Enchantment · peace, fear and hostility

Calm Emotions Spell

A spellcaster uses Calm Emotions to halt a clash between armed retainers in a late-medieval city. — Quell Heart’s Flame can buy the moment in which anger need not become bloodshed.

At a Glance

5.5e / 2024	2nd-level Enchantment · Bard, Cleric · Humanoids in a 20-foot-radius sphere
5e / 2014	2nd-level Enchantment · Bard, Cleric · suppression or temporary indifference
Pathfinder 1e	Bard 2, Cleric 2 and other class lists · calming and suppression
D&D 3.5e	Bard 2, Cleric 2, Law 2 · calming and suppression

Calm Emotions, also called Quell Heart’s Flame, can suspend panic, magical fear or hostility long enough for another choice to become possible. The modern spell affects Humanoids; the legacy spell restrains eligible creatures’ violent actions and suppresses several emotional effects.

Choose the edition being played. Each panel below gives that edition’s rules independently.

Spell Rules by Edition

5.5e / 20245e / 2014Pathfinder 1eD&D 3.5e

Calm Emotions — 5.5e / 2024

Edition source.

Spell	Level 2 Enchantment (Bard, Cleric)
Casting Time	Action
Range	60 feet
Components	V, S
Duration	Concentration, up to 1 minute

Each Humanoid in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or receive one of these effects. Choose separately for each affected creature:

Calm fear and charm. The creature has Immunity to the Charmed and Frightened conditions until the spell ends. Existing Charmed or Frightened conditions are suppressed for the duration.
Quiet hostility. The creature becomes Indifferent toward creatures you choose that it is Hostile toward. This indifference ends if it takes damage or sees its allies take damage. Its attitude returns to normal when the spell ends.

Calm Emotions — 5e / 2014

Edition source.

Spell	2nd-level enchantment (Bard, Cleric)
Casting Time	1 action
Range	60 feet
Components	V, S
Duration	Concentration, up to 1 minute

Each humanoid in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range makes a Charisma saving throw. A creature can choose to fail. For each creature that fails, choose one effect:

Suppress charm or fear. Suppress an effect causing the target to be charmed or frightened. The effect resumes when this spell ends if its own duration has not expired.
Quiet hostility. Make the target indifferent toward chosen creatures it is hostile toward. This ends if the target is attacked, harmed by a spell, or sees any of its friends being harmed. It becomes hostile again when the spell ends, unless the GM rules otherwise.

Calm Emotions — Pathfinder 1e

Edition source.

School	enchantment (compulsion) [emotion, mind-affecting]
Level	bard 2, cleric 2, inquisitor 2, mesmerist 2, occultist 2, oracle 2, psychic 2, sahir-afiyun 2, shaman 2, skald 2, warpriest 2
Casting Time	1 standard action
Components	V, S, DF
Range	medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area	creatures in a 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration	concentration, up to 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw	Will negates
Spell Resistance	yes

This spell calms agitated creatures. You have no control over the affected creatures, but calm emotions can stop raging creatures from fighting or joyous ones from reveling. Creatures so affected cannot take violent actions (although they can defend themselves) or do anything destructive. Any aggressive action against or damage dealt to a calmed creature immediately breaks the spell on all calmed creatures.

This spell automatically suppresses (but does not dispel) any morale bonuses granted by spells such as bless, good hope, and rage, and also negates a bard’s ability to inspire courage or a barbarian’s rage ability. It also suppresses any fear effects and removes the confused condition from all targets. While the spell lasts, a suppressed spell, condition, or effect has no effect. When the calm emotions spell ends, the original spell or effect takes hold of the creature again, provided that its duration has not expired in the meantime.

Calm Emotions — D&D 3.5e

Edition source.

School	Enchantment (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
Level	Brd 2, Clr 2, Law 2
Components	V, S, DF
Casting Time	1 standard action
Range	Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Area	Creatures in a 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration	Concentration, up to 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw	Will negates
Spell Resistance	Yes

This spell automatically suppresses (but does not dispel) any morale bonuses granted by spells such as bless, good hope, and rage, as well as negating a bard’s ability to inspire courage or a barbarian’s rage ability. It also suppresses any fear effects and removes the confused condition from all targets. While the spell lasts, a suppressed spell or effect has no effect. When the calm emotions spell ends, the original spell or effect takes hold of the creature again, provided that its duration has not expired in the meantime.

What Changed

2024: grants immunity to Charmed and Frightened while suppressing existing instances; indifference breaks on damage to the target or its allies.
2014: suppresses an existing charm or fear effect; indifference also breaks when the target is attacked, even if no damage is dealt.
PF1e and 3.5e: can restrain eligible creatures’ violent actions and suppress morale bonuses, rage, fear and confusion. Aggression against one calmed creature breaks the spell for all of them.

Quell Heart’s Flame and Magical Natural Philosophy

Learned spellcasters sometimes catalogue Calm Emotions under the poetic name Quell Heart’s Flame. The spell is frequently discussed in natural philosophy because it separates feeling, disposition and action in ways that ordinary observation cannot.

Modern forms of the spell are particularly provocative to scholars. A hostile person can become merely indifferent without becoming friendly and without receiving a command. This suggests that hostility, affection and obedience are distinct things that magic can touch separately.

The older forms appear to reach more broadly into emotional excitation, suppressing fear, fury, morale and confusion together. Whether this represents a deeper magical intervention or simply a different tradition of the spell remains a favourite argument in universities, civic schools and private magical circles.

Bard spells and class rules · Cleric spells · Cleric class · Magic reference

Using Calm Emotions in Play

Calm Emotions is strongest when time matters more than victory: stopping a riot, suppressing magical fear, buying a round to negotiate, or preventing allies and enemies from escalating a fight. The spell creates breathing room; it does not solve the underlying dispute.

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