The Magical Telegram: Sending 5e D&D Guide

The Bloodring Faction has just set you up for disaster. These bastards can do more than what your rogue has said. You have been too slow to see the danger and put the mayor in danger. 

The Captain is the only one who can tell the Captain what’s happening. Otherwise, the entire town could be set on fire.

Corellon, you didn’t waste your third-level spell slot. The Captain will give you a piece of copper and sentence the traitors. 

The Captain promises that if they find traitors in the town, they will feel the wrath and your party will be rewarded.

You returned calmly knowing that everything would be fine.

Sending

The Player’s Handbook states that sending is a third-level spell. Casting takes 1 action, the range is unlimited, and lasts 1 round. 

The components are Verbal (Somatic), Material (A small piece of fine copper wire). This is how the effect looks:

You send a message of no more than twenty-five words to a creature you are familiar with. If it recognizes you as the sender, the creature will hear the message and respond in the same way. 

The D&D spell allows creatures with Intelligence scores of at least 1 to comprehend the message.

The message can be sent to any distance, even to other planes, but it is less likely that it will reach its intended target if they are on a different plane.

A Breakdown of the Spell’s Characteristics

Let’s take a look at the text and find out what this spell means to us. The 3rd level spell Sending will be available to spellcasters at the 5^th level. 

This level has some of the best spells in the game and the most powerful, fireball. These are the spells that this “Sending”, must compete with.

It is a quick way to send information, even in potentially dangerous situations like being chased or separated from a group. You can send a message of 25 words for the 1 round duration.

The range is the real star of the spell. The campaign will be moving into town-level problems at these levels. Perhaps unlimited range is too much?

As you build relationships with other people, you will get more out of it. It doesn’t matter how far you can reach the receptor, it’s unlimited.

He can also answer instantly. This is a world-changing fact, which we will discuss in more detail later in this article.

These components are verbal which means you must speak an incantation. However, a DM might allow the message to be used as a component.

Somatic means that you cannot cast it to request help or material if you’re not careful. It is interesting to note that the component is identical to the “message cantrip” component. This makes sense. They’re basically the same, but at different scales.

Their school is the other distinction between them. Sending is an evocation spell while a Message is one that can be used to transmute. 

It could be that the spell’s creators didn’t know where to place it. However, we trust the Forgotten Realms’ sages and will continue to use them.

The Evocation school spells work by changing the matter, while the Transmutation school spells work with energy flow. 

We can see that a Message is an audio message that only the receiver hears. Sending, on the other hand, sends energy to the target’s mind. 

These details have little to no mechanical implications, but they can be used to help one flavor his characters.

The Spell’s Effect

This is the most important part. What is the purpose of the spell? A short message is sent to a target you are familiar with. 

How familiar are you? It all depends on how the DM interprets it. You could also use this definition from other books. You can find a definition of Clairvoyance spells.

The Scrying spell gives a useful definition for “familiar”. It is “Familiar: you know the target well.” This definition contrasts with “Firsthand” which says that you have met the target. 

This means that you can rule that the character must have seen the target and should know its characteristics. 

You could, for example, use Sending to send the BBEG to a campaign participant you don’t know. The DM always decides.

The message is an energy-based magick and the receiver hears it in his brain and can respond. 

It is important to note that just because the creature recognizes you if you are familiar with it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it needs to know your name to reply.

Although it is strange that creatures with intelligence of 1 can understand you, the sentence has serious implications. This phrase gives you the opportunity to “Speak with Animals” at a very high price. 

Talk to a pet you have while out adventuring, and let him know that your caretaker is a fraud. The dog would understand. Only creatures that have at least 6 intelligence can answer you with anything resembling words.

This spell is especially useful at higher levels when you start to travel interplanetary. It’s amazing that the spell doesn’t restrict you to the plane in which you are traveling. 

DMs might find the 5% error a bit funny. You might not hesitate to use a third-level spell slot at higher levels just to make sure the message reaches its target.

Possible “Senders”

This spell can be found in the Bard and Cleric spell lists. Therefore, anyone in that class starting at the 5th level could use it. 

This spell is also available to anyone who looks into the spell lists. This spell is available at the 13^th level for Eldritch Knights or Arcane Tricksters. It is also available to Divine Soul Sorcerers at the 5^th level.

This spell is not only “stealing” from the spell lists but also appears in subclasses such as the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer (from Tasha’s) and the Great Old One Patron For Warlocks (both at the 5^th levels.

The Far Scribe Eldritch Incantation from Tasha’s is the best way to obtain this spell. The incantation gives your Pact of the Tome Warlock a phone with a few contacts. This is powerful enough to be a diplomat. We’ll get to this later in the article.

A magic item is another great way to get this spell. The Sending Stones are one of the most simple and effective magic items in the game.

The Uncommon magic item, a pair of stones that you can send from one to another once per day, is the Uncommon. 

This is a great item that you can give to (or get from!) an important NPC to keep in contact with. You can take this item as an artificer using the Replicate Magic Items infusion if your DM isn’t willing to give it.

Creative Thinking

Although sending is one of the spells with limited creative potential, it serves a specific purpose: It sends a message. 

Although this doesn’t really change based on the class you choose, you can change the flavor of the spell.

An Aberrant mind sorcerer might have his message delivered to him, while an Aberrant Cleric could fall prey to his deity.

A Bard could send his message while singing a lullaby and a Wizard could take from the Pact of the Tome warlock to write his messages on a page of the spellbook. 

You should always look for good flavors for your characters. This is what makes them feel alive and available to everyone at the table.

Remember that this spell doesn’t require the recipient to know you. If he does, you can make the message anonymous.

You could make someone’s sanity go a bit lower if he has a voice telling him things. This spell could be combined with other spells to make it even more creepy. 

A kenku can make a traumatic sound in someone’s ears, or someone with the actor feat might pass for someone else. This requires DM approval.

Is sending worth the slot?

Ok, so is this spell good enough? And, more importantly, is it worthwhile? It depends on what kind of campaign you are having. 

For example, a combat-focused campaign might benefit more from a fireball (grenade) than a telephone call (Sending), but other types of campaigns like political intrigues could use a method of communication that is almost impossible to track and intercept.

It allows for instantaneous travel, and interplanar options, and can even be used in an airplane.

However, it is important to remember the cost of the spell. You might end up losing a powerful asset because spell slots aren’t free. 

Keep in mind that your message should be no more than 25 words. If you don’t know how you can resume the idea, your DM may role-play the NPC to make it appear like they don’t understand what you are trying to communicate.

Is this a powerful spell? This spell could be compared to real-life technology such as Telegram. 

How powerful was the possibility to establish a nearly instantaneous communication link between two people?

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