Invisibility Spell

5.5e / 2024

Invisibility — D&D 5.5e / 2024

This version grants the Invisible condition and uses modern concentration, targeting and unseen-attacker rules.

Spell Effect

A creature you touch has the Invisible condition until the spell ends.

The spell ends early immediately after the target makes an attack roll, deals damage or casts a spell.

The Invisible Condition

• If the creature is Invisible when Initiative is rolled, it gains Advantage on that Initiative roll.
• An effect that requires its target to be seen cannot affect the creature unless the effect’s creator can somehow see it.
• Equipment worn or carried by the creature is concealed with it.
• Attack rolls against the creature have Disadvantage, and its attack rolls have Advantage.
• If another creature can somehow see the Invisible creature, the Invisible creature does not gain the Invisible condition’s attack-roll Advantage or incoming-attack Disadvantage against that observer.

Location and Targeting

• Invisibility does not make a creature silent.
• The spell does not state that observers automatically forget the creature’s location.
• Footprints, displaced water, opened doors and disturbed objects can reveal movement.
• An attacker unable to see the creature may attack the location it believes the creature occupies.
• If the chosen location is wrong, the attack misses.
• An area effect can still affect an Invisible creature whose space lies inside that area.

Counters and Interactions

• See Invisibility allows its caster to perceive Invisible creatures and objects within the spell’s limits.
• Blindsight and Truesight can perceive Invisible creatures within the limits of those senses.
• Dispel Magic can end an ongoing Invisibility spell when the normal modern dispel requirements are met.
• Losing Concentration ends the spell for every creature affected by that casting.
• Invisibility can interfere with reactions and magical effects whose triggers specifically require the observer to see the creature.
• Casting any spell ends this Invisibility immediately after the casting, even when that spell neither attacks nor damages an enemy.

5e / 2014

The creature you touch becomes invisible until the spell ends. Everything it wears or carries is invisible while on its person. The spell ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell.

Invisible creature and location

The 2014 Invisible condition prevents sight without appropriate magic or a special sense. For hiding, the creature is heavily obscured; noise and tracks can still reveal its location. The condition gives its attack rolls Advantage and attack rolls against it Disadvantage. Apply the 2014 rules for unseen attackers, targets and special senses.

Invisibility does not itself perform the Hide action, remove sound or make a body intangible. If an attacker guesses the wrong occupied location, the attack misses. A valid area effect can still affect the creature, while a spell requiring a target the caster can see needs another means of seeing it.

Ending and counters

Speaking, movement and ordinary object interaction do not by themselves trigger this spell’s ending. Casting any spell does, including harmless magic. Loss of Concentration ends this casting for all its remaining targets; the attack or spellcasting trigger ends it for the target performing that action.

See Invisibility provides sight of invisible subjects; Dispel Magic can end the ongoing spell according to its 2014 procedure.

Pathfinder 1e

Invisibility — Pathfinder 1e

Pathfinder uses glamer, Stealth, total concealment, spell resistance and its own definition of what counts as an attack.

Spell level: adept 2, alchemist 2, antipaladin 2, arcanist 2, bard 2, inquisitor 2, investigator 2, magus 2, medium 2, mesmerist 2, occultist 2, psychic 2, Red Mantis assassin 2, skald 2, sorcerer 2, spiritualist 2, summoner 2, unchained summoner 2 and wizard 2.

Spell Effect

Object and weight limit: the target can be you or a creature or object weighing no more than 100 pounds per caster level. The spell does not silence the subject.

The creature or object touched becomes invisible. A creature’s worn and carried equipment disappears with it. The caster and the subject’s allies do not automatically continue to see the invisible subject.

Dropped objects become visible. Newly acquired items disappear when concealed inside clothing or containers worn by the subject. A concealed light source continues to shed visible light, and any carried part extending more than 10 feet from the subject remains visible.

The spell ends when the subject directly attacks a creature. Permanency can make Invisibility permanent on an object but not on a creature.

Stealth and Concealment

• A stationary invisible creature gains +40 on Stealth checks.
• A moving invisible creature gains +20 on Stealth checks.
• Against a sighted opponent unable to perceive it, the invisible creature has total concealment.
• An attack against the correct occupied square normally has a 50% miss chance.
• A creature cannot normally make attacks of opportunity against a target that has total concealment from it.

Attacking from Invisibility

• An invisible attacker normally gains a +2 bonus on its attack roll.
• A sighted defender normally loses its Dexterity bonus to AC against the invisible attacker.
• The first direct attack receives those benefits before the subject becomes visible.
• An offensive spell targeting a foe, or whose area or effect includes a foe, counts as an attack.
• Who qualifies as a foe depends upon the invisible subject’s perceptions.

Actions and Counters

• Talking, opening doors, handling unattended objects and casting ally-only magic do not automatically end the spell.
• Indirect harm, such as releasing another creature or triggering an existing trap, is not necessarily a direct attack by the subject.
• See Invisibility reveals the subject without ending Invisibility.
• Glitterdust coats and visibly outlines an invisible creature caught in its area whether or not that creature succeeds on its saving throw against blindness.
• Invisibility Purge negates qualifying invisibility within its emanation.
• Dispel Magic can attempt to end the spell using Pathfinder’s normal dispel procedure.

Nonvisual Senses

Blindsight can permit normal interaction with an invisible creature within its range. Scent can detect an invisible creature, while Tremorsense can locate a qualifying target in contact with the same surface. Each sense retains its own limits.

D&D 3.5e

Invisibility — D&D 3.5e

D&D 3.5e uses Hide, Spot, Listen, total concealment and its legacy invisibility and dispel procedures.

Spell Effect

Object and weight limit: the target can be you or a creature or object weighing no more than 100 pounds per caster level. The spell does not silence the subject.

The touched creature or object vanishes from sight, including darkvision. Equipment worn or carried by a creature disappears with it. Allies require their own means of detecting invisible creatures if they wish to continue seeing the subject.

Dropped objects become visible. An item picked up while the subject is invisible disappears once concealed in worn clothing or a carried container. Light remains visible even when its source is invisible, and carried portions extending more than 10 feet remain visible.

The spell ends when the subject directly attacks a creature. Permanency can make the spell permanent on an object, but not on a creature.

Hide and Concealment

• An immobile invisible creature gains +40 on Hide checks.
• A moving invisible creature gains +20 on Hide checks.
• Spot and Listen checks can reveal presence or help pinpoint location under the edition’s detection rules.
• An invisible creature has total concealment from a sighted opponent unable to perceive it.
• An attack against the correct square normally has a 50% miss chance.

Attacking from Invisibility

• An invisible attacker normally gains +2 on its attack roll.
• A sighted defender normally loses its Dexterity bonus to AC against the invisible attacker.
• The direct attack receives those benefits before Invisibility ends.
• An offensive spell targeting a foe, or including a foe within its area or effect, counts as an attack.
• An ally-only spell does not become an attack merely because enemies also occupy its area.

Actions and Counters

• Speech, ordinary movement, eating, climbing and interaction with unattended objects leave the spell intact.
• Indirectly releasing a danger or allowing summoned creatures to attack is not itself a direct attack by the invisible subject.
• See Invisibility reveals the subject without ending Invisibility.
• Glitterdust coats and visibly outlines invisible creatures caught in its area. Its Will saving throw negates blinding only, not the coating.
• Invisibility Purge provides a specialised area answer to invisible creatures.
• Dispel Magic can attempt to end Invisibility using the legacy dispel procedure.
• Blindsight allows interaction regardless of ordinary invisibility within its range; scent follows its own separate detection procedure.