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Cloak of the Bat 5e: Darkness Flight, Bat Form and the Light Trap
A Cloak of the Bat is a rare wondrous item that requires attunement. It gives you Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks at all times. In dim light or darkness, you can grip its edges and fly at 40 feet, and once per dawn you can cast Polymorph on yourself to become a bat while keeping your Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Both the flight and the transformation depend on the light level, and the flight ends the moment you're in bright light. For a character who works underground or at night, it's a cloak, a flying speed and a scouting form in one attunement slot.
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Cloak of the Bat Rules Text
Cloak of the Bat
2014 rules
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
RareRequires attunement
While wearing this cloak, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. In an area of dim light or darkness, you can grip the edges of the cloak with both hands and use it to fly at a speed of 40 feet. If you ever fail to grip the cloak's edges while flying in this way, or if you are no longer in dim light or darkness, you lose this flying speed.
While wearing the cloak in an area of dim light or darkness, you can use your action to cast polymorph on yourself, transforming into a bat. While you are in the form of the bat, you retain your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. The cloak can't be used this way again until the next dawn.
While wearing this cloak, you have Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. In an area of Dim Light or Darkness, you can grip the edges of the cloak and use it to gain a Fly Speed of 40 feet. If you ever fail to grip the cloak's edges while flying in this way, or if you are no longer in Dim Light or Darkness, you lose this Fly Speed.
While wearing the cloak in an area of Dim Light or Darkness, you can cast Polymorph on yourself, shape-shifting into a Bat. While in that form, you retain your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. The cloak can't be used this way again until the next dawn.
The Stealth Advantage has no light condition and no action cost. It's the same benefit the Cloak of Elvenkind gives your side of the roll, without that cloak's penalty to the searcher's Perception.
Flying in dim light and darkness
In dim light or darkness you can grip the cloak's edges and fly at 40 feet. The 2014 text says "with both hands", so you can't hold a weapon, a shield or a spellcasting focus while flying. The 2024 text drops "with both hands" and says only that you grip the edges, without a hand count. DM ruling: in 2024, one hand holding the edges is enough, which leaves the other free for a weapon or a focus; the 2014 restriction was removed, not restated.
What counts as dim light or darkness: night outdoors, an unlit dungeon, the dim ring 20 to 40 feet from a torch, and magical darkness such as the Darkness spell. Your own Darkvision changes what you can see, not the light level, so it doesn't help or hurt.
The light trap
The flight ends the moment you're no longer in dim light or darkness, or you let go of the edges. If you're in the air, you fall: 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet, up to 20d6, and you land prone. Flying from a dark cavern into a torch-lit hall at 50 feet up means about 17 damage on the way down.
Enemies can do this to you on purpose. The Daylight spell fills a 60-foot-radius sphere with bright light; cast near you, it can end your flight in one action. Even the Light cantrip creates a 20-foot radius of bright light on an object. Plan routes over water or low ground when an enemy caster is around.
Turning into a bat
Once per dawn, while wearing the cloak in dim light or darkness, you can cast Polymorph on yourself and become a bat. Spells cast from items use their normal casting time and still need Concentration, so this takes an action (the Magic action in 2024) and lasts up to 1 hour of Concentration. You don't need to resist: in 2014 the save only applies to an unwilling creature, and in 2024 you can choose to fail a save.
The bat form is a Tiny Beast with AC 12, 1 Hit Point, a 5-foot walking speed, a 30-foot Fly Speed and 60 feet of Blindsight. You keep your Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, which Polymorph would normally replace. You can't speak or cast spells.
Three details matter:
•The bat is slower than the cloak. Your cloak flight is 40 feet; the bat flies at 30. Take bat form to fit through gaps and go unnoticed, not to move faster.
•Once you're a bat, light doesn't matter. The light requirement applies to casting the spell. The bat's own Fly Speed works anywhere, so you can transform in a dark alley and then fly over a sunlit square.
•Your gear melds into the bat form. You can't benefit from it, which includes the cloak's Stealth Advantage. A bat with 1 Hit Point and no Advantage should stay out of sight.
One hit ends the form in either edition. In 2014 you take the bat's 1 Hit Point, revert at 0 and carry the excess damage over to your normal form. In 2024 you keep your own Hit Points and gain 1 Temporary Hit Point; damage takes that point first, the rest comes off your Hit Points, and the spell ends.
Cloak of the Bat: 2014 vs 2024
2014 (SRD 5.1)
2024 (SRD 5.2.1)
Rarity / attunement
Rare, requires attunement
Rare, requires attunement
Stealth
Advantage on Stealth checks
Same
Flight
Fly 40 ft in dim light or darkness, gripping the edges with both hands
Fly Speed 40 ft in Dim Light or Darkness, gripping the edges
Bat form
Use your action to cast polymorph, once per dawn
Cast Polymorph (normal casting time), once per dawn
Value
No price in the SRD
4,000 GP (rare)
The cloak itself barely changed: "with both hands" was dropped, and "use your action" became a plain casting of Polymorph, which still takes an action. The bigger change is the 2024 Polymorph spell, which keeps your own Hit Points and adds Temporary Hit Points equal to the beast's (1, for a bat) instead of swapping in the beast's. For bat form the result is nearly the same in both editions: the first hit ends it and the rest of the damage reaches you.
Is the Cloak of the Bat Worth It?
Yes, for a rogue, ranger or warlock in a campaign that spends a lot of time underground or at night. You get Stealth Advantage and a flying speed in the same slot. It's also good for any character who sees in the dark, because they can fly in conditions where they can still see.
It competes with other cloaks, because you can wear only one, and with other ways to fly:
Item
Rarity
Attunement
Flight
Cloak of the Bat
Rare
Yes
40 ft, dim light or darkness only, hands on the cloak
None, but adds Disadvantage on Perception to find you
The bat cloak's flight has no time limit, but it has the light condition and ties up both hands in 2014. A Broom of Flying works in daylight, and in 2014 it costs no attunement. A scout who cares more about not being found than about flying should pick Elvenkind.
When it's a trap: in a sunlit outdoor campaign, where the flight works only at night, and, under the 2014 rules, for spellcasters who need a free hand to cast while airborne.
Cloak of the Bat for DMs
Where it turns up. With creatures and people of the dark: a vampire's lair, a thieves' guild that works by night, a cave system full of swarms of bats.
What it changes. Vertical space in dungeons and night scenes. Pits, chasms and high windows stop being obstacles after dark. Bat form gets a character into places a cat couldn't reach, with full intelligence, for an hour.
The light rule at the table. Track light levels when the wearer is flying. Lit braziers, a sunrise or an enemy's Daylight spell are fair ways to end a flight, and the fall damage is part of the risk the item carries.
Pricing. 4,000 GP under the 2024 SRD for a rare item. The 2014 SRD has no prices. If you'd rather roll a different item for a night-themed hoard, the magic item generator can.
Hooks.
•A burglar has been entering a locked tower through its bell chamber, which is 80 feet up with no ladder. The tower's owner thinks it's a vampire. It's a woman in a Cloak of the Bat.
•The cloak hangs in a cave shrine where every torch has been snuffed out. The keeper wants a favor before she lights them for the party to leave.
If the party's scout flies ahead in bat form, Loreify records the session so their report is in the recap, not just someone's memory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Cloak of the Bat do in 5e?
It gives Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, a 40-foot Fly Speed while you hold its edges in dim light or darkness, and once per dawn lets you cast Polymorph on yourself to become a bat while keeping your Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
Does the Cloak of the Bat require attunement?
Yes. It's a rare wondrous item that requires attunement in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.
Can you fly with the Cloak of the Bat in daylight?
No. The flight only works in dim light or darkness, and you lose it as soon as you're in bright light, falling if you're in the air. Bat form is different: once you've transformed, the bat's own Fly Speed works in any light.
Do you need concentration for the Cloak of the Bat's bat form?
Yes. The cloak lets you cast Polymorph, and spells cast from items still require Concentration if the spell does. The form lasts up to 1 hour.
How much is a Cloak of the Bat worth?
4,000 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of any rare magic item. The 2014 SRD gives no price.
Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.