Sleet Storm 5e: Area, Prone Saves, and Concentration

Sleet Storm is the control spell I like when shutting down a large area matters more than dealing damage. It blocks sight, slows movement, knocks creatures prone, and threatens concentration across a wider space than its old page described.

Sleet Storm 5e — Quick Spell Reference

Under the 2014 rules, Sleet Storm creates a 40-foot-radius, 20-foot-tall cylinder of freezing rain and sleet centered on a point within 150 feet. The area is heavily obscured, and exposed flames in it are extinguished.

Icy Ground and Falling Prone

The ground in the cylinder is covered with slick ice and becomes difficult terrain. When a creature enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, it falls prone.

Forced movement can trigger the save if it causes the creature to enter the area for the first time on that turn. Remaining in the area does not cause repeated saves during the same turn, and the spell deals no cold damage.

Falling prone costs half a creature’s speed to stand. Combined with difficult terrain, that can leave a creature with very little movement. The spell does not restrain creatures or reduce speed to 0.

Heavy Obscurement

A heavily obscured area effectively imposes the blinded condition when a creature tries to see something in that area. This can block spells and abilities that require the caster to see a target. Attacks involving unseen attackers or targets use the normal advantage and disadvantage rules; the spell does not require an attacker to guess a grid square when the target’s location is otherwise known.

The obscurement can affect creatures outside the cylinder looking through it as well as creatures inside. Sleet Storm does not create magical darkness, so senses that do not rely on sight may still work according to their own rules.

Disrupting Concentration

If a creature starts its turn in the area while concentrating on a spell, it must make a Constitution saving throw against the Sleet Storm caster’s spell save DC. On a failure, it loses concentration. This special save occurs at the start of the creature’s turn, not each time it enters the area, and it is separate from concentration saves caused by damage.

Because the spell deals no damage, the concentration save does not use the normal damage-based DC of 10 or half damage. It uses the Sleet Storm caster’s spell save DC.

Casting at Higher Levels

Sleet Storm has no higher-level casting benefit. Its dimensions, duration, and effects do not increase with a higher-level slot.

Sleet Storm: 2014 vs. 2024 Rules

The 2024 spell swaps the cylinder’s proportions: it has a 20-foot radius and is 40 feet tall, compared with the 2014 spell’s 40-foot radius and 20-foot height. Its material component also changes from dust and water to a miniature umbrella.

Concentration disruption changes substantially. In 2014, a concentrating creature that starts its turn in the storm makes a separate Constitution save against the caster’s spell save DC. In 2024, failing the spell’s Dexterity save makes the creature prone and causes it to lose concentration; there is no separate Constitution save. The quick-reference table and main explanation above use the 2014 rules.

FAQ

Does Sleet Storm deal damage?

No. Its effects are obscurement, difficult terrain, prone saves, extinguished flames, and concentration disruption.

When is the Dexterity save made?

When a creature enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there.

Does every creature concentrating inside make a save?

Yes, when it starts its turn there, using the caster’s spell save DC.

Does the spell create a “wet” condition?

No. The 2014 rules have no general wet condition, cold vulnerability, or special metal-armor penalty from this spell.

What are Sleet Storm’s 2014 dimensions?

It has a 40-foot radius and is 20 feet tall. The 2024 version reverses those numbers.