1st-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a morsel of food)
Duration: 24 hours
This spell lets you convince a beast that you mean it no harm. Choose a beast that you can see within range. It must see and hear you. If the beast's Intelligence is 4 or higher, the spell fails. Otherwise, the beast must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you for the spell's duration. If you or one of your companions harms the target, the spell ends.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you can affect one additional beast for each slot level above 1st.
All information about Animal Friendship 5e comes from the DnD Player's Handbook.
The following classes gain access to casting Acid Splash 5e as part of their normal class spell availability:
Animal Friendship 5e is probably a mid-tier spell in terms of overall value, at best. Charming animals like bears or wolves may have some value, though if you face something like an owlbear, the spell's value - if it succeeds - increases quite a bit.
As with so many other spells in D&D 5e, the main problem with spells like Animal Friendship 5e is that at least half of the spell's overall value likely comes from roleplay encounters. If you happen to adventure into a forest with powerful animals, or can charm animals to help you find important things in your adventure, etc. then Animal Friendship may be an amazing spell. However, if you don't come across animals, your 1st-level spell slot is almost certainly better spent with a damage or healing spell of some kind, such as hellish rebuke 5e or cure wounds 5e.
The main thing to keep in mind is that spell usefulness is mainly based on the adventure your group is currently facing, and your dungeon master's use of encounters. Most 5e groups get into a lot of combat encounters, which is why more heavily roleplay-based spells like animal friendship aren't often as valuable as primarily combat-based spells.
When it comes to combat, the more time you can buy yourself to charm animals, the more likely you are to turn the combat encounter into just a host of benign animal friends. You can use spells like mage armor 5e and haste 5e to increase your AC against enemy attacks, while using cause fear 5e and charm person 5e to keep any non-animal enemies away from you.
Basically, if you just stay alive long enough, assuming you have enough spell slots, you should be able to successfully use animal friendship on just about any animal who attacks you. The spell requires a successful Wisdom save to resist, after all - which, of course, most animals are not very good at succeeding with.
In probably 99.9% of cases, animals (and their companions) have no way of removing an animal friendship 5e effect. Imagine a pack of wolves - they aren't going to cast silence 5e on you, naturally. Also, though the charm effect from animal friendship breaks if you or one of your companions attacks the charmed animal, technically, that effect does not break if an ally attacks the charmed target. That is to say, one wolf can't give another wolf a gentle nibble to free them of the charm effect.
So, with no dispel magic effects or magical counters at hand, a charmed animal (and its animal friends) are pretty much helpless against the animal friendship 5e spell.
The only counter you may have to watch out for is if you use animal friendship 5e on an enemy ranger or druid's animal companion, as they may have some magical effects of their own that they can use to counter your spell.
Eternity TTRPG has its own independent TTRPG known by the same name: the Eternity TTRPG Game System. In Eternity TTRPG, spells are not classified into primarily combat-based spells or roleplay-based spells, as they often are in D&D 5e. Instead, any spell or ability from any class may be used in a roleplay situation as players deem that the effect "fits." Furthermore, spells and abilities may be used creatively, with no "set" way for them to be used, by definition.
The only restrictions on roleplay use of spells and abilities is that the creative use of it may not be more "powerful" than it would be in combat (in a direct way), or the effect must roughly match the spell's name or original intended use.
Below is one spell, as an example, that could be an Eternity TTRPG Game System equivalent for the animal friendship 5e spell.
Spirit Animal: you summon an animal companion with 1HP and Stats otherwise the same as the druid’s, except with -5Resilience, -5Dodge, and -5Will. On “Spirit Animal’s” turn, choose an enemy in 1Range, and roll d20. If you roll 18-20, “Spirit Animal” attacks, automatically dealing 1damage. “Spirit Animal” may also use “Charge” (see Chapter 14, “Additional Actions” - you may use Faith vs. Resilience to do so, if you so choose), but doing so reduces the druid’s Wisdom. “Spirit Animal” acts on the same turn as the druid.
“Spirit Animal” always has the same Stats as the druid, whether from level increases, buffs, or
debuffs. If the druid receives a debuff, it also affects the “Spirit Animal.” However, “Spirit Animal” is immune to both Wisdom damage and debuffs that cause recurring damage.
It takes 15minutes to summon/ tame a “Spirit Animal,” so a new “Spirit Animal” cannot be
created during Combat. You can only have one “Spirit Animal” active at a time. You continually maintain “Spirit Animal” for 3Inspiration.
(Dazed):
while you are Dazed, “Spirit Animal” is also Dazed.
A player could make the case that their spirit animal could communicate with other animals - at least those that are of their same animal species. Then, assuming the interaction went well, perhaps the spirit animal could convince, charm, or lead another animal so that it was essentially "charmed," with a similar end result to the animal friendship 5e spell. This is just one example of how a spell from Eternity TTRPG, though its "combat effect" is far different, could easily be used for roleplay purposes.
Curious to learn more? Check out the
Eternity TTRPG Core Game!
Spirit Animal: you summon an animal companion with 1HP and Stats otherwise the same as the druid’s, except with -5Resilience, -5Dodge, and -5Will. On “Spirit Animal’s” turn, choose an enemy in 1Range, and roll d20. If you roll 18-20, “Spirit Animal” attacks, automatically dealing 1damage. “Spirit Animal” may also use “Charge” (see Chapter 14, “Additional Actions” - you may use Faith vs. Resilience to do so, if you so choose), but doing so reduces the druid’s Wisdom. “Spirit Animal” acts on the same turn as the druid.
“Spirit Animal” always has the same
Stats as the druid, whether from level increases, buffs, or debuffs. If the druid
receives a debuff, it also affects the “Spirit Animal.” However, “Spirit Animal” is immune to both Wisdom damage and debuffs that cause recurring damage.
It takes 15minutes to summon/ tame a
“Spirit Animal,” so a new “Spirit Animal” cannot be created during Combat. You
can only have one “Spirit Animal” active at a time. You continually maintain “Spirit Animal” for 3Inspiration.
(Dazed):
while you are Dazed, “Spirit Animal” is also Dazed.
A player could make the case that their spirit animal could communicate with other animals - at least those that are of their same animal species. Then, assuming the interaction went well, perhaps the spirit animal could convince, charm, or lead another animal so that it was essentially "charmed," with a similar end result to the animal friendship 5e spell. This is just one example of how a spell from Eternity TTRPG, though its "combat effect" is far different, could easily be used for roleplay purposes.
Curious to learn more? Check out the
Eternity TTRPG Core Game!
Spirit Animal: you summon an animal companion with 1HP and Stats otherwise the same as the druid’s, except with -5Resilience, -5Dodge, and -5Will. On “Spirit Animal’s” turn, choose an enemy in 1Range, and roll d20. If you roll 18-20, “Spirit Animal” attacks, automatically dealing 1damage. “Spirit Animal” may also use “Charge” (see Chapter 14, “Additional Actions” - you may use Faith vs. Resilience to do so, if you so choose), but doing so reduces the druid’s Wisdom. “Spirit Animal” acts on the same turn as the druid.
“Spirit Animal” always has the same Stats as the druid, whether from level increases, buffs, or debuffs. If the druid
receives a debuff, it also affects the “Spirit Animal.” However, “Spirit Animal” is immune to both Wisdom damage and debuffs that cause recurring damage.
It takes 15minutes to summon/ tame a “Spirit Animal,” so a new “Spirit Animal” cannot be created during Combat. You
can only have one “Spirit Animal” active at a time. You continually maintain “Spirit Animal” for 3Inspiration.
(Dazed):
while you are Dazed, “Spirit Animal” is also Dazed.
A player could make the case that their spirit animal could communicate with other animals - at least those that are of their same animal species. Then, assuming the interaction went well, perhaps the spirit animal could convince, charm, or lead another animal so that it was essentially "charmed," with a similar end result to the animal friendship 5e spell. This is just one example of how a spell from Eternity TTRPG, though its "combat effect" is far different, could easily be used for roleplay purposes.
Curious to learn more? Check out the
Eternity TTRPG Core Game!
Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed this article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.
I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.
If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.
Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed my article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.
I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.
If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.
I may receive commissions when you click links I provide within articles and make purchases. However, this does not impact my reviews. I try my best to simply provide great content and ideas, for you.
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Eternity TTRPG offers unofficial fan content for major TTRPGs and the companies that own them, in addition to my own game.
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We may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. We try our best to simply provide great content and ideas, for you.
As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Eternity TTRPG offers unofficial fan content for major TTRPGs and the companies that own them, in addition to our own games.