Enchantment • Magical Oaths and Commands
Geas / Quest
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 |
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.
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 |
Command and Effect
Geas/Quest binds one living creature that can understand the caster’s spoken instruction. There is no Hit Dice limit and no saving throw; spell resistance still applies. The command may require a defined service or forbid a particular act, but it cannot compel certain death. The subject must obey the words of the command, though a clever creature may satisfy their literal meaning without fulfilling the caster’s larger intention.
A defined task ends when completed. A continuing duty cannot last beyond one day per caster level unless the spell is discharged sooner.
Defiance and Consequences
After 24 hours in which the subject is prevented from complying, each ability score takes a –3 penalty. Another –3 accumulates for each additional day, to a maximum of –12 per score, and no ability score is reduced below 1 by this spell. The penalties end 24 hours after the subject resumes following the command.
Ending the Binding
Remove Curse ends this Geas/Quest only if its caster level is at least two higher than that of the original caster. Break Enchantment does not end it; Limited Wish, Miracle, or Wish can. Dispel Magic does not remove the binding. Spellcasters commonly call this power Geas; clerics also call it 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 |
Command and Effect
Geas/Quest places a spoken obligation on one living creature that understands the command. Unlike Lesser Geas, it has no Hit Dice limit and grants no saving throw; spell resistance still applies. The task must be possible and cannot demand an act certain to kill the subject. The creature follows the instruction as worded, so an order expressed carelessly may be obeyed to the letter but defeated in practice.
The binding ends when a definite task is completed. An indefinite order lasts no longer than one day per caster level unless ended earlier by an allowed effect.
Defiance and Consequences
Instead of taking Lesser Geas ability-score penalties, a subject that does not attempt to follow the command takes 3d6 damage each day. Each such day also requires a Fortitude saving throw or the creature becomes sickened. These consequences cease 24 hours after the creature resumes attempting the assigned task. The spell does not impose the –2 ability-score penalties of Lesser Geas.
Ending the Binding
Remove Curse can end Geas/Quest only when its caster level is at least two greater than the original caster’s level. Break Enchantment does not end this spell, but Limited Wish, Miracle and Wish can. Dispel Magic does not dispel the geas. Spellcasters commonly call the effect Geas; clerics may call it 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.
- Pathfinder 1e: 6th-level spell, 10-minute casting, no saving throw and penalties of –3 to each ability score per day of noncompliance, up to –12.
- D&D 3.5e: Also a 6th-level, 10-minute spell without a saving throw, but defiance causes 3d6 damage per day and a Fortitude save against becoming sickened instead of ability-score penalties.
Related Enchantment
Lesser Geas — the lesser binding affects creatures of no more than seven Hit Dice in the legacy editions. Its D&D 2024 and 2014 versions on this site are explicitly original campaign spells, not official published spells. Keep the legacy spell distinct from this more powerful Geas / Quest.
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.
Mythical Context
Irish heroic literature describes a geis as a binding obligation or prohibition, sometimes a source of honour and sometimes the cause of a hero’s ruin. The most interesting magical command therefore tests conflicting duties rather than simply turning the target into a puppet. See the overview of the geis tradition and its literary examples.
Historical Context
The spell name comes through modern fantasy from an Old Irish word for a binding injunction. Surviving Irish and Scottish stories document vows, taboos and fateful restrictions, but not the coercive mechanics of an RPG enchantment. The distinction between a literary obligation and magical domination should remain clear; see Encyclopaedia Britannica’s survey of Celtic literary traditions.
Keep this reference growing
If this page helped with your reading or game, you can support its upkeep or explore the curated books.
Explore the Bookshop — epics, classics and stories behind imagined worlds.