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Wild Magic Surge Table — d100 Effects for 5e

A free d100 wild magic surge table for 5e: 100 original effects from harmless to dangerous, each with a clear duration and save.

A surge should be a moment the table talks about, not a page-flip and a shrug. Most of these hundred results do no harm at all, a quarter of them help, and a fifth of them hurt, so a surge is more often a story than a setback. Every one is new, so players who know the usual surge table by heart won't see the result coming.

Roll d100 when a surge happens and read the result aloud. Durations are in rounds, minutes and hours, and "your spell save DC" always means the caster's. Severity is grouped by band: 1–30 Harmless, 31–55 Odd, 56–80 Useful, 81–100 Dangerous.

Severity tiers

Each result names its tier, so you can see at a glance how a roll went without decoding a colour.

Harmless 1–30
Odd 31–55
Useful 56–80
Dangerous 81–100

The table

100 results. Roll d100.

d100	Result	Tier	What happens
1	Late Echo	Harmless	For 1 minute, everything you say echoes back a moment later in a stranger's accent.
2	Fresh Bread	Harmless	The smell of warm bread fills the air within 30 feet for 10 minutes. Anyone who skipped breakfast mentions it.
3	Static	Harmless	Your hair stands on end and crackles when touched, until you finish a short rest.
4	Expectant Doors	Harmless	For 1 hour, unlocked doors creak open an inch as you approach, as if someone inside heard you coming.
5	Coin on Edge	Harmless	A copper piece appears in the air, falls, and lands on its edge. It stays standing until someone picks it up.
6	Winter Breath	Harmless	Your breath mists as if on a frosty morning for 1 hour, whatever the weather.
7	Distant Bell	Harmless	A single bell tolls somewhere far off, heard by everyone within a mile. Nobody can say where it was.
8	Inky Fingers	Harmless	Your fingertips turn black for 24 hours and leave neat prints on everything you touch.
9	Mirror Hand	Harmless	For 1 hour, everything you write comes out back to front. You can read it; everyone else needs a mirror.
10	Private Snow	Harmless	Light snow falls on you, and only you, for 1 minute. It melts as it lands.
11	Copper Tongue	Harmless	Everything you eat or drink tastes faintly of old pennies until you finish a long rest.
12	Staring Cats	Harmless	For 24 hours, every cat that sees you stops what it's doing and watches you until you leave.
13	Contrary Shadow	Harmless	For 10 minutes, your shadow falls toward the nearest light instead of away from it.
14	Smoke Rings	Harmless	You hiccup once a round for 1 minute, and each hiccup puffs out a small, perfect smoke ring.
15	Known by Name	Harmless	For 1 hour, anyone who looks at you knows your first name and feels they always have.
16	Polite Applause	Harmless	Faint applause from nowhere greets the next thing you do well, then stops abruptly.
17	Warm Pockets	Harmless	Every pocket and pouch you carry stays pleasantly warm for 8 hours.
18	Wet to the Knee	Harmless	Your boots and legs are suddenly soaked, as if you'd waded a stream. They dry in the usual way.
19	Slow Reflection	Harmless	For 1 hour, your reflection in any surface lags a few seconds behind you.
20	Chalk Circle	Harmless	A perfect chalk circle 10 feet across appears on the ground around you. It does nothing. Probably.
21	Hat Frog	Harmless	A calm green frog appears on your head. It stays if you let it, and seems to like you.
22	Flaring Lights	Harmless	Every candle, torch and lantern within 30 feet flares bright for a heartbeat, then settles.
23	Thin Note	Harmless	For 1 minute, only you can hear a high, thin note. It stops the moment you mention it.
24	Named Pebble	Harmless	A smooth pebble appears in your hand with your name scratched into it, in your own handwriting.
25	Cold Sparks	Harmless	You sneeze, and a spray of cold sparks flies out. Nothing catches light.
26	Startled Birds	Harmless	Every bird within 300 feet takes off at once, loudly. Anyone watching the sky knows roughly where you are.
27	Low Tide	Harmless	You smell strongly of seaweed and salt until you next wash.
28	Spotless	Harmless	You, your clothes and your gear are suddenly clean, as if freshly laundered. Mud, soot, blood — all gone.
29	Out of Tune	Harmless	Every stringed instrument within 100 feet goes out of tune at once. The bard will notice.
30	Someone Else's Memory	Harmless	You suddenly remember, vividly, a birthday party you never went to. The cake was lemon.
31	Heavy Tread	Odd	For 1 minute, your speed drops by 10 feet and your feet leave prints in solid stone.
32	Lightweight	Odd	For 1 minute, you weigh almost nothing. You have disadvantage on checks and saves against being pushed, but take no falling damage.
33	Only Questions	Odd	For 10 minutes, you can speak only in questions. Spells with verbal components still work.
34	Carrying Voice	Odd	For 1 minute, everything you say can be heard clearly 300 feet away, however quietly you say it.
35	Sticky Hands	Odd	For 1 minute, anything you pick up sticks to your palm. Letting go of it takes an action.
36	Wrong Hand	Odd	Your hands swap which one is dominant until you finish a short rest. Your next attack roll has disadvantage.
37	Unable to Lie	Odd	For 1 minute, you can't speak a deliberate lie. You can still choose to say nothing.
38	Jammed Lid	Odd	The next door, chest or lid you try to open within the hour is stuck fast. Opening it takes a DC 15 Strength check.
39	Sulphur Breath	Odd	For 1 hour, any creature within 10 feet of you smells sulphur and knows you've cast a spell recently.
40	Whispered Echo	Odd	For 10 minutes, a soft voice repeats the last word of everything you say. Everyone nearby hears it.
41	Dim Patch	Odd	For 1 minute, bright light within 10 feet of you becomes dim light, and dim light becomes darkness.
42	Cold Metal	Odd	For 1 minute, metal you wear or carry turns icy. In metal armour, you take 1 cold damage at the start of each of your turns.
43	Lost North	Odd	You turn to face a random direction, and can't tell which way is north until you finish a long rest.
44	Missing Word	Odd	You forget one ordinary word, chosen by the DM, until you finish a long rest. You can't say, read or write it.
45	Ash Prints	Odd	For 1 hour, you leave footprints of fine grey ash. Anyone following you needs no check to do it.
46	Drawn In	Odd	Every unattended object under 5 pounds within 20 feet slides 5 feet toward you.
47	Shared Sneeze	Odd	Every creature within 30 feet sneezes at once. Anyone concentrating on a spell makes a DC 10 Constitution saving throw to keep it.
48	Cold Snap	Odd	The air within 30 feet of you turns bitterly cold for 10 minutes. Creatures there without warm clothing have disadvantage on Dexterity checks.
49	Leaning World	Odd	For 1 minute, gravity tugs you slightly sideways. You have disadvantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
50	Chiming Casts	Odd	For 1 hour, every spell you cast rings a clear chime that can be heard 100 feet away.
51	Shuffled Pack	Odd	Everything in your pack has moved. Until you finish a short rest, getting an item out takes an action.
52	Twig Fingers	Odd	For 1 minute, your fingers stiffen like dry twigs. You have disadvantage on Dexterity checks that use your hands.
53	Left Is Right	Odd	For 1 minute, left and right swap for you. The first time you move each turn, make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or go 5 feet the wrong way.
54	Borrowed Accent	Odd	For 1 hour, you speak with a heavy accent from somewhere nobody can place. You have disadvantage on Deception checks to pass as local.
55	Double Footsteps	Odd	For 10 minutes, every step you take sounds twice, the second just behind you. You have disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
56	Spare Spark	Useful	The next damaging cantrip you cast within 1 minute rolls one extra damage die.
57	Owl Eyes	Useful	You gain darkvision out to 60 feet for 1 hour. If you already have it, its range increases by 30 feet.
58	Light Feet	Useful	For 1 minute, your speed increases by 10 feet. Your movement this turn doesn't provoke opportunity attacks.
59	Tin Luck	Useful	A gold coin appears in your hand. Once within the next hour, flip it to reroll a d20 you just rolled. The coin then turns to tin.
60	Boot-Leather Skin	Useful	You gain 2d6 temporary hit points. Your skin feels like old boot leather while they last.
61	All Tongues	Useful	For 10 minutes, you understand every spoken language you hear. You can't speak them.
62	Sure Grip	Useful	For 1 minute, you can climb sheer walls at your walking speed without a check.
63	Deep Breath	Useful	You don't need to breathe for 1 hour.
64	Soft Landing	Useful	The next time you fall in the next hour, you land on your feet and take no damage.
65	Passed On	Useful	One ally you can see within 30 feet has advantage on their next attack roll, ability check or saving throw in the next minute.
66	Click	Useful	The nearest lock within 30 feet springs open. That includes cells, cages, and anything you'd rather stayed shut.
67	Warm Rush	Useful	You and each ally within 10 feet regain 1d6 hit points.
68	Slippery	Useful	For 1 minute, you have advantage on checks and saving throws to escape a grapple or restraints.
69	Quick Hands	Useful	For 1 minute, you can draw, stow or hand over items as often as you like without using your object interaction.
70	Liar's Ring	Useful	For 1 minute, you hear a faint ring whenever a creature you can hear tells a deliberate lie. It doesn't tell you the truth.
71	Ox Shoulders	Useful	For 1 minute, you have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
72	Perfect Recall	Useful	Until you finish a long rest, you can recall word for word anything you heard or read in the last 24 hours.
73	Turned Aside	Useful	For 1 minute, ranged attack rolls against you have disadvantage as missiles curve away at the last moment.
74	Way Out	Useful	A mote of light appears and drifts toward the nearest exit you haven't used, waiting for you to follow. It lasts 10 minutes.
75	Second Casting	Useful	If the spell you just cast was 1st level, you can cast it once more within 1 minute without expending a spell slot.
76	Friendly Beasts	Useful	For 10 minutes, every beast within 60 feet is friendly toward you unless you or your allies harm it.
77	Overlooked	Useful	For 1 minute, creatures that haven't already noticed you don't, unless you attack, cast a spell, or speak to them.
78	Mended	Useful	Every broken non-magical object you're carrying is repaired: torn straps, cracked flasks, snapped bowstrings.
79	Sharpened Will	Useful	Your spell save DC increases by 1 for 1 minute.
80	Steady Mind	Useful	For 1 minute, you have advantage on Constitution saving throws to keep concentration.
81	Backlash	Dangerous	You take 1d6 force damage per level of the spell you cast, or 1d6 for a cantrip.
82	Thunderclap	Dangerous	Each creature within 10 feet, you included, makes a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or takes 2d8 thunder damage and is deafened for 1 minute.
83	Upward Fall	Dangerous	You and every creature within 10 feet rise 20 feet, hang there until the start of your next turn, then fall. A low ceiling deals 1d6 bludgeoning on the way up.
84	Swapped	Dangerous	You swap places with a random hostile creature within 60 feet. If there isn't one, you swap with the nearest ally.
85	Loose Shadow	Dangerous	Your shadow tears free and attacks the nearest creature, using the shadow stat block. After 1 minute, or at 0 hit points, it returns to you.
86	Drained	Dangerous	You lose your highest-level unexpended spell slot.
87	Wild Aim	Dangerous	If your spell targeted creatures, it also targets one random creature within range, allies included. It gets a save as normal.
88	Rime	Dangerous	Frost encases you and you're restrained. At the end of each of your turns, make a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC to break free.
89	Iron Pull	Dangerous	Every unheld metal object within 30 feet flies at you. You take 2d6 bludgeoning damage and are knee-deep in nails, coins and spoons.
90	Panic	Dangerous	Each ally within 30 feet makes a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or is frightened of you until the end of its next turn.
91	Soft Ground	Dangerous	The ground under you turns to mud. You sink to the waist and are restrained until you use an action on a DC 13 Strength check.
92	Steaming	Dangerous	You take 2d6 fire damage. Metal you're holding is too hot to keep hold of until the end of your next turn: drop it, or take 1d6 more.
93	Uninvited Guest	Dangerous	A hostile creature of the DM's choice, challenge rating no higher than half your level, appears within 30 feet. It vanishes after 1 minute.
94	Lost Round	Dangerous	You vanish and return at the end of the next round, in the same space or the nearest free one. You lose your next turn.
95	Misplaced Mercy	Dangerous	Each hostile creature within 30 feet regains 2d6 hit points.
96	Dead Air	Dangerous	Until the start of your next turn, magic fails within 20 feet of you. Spells cast there fizzle, and their slots are spent.
97	Burnt Out	Dangerous	You gain one level of exhaustion.
98	White Flash	Dangerous	Each creature within 20 feet, you included, makes a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or is blinded until the end of its next turn.
99	Pull of the Pit	Dangerous	For 1 minute, the ground within 15 feet of you is difficult terrain, and any creature that ends its turn there is pulled 5 feet toward you.
100	All at Once	Dangerous	Roll twice more on this table and apply both. Reroll any further 100s.

Questions

When does wild magic surge?

That depends on the rules you play with. The usual trigger is a d20 rolled after a wild-magic caster casts a levelled spell, with a surge on one particular number. Many DMs also roll for surges in wild magic zones, from cursed items, or when a spell is cast on a natural 1. Pick a trigger and tell the table before it matters.

Can I use this instead of the usual surge table?

Yes. Roll d100 and read the result, exactly as you would with any surge table. Durations and saves use the same terms as spells, and "your spell save DC" means the caster's. Every effect is new, so players who know the familiar results by heart won't see these coming.

How often is a surge dangerous on this table?

One roll in five: 81–100. Thirty results are pure colour, twenty-five are nuisances, and a quarter actively help, so most surges make a story rather than a casualty. If your table wants more risk, roll twice and let the DM pick.