Magic · Communication · Spell Reference
Message
Message lets a caster whisper to a creature at a distance and receive a whispered reply. It is useful when ordinary speech would be too loud, too exposed or simply unable to reach the intended listener.
Rules
Game Statistics
Choose the edition in use. Each rules tab is self-contained.
Message — D&D 5.5e / 2024
Transmutation Cantrip — SRD classes: Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 120 feet
- Components
- S, M (a copper wire)
- Duration
- 1 round
Effect
You point toward one creature within range and whisper a message. Only that target hears it, and the target can whisper a reply that only you hear.
Solid Objects
You can cast through a solid object if you are familiar with the target and know the target is beyond the barrier. Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, metal or wood, or a thin sheet of lead blocks the spell.
Message — D&D 5e / 2014
Transmutation Cantrip — SRD classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard
- Casting Time
- 1 action
- Range
- 120 feet
- Components
- V, S, M (a short piece of copper wire)
- Duration
- 1 round
Effect
You point toward one creature within range and whisper a message. Only that target hears it, and the target can whisper a reply that only you hear.
Solid Objects and Open Paths
You can cast through a solid object if you are familiar with the target and know the target is beyond the barrier. Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead or 3 feet of wood blocks the spell. The spell can also travel around corners or through openings rather than following a straight line.
Message — Pathfinder 1e
School Transmutation [Language-Dependent]; Level Bard 0, Sorcerer 0, Wizard 0
Casting
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Components
- V, S, F (a piece of copper wire)
Effect
- Range
- Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
- Targets
- One creature/level
- Duration
- 10 min./level
- Saving Throw
- None
- Spell Resistance
- No
Description
You point at each creature you want to receive the message. When you whisper, every targeted creature within range can hear it and can whisper a reply that you hear. Nearby creatures can overhear the whispered messages with a DC 25 Perception check.
Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal or a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks the spell. The message does not need to travel in a straight line and can go around a barrier when an open path exists and the full path remains within range.
The spell carries sound rather than meaning and does not overcome a language barrier. To send the message, you must mouth the words and whisper.
Message — D&D 3.5e
Transmutation [Language-Dependent]
- Level
- Bard 0, Sorcerer 0, Wizard 0
- Components
- V, S, F
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Range
- Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
- Targets
- One creature/level
- Duration
- 10 min./level
- Saving Throw
- None
- Spell Resistance
- No
Description
You point at each creature you want to receive the message. When you whisper, every targeted creature within range can hear it and can whisper a reply that you hear.
Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal or a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks the spell. The message does not need to travel in a straight line and can go around a barrier when an open path exists and the full path remains within range.
The spell carries sound rather than meaning and does not overcome language barriers. Speaking the message requires you to mouth the words and whisper, so an observer may be able to read your lips.
Focus
A short piece of copper wire.
Edition comparison
What Changed Between Editions?
| Change | 5.5e / 2024 | 5e / 2014 | Pathfinder 1e | D&D 3.5e |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class access | SRD: Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard. | SRD: Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard. | Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard. | Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard. |
| Components | S, M; no verbal component. | V, S, M. | V, S, F; copper wire is a focus. | V, S, F; copper wire is a focus. |
| Recipients | One creature. | One creature. | One creature per caster level. | One creature per caster level. |
| Range | 120 feet. | 120 feet. | Medium: 100 ft. + 10 ft./level. | Medium: 100 ft. + 10 ft./level. |
| Duration | 1 round. | 1 round. | 10 min./level. | 10 min./level. |
| Barrier limits | 1 ft. of stone, metal or wood; thin lead; magical silence. | 1 ft. stone, 1 in. common metal, thin lead, 3 ft. wood; magical silence. | 1 ft. stone, 1 in. common metal or thin lead, 3 ft. wood or dirt; magical silence. | 1 ft. stone, 1 in. common metal or thin lead, 3 ft. wood or dirt; magical silence. |
| Open path | No separate corner/open-path rule. | Can travel around corners or through openings. | Can circumvent a barrier through an open path if the full path remains within range. | Can circumvent a barrier through an open path if the full path remains within range. |
| Overhearing | Only the target hears the sent message. | Only the target hears the sent message. | Nearby listeners can overhear with a DC 25 Perception check. | No fixed overhearing check is given; lip-reading is explicitly possible. |
Tactics
How to Use Message
Coordinate without shouting
Use Message when allies are separated by a doorway, stair, gallery, gatehouse, crowded chamber or other space where ordinary speech would expose the plan.
Separate speaker from listener
The spell is useful when the intended recipient is visible but too far away for a safe whisper, or when walls and openings make ordinary conversation awkward.
Keep the reply short
A whispered reply is best used for confirmation, warning or a compact answer. Long discussion wastes the spell’s strongest advantage: discreet coordination during a tense scene.
Remember that secrecy is situational
The caster still whispers and gestures as required by the selected ruleset. Guards watching the caster, magical silence and intervening material can all matter.
Message in the Campaign
Message is practical magic for people who work in divided spaces: guards on walls, servants moving through large households, scouts in ruins, merchants in warehouses, officials behind screens, hunters in dense woodland and adventurers trying to coordinate without raising their voices.
Gatehouses and walls
A watch officer can pass a quiet warning to someone across a chamber or beyond a nearby barrier without ringing a bell or shouting down a stairwell.
Courts and households
Chamberlains, bodyguards and trusted agents value discreet communication during audiences, feasts and negotiations where a spoken aside could be noticed.
Guilds and warehouses
Large workshops and stores are noisy, compartmentalised places. A caster who can pass a short whispered instruction without crossing the floor has an obvious practical advantage.
Scouts and expeditions
In ruins, mines and fortified interiors, Message allows a party to pass warnings and confirmations without relying on a raised voice that may carry farther than intended.
Historical & Mythic Context
Messengers, Letters and Divine Couriers
Letters travelled with people
Late antique and medieval correspondence often depended on human carriers rather than a universal public postal service. The Metropolitan Museum notes that letters might be entrusted to friends or servants, with messengers functioning as “living letters” between sender and recipient.
Communication shaped events
Networks of letters could become strategically important during crisis. Research on the 1241 Mongol invasion of Europe reconstructs how written reports moved between communities and authorities, showing the practical importance of reliable information over distance.
University of Cambridge — Communication during the 1241 Mongol invasion
Hermes and the messenger’s role
Greek and Roman tradition gave divine communication a personal form in Hermes, or Mercury, the fleet-footed messenger of the gods and a protector of travellers. He provides a natural mythic parallel for supernatural communication carried swiftly from one person to another.
Iris, herald between worlds
Iris likewise appears as a divine messenger. Getty’s iconography record identifies her as the personification of the rainbow and, in Greek tradition including the Iliad, a messenger of the gods.
Related rules & magic
Useful SpiralWorlds Links
- Transmutation — the spell’s school.
- Bard — class reference.
- Bard Spells — the Bard spell catalogue.
- Druid — class reference.
- Sorcerer — class reference.
- Wizard — class reference.
- Sorcerer/Wizard Spells — arcane spell catalogue.
- Speak Language — language rules and campaign use.
- Spell Resistance — dedicated rules reference.
- Interplanar Message — longer-distance magical communication.
Rules questions
Message FAQ
Does Message let the target reply?
Yes. Use the selected rules tab for the exact duration, targeting and reply limits.
Can Message pass through a wall?
Sometimes. The selected rules tab gives the exact material and path restrictions.
Does Message translate languages?
Do not assume the spell translates speech unless the selected rules text says that it does. Apply the campaign’s ordinary language rules where the spell does not override them.
Can someone overhear Message?
Use the selected rules tab. Do not add an overhearing or lip-reading rule from a different ruleset.
Rules authority and licensing
Sources and Licensing
- D&D 5.5e / 2024: System Reference Document 5.2.1 — Message.
- D&D 5e / 2014: D&D Beyond — Message (Legacy); core mechanics also appear in SRD 5.1.
- Pathfinder 1e: Archives of Nethys — Message, Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.
- D&D 3.5e: Hypertext d20 SRD — Message.
- Historical & mythic context: Metropolitan Museum of Art; University of Cambridge; Getty CONA.
This work includes material from System Reference Document 5.2.1 and SRD 5.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC. SRD 5.2.1 is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, and SRD 5.1 is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 as well as OGL 1.0a. Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e Open Game Content is used under the relevant Open Game License v1.0a terms. Dungeons & Dragons and related names are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC. Pathfinder is a trademark of Paizo Inc. SpiralWorlds is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company.