Spell Rules & Uses
Aid Spell – Complete D&D 5.5e, PF1e & 3.5e Rules Guide
The company is already bloodied before the gate opens. Armour is buckled back into place, bowstrings are checked, and a strip of white cloth passes through the spellcaster’s hands. The wounds remain. What changes is how much punishment the chosen warriors can survive when they step back into danger.
The major edition divide: in D&D 5.5e, Aid is an Abjuration that increases current and maximum Hit Points. Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e use an Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting] version that grants temporary Hit Points plus a morale bonus on attacks and saves against fear.
Aid Rules by Edition
Aid — D&D 5.5e Rules
- Level
- 2
- School
- Abjuration
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 30 feet
- Components
- V, S, M (a strip of white cloth)
- Duration
- 8 hours
- Targets
- Up to three creatures
Choose up to three creatures within range. Each target’s Hit Point maximum and current Hit Points increase by 5 for the duration.
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot. Each target’s Hit Points increase by 5 for each spell-slot level above 2.
Higher-Level Scaling
| Spell Slot | Increase per Target | Maximum Targets |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | +5 HP | 3 |
| 3rd | +10 HP | 3 |
| 4th | +15 HP | 3 |
| 5th | +20 HP | 3 |
| 6th | +25 HP | 3 |
| 7th | +30 HP | 3 |
| 8th | +35 HP | 3 |
| 9th | +40 HP | 3 |
5.5e Aid Rulings
These are not Temporary Hit Points. The effect increases the target’s actual current Hit Points and Hit Point maximum. Temporary Hit Points from another source remain a separate resource.
A living creature at 0 Hit Points can be brought above 0. A 2nd-level casting increases that creature’s current Hit Points to 5. Because a creature that fell Unconscious at 0 Hit Points loses that condition when it regains Hit Points, this can return a dying ally to consciousness. A dead creature cannot regain Hit Points unless it is first revived.
No Concentration is required. Once cast, Aid can continue for the full eight hours without occupying the caster’s Concentration.
Multiple castings do not stack on the same target. The rules for combining spell effects prevent multiple instances of the same spell from combining. The most potent applicable casting takes precedence while their durations overlap.
The 30-foot range matters when the spell is cast. There is no rule requiring a target to remain within 30 feet of the caster for the rest of its eight-hour duration.
The increase lasts only for the duration. Both the increase to maximum Hit Points and the increase to current Hit Points are part of the eight-hour effect and end when the duration expires.
Aid can coexist with Temporary Hit Points. A character benefiting from it can also possess Temporary Hit Points from another source such as False Life. One changes actual Hit Points; the other uses the separate Temporary Hit Point mechanic.
Aid — Pathfinder 1e Rules
- School
- Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
- Class Levels
- Adept 2, Alchemist 2, Cleric 2, Inquisitor 2, Investigator 2, Medium 2, Oracle 2, Shaman 2, Spiritualist 2, Warpriest 2
- Components
- V, S, DF
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Range
- Touch
- Target
- Living creature touched
- Duration
- 1 min./level
- Saving Throw
- None
- Spell Resistance
- Yes (harmless)
The target gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves against fear effects, plus temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + caster level, to a maximum of 1d8+10 temporary hit points at caster level 10th.
PF1e Aid Rulings
The +1 is a morale bonus. Morale bonuses applying to the same roll normally do not stack. If the target is also affected by Bless, the overlapping +1 morale bonuses to attack rolls and fear saves do not become +2.
The temporary Hit Points remain useful even when another morale bonus is better. A stronger morale bonus from another effect can replace the +1 on an overlapping roll without removing the separate temporary-Hit-Point benefit.
Aid helps resist fear; it does not automatically remove it. Its morale bonus applies to saving throws against fear effects, including effects capable of producing conditions such as Shaken, Frightened or Panicked. For direct suppression of an existing fear effect, see Remove Fear.
The spell is Mind-Affecting. Immunity to mind-affecting effects prevents the normal benefits even though the spell is beneficial.
Spell Resistance is listed as harmless. A creature willing to receive the beneficial effect can normally allow it to affect them rather than attempting to resist it.
This is not the 3.5e domain version. Pathfinder uses the class access listed above. The old Good 2 and Luck 2 domain entries belong to the D&D 3.5e version and should not be imported into PF1e.
Aid — D&D 3.5e Rules
- School
- Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
- Level
- Cleric 2, Good 2, Luck 2
- Components
- V, S, DF
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Range
- Touch
- Target
- Living creature touched
- Duration
- 1 min./level
- Saving Throw
- None
- Spell Resistance
- Yes (harmless)
The target gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves against fear effects, plus temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + caster level, to a maximum of 1d8+10 temporary hit points at caster level 10th.
3.5e Aid Rulings
The spell combines two different forms of protection. The morale bonus improves the target’s attacks and fear saves, while the temporary Hit Points absorb damage.
Morale bonuses do not simply add together. Aid and Bless both grant a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saving throws against fear, so those overlapping bonuses do not become +2.
It does not cure fear. The spell improves saving throws against fear effects that can produce conditions such as Shaken, Frightened or Panicked. Remove Fear is the more direct answer when an existing fear effect must be suppressed.
The spell is Mind-Affecting. A creature immune to mind-affecting effects cannot normally receive its benefits.
The target must be living. It cannot be used as a general method of reinforcing undead or objects.
Good 2 and Luck 2 are genuine 3.5e access. These domain entries are part of this edition’s SRD version and remain confined to this tab.
Using Aid in Play
5.5e: Cast Before the Danger
Eight hours and no Concentration make the modern version excellent preparation magic. Cast it before entering a ruin, beginning a dangerous journey, approaching a battlefield or opening the door behind which the party expects serious resistance.
5.5e: Protect the Vulnerable Three
The best targets are not automatically the characters with the highest Hit Points. A fragile spellcaster, wounded scout or ally likely to be focused by enemies can gain more from the extra margin than an already-durable warrior.
PF1e & 3.5e: Time It Closely
The legacy version lasts only 1 minute per caster level. It is strongest when cast shortly before a fight, dangerous breach, monster encounter or other situation in which its attack bonus, fear resistance and temporary Hit Points can all matter.
Legacy Use: Choose the Front Line
A creature expected to make repeated attacks, suffer damage and resist fear gains value from every part of the effect. Front-line warriors and exposed specialists are natural recipients.
Aid Compared with Similar Spells
Bless
Bless improves offensive and defensive rolls rather than increasing a creature’s capacity to survive damage. In modern 5.5e the two spells therefore perform clearly different jobs and can operate together.
PF1e and 3.5e are more closely related. Both grant a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saving throws against fear. Those overlapping morale bonuses do not stack, but Aid still provides its temporary Hit Points.
Heroism
Heroism is more strongly centred on courage and reliable performance. The legacy version grants a larger +2 morale bonus across attacks, saves and skill checks, while modern Heroism protects against the Frightened condition and repeatedly supplies Temporary Hit Points.
Aid is the more direct choice when the main question is simply: how much more punishment can these allies survive?
False Life
False Life is the clearest comparison for understanding the modern rules. False Life grants Temporary Hit Points. Aid instead increases actual current and maximum Hit Points. Because those are different mechanics, a creature can benefit from both at the same time.
Remove Fear
PF1e and 3.5e improve a creature’s chance of saving against fear, but they are not general cures for terror already in force. When the immediate problem is an ally who is already fleeing, shaking or panicking under magical fear, Remove Fear is the more specialised spell.
Aid in the World of 1454
In 1454, Aid belongs to the dangerous interval between treatment and battle. A surgeon can bind a cut, an armourer can replace a broken strap and a companion can offer food or wine, but none of those things guarantees that an already-exhausted fighter will survive the next charge.
The spell is valued by mercenary companies, town watches, household guards, caravan escorts, explorers and ships preparing for hostile waters. Modern practitioners favour casting it before departure because its eight-hour duration can cover most of a working or campaigning day. Older traditions save the spell until danger is close enough that its minutes will not be wasted.
The White Cloth
The modern material component is deliberately humble: a strip of white cloth. In a world of jewelled reliquaries, engraved talismans and expensive alchemical substances, the working can be prepared with something found in almost any household, workshop, infirmary or military baggage train.
Different magical traditions interpret the cloth differently. Some knot it three times for the spell’s three recipients. Military spellcasters may tear strips from a larger roll carried with the company stores. University-trained natural philosophers sometimes treat the cloth as a temporary vessel that helps impose a more resilient pattern upon living bodies.
The cloth itself has no universal sacred meaning. What matters is its role in the working: a simple physical token through which additional endurance is measured and imposed.
What Does the Magic Actually Strengthen?
Learned magical natural philosophers disagree about whether the effect strengthens flesh, vitality or the invisible principle that keeps a living creature functioning under injury.
The modern form provides unusually strong evidence that it reaches deeper than morale. It increases measurable Hit Point capacity without making the subject larger, stronger or better armoured. The older form is different: its combination of courage, accuracy and temporary vitality suggests magic acting on both mind and body at once.
Historical and Mythic Context
Protective Objects in the Medieval World
Real medieval people also carried objects that they believed could preserve health or guard against danger. The British Museum preserves a late-medieval Italian toadstone amulet-ring, whose fossilised stone was historically credited with protective and medicinal powers.
Aid should not be treated as a reconstruction of any single historical charm. The parallel is broader: people facing injury and uncertainty have long invested portable objects, substances and rituals with the hope that protection can be carried into danger.
Health Preserved Rather Than Restored
Hellenic myth offers a useful distinction between curing injury and preserving health. Hygeia, associated with good health, belongs to the wider family of healing powers surrounding Asklepios. Her theme is not simply the closing of a wound after it occurs, but health maintained and protected.
That makes her a particularly close mythic comparison for this spell. The magic does not need to wait until disaster has already happened. Its defining promise is that the recipient enters danger with more life to lose.
Related Spells
Sources & Licensing
- System Reference Document 5.2.1 — Wizards of the Coast
- Archives of Nethys — Pathfinder First Edition Aid
- Revised D&D 3.5 System Reference Document — Aid
- British Museum — late-medieval toadstone amulet-ring
- Theoi — Hygeia, goddess of good health
D&D 5.5e mechanics on this page use material from System Reference Document 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Pathfinder First Edition and D&D 3.5e rules material is Open Game Content used under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook and Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.