A spooky spectral hand appears out of nowhere next to the troll, delicately touching its shoulder. The troll grunts, hardly taking any notice. Little does it know that the hand is much more sinister than it could have imagined from its initial chilling touch…
Table of Contents
What is Chill Touch Spell?
The spell’s text from the Basic Rules reads: “You create a ghostly, skeletal hand in the space of a creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the creature to assail it with the chill of the grave. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 necrotic damage, and it can’t regain hit points until the start of your next turn. Until then, the hand clings to the target.
If you hit an undead target, it also has disadvantage on attack rolls against you until the end of your next turn. This spell’s damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).”
Chill Touch 5e Stats
| Level | Cantrip |
| Casting Time | 1 Action |
| Range/Area | 120 ft |
| Classes | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Components | Verbal, Somatic |
| Duration | 1 round |
| School | Necromancy |
| Attack/Save | Ranged |
| Damage/Effect | Necrotic |
How Does Chill Touch Work?
Chill Touch has a few exciting parts that careful reading can put to good use. It is a ranged attack, so if you try to use it on someone within melee range of you, you’ll have disadvantage on the attack. For the majority of Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Wizards, you should never be within the melee range of an opponent.
It stops a creature from regaining hit points (through innate or magical means) and gives undead creatures disadvantage on attack rolls against you.
Is Chill Touch a Good Spell?
Chill Touch is an excellent spell if you’re in a campaign or setting where your character will be running into hordes of the undead. The tertiary effect of giving undead creatures disadvantage on all attack rolls until the end of your next turn is particularly effective since there are so many undead creature types, and most use weapons.
Another way Chill Touch helps is the secondary effect: preventing the target from regaining hit points. If you’re fighting a monster like a troll, you’ll have to deal with its Regeneration feature. The feature allows the creature to automatically regain hit points at the start of its turn. Alternatively, the enemy may have a healer in the group.
Sorcerers can get a lot out of Chill Touch because it’s a cantrip, and they can use the Quickened Spell Metamagic option to allow them to cast it in addition to a leveled spell in the same turn.
Which Classes Can Use Chill Touch?
Chill Touch is on the Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard spell lists. Other classes can access it through feats like Spell Sniper or Magic Initiate.
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