Is the target able to complete the task they are being guided in within 1 minute? Can the caster discern, in the game world, that their or their ally’s skills are about to be tested? (With at least 6 seconds to spare!). Let’s create a little checklist on when you can and can’t benefit from casting guidance. (Starting to cast a spell in polite company is not dissimilar to drawing your sword). Starting to cast a spell in the middle of negotiations with a hostile party might be enough to trigger a ‘roll for initiative’ moment, while casting in a tavern, law court or King’s chamber is likely to be frowned on, if not enough to have one arrested. Furthermore, there’s the social limitations to consider. Guidance requires one to touch the target, and is also limited by concentration. So – unless it’s a question of ‘remembering’ something they already know – the cleric casting guidance before another party member tries to identify a plant or rune doesn’t really make sense). Similarly for Insight checks, and any knowledge checks (you either already had that knowledge or you didn’t… that was decided years ago, most likely. In other words, once the DM calls for a Perception check it’s too late to cast guidance. A cleric doesn’t know, for example, that the rustling in the bushes is going to occur at exactly 5:37pm and has therefore cast guidance on themselves at 5:36pm and 30 seconds. The caster should really have some in game stimulus that causes them to cast the spell. That already rules out a LOT of uses of guidance we often (incorrectly) see in play.īut then there’s another consideration. Given the spell’s 1 minute duration, it’s reasonable to assume guidance is designed to be used as a buff for completing those ‘instant’ challenges, such as jumping over a pit of molten lava, raising the portcullis, or performing a Medicine check to stabilise a dying creature. Certainly it doesn’t feel as helpful as simply ‘helping’ would be (see Working Together on p.175 of the Player’s Handbook), thereby conferring advantage on the rogue’s roll.

it’s far more likely to be an annoying distraction. The success of searching a room, using Investigation, isn’t decided in a moment, or even in a minute… it’s an ongoing task, and it’s hard to believe a cleric that follows the rogue around the sage’s library constantly tapping their shoulder is going to help them find the clue they’re looking for…. Once a fellow Dungeon Master noted that the cantrip’s 1 minute duration should really limit guidance to being used with skill checks that would take a minute or less to perform, the spell suddenly became a lot more balanced. Wow, a 1d4 bonus to every skill check the party makes outside of combat! That is crazy powerful! Warning: casting guidance every turn can lead to your cleric overheating.

Guidance dnd