Move Earth

A
Utility

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

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 spell that reshapes dirt, sand, or clay into trenches, walls, and hills for slow
battlefield control

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

See all Battlefield Shaping spells →
 with
renewed focus

Move Earth is a Action Economy spell. Action Economy spells grant you more choices on future turns.

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.

2024 Rules
Level & School
6th-level transmutation
Casting Time
Action
Range
120 feet
Components
V, S, M (a miniature shovel)
Duration
Concentration, 2 hours
Classes
Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
Source
Player's Handbook (2024)

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
Source
Player's Handbook (2014)

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

At the end of each 10-minute interval, you now choose a new area only within range.

How popular is Move Earth in 5e?

Move Earth is the #15 most popular level 6 spell (of 51) and the #21 most picked level 6 Wizard spell (of 35).

Among level 6 spells, Move Earth ranks just below Elminster's Effulgent Spheres and just above Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron in popularity.

Read about how this popularity data is calculated.

Spells similar to Move Earth