Move Earth
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
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 Wizard spell
- Bottom 50% picked level 6 Sorcerer spell
- Bottom 50% picked level 6 Druid spell
- Bottom 25% of all 5e spells
Read about how this popularity data is calculated.
Spells similar to Move Earth
Bones of the Earth 6th-level transmutation
Both manipulate earth to alter elevation and positioning across a wide area, making them useful for creating advantageous terrain.
Players prefer Bones of the Earth over Move Earth
Plant Growth 3rd-level transmutation
The spell reshapes how creatures move through a broad natural area, offering comparable environmental control despite working through vegetation instead of soil.
Players prefer Plant Growth over Move Earth
Wall of Stone 5th-level evocation
It similarly transforms the battlefield by creating substantial terrain barriers, with the same ten-minute concentration duration and overlapping class lists.
Players prefer Wall of Stone over Move Earth
Control Water 4th-level transmutation
Both are concentration-based transmutations that reshape a large area of natural terrain over time for practical or tactical purposes.
Players prefer Control Water over Move Earth
Transmute Rock 5th-level transmutation
This spell also changes the physical character of terrain at range and belongs to the same school, though it affects rock rather than earth.
Players prefer Move Earth over Transmute Rock
Mold Earth Transmutation cantrip
It directly manipulates dirt and similar ground, serving as a much smaller-scale version of Move Earth's terrain-altering utility.
Players prefer Move Earth over Mold Earth