Freedom — Breaking Imprisonment and Magical Restraints
Abjuration · Ninth-level release · Broken enchantments
The prison was made three reigns ago. Its doors have vanished and its gaoler is dust, but the captive still lies beyond reach. A mage arrives with the prisoner’s name, a fragment of their history and the last spell needed to bring them home.
At a Glance
| Spell | Freedom |
|---|---|
| Pathfinder 1e / D&D 3.5e | 9th-level Abjuration for Sorcerer/Wizard; one creature |
| Legacy casting | 1 standard action; V, S; Close range or special release site |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
| Can reverse | Imprisonment, Maze, Binding, Petrification, Paralysis and other movement-restricting effects |
| Special rescue | For Imprisonment or Maze, know the victim’s name and background and cast at the original site |
| D&D 2024 / 2014 | No same-named ninth-level spell; Freedom of Movement covers lesser restrictions, not an Imprisonment prison |
The Last Door Opens
Freedom breaks enchantments that deny a creature movement or hold it outside the ordinary world. It does not conjure a key, shatter masonry or remove every curse. In the older rules its breadth makes it extraordinarily valuable, yet recovering a lost prisoner can be harder than casting the spell: the rescue party must learn both the captive’s identity and the place where the confinement was imposed.
Ordinary movement restrictions can be lifted when the creature is in the spell’s range. Reversing Imprisonment or Maze is a special case. It calls for more than knowing where a buried chamber happens to lie.
Rules by Edition
Freedom — D&D 2024
No official ninth-level spell named Freedom.
Published movement alternative: Freedom of Movement, Level 4 Abjuration (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Ranger)
Casting Time: Action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a leather strap)
Duration: 1 hour
Touch a willing creature. For the duration, Difficult Terrain does not hinder its movement, and spells or magical effects cannot reduce its Speed or impose the Paralyzed or Restrained condition. The subject gains a Swim Speed equal to its Speed and may spend 5 feet of movement to automatically escape nonmagical restraints, including manacles or a creature’s Grappled condition.
Higher-level slot: Target one additional creature per slot level above Level 4. This does not turn the spell into the original ninth-level Freedom.
Example: A chained scout can spend 5 feet of movement to escape ordinary manacles under Freedom of Movement. A prisoner inside the 2024 Imprisonment spell’s magical globe cannot simply walk free. That prison ends via its specified release trigger or Dispel Magic cast with a Level 9 slot against the prison or component.
Freedom — D&D 2014
No official ninth-level spell named Freedom.
Published movement alternative: Freedom of Movement, 4th-level Abjuration (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Ranger)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a leather strap bound around the arm or similar appendage)
Duration: 1 hour
Touch a willing creature. Difficult terrain does not hinder its movement, and spells or magical effects cannot reduce its Speed or cause it to be Paralyzed or Restrained. The creature may spend 5 feet of movement to escape nonmagical restraints such as manacles or a grapple. Underwater movement and attacks suffer no penalties from being underwater while the spell lasts.
Example: A swimmer bound by ordinary netting spends 5 feet of movement to get free and can attack underwater without the usual penalties. This spell does not provide the 2024 version’s expressly granted Swim Speed and does not free a victim of ninth-level Imprisonment.
Releasing Imprisonment: A release condition chosen by the original spellcaster may end the 2014 prison, or a ninth-level Dispel Magic targeting the prison or special material component can end it. The 2014 spell has no equivalent of the legacy Freedom’s original-casting-site procedure.
Freedom — Pathfinder 1e
Official Pathfinder 1e spell.
School: Abjuration
Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 9
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 caster levels), or see text
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes
The target is released from an effect that restricts movement, including Binding, Entangle, Grappling, Imprisonment, Maze, Paralysis, Petrification, Pinning, Sleep, Slow, Stunning, Temporal Stasis or Web. This is an instantaneous release, not a long-duration immunity to future restraints.
Special procedure: When freeing a creature from Imprisonment or Maze, the caster must know that creature’s name and background and cast Freedom at the place where the victim was originally entombed or banished into the maze. A rough idea of the dungeon’s location or a casting from a distant tower does not meet the condition.
Example: A sorcerer learns the lost prisoner’s birth name and history, reaches the chamber where Imprisonment was cast and releases the captive. Attempting the spell from an unrelated mountain cave does not work even if the prisoner lies beneath it.
Freedom — D&D 3.5e
Official D&D 3.5e spell.
School: Abjuration
Level: Sorcerer/Wizard 9
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels), or see text
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes
The spell frees a subject from effects that limit movement. Its examples include Binding, Entangle, Grappling, Imprisonment, Maze, Paralysis, Petrification, Pinning, Sleep, Slow, Stunning, Temporal Stasis and Web. The result is immediate release from the existing restriction, not blanket protection from being restrained again.
Imprisonment or Maze: The caster must know the victim’s name and background and cast Freedom at the exact place where the victim was entombed or banished into the maze. Neither Wish nor Miracle directly substitutes for this specific release procedure against Imprisonment, although they can help locate the prison.
Example: A level-17 wizard can ordinarily affect one restrained ally within 65 feet. But an ancient Imprisonment cannot be undone from that distance unless the wizard is at the spell’s original confinement site and possesses the captive’s identity and history.
The Forgotten Name
A crumbling court record names a royal prisoner sealed beneath an abandoned border keep. The inscription identifies an epithet but not the captive’s birth name, and the prison itself was placed before the keep was built. A caster capable of using Freedom must first discover who was taken and where the older rite occurred.
Adventure Hooks
The Name Beneath the Name
A village remembers an imprisoned hero only by a title. The party must recover a surviving family genealogy to learn the name and history required for the release.
The Wrong Execution Ground
A king’s gaol stands above a burial chamber, but the original imprisonment was cast in a ruined field miles away. The party discovers the error just as enemy wardens arrive to stop the ritual.
The Maze That Kept Its Prey
An explorer never emerged from a magical maze. Only the original casting site and a remembered personal history can bring them back—and the mage who cast it may still be alive.
Related Spells
Imprisonment is the older ninth-level prison that Freedom can reverse. Maze is another special case. For the modern movement spell, see D&D 2024 Freedom of Movement and D&D 2014 Freedom of Movement. Neither is the same ninth-level release spell.
Sources and Licensing
The Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e rules are Open Game Content under the Open Game License v1.0a. Rules references: D&D 3.5e SRD Freedom, Pathfinder 1e Freedom, D&D 2024 Basic Rules and D&D 2014 Basic Rules. The scenes and examples here are original.
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