Evocation • Legacy Witch Exorcism
Cleanse
Cleanse drives hostile spirits, undead and outsiders from an area and can force a possessing spirit out of a creature or object. It is preserved as a legacy d20 Witch and Cleric spell rather than treated as an official modern-edition spell.
Cleanse at a Glance
| 5.5e / 2024 | No direct official spell by this name; use modern banishment, protection and exorcism effects |
|---|---|
| 5e / 2014 | No direct core spell by this name |
| Pathfinder 1e | Not a Pathfinder Witch spell by default |
| D&D 3.5e / Legacy d20 | Witch 4, Cleric 4 (2003 source; not an official 3.5e revision) |
Spell Rules by Edition
Cleanse — 5.5e / 2024
Status: no direct official spell by this name is used here. Do not import the legacy turning and possession rules into 5.5e automatically.
Cleanse — 5e / 2014
Status: no direct core spell by this name. Use edition-appropriate protection, turning, banishment or curse-removal magic.
Cleanse — Pathfinder 1e
Status: the preserved Cleanse spell is not added to the Pathfinder Witch list by default. Pathfinder exorcism and possession rules should be used instead.
Cleanse — D&D 3.5e / Legacy d20
| School | Evocation in the legacy source; functionally a protective/exorcism effect |
|---|---|
| Level | Witch 4, Cleric 4 |
| Components | V, S, M/Focus |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | Touch; legacy effect extends 10 ft. per caster level |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw | See text |
| Spell Resistance | Yes |
Cleanse functions as a non-destructive expulsion. Hostile spirits, undead and outsiders in the affected area are forced to leave rather than being damaged or destroyed. Undead are treated as turned under the older rules, but are never destroyed by this spell.
If a spirit is possessing a creature or object, that spirit receives a Will save. On a failure, it is expelled from the host and must flee the affected area.
Focus: a Witch’s ritual blade or another tradition-appropriate ritual focus, plus fine incense.
What Changed?
- D&D 3.5e / Legacy d20: the 2003 Cleanse rite expels hostile spirits, undead and outsiders without automatically destroying them.
- Pathfinder 1e: no default Witch conversion is assumed.
- 5.5e / 2024 and 5e / 2014: use modern banishment, turning and possession rules instead of importing the legacy mechanic.
Counterplay and Rulings
- Spell Resistance: applies under the legacy rules.
- Possession: the possessing spirit receives the stated Will save; the host does not need to fail a separate save.
- Dispel Magic: because Cleanse is instantaneous, ordinary dispelling after the expulsion does not reverse what already happened.
- Mindless undead: can still be driven from the area; the spell does not depend on persuasion or fear.
- Not destruction: Cleanse cannot destroy undead or outsiders simply by forcing them away.
Using Cleanse in Play
Cleanse works best as a room-clearing or exorcism spell: reclaiming a crypt chamber, forcing a possessing spirit out of a victim, driving an outsider from a ritual site, or buying time to seal a haunted location.
Related Magic
Worked Example: A Circle of Unquiet Dead
A caster at level 8 invokes Cleanse in a chamber occupied by a restless ghost and an undead guardian. The source lists an area measurement of 10 feet per caster level, giving 80 feet at level 8, but it does not define this as a radius, diameter or particular shape. The Games Master must establish the affected space rather than inventing a circle rule.
The spell can drive the beings away but cannot damage or destroy them. If the ghost is possessing a visitor, the possessing spirit receives its Will save; on failure, it leaves the host and flees the affected area. The spell does not state that the host takes damage.
Mythical Context
Hekate is associated in Greek traditions with night wandering and the ghosts of the dead. Her presence provides a fitting mythic image for the Witch’s athame and the act of commanding a troubling spirit to depart. These stories are inspiration for the rite, not extra turning or saving-throw rules.
Historical Context
In Fasti Book V, Ovid describes the Roman Lemuria, a household observance intended to send wandering ancestral shades away. Its gestures, beans and sounding bronze show an ancient concern with keeping the living and restless dead apart. A Roman sistrum in the Metropolitan Museum is another documented ritual instrument whose sound was intended to ward off evil spirits. Neither source records a game spell or a physical expulsion that can be measured in feet.
Ovid, Fasti 5.419–444: the Lemuria · The Met: Roman bronze sistrum, 1st–3rd century CE
Rules Sources and Licensing
Legacy source: Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks (2003), p. 136, “Cleanse / Minor Rite of Cleansing”; Timothy S. Brannan and the Netbook of Witches Team. This is a third-party d20 spell, not an official 3.5e, Pathfinder or fifth-edition revision. Its original mechanics are presented under the Open Game License v1.0a. The original illustration, new examples, context commentary and modern-edition status notes are not designated here as new Open Game Content.
2003 source-book transcription, p. 136. The source classifies the school as Evocation, lists V, S, M components and describes an athame and fine incense as its ritual focus. Its “10 ft per level” area lacks a specified shape; no radius has been added.
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