Divine Magic • Core Spell Reference

Blade Barrier

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Choose your edition before using the spell. Its level, casting procedure, targets, effects, and limits follow the rules in the selected panel.

Blade Barrier at a Glance

5.5e (2024)	Level 6
5e (2014)	Level 6
Pathfinder 1e	Level 6
D&D 3.5e	Level 6
Browse	Cleric spells • Cleric class

Spell Rules

5.5e (2024)5e (2014)Pathfinder 1eD&D 3.5e

Blade Barrier — 5.5e (2024)

Cleric spell level 6. Edition source.

Spell	Level 6 Evocation (Cleric)
Casting Time	Action
Range	90 feet
Components	V, S
Duration	Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You create a wall of whirling blades made of magical energy. The wall appears within range and lasts for the duration. You make a straight wall up to 100 feet long, 20 feet high, and 5 feet thick, or a ringed wall up to 60 feet in diameter, 20 feet high, and 5 feet thick. The wall provides Three-Quarters Cover, and its space is Difficult Terrain. Any creature in the wall’s space makes a Dexterity saving throw, taking 6d10 Force damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. A creature also makes that save if it enters the wall’s space or ends it turn there. A creature makes that save only once per turn.

Blade Barrier — 5e (2014)

Cleric spell level 6. Edition source.

Spell	6th-level evocation
Casting Time	1 action
Range	90 feet
Components	V, S
Duration	Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You create a vertical wall of whirling, razor-sharp blades made of magical energy. The wall appears within range and lasts for the duration. You can make a straight wall up to 100 feet long, 20 feet high, and 5 feet thick, or a ringed wall up to 60 feet in diameter, 20 feet high, and 5 feet thick. The wall provides three-quarters cover to creatures behind it, and its space is difficult terrain. When a creature enters the wall’s area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, the creature must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 6d10 slashing damage. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage.

Blade Barrier — Pathfinder 1e

Cleric spell level 6. Edition source.

School	evocation [force]
Level	cleric 6
Casting Time	1 standard action
Components	V, S
Range	medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect	wall of whirling blades up to 20 ft. long/level, or a ringed wall of whirling blades with a radius of up to 5 ft. per two levels; either form is 20 ft. high
Duration	1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw	Reflex half or Reflex negates; see text
Spell Resistance	yes

An immobile, vertical curtain of whirling blades shaped of pure force springs into existence. Any creature passing through the wall takes 1d6 points of damage per caster level (maximum 15d6), with a Reflex save for half damage.

If you evoke the barrier so that it appears where creatures are, each creature takes damage as if passing through the wall. Each such creature can avoid the wall (ending up on the side of its choice) and thus take no damage by making a successful Reflex save.

A blade barrier provides cover (+4 bonus to AC, +2 bonus on Reflex saves) against attacks made through it.

Blade Barrier — D&D 3.5e

Cleric spell level 6. Edition source.

School	Evocation [Force]
Level	Clr 6, Good 6, War 6
Components	V, S
Casting Time	1 standard action
Range	Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect	Wall of whirling blades up to 20 ft. long/ level, or a ringed wall of whirling blades with a radius of up to 5 ft. per two levels; either form 20 ft. high
Duration	1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw	Reflex half or Reflex negates; see text
Spell Resistance	Yes

A blade barrier provides cover (+4 bonus to AC, +2 bonus on Reflex saves) against attacks made through it.

Why This Spell Is Dangerous in the World

Blade Barrier is feared because it turns divine authority into geography. A war-priest can divide cavalry from infantry. A temple guardian can make a sanctuary door impossible to storm. A battlefield cleric can cut a retreating army away from its commanders or seal a plague-choked street long enough for healers to escape.

The spell’s danger is not only its damage. It creates a public boundary with lethal force behind it. In a siege, that may save a city. In a crowded hall, it may become a massacre. In a sacred court, it may be remembered as either miracle or atrocity, depending on who stood on the wrong side when the blades appeared.

Historical and Mythic Context

Blade Barrier belongs to the old sacred image of the forbidden threshold. Many mythic places are guarded not by locks, but by consequences: a gate watched by spirits, a bridge that tests the unworthy, a sanctuary line that the impure may not cross. This spell makes that idea visible. It does not merely block passage. It declares that crossing has a price.

The spell also draws power from the symbolic weight of the sword. Across many traditions, the blade is more than a weapon. It is a sign of judgement, kingship, office, oath, punishment, and sacred defence. A wall of blades therefore feels different from a wall of fire or stone. Fire consumes. Stone denies. Blades judge.

For historical background on swords as weapons and symbols of authority, see Britannica’s overview of the sword. For mythic comparison, the spell also belongs beside older stories of threshold guardians, bridge tests, sanctuary boundaries, and forbidden gates where passage itself proves worth, authority, or doom.

Rules Sources and Licensing

This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 and/or 5.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC. The original documents are available at D&D Beyond and are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Presentation and formatting have been changed.

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