Spells, Cantrips and Spellslots Explained
Introduction
If you’re new to Dungeons & Dragons, spellcasting can seem intimidating. Terms like spells, spell slots, cantrips, and spell levels are used constantly, but once you understand how they work together, the entire magic system becomes much easier to grasp.
This guide will explain the basics of spellcasting, how spell slots work, what spell levels mean, how upcasting works, and what makes cantrips different from other spells.
What Are Spells?
Spells are magical abilities that allow characters to perform a variety of magical effects.
Some spells deal damage, while others heal allies, create illusions, control enemies or manipulate the environment.
Think of spells as a spellcaster’s toolkit. Just as fighters rely on weapons, spellcasters rely on spells to solve problems and influence the world around them.
Some examples of spells include:
Fireball
Explosive burst of fire damaging multiple enemies.
Cure Wounds
Restores health to an injured creature.
Invisibility
Makes a creature unseen for stealth.
Charm Person
Temporarily makes a humanoid more friendly.
Most spells require you to expend a spell slot in order to cast them.
What Are Spell Slots?
Spell slots represent the magical energy your character has available. An easy way to think about them is as magical ammunition.
Whenever you cast most spells, you spend a spell slot. Once that spell slot is used, it cannot be used again until you recover it, usually by taking a Long Rest (though some classes have exceptions).
It’s important to understand the difference between spells and spell slots:
Spells
The magical abilities your character knows or has prepared.
Spell Slots
The resource you spend to cast those spells.
For example, a Wizard might know ten different spells but only have six spell slots available. While they have access to many spells, they’re limited by how many spell slots they can spend before needing to rest.
Now that you understand what spell slots are, there’s one more concept you’ll need to understand: spell levels.
Spell Levels
One of the biggest points of confusion for new players is the difference between spell level and character level.
Character level measures how experienced your character is, while spell level measures the power of a spell.
Every spell has a level ranging from 1st level to 9th level. More powerful spells require higher-level spell slots to cast.
For example, a 4th-level Wizard has access to:
This means the Wizard has two separate pools of magical energy:
- Four 1st-level spell slots
- Three 2nd-level spell slots
Think of each spell level as having its own pool of spell slots.
If your Wizard has Magic Missile, Ice Knife and Mage Armor prepared, those four 1st-level spell slots can be spent on any combination of those spells.
For example, you could cast:
Magic Missile twice
Ice Knife once
Mage Armor once
After doing so, all four of your 1st-level spell slots would be gone.
However, you would still have all three of your 2nd-level spell slots available because each spell level keeps track of its own spell slots independently.
This also introduces another important mechanic: upcasting.
What Is Upcasting?
Even if you’ve used all of your 1st-level spell slots, you can still cast a 1st-level spell by spending one of your higher-level spell slots instead.
This is called upcasting.
For example, if you’ve already used all four of your 1st-level spell slots, you could spend one of your 2nd-level spell slots to cast Magic Missile or Cure Wounds.
Many spells become more powerful when they’re cast this way.
For example:
Magic Missle
Magic Missile creates one additional dart for each spell slot level above 1st.
Cure Wounds
Cure Wounds restores additional hit points when cast using a higher-level spell slot.
Not every spell benefits from upcasting, so always read the spell’s description. If a spell can be upcast, you’ll find a section that begins with:
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher…
This explains exactly how the spell improves when cast with a higher-level spell slot.
What Are Cantrips?
Cantrips are a special type of spell.
Unlike most spells, cantrips do not use spell slots. This means you can cast them as many times as you want without using up your magical resources.
Examples of cantrips include:
Fire Bolt
Hurl a fiery blast at a target.
Eldritch Blast
Strike an enemy with crackling magical energy.
Mage Hand
Create a spectral hand to manipulate objects.
Chill Touch
Assault a target with deathly necrotic energy.