Endure Pain Spell
Endure Pain is a legacy third-party cantrip from Crime and Punishment (Atlas Games, 2003). It dulls pain without making the target numb or immune to injury, helping a creature endure torture and reducing a small amount of nonlethal damage.
At a Glance
| Original school | Illusion (Figment) |
|---|---|
| Original level | Cleric 0, Sorcerer/Wizard 0 |
| Range | Touch |
| Target | One living creature |
| Duration | 30 minutes/level |
| Saving Throw | None |
| Spell Resistance | Yes (harmless) |
| Source | Crime and Punishment, Keith Baker, Atlas Games, 2003 |
Endure Pain by Edition
5.5e / 2024 — No Direct Official Endure Pain
There is no official 2024 spell named Endure Pain. The legacy mechanics should not be presented as core 2024 rules.
If a campaign converts the spell, decide explicitly how its old nonlethal-damage protection maps to the modern rules rather than importing Damage Reduction 1/– unchanged.
5e / 2014 — No Direct Official Endure Pain
The 2014 spell list has no direct equivalent. The original spell depends on legacy torture saves, nonlethal damage and Damage Reduction, so a 5e conversion needs deliberate house rules.
Pathfinder 1e — Legacy Conversion Only
Endure Pain is not a core Pathfinder spell. Its original d20 mechanics are broadly compatible with Pathfinder terminology, but using it in PF1e is a third-party conversion rather than a core rule.
Keep the original limits intact: it protects against pain and a small amount of nonlethal damage; it does not prevent lethal wounds, ability damage, poison, disease or other unrelated effects.
Original d20 Rules
Illusion (Figment)
Level: Cleric 0, Sorcerer/Wizard 0
Casting Time: 1 action
Components: V, S
Range: Touch
Target: One living creature
Duration: 30 minutes/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
The spell reduces the target’s sensitivity to pain without eliminating sensation.
- The target gains a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves made to resist torture.
- The target gains Damage Reduction 1/– against nonlethal damage.
- This protection can stack with other Damage Reduction under the original rules.
- It provides no protection against lethal damage.
What Changed?
- There is no official 5e/2014 or 5.5e/2024 version.
- Pathfinder use should be labelled as a conversion, not core PF1e material.
- The original spell is specifically about pain endurance and nonlethal damage, not general damage resistance.
- The old Damage Reduction mechanic should not be silently translated into modern D&D.
Using Endure Pain in Play
The spell is most useful before interrogation, imprisonment, forced marching under coercion, painful medical treatment, ritual ordeal or any scene where remaining composed under deliberate pain matters.
It should not make torture consequence-free. The spell reduces pain and a small amount of nonlethal harm; it does not make the target fearless, immune to injury, immune to exhaustion or automatically capable of lying convincingly.
Source and Provenance
Source: Crime and Punishment
Author: Keith Baker
Publisher: Atlas Games
Published: 2003
This page treats Endure Pain as legacy third-party material and does not present it as an official spell from later editions.
Keep this reference growing
If this page helped with your reading or game, you can support its upkeep or explore the curated books.
Explore the Bookshop — epics, classics and stories behind imagined worlds.