You establish a telepathic link with one beast you touch that is friendly to you or charmed by you. The spell fails if the beast’s Intelligence is 4 or higher. Until the spell ends, the link is active while you and the beast are within line of sight of each other. Through the link, the beast can understand your telepathic messages to it, and it can telepathically communicate simple emotions and concepts back to you. While the link is active, the beast gains advantage on attack rolls against any creature within 5 feet of you that you can see.

Material component – a bit of fur wrapped in a cloth.

My Comments: I was having trouble deciding what to say about this, to be honest. I mean, in a way it’s completely straight forward, right?

And yet… I feel like it’s… not that useful. Is this more of trying to “fix” the Ranger class to make it worthwhile?

Okay, not let me back up, I totally see the use, but it feels like you have to pair it with another spell or ability to make it truly worthwhile, and I feel like every spell should be able to stand on its own.

With that being said, combined with Animal Friendship or some other method of making low-intelligence beasts friendly (Beast Master, for example), this is pretty useful. The good news is Animal Friendship lasts 24 hours and isn’t Concentration (though Beast Bond is), so you can cast both easily enough.

The telepathic link makes for great opportunities for scouting and sneaking with small creatures, and bigger beasties would love that advantage on attack rolls. I’m honestly imagining a Druid riding a T-Rex through an Orc encampment. Rarrr!

This amazing art is by Aleksey Ironmonik. Click the image to check out more of their D&D art

Quick important notes to remember:

• The intelligence has to be under 4. The good news is, there are plenty of beasts out there with “animal intelligence” you can use this with.
• However, no awakened beasts.
• Action economy… Okay, I couldn’t find it, do you have to use your action to make it attack? Let me know in the comments!

Overall, if your Ranger or Druid is jealous of your Warlock’s familiar, keep this spell handy.

[pssst… want to draw a card from The Deck of Many Things?]

[Pssst#2… did you see the Wacky Dungeon game in the footer?]