Every spell cast in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
From Arcane Gate to Chaos Bolt.
Dungeons & Dragons movie Honor Among Thieves has finally hit cinema screens - and any D&D fan worth their salt has probably been keeping their eyes peeled when watching to try and spot all the spells used in the blockbuster film.
Well, allow Dicebreaker to save you a Perception roll! We’ve now watched the D&D film multiple times with a keen eye to put together a list of all 60 spells cast during Honor Among Thieves.
From classics like Prestidigitation and Firebolt to some more surprising pulls from D&D’s spell list, read on to discover every spell in Honor Among Thieves - and exactly when you can spot it during the movie.
As you’d expect, spoilers for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves follow!
1. Greater Invisibility
Early in the movie, we see Edgin’s daughter Kira using the necklace she was gifted by Holga to vanish using the spell Greater Invisibility.
2. Gust of Wind
Simon the Sorcerer uses the spell to blow away some guards pursuing the party in a flashback at the beginning of the film.
3. Chain Lightning
Sofina casts Chain Lighting on a group of guards attempting to capture them in the Harpers’ Temple.
4. Time Stop
Then, to stop those guards, Edgin and Holga in their tracks, Sofina casts Time Stop, a ninth-level spell! Sofina really is a powerful and dangerous wizard.
5. Counterspell
We’re counting Simon’s attempt to counterspell Sofina here. He says he’s not strong enough to stop it, which feels true to the source material. Using the rules of D&D 5E, when you’re trying to counter a spell you need to make a spellcasting modifier check equal to 10 plus the spell’s level. Time Stop is 9th-level, so Simon would need to get a 19 or higher. That’s a tall order.
6. Prestidigitation
Ooh, my tea is SCORCHING HOT! Looks like I need Sofina to cast Prestidigitation to cool it down! Well, maybe not the way she does it.
7. Transmute Rock
We found out that this spell was actually Transmute Rock via a fun behind-the-scenes clip from the film. Edgin and Holga are stopped in their tracks as they try to make their way to Forge and give him a piece of their mind (or a smack in the face). They are trapped in the ground and unable to budge.
8. Produce Flame
Now, we know this is a real flame and not an illusory one because Simon literally sparks an explosion with it later on. So we’re going to go with Produce Flame for the spell where Simon lights up his finger. It needs to be a cantrip as he’s casting another spell alongside it. It makes the most sense to us.
9. Prestidigitation
We have Prestidigitation used again to make the smell of Fresh Cut Grass during Simon’s show. Is this a sly reference to the character in Critical Role’s third campaign? If it is, let’s be glad it’s FCG and not another one of the original companions they had…
10. Minor Illusion
Seeing as Simon’s next trick also has to be a cantrip - and therefore it can’t be Blur which is a second-level spell - we’re going with Minor Illusion here. It’s the illusion of blurriness… that works, right?
11. Magnetism
While casting all these seemingly underwhelming cantrips, Simon is carefully collecting the crowd’s valuables (or nicking their bits and bobs) using Magnetism. This might not be an official D&D spell, but there’s no doubting what it is from its description.
12. Reverse Gravity (Wild Magic)
While attempting to cast a Shield spell, Simon’s Wild Magic comes into play. He accidently casts Reverse Gravity, causing him and everyone else in the theatre to gravitationally attach to the ceiling instead of the floor. He then counteracts this spell later on. This is probably just flavour for the film, as it’s technically a concentration spell and he should just be able to drop it when he pleases. We think the spell that causes him to fly up and out of the skylight is Reverse Gravity again, as he has little control over it and stops it the same way as before.
13. Mordenkainen's Arcane Seal
A twist on Arcane Lock? We can infer that this is obviously a very powerful spell if it’s created by the extremely powerful Mordenkainen. However, we can’t find any official stat block for this. We’re still counting it as a spell though, as Sofina would definitely have needed to cast it.
14. Dispel Magic
After discovering that Doric is hidden from immediate detection as a Wild Shape, Sofina attempts to shift her out of her form with Dispel Magic, which the druid narrowly manages to avoid through tactical wildshaping.
15. Fire Bolt
Sofina tries to stop Doric in her tracks with a Fire Bolt. We’re calling this a Fire Bolt rather than Sofina’s Swarm of Meteors because of how frequent its use is and how differently Swarm of Meteors looks near the end of the film.
16. Misty Step
While chasing Doric, Sofina teleports ‘mistily’ in pursuit. Side note: I love that her Misty Step changes colour based on her outfit!
17. Flame Blade
Sofina’s companion attacks the guards who let Edgin and Holga escape with a glowing green fiery blade as punishment for their mistake. I’d say they wouldn’t make the same mistake again, but they don’t get a second chance after he swiftly dispatches them.
18. Speak With Dead
Normally you wouldn’t be able to cast this spell so frequently but Simon’s handy little token makes all the difference. The party uses Speak With Dead to ask the past members of Holga’s tribe a few questions, with hilarious results.
19. Beckoning Death
Using a legendary wondrous item, the Horn of Beckoning Death, we see the people of Thay overwhelmed by a murderous red mist, ending their lives and turning them into an obedient undead army.
20. Wall of Force
In order to keep all of the fleeing citizens of Thay confined to the city, the Red Wizards who are in on the plan to consume the souls of the city’s residents keep them confined using Wall of Force, mercilessly trapping them. Dark!
21. Arcane Gate (Hither Thither Staff)
In a very convenient twist, the walking stick Holga retrieved from her ex happens to be a Hither Thither staff, allowing the party to use the spell Arcane Gate at will. With the ability to zip about as they desire, life is made much easier by Simon’s discovery that this stick is actually a magical portal gun. Nice one, Simon!
22. Flame Blade
We see the green Flame Blade used again here during Xenk’s clash with Dralas, Sofina’s pal and undead Theyan foe.
23. Holy Weapon
When retaliating against Dralas, Xenk evens the odds by imbuing his sword with holy power, casting Holy Weapon on the blade. The two fight it out with radiant damage against fire damage.
24. Arcane Gate (Hither Thither Staff)
While escaping from everyone’s problematic fave, the chubby dragon Themberchaud, the team once again get out of harm’s way by Arcane Gate-ing from one platform to another.
25. Produce Flame
We get to see an old favourite again when Simon uses Produce Flame to spark Themberchaud’s fire breath, destroying the underwater dead end the party are trapped in with a powerful explosion and allowing them to reach the surface.
26. Arcane Gate (Hither Thither Staff)
Arcane Gate is used once again during the party’s heist-like plan to gain entry to Forge’s vault in Neverwinter. The whole heist scene is really well done, by the way - so many nat 20s were rolled in this scene, and you can't convince me otherwise.
27. Major Image
In one of the most fun and horrifying scenes in the film, Simon uses Major Image to create a magical visage of Edgin, using it to distract the guards while the party sneaks into Neverwinter under their noses. This is also a fabulous example of how losing concentration during a spell can make things go disastrously wrong. I still see elongated Edgin whenever I close my eyes. (shudder)
28. Thunderwave
While being pursued by guards, Simon realises his full potential and finally attunes to the Helm of Disjunction after struggling to do so. With his newfound power he uses Thunderwave to push the oncoming guards away from him, knocking them out and sending a reverberating boom out 300 feet - alerting Edgin of his success.
29. Alter Self
Sofina is able to lure Edgin into her trap after using Alter Self to turn into Kira, his daughter. We’re pretty sure this is Alter Self as opposed to Disguise Self because she shrinks down a fair bit.
30. Evard’s Black Tentacles
Initially we did think this was a twist on Hunger of Hadar, but thanks to D&D Beyond’s Thieves Gallery - which details each movie character’s stat blocks - we discovered that the limbs restraining the heroes after their heist goes awry are Evard’s Black Tentacles. These tentacles rise out of the floor and create difficult terrain, potentially restraining those who share the same space.
31. Control Water
To quickly get the party and the recently rescued Kira out of Forge’s path of destruction, Simon uses Control Water to create a wave that propels their ship out into the ocean. As per D&D 5E’s rules for Huge or smaller vehicles affected by the spell, there’s actually a 25% risk of capsizing the ship here, but thankfully they avoided that.
32. Beckoning Death
Sofina casts Beckoning Death once again in the arena where the High Sun Games are being held. Thankfully, a lot of people escape the same fate suffered by the Thayans thanks to our heroes using…
33. Arcane Gate (Hither Thither Staff)
In one of the funniest visual gags in the film, the team cast Arcane Gate between the ship full of treasure and the depiction of Forge on the hot air balloon above the city. Treasure spills out of his mouth and the residents of the city rush out to receive what they think are gifts from Forge.
34. Greater Invisibility
To hide from Sofina, now on a rage-filled rampage thanks to her failed attempt to beckon death, Kira uses her necklace to become invisible. We think this is Greater Invisibility, as she’s able to attach the magic-suppression cuff to Sofina later without dropping her invisibility.
35. Fly
Sofina floats above the party, looming above them using Fly to leave the arena as she casts…
36. Swarm of Meteors
Sofina takes her anger out on the party by showering them with a Swarm of Meteors. These fiery projectiles require a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw to avoid 10d6 fire damage and 10d6 bludgeoning damage on a failure (and half on a save). Nasty stuff! It’s a good thing that Simon uses…
37. Sheltering Shield
Sheltering Shield protects the party from harm as Simon conjures a shimmering, 10-foot-radius sphere of magical force centred on himself. Creatures inside the sphere have resistance to the damage that triggered this reaction - namely, the huge meteors hurtling towards them.
38. Gust of Wind
We weren’t quite sure if Sofina was using a Shield spell or Gust of Wind when she repels Doric’s owlbear form. Due to the fact that she’s already been hit and the fact that Shield doesn’t repel an enemy, we’re going with Gust of Wind as Sofina defends herself from the feathered beast.
39. Animate Objects
Once again, this was a tough one to call between Polymorph and Animate Objects. We’re going with an interesting use of the latter to bring the dragon statue to life, which starts coming after the party.
40. Misty Step
Sofina teleports away from Doric the owlbear, using Misty Step to find refuge atop a nearby building and maintain concentration on Animate Objects.
41. Chaos Bolt
Simon casts a Chaos Bolt of energy which hits the side of the dragon statue. This looks like force damage.
42. Misty Step
Sofina Misty Steps to avoid falling when Doric hits her using her slingshot, losing concentration on Animate Objects.
43. Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere
As Holga and Edgin try to rush Sofina she uses Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere to trap them, sending them rolling away at high speed.
44/45. Bigby’s Hand
Both Sofina and Simon face off against each other using Bigby’s Hand spells, having them manifest in a way that suits them. Simon uses the stones and rocks around him, while Sofina makes… a big, goopy flesh hand.
46. Gust of Wind
Sofina LOVES Gust of Wind, using it to stop herself from going prone when Edgin whomps her on the back of the head with his reinforced lute.
Here’s where things get tricky… time for a quickfire round!
47. Ensnaring Strike
Sofina takes a swing at Edgin, presumably with her Necrotic Strike multiattack, before using a bonus action to cast Ensnaring Strike on Edgin and trap him for a moment.
48. Telekinesis
Sofina uses Telekinesis to grab Holga’s precious axe and throw it away.
49. Chaos Bolt
Simon dives as he casts Chaos Bolt at Sofina. We think he’s using Sorcerer Points to make it a Twinned Spell. It’s a shame it misses!
50/51. Shield
Both Sofina and Simon cast a Shield spell to protect themselves and their allies.
52. Witch Bolt
Simon directs an arc of lightning toward Sofina.
53. Shield
We get another Shield spell from Sofina to defend herself.
54. Ensnaring Strike
We get another Ensnaring Strike against Edgin.
55. Fire Bolt
Simon casts Fire Bolt, firing off three spells in quick succession.
56. Gust of Wind
Sofina blasts Edgin away with another Gust of Wind. She loves it!
57. Time Stop
Mirroring the start of the film, Sofina casts Time Stop, attempting to use this very high-level spell to render the party helpless.
58. Finger of Death
Sofina, thinking that the party has been frozen in place, approaches Edgin planning to cast Finger of Death on him. It’s a very risky play by the heroes - she definitely could have killed him. Edgin starts at 110 HP and he’s definitely taken some damage during this fight. 7d8 + 30 points of necrotic damage could have easily finished the job.
59. Counterspell
Luckily, Simon has countered the Time Stop, finally making the DC 19 Charisma check! Good for him.
60. True Resurrection
Finally, Holga is returned to the material plane using the Tablet of Resurrection, dodging death at Sofina’s hand.
Honourable Mentions
Here are a few honourable mentions of D&D spells and abilities seen in Honor Among Thieves that didn’t quite fit the bill enough to be listed above.
- King Neverember was possibly Feebleminded by Sofina - but as the spell effect drops after she dies, we can’t be certain this was the case.
- Edgin is constantly bolstering his team - we think this is probably Bardic Inspiration.
- Sofina uses some kind of truesight (perhaps via the sixth-level divination True Seeing) or Detect Magic to sense Doric’s Wild Shape form.
- Xenk may be using Calm Emotions to soothe the big fish and remove the weird little baby tabaxi from its mouth.
- Xenk’s sniffs evil in the air - we think this is some kind of Divine Sense or Detect Good and Evil.
- Simon trying to attune to the Helm of Disjunction is very magicky, but not exactly magic.
- Spider Climb and Stoneskin are mentioned but not seen.
- Sending stones are used, but in the movie they’re magical items and don’t quite work the same as normal sending stones in the D&D 5E Dungeon Master’s Guide.
- The Helm of Disjunction dispels the enchantment on the vault.
- The magic-suppression cuff must have some magic to it in order to suppress magic, right? Yeah.
- The displacer beast’s projection is an ability as opposed to a spell.
- And Sofina’s flying seems to be a byproduct of using the Horn of Beckoning Death.
And that’s it! Every spell cast in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - and then some. Were there any you missed? Were there any we missed? Let us know in the comments!