Suggestion is a 2nd-level enchantment spell for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. You suggest a reasonable-sounding course of action (a sentence or two) to a creature within 30 feet that can hear and understand you. On a failed Wisdom save, it carries out the suggestion for up to 8 hours (concentration). Obviously harmful suggestions don't work, and the spell ends if you or your companions damage the target.
Suggestion is a 2nd-level enchantment spell that makes a creature follow a short instruction. Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards can cast it from 3rd level.
It is one of the most flexible spells in the game, because the effect is whatever you can phrase reasonably. A guard can be convinced to take a long break. A rival can be talked into leaving town. A bandit leader can be persuaded to call off the ambush. The spell can last up to 8 hours, longer than almost any other 2nd-level effect.
Three limits shape every use. The target must hear and understand you, so a shared language matters. The suggestion must sound reasonable and can't be obviously harmful to the target. And damage from you or your companions ends it at once. What counts as "reasonable" is up to the DM, so good wording matters as much as the save.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Level | 2 |
| School | Enchantment |
| Casting Time | 1 action |
| Range | 30 feet |
| Components | V, M |
| Material | A snake's tongue and either a bit of honeycomb or a drop of sweet oil. |
| Duration | Up to 8 hours |
| Concentration | Yes |
| Ritual | No |
| Save/Attack | WIS |
| Classes | Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Metric | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Slot Efficiency | Excellent. One 2nd-level slot can bypass a whole encounter. |
| Action Economy | One action. The effect can last for hours. |
| Opportunity Cost | Concentration for as long as you need the effect. |
When worth the slot: Avoiding a fight, getting past a guard, getting information or an item, or removing one enemy from a fight.
When NOT worth the slot: Against targets who can't understand you or can't be charmed, or when the party is about to start a fight anyway.
Suggestion gains nothing from a higher-level slot. For more targets, the 6th-level Mass Suggestion affects up to twelve creatures for 24 hours without concentration.
Why it works: The spell says the course of action must sound reasonable. A suggestion that fits what the target already wants is easy for a DM to accept.
This avoids the mistake of: Asking for something the DM will rule as unreasonable.
Why it works: In the 2014 rules, you can set a condition that triggers a special action during the duration. For example: "When the captain returns, tell him the prisoners escaped east." If the condition is not met before the spell ends, the action doesn't happen. The 2024 text drops this trigger clause, so check which version your table uses.
This avoids the mistake of: Thinking the suggestion has to happen right away.
Why it works: A suggestion like "This fight isn't worth your life. Drop your weapon and go home." can remove one enemy. It must not be obviously harmful, and nobody on your side can damage that creature afterward.
This avoids the mistake of: Treating Suggestion as an out-of-combat spell only.
Why it works: Suggestion has a verbal and material component but no somatic component. In the 2014 rules, a sorcerer's Subtle Spell removes the verbal component. The material is still needed, but a component pouch covers it.
This avoids the mistake of: Casting openly in front of guards who will notice someone chanting a spell.
Why it's bad: Asking the creature to stab itself, throw itself on a spear, set itself on fire, or do some other obviously harmful act ends the spell.
Do this instead: Phrase it so the outcome serves you without directly harming the target.
Why it's bad: If you or any of your companions damage the target, the spell ends.
Do this instead: Leave the target alone, or plan to finish the job before the target can act.
Why it's bad: The target must be able to hear and understand you. A creature that speaks only Giant does not follow a suggestion in Common.
Do this instead: Check which languages the target knows. Comprehend Languages lets you understand others, but it does not let them understand you.
Why it's bad: Command is the one-word spell. Suggestion lets you describe a full course of action in a sentence or two.
Do this instead: Use the extra words to set context and a goal, plus a trigger if you play the 2014 rules.
The 2024 Player's Handbook keeps Suggestion as a 2nd-level enchantment spell for Bards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards. It still has a 30-foot range, a Wisdom save, verbal and material components, and concentration up to 8 hours.
Several details changed. The suggestion is now limited to 25 words. It must sound achievable and must not involve anything that would obviously deal damage to the target or its allies. That rules out "attack your friends" outright, which the 2014 text left to the DM. The 2014 option to set a trigger for a later action is gone.
The 2024 version also uses the Charmed condition. On a failed save the target has the Charmed condition for the duration or until you or your allies deal damage to it. Effects that protect against the Charmed condition now clearly apply. The material component is now a drop of honey. Fiend warlocks in the 2024 rules always have Suggestion prepared from warlock level 3.
You speak a short, reasonable-sounding course of action to a creature within 30 feet that can hear and understand you. It makes a Wisdom save. On a failure it follows the suggestion for up to 8 hours while you concentrate, or until it finishes the task.
A good suggestion sounds reasonable from the target's point of view and serves your goal without obviously harming it. For example, telling a guard that his shift is over and he should go home. What counts as reasonable is the DM's call.
The 2014 spell text doesn't say, so it is up to the DM. Unlike Charm Person, Suggestion does not state that the target knows it was charmed when the spell ends. The 2024 version gives the target the Charmed condition while it lasts but also does not say it realizes this afterward.
In the 2014 rules it is up to the DM, since the spell only bans actions that are obviously harmful to the target. In the 2024 rules, no. The suggestion can't involve anything that would obviously deal damage to the target or its allies.
Yes. You can suggest that an enemy leave, drop its weapon, or go guard another spot. The spell ends if you or your allies damage it, so the party has to leave that creature alone.
Yes. It lasts up to 8 hours with concentration. If your concentration breaks, the target stops following the suggestion.
No. The target must be able to hear and understand you. If it doesn't know any language you speak, the spell has no effect on it.
Command is a 1st-level spell with a one-word order that lasts one round. Charm Person makes a humanoid friendly for up to an hour but doesn't force it to act. Suggestion makes a creature of any type carry out a specific plan for up to 8 hours, if it can understand you and can be charmed.
Citations: SRD 5.1 (2014 rules), SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules)
Includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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