Dungeons & Dragons Spells More Dangerous To Allies Than Enemies

One of the biggest challenges for new players in Dungeons & Dragons is understanding what each spell does well – and poorly. Whether you’re a wizard, sorcerer, warlock, cleric, druid, or bard, you need to consider the risks and rewards of every spell, or your whole group could suffer!

Some spells just aren’t worth the risk. Whether they cause big strategic mistakes or accidentally harm your friends, certain spells should be avoided unless you have a solid plan. To keep your fellow players happy, it’s best to think carefully before casting the spells on this list. Thanks to Dungeon Master Oskar for helping us put this together.

Sanctuary

Read The Fine Print

Level 1
30ft Range
School of Abjuration (Magic of Wards and Defense)
Duration: 1 minute
Cast time: 1 Bonus action
Who can cast it: Primarily clerics and artificers. But paladins, bards, and sorcerers may also have access to this spell under certain conditions.

Sanctuary forces an enemy to switch targets or fail their turn if they fail a Wisdom saving throw. It’s most effective when used to protect a vulnerable ally who’s trying to escape, or to shield another spellcaster at the start of a fight, helping to keep fragile party members safe and engaged longer.

Okay, let me tell you about a potentially disastrous moment I’ve seen play out at the table. Picture this: an artificer casts Sanctuary on their fighter, thinking they’re providing a nice defensive boost in the thick of combat. Huge mistake! It’s easy to gloss over the spell’s details and assume enemies just need to roll well to attack through it. But the artificer quickly realizes – after the fighter has already charged in – that Sanctuary actually creates an area enemies can’t willingly enter. It’s a frantic, hilarious, and potentially deadly misunderstanding that highlights how important it is to read the fine print!

If a fighter protected by the Sanctuary spell becomes the target of an attack, the spell immediately stops working, leaving them defenseless. This could quickly lead to their defeat – a strong enemy might even defeat them in a single round, making the artificer’s spell a waste.

Magic Jar

The Risks Of Pretending To Be Something You’re Not

Level 6
Cast on Self
School of Necromancy (Magic of the Soul and Death)
Duration: Until dispelled
Cast time: 1 minute
Who can cast it: Primarily wizards and bards. Can also be accessed via special items.

This spell lets you temporarily control the body of another person, allowing you to use their skills or take advantage of their status. It’s especially helpful for sneaking into secure locations, like enemy fortresses, without being detected. Bards who enjoy trickery and deception will find this spell particularly valuable for spying and operating in secret.

Astral projection, or taking control of another’s body with your spirit, might sound interesting, but it’s actually very risky. The spell lets you send your spirit out of your body and into someone else’s, trapping their spirit in a jar while you use their body. This is dangerous for everyone involved.

The real danger with this spell comes when you try to return. If the body you’ve possessed is destroyed, it can be very hard to get the wizard’s soul back where it belongs. Failing a crucial check results in immediate, permanent death. Powerful wizards are especially vulnerable, as using this spell carries the risk of being killed by their own magic. Furthermore, the original body’s spirit is left as a restless, unseen presence.

Confusion

Disrupting The Best Laid Plans Of Players

Level 4
90ft Range
School of Enchantment (Magic of Mental Influence)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Cast time: 1 Action
Who can cast it: Available to a wide variety of classes in the right conditions, but primarily bards, druids, sorcerers, and wizards.

This spell is best used when you need to protect yourself from powerful, but not very bright, enemies. It forces them to make a Wisdom saving throw, and if they fail, they’ll start attacking their own allies. The ideal situation is to cast it on a strong enemy while they’re surrounded by their friends – they’ll quickly turn on those around them, creating chaos.

As someone who’s seen a few spells go wrong, let me tell you, the biggest danger isn’t usually the spell itself – it’s not thinking things through! You always need to know what you’re trying to achieve and who or what you’re affecting before you cast. That’s why spells like Confusion are so risky. It’s an Area of Effect spell, meaning it hits everyone nearby, and it just throws everything into total chaos. You lose control, and that’s when things can really go south!

This spell throws enemies into complete chaos, making their actions totally random. An enemy might wander aimlessly for a few turns, giving a rogue a false sense of security, only to suddenly act normally and attack with full force. They could then just as easily turn on an ally and strike them. This unpredictability is incredibly difficult to counter, and has caused even seasoned adventurers to make mistakes and lose concentration, leaving them vulnerable to even weak enemies.

Glyph of Warding

Costly And Temperemental Protection

Level 3
Conducted through touch
School of Abjuration (Magic of Wards and Defense)
Duration: Until dispelled or triggered
Cast time: 1 hour
Who can cast it: Artificers, bards, clerics, and wizards.

This spell is helpful when you need to safeguard something important but have to leave it unattended. Its size or potential as a trap for opponents makes it valuable. It’s also great for heists or breaking into places – spellcasters can set the trigger with a spoken command and make the rune explode, either to blow open a door or damage a wall.

The Glyph of Warding is a powerful security spell, costing 200 gold in materials like powdered diamond and incense. It lets a spellcaster magically protect an object, essentially creating a magical trap. However, players frequently forget which items are warded, and the caster might not bother informing their companions about it.

A quick warning like, “Don’t touch my golden chest, or you’ll get burned!” could prevent a lot of problems caused by these magical traps. Often, spellcasters who create these protections accidentally harm their allies, or even wipe out the entire group. It’s also a waste of magic because if the protected item is moved just ten feet, the protection disappears.

Antimagic Field

Failing To Plan And Planning To Failt

Level 8
Range of 10ft radius around self
School of Abjuration (Magic of Wards and Defense)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
Cast time: 1 action
Who can cast it? Clerics and wizards.

This spell is most effective for characters who can cast multiple types of spells and also have non-magical attacks. It lets them suppress magic in an area, allowing them to use their physical attacks against powerful magic users. Clerics benefit the most from this, as they are generally tougher than wizards with more health and armor. Especially War Domain clerics can become incredibly dangerous in close combat with their weapons.

This spell is aptly named, as it creates an area where all magic simply doesn’t work. This affects everyone, including the spellcaster themselves, putting them at a significant disadvantage and potentially leaving them unable to help the group. Only items with divine origins or directly created by the Gods retain their power within this field. Because of this, even healers are unable to use their magic, effectively disabling about half of the party and leaving them vulnerable.

This spell creates a significant problem: either players need to invest extra effort into learning multiple classes, or they have to separate their group during battles to avoid the spell’s effect. Simply staying away isn’t enough, because the spell moves with the caster until they end it. With a full hour of duration, this can quickly become a disaster.

2026-01-26 14:38