Guidance

A
Support

Guidance is a Support spell. Support spells strengthen, protect, or buff allies.

See all Support spells →
 spell that lends divine guidance, letting a touched ally add 1d4 to ability checks with a chosen skill.

2024 Rules
Level & School
Divination cantrip
Casting Time
Action
Range
Touch
Components
V, S
Duration
Concentration, up to 1 minute
Classes
Cleric, Druid

You touch a willing creature and choose a skill. Until the spell ends, the creature adds 1d4 to any ability check using the chosen skill.

2014 Rules
Level & School
Divination cantrip
Casting Time
Action
Range
Touch
Components
V, S
Duration
Concentration, 1 minute
Classes
Cleric, Druid

You touch one willing creature. Once before the spell ends, the target can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to one ability check of its choice. It can roll the die before or after making the ability check. The spell then ends.

Guidance 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences

Now you pick a skill when you cast it, and for the duration the target adds 1d4 to every ability check using that skill instead of getting a one-time d4 on a single check. 2024 is broader in use, but more narrowly tied to the chosen skill.

Guidance popularity

Guidance is one of the most popular cantrips in the game. Choosing it adds a D&D staple to your spellbook.

Spells similar to Guidance

  • Resistance Abjuration cantrip

    It's a cantrip that you cast with touch and concentration to add a 1d4 bonus to another kind of die roll, making its core mechanic nearly identical to Guidance.

  • Enhance Ability 2nd-level transmutation

    This touch concentration spell also helps with ability-related checks and is the obvious higher-level analogue to boosting skills over time.

  • Bless 1st-level enchantment

    Bless uses a 1d4 bonus and concentration to improve allies' important rolls, sharing the same design idea of a small, repeatable party buff.

  • True Strike Divination cantrip

    Although aimed at attacks, this divination cantrip provides a single-turn mechanical boost to a roll, similar in purpose to improving a specific action's chance of success.

  • Pass without Trace 2nd-level abjuration

    It grants a reliable bonus to a particular category of skill checks (stealth) for a duration, functioning like a targeted, party-wide version of Guidance for exploration.

Guidance is featured in