Remove Curse 5e: Creatures, Magic Items, and Limits

Remove Curse is the spell I want available when a sinister bargain, monster bite, or suspicious treasure starts changing a character for the worse. Its general effect is extremely broad, but cursed magic items and curses with their own removal rules create important exceptions.

Remove Curse 5e — Quick Spell Reference

How Remove Curse Works

Choose one creature or object the caster can touch. All curses affecting that target end, subject to the spell’s special rule for cursed magic items and any more specific rule attached to a particular curse.

The spell is instantaneous, requires no concentration, and normally involves no attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. It does not need a higher-level slot to confront a higher-level spell unless the specific curse says otherwise.

Creatures and Ordinary Objects

When the target is a creature or an ordinary object, all curses affecting it end. This includes curses created by spells such as Bestow Curse and Hex, although ending the original caster’s concentration may be another way to end those spells.

Specific adventures, monsters, or effects can state special conditions for ending a curse. In 5e, a specific rule overrides the general spell rule, so check the source of an unusual curse.

Remove Curse ends curses, not every magical penalty. A disease, poison, possession, reduced hit-point maximum, or other effect is removed only if its rules identify it as a curse or specifically name Remove Curse as a remedy.

Cursed Magic Items

Remove Curse works differently on a cursed magic item. The curse remains on the item, but the spell breaks the owner’s attunement to it so the item can be removed or discarded. The spell does not destroy the item, turn it into a nonmagical object, or permanently cleanse its curse unless that item’s own rules say otherwise.

This is particularly useful when the item’s curse prevents its owner from voluntarily ending attunement or putting the item down. Another creature that later attunes to the item can still suffer its curse.

If a cursed object does not use attunement, the spell’s magic-item exception may not solve the underlying problem. Read the item’s description because its specific removal instructions control.

Lycanthropy

The 2014 Monster Manual distinguishes between a character cursed by a lycanthrope’s attack and a natural-born lycanthrope. Remove Curse can rid an afflicted character of lycanthropy. A natural-born lycanthrope can be freed from the curse only with Wish.

That distinction comes from the 2014 lycanthropy rules rather than the text of Remove Curse itself. A setting, adventure, or monster may provide a different rule, so use the specific source governing the character’s affliction.

Remove Curse and Dispel Magic

Dispel Magic ends spells; it does not generally remove a curse merely because the curse is magical. It can end an ongoing spell such as Bestow Curse or Hex because those effects are spells. Remove Curse is the direct option for curses and also covers curses that are not ongoing spells.

The reverse distinction matters too: Remove Curse does not generally dispel an unrelated magical effect. Identify can reveal a magic item’s properties, but it does not remove a curse and may not reveal one under the 2014 identification rules.

Casting at Higher Levels

Remove Curse has no higher-level benefit in the 2014 rules. Casting it with a slot above 3rd level does not add targets or make it overcome a curse with special removal requirements.

FAQ

Does Remove Curse cleanse a cursed magic item?

No. It leaves the item’s curse intact but breaks the owner’s attunement so the item can be removed or discarded.

Does Remove Curse require a roll?

Not normally. The spell ends applicable curses automatically. A specific curse may have its own rules.

Can Remove Curse end Hex or Bestow Curse?

Yes. Both are curses affecting a creature, so Remove Curse can end them.

Can Remove Curse cure lycanthropy?

It can cure a character afflicted by a lycanthrope’s attack. Under the 2014 Monster Manual rule, a natural-born lycanthrope requires Wish instead.

Does Remove Curse work on every magical penalty?

No. The effect must be a curse or specifically list Remove Curse as a way to end it.