Enchantment Spell Reference
Command Spell — D&D 5.5e, Pathfinder 1e & D&D 3.5e
A single word crosses the courtyard. Steel hits the stones. A soldier who meant to charge drops to one knee instead, while everyone around him has just enough time to realise that his body obeyed someone else’s authority. Command is magic reduced to one decisive moment: approach, drop, flee, fall, grovel, or simply stop.
Command is not persuasion and it is not long-term domination. It steals a narrow part of a creature’s next turn and replaces ordinary choice with one sharply defined behaviour. That limitation is the spell’s identity. Command is strongest when the caster needs one opening immediately, rather than control that lasts for minutes, hours, or days.
The rules differ significantly between editions. Modern D&D uses five fixed command options and can add targets when cast with higher-level spell slots. Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e retain the older language-dependent, mind-affecting form of the spell, use Fall rather than Grovel, and have a separate Greater Command.
Game Mechanics
Command by Edition
Choose the ruleset being used at the table. Each edition is presented independently so that modern and legacy mechanics are not mixed together.
Command — D&D 5.5e / 2024
- Level
- 1st-level
- School
- Enchantment
- Classes
- Bard, Cleric, Paladin
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range
- 60 feet
- Components
- V
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- One creature you can see within range
- Saving Throw
- Wisdom
You speak a one-word magical order to one creature you can see within range. The creature makes a Wisdom saving throw. If it fails, it follows the selected command on its next turn.
The SRD 5.2.1 version uses a fixed five-command menu: Approach, Drop, Flee, Grovel, or Halt.
It does not provide a general free-form rule for inventing alternatives such as “Answer,” “Confess,” “Surrender,” or “Attack.”
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
| Approach | The target moves toward you by the shortest and most direct route. Its turn ends if that movement brings it within 5 feet of you. |
| Drop | The target releases whatever it is holding and then its turn ends. |
| Flee | The target spends its turn moving away from you by the fastest available means. |
| Grovel | The target gains the Prone condition and then its turn ends. |
| Halt | The target does not move and takes neither an Action nor a Bonus Action during its turn. |
Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot
For each spell-slot level above 1st, Command can affect one additional creature. Every additional target is affected through the same casting, but increasing the slot level does not create new command options.
Modern-edition distinction: SRD 5.2.1 does not require the target to be a living creature, does not carry the older Language-Dependent or Mind-Affecting descriptors, and does not state that the creature must understand the caster’s language.
Do not import those legacy restrictions into this version unless another rule in the game independently creates them.
Command — Pathfinder 1e
- School
- Enchantment (Compulsion)
- Descriptors
- Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting
- Level
- 1st-level
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Components
- V
- Range
- Close
- Target
- One living creature
- Duration
- 1 round
- Saving Throw
- Will negates
- Spell Resistance
- Yes
Available to: Adept 1, Antipaladin 1, Cleric 1, Inquisitor 1, Medium 1, Mesmerist 1, Occultist 1, Oracle 1, Psychic 1, Warpriest 1, and Witch 1.
The caster gives the subject one of Command’s five defined orders. The creature attempts a Will save and, on a failure, carries out that command at its earliest opportunity. If it cannot perform the selected command on its next turn, the spell automatically fails.
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
| Approach | The creature spends its turn moving toward you as quickly and directly as possible. It does nothing else during that turn, and its movement provokes attacks of opportunity normally. |
| Drop | The subject drops whatever it is holding and cannot retrieve a dropped item until its next turn. |
| Fall | The subject falls prone and remains prone for 1 round. It may otherwise act normally while prone, with the appropriate penalties. |
| Flee | The creature spends its turn moving away from you as quickly as possible. It does nothing else during that turn, and the movement provokes attacks of opportunity normally. |
| Halt | The subject remains in place for 1 round and takes no actions. It is not considered helpless merely because of this command. |
Mythic Command
Mythic Command can target up to one creature per caster level. Every target receives the same command.
A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is nevertheless staggered for 1 round. That staggering effect is itself mind-affecting.
Command, Greater
- School
- Enchantment (Compulsion)
- Descriptors
- Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Levels
- Cleric 5, Inquisitor 5
- Additional Levels
- Medium 4, Mesmerist 4, Occultist 5, Oracle 5, Psychic 5, Warpriest 5
- Components
- V
- Range
- Close
- Targets
- One creature/level
- Spacing
- No two targets more than 30 ft. apart
- Duration
- 1 round/level
- Saving Throw
- Will negates
- Spell Resistance
- Yes
Greater Command functions like Command except that it can affect up to one creature per caster level and can continue for several rounds. All affected creatures receive the same command.
At the start of each affected creature’s action after its first commanded turn, that creature receives another Will saving throw. Success ends Greater Command for that creature.
Command — D&D 3.5e
- School
- Enchantment (Compulsion)
- Descriptors
- Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting
- Level
- Cleric 1
- Components
- V
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Range
- Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
- Target
- One living creature
- Duration
- 1 round
- Saving Throw
- Will negates
- Spell Resistance
- Yes
The subject receives one of five defined commands and obeys it at its earliest opportunity if it fails its Will save. If it cannot carry out the selected command on its next turn, the spell automatically fails.
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
| Approach | The subject spends its turn moving toward you as quickly and directly as possible. It does nothing else that turn, and the movement provokes attacks of opportunity normally. |
| Drop | The subject drops whatever it is carrying and cannot retrieve a dropped item until its following turn. |
| Fall | The subject falls prone and remains prone for 1 round. It can otherwise act normally while prone, taking the usual penalties. |
| Flee | The subject spends its turn moving away from you as quickly as possible. It does nothing else during that turn, and the movement provokes attacks of opportunity normally. |
| Halt | The subject remains where it is for 1 round and takes no actions. It is not considered helpless because of the spell. |
Greater Command
- School
- Enchantment (Compulsion)
- Descriptors
- Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting
- Level
- Cleric 5
- Targets
- One creature/level
- Spacing
- No two targets more than 30 ft. apart
- Duration
- 1 round/level
Greater Command functions like Command but can affect up to one creature per caster level and can continue beyond the initial round. Every affected creature receives the same command.
At the start of each commanded creature’s action after its first turn under the effect, it receives another Will saving throw. A successful save frees that creature from Greater Command.
Using Command
Command rewards timing more than elaborate wording. Its best use is often not to defeat a creature outright, but to make one creature do the wrong thing during the one turn when position, equipment, movement, or initiative matters most.
Pull a Defender Out of Position
Approach can draw a guard away from a doorway, pull a ranged attacker closer to the front line, or make a creature abandon a carefully chosen position.
Separate a Creature from an Object
Drop is especially valuable when the object matters more than the creature’s hit points: a weapon, key, ritual implement, dispatch, standard, seal, evidence, or other carried item.
Break a Formation
Flee can remove one combatant from mutual support, disrupt a defensive line, expose someone being guarded, or create a gap that allies can exploit.
Steal the Critical Turn
Grovel, Fall, and Halt interfere with immediate action rather than creating prolonged control. Their exact effects differ between editions, so use the mechanics in the appropriate tab.
Common Command Rulings
Can I invent another command?
Not under the versions presented on this page. D&D 5.5e uses Approach, Drop, Flee, Grovel, and Halt. Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e use Approach, Drop, Fall, Flee, and Halt.
Words such as “Answer,” “Confess,” “Attack,” “Surrender,” or “Obey” do not become additional Command effects merely because they are one word long.
Can Command force someone to answer a question?
No. None of these three versions includes Answer among the spell’s available commands.
Zone of Truth can prevent certain creatures from deliberately speaking lies, but it does not force them to speak. For broader magical instructions, use Suggestion or a stronger compulsion.
Must a 5.5e target understand the caster?
SRD 5.2.1 does not state that the target must understand the caster’s language. Do not import the Language-Dependent descriptor from Pathfinder 1e or D&D 3.5e into the modern spell.
Can 5.5e Command affect an undead creature?
The modern spell targets a creature and does not contain the older “one living creature” target restriction or the legacy Mind-Affecting descriptor.
Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e retain their own living-creature and mind-affecting limitations.
Does 5.5e Halt remove the target’s Reaction?
Not by its own wording. Halt prevents movement and prevents the creature from taking an Action or Bonus Action on its turn. It does not say that the target loses its Reaction.
Does Drop always consume the whole turn?
No. In D&D 5.5e, Drop causes the target to release what it is holding and then end its turn.
In Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e, the subject drops the object and cannot pick it up again until its next turn, but the legacy text does not impose the same automatic end-of-turn result.
Is 5.5e Grovel the same as legacy Fall?
No. In 5.5e, Grovel gives the target the Prone condition and then ends its turn.
In Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e, Fall leaves the subject prone for 1 round but allows it to act normally while prone.
What if the command cannot be carried out?
Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e explicitly state that the spell automatically fails if the subject cannot carry out the command on its next turn.
SRD 5.2.1 instead defines the behaviour of its five specific options. Apply those options together with the game’s ordinary movement, condition, and environmental rules rather than importing the legacy automatic-failure sentence.
Countering Command
Command uses only a verbal component in all three editions presented here. Preventing the caster from providing that component can therefore stop the spell before the magical order is spoken.
Silence is a particularly direct counter because creatures within its soundless area cannot cast spells that require verbal components.
Command is also limited by its saving throw, range, target requirements, edition-specific immunities, and extremely short period of control. The spell creates an opening. It does not guarantee that the caster’s allies will exploit that opening successfully.
Command in the World of 1454
In 1454, authority is already spoken aloud. Captains command formations, magistrates question witnesses, guild masters direct workshops, heralds speak before councils, household officers control access to powerful patrons, and mercenary commanders expect an order to become action. Command makes that familiar relationship between voice and obedience literally supernatural.
The spell is too brief to replace government, loyalty, persuasion, fear, or ordinary command. Its danger lies in the single decisive instant: a guard steps away from a door, a courier drops a sealed dispatch, a swordsman falls prone, an officer loses the moment in which an order needed to be given, or a standard-bearer lets the symbol of a formation strike the mud.
Courts, chancelleries, Free Imperial city councils, princely households, merchant houses, guild halls, universities, and mercenary companies therefore have reasons to take hostile enchantment seriously. The responses vary. A wealthy court might separate a known enchanter from a ruler by distance and attendants. A council may insist upon witnesses. A military commander may rely on subordinate officers able to continue issuing orders if one voice suddenly fails.
None of these practices forms a universal magical law. They are practical responses to a world in which a voice can be genuine, an order can be unlawful, and obedience can be magically manufactured.
A Face of Authority Is Not Authority
Command makes obedience possible, but it does not make an order legitimate. A guard magically forced to step aside has not granted lawful entry. A courier forced to drop a dispatch has not willingly surrendered it. A soldier compelled to flee has not necessarily deserted, and an officer magically halted at a critical instant has not necessarily failed through cowardice or incompetence.
This distinction matters wherever reputation, office, oath, contract, military discipline, or testimony matters. Witnesses may know exactly what they saw while still being unable to prove why it happened. Magical compulsion therefore creates disputes about responsibility as readily as it creates tactical opportunities.
Adventure Hooks
The Dropped Seal
A chancery officer insists that a valuable signet was not surrendered voluntarily. Witnesses remember a stranger speaking one word before the seal struck the floor and vanished into the crowd.
The Broken Formation
A veteran mercenary suddenly abandons an otherwise disciplined line during a disastrous battle. The survivors call it cowardice. The soldier swears someone in the enemy ranks spoke directly to him.
The Halted Witness
A witness freezes at exactly the moment an assassin crosses the chamber. The magical effect lasts only seconds, but determining who issued the command may expose a wider conspiracy.
A Word Before the Council
During a Free Imperial city council session, an envoy abruptly approaches the wrong table and drops a sealed document in front of a rival delegation. The incident lasts one turn. The diplomatic crisis lasts considerably longer.
Command in D&D 2024
This Pack Tactics discussion focuses on the revised modern version of Command and the tactical consequences of its fixed command options.
Video commentary is supplementary. Use the edition mechanics above as the rules reference.
Sources & Licensing
D&D 5.5e / 2024
- System Reference Document 5.2.1 , Wizards of the Coast LLC.
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International .
The D&D 5.5e rules material on this page is based on the System Reference Document 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Pathfinder 1e
- Archives of Nethys — Command, Mythic Command & Command, Greater
- Archives of Nethys — Licences and Copyright Notices
Pathfinder 1e rules material derives from legacy Open Game Content. Applicable Open Game License v1.0a requirements and Section 15 copyright notices should remain part of SpiralWorlds’ OGL publication framework.
D&D 3.5e
The D&D 3.5e rules material is legacy Open Game Content distributed under the Open Game License v1.0a. It is kept separate here from the Creative Commons attribution applying to the modern SRD material.
Historical Illustration
Domenico Morone, King Giving an Audience, late fifteenth century, Courtauld Gallery. The Wikimedia Commons reproduction used above is identified as public domain.
SpiralWorlds Illustration
Original Command hero illustration: spiralworlds-command-spell-magical-order-1454.png.