Bard Magic • Spell Reference
Sending Spell
Twenty-five Words Across the World
Sending carries a short message into a distant creature’s mind and allows an immediate reply. The recipient, casting time and delivery safeguards differ by edition.
Sending at a Glance
| Bard access | Level 3 in 2024 and 2014; not on the standard Pathfinder 1e or D&D 3.5e Bard lists. |
|---|---|
| Purpose | A message of 25 words or fewer, with an immediate reply in the same manner. |
| Casting | An action in modern D&D; 10 minutes in Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e. |
| Range | Any distance; other planes carry a chance of delivery failure. |
| Key 2024 change | Broader recipient identification, delivery-failure notice and an 8-hour recipient block. |
Spell Rules by Edition
Sending — 5.5e / 2024
Bard, Cleric and Wizard spell level 3. Edition source.
| Spell | Level 3 Divination (Bard, Cleric, Wizard) |
|---|---|
| Casting Time | Action |
| Range | Unlimited |
| Components | V, S, M (a copper wire) |
| Duration | Instantaneous |
You send a short message of 25 words or fewer to a creature you have met or a creature described to you by someone who has met it. The target hears the message in its mind, recognizes you as the sender if it knows you, and can answer in a like manner immediately. The spell enables targets to understand the meaning of your message. You can send the message across any distance and even to other planes of existence, but if the target is on a different plane than you, there is a 5 percent chance that the message doesn’t arrive. You know if the delivery fails. Upon receiving your message, a creature can block your ability to reach it again with this spell for 8 hours. If you try to send another message during that time, you learn that you are blocked, and the spell fails.
Sending — 5e / 2014
Bard, Cleric and Wizard spell level 3. Edition source.
| Spell | 3rd-level evocation |
|---|---|
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | Unlimited |
| Components | V, S, M (a short piece of fine copper wire) |
| Duration | 1 round |
| Classes | Bard, Cleric, Wizard |
You send a short message of twenty-five words or less to a creature with which you are familiar. The creature hears the message in its mind, recognizes you as the sender if it knows you, and can answer in a like manner immediately. The spell enables creatures with Intelligence scores of at least 1 to understand the meaning of your message. You can send the message across any distance and even to other planes of existence, but if the target is on a different plane than you, there is a 5 percent chance that the message doesn’t arrive.
Sending — Pathfinder 1e
Not on the standard Bard spell list. Edition source.
| School | evocation |
|---|---|
| Level | Alchemist 5, Arcanist 5, Cleric 4, Inquisitor 4, Investigator 5, Medium 3, Mesmerist 3, Occultist 4, Oracle 4, Psychic 4, Shaman 4, Sorcerer 5, Spiritualist 5, Summoner 4, Unchained Summoner 5, Warpriest 4, Wizard 5 |
| Casting Time | 10 minutes |
| Components | V, S, M/DF (fine copper wire) |
| Range | see text |
| Target | one creature |
| Duration | 1 round; see text |
| Saving Throw | none |
| Spell Resistance | no |
You contact a particular creature with which you are familiar and send a short message of 25 words or less to the subject. The subject recognizes you if it knows you. It can answer in like manner immediately. A creature with an Intelligence score as low as 1 can understand the sending, though the subject’s ability to react is limited as normal by its Intelligence. Even if the sending is received, the subject is not obligated to act upon it in any manner.
If the creature in question is not on the same plane of existence as you are, there is a 5% chance that the sending does not arrive. (Local conditions on other planes may worsen this chance considerably.)
Expanded class list: Archives of Nethys — Sending. The rules above are the ordinary spell; Mythic Sending is a separate option.
Sending — D&D 3.5e
Not on the standard Bard spell list. Edition source.
| School | Evocation |
|---|---|
| Level | Clr 4, Sor/Wiz 5 |
| Components | V, S, M/DF |
| Casting Time | 10 minutes |
| Range | See text |
| Target | One creature |
| Duration | 1 round; see text |
| Saving Throw | None |
| Spell Resistance | No |
You contact a particular creature with which you are familiar and send a short message of twenty-five words or less to the subject. The subject recognizes you if it knows you. It can answer in like manner immediately. A creature with an Intelligence score as low as 1 can understand the sending, though the subject’s ability to react is limited as normal by its Intelligence score. Even if the sending is received, the subject is not obligated to act upon it in any manner.
If the creature in question is not on the same plane of existence as you are, there is a 5% chance that the sending does not arrive. (Local conditions on other planes may worsen this chance considerably.)
Arcane Material Component: A short piece of fine copper wire.
What Changes by Edition?
| 5.5e / 2024 | Divination, instantaneous. A recipient may be someone you have met or someone described by a person who met them. You know if delivery fails. A recipient can block further Sendings from you for 8 hours. |
|---|---|
| 5e / 2014 | Evocation, 1 round. The recipient must be familiar to you; Intelligence 1+ is explicitly sufficient for comprehension. The spell does not give the 2024 delivery notice or blocking option. |
| Pathfinder 1e and D&D 3.5e | Ten-minute casting; Cleric 4 and Sorcerer/Wizard 5 in the Core lists. Other-plane conditions may increase the 5% failure chance. These versions do not have the modern recipient-blocking rule. |
Practical Uses and Limits
A Sending is a brief exchange with a particular creature. It delivers neither an image nor an open conversation channel. Compose the message before casting: who is speaking, what has happened, where help is needed and what reply would be useful should fit within 25 words.
For example: “Bridge lost. Captain Mara lives. Evacuate eastern bank before dawn. Bring boats to the old mill. Reply with numbers and arrival time.” The reply must be equally brief and comes immediately.
Delivery does not require the recipient to obey, agree or tell the truth. Silence, an evasive answer or an ambiguous instruction can matter as much as a clear reply. Familiarity and identity requirements come from the selected edition; do not use the broader 2024 targeting rule in an older game.
The 2024 failure notice distinguishes failed delivery from successful delivery without a reply. It does not tell you everything about the recipient’s circumstances. Older versions do not expressly promise that notice.
Sending can cross planar boundaries, but that reach is not perfect reliability. Allow for a failed message when arranging a rescue, a rendezvous or an expedition’s return.
Sending in the World of 1454
A fortress with a trusted spellcaster can send a warning farther and faster than a mounted courier. The scarce resources are the caster’s spell slots, the ability to identify the right recipient and a message short enough to carry the essential information.
Courts and merchant houses may agree on compact phrases, confirmations and reporting times. These conventions are practical habits rather than extra powers of the spell. A ruler who recognises the sender still has to decide whether the report is accurate and whether to act.
Messages can reach travellers beyond roads, ships far from land and allies separated by another plane. A campaign can make the delayed courier and the urgent Sending useful in different ways: one carries documents and goods, the other carries a few crucial words.
Adventure Hooks
- A watch commander sends the same warning every night; the immediate replies begin using a phrase the commander’s missing predecessor favoured.
- A rescue depends on a 25-word description of a refuge. The party must establish which landmarks the recipient can actually recognise.
- A planar expedition misses its agreed report. Failed delivery and deliberate silence point toward different investigations.
Related Spells and Original Demonstration
- Animal Messenger carries a brief spoken message to a described recipient at a destination.
- Magic Mouth leaves a message attached to a local trigger.
- Telepathic Bond provides a sustained connection under its own edition-specific rules.
(animated) Sending spell dnd5e by Zee Bashew: the page’s original animated demonstration, published in 2019, accompanies the 2014 edition rather than the revised 2024 rules.
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