Dancing Lights
Cantrip · Illusion
- Concentration
- AOE
Dancing Lights occupies the illusion school as a cantrip, available to bard, sorcerer, and wizard. Cast time: Action. Range 120 feet, components V/S/M, duration up to 1 minute. Material: a bit of phosphorus. Marked concentration. Effect: You create up to four torch-size lights within range, making them appear as torches, lanterns, or glowing orbs that hover for the duration.
Stat Block
- Level
- Cantrip
- School
- Illusion
- Casting Time
- Action
- Range / Area
- 120 feet
- Components
- V, S, M
- Duration
- up to 1 Minute
- Ritual
- No
- Concentration
- Yes
- Classes
- Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard
- Material
- a bit of phosphorus
Description
You create up to four torch-size lights within range, making them appear as torches, lanterns, or glowing orbs that hover for the duration. Alternatively, you combine the four lights into one glowing Medium form that is vaguely humanlike. Whichever form you choose, each light sheds Dim Light in a 10-foot radius. As a Bonus Action, you can move the lights up to 60 feet to a space within range. A light must be within 20 feet of another light created by this spell, and a light vanishes if it exceeds the spell's range.
5e (2014) vs 2024 changes
This spell has both a 5e (2014) and 2024 Player's Handbook version. Doungim shows the current 2024 stat block above. Differences between editions typically affect components, range, or scaling — check both source books for the table.
Doungim Lore
School Fit
The school of Illusion is the school of plausibility. A successful illusion is one the target's brain accepts; the spell does not pay the cost of disbelief. Dancing Lights is Illusion because the spell creates a perceptual fiction the target's senses report as real. The cantrip slot on Dancing Lights means the spell is always castable, regardless of remaining spell slots.
Class Fit
- Bard: For a Bard, Dancing Lights is best paired with another spell using the same target on the same turn — Bonus-Action plus Action layering is where the class wins fights. As a concentration spell, Dancing Lights occupies the caster's single concentration slot.
- Sorcerer: Draconic, Wild Magic, Aberrant Mind, Clockwork Soul, and Lunar Sorcerers each get subclass-bonus spells. If Dancing Lights is already on the bonus list, save the known-spell budget. Concentration on Dancing Lights forces the caster to choose between this spell and the next big concentration play.
- Wizard: The Wizard's daily prep list is the class's flexibility lever — every long rest is a chance to reconsider what Dancing Lights is doing on the sheet. The concentration tag on Dancing Lights means a single failed Constitution save can end the effect mid-encounter.
Tactical play (Doungim editorial)
Cantrip; four small lights you can move within 120 feet. Better than Light when you need to scout ahead or distract.
Related Spells
Frequently Asked Questions about Dancing Lights
- What level spell is Dancing Lights?
- The spell Dancing Lights is a cantrip in the Illusion school. Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard all have access to it.
- What is the range of Dancing Lights?
- Dancing Lights has a range of 120 feet from the caster.
- Is Dancing Lights a concentration spell?
- Dancing Lights is a concentration spell. Maximum duration is up to 1 minute. The caster can only maintain one concentration spell at a time, and damage forces a Con save to keep it active.
- What components and casting time does Dancing Lights need?
- The cast needs v, s, m. The other notable details — Material component: a bit of phosphorus.