V, S, M (a handful of sand, a dab of ink, and a writing quill plucked from a sleeping bird)
Duration
8 hours
Classes
Bard, Warlock, Wizard

This spell shapes a creature's dreams. Choose a creature known to you as the target of this spell. The target must be on the same plane of existence as you. Creatures that don't sleep, such as elves, can't be contacted by this spell. You, or a willing creature you touch, enters a trance state, acting as a messenger. While in the trance, the messenger is aware of his or her surroundings, but can't take actions or move.

If the target is asleep, the messenger appears in the target's dreams and can converse with the target as long as it remains asleep, through the duration of the spell. The messenger can also shape the environment of the dream, creating landscapes, objects, and other images. The messenger can emerge from the trance at any time, ending the effect of the spell early. The target recalls the dream perfectly upon waking. If the target is awake when you cast the spell, the messenger knows it, and can either end the trance (and the spell) or wait for the target to fall asleep, at which point the messenger appears in the target's dreams.

You can make the messenger appear monstrous and terrifying to the target. If you do, the messenger can deliver a message of no more than ten words and then the target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, echoes of the phantasmal monstrosity spawn a nightmare that lasts the duration of the target's sleep and prevents the target from gaining any benefit from that rest. In addition, when the target wakes up, it takes 3d6 psychic damage.

If you have a body part, lock of hair, clipping from a nail, or similar portion of the target's body, the target makes its saving throw with disadvantage.

Dream 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences

The 2024 version removes the old “creatures that don’t sleep, such as elves, can’t be contacted” restriction, and it also drops the special body-part/familiarity disadvantage on the save. The messenger is now explicitly Incapacitated and has Speed 0 instead of just being unable to act or move.

Dream popularity

Dream is a commonly chosen level 5 spell. Choosing it adds an established option to your spellbook.

Spells similar to Dream

  • Seeming 5th-level illusion

    It’s the same spell level and school and, like Dream, it manipulates others’ perceptions and is used for social influence over a long duration.

  • Mislead 5th-level illusion

    Also a fifth-level illusion that creates a convincing false presence and is chosen for deception and shaped social interaction.

  • Modify Memory 5th-level enchantment

    This fifth-level spell directly alters someone’s mind and recollection, matching Dream’s focus on manipulating dreams and memories for social ends.

  • Rary's Telepathic Bond 5th-level divination

    It provides long-duration, private mental communication between creatures, making it a close mechanical parallel for Dream’s information-and-contact niche.

  • Sending 3rd-level divination

    Though lower level, Sending fills the same need of delivering messages across distance and is a go-to spell for one-way remote communication.

Dream is featured in