D&D 5E Fun with Glyphs of Warding

[Pjack]

I'm picking new spells for my abjuration wizard, and I'm realizing that there's a lot of non-attack spells you can store in a Glyph of Warding. It's basically an expensive spell scroll you can't move, that only holds spells that affect a single creature or an area, and the spells don't require concentration. So it's pretty limited, but there are still some creative uses if you're willing to blow the 200 gp cost for each casting. For instance:

* If you have a semi-permanent home base, you can put a Teleportation Circle in a Glyph of Warding, activated with a password. Whenever you need to go from your home to another teleportation circle, you can activate it, and you'll still have your 5th level spell slot for the day.

* Just before you take a long rest in preparation for a day of fighting, you can store Darkvision, Water Breathing, or Mage Armor in a Glyph of Warding. You can activate all the glyphs the next day, getting the benefit of those spells (all of which last 8 hours) without having to expend that day's spell slots.

* If you have the chance to take an hour (or more) in a dungeon to cast Glyph of Warding, and you anticipate being in combat as soon as you're done, you can fill each glyph with Protection from Elements, Stoneskin, Invisibility, Fly, or some other helpful spell that lasts a few minutes to an hour and usually requires concentration. You're blowing a 3rd level slot (at least) for each casting, but it might be worth it to avoid concentration checks (and to have multiple buffs going at once).

* If you have an hour to prepare in a dungeon, and you think you can lure the right kind of creature into the glyph, then you can fill the glyph with either Magic Circle or Banishment. For Banishment, the affected creature gets a save; but if an extraplanar creature fails that save, they're gone for good (since the spell lasts for the full minute with no concentration needed). An inverted Magic Circle is even stronger; it works on more creature types, and there's no save! In addition to trying to use glyphs in a dungeon (always a risky proposition), you can also use them to fortify your wizard's personal stronghold. (Especially if you're worried about rival wizards sending demons your way.)

Any other combos I'm missing? I'm mostly interested in PHB-only spells, up through level 6, since my wizard is just level 10 and I generally only play Adventurers League.

 

[Lanliss]

For starters, Glyph of warding specifies that you can only store spells of 3rd level or lower in it.

 

[Pjack]

You can cast Glyph of Warding at a higher level to store higher-level spells.

 

[Lanliss]

Ah, that's what I get for reading in the dark, apologies. In that case, I would recommend control or AoE-multi-round spells, like Cloudkill or Cloud of Gas. For a particularly dastardly spell, later on, you could put something like Feeblemind in there. *Shudder*

 

[MNblockhead]

As a DM, most of my thinking has been on how they would be used by NPCs to protect their homes, offer buffs, or increase convenience.

As a player, I would think anytime you have downtime at an inn or other camp, you'd take time to cast GoW to buff your self when you are ready to head out. Even if you didn't need the buffs...you never know. Seems like it would be worth spending some time to always cast one to a few.

Ignoring the cool high-level stuff you might have (e.g. having a spell ward with the resurrection spell stored so that the party can bring the caster back to life), I'm thinking that wards would be useful for wizards to help allies work with them. For example, a wizard could have some books with a GoW containing the sending spell that non-magic-using allies can use to contact the wizard.

The party can set up various safe houses or retreat points where GoW are cast that store various heals and buffs.

 

[i_dont_meta]

Also, if I'm reading it right, the spell(s) you Glyph have to be harmful to other creatures...


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[raleel]

I mean, glyph of warding loaded with reverse gravity outside seems useful for getting rid of people.

Mordenkainen's private sanctum seems like it might be handy. even as a trap (can't teleport in or out, no planar travel)

 

[Phazonfish]

Also, if I'm reading it right, the spell(s) you Glyph have to be harmful to other creatures...

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I think that's just fluff. If they intended for that to be a hard restriction, they would have defined what qualifies as harmful.

 

[schnee]

I think that's just fluff. If they intended for that to be a hard restriction, they would have defined what qualifies as harmful.

Definition of Ward: "to avert, repel, or turn aside (danger, harm, an attack, an assailant, etc.) (usually followed by off):"

"When you cast this spell, you inscribe a glyph that harms other creatures".

Why would this need more definition? Feel free to house rule, but it's incredibly clear. This is a spell to set harmful traps, not to store buffs.

 

[Horwath]

Definition of Ward: "to avert, repel, or turn aside (danger, harm, an attack, an assailant, etc.) (usually followed by off):"

"When you cast this spell, you inscribe a glyph that harms other creatures".

Why would this need more definition? Feel free to house rule, but it's incredibly clear. This is a spell to set harmful traps, not to store buffs.

You do harm to other creatures. Buff to you from the glyph causes more harm to other creatures, thereby glyph causes harm.