Blur

Blur makes attacks harder to land as your outline wavers. Fifth edition gives attackers disadvantage while you concentrate. Pathfinder and 3.5e instead grant a touched creature concealment with a 20% miss chance. The spell does not hide your location.

Blur at a Glance

D&D 2024 / 2014	2nd-level Illusion; Action; Self; Concentration, up to 1 minute; disadvantage on incoming attack rolls.
Pathfinder / 3.5e	2nd-level Illusion (glamer); standard action; Touch; 1 minute per caster level; 20% miss chance.
Main limit	It protects against attacks, not effects resolved only by saving throws.
Countermeasures	Use the edition’s sight and illusion rules; see the individual panels.

Spell Rules by Edition

D&D 5.5e / 2024D&D 5e / 2014Pathfinder 1eD&D 3.5e

Blur — D&D 2024

Level and school: 2nd-level Illusion
Core spell lists: Sorcerer, Wizard
Casting time: Action
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Attack / save: None

Your blurred body gives creatures Disadvantage on attack rolls against you. An attacker is immune if it perceives you with Blindsight or Truesight. The spell changes neither your Armour Class nor saving throws. No higher-slot increase is listed.

D&D 2024 rules source.

Blur — D&D 2014

Level and school: 2nd-level Illusion
Core spell lists: Sorcerer, Wizard
Casting time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Attack / save: None

Creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls against you while your body shifts and wavers. An attacker ignores the effect if it does not rely on sight, such as through blindsight, or can see through illusions, such as through truesight. No higher-slot increase is listed. Additional class features, including Artificer spellcasting, may grant access.

D&D 2014 rules source.

Blur — Pathfinder 1e

School: Illusion (glamer)
Level: Alchemist, Arcanist, Bard, Investigator, Magus, Medium, Mesmerist, Occultist, Psychic, Red Mantis Assassin, Skald, Sorcerer, Spiritualist, Summoner (including unchained), Wizard: all 2
Casting time: 1 standard action
Components: V
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 minute per caster level (dismissible)
Saving throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell resistance: Yes (harmless)

The subject gains concealment with a 20% miss chance as its outline wavers. See Invisibility does not defeat this effect; True Seeing does. A foe unable to see the subject ignores Blur, while the usual penalties for attacking an unseen creature still apply. The spell does not require ongoing concentration.

Pathfinder 1e rules source.

Blur — D&D 3.5e

The subject’s outline appears blurred, shifting and wavering.

This material is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.

Illusion (Glamer)
Level Bard 2, Sorcerer/Wizard 2
Components V
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range Touch
Target Creature touched
Duration 1 min./level (D)
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance Yes (harmless)

This distortion grants the subject concealment (20% miss chance).
A see invisibility spell does not counteract the blur effect, but a true seeing spell does.
Opponents that cannot see the subject ignore the spell’s effect (though fighting an unseen opponent carries penalties of its own).

D&D 3.5e rules source.

What Changed Between Editions?

2024 names Blindsight and Truesight as the exceptions. 2014 uses broader wording for attackers that do not rely on sight or can see through illusions. Pathfinder and 3.5e allow a touched ally as the target, last by caster level and use a 20% miss chance rather than disadvantage.

Using Blur in Play

Survive repeated attacks

Cast before crossing a hall covered by archers or holding a narrow stair against several foes. You remain visible and vulnerable to spells that call only for saves. Cover and a route out still matter.

Weigh the concentration cost

In fifth edition, maintaining Blur means giving up another Concentration spell. Choose it when surviving incoming attacks matters more than keeping your other spell running. The older touch versions can protect a companion without that ongoing cost.

Keep sight rules clear

See Invisibility does not remove the older versions’ blur; True Seeing does. Check a creature’s actual senses before applying the modern disadvantage.

Blur in the World

Also called Veil of the Unfixed. A duellist’s blade passes through the edge of a wavering silhouette; a hunted mage uses that brief uncertainty to reach the next doorway. Shield can add a separate defence, while Mirror Image creates false targets. Invisibility conceals the creature from ordinary sight. Each has different limits; in fifth edition, one caster cannot maintain Blur and Invisibility together.

Sources and Licensing

D&D 2024 · D&D 2014 · Pathfinder 1e · D&D 3.5e.

The fifth-edition summaries include material from System Reference Documents 5.2.1 and 5.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available from the official SRD resource, under CC BY 4.0. The summaries are reformatted and paraphrased. Pathfinder and 3.5e mechanics are Open Game Content under the Open Game License v1.0a. Artwork and original setting prose are excluded from that designation.

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System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

3.5e source licence · Pathfinder source licence