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Charm Person vs Sleep

Two classic level-1 control spells with completely different limits.

Charm Person

Level
1
School
Enchantment
Casting Time
Action
Range
30 feet
Components
V, S
Duration
1 Hour
Concentration
No
Ritual
No
Classes
Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

One Humanoid you can see within range makes a Wisdom saving throw. It does so with Advantage if you or your allies are fighting it. On a failed save, the target has the Charmed condition until the spell ends or until you or your allies damage it. The Charmed creature is Friendly to you. When the spell ends, the target knows it was Charmed by you.

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Sleep

Level
1
School
Enchantment
Casting Time
Action
Range
60 feet
Components
V, S, M
Duration
up to 1 Minute
Concentration
Yes
Ritual
No
Classes
Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard

Each creature of your choice in a 5-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point within range must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or have the Incapacitated condition until the end of its next turn, at which point it must repeat the save. If the target fails the second save, the target has the Unconscious condition for the duration. The spell ends on a target if it takes damage or s

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Which one should you pick?

  • Pick Charm Person: Pick Charm Person when you need one humanoid to talk politely; the target knows it was charmed afterwards.
  • Pick Sleep: Pick Sleep against weak mooks at very low levels — 5d8 HP of creatures fall unconscious automatically.
  • Tiebreaker: Sleep falls off hard past tier 1; Charm Person scales out of combat through every tier.

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