Move Earth
2024 Rules
- Level & School
- 6th-level transmutation
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 120 feet
- Components
- V, S, M (an miniature showel)
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 2 hours
- Classes
- Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
Choose an area of terrain no larger than 40 feet on a side within range. You can reshape dirt, sand, or clay in the area in any manner you choose for the duration. You can raise or lower the area's elevation, create or fill in a trench, erect or flatten a wall, or form a pillar. The extent of any such changes can't exceed half the area's largest dimension. For example, if you affect a 40-foot square, you can create a pillar up to 20 feet high, raise or lower the square's elevation by up to 20 feet, dig a trench up to 20 feet deep, and so on. It takes 10 minutes for these changes to complete. Because the terrain's transformation occurs slowly, creatures in the area can't usually be trapped or injured by the ground's movement. At the end of every 10 minutes you spend concentrating on the spell, you can choose a new area of terrain to affect within range. This spell can't manipulate natural stone or stone construction. Rocks and structures shift to accommodate the new terrain. If the way you shape the terrain would make a structure unstable, it might collapse.
Similarly, this spell doesn't directly affect plant growth. The moved earth carries any plants along with it.
2014 Rules
- Level & School
- 6th-level transmutation
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 120 feet
- Components
- V, S, M (an iron blade and a small bag containing a mixture of soils-clay, loam, and sand)
- Duration
- Concentration, 2 hours
- Classes
- Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
Choose an area of terrain no larger than 40 feet on a side within range. You can reshape dirt, sand, or clay in the area in any manner you choose for the duration. You can raise or lower the area's elevation, create or fill in a trench, erect or flatten a wall, or form a pillar. The extent of any such changes can't exceed half the area's largest dimension. So, if you affect a 40-foot square, you can create a pillar up to 20 feet high, raise or lower the square's elevation by up to 20 feet, dig a trench up to 20 feet deep, and so on. It takes 10 minutes for these changes to complete.
At the end of every 10 minutes you spend concentrating on the spell, you can choose a new area of terrain to affect.
Because the terrain's transformation occurs slowly, creatures in the area can't usually be trapped or injured by the ground's movement.
This spell can't manipulate natural stone or stone construction. Rocks and structures shift to accommodate the new terrain. If the way you shape the terrain would make a structure unstable, it might collapse.
Similarly, this spell doesn't directly affect plant growth. The moved earth carries any plants along with it.
Move Earth 5.5e 2024 vs. 5e 2014 edition differences
Move Earth popularity
How popular is Move Earth? It is a seldom seen spell in the game, and is chosen less than other options when available. This spell may fill a specific niche for a spellbook.
- Top 50% of all level 6 spells
- Bottom 50% picked level 6 Druid spell
- Bottom 25% picked level 6 Sorcerer spell
- Bottom 25% picked level 6 Wizard spell
- Bottom 25% of all 5e spells
Spells similar to Move Earth
Fabricate 4th-level transmutation
Both convert raw material into new shapes or objects, allowing the caster to repurpose terrain or materials for practical effects.
Players prefer Fabricate over Move Earth
Passwall 5th-level transmutation
Both are used to alter solid terrain to create new passages or change how creatures traverse an area.
Players prefer Passwall over Move Earth
Wall of Stone 5th-level evocation
Both create lasting changes to the battlefield by forming walls or raised features that reshape movement and cover.
Players prefer Wall of Stone over Move Earth
Hallucinatory Terrain 4th-level illusion
Both affect the battlefield by changing how terrain is experienced or arranged, useful for manipulating travel and encounters.
Players prefer Move Earth over Hallucinatory Terrain
Stone Shape 4th-level transmutation
Both let a caster reshape natural ground or rock to create or alter physical features for utility and terrain control.
Players prefer Move Earth over Stone Shape