Investigator Spells

Investigator Spells

Investigators can add the following spells to their grimoires. Spells marked with an asterisk (*) are new to this class and spells marked with a dagger (†) are counted as if they had the ritual tag. This list is not exclusive; if you use additional ritual spells in your game that aren’t included on this list, you can add these spells to your grimoire and cast them as rituals.

1st Level

Alarm
Blood Print *
Clue *
Comprehend Languages
Consecrated Armor *
Detect Evil and Good †
Detect Magic
Detect Poison and Disease
Disguise Self †
Find Familiar
Floating Disk
Heroism †
Identify
Illusory Script
Memorize *
Purify Food and Drink
Rumor *
Speak with Animals
Transient Bulwark *
Unseen Servant

2nd Level

Animal Messenger
Arcane Lock †
Arcanist’s Magic Aura †
Augury
Gentle Repose
Knock †
Locate Animals or Plants
Locate Object †
Magic Mouth
Nondescript * †
Protect Threshold *
See Invisibility †
Silence
Spider Climb †
Zone of Truth †

3rd Level

After Image * †
Benign Dismemberment *
Clairvoyance †
Fly †
Magic Circle †
Meld into Stone
Phantom Steed
Remove Curse †
Séance * †
Sending †
Speak with Plants †
Water Breathing
Water Walk

4th Level

Divination
Locate Creature †
Private Sanctum †

5th Level

Commune
Commune with Nature
Dream †
Legend Lore †
Telepathic Bond

6th Level

Find the Path †
Forbiddance
Game of Fate †
Instant Summons

Spell Descriptions

The spells are presented in alphabetical order.

After Image

3rd-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a silver hand mirror worth 50 gp)
Duration: 10 minutes

You create an illusory duplicate of yourself which follows your every movement. When you are hit by an attack during the spell’s duration, roll any die. On an odd roll, the attack targets and hits the duplicate instead of you. The duplicate vanishes, reappearing after you move 10 feet or more or take the Dodge action. On an even roll, the attack targets you as normal.

Benign Dismemberment

3rd-level necromancy (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour

For the duration, a willing target’s body parts (fingers, legs, tail, and even its head) can be harmlessly severed from its body. It takes no damage from such dismemberment, as long as the cut removing the body part is swift and leaves a clean cut. The target’s head remains alive and conscious, and parts connected to it also remain alive. All severed body parts become inanimate, but do not begin decomposition for the spell’s duration. Any of the target’s severed body parts that are removed during this spell’s duration can be held back to the stump, which instantly causes the part to knit to the stump, restoring the body part.
At the end of the duration, severed body parts become permanently severed. The target dies if vital organs have not been reattached to its head.

Blood Print

1st-level necromancy (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (an ounce or more of blood)
Duration: Instantaneous

At your touch, wet blood on a surface shifts and reforms into a pattern of crimson blotches. This blood print is unique to the particular creature to whom the blood belongs, but you can determine the creature’s kind (such as human, gnoll, deer, or fire giant) by examining the general shape. A print can be preserved by pressing a sheet of paper against it. If this spell is cast twice, it is possible to match samples of blood originating from the same creature by comparing the prints.

Clue

1st-level divination (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a magnifying glass and pipe)
Duration: 10 minutes

When you cast this spell, all footprints and fingerprints within a 45-foot radius of a point you touch become highlighted and glow faintly for the duration. At the time of casting, choose any period of time up to the last 10 days to the present; only footprints and fingerprints left within that time will be highlighted. Each creature whose footprints or fingerprints are detected by the spell is assigned a unique color, but are not otherwise identified. Any creature that moves or touches objects in the area will also leave colorful footprints and fingerprints, which might reveal invisible creatures in the area.

Consecrated Armor

1st-level abjuration (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a drop of blessed oil)
Duration: 8 hours

You trace a holy symbol on your chest, and an invisible barrier protects you until the spell ends. Your base AC becomes 12 + your Dexterity modifier. If you are attacked by a Fiend or Undead, your AC becomes 15 + your Dexterity modifier against that attack. You can use your consecrated armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your consecrated armor.

Game of Fate

6th-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a gaming set)
Duration: 1 hour

You magically compel a creature within range to a nonmagical game with vital consequences. If the creature you choose has an Intelligence of 3 or lower, or doesn’t speak any language, the creature is unaffected. An unwilling creature can make a Wisdom saving throw to resist this effect. On a failed save, the creature is compelled to join you in the game. If the target takes damage or falls unconscious, this spell ends.
The loser of the game takes 6d6 psychic damage. If no player loses or has won by the end of the spell’s duration, both you and the target take this damage.
Additionally, you and the target creature can negotiate for greater stakes. You can bet higher psychic damage (up to a maximum of 10d6), property, or more esoteric rewards, such as bestowal of a noble title, on the game. The spell reveals if a creature attempts to bet property they do not own. A bet is finalized when you and the target agree on the bet, solidifying the bet with a handshake or similar gesture. Property or currency bet on the game is teleported to the winner at the game’s conclusion. The loser is also magically compelled to take any action (such as bestowing a title) promised as part of a bet. Lastly, no spell, magical effect, or creature other than you and the target can influence the game’s outcome

Memorize

1st-level enchantment (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a page of written text and a length of silver string worth 10 gp, tied in a knot, which the spell consumes)
Duration: Instantaneous

While casting this spell, your eyes pass over the words on the page, which are committed to your memory. For the next year, you exactly remember the details of all information on this page. After that time, you have advantage on all Intelligence checks you make to recall this information.

Nondescript

2nd-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

This spell makes you seem ordinary and nondescript to others, though it doesn’t change your actual appearance. Creatures who see you while you are under the influence of this spell are unable to recall specific details of your appearance upon being asked if they had seen you or someone matching your description, though their memory of actions you undertook or events they experienced is unaffected.

Protect Threshold

2nd-level abjuration (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (an ounce of salt for each foot of the warded portal’s perimeter)
Duration: 10 minutes

Tracing arcane sigils along its boundary, you can ward a doorway, window, or other portal from entry. For the duration, an invisible eldritch creature stalks the warded portal. Any creature that attempts to pass through the portal must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 4d6 psychic damage, or half as much on a successful save.
      At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd.

Rumor

1st-level enchantment (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (100-foot radius)
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute

You magically spread a rumor of 10 words or less. Any creature within range that is near three or more other creatures which speak the same language as them believes that they hear the rumor being repeated by someone nearby. Different creatures hear the rumor from different people, so a concrete origin point is impossible to discern. Generally, creatures won’t be outright hostile upon hearing even the most vicious rumors, but hearing a rumor can affect their disposition positively or negatively.

Séance

3rd-level necromancy
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a crystal ball, deck of tarot cards, or ouija board)
Duration: 1 minute

You and at least three willing creatures lock hands in a moment of meditation to conjure a spirit from the afterlife to answer your questions. Describe or name a creature that is familiar to you. If the creature’s soul is free and willing, it manifests as a ghostly specter. This spell fails if the spirit was the target of this spell within the last 10 days.
Until the spell ends, you can ask up to three questions of the specter. The specter knows only what it knew in life, including the languages it knew. Answers are usually brief, cryptic, or repetitive, and the specter is under no compulsion to offer a truthful answer if you are hostile to it or it recognizes you as an enemy. There is a 5% chance that this spell contacts the wrong spirit, one which will answer questions untruthfully or ambiguously.

Transient Bulwark

1st-level abjuration (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a pearl worth 10 gp, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 8 hours

The next attack made against you within the duration has a -10 penalty to hit.

Find more new spells in Valda’s Spire of Secrets!