Buy me a coffeeAbjuration spell guide · three-edition rules
Dispel Magic — Arcane Revocation
End what should not continue, and strip power from the moment that holds it.
Dispel Magic is not destruction. It is revocation. Other spells impose force, transformation, concealment or control. This one does something quieter and more severe: it declares that an active working no longer has the right to persist.
Quick Rules Reference
Spell level decides the result
Choose one creature, object or magical effect within 120 feet. Ongoing spells at or below the slot-level threshold end automatically; make a separate spellcasting-ability check against each higher-level spell.
One uncapped dispel check
Use targeted dispel or counterspell. Roll 1d20 + caster level with no listed cap. A normal targeted use ends no more than one spell, and the base spell has no area-dispel mode.
Targeted, area or counterspell
Roll 1d20 + caster level, maximum +10, against DC 11 + the opposing caster level. The spell can target one subject or use a 20-foot-radius area dispel.
Edition Rules
D&D 5.5e / 2024
- Level and school
- 3rd-level Abjuration
- Casting time
- 1 Action
- Range
- 120 feet
- Components
- V, S
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature, object or magical effect
- Save or attack
- None
- 2024 core classes
- Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Additional current access: the current D&D Beyond spell listing also includes Artificer when that 2024-compatible class is in use.
Effect
Choose one creature, object or magical effect within range. An ongoing spell on the target ends automatically when its level is 3 or lower. For each ongoing spell of level 4 or higher on the target, make a separate ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC is 10 + that spell’s level. The spell ends on a successful check.
Using a higher-level spell slot
The slot level becomes the automatic-ending threshold. An ongoing spell on the target ends automatically when its level is no higher than the slot used; make separate checks against any higher-level spells that remain.
Rules interactions and exceptions
- Several spells on one target: resolve the automatic threshold, then make a separate check for each higher-level ongoing spell.
- Instantaneous effects: an instantaneous spell is no longer ongoing and therefore offers nothing for Dispel Magic to end.
- Magic items: a spell affecting an item can end, but the item’s built-in magic is not switched off.
- Casting in progress: this spell is not a Reaction and does not interrupt a spell as it is cast. That is the role of Counterspell.
- Specific wording wins: read the affected spell. Wall of Force states that Dispel Magic cannot end it, and Antimagic Field states that Dispel Magic has no effect on its aura.
Pathfinder 1e
- School
- Abjuration
- Casting time
- 1 standard action
- Components
- V, S
- Range
- Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
- Target or area
- One spellcaster, creature or object
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Saving throw
- None
- Spell resistance
- No
Complete class levels
Antipaladin 3, Arcanist 3, Bard 3, Cleric 3, Druid 4, Hunter 4, Inquisitor 3, Magus 3, Medium 3, Mesmerist 3, Occultist 3, Oracle 3, Paladin 3, Psychic 3, Shaman 3, Skald 3, Sorcerer 3, Spiritualist 3, Summoner 3, Unchained Summoner 3, Warpriest 3, Witch 3 and Wizard 3.
Targeted dispel
Make one dispel check: 1d20 + your caster level. Pathfinder’s base spell gives this check no listed maximum. Compare the result with the ongoing spell of the highest caster level on the target; the DC is 11 + that spell’s caster level. If the check fails, compare the same result with the next-highest caster-level spell. Continue until one spell ends or every spell resists. A normal targeted dispel ends no more than one spell.
You may instead name one particular spell affecting a creature, object or area. Make one check against that spell only. Failure does not transfer the result to another effect.
Conjured creatures, magic items and the caster’s own spells
- Targeting a creature or object created by an ongoing conjuration can end the spell that produced it.
- Targeting a magic item uses DC 11 + the item’s caster level. Success suppresses all its magical properties for 1d4 rounds; its physical properties remain unchanged.
- An interdimensional opening such as that of a bag of holding closes temporarily while the item is suppressed.
- Artifacts and deities are unaffected.
- You automatically succeed against a spell you cast yourself.
- Spell-like abilities can be dispelled, but they cannot be countered with this spell.
Counterspell
When used as a counterspell, target the opposing spellcaster and make the same dispel check. Success is not automatic.
An instantaneous spell cannot be dispelled because its magical effect is already over before the dispel can take effect.
D&D 3.5e
- School
- Abjuration
- Levels
- Bard 3, Cleric 3, Druid 4, Magic 3, Paladin 3, Sorcerer/Wizard 3
- Casting time
- 1 standard action
- Components
- V, S
- Range
- Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
- Target or area
- One spellcaster, creature or object; or 20-ft.-radius burst
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Save / resistance
- None / No
Choose targeted dispel, area dispel or counterspell. A dispel check is 1d20 + caster level, maximum +10, against DC 11 + the opposing spell’s caster level.
Targeted dispel
- Against a creature or object, make a separate dispel check against each ongoing spell on it. Every successful check ends that spell.
- You may instead target one particular ongoing spell and make one check against that effect.
- A creature or object produced by an ongoing conjuration can be targeted to end the creating spell.
- A targeted magic item is suppressed for 1d4 rounds after a successful check against DC 11 + the item’s caster level. Its physical qualities remain; artifacts and deities are unaffected.
- You automatically succeed against a spell you cast yourself.
Area dispel
The spell affects a 20-foot-radius burst. For each creature or nonmagical object in the area, begin with the ongoing spell of the highest caster level and continue downward until one spell is dispelled or every check fails. A creature’s or object’s magic items are not affected by the area mode.
You may also check ongoing area or effect spells whose point of origin lies inside the burst, end an overlapping effect only within the overlap, and attempt to dismiss creatures or objects produced by ongoing conjurations within the area.
Counterspell and limits
Used as a counterspell, Dispel Magic targets the caster and requires a dispel check. It can dispel spell-like effects but cannot counter them. Instantaneous effects cannot be dispelled, and an individual spell description may declare itself immune.
Cross-Edition Interactions and Exceptions
The three versions share a name and purpose, but their procedures are not interchangeable.
| Question | D&D 5.5e / 2024 | Pathfinder 1e | D&D 3.5e |
|---|---|---|---|
| What determines difficulty? | The target spell’s level | The target spell’s caster level | The target spell’s caster level |
| Check | Spellcasting-ability check; DC 10 + spell level | 1d20 + caster level, no listed cap; DC 11 + caster level | 1d20 + caster level, maximum +10; DC 11 + caster level |
| Several spells on one target | Automatic threshold applies to each qualifying spell; check separately for each higher-level spell | One roll descends by caster level and normally ends no more than one spell | Separate targeted checks can end several spells |
| Area mode | No | No; it belongs to Greater Dispel Magic | Yes; 20-foot-radius burst |
| Magic-item suppression | No general suppression rule | Targeted item suppressed for 1d4 rounds on success | Targeted item suppressed for 1d4 rounds on success |
| Counterspell mode | No; use Counterspell | Yes, with a dispel check | Yes, with a dispel check |
Arcane Revocation
A ward fails. A blessing releases its hold. An illusion ceases to convince because it ceases to be there. The spell need not arrive as a duel of beams or a violent shattering; its force lies in the sudden absence of something that had seemed secure.
That makes Dispel Magic one of the clearest expressions of magical authority. It does not need to outshine another working. It ends that working’s claim to continue.
It does not overpower magic. It rules that the magic is over.
Best Uses and Tactics
- Break the spell defining the encounter. Target the barrier, transformation, control effect or concealment doing the most strategic work.
- Remove layered protections. Strip active defences before allies commit their strongest attacks or limited resources.
- Free an ally precisely. End a hostile ongoing spell affecting them, but do not assume every condition, curse, possession or supernatural affliction is itself a dispellable spell.
- Collapse magical terrain only when its rules allow it. A wall, zone or trap must be an ongoing spell that can be dispelled; effects such as Wall of Force state their own exceptions.
- Upcast for certainty in 2024 rules. The higher slot raises the automatic threshold. In Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e, a higher spell slot does not improve the dispel check unless another rule says it does.
- Force reinvestment. Even when the spell does not win the scene outright, it can make an enemy spend actions and resources rebuilding a lost advantage.
Why This Spell Is Dangerous in the World
Dispel Magic makes established magic conditional. A protected chamber is not secure merely because it is warded. A noble is not safe merely because they are blessed. A prison is not reliable merely because sorcery seals it. If an effect can be ended, every institution built upon that effect must prepare for interruption.
Courts need witnesses who can recognise revoked disguises and compulsions. Fortresses need mundane locks behind magical seals. Guilds need procedures for deciding whether a failed ward was sabotaged, exhausted or lawfully dismissed. Rulers who depend on enchanted authority must reckon with specialists able to withdraw it in a single action.
The spell does not merely oppose power. It makes power provisional.
DM Notes
Run Dispel Magic as quiet finality. A shimmer goes flat. A glow withdraws. A pressure in the room is suddenly absent. The cleaner the ending, the more absolute it feels.
Keep the rules boundary firm. Ask four questions: Which edition is in use? Is the target an ongoing spell or a valid edition-specific subject? What procedure does that edition require? Does the affected spell contain an exception? That sequence prevents the spell from becoming a universal answer to anything described as magical.
Let information matter. Characters who identify the right effect, learn its spell level or caster level, or recognise a protected exception should feel that knowledge improve their decisions even when it does not alter the die roll.
Historical and Occult Development
The tabletop spell is a modern game mechanic rather than the direct survival of one historical rite. Its underlying idea—answering a hostile working with trained knowledge, authoritative words, protective objects or a counter-ritual—has deep historical parallels.
Mesopotamian counter-working
First-millennium Mesopotamian specialists used ritual knowledge against ghosts, demons, curses and hostile sorcery. Court-supported practices became standardised in technical handbooks, while the Maqlû tradition preserved anti-witchcraft rites across centuries. This resembles dispelling as trained correction rather than raw magical force.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Mesopotamian Magic in the First Millennium B.C.
Egyptian protective technology
Ancient Egyptian amulets could draw efficacy from shape, material, colour, inscription, spoken words and ritual acts. Textual amulets carried written spells. The principle is not identical to dispelling, but it treats hostile influence as something that correctly prepared magical knowledge can resist or reverse.
From rite to game rule
Modern fantasy compresses many distinct apotropaic, healing and anti-sorcery traditions into one portable rule: identify an active working, contest its authority and end it. The game abstraction is broader and faster than its historical inspirations, which were culturally specific and often required objects, recitations and extended ritual action.
Mythological Parallels
Odysseus, Circe and moly
In the Odyssey, Hermes gives Odysseus the herb moly so Circe’s enchanted potion cannot transform him. This is closer to protection from a spell than to ending an existing one, but it shares the central idea that one correctly chosen magical authority can deny another.
Thoth’s restoration of Horus
Egyptian magical stelae invoke the healing of the infant Horus through authoritative recitation. Water poured over the inscribed words and images could carry their protective force. This is closer to restoration than dispelling, but it presents affliction as something magical speech can overturn.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Magical Stela with Horus the Child
The recurring pattern
These traditions do not describe the tabletop spell’s exact procedure. Their useful parallel is narrative: harmful magic is not always defeated by greater violence. It may fail because the defender possesses the right herb, name, rite, text, knowledge or authority.
Related Spells and Counters
Rules Sources and Licensing
- D&D Beyond: Dispel Magic — current rules
- System Reference Document 5.2.1
- Archives of Nethys: Dispel Magic and Greater Dispel Magic
- Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document: Dispel Magic
- D&D 3.5 System Reference Document: Dispel Magic
- Pathfinder Open Game License notice
- D&D 3.5 SRD Open Game License notice
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at D&D Beyond. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e mechanics are summarised in original wording. The linked rules and licence pages identify their source material, licence terms and copyright notices.