Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: 10 ft
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special
You and up to eight willing creatures within range project your astral bodies into the Astral Plane (the spell fails and the casting is wasted if you are already on that plane). The material body you leave behind is unconscious and in a state of suspended animation; it doesn't need food or air and doesn't age.
Your astral body resembles your mortal form in almost every way, replicating your game statistics and possessions. The principal difference is the addition of a silvery cord that extends from between your shoulder blades and trails behind you, fading to invisibility after 1 foot. This cord is your tether to your material body. As long as the tether remains intact, you can find your way home. If the cord is cut — something that can happen only when an effect specifically states that it does — your soul and body are separated, killing you instantly.
Your astral form can freely travel through the Astral Plane and can pass through portals there leading to any other plane. If you enter a new plane or return to the plane you were on when casting this spell, your body and possessions are transported along the silver cord, allowing you to re-enter your body as you enter the new plane. Your astral form is a separate incarnation. Any damage or other effects that apply to it have no effect on your physical body, nor do they persist when you return to it.
The spell ends for you and your companions when you use your action to dismiss it. When the spell ends, the affected creature returns to its physical body, and it awakens.
The spell might also end early for you or one of your companions. A successful dispel magic spell used against an astral or physical body ends the spell for that creature. If a creature's original body or its astral form drops to 0 hit points, the spell ends for that creature. If the spell ends and the silver cord is intact, the cord pulls the creature's astral form back to its body, ending its state of suspended animation.
If you are returned to your body prematurely, your companions remain in their astral forms and must find their own way back to their bodies, usually by dropping to 0 hit points.
Material Component:
for each creature you affect with this spell, you must provide one jacinth worth at least 1,000gp and one ornately carved bar of silver worth at least 100gp, all of which the spell consumes
Verbal Component:
Creo Memet ti Astrum Superum
Verbal Component (Alternative):
Project our forms to the Astral Plane; Leave this world where our bodies remain.
Classes: Cleric, Warlock, Wizard
Domain: Travel
Tags: Teleportation
Source: Player's Handbook [5th Edition] (page 215)
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Spell FAQs
Below are commonly asked questions about this spell. Some of the information is pulled official D&D sources (such as books and the twitter feeds of D&D officials), but other information is derived from forums and online discussions. As always, it is up to the DM to decide how they wish to spell questions. If you have a FAQ about this spell that you feel other DM's may wish to know, please send us the message!
Will loot you find on the Astral Plane while using the Astral Projection spell remain in your possession when the spell ends?
No, you can't take things back from the Astral Plane, because you don't physically go there -- your consciousness does.
The description of the Astral Plane in the DMG (p46) states:
The Astral Plane is the realm of thought and dream, where visitors travel as disembodied souls to reach the Outer Planes.
...
Traveling through the Astral Plane by means of the astral projection spell involves projecting one's consciousness there, ...
You only have gear with you as your consciousness manifests it, so you can "use" it on the Astral Plane, but your real body and all your real possessions are back on the Prime Material Plane. You can no more take gear back with you than you can take things back from a dream.
Can you long/short rest during Astral Projection?
Nothing about the Astral Planes says that you cannot take a rest, so you can indeed take long or short rests in astral form. In order to be kept from taking those rests, the spell description would need to specifically state so.
Other Planes and Effects
Below is information about this spell as it relates to other planes and area of effects (i.e. underwater). Some of the information is pulled official D&D sources (such as books and the twitter feeds of D&D officials), but other information is derived from forums and online discussions. As always, it is up to the DM to decide how they wish to handle spell effects.
Astral Projection and Sigil
From Planescape Adventures in the Multiverse, Sigil and the Outlands, "Effects that allow interplanar travel, such as astral projection or plane shift, fail if used to try to enter or leave Sigil, with one exception (see 'Teleportation Circles')."
Underwater - Verbal Component
Official rules have been verified by Jeremy Crawford - "No rule prohibits verbal components from working underwater. Keep in mind that if you're talking, you're not holding your breath." Hence, while submerged underwater and holding its breath, a creature can cast a spell that requires a verbal component. After casting the spell, if the creature can't breathe underwater, it immediately runs out of breath. The creature can survive for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 round).
