D&D ThatOneDude’s D&D Forge Open the builder
Gentle Repose spell icon: a coffin
Icon by Lorc, CC BY 3.0

Gentle Repose 5e spell

2nd-level necromancy (ritual) · 2024 version below

Casting time
1 action (ritual)
Range
Touch
Components
V, S, M (A pinch of salt and one copper piece placed on each of the corpse's eyes, which must remain there for the duration)
Duration
10 days
School
Necromancy
Level
2

You touch a corpse or other remains. For the duration, the target is protected from decay and can't become undead.

The spell also effectively extends the time limit on raising the target from the dead, since days spent under the influence of this spell don't count against the time limit of spells such as raise dead.

Classes that can cast Gentle Repose

ClassFirst availableSpellcasting ability
Cleric spells3rd character levelWisdom
Wizard spells3rd character levelIntelligence

Gentle Repose in the 2024 rules

The 2024 Player’s Handbook revised many spells, and the SRD 5.2 carries the new text. What changed from the 2014 version above:

Casting time
Action or Ritual
Range
Touch
Components
V, S, M (2 Copper Pieces, which the spell consumes)
Duration
10 days
School
Necromancy
Level
2
Classes
Cleric, Paladin, Wizard
Tags
ritual

You touch a corpse or other remains. For the duration, the target is protected from decay and can't become Undead.

The spell also effectively extends the time limit on raising the target from the dead, since days spent under the influence of this spell don't count against the time limit of spells such as Raise Dead.

2024 version from the SRD 5.2. Most tables settle on one edition, so check which one yours uses.

Other 2nd-level necromancy spells

Browse: all 2nd-level spells · necromancy spells · ritual spells