Guards and Wards

A
Control

Guards and Wards is a Control spell. Control spells restrict enemy options through debuffs or denial effects.

See all Control spells →
spell that locks down a stronghold,
shapes the battlefield

Guards and Wards is a Battlefield Shaping spell. Battlefield Shaping spells alter terrain, create obstacles, introduce hazards, and affect enemy positioning.

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to baffle and bar intruders, and hinders
multiple foes

Guards and Wards is a Multi Target spell. Multi Target spells have an area of effect or can explicitly target multiple allies or enemies.

See all Multi Target spells →
.

2024 Rules

Level & School
6th-level abjuration
Casting Time
1 hour
Range
Touch
Components
V, S, M (a silver rod worth 10+ GP)
Duration
24 hours
Classes
Bard, Wizard

You create a ward that protects up to 2,500 square feet of floor space. The warded area can be up to 20 feet tall, and you shape it as one 50-foot square, one hundred 5-foot squares that are contiguous, or twenty-five 10-foot squares that are contiguous. When you cast this spell, you can specify individuals that are unaffected by the spell's effects. You can also specify a password that, when spoken aloud within 5 feet of the warded area, makes the speaker immune to its effects. The spell creates the effects below within the warded area. Dispel Magic has no effect on Guards and Wards itself, but each of the following effects can be dispelled. If all four are dispelled, Guards and Wards ends. If you cast the spell every day for 365 days on the same area, the spell thereafter lasts until all its effects are dispelled.

Corridors. Fog fills all the warded corridors, making them Heavily Obscured. In addition, at each intersection or branching passage offering a choice of direction, there is a 50 percent chance that a creature other than you believes it is going in the opposite direction from the one it chooses.

Doors. All doors in the warded area are magically locked, as if sealed by the Arcane Lock spell. In addition, you can cover up to ten doors with an illusion to make them appear as plain sections of wall. Stairs. Webs fill all stairs in the warded area from top to bottom, as in the Web spell. These strands regrow in 10 minutes if they are destroyed while Guards and Wards lasts.

Other Spell Effect. Place one of the following magical effects within the warded area:

  • Dancing Lights in four corridors, with a simple program that the lights repeat as long as Guards and Wards lasts

  • Magic Mouth in two locations

  • Stinking Cloud in two locations (the vapors return within 10 minutes if dispersed while Guards and Wards lasts)

  • Gust of Wind in one corridor or room (the wind blows continuously while the spell lasts)

  • Suggestion in one 5-foot square; any creature that enters that square receives the suggestion mentally.

2014 Rules

Level & School
6th-level abjuration
Casting Time
10 minutes
Range
Touch
Components
V, S, M (burning incense, a small measure of brimstone and oil, a knotted string, a small amount of umber hulk blood, and a small silver rod worth at least 10 gp)
Duration
24 hours
Classes
Bard, Wizard

You create a ward that protects up to 2,500 square feet of floor space (an area 50 feet square, or one hundred 5-foot squares or twenty-five 10-foot squares). The warded area can be up to 20 feet tall, and shaped as you desire. You can ward several stories of a stronghold by dividing the area among them, as long as you can walk into each contiguous area while you are casting the spell.

When you cast this spell, you can specify individuals that are unaffected by any or all of the effects that you choose. You can also specify a password that, when spoken aloud, makes the speaker immune to these effects.

Guards and wards creates the following effects within the warded area.

  • Place dancing lights in four corridors. You can designate a simple program that the lights repeat as long as guards and wards lasts.

  • Place magic mouth in two locations.

  • Place stinking cloud in two locations. The vapors appear in the places you designate; they return within 10 minutes if dispersed by wind while guards and wards lasts.

  • Place a constant gust of wind in one corridor or room.

  • Place a suggestion in one location. You select an area of up to 5 feet square, and any creature that enters or passes through the area receives the suggestion mentally.

The whole warded area radiates magic. A dispel magic cast on a specific effect, if successful, removes only that effect.

You can create a permanently guarded and warded structure by casting this spell there every day for one year.

Guards and Wards 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences

Casting time is now 1 hour instead of 10 minutes. The spell now also always creates corridor fog/heavy obscure + directional confusion, magically locks all doors and can disguise up to 10 as walls, and fills stairs with webs. Dispel Magic can’t end the whole spell anymore; it only dispels each effect, and the spell ends only if all four are gone.

Spells similar to Guards and Wards

  • Programmed Illusion 6th-level illusion

    Both let you place scripted magical effects that persist in an area and can impersonate sensory phenomena like lights or messages.

  • Forbiddance 6th-level abjuration

    This is the same sort of long‑lasting area ward that restricts movement and protects a defined space against intruders.

  • Hallow 5th-level abjuration

    Hallow creates a consecrated area with selectable magical effects, making it similar in purpose to a customizable protective ward.

  • Glyph of Warding 3rd-level abjuration

    Both create standing magical protections on a location that can be set up to trigger or produce effects over time.

  • Arcane Lock 2nd-level abjuration

    Arcane Lock is one of the specific door‑sealing effects Guards and Wards grants, so it matches the spell’s access‑control function closely.