Phantom Steed Spell Guide 5e

Using the Phantom Steed in Game

The phantom steed spell seems like a cool but ultimately useless spell at first.

But with a little bit of thought, this spell can be a signature spell for the right type of character as well as the cornerstone of how your character operates on and off the battlefield.

In this post, we will discuss the wondrous roleplaying and combat possibilities of phantom steed.

Phantom Steed Traits

Phantom Steed is an illusion spell of the phantasm variety with the movement and ritual tags.

In order to understand what the hell I just said, there is a certain amount of vocabulary that needs to be broken down.

Behold! A list:

Illusion:  This is the school of magic to which the spell belongs. Illusions usually work in tandem with Enchantment spells and sometimes disappear with a certain type of interaction.

Phantasm:  These types of illusion spells actually create something that can affect a target physically.

They typically deal psychic damage and have a saving throw, but this is not always so. The other two phantasm spells are called phantasmal force and phantasmal killer.

In the old days of Dungeons and Dragons 3e, phantasms were said to be made of material from the plane of shadow instead of occurring within the mind of the target, and this is why they could actually affect a person.

5e has neither confirmed nor denied this.

In the case of this spell, the phantom steed is a real creature anyone can interact with.

It uses the statistics of a riding horse and disappears if it takes any damage.

Ritual:  Ritual spells do not require spell slots if you take 10 minutes to cast the spell in addition to its normal casting time. In the case of phantom steed, this would mean 11 minutes.

Movement:  This tag means the spell affects a character’s movement. In this case, the character is given a mount, which will greatly increase their speed in most cases.

That is what phantom steed does. It creates a temporary mount that you can ride. Great!

Common Questions About Phantom Steed

We get a lot of questions about spells here at the Citadel, and this is a handful I found in my boss’s trash can the archives.

We work hard on these things, you know. And it’s all for you.

Can You Have Multiple Phantom Steeds?

Yes. The spell does not require concentration, so you could have as many as time allows you to cast.

Does a Phantom Steed Have To Be a Horse?

Yes and no. It has to use the Stat Block of a riding horse, but it doesn’t have to look like a riding horse.

You could make it look like anything, so long as it doesn’t swim or fly.

That being said, a riding horse is a Beast with a CR of 1\4, so with DM approval, you could replace it with any Beast of that CR.

However, the spell does provide differences, and at 5th level, movement type does affect how difficult the game is.

Ultimately, the DM has the final say, of course.

Does Phantom Steed Have HP?

Technically, it has 13 HP, but the spell ends if it takes damage, so it may as well not. Hence, the importance of the Mounted Combatant feat.

How Fast Is Phantom Steed?

A phantom steed moves 100 feet per round. If a round is 6 seconds, that means the steed moves at 16.6 feet per second.

This comes out to 11.3 miles per hour. The spell states that the steed can travel anywhere from 10-13 mph, so this tracks.

The Wizards can math out there on the coast, apparently.

Can You “Disbelieve” a Phantom Steed?

No. It is “quasi-real,” which means it does have a physical substance in the material plane, even if for only a short period of time.