Passwall Spell
Passwall Spell creates a temporary passage through wood, plaster or stone. A sealed room can gain an entrance, a defended wall can suddenly possess a breach and an apparently secure prison can acquire an escape route without the surrounding masonry being smashed apart.
The critical limitation is depth. Passwall does not make every wall irrelevant. A sufficiently thick fortification can exceed the passage created by a single casting, while metal and other harder barriers remain outside the spell’s normal material limits.
Passwall Rules
Passwall — 5.5e / 2024
Level 5 Transmutation — Wizard
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 30 feet
- Components
- V, S, M (a pinch of sesame seeds)
- Duration
- 1 hour
Choose a point you can see on a wooden, plaster or stone surface within range. The magic creates a temporary passage through that surface. A wall, floor or ceiling can serve as the affected surface.
You determine the passage’s dimensions, up to 5 feet wide, 8 feet high and 20 feet deep.
The opening does not cause the surrounding structure to become unstable.
When the spell ends, creatures and objects still inside the passage are moved safely to the nearest unoccupied space beside the surface on which the spell was cast.
See the SpiralWorlds Sorcerer/Wizard spell catalogue for related arcane magic.
Passwall — 5e / 2014
5th-level Transmutation — Wizard
- Casting Time
- 1 action
- Range
- 30 feet
- Components
- V, S, M (a pinch of sesame seeds)
- Duration
- 1 hour
A passage appears at a point you can see on a wooden, plaster or stone surface within range. The affected surface can be a wall, ceiling or floor.
The opening can be up to 5 feet wide, 8 feet high and 20 feet deep.
The passage exists for the duration without making the surrounding structure unstable.
When the spell ends, any creature or object still within the passage is safely ejected into the nearest unoccupied space beside the surface where Passwall was cast.
See the Sorcerer/Wizard spell catalogue .
Passwall — Pathfinder 1e
School transmutation; Level arcanist 5, mesmerist 5, psychic 5, sorcerer 5, wizard 5
Casting
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Components
- V, S, M (sesame seeds)
Effect
- Range
- Touch
- Effect
- 5-foot-by-8-foot opening, 10 feet deep plus 5 feet for every three caster levels above 9th
- Duration
- 1 hour/level (D)
- Saving Throw
- None
- Spell Resistance
- No
Description
Passwall creates a passage through a wooden, plaster or stone wall. It does not pass through metal or harder materials.
The opening is 5 feet wide and 8 feet high. Its depth is 10 feet at the minimum caster level and increases by 5 feet for every three caster levels above 9th.
This produces a depth of 15 feet at 12th caster level, 20 feet at 15th caster level and a maximum of 25 feet at 18th caster level .
If the wall is thicker than the passage created, a single casting forms only a niche or short tunnel.
Several Passwall spells can be used in sequence to create a continuing passage through a particularly thick obstacle.
When Passwall ends because its duration expires, creatures within the passage are ejected through the nearest exit.
If the spell is dispelled or deliberately dismissed, creatures within the passage are instead ejected through the far exit when one exists. If there is only one exit, they are expelled through that opening.
Material Component
A pinch of sesame seeds.
See the Sorcerer/Wizard spell catalogue .
Passwall — D&D 3.5e
Transmutation
- Level
- Sorcerer/Wizard 5
- Components
- V, S, M
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Range
- Touch
- Effect
- 5-foot-by-8-foot opening, 10 feet deep plus 5 feet for every three additional caster levels
- Duration
- 1 hour/level (D)
- Saving Throw
- None
- Spell Resistance
- No
Passwall creates a passage through wooden, plaster or stone walls, but not through metal or other harder materials.
The opening is 5 feet wide and 8 feet high. Its depth begins at 10 feet and increases by 5 feet for every three caster levels above 9th.
The passage therefore reaches 15 feet at 12th caster level, 20 feet at 15th caster level and a maximum depth of 25 feet at 18th caster level .
If the wall is thicker than the depth of the passage, one casting creates only a niche or short tunnel.
Several Passwall spells can form a continuous route through a very thick wall.
When the normal duration ends, creatures still inside the passage are ejected through the nearest exit.
If Passwall is dispelled or dismissed, creatures within the passage are expelled through the far exit when one exists, or through the sole exit when there is only one.
Material Component
A pinch of sesame seeds.
What Changed Between Editions?
| Rule | 5.5e / 2024 | 5e / 2014 | Pathfinder 1e | D&D 3.5e |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spell Level | Level 5 | 5th level | 5th level | 5th level |
| Class Access | Wizard | Wizard | Arcanist, Mesmerist, Psychic, Sorcerer, Wizard | Sorcerer, Wizard |
| Range | 30 feet | 30 feet | Touch | Touch |
| Maximum Width | 5 feet | 5 feet | 5 feet | 5 feet |
| Maximum Height | 8 feet | 8 feet | 8 feet | 8 feet |
| Depth | Up to 20 feet | Up to 20 feet | 10–25 feet depending on caster level | 10–25 feet depending on caster level |
| Duration | 1 hour | 1 hour | 1 hour/level | 1 hour/level |
| Dismissible | No special dismissal rule | No special dismissal rule | Yes | Yes |
| Suitable Material | Wood, plaster or stone surface | Wood, plaster or stone surface | Wooden, plaster or stone wall | Wooden, plaster or stone wall |
| Thick Walls | 20-foot maximum depth establishes the practical limit | 20-foot maximum depth establishes the practical limit | Explicit rules for niches and repeated castings | Explicit rules for niches and repeated castings |
| When the Spell Ends | Occupants are safely moved to the nearest available space beside the casting surface | Occupants are safely ejected to the nearest unoccupied space beside the casting surface | Natural expiry uses nearest exit; dismissal or dispelling can use the far exit | Natural expiry uses nearest exit; dismissal or dispelling can use the far exit |
| Structural Stability | Explicitly stated | Explicitly stated | No equivalent explicit rule | No equivalent explicit rule |
| Saving Throw | Not applicable | Not applicable | None | None |
| Spell Resistance | Not expressed as a separate statistic | Not expressed as a separate statistic | No | No |
Using Passwall in Play
Bypass the Defended Entrance
Fortifications concentrate their defences around expected routes. A castle gate may have guards, murder holes, portcullises, barriers and carefully prepared fields of fire. Passwall allows the party to attempt entry through a section of wall that was never designed to function as a doorway.
Measure the Barrier
Passwall has a defined depth. The outer face of a wall tells you little about the complete thickness of the obstacle when towers, foundations, packed earth, internal galleries or multiple defensive walls are involved.
A spell that opens only a niche can still be useful, but it is not the same as creating a route all the way through.
Think About the Other Side
The spell creates an opening. It does not reveal whether the destination is safe.
An apparently blank wall can have a guardroom, cellar, stairway, sealed vault, monster lair or another solid barrier directly behind it.
Extraction Is as Important as Infiltration
Passwall is not merely a siege spell. It can free prisoners, create an emergency exit, bypass a collapsed corridor, reach people trapped behind masonry or give an expedition a route out of a sealed underground complex.
Metal Still Matters
A stronghold whose builders understand Passwall can reinforce vulnerable routes with materials the spell cannot normally penetrate. A metal-lined vault, iron structural barrier or deliberately layered defence can therefore force the caster to seek another point of entry.
Passwall Quick Rulings
Does Passwall destroy the wall?
No. Passwall creates a temporary magical opening rather than dealing ordinary structural damage to the affected surface.
Can Passwall be cast through metal?
No version presented here permits Passwall to create its passage through metal. The supported materials are wood, plaster and stone.
Does Passwall require concentration?
The 2024 and 2014 versions do not require concentration. The Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e versions instead use a duration of 1 hour per caster level and are dismissible.
Can one Passwall cross any wall?
No. Every version limits how deep the passage can extend. Modern versions use a maximum depth of 20 feet, while Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e scale from 10 feet to a maximum of 25 feet according to caster level.
Can several Passwall spells make a longer tunnel?
Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e explicitly allow several castings to form a continuing passage through a very thick wall. Do not automatically import that specific procedure into the modern versions unless the GM chooses to use it as a ruling.
Can someone be trapped inside when Passwall ends?
The rules provide a method for removing creatures from the closing passage. The exact destination differs by edition, so use the rule in the relevant mechanics tab rather than applying one edition’s ejection procedure to another.
Passwall in the Campaign World
Fortifications work by controlling movement. A gate can be watched, barred, trapped, taxed and reinforced because everyone knows where people are expected to enter. A continuous section of masonry normally offers no such route.
Passwall overturns that assumption. For a limited time, an apparently solid wall becomes an entrance.
Military architects who know the spell exists therefore have reasons to think beyond wall height and stone thickness. Metal reinforcement, layered structures, empty galleries between defensive walls and guards stationed behind apparently featureless masonry can all reduce the tactical certainty that Passwall provides.
The spell is equally valuable outside war. Miners can reach sealed workings. Rescuers can bypass collapsed entrances. Investigators can enter concealed rooms. Prisoners can escape chambers whose doors are too dangerous to use. Treasure hunters can reach vaults whose builders assumed the surrounding rock was sufficient protection.
Passwall in 1454
In the campaign present, Passwall is a rare but understood problem among experienced military engineers, court magicians, wealthy guilds and rulers who can afford magical consultation. It has not made city walls obsolete. It has made absolute confidence in them foolish.
A fortified town still benefits enormously from walls because most armies cannot repeatedly produce fifth-level magic. Even when a suitable caster is available, the defenders can patrol vulnerable sections, reinforce key chambers with iron, build multiple defensive layers and maintain troops behind the outer wall.
The spell is especially dangerous during a siege because a small group can exploit an opening before the defenders understand where the breach has appeared. Unlike a shattered gate or collapsed wall, the passage can vanish later, leaving little permanent evidence of how the attackers entered.
This also makes Passwall useful to spies, thieves, rescuers and political agents. The most secure entrance to a treasury may be the door. The least secure entrance may be twenty feet of ordinary stone beside it.
Historical & Mythic Context
Medieval defensive walls were systems for controlling movement rather than simple masses of stone. Gates, towers, passages and smaller posterns determined where people could enter and leave while allowing defenders to watch those routes.
English Heritage records that London’s medieval defences included a pedestrian postern cut through the wall near Tower Hill around 1300. The existence of such deliberately controlled secondary entrances shows why the ability to produce an unplanned opening would be militarily significant.
English Heritage — History of London Wall
Passwall functions as the magical equivalent of creating a temporary postern where the builders never intended one to exist. The tactical question becomes not simply whether a wall can resist attack, but whether those defending it have prepared for a route that can appear inside apparently continuous masonry.
The Sesame Component
The spell’s sesame component has an obvious later literary parallel in the command associated with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. That connection must not be treated as medieval campaign knowledge.
The famous tale entered Antoine Galland’s European collection through the Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab in the early eighteenth century. Galland recorded material from Diyab in Paris in 1709—more than two and a half centuries after the SpiralWorlds campaign present.
The resemblance is therefore useful to the modern reader, but it is a later literary echo, not an explanation characters living in 1454 would possess.
Adventure Uses
The Wall Without a Gate
A captured ally is held in a fortified tower whose doorway is under permanent guard. The wall itself appears less carefully protected, but nobody knows how thick it is or what lies directly behind the chosen section.
The Sealed Mine
A collapse has buried the only known route into a mine. Voices can still be heard from beyond the blockage. Passwall offers a rescue route, but repeated tremors suggest that something else is moving inside the sealed workings.
The Impossible Treasury
A treasury has a trapped door, locked shutters and a guarded corridor. The stone beside it appears ordinary. Unfortunately, the architect who built the vault knew Passwall existed.
The Vanishing Breach
Soldiers are found inside a fortress even though the gates remain barred and no wall has been damaged. The only evidence is stone dust, confused sentries and conflicting accounts of a doorway that no longer exists.
Related SpiralWorlds Entries
The wider SpiralWorlds arcane spell catalogue and the verified legacy link retained from the original Passwall page.
A related stone-working spell with a direct rules interaction involving Passwall.
A powerful magical barrier whose green layer has a specific interaction with Passwall in supported rules.
A defensive magic item with Passwall among its relevant spell interactions.
Earth-linked versions of this item can grant powerful stone-working abilities including Passwall.
Another fifth-level arcane spell that changes the physical possibilities of a scene without relying on conventional force.
Reference material for older-edition mechanics including Spell Resistance.
Passwall FAQ
What does the Passwall spell do?
Passwall temporarily creates an opening through suitable solid material. Its exact range, duration and maximum depth depend on the game edition being used.
How big is a Passwall opening?
Across the versions presented here, the opening is up to 5 feet wide and 8 feet high. The principal mechanical difference is how its depth is determined.
How deep is Passwall?
The 2024 and 2014 versions allow a passage up to 20 feet deep. Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e begin at 10 feet and scale with caster level to a maximum depth of 25 feet.
Can Passwall go through stone?
Yes. Stone is one of the spell’s normal permitted materials.
Can Passwall go through iron or steel?
No. Metal is outside the normal materials affected by Passwall.
Does Passwall permanently damage a castle wall?
No. The spell creates a temporary magical passage rather than demolishing the surrounding structure.
Can Passwall be used as an escape spell?
Yes. Although it is commonly associated with infiltration and siegecraft, it can be equally useful for escaping sealed rooms, prisons, underground complexes and blocked passages.
Sources, Attribution & Licensing
D&D 5.5e / 2024
Rules reference: System Reference Document 5.2.1, Wizards of the Coast LLC.
D&D 5e / 2014
Rules reference: System Reference Document 5.1, Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Pathfinder 1e
Rules verification: Archives of Nethys — Passwall.
D&D 3.5e
Rules verification: Revised System Reference Document — Passwall.
Historical Context
English Heritage, History of London Wall.
Artwork
Passwall Spell hero illustration. SpiralWorlds, 2026.
Creative Commons Rules Material
This work includes material derived from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work also includes material derived from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
A copy of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License is available at: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International .
Legacy Open Game Content
Mechanical rules material inside the Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e mechanics panels is designated Open Game Content only to the extent that it derives from material previously released as Open Game Content under the Open Game License version 1.0a.
No other portion of this page is designated Open Game Content. SpiralWorlds campaign material, historical discussion, tactical commentary, original explanatory prose, artwork, CSS, page design, adventure material and editorial presentation are excluded from that designation.
Open Game License v1.0a + applicable Section 15 notices
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a
The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved.
1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity; (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor; (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content; (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement.
2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.
3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.
4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.
5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.
6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity.
You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity.
The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.
8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.
9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.
10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.
11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.
12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.
13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.
14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document. © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Paizo Publishing, LLC.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. © 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
END OF LICENSE