Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Enchantment Spells by a Factor of Three

I’m continuing with a look at homebrew spells for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons this week by checking out the enchantment spells over at D&D Beyond while on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted studied the homebrew Arcane Traditions for 5E D&D wizards. We get a kick out of checking out the 5E D&D content folks come up with and sharing their homebrew creations. (There’s lots of these posts whether for homebrew subclasses, magic items, spells, feats and more floating around for the curious.) There’s currently over 7,380 homebrew enchantment spells at DDB, so let’s get into it.

Enchantment spells at D&D Beyond

Before getting started it’s important to note you can create homebrew content for private use and share your homebrew content publicly at DDB at no cost — there’s no subscription required to access these services. However if you want to add any of the homebrew enchantment spells mentioned below or any other homebrew content you come across to your 5E D&D collection you must subscribe at the Hero Tier or above. There’s a lot you can do at DDB for free. Check out what you can do here.

The DDB homebrew collection uses several statistics to track entries. Views shows how many eyeballs any particular homebrew creation received, Adds shows the number of times a creation was added to someone’s collection and Rating is an upvote/downvote system. Since there are over 7,380 enchantment spells in the collection I’m going to share the top 10 highest rated, most viewed and most added selections and to see what’s out there along with any crossover between these three lists.

Top 10 highest rating enchantment spells

1. Aaaargh!? (1st level). Off to a great start with a low level spell useful in combat for a one round hiccup against an enemy spellcaster or out of combat for limitless shenanigans.
2. Power Word Yeet (9th level). I love a good power word. I don’t know for certain if this compares to other spells of this highest level in terms of damage but when it comes to spectacle it gets my nod.
3. Flash Mob (9th level). I thought this sounded familiar and turns out it appears with the Top 10 Summoning Spells too. There’s a lot going on here and I’m digging it. Keep this spell going long enough and the mob swells to outrageous proportions.
4. Aaaargh!? (Revision) (2nd level). Looks like the creator got a lot of feedback on the original currently sitting at No. 1 on this list. I thought it was okay but this version does add a bit and the language is cleaned up nicely as well.
5. Lavorre’s Zone of Truth or Dare (2nd level). An excellent spell inspired by Critical Role’s Jester from the Mighty Nein. A one-off zone of truth/command against a single target is a fantastic concept.
6. Most Vicious Mockery (7th level). I like the concept of this personalized insult, which haunts the victim for an entire year, but it requires more than mechanics to be effective so it’s going to be very specialized for a particular sort of player and group.
7. Wardrobe Malfunction (cantrip). This needs some sort of limitation to avoid horrible abuse in a cringey way.
8. Arcane Anchor (5th level). Weaker than hold person except in a niche case against an adversaries who can teleport each other seems like a wasted choice. I’m really surprised this is rated so highly. What am I missing here?
9. Aron (1st level). My guess is this spell aims to evoke the Key & Peele Substitute Teacher sketch but it drops the ball in the humor, usefulness and mechanics departments.
10. Battle Balad (3rd level). Ballad is spelled correctly in the description so…lazy creator? They get a pass from me though since this reminds me of bards from 3.5 D&D and I always loved keeping the buff songs going for the group. If I gotta do it by casting a spell in 5E D&D so be it.

Top 10 most viewed enchantment spells

1. Aaaargh!? (1st level).
2. Lavorre’s Zone of Truth or Dare (2nd level).
3. Power Word Yeet (9th level).
4. Turn Undead (5th level). Not gonna lie I figured this spell would transform the caster into an undead creature, which would have been cool as heck. Instead if I interpret the incredibly noodly language correctly this enchants a weapon with the Channel Divinity: Turn Undead feature so every time it hits the creature struck is turned. Which is ridiculous. Next!
5. Aenuther’s Overpowered Arcana (1st level). This seems highly abusable as a way to essentially turn lower level spell slots into higher level ones and I’m not about this.
6. Blood Contract (9th level). Basically a souped up geas for multiple people with indefinite duration and more damage for violating the terms.
7. Flash Mob (9th level).
8. Wardrobe Malfunction (cantrip).
9. Curse of the Sparkling Fairy (2nd level). Conceptually this is a fun idea for a variety of potential mischievous magical effects. But the long duration coupled with the overly debilitating possibilities feels like too much without concentration or some other fairly easy means for the victim to shake off the effect.
10. Aaaargh!? (Revision) (2nd level).

Top 10 most added enchantment spells

1. Aaaargh!? (1st level).
2. Power Word Yeet (9th level).
3. Arcane Anchor (5th level).
4. Lavorre’s Zone of Truth or Dare (2nd level).
5. Wardrobe Malfunction (cantrip).
6. Flash Mob (9th level).
7. Time Loop (3rd level). I run across homebrew content with the “(Intended for use with the Chronomancer subclass)” caveat pretty often and the stuff is hit or miss. This one was saved from being harshly judged by me because of the way in which subsequent saving throws work, which is an acceptable balance.
8. Battle Balad (3rd level).
9. Aaaargh!? (Revision) (2nd level).
10. Enchant Arrow (1st level). A cleverly designed spell for adding some magical panache to bow or crossbow attacks through a variety of possible extras on a successful hit.

Enchantment spells rising to the top

The 16 spells spread across these three lists run the gamut from cantrips to cause minor inconveniences to mighty magics capable of causing unprecedented dance parties and flinging adversaries into the stratosphere. One standout observation I’ve got regarding this collection of spells is the unusual frequency of messy mechanical language. I suppose this is somewhat reasonable due to the nature of enchantment spells, which can often create intimate connections.

A relatively tame cantrip taking the top spot in all three categories is encouraging to see. A new power word spell always tickles me too. Casting a spell to mime the signature feature of earlier edition bards looks like a lot of fun and another spell to simulate the gimmick of Deepwood Snipers from D&D’s past is also very cool. But of all these spells I’ve got to put Lavorre’s Zone of Truth or Dare at the top of my list. My huge admiration of Laura Bailey and her Jester character aside it’s simply an excellently designed spell any caster can be satisfied keeping prepared.

5E D&D spell resources

I mention our own forays into homebrew content creation for 5E D&D several times to plant the seed in your mind. Now you’re wondering, “What kind of homebrew content do you create, Nerdarchy? I’m extremely interested!” In addition to the monthly rewards our Patreon supporters receive we’ve presented tons of material in our videos and right here at Nerdarchy the Website ready to drop right into your games too. Another place we frequently create new content for Dungeon Masters and players to drop right into games is Nerdarchy the Newsletter and you’ll also get several gifts including $9.99 in store credit so you can add whatever you like there to your own collection when you sign up. Over the years we’ve scribed over 60 new spells of our own. Here’s some places where you’ll find these spells along with other spell related stuff we’ve shared.

• Make 5E D&D Spells Your Own with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
• Play Your Next 5E D&D Game with Snakes on the Brain and Cast More Snake Magic Spells
• Play Your Next 5E D&D Game with Snakes on the Brain and Cast Snake Magic Spells
• Top 10 5E D&D Homebrew Force Spells by a Factor of Three
• Top 10 5E D&D Summoning Spells by a Factor of Three
• Uphold your Sacred Oath Through Paladin Oath Spells
• Beardomancy (11 new spells)
  • Beard Growth, Beard Servant, Beard Whip, Beardgury, Beardskin, Conjure Hirsute Horror, Feard, Guardian of Face, Power Word Beard, Hairotte, Transport Via Beard
• Friend of Foe Vol. 1 (1 new spell)
  • Withered Thorn Whip
• Lost Lore Vol. 1 (3 new spells)
  • Wood Warp, Swords to Sorrows, Sticks to Snakes
• Lost Lore Vol. 2 (7 new spells)
  • Spider Bite, Pack of Spiders, Nest of Spiders, Rampage of Spiders, Spectral Spider Servant, Spider Plague, Hail of Crystal Spiders
• Gaze of the Void Eye (6 new spells)
  • Darksight, Shadowstep, Darklight, Shadowtrap, Darkling’s Hand, Silhouette
• Winter Court Soiree (7 new spells)
  • Solstice Cheer, Virgin Snow, Icespike, Grasp of Winter, Cloak of Rime, Find Sleigh, Winter’s Nightmare
• Hairable Ideas (12 new spells)
  • Animate Moustache, Blessing of Samson, Cloister of Combs, Enhance Style, Friendship Bracelet, Hairball, Haircut, Hair Whip, Rain of Quills, Rapunzel’s Curse, Shroud of Hair, Sun Wukong’s Magic Hairs
• Bad Hair Day (3 new spells)
  • Godiva’s Ride, Ordo’s Binding Beard, Ordo’s Resilient Beard, Wild Web
• Chained One’s Animus (10 new spells)
  • Venomous Blade, Heart of the Pack, Creeping Fungus, Shroud of Thorns, Cloud of Spores, Root, Thorned Oath, Chained Oath, Warped Oath, Barbed Shield

*Featured image — Enchantment is a core card type in Magic: The Gathering and Send to Sleep from the Magic Origins expansion wonderfully captures the enchanting power of one of D&D’s most iconic magical effects — the sleep spell. In 5E D&D enchantment spells affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior. [Art by Cynthia Sheppard]

New videos every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel here