Dominate Monster: Who’s the Real Monster?

Usable By: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Spell Level: 8

School: Enchantment

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 60 feet

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour

Components: V, S

You attempt to beguile a creature that you can see within range. It must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you for the duration. If you or creatures that are friendly to you are fighting it, it has advantage on the saving throw.

While the creature is charmed, you have a telepathic link with it as long as the two of you are on the same plane of existence. You can use this telepathic link to issue commands to the creature while you are conscious (no action required), which it does its best to obey. You can specify a simple and general course of action, such as “Attack that creature,” “Run over there,” or “Fetch that object.” If the creature completes the order and doesn’t receive further direction from you, it defends and preserves itself to the best of its ability.

You can use your action to take total and precise control of the target. Until the end of your next turn, the creature takes only the actions you choose, and doesn’t do anything that you don’t allow it to do. During this time, you can also cause the creature to use a reaction, but this requires you to use your own reaction as well.

Each time the target takes damage, it makes a new Wisdom saving throw against the spell. If the saving throw succeeds, the spell ends.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell with a 9th-level spell slot, the duration is concentration, up to 8 hours.

Review by Samuel West, Twitter: @CrierKobold

Why kill the giant evil beholder that has been a scourge in the kingdom when you can CONTROL the giant evil beholder? Dominate Monster is an iconic spell that puts the most powerful creatures without legendary resistance under your command to do with as you please!

Dominate Monster is a catch-all version of Dominate Person, and can be used to similar effect. Where you’ll get the most out of it is in short spans out of combat where you need a specific skill, ability, or knowledge base the dominated creature has. Take for example dominating a Pitt Fiend; if you manage to get it to fail with a +7 on its Charisma save, you’ve got a siege engine with infinite fireballs at your command. Yes, this could be turned on its allies in the heat of battle (also known as committing a war crime), but where it’ll shine brighter is as an intimidation tactic. It would be an awful shame if somebody just released this thing in the city, wouldn’t it?

Beyond blackmail, Dominate Monster can be a work around for when you can’t otherwise get access to specific magic. Did your cleric die in an unfortunate freak accident involving a pool of black pudding? Find yourself a deva, bend its mind to your will, and just like that you’ve got resurrection magic on hand. Need the ultimate forest infiltrator? Dominate a treant to become an imperceptible spy at your command to give you every juicy detail of the antagonizing elves’ rendezvous.

The downside of casting it combat, especially in higher level fights, becomes fairly moot. With magic items and other scaling DC options, your save DC should be reaching near 20. Plus, nearly all the monsters worth dominating are either going to require you burn through their legendary resistances or have magic resistance, usually both. The spell is majorly impactful when it hits, but it can be kind of a coin flip on the coolest creatures out there. Failing feels horrible, but that’s the price of magic this potent.

Dominate Monster is really evil; that works for some people, though. If your cool with your character ignoring the moral disaster that is mind control magic, Dominate Monster is pretty sweet, and will lead to some wild entrances and explosive moments.

5e Spells

Dominate Monster: Who’s the Real Monster?