Geas / Geas-Quest
Modern D&D uses Geas; PF1e and D&D 3.5e use Geas/Quest. All versions impose a powerful magical command, but the modern spell uses a 30-day Charmed effect with daily psychic punishment while legacy d20 uses a 10-minute casting and harsher long-term penalties.
At a Glance
| 5.5e / 2024 | Geas — Bard 5, Cleric 5, Druid 5, Paladin 5, Wizard 5 |
|---|---|
| 5e / 2014 | Geas — Bard 5, Cleric 5, Druid 5, Paladin 5, Wizard 5 |
| Pathfinder 1e | Geas/Quest — Bard 6, Cleric 6, Sorcerer/Wizard 6 |
| D&D 3.5e | Geas/Quest — Bard 6, Cleric 6, Sorcerer/Wizard 6 |
| Modern duration | 30 days; longer with 7th–9th-level slots |
Spell Rules
Geas — 5.5e / 2024
| Level | 5th-level Enchantment |
|---|---|
| Casting Time | 1 minute |
| Range | 60 feet |
| Components | V |
| Duration | 30 days |
| Classes | Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Wizard |
Give a verbal command to a creature you can see within range. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw or have the Charmed condition for the duration; it succeeds automatically if it cannot understand the command.
While Charmed, the target takes 5d10 psychic damage when it acts directly against the command, but no more than once each day. A suicidal command ends the spell.
Ending the spell: Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or Wish. A 7th- or 8th-level slot extends the duration to 365 days; a 9th-level slot lasts until one of those spells ends it.
Geas — 5e / 2014
| Level | 5th-level Enchantment |
|---|---|
| Casting Time | 1 minute |
| Range | 60 feet |
| Components | V |
| Duration | 30 days |
| Classes | Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Wizard |
A creature that understands you makes a Wisdom saving throw or becomes charmed for the duration and suffers 5d10 psychic damage, at most once per day, when it acts directly against your instructions.
You can dismiss the spell early with an action. Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or Wish also ends it. A 7th- or 8th-level slot lasts 1 year; a 9th-level slot lasts until ended by one of those effects.
Geas/Quest — Pathfinder 1e
| School | enchantment (compulsion) [language-dependent, mind-affecting] |
|---|---|
| Level | bard 6, cleric 6, sorcerer/wizard 6 |
| Casting Time | 10 minutes |
| Components | V |
| Range | close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) |
| Target | one living creature |
| Duration | 1 day/level or until discharged (D) |
| Saving Throw | none |
| Spell Resistance | yes |
Base Procedure
A lesser geas places a magical command on a creature to carry out some service or to refrain from some action or course of activity, as desired by you. The creature must have 7 or fewer HD and be able to understand you. While a geas cannot compel a creature to kill itself or perform acts that would result in certain death, it can cause almost any other course of activity.
The geased creature must follow the given instructions until the geas is completed, no matter how long it takes.
If the instructions involve some open-ended task that the recipient cannot complete through his own actions, the spell remains in effect for a maximum of 1 day per caster level. A clever recipient can subvert some instructions.
If the subject is prevented from obeying the lesser geas for 24 hours, it takes a –2 penalty to each of its ability scores. Each day, another –2 penalty accumulates, up to a total of –8. No ability score can be reduced to less than 1 by this effect. The ability score penalties are removed 24 hours after the subject resumes obeying the lesser geas.
A lesser geas (and all ability score penalties) can be ended by break enchantment, limited wish, remove curse, miracle, or wish. Dispel magic does not affect a lesser geas.
Changes and Additional Effects
Changes for this spell: it affects a creature of any HD and allows no saving throw.
If the subject is prevented from obeying the geas/quest for 24 hours, it takes a –3 penalty to each of its ability scores. Each day, another –3 penalty accumulates, up to a total of –12. No ability score can be reduced to less than 1 by this effect. The ability score penalties are removed 24 hours after the subject resumes obeying the geas/quest.
A remove curse spell ends a geas/quest spell only if its caster level is at least two higher than your caster level. Break enchantment does not end a geas/quest, but limited wish, miracle, and wish do.
Bards, sorcerers, and wizards usually refer to this spell as geas, while clerics call the same spell quest.
Geas/Quest — D&D 3.5e
| School | Enchantment (Compulsion) [Language-Dependent, Mind-Affecting] |
|---|---|
| Level | Brd 6, Clr 6, Sor/Wiz 6 |
| Components | V |
| Casting Time | 10 minutes |
| Range | Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) |
| Target | One living creature |
| Duration | One day/level or until discharged (D) |
| Saving Throw | None |
| Spell Resistance | Yes |
Base Procedure
A lesser geas places a magical command on a creature to carry out some service or to refrain from some action or course of activity, as desired by you. The creature must have 7 or fewer Hit Dice and be able to understand you. While a geas cannot compel a creature to kill itself or perform acts that would result in certain death, it can cause almost any other course of activity.
The geased creature must follow the given instructions until the geas is completed, no matter how long it takes.
If the instructions involve some open-ended task that the recipient cannot complete through his own actions the spell remains in effect for a maximum of one day per caster level. A clever recipient can subvert some instructions:
If the subject is prevented from obeying the lesser geas for 24 hours, it takes a –2 penalty to each of its ability scores. Each day, another –2 penalty accumulates, up to a total of –8. No ability score can be reduced to less than 1 by this effect. The ability score penalties are removed 24 hours after the subject resumes obeying the lesser geas.
A lesser geas (and all ability score penalties) can be ended by break enchantment, limited wish, remove curse, miracle, or wish. Dispel magic does not affect a lesser geas.
Changes and Additional Effects
Changes for this spell: it affects a creature of any HD and allows no saving throw.
Instead of taking penalties to ability scores (as with lesser geas), the subject takes 3d6 points of damage each day it does not attempt to follow the geas/quest. Additionally, each day it must make a Fortitude saving throw or become sickened. These effects end 24 hours after the creature attempts to resume the geas/ quest.
A remove curse spell ends a geas/quest spell only if its caster level is at least two higher than your caster level. Break enchantment does not end a geas/quest, but limited wish, miracle, and wish do.
Bards, sorcerers, and wizards usually refer to this spell as geas, while clerics call the same spell quest.
What Changed?
- Modern D&D: 5th-level spell, 1-minute casting, 60-foot range, 30-day duration, Wisdom save and daily 5d10 psychic punishment.
- 2024 versus 2014: 2014 explicitly lets the caster dismiss the spell with an action; the 2024 text omits that option.
- PF1e / 3.5e: 6th-level spell, 10-minute casting, no saving throw, close range and long-term penalties for disobedience.
Sources and Licensing
- D&D 2024 Basic Rules — Geas. SRD 5.2 material is available under CC BY 4.0.
- D&D 2014 Basic Rules — Geas. SRD 5.1 material is available under CC BY 4.0.
- Pathfinder 1e Core Rulebook — Geas/Quest. Open Game Content under OGL v1.0a.
- D&D 3.5 SRD — Geas/Quest. Open Game Content under OGL v1.0a.