Alarm

Alarm warns you when a creature crosses a warded space. Choose a bell that nearby companions can hear or a private mental ping that can wake you. The ward gives warning; it does not stop the intruder.

Alarm at a Glance

D&D 2024 / 2014	1st-level Abjuration; 1 minute or Ritual; 30 feet; door, window or space up to a 20-foot cube; 8 hours.
Pathfinder / 3.5e	1st-level Abjuration; standard action; Close range; 20-foot-radius emanation; 2 hours per caster level.
Warning	Mental ping within 1 mile, or audible bell normally heard within 60 feet.
Concentration / damage	No ongoing Concentration; no damage or saving throw.

Spell Rules by Edition

D&D 5.5e / 2024D&D 5e / 2014Pathfinder 1eD&D 3.5e

Alarm — D&D 2024

Level and school: 1st-level Abjuration
Core spell lists: Ranger, Wizard
Casting time: 1 minute; Ritual available
Range: 30 feet; door, window or area no larger than a 20-foot Cube
Components: V, S, M (a bell and silver wire)
Duration: 8 hours; no Concentration
Attack / save: None

The ward warns you whenever a creature touches or enters it. Name any creatures exempt from triggering it when you cast. Choose one warning mode:

Audible: A handbell sounds for 10 seconds and can be heard within 60 feet of the ward.
Mental: You receive a ping within 1 mile of the ward; it wakes you if asleep.

The 2024 text has no minimum creature size. It lists no higher-slot increase.

D&D 2024 rules source.

Alarm — D&D 2014

Level and school: 1st-level Abjuration
Core spell lists: Ranger, Wizard
Casting time: 1 minute; Ritual available
Range: 30 feet; door, window or area no larger than a 20-foot cube
Components: V, S, M (a tiny bell and a piece of fine silver wire)
Duration: 8 hours; no Concentration
Attack / save: None

A Tiny or larger creature touching or entering the warded space triggers the warning. Designate exempt creatures and choose mental or audible warning when casting.

Mental: A ping alerts you within 1 mile and wakes you from sleep.
Audible: A handbell sounds for 10 seconds within 60 feet.

Higher-level slots add no listed benefit. Additional class features, including Artificer spellcasting, may also grant access.

D&D 2014 rules source.

Alarm — Pathfinder 1e

School: Abjuration
Level: Arcanist, Bard, Hunter, Inquisitor, Occultist, Psychic, Ranger, Skald, Sorcerer, Spiritualist, Summoner (including unchained), Wizard: all 1
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, F/DF (tiny bell and fine silver wire)
Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 caster levels)
Area: 20-foot-radius emanation centred on a point in space
Duration: 2 hours per caster level
Saving throw: None
Spell resistance: No

A Tiny or larger creature touching or entering the ward triggers it unless it speaks your chosen password. Ethereal and astral creatures do not trigger it.

Mental: A private ping reaches you within 1 mile, wakes normal sleep and does not disrupt concentration. Silence does not stop it.

Audible: The bell lasts 1 round and is clear within 60 feet. Subtract 10 feet per closed door and 20 per substantial wall. In quiet conditions it is faintly audible at 180 feet. Creatures inside Silence cannot hear it. Permanency can make the ward permanent.

Pathfinder 1e rules source.

Alarm — D&D 3.5e

Alarm sounds a mental or audible alarm each time a creature of Tiny or larger size enters the warded area or touches it.

This material is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.

Abjuration
Level Bard 1, Ranger 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 1
Components V, S, F/DF
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Area 20-ft.-radius emanation centered on a point in space
Duration 2 hours/level (D)
Saving Throw None
Spell Resistance No

A creature that speaks the password (determined by you at the time of casting) does not set off the alarm. You decide at the time of casting whether the alarm will be mental or audible.

Mental Alarm A mental alarm alerts you (and only you) so long as you remain within 1 mile of the warded area. You note a single mental “ping” that awakens you from normal sleep but does not otherwise disturb Concentration.

A silence spell has no effect on a mental alarm.

Audible Alarm: An audible alarm produces the sound of a hand bell, and anyone within 60 feet of the warded area can hear it clearly. Reduce the distance by 10 feet for each interposing closed door and by 20 feet for each substantial interposing wall.

In quiet conditions, the ringing can be heard faintly as far as 180 feet away. The sound lasts for 1 round. Creatures within a silence spell cannot hear the ringing.

ethereal or astral creatures do not trigger the alarm.

It can be made permanent with a permanency spell.

Arcane Focus A tiny bell and a piece of very fine silver wire

D&D 3.5e rules source.

What Changed Between Editions?

2024 triggers on a creature of any size; 2014 specifies Tiny or larger. Both fifth-edition versions let you exempt named creatures and last 8 hours. Pathfinder and 3.5e use a password, a wider circular ward and caster-level duration. Their rules also explain how doors, walls, Silence and ethereal creatures interact with the alarm; 3.5e marks the duration dismissible.

Using Alarm in Play

Guard a camp entrance

Ward the approach most likely to carry an intruder, then decide who will respond to the warning. A single ward has a limited area; an unwatched path around it remains a way in. Exempt companions in fifth edition, or agree on the password in the older games.

Choose who needs to know

A mental warning lets the caster wake companions quietly or wait before confronting a trespasser. The bell can alert nearby guards at once. Place it where those guards can hear it, especially when using the older rules for intervening doors and walls.

Layer the defence

An Arcane Lock can delay entry while Alarm gives notice. A ward still needs someone ready to act: a sentry, an escape route or a defensible doorway.

Alarm ward illustration — *Created with Midjourney*

Alarm in the World

Also called Warding Alarm. An abbey may ward its reliquary door while a smuggler watches a cellar hatch. A carefully swept threshold, fine silver wire or a servant warned away from a window can hint that the place is watched. Once the ward trips, defenders must choose whether to raise a public alarm or let the intruder come further.

Sources and Licensing

D&D 2024 · D&D 2014 · Pathfinder 1e · D&D 3.5e.

The fifth-edition summaries include material from System Reference Documents 5.2.1 and 5.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available from the official SRD resource, under CC BY 4.0. The summaries are reformatted and paraphrased. Pathfinder and 3.5e mechanics are Open Game Content under the Open Game License v1.0a. Artwork and original setting prose are excluded from that designation.

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System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

3.5e source licence · Pathfinder source licence