Teleport — Complete D&D 5e Spell Guide

Table of Contents

• •Quick Answer
• •Overview
• •Stat Block
• •When NOT to Use This
• •Spell Slot Efficiency
• •Pro Tips
• •Common Mistakes to Avoid
• •Usage Tips
• •Rules Notes
• •Synergies
• •Anti-Patterns
• •Tactical Modules
• •Countermeasures
• •The Teleport Table
• •Teleport in the 2024 Rules
• •Related Guides and Tools
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer

Teleport is a 7th-level conjuration spell for Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards. As an action, it instantly moves you and up to eight willing creatures within 10 feet, or one object, to a destination you know on the same plane. There is no distance limit. How well you know the destination decides the result: the GM rolls d100 on a table that ranges from a guaranteed arrival to a mishap that deals 3d10 force damage and sends you somewhere else.

Overview

Teleport is a 7th-level conjuration spell that crosses any distance on your current plane in one action. Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards can cast it from 13th level. It carries the whole party, up to nine creatures counting you, and it is the standard way to travel long distances at high level.

The risk is the table. A permanent teleportation circle you know, or an object taken from the destination within the last six months, guarantees arrival. Anywhere else, there is a chance to arrive off target, at a similar place, or in a mishap. Even a place you know very well has a 5% mishap chance on each roll. A place you only heard described has a 43% chance.

The spell rewards preparation. Learn circle sigils, collect objects from places you will want to return to, and avoid teleporting to places you have only seen once.

Stat Block

When NOT to Use This

• •To reach another plane. The destination must be on your current plane of existence.
• •To move a short distance in combat. Dimension Door or Misty Step does that with no table roll.
• •To a place you only heard about, unless the party can take damage and a detour. The mishap chance is 43% per roll.
• •When an enemy is holding the object you want to send. An object carried by an unwilling creature cannot be targeted.

Spell Slot Efficiency

When worth the slot: Long-distance travel, escaping a lost fight, or delivering the party right to a known stronghold.

When NOT worth the slot: Short trips you can walk, or destinations you know so poorly that a mishap is likely.

Pro Tips

Tip #1: Collect associated objects.

Why it works: An object taken from the destination within the last six months guarantees an on-target arrival. A book from a library or a stone from a tomb is enough.

This avoids the mistake of: Rolling on the table for places you could have locked in.

Tip #2: Learn teleportation circle sigils.

Why it works: A permanent teleportation circle whose sigil sequence you know is also a guaranteed arrival. The Teleportation Circle spell notes that many major temples, guildhalls, and other important places have permanent circles, though where they exist in your world is up to the DM.

This avoids the mistake of: Treating every trip as a gamble.

Tip #3: Keep a home base "very familiar."

Why it works: A place you have visited often or studied carefully is "very familiar," with a 76% on-target chance on the first roll and only a 5% mishap chance.

This avoids the mistake of: Spreading your travel across many places you know only casually.

Tip #4: Use it as an escape.

Why it works: The casting time is one action, and the spell carries eight willing creatures within 10 feet. If the party is clustered, one action gets everyone out.

This avoids the mistake of: Fighting to the last when a known safe destination is one action away.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Assuming the caster's line of sight sets the range.

Why it's bad: The 10-foot range is for the creatures and object you take with you. The destination can be any distance away on the same plane.

Do this instead: Gather the party within 10 feet, and pick any destination you know.

Thinking a place you can see is a guaranteed arrival.

Why it's bad: A place you can see when you cast the spell counts as "very familiar." That still has a 5% mishap chance and only 76% on target per roll.

Do this instead: Use Dimension Door for a short visible jump without the table.

Forgetting mishaps can repeat.

Why it's bad: After a mishap, the GM rerolls on the table, and another mishap means another 3d10 force damage to each traveler.

Do this instead: Make sure the party has hit points to spare before teleporting to a poorly known place.

Teleporting to a place that may no longer exist.

Why it's bad: A destination that was destroyed, or one you only saw through an illusion, is a "false destination." It has a 50% mishap chance and never arrives on target.

Do this instead: Scout or confirm the destination first with divination magic.

Usage Tips

• •Worked example, mishaps: each mishap deals 3d10 force damage, 16.5 on average, to every traveler. Because mishaps cause a reroll, the expected number of mishaps is p ÷ (1 − p), where p is the row's mishap chance.
• •Very familiar (5%): about 0.05 mishaps per trip, or about 0.9 expected damage per traveler. After any rerolls, you end on target about 80% of the time (76 ÷ 95).
• •Seen casually (33%): about 0.49 mishaps per trip, or about 8 expected damage per traveler. You end on target about 70% of the time (47 ÷ 67).
• •Viewed once or description (43%): about 0.75 mishaps per trip, or about 12 expected damage per traveler. You end on target only about 47% of the time (27 ÷ 57).
• •Off target (2014): you land 1d10 × 1d10 percent of the distance away. That averages 5.5 × 5.5 = 30.25%. On a 120-mile trip, that is about 36 miles off on average, in a random direction rolled on a d8.
• •Roll the mishap damage yourself in the dice roller, or track party hit points with the HP calculator.

Rules Notes

• •You can take yourself and up to eight willing creatures you can see within 10 feet, or one object you can see within 10 feet.
• •In 2014, the object must fit inside a 10-foot cube, and it cannot be held or carried by an unwilling creature.
• •The destination must be known to you and on the same plane of existence.
• •The GM rolls d100 and consults the familiarity table.
• •A mishap deals 3d10 force damage to each teleporting creature, or to the object, and the GM rolls again. Multiple mishaps can happen.
• •On a similar-area result, you arrive at a place that is visually or thematically similar, generally the closest one. In 2014, the text notes you could conceivably end up anywhere on the plane.
• •There is no benefit to casting it with a higher-level slot.

Synergies

• •Clairvoyance and other scrying: viewing a place once makes it "viewed once," which still has poor odds. Scouting to confirm a destination exists avoids the false-destination row. See the Clairvoyance guide.
• •Healing on arrival: a mishap hits every traveler, so keep a healer's slots in reserve when the destination is poorly known.
• •Dimension Door: the short-range, no-table option for combat. See the Dimension Door guide.

Anti-Patterns

• •Teleporting into an enemy fortress you have only seen described.
• •Teleporting the party mid-fight when half of them are more than 10 feet away.
• •Using Teleport for a trip a horse could make in an afternoon.

Tactical Modules

• •Home Anchor. When to use: Every campaign arc. Synergy: Keep an object from your base or learn its circle so retreat is guaranteed.
• •Emergency Exit. When to use: A fight is lost. Synergy: Gather everyone within 10 feet and leave in one action.
• •Strike Delivery. When to use: Attacking a known location. Synergy: An associated object from the target site makes the arrival certain.

Countermeasures

• •Threat: A mishap leaves the party hurt and lost — Response: Teleport only with enough hit points to absorb 3d10 per mishap. Fallback: Heal and use known landmarks to reorient.
• •Threat: Off-target arrival far from the goal — Response: Use associated objects or circles. Fallback: Recast with a second slot if you have one, or travel the remaining distance.
• •Threat: The destination changed or was an illusion — Response: Scout first. Fallback: Expect to land somewhere similar, then reassess.

The Teleport Table

In plain numbers: very familiar is 5% mishap, 8% similar area, 11% off target, and 76% on target. Seen casually is 33%, 10%, 10%, and 47%. Viewed once or description is 43%, 10%, 20%, and 27%.

"Very familiar" means a place you have been very often, a place you have carefully studied, or a place you can see when you cast the spell. "Seen casually" is a place you have seen more than once but do not know well. "Viewed once" is a place you have seen once, possibly using magic. "Description" is a place you know through someone else's description, perhaps from a map.

Teleport in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 version keeps the level, casting time, range, eight willing creatures, and same-plane limit. The table percentages are the same, but several details change:

• •"Associated object" is renamed "Linked object," with the same six-month rule.
• •"Viewed once" and "Description" merge into one row, "Viewed once or described." The odds were already identical.
• •Off target now means 2d12 miles from the destination, 13 miles on average, instead of a percentage of the distance traveled. A d8 still sets the direction.
• •Similar area: you appear in the closest similar place. The 2014 note about ending up anywhere on the plane is gone.
• •An object you send must be Large or smaller, instead of fitting in a 10-foot cube.

The 2024 change to off-target results matters most on long trips. A 1,000-mile trip in 2014 lands about 300 miles off on average when it goes off target. In 2024 it lands 2 to 24 miles away.

Related Guides and Tools

• •Dimension Door: short-range teleportation with no table.
• •Contingency and Clairvoyance: high-level wizard planning spells.
• •Plan overland trips you would rather not teleport with the travel time calculator.
• •Browse all spell guides.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Teleport work in 5e?

You and up to eight willing creatures within 10 feet, or one object, travel instantly to a destination you know on the same plane. The GM rolls d100 on the familiarity table to decide whether you arrive on target, off target, at a similar area, or in a mishap.

What are the odds of a Teleport mishap?

It depends on familiarity: 0% with a permanent circle or associated object, 5% for a very familiar place, 33% for a place seen casually, 43% for a place viewed once or described, and 50% for a false destination. Each mishap deals 3d10 force damage and forces a reroll.

Can you Teleport to another plane in 5e?

No. The destination must be on the same plane of existence as you. Plane Shift is the spell for travel between planes.

How many people can you take with Teleport?

You plus up to eight willing creatures that you can see within 10 feet, for nine creatures in total. Alternatively, you can target a single object instead of creatures.

Can you Teleport to a place you have never been?

Yes, if you know it through a description, but it is risky. A described place has a 43% mishap chance and only a 27% on-target chance on each roll.

What counts as an associated object for Teleport?

An object taken from the destination within the last six months, such as a book from a wizard's library or a piece of marble from a tomb. Possessing one guarantees an on-target arrival.

What changed with Teleport in the 2024 rules?

The table's odds are the same, but associated object became linked object, viewed once and description merged into one row, off-target results became 2d12 miles away instead of a percentage of the distance, and objects must be Large or smaller.

When can you cast Teleport in 5e?

It is a 7th-level spell, so Bards, Sorcerers, and Wizards can cast it from 13th level. Other classes need a feature that grants access to it.

Citations: api:spells/teleport; SRD 5.1; SRD 5.2.1

Includes SRD content per CC BY 4.0. Sources: dnd5eapi.co, System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1.